Poking fun at potholes
As Chicagoans emerge from a brutal winter that led to a staggering 47,227 pothole-related complaints since Dec. 1, the Second City comedy group has released a video poking fun at Mayor Rahm Emanuel for his perceived inaction in addressing the matter.
In the video, Second City cast members pose as workers at a Pep Boys auto repair shop and thank the mayor for the abundance of potholes that has led to an uptick in business. “We here at Pep Boys know that Rahm Emanuel is doing everything in his power to keep potholes on every residential and commercial street all across the city of Chicago,” said one cast member.
“That’s because he knows that potholes create commerce,” continued another Second City member, adding, “Potholes are nature’s job creators!”
All aboard!
DNAinfo Chicago on Wednesday ran a profile piece on Gregory Davis, known affectionately to many Chicago Transit Authority “L” riders as the conductor of the CTA’s “Friendship Train.”
While driving CTA Red and Purple line trains, the transit authority worker with 21 years of experience – often called the “Red Line guy,” the “Purple Line guy” or merely the “CTA guy” – gives passengers directions, city information, light-hearted banter and motivational phrases.
“Eighty percent is just showing up,” Davis told CTA riders early this week in his “best radio voice.”
Mini Mariachis
Chicago Public Schools plans next year plans to offer mariachi classes at five elementary schools as an elective, according to DNAinfo Chicago.
The mariachi classes would serve as an alternative to CPS’s regular music class at: Little Village’s Joseph E. Gary Elementary; Lawndale’s Richard Edwards Elementary and Edward N. Hurley Fine and Performing Arts Magnet Cluster; and Calmeca Academy of Fine Arts and Dual Language and Davis Elementary in Brighton Park.
Students learning to perform the Mexican folk music would have the option to receive violin, trumpet, guitar or bass guitar instruction.
Renters' remorse
The RedEye recently examined skyrocketing apartment rents in the city.
While not long ago renters could call a studio in neighborhoods like Lakeview and Wicker Park home for just $700 a month, the city’s average studio rental price is now more than $1,200 per month, according to the RedEye.
In talking to many Chicagoans in their late 20’s, most of which had budgets of about $1,000-a-month for their living quarters, the RedEye determined that renters either downsized their desired space in trendy, centrally-located areas like Wicker Park, or ventured outward to neighborhoods south of Roosevelt Road, or to North Side neighborhoods like Rogers Park.
-Tom Butala