Login
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • sign up today!

Matthew Blake

Forest Preserve hopes to use 100th anniversary as publicity springboard

Tue, 06/18/2013 - 4:31pm

Arnold Randall, superintendent of the Cook County Forest Preserve District, basked in the afterglow on Tuesday of the district’s 100th anniversary celebration, which took place at the Chicago Cultural Center last week. Some members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, though, questioned whether Randall has maximized publicity for the Forest Preserve.

Categories: 

CTU president fears more teacher layoffs on the way

Tue, 06/18/2013 - 4:16pm

Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, warned on Tuesday that the 855 pink slips issued by the Chicago Public Schools last week are, perhaps, “just the tip of the iceberg” for CPS layoffs.

The downsizing announced on Friday includes 420 teachers represented by CTU, who taught at the 50 schools scheduled to close when the current school year ends. Lewis said at a City Club of Chicago luncheon on Tuesday that any future layoffs would more likely be the result of district-wide budget troubles than further ramifications from school shut downs.

Categories: 

Park District promises more neighborhood offerings this summer

Thu, 06/13/2013 - 2:18pm

Chicago Park District officials gave details at a Wednesday board meeting of their summer ‘Night Out in the Parks’ initiative, which is part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to provide more cultural offerings outside of downtown.

Adam Schwerner, director of natural resources at the Park District, promised that the summer initiative would deliver 750 citywide cultural and arts activities in 230 different parks. Those activities will include 200 total movies in neighborhood parks and six classical musical concerts in parks located throughout the city.

Categories: 

CTA ridership down this year

Wed, 06/12/2013 - 2:23pm

Chicago Transit Authority ridership numbers are down this year and may decline further due to the sweeping Red Line reconstruction project that began last month, according to CTA President Forrest Claypool.

The dip has caused an overall 2.6 percent, or $5.6 million, drop in revenue through April in the CTA 2013 budget. Transit officials blame the ridership decline, and subsequent loss of revenue, on the price increase in the seven-day CTA pass.

Categories: 

Two shuttered school buildings off CPS hands

Tue, 06/11/2013 - 10:55pm

The Chicago Public Building Commission has agreed to let the Board of Education sell two buildings on the Near North Side that collectively have sat unused for 34 years.

Categories: 

Theater group holds on to Uptown community center for now

Tue, 06/11/2013 - 3:40pm

The fate of a former Jane Addams Hull House Association community center in the Uptown neighborhood remains uncertain due to conflicts between members of the Pegasus Players theater company, which currently leases the property, and new building owner Dave Gasman, president of DLG Management

Categories: 

Byrd-Bennett stresses community involvement in CPS plan for future

Mon, 06/10/2013 - 4:15pm

Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Barbara Byrd-Bennett presented a five-year “district action plan” on Monday that repeatedly emphasized a “shared responsibility” to create successful CPS students between parents, community members, and a range of for-profit and non-profit institutions.

“We need to draw on all of the resources of our city and its people,” Byrd-Bennett said during a speech at Westinghouse College Prep on the Near West Side.

Categories: 

Council committee considers ban on potentially toxic driveway sealer

Fri, 06/07/2013 - 1:10pm

The Chicago City Council Committee on Finance held a hearing on Friday pertaining to an ordinance to ban coal tar sealants, which are used on parking lots and driveways. According to a recent series of studies, the sealants contain high levels of known carcinogens.

The committee adjourned without calling a vote on the ordinance sponsored by Ald. Edward Burke (14th), the finance committee chairman, and Ald. Will Burns (4th). Burns said that the committee will be “having a couple of substantive hearings” before taking a vote on the measure.

Categories: 

Lakeview senior affordable housing project moves forward

Fri, 06/07/2013 - 10:52am

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks approved on Thursday landmark status for the former 42nd precinct town hall police station at 3600 N. Halsted St. in the Lakeview neighborhood. Landmark status for the erstwhile police station is the final step necessary to authorize construction a $26 million, 79-unit senior affordable housing building on the site.

Categories: 

Construction contracts inked for new Malcolm X campus

Thu, 06/06/2013 - 3:26pm

The City Colleges of Chicago board approved on Thursday a set of key contracts relating to the construction of a new Malcolm X College campus. The board’s actions come one day after the Chicago City Council signed off on the development plan for the community college campus.

Among the measures board members approved on Thursday was a three-year, $7 million contract for Jacobs Construction Management to organize the construction project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2016.

Categories: 

Pages