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Sunday, December 21
Members of Northwestern University's football team are seeking to form the first ever college-athlete labor union, potentially signaling a major shift in college sports.
— Emily Brosious
Public Citizen is a series about how the people of Chicago connect with their government and their city. Get involved: leave your two cents on our next story about the return of EveryBlock, leave a comment or tweet thoughts to @miketewing.
His neighbors were just robbed. Again. Steve Niketopoulos asked how they were keeping up. They felt less safe in their home, they said. Talking with the police afterwards made them feel even more confused and guilty. Like it was their fault.
Another neighbor told him she came home one day to find a man hanging halfway out of a window. When the police came, they asked why the windows didn't have bars them. She felt guilty for being unprepared.
Steve had heard enough.
— Mike Ewing / Comments (1)
Toni Preckwinkle has been recognized with the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance's (MEEA) Inspiring Efficiency Leadership Award for her work in improving energy efficiency in Cook County and thus saving county taxpayers millions of dollars.
"Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County have raised the bar for other counties and municipalities across the nation," said MEEA Executive Director Doug Newman, in a press release.
Over the past several years, the Preckwinkle administration has helped create a vision for sustainability by implementing projects and creating the County's first Sustainability Advisory Council.
Through the Guaranteed Energy Performance Contracting (GEPC) project, the largest of its kind, the Administration will make energy upgrades to county hospitals and the jail, which in turn reduces energy emissions by 20 percent, creates 600 construction and technology jobs, and secures $237,000 in Illinois energy rebate revenues in 2013, with more than $1 million projected in 2014, according to Deborah Stone, chief sustainability officer for Cook County.
The County was able to undertake this project at no cost to taxpayers, by securing low-cost financing through the second largest use of Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds in the State of Illinois, said Stone.
In 2013, the County was selected as a nominee for the Chicago Innovation Awards for its sustainability efforts.
"I believe that Cook County should be a world-class model of sustainability," said Toni Preckwinkle.
MEEA presented the award to Preckwinkle at the Midwest Energy Solutions Conference last week.
— Nenad Tadic
Thousands of people in Cook County are eligible to get their criminal records expunged, but only a handful actually do.
Many adults with criminal records as youth are unfamiliar with how the expungement process works, according to Daniel O'Neil, executive director of Smart Chicago Collaborative. This matters -- these adults have difficulty finding jobs and gaining access to school or housing, for instance.
Mikva Challenge and Smart Chicago Collaborative think these adults deserve a second chance. That's where Expunge.io comes in. The web app, created in partnership between the two organizations, launched on January 7 and as of last Friday, 14 users were found eligible for expungement.
— Nenad Tadic
Smart Chicago Collaborative and Cook County are partnering up to expand open data and make it easier for Chicagoans to access it.
"Entering into this partnership with Smart Chicago, will help the County find ways to improve the lives of residents through technology," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.
Under the two year agreement, which begins on February 1, Smart Chicago will assist the County in publishing open data sets and developing open data applications. According to a Cook County blog post, "collaborating with Smart Chicago will increase the County's ability to find, clean and link data, such as crime and health statistics, to the County's website."
Informing the contract are two documents-- the Cook County Open Government Plan [PDF] and the Cook County Open Data Ordinance, 11-0-54--which outline open data initiatives to be undertaken under the Preckwinkle administration.
Smart Chicago's duties include posting two new data sets per month for the County, reviewing existing catalog and preparing monthly data health and status reports and educating the public about the County's data projects. The full list of duties can be found here.
Daniel O'Neil, executive director of Smart Chicago, said the news of the agreement has been generally positive. "It's more about doing the work than about it being a big announcement."
O'Neil explains Cook County has a lot of data that's all over the place, and Smart Chicago's responsibility is to fix that.
The contract is valued at $170,000,00. The County will commit $85,000,00 annually for the next two years and the Chicago Community Foundation will provide an additional $20,000.000 in matching funds.
— Nenad Tadic
It doesn't bear repeating that commuting on Metra during "Chiberia" earlier this month was a nightmare.
But even as Chicago sizzled to 36 degrees last week and most of the snow melted, Metra's still experiencing trouble with its service. Trains on the Union Pacific Line were forced to run a car or two short due to last week's weather.
Because of the cancellations and service disruptions these first two weeks of the new year, Tribune reporter Richard Wronski explains that Metra is likely to miss its 95 percent on time performance goal for January.
— Nenad Tadic
Pendleton Family & Yolanda Travis; photo courtesy of Charles Jackson.
For Yolanda Travis, the grand re-opening of her newly redesigned McDonald's restaurant at 740 E. 47th St. was not only a cause for celebration--it was also a reason to give back.
At the festive event, Travis presented a $1,000 check for "Hadiya's Foundation," to Nathaniel and Cleopatra Pendleton, parents of King College Preparatory High School student, Hadiya Pendelton, who was slain near the school last January. Happening shortly after she, along with the rest of the school's marching band performed at inaugural events for President Barack Obama's second term, her murder, which made national headlines, cast an even brighter spotlight on the violence that plagues Chicago.
— LaShawn Williams
By Fruzsina Eordogh
Hunter Moore, the most well-known face of revenge porn and consequently the "most hated man on the Internet," just had his DJ gig at Lincoln Hall canceled after public outcry on Twitter and Facebook.
"In spite of an outside promoter's announcement, we never booked or confirmed a lineup for the Feb 15 event. Hunter Moore will not be appearing at Lincoln Hall," wrote the venue in a statement on their Facebook page. Party planners Porn and Chicken had originally booked Moore. Lincoln Hall was unreachable for official comment on Friday.
— Mechanics / Comments (9)
During the past week Bruce Rauner has flip-flopped on minimum wage and it has been revealed he gave money to a foundation for Walter Payton College Prep, a high school he used his clout to get his daughter into.
With the attention and criticism directed at him, Rauner even went as far as to say a forum among the Republican candidates was amounting to them beating up "Brucey all morning."
Although Rauner claims the abuse he received from other candidates was the result of him leading the polls, he really should look back at the news he's generated to understand why people are beating up "Brucey."
— Monica Reida
The City is considering a plan to switch Argyle Street from one-way traffic to two-way between Damen and Wolcott avenues. According to a local resident, neighbors were notified of the plan via flyers in their doors only last week. Argyle currently runs two ways east of Wolcott and one-way west.
Ald. Pat O'Connor, whose 40th Ward gained this section of Ravenswood/Lincoln Square in the recent redistricting, is holding a public meeting about the change tonight at Amundsen High School, 5110 N. Damen Ave., tonight at 7pm. Enter at Door 1.
— Andrew Huff / Comments (1)
(Photo/Lindsay Fox)
The Chicago City Council voted today to ban electronic cigarette use in most indoor public spaces, including bars and restaurants, and within 15 feet of building entrances.
The measure will also require e-cigarettes to be retailed behind the counter to make it harder for minors to purchase the product.
45 aldermen voted in favor of the ban, which was backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Only four aldermen, Roderick Sawyer (6th), Rey Colon (35th), Nicholas Sposato (36th) and Brendan Reilly (42nd), voted in opposition to the measure.
— Emily Brosious / Comments (4)
It was Friday night, around 6, at the Washington Blue Line stop. A man -- let's call him Fred -- approached me with a clipboard and asked if I would like to sign a petition to place a proposed amendment to the state constitution on the ballot.
The people around us didn't seem too familiar when Fred launched into his spiel. They will be. Fred was their first contact with what may well become the hottest issue of the 2014 election. Not only might this question have huge effects on Illinois government over the long term, it could also lead to the election of a conservative multimillionare Republican as our next governor.
The entity behind the proposed amendment is The Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits, and its chair is Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Rauner. Rauner has already put up $250,000 of his own money to push the amendment, plus $749,000 of his own money to his campaign committee. Both the committee formed to support the amendment and Rauner's committee have also racked up numerous donations of $100,000 or more, including several from out of state donors.
Much has been said and written about Rauner trying to buy the gubernatorial election. Some people have also written about how the term limits push may greatly benefit Rauner's campaign. What's been harder to find is a more detailed evaluation of the proposed amendment itself, precisely how the amendment can help Rauner get elected, and how Rauner's opponents might effectively try to hold off his multifaceted strategy.
— Phil Huckelberry / Comments (4)
Note from the author: This post discusses supporting views of the proposed Ashland Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and is a follow-up to a recent Mechanics post highlighting critical opinions of the BRT project.
Rendering of Ashland BRT/ CTA
The Ashland Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project proposed by city transportation officials is decidedly a contentious issue. And while there has been vocal opposition to the project, there is also a plenty vocal segment of Chicagoans who support the Ashland BRT project.
Supporters say the bus modernization project would enhance transit and pedestrian conditions, connect city neighborhoods and increase economic opportunities for businesses along the Ashland corridor. The BRT is an important and necessary addition to Chicago's transit grid that would improve travel times, reliability and safety for Ashland transit riders, supporters say.
— Emily Brosious / Comments (8)
By Phil Huckelberry / 2 Comments
It's now been 11 days since the carbon monoxide leak which sent over 80 Prussing Elementary School students and staff to the hospital. While officials from Chicago Public Schools have partially answered some questions, and CPS CEO Forrest Claypool has informed that he will be visiting the school to field more questions on Nov. 16, many parents remain irate at the CPS response to date. More...
By Ramsin Canon / 2 Comments
It's not surprising that some of Mayor Emanuel's sympathizers and supporters are confusing people's substantive disputes with the mayor as the effect of poor marketing on his part. It's exactly this insular worldview that has gotten the mayor in hot... More...
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