Neighbor: tear down city-owned drug house
By By Hayley Carlton
Special to Inside
John Kugler says a run-down commercial garage owned by the city and surrounded by brand-new fancy condominiums is a crime-ridden drug house – and he wants it torn down and turned into a park.
“It’s a drug house,” said Kugler, who lives down the street. “You see the roof caving in? You see the hole in the roof? It’s like 15, 20 feet long.” Kugler says that drug dealers and users have entered the building through the hole in the roof (which he says is reachable by the nearby freight rail road tracks). “Look up at the tracks. They come up. They come down…they hide on the tracks.”
He says that he wants the garage torn down soon. “It’s a symbol. It’s a drug house.” He says that before the city took over, people also entered through a door in the alley.
“The city took over and they boarded it up.”
A sign on the front of the garage states that the garage is city property. A glass brick that is part of the garage’s front wall is broken, with a sharp jagged edge. This brick is at eye level. Through the hole, garbage can is seen strewn throughout the garage, though no one was inside when observed last week. Across the street is a painted mural with hip-hop youngsters holding spray-paint bottles and the alderman’s name listed.
Mike DiLorenzo in the 32nd ward alderman’s office confirmed that complaints have been received about the city property.
According to the activist Kugler, the site has been a site of drug activity “for over 20 years.” This activity goes back to when Wicker Park was a gritty neighborhood. Today, expensive condominiums line Milwaukee Avenue steps from the building. “It’s a hazard to the public. First it’s a drug house. Second, it’s got building code violations…any idiot can see that. Bricks are falling down.”
Back when the area was grittier, he says that there were other drug houses. “See that spot there, where the empty lot is? At 1863 N. Milwaukee? That was a methadone clinic. Nancy Reagan helped open it.”
“The drug dealers, they sleep in the garage at night, and then they go and sell drugs in front of the (Western Blue Line) El station,” said the crime victim, who says that the station’s location at Milwaukee makes it a perfect place to sell drugs. “The high school students, they change buses or they get on the train…there’s Lane Tech on Addison and there’s Clemente on Division…this is the perfect place to sell drugs.”
He says that the people involved are not residents of Wicker Park. “They come everywhere from 87th St. up to Evanston.”
“I would have to check to see if others made complaints,” said Raymond Valasquez, Chief of Staff to Ald. Manny Flores, (1st) Valasquez says that Kugler has made complaints in the past.
Being a vocal opponent of drug activity has made Kugler a target, he says. “They attacked me in Cole Taylor Bank.” Kugler provides a copy of a battery complaint he filed, which resulted in time served. “They should have got 20 years.” Kugler says that his assailants were upset because he “got too many of their friends arrested.”
According to everyblock.com (which allows people in Chicago to track crime and news by block) the most common crimes in the area are theft (both above and over $300), burglary, vandalism and simple assault. There was one drug related charge on the 2600 block of W. Francis involving 30 grams or less or cannabis on February 26 for the last week of February. 14th District Commander Salvador Avila did not return a call placed March 7.
However, a local officer did discuss the subject.
“Not at all,” said Officer Robales of the 14th District when asked if there’s been any complaints about drug dealing at Western and Milwaukee. Robales said that he will send someone out “tomorrow” to investigate the 1805 N. Milwaukee Ave. property. “I will also notify the building inspector,” said Robales who seemed surprised of complaints against the building.
“Is it the old methadone clinic?” The methadone clinic is now torn down but Robales said that when it was open it was a source of trouble for the area. “Methadone is another word for heroin. You would have people in the alleys, hanging out in the streets causing trouble.”
History museum explores Catholic religious history
By Peter von Buol
Special to Inside
Catholic Chicago, a newly-opened exhibit at the Chicago History Museum, examines the role the Roman Catholic Church has played throughout 335 years of Chicago history.
While about 2 million Chicago-area residents today consider themselves Roman Catholic, few may be aware of the church’s active role throughout the area’s history.
According to museum officials, the exhibit is the first in a series of planned exhibits that focus on religious communities that have contributed to the city’s traditions.
“Catholic Chicago is the logical place for our series to begin since the Catholic community has had an ongoing presence in Chicago since the 17th Century,” said Gary Johnson, the museum’s president. “The biggest challenge is how to do justice to this expansive subject in just one exhibition.”
Unlike major American cities on the East coast, the first European presence in the Chicago area was Roman Catholic, not Protestant. The first European visitors were French-Canadian explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, who was a Roman Catholic Priest.
“Father Marquette had met some Illiniwek Indians that had traveled as far north as his mission station [which was located in what today is Ashland, Wisconsin], probably on a trading mission, and Marquette wanted to reach this new field of endeavor. It was a lucky stroke of luck that Louis Jolliet was sent with him to see if the rumored great river would lead them to the Pacific and Marquette was directed to join his party, as it was commonplace for such voyages to have a priest along-maybe to keep the French-Canadian voyageurs in line,” said Ralph Frese, a Chicago maritime historian who is the owner Chicagoland Canoe Base, a canoe shop located in Portage Park on the Northwest Side.
Chicago’s first permanent non-native American settler was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a Haitian-born French-African trader who settled in 1780 and was also a Roman Catholic. The exhibit includes an iron cross from 1799 that is associated with Du Sable.
The exhibit, which is scheduled to remain open until January 4, 2009, is presented in six sections.
The introduction to the exhibit focuses on the 28th International Eucharistic Congress, an international event that was hosted by the Chicago church in 1926 and is often seen as its coming-of-age.
“The event attracted over one million Roman Catholics, elevating Chicago’s image in Rome and offering Catholics living in Chicago a public affirmation of their faith and identity,” said museum spokesperson Lauren Dolan in a written statement.
The first section “Laying Foundations” includes artifacts from the church’s beginnings in Chicago and examines the role of historical parish churches in Chicago. The section also examines influential Chicago Catholics including Du Sable, innkeeper Mark Beaubien, Archbishop George William Mundelein and Mother Frances Xaver Cabrini, a nun who was esteemed for her social work and who was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint in 1946.
The second section, “School Days”, focuses on the role Catholic Schools have played in Chicago.
“This section uses engaging artifacts and audiovisual materials to connect visitors to the city’s Catholic elementary and high school experience. A bulletin board showcasing the histories of high schools such as Gordon Tech, St. Scholastica and Marist will rotate monthly,” said Dolan.
Dolan said many Catholics remain active in the church throughout their lifetime and that commitment is discussed in the exhibit’s third section “Committed to the Community.”
“Committed to the Community examines the role of parishes and Catholic Communities around the city; focusing on the Catholic traditions and the ‘cradle to grave’ experience of parish life,” added Dolan.
Artifacts include an antique baptismal gown, a burial plot deed written in German and vintage photographs that mark important events in parish life. Included is a photograph of the family of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley attending church. One of the youngsters in the family photograph is Richard M. Daley, the city’s current mayor.
The fourth section of the exhibit, “Worship in the City,” includes a full-scale reproduction of an eight-foot by twelve foot leaded stain-glass window from 1920 that was once part of the West Side’s Resurrection Church and is now a part of the museum’s permanent collection.
“Worship in the City explores the artistic aspect of Catholicism from the music heard at church to architecture and traditional imagery and symbolism seen around the city,” added Dolan.
Granman said the original window has been deemed too fragile to be put on a nearly year-long display and a decision was made to preserve the glass by including a full-color reproduction that exactly replicates the original window.
The fifth section is, “Changing the Church,” which examines the dynamic changes the Roman Catholic Church experienced after World War Two, including the dramatic reforms of the Second Vatican Council and the church’s involvement in the Civil
Rights Movement.
The sixth and final section of the exhibit, “Faith in the Future,” examines the role of the Roman Catholic Church to modern-day Chicagoans. As an example of today’s church life, the exhibit includes a large photo mural that displays portraits of those who had attended a downtown church service on Ash Wednesday as well as an outfit worn by a modern day nun who is known as “The Blogging Nun”.
According to Dolan, the last section of the exhibit “looks at the future of the Catholic faith in Chicago; it touches on politics, Catholic identity and devotion in contemporary society and the new generation of Catholics in Chicago.”
The Chicago History Museum is located at 1601 N. Clark Street. Admission to the museum is $14 adults with audio tour included and $12 for seniors and students. Free for children 12 and younger.
Congressman calls for better service at local Social Security offices Disability applicants wait an average of 764 days
In a meeting with Ways and Means Democrats in Washington D.C, U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-5) challenged Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue to focus on the disability claims and backlogs in Chicago area offices.
“No one should have to wait two years or more to find out whether they are eligible for disability benefits,” the congressman said. “I represent the 5th district in Chicago. There are four hearing offices in the Chicago-area – Oak Park, Oak Brook, Downtown Chicago and an Evanston office. Based on the average amount of time that a disability applicant has to wait for a final decision, Oak Park is the 2nd worst hearing office in the country. People are waiting over two years, on average, to get a decision from this office. Can you explain to me why the Chicago offices appear to be in such bad shape and what you will do?” he said.
According to data provided by the Social Security Administration, it now takes an average of 764 days to receive a decision about whether an individual is eligible for disability benefits from the Oak Park hearing office, ranking the office 142nd out of 143 hearing offices across the country.
The average waiting times for a decision at Oak Brook and downtown Chicago are 609 and 567 days.
The Evanston office is the best performing Chicago-area office, but disability applicants still have to wait 448 days, on average,
for a decision.
City offers free business workshops
The City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Licensing is helping to better prepare businesses with Business Education Workshops. These free workshops benefit the business community with a wide array of business topics.
This month’s workshop topics will provide new businesses with a solid foundation including financing, business plans, business startup and preparing for business inspections to name a few.
In an effort to better equip businesses, the March calendar also includes a unique workshop on security training and best practices for security personnel.
This workshop focuses on relevant legal issues, guidelines and processes for security personnel at liquor establishments.
Workshops are conducted by city officials, Department of Business Affairs & Licensing’s partner organizations, or by experts in the industry.
Workshops are located at the Department of Business Affairs & Licensing City Hall Office, 121 N. La Salle Street, Room 805.
Full class descriptions are available online. To register for a workshop call 312-744-5344.
“How to Finance Your Business” will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday, March 14; “Security Training Techniques and Best Practices for Security Personnel” will be held from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 19; “Website Considerations for Business Owners” will held from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday, March 21; “How to Get Certified” is slated for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 26 followed immediately by “Doing Business with the City of Chicago” from 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The final workshop in March is “Business Plan: A Roadmap to Grow Your Business” from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday, March 28.
Neighborhood association elects officers
The Mid-North Association in Lincoln Park held its annual meeting at the John Barleycorn Pub, 658 W. Belden Avenue, last month.
The purpose of the meeting was to elect officers and directors, and make contributions to non-profit organizations in or serving the Mid-North area.
In addition, they recognized a unique person who has, in his own special own way, greatly benefited the Mid-North area.
The following persons were elected as officers or directors; President, Nada Riley; Vice President, Harriet Delman; Treasurer, Marco LaCava; Recording Secretary, Susan Saunders; Corresponding Secretary, Melanie Apel; New Directors, Christine Harland, Hillary Thieling; Returning Directors, David Chernoff, Barry Delman; Past President, Kevin Waco.
The association presented a 2007 Special Award of Honor and Recognition to John Kearney, artist, sculptor and founder of the Contemporary Art Workshop, for his many years of tireless service and dedication to the arts, young artists, and the Mid-North community. Kearney’s metal sculptures are a joy for all to behold in Oz Park.
Grant award checks were presented to the After School Center ($1,500), Contemporary Art Workshop ($1,500), Abraham Lincoln Elementary School ($1,000), Lincoln Park Community Shelter ($1,500), Lincoln Park Conservancy ($1,000), Lincoln Park High School ($1,500), New Leaf Theatre ($1,500), St. Vincent de Paul Center ($1,500), Children’s Memorial Hospital ($1,500), Juvenile Protective Agency ($1,500) and Lincoln Park Community Research Initiative ($1,000).
The funds for the $15,000 in grants came from Mid-North Association’s Chicago Summerfest, which is held every June on the 2000 block of Lincoln Park West and lawn of the Lincoln Park Cultural Center.
This year, the Chicago Summerfest will be held on Saturday, June 21st, and Sunday, June 22nd. Volunteers are always welcome.
Mid-North Association was founded in 1950 and is concerned with neighborhood preservation and beautification, building codes and zoning, safety, City services, traffic, parking, street noise, cleanliness, and other issues affecting the quality of life in the Mid-North Area. Membership is open to local residents and businesses.
Mid-North’s service area is bounded by Lincoln Avenue, Lincoln Park, Fullerton Parkway, and the former Ogden Avenue right-of-way.
Eatery gets new owner
Chris Pecket, the former owner of Fixture, at 2706 N. Ashland, has packed up his small plates and gourmet comfort food, and turned his neighborhood gastropub over to a long time Chicago bar icon David Agazzi.
Pecket will concentrate on his smoke house in Wrigleyville, Risque, at 3419 N. Clark.
Formerly of Yak-zie’s, Agazzi purchased the business and plans to mold it into a traditional Chicago bar.
Kudan Group, Inc. facilitated both sides of the transaction with Darren Pulliam representing the purchaser, and Marcus Sullivan and Jim Martin acting on behalf of the seller. Look for Agazzi’s new concept this spring of 2008.
Veterans urged to get screened for traumatic brain injury
Study: 15 percent of returning Iraq soldiers have brain damage
Governor Rod Blagojevich proclaimed March Brain Injury Awareness Month in Illinois to increase public awareness and understanding of brain injuries and to urge the state’s Veterans to get screened for a possible traumatic brain injury through the new Illinois Warrior Assistance Program.
The Illinois Warrior Assistance Program is a first in the nation program that screens all returning Illinois National Guard members for a traumatic brain injury while offering the screening to all Illinois Veterans.
The program also includes a 24-hour toll-free confidential, psychological helpline staffed by health professionals to assist veterans, day or night, suffering from symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“There is no denying that our returning service members are facing a serious problem when it comes to brain injuries. In Illinois, we are trying to tackle this problem by offering traumatic brain injury screening to all Veterans through the Illinois Warrior Assistance Program. I am proclaiming March ‘Brain Injury Awareness Month’ in Illinois to increase public awareness about brain injuries and to let Veterans and service members know that the state of Illinois is here to help them get the care they need and rightfully deserve,” said Gov. Blagojevich.
Each year in the United States, approximately 1.4 million persons sustain a traumatic brain injury. That is why it is important for them to get their heads examined.
According to the Army Surgeon General’s Task Force on Traumatic Brain Injury January 17 report, “Traumatic brain injuries have been called one of the signature wounds of the current conflicts” yet “it is unknown how many Soldiers have suffered a traumatic brain injury.” It goes on to say that “the traumatic brain injury screening of over 35,000 redeploying Soldiers has revealed a 10 to 20 percent rate of a mild traumatic brain injury while deployed” and that “systemic, Army-wide screening for traumatic brain injury upon redeployment is not currently practiced.”
“The increased use of improvised explosive devices in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan has resulted in more Veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries,” said Tammy Duckworth, Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. “Too often mild traumatic brain injury goes misdiagnosed or untreated resulting in the Veteran and their family unnecessarily suffering mentally, physically, and emotionally. We hope that Veterans and their family members will use the Illinois Warrior Assistance Program to get the help they need. I want to urge you, if you are a Veteran, call our 24-hour toll-free helpline or visit any one of the state’s 51 Veteran Service Offices to get screened.”
The Illinois Warrior Assistance Program provides confidential assistance for Illinois Veterans as they transition back to their everyday lives after serving our country. Its goal is to help service members and their families deal with the emotional and psychological challenges they may be facing.
If a Veteran has a positive screening and is uninsured or underinsured, he or she could be eligible for additional diagnostic review and treatment through the program.
Children’s Memorial to break ground on new site in April
Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board approves plans
The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board approved the Certificate of Need application for Children’s Memorial’s Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago today.
This review completes the city and state regulatory approvals necessary for construction to begin this April.
The new 22-story, 288-bed facility at 225 E. Chicago Avenue, directly west of Northwestern Memorial’s new Prentice Women’s Hospital, will be named in recognition of philanthropist Ann Lurie’s $100 million gift. The hospital plans to open in 2012.
The 400-page Certificate of Need application approved last week explains the need for the new facility and includes a description of the project such as number of beds, categories of service provided, project costs and square footage. At a public hearing held in December 2007 in conjunction with the Certificate of Need review process, 46 individuals testified in support, and the application received strong support from other hospitals in Illinois because of its role in caring for the region’s sickest children.
Over the last two years Children’s Memorial has treated children from every county in Illinois, 36 other states, and 33 countries around the world. In 2006, children from more than 100 other hospitals were transferred to Children’s Memorial and more than 4,500 individual physicians referred children to Children’s Memorial.
“We are pleased with the Health Facilities Planning Board’s decision today, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the State in caring for the most critically ill and injured children. We have spent the past five years engaging hundreds of stakeholders in our mission to ensure that the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago will enable us to continue to deliver leading edge care to children in a patient-friendly environment for generations to come,” said CEO Patrick Magoon.
Children’s Memorial must turn away a significant number of critically ill children each year because an appropriate bed is not available at its current location.
The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago will increase capacity by approximately 30 percent with bed increases and all private rooms. It will be located on the campus of its partner medical school, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, which will help them to continue to recruit and retain top physicians and scientists. Its adjacency to Northwestern Memorial’s new Prentice Women’s Hospital will offer convenience for families and direct clinical interaction to benefit newborns and pediatric patients. Proximity to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern Memorial Hospital will improve transitional care for children with chronic illnesses into adult care.
Reducing voting age to 17 proposed
A State Representative last week announced a state constitutional amendment to lower Illinois’ minimum voting to 17 for both primary and general elections.
“Sen. Barack Obama’s historic campaign for president has energized youth like no other in decades,” said State Rep. Lou Lang (D-16). “We should leverage current youth interest in politics and help build a foundation for their long-term participation in elections.”
Illinois would be the first state in the nation to lower its voting age to 17.
In 2004, California considered lower its voting age to 14.
Currently, eleven states allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they will turn 18 by the general election.
“States have been nibbling around the edges of lowering the voting age to 17,” said Lang. “Illinois should lead the way and grant 17 year-olds the right to vote without exception.”
Lang noted five countries have a national minimum age of 17 and nine have a minimum age of 16. For the 17 voting age, they include East Timor, Indonesia, North Korea, the Seychelles, and Sudan. For 16, they include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Croatia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Philippines, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia.
In 2007, Austria became the tenth country and first member of the European Union, and the first of the world’s leading democracies, to adopt a voting age of 16 for all purposes.
Additionally, Switzerland’s Glarus canton voted in 2007 to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16 for elections.
Lang’s amendment currently is assigned to the House Elections and Campaign Reform Committee for hearing.
Video game pioneer joins DePaul faculty
One of the trailblazers of the video game industry has joined the faculty of DePaul University’s burgeoning computer game development program.
Eugene Jarvis, creator of some of the industry’s most popular games, was recently named Game Designer-in-Residence by DePaul’s School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems.
“Having one of the pioneers of the video game industry at DePaul will provide our game development students with the invaluable insight of someone who has had unrivaled success designing games for a living over the past quarter-century,” said David Miller, dean of DePaul School of Computer Science. “We are extremely honored that he has chosen to share his knowledge with DePaul students and faculty.”
Jarvis helped develop some of the most beloved games in history during the industry’s “golden age” of the early 1980s.
After working for Williams Electronic Games developing microprocessors for pinball machines in 1980, Jarvis led the team that created Defender, the revolutionary arcade hit.
Defender created the scrolling space-shooter genre and beat out Pac-Man as the top-grossing game of 1981, earning over 1 billion quarters and selling more than 7 million games for the Atari 2600 console.
In 1981, Jarvis co-founded independent game developer Vid Kidz. There, he and partner Larry DeMar created Stargate, Robotron: 2084 and Blaster.
When the arcade industry bubble burst in the mid-1980s, Jarvis left Vid Kidz to obtain his MBA from Stanford University. He returned to game development a few years later, striking industry gold again with the arcade games Narc and Smash TV.
In the 1990s, he helped introduce 3-D texture mapping hardware to the industry through the popular Cruis’n series of driving games.
In recent years, Jarvis launched his own studio, Raw Thrills, Inc., which has brought to market several coin-operated, industry-leading games, including The Fast and the Furious, Super Bikes, Target: Terror and Big Buck Hunter Pro.
“When DePaul asked me to be the first Game Designer-in-Residence, I jumped at it with both blasters set,” said Jarvis. “DePaul reputation for game development education is well known, but who could have predicted back in the days of Pong and Galaga that someday students would go to college and study this? I love the idea of brainstorming the future of games with the creative and dynamic students and faculty at DePaul. Let the games begin!”
Store started with owner selling towels out of station wagon
By George Howe
The smell of potpourri and scented candles fills your nose and entices your senses as you walk through the doors of 1730 Outlet Company. This Northside hidden treasure features an incredible variety of house wares. Don’t expect a quick visit. Bring a sturdy shopping bag and put away your timepiece, because in order to take advantage of the beautiful display of merchandise close inspection of every knook and cranny is needed.
The owner of the company started the business out of the back of his station wagon peddling dishtowels. The store located at 1730 W. Wrightwood was created before it was fashionable to have an outlet. Housed in the same location since 1990, if you haven’t been fortunate enough to drive by it, you might pass it up. From the outside it looks like a typical Chicago warehouse structure built during the time of the industrial boom. As you enter through a couple of sterile hallways you are immediately taken aback by the impeccable displays and coordination of colors. The store could easily be placed in any number of high end shopping mecca’s. That’s where the similarities end.
A three piece set of quality serving bowls that could set you back $40 to $50 dollars elsewhere, sell for only $15. Decorative door mats $10, Crystal looking wine goblets go for $3.50. You get the idea, it’s the great prices. Keep in mind that it is an outlet. There could be a small chip, a discoloration, or a little imperfection, but the trade off is well worth it. “Many times we have one of kind items that I can’t order,” explains General Manager Mary Howe. “If you see something that you like, buy it. We get new items every week.”
As you continue your shelf inspections you’ll find a full array of garden items including bird houses, planting pots, candle lanterns, and picnic baskets. Interested in aprons, full table place settings, table clothes, and of course dishtowels, they’ve got them all in a variety of fun colors and styles. If you have the urge to buy something for Christmas say in June, seasonal items are always somewhere in the store. As a rule the Outlet designates a specific area for the next upcoming holiday.
A couple of months into 2007, 1730 acquired a line of eclectic furniture. The furniture is set up in a separate wing that is comfortable to walk through and browse the bargains. Floor to ceiling framed mirrors, designer original ladder bookcases, cocktail tables, counter stools, and much more are available for far less than retail prices. “We like to call our line modern contemporary,” explains furniture manager Bobby Cassell. “We are getting a lot of young couples from the Lincoln Park area, and bachelors that know a great deal when they see it.”
So if you are looking for a new and different place to explore, and you like the idea of saving money, make it a point to visit 1730. You will quickly become a regular visitor. Marchia Sendaydiego has shopped at 1730 for over ten years and is glad to share one of her favorite destinations. “There are such a wonderful variety of neat and unique items for housewarming parties and showers” said Sendaydiego. “When my family or friends come into town it is a priority to make a visit to the store.”
Loyal customers would like to keep 1730 a secret, but the word is quickly getting out. The outlet was recently featured on ABC 7’s “190 North” show with host Janet Davies. “We were on about thirty seconds, and Monday morning people were lined up waiting at the door for us to open,” said Mary. “We are always happy to have new customers walk through the door.”
Teacher’s union votes no confidence in CEO, board president
The members of the Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates unanimously passed a resolution condemning both Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan and Board President Rufus Williams following last week’s vote to close, consolidate, phase out and turnaround 19 struggling schools.
The resolution voices a lack of confidence in the leadership of both Duncan and Williams for decisions made negatively impacting members of the Union employed within the school system.
Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart has sharply criticized the plan along with many parents, community organizations and professional educators because it does not offer sound solutions to improving struggling schools.
“Once again, decisions have been made by individuals who have never spent a day teaching in a classroom,” stated Stewart. “What does it say to those who are entrusted to teach when their experience and input is ignored time and again? The Board has also completely ignored the important role of collaboration between management and labor in employment matters and in doing what is best for Chicago’s children.”
Stewart reminded delegates that at January’s Board meeting, Williams stated publicly that the school closure plan was not a “fait accompli.” Stewart said, “It is obvious by his (Williams) zero participation in public hearings and the vote last week that everything Duncan and CPS bureaucrats propose is a done deal.”
On the Monday before the vote, the Union released a report on what should be done to improve Chicago schools in addition to bringing in national experts in education from the American Federation of Teachers in Washington and Ohio. The report offered one possible solution—the Fresh Start reform initiative in which the Union and Board are working collaboratively to turn around struggling schools.
Duncan and Stewart say the closures are needed to transform and improve the school system.
Currently Chicago has eight Fresh Start schools in which the elementary schools have shown double-digit gains in the past three years. In addition, the program has a Peer Assistance and Review component where teachers are rigorously mentored and evaluated. If they do not meet the program’s standards, they subsequently may be removed. The Union intends to send copies of the resolution to Mayor Richard M. Daley and City Council members, members of the Board of Education and state legislators whose districts are within the City of Chicago.
Lincoln Park spa offers hair removal
United Laser Clinics is a spa located at 2251 N. Clark Street.
They offer laser hair removal, cellulite reduction, skin tightening, skin rejuvenation and skin resurfacing.
They have a total of eight locations in the Midwest and were started in Indiana in 2006.
“There are over 50 parts of the body that grow hair,” they say. “We will and can treat every part of the body except the eyelashes.”
Free consultations are available daily.
United Laser Clinics is now offering 40 percent off all treatment package purchases. Their phone number is 773.248.9804.
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