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Sept. 4, 2008 - Ald. Rey Colon (35th) and other local leaders want Chicago cyclists and pedestrians to fill several major West Side boulevards in October to promote active lifestyles and community interaction.

"We already know that telling people to eat less and exercise more is not enough,"

Colon said last month at a press conference announcing the October events. "Americans will be fat in the next 30 years if current obesity trends continue."

The project, known as "Sunday Parkways ," will close off sections of Chicago boulevards to cars on Oct. 5 and Oct. 26, and allow bicyclists and pedestrians to take over the streets from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. On Oct. 5, the route will run from Kedzie and Logan boulevards to Woodward Drive and Jackson Boulevard. On Oct. 26, the route will run from 24^th Street and California Avenue to Lake Street and Central Park Avenue.

West Side residents, who have fewer parks that other Chicagoans, should be primary beneficiaries of the program, said Lissette Castañeda, president of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (one of five community-based organizations that developed the pilot project). The Little Village and Logan Square neighborhoods rank first and second among the city's 77 neighborhoods in paucity of green space, Castañeda said, giving residents little access to recreational areas.

"Some neighborhoods have bike paths and forest preserves" - their own Sunday parkways, she said.

Eunita Rushing, president of the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance , said the project, three years in the making, coincides with her organization's mission to "enhance the environmental, social and economic vitality of Chicago's West Side."

"Sunday Parkways offers the opportunity to share culture by tearing down the boundaries and expanding the community," said Rushing. "It promotes time with families and camaraderie among neighbors."

Similar projects in Mexico and Colombia have been successful, said Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30^th), noting that Sunday Parkways organizers traveled beyond U.S. borders to see what was being done elsewhere. New York City, he said, also recently implemented its own version, known as "Summer Streets ," every Saturday.

"If the community understands why we're walking, strolling or walking that day, it will be educational for others too," said Reboyras, adding he hopes it will become a long-term, local tradition.

Local residents are responding with enthusiasm to the plan.

"I'm excited that (community leaders) are recognizing that bikes don't just go from outskirts of the city to downtown," said Sarah Miller, youth instructor of the Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp ., another non-profit organization involved in the development of Sunday Parkways.

Yahaira Ramirez, a nurse at Norwegian American Hospital, plans to participate next month. Street closings on those two Sundays should not cause problems, she said, since patients can access the hospital from various entrances.

Chicago Police Officer Keith Cali of the 13th District doubts extra police patrols will be needed to help with the event.

"Most businesses are closed on Sunday, and the boulevard is so big that it doesn't allow for much conflict," said Cali, an 18-year veteran officer who regularly patrols the Humboldt Park area. "I'd even attend that day, but I'll be on vacation."

Funding for the project came from several local groups, including Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), The Chicago Community Trust and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation . The project also includes partnerships with five communities and the Chicago Park District.

Sept. 3, 2008 - Southside resident Menjiwei Latham said she felt excluded from the process last week after a Chicago City Council committee approved a zoning change against her requests.
 
Latham, a retired elementary school teacher, said she met with Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) last spring to discuss the building going up next to her home in the 6800 block of South Lafayette Ave.  She said she was assured by the alderman, as well as the developer, that the building would house only two units. 
 
Months later, Latham said she noticed the structure going up next door was actually three stories tall, although the current zoning for the property did not allow for a three-unit structure.
 
So the developer, Perry & Perry, asked the council's Committee on Zoning at its Aug. 26th meeting to change the ordinance to accommodate the building.
 
"I don't think it's fair to build something that doesn't meet code and then come to you to make it meet code," said Latham.

Zoning Committee Chairman William J.P. Banks responded: "It happens every day."
 
Thomas Moore, the attorney for Perry & Perry, LLC, handed the chairman a letter of support from the alderman, who was not present at the meeting.
 
Minutes later, the zoning ordinance change passed unanimously.
 
"They were not forthright with me," said Latham, after the committee vote. She said that she had no idea the alderman had written the letter of support.

Ald. Lyle, who was attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver, was not available for comment.

Damion Perry, president of Perry & Perry, LLC, the building's developer, said he had always planned to build a three-unit structure. But when he started to build the third floor, he said, Latham started to raise questions and harass his employees.
 
"She would come out and yell at them about miscellaneous things," he said.  "It was more out of spite, because she [had] wanted to purchase the property."
 
Latham said she considered buying the land next door, but Perry beat her to it. When Perry first purchased the property, Latham said she was happy because the building had been vacant for more than three years. But she wasn't happy when the agreement she thought she had with Lyle vanished.
 
Moore, the developer's attorney, said he understands Latham's frustration, to a degree.
 
"It's a primordial protection of the home, a kind of instinct," he said.  "People get emotional and a little wacky."
 
Moore said that it was the support of Ald. Lyle that solidified the committee's decision to side with the developer.
 
"Everyone wants to be a king in their own fiefdom," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, if the alderman wants something, the committee will give it to them."

The proposal is expected to be approved at the council's next meeting Sept. 10.

 Moore, who used to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals, said the zoning change is more than likely a done deal.
 
 "The city council always files the recommendation of the committee," said Moore.  "They don't argue."
 

Sept. 2, 2008 - Parents of students attending Jones Prep hope a newly formed fund-raising group will raise more money for the South Loop high school.

"It's pathetic to sell hot dogs and candy and expect that to be our fund raising," Joyce Weiner, the mother of a Jones Prep junior, said at a recent local school council meeting.

In response to what she says is outdated fund raising, Weiner announced the inception of Friends of Jones.

Weiner insists Jones Prep's fund-raising tactics underachieve what should be expected of a selective enrollment school; Jones Prep is one of seven such high schools in the Chicago Public Schools district.

"We need to go after corporations and foundations," Weiner told the local school council, which unanimously approved making Friends of Jones the school's primary fund-raising organization.

It couldn't come at a better time, said Chris Inserra, a parent of a Jones Prep sophomore and a member of the Targeted Recruitment and Support Program. Inserra said a new recruiting initiative to increase the already high minority population of 70.8 percent is in "desperate need of funding."

The initiative aims to increase high school awareness among 7th-graders in each of the four CPS district areas during "community meetings" to be held throughout the month of September.

Until now, fund raising for Jones Prep came from parent-teacher groups acting independently and focusing their support for specific sports and recruitment programs. Friends of Jones will incorporate these smaller fund-raising groups, said Weiner, and will differ from them by focusing only on "bringing money in."

Weiner declined to say exactly how much money the organization plans to raise this year.

At the Aug. 18th local school council meeting, its new principal, Joseph Powers, was introduced. Powers replaced Donald Fraynd, who was promoted within CPS to head a new high school achievement program.

Powers, in his third week as principal, announced the launching of a new School Improvement Plan designed to improve students' critical-thinking skills.  Details were not discussed, but Powers hopes the new plan will tailor classroom instruction to help students achieve higher scores on the ACT college-entrance exam.

The only contentious point in the hour-long meeting came when the board members raised questions about Jones Prep's new property. Last year, the city relocated Pacific Gardens Mission from its longtime location at 646 S. State and offered the property to Jones Prep.

An initial plan, Powers said, called for the former Mission property to be used as an annex to the existing school building at the corner of State and Harrison streets. However Jamie Pellar, a council member, said there are plans to erect a building on the new site and to tear down the existing building.

The eight council members retreated to sidebar conversations until Powers declared: "We simply do not know at this point."  The development plans for the new site have not been released and will first need the approval of the Chicago City Council.

Pellar and Powers said they were both "confused about the city's vagueness" about the plans but hope they will have an active voice in the planning.

Read all about this healthy event which is addressing the problem of poor eating owing to "food deserts" in our city.

Eat to Live This Saturday in Bronzeville

"Tag Clouds" are a visualization tool. As an online publication adds "tags" which are identifiers designed to make electronic searches work effectively, the idea of viewing content by creating an image in which the most common tags are listed, and the size of the word indicates how often that tag was used, is gaining popularity. Our human senses, especially our visual sense,can detect patterns quickly, in ways that a top to bottom analysis or simple count might miss. We say goodbye to summer with our cloud tage, courtesy of Wordle - chicagotalks.org as of Labor Day, 2008.

Click to see Full-size version

http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/156365/chicagotalks.org

Okay, it is the last of our summer vacation days, and what are you going to do? We have two suggestions. With one foot in summer vacation and the other at the schoolhouse door, take a trip back in time and visit the roots of the labor movement in Chicago, in Pullman -- where the history of the labor movement was sweated out. Looking for something more exotic, but you don't have the time or money for global travel? Go no further than Chicago's Washington Park, and the African-American festival, which features community chats, music and spoken word, and a market featuring African goods from every part of the African Diaspora.

Aug. 29, 2008 - It's a summer Thursday evening in the basement of the 11th District Police Station, and aerobics instructor Keith Spurlin is cranking up the R&B on a boom box to get the room full of about 20 adult participants moving and grooving.

WalkForce members generally 10 laps around the Garfield Park Conservatory, or about 2 1/2 miles.  Photo: Rishona Taylor

"Work that. Work that. Work this," he intones. "Arms out. Little circles. Here we go. Arms up and down."

Then he starts stepping up and down at the same time and pumps his fists like a boxer. "Here you go. Straight out."

Then it's toe-touches, stepping to the left and right, and stepping up and down while bent over.

"Hey!" yells out one woman, in mock indignation. A call of "jump!" provokes exhausted laughter.

After touching elbows to knees and kicking legs out in front, Spurlin calls out: "Is everybody loose? Is everybody loose?"

The Thursday night class, which began this summer, is a recent addition to a 5-month-old walking club, called WalkForce, that's been motoring past the ferns and flowers at the Garfield Park Conservatory from Monday through Wednesday nights.

Club members, who number nearly 70 but usually total about 40 on any given night, generally do 10 laps around the conservatory, or about 2 1/2 miles, says Mike Tomas, New Communities Program director for the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance.

The aerobics class on Thursday nights leaves some participants in pain -- but with gain -- on Friday.  Photo: Rishona Taylor

With funding from Advocate Bethany Hospital , WalkForce is free to members, Tomas says. In addition to the evening walks and Thursday aerobics, the club offers Saturday morning community walks and monthly health screenings for glucose, blood pressure, weight and body fat.

Spurlin, a personal trainer who holds a day job at the 11th District, said the local CAPS coordinator recruited him to teach the aerobics class on Thursdays. "Everybody gets up, and they give me their all," he says. "I love it. We're in this life to live as long as we can live. We all know friends who left too young."

Health concerns prompted Diana Cancer, a member of the New Communities Housing Committee in East Garfield, to join the WalkForce after "a young lady called me. I said, 'How did you know I was fat over the telephone?' We had a laugh," she recalls.

Sherry Lawyer has high-blood pressure, suffered a stroke on New Year's Day and learned she had an aneurysm a month later. "The doctor told me I had to do a lot of walking," she said. "My cousin recommended [WalkForce] to me."

Health concerns have prompted many of the 67 members to join WalkForce.  Photo: Rishona Taylor

Her sister, Shellia Lawyer, said the high-blood pressure runs in their family, on their father's side.

"It's been educational because of learning how to eat better," she says. "Keith kills us on Thursdays. We can barely walk on Friday."

Marvin Adams, a diabetic who's had back surgery four times, walks about two miles every day and has dropped from 223 to 201 pounds in less than two months. "They told me to leave the remote alone and do some exercise," he says.

Darlene Hooper lives within walking distance of the conservatory and likes to get involved in activities there. "It was free," she says. "There were a lot of incentives [listed] on the flyer. The health piece is very important."

Vanessa Jackson says she's been active in sports her whole life. "It was refreshing to know that we had something like this in our community," she says. "The whole experience is wonderful. It's been very motivational to see the older members of the community."

To learn more about WalkForce, contact Rishona Taylor at the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, (773) 638-1766 x17 or rmtaylor@garfieldpark.org.

What is speaker tracking? Find out, and hear about Obama's introduction to Convention in 2004, thanks to Lynn Sweet, blogger and vlogger extraordinaire.

Click the image below to watch the video from Lynn's blog:

If the link from the image below doesn't take you the video, here is the link.

According to Kitty Kurth , a local media consultant, the WiFi in the convention hall isn't working that well, despite the sort of puff piece coverage about all the tech corporations doing the infrastructure.

Her partner Kevin Lampe, an amateur tech geek, had to get the official (credentialled) bloggers' connection up and running. Other news from the convention is that the Sun-Times reporters were playing with twitter , Denver is almost like Chicago or NY with all the excitement, and more. See the latest convention tweets that reference Chicago .

Here is the official tweet stream from the convention (official in the sense of the commonly used hashtag to pull together related messages.)

Here is a video by Hillary followers called Here is What Democracy Looks Like , via Dave Winer and Friendfeed.

August 26, 2008 - When Rev. Sanja Stinson noticed a rise in the population of people older than 50 seeking services at Matthew House , 3722 S. Indiana Ave., she knew she had a problem. The network of services for people in that age group, she had discovered, tended to be slimmer than for those older or younger. 

"These two came to me and said, ‘Rev. Stinson, I'm over 50, what am I going to do?'" said Stinson, the program director at Matthew House.  She pointed out the two men sitting at an adjacent table. "And I said, ‘You know what? I don't know. '" 

A look at the records revealed that the two men were part of a swelling phenomenon.  In the early 1990s, Stinson said, 10 percent of the people who sought services at Matthew House were older than 50. But in 2004, half of those who sought services at Matthew House were older than 50. 

Matthew House, a daytime support service center, was founded in 1992 by Derrick D. Stinson, Rev. Sanja Stinson's husband. 

Stinson brought her observations to the Partnership to End Homelessness, of which she was a founding member.  Along with similar observations from other agencies, Stinson's finding set in motion a study, conducted by the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness (formerly the Partnership) and Loyola University Chicago's Center for Urban Research and Learning.

The study is called Homeless Over 50: The Graying of Chicago's Homeless Population , and its conclusions confirm the trend Stinson noticed.  Researchers found a 26 percent increase in people ages 50 to 65 seeking services from "a broad range of service agencies" between 2001 and 2006. 

Stinson noted cuts in General Assistance for unemployed single men and women as a key reason for the increase. Reggie Harden, the program director at Matthew House, said the relocation of residents by the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) also resulted in more people seeking services - particularly older residents out of work who had been staying with friends or relatives, and who were consequently ineligible for help from CHA to relocate. 

"A lot of them were living in CHA, doubling up," said Harden.  "...they were not on CHA leases."

The CHA's "Plan for Transformation," which includes moving public housing residents into new mixed-income apartment buildings began about 10 years ago.

One tough hurdle faced by older people seeking work is not only ineligibility for services,but also the unwillingness of employers to hire them, according to those close to the scene.

"At a certain point employers aren't expecting someone to go through a career change, " said Betsy Carlson, program director at Lincoln Park Community Shelter."It's just a little bit of a harder sell." 

“They really don’t want to give you a job outside if you’re 50, ” added CharlesThompson, the lead case manager in social services for Matthew House. “...They're looking to get that 25 years out of you. They're looking for a long-term person in that particular spot. 

In a crumbling economy, unemployment is descending upon people who have never had to shoulder it before.  A woman staying at Lincoln Park Community Shelter described her experience, in October 2006,of losing a technical support job she'd held in a communications company. 

"I walked in this one day and they'd closed the entire department, " said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous. "Twenty-two of us lost our jobs that day."

She held on to her condominium until this past April.  No longer able to make payments,she lost the condominium and was preparing to sleep in her car when a job counselor told her about the Lincoln Park shelter. 

Residents at the Lincoln Park shelter stay an average of about 3 1/2 months, according to Carlson. They do not face a deadline by which they need to move out. 

The shelter contains 24 beds for men and 11 beds for women - and there's a waiting list for admission.  Carlson said the list's length constantly fluctuates,and she added that people who want to stay should call the shelter to find out how long the wait might be.

The woman was pleased to find the shelter, but she said help for people her age was sparse.  “I’m too old to be young and too young to be old, ” said the 57-year-old woman. Resources, she said, generally came with a condition she did not meet, such as being at least 60 years old,  having an  addiction  that  required  treatment or having  children.   For  a  single woman  in her  50s  and  suddenly  out  of work,   she found the options to be limited.  

After  two  years  of  virtual  unemployment,  punctuated  only  by  a  six-monthon,   she  now  says  she has found a good job. 

For  another  resident  at  the  Lincoln Park shelter,  a cluster of events led him to homelessness:   divorce, job  loss  and  a  broken-down car. 

"If  any  of  those  three things had not happened,  I would  not  have  ended up  homeless, "   said  the man,  54,   who  also declined to give his name. 

Many  people  dwell  in such  a  precarious  financial  zone,   according  to Nancy  Radner,   the  chief executive  officer  of  the Chicago  Alliance  to  End Homelessness. 

"It  takes  one  thing  to push  them  off  the  edge into homelessness, "  she said.

Once people in this age group do find themselves  homeless,   resources  may indeed be scarcer than they are for other age groups.  People younger than 48 can use a program called Earnfare,  sponsored by  the  Illinois  Department  of  Human Services,  (IDHS) to find employment.  But the Homeless Over 50 study notes  that because people 48 and older do not have to work  to  receive  food  stamps,   IDHS gives first preference for Earnfare jobs to those under age 48 – in other words,  to those who could  not  receive  food stamps if they were not working.

That means people 48 and older generally cannot take advantage of Earnfare to forge connections with employers,  the study  explains.   It's  a  problem  noted  by
several of the clients at Matthew House.  Other regulations make it hard for people in this age group to receive services, as well.  One  of  the policy proposals  of the Homeless Over  50 study  is  to  integrate senior programs and the homeless system.   But  that  is  not  always  possible, since  the Older Americans Act can only provide funding for people 60 and older. 

Paula  Basta,  the  regional  director  of the Northeast (Levy) Senior Center,  said she welcomes  the homeless population and opens   the Center to anyone who’d
like  to come  in  for a meal.  But  she  said funding  restrictions make more  extensive  resources tougher to provide to people younger than 60.

“Somewhat,   our  hands are tied for the folks under 60, ”  she said. Radner noted that advocates can work to change such  laws,  but  she said they  can  also  uncover resources  that  do  exist.Christine George,  a principle  investigator  in  the Homeless  Over  50 Study, noted  the  federal  Senior Community  Service Employment Program as a valuable  resource;   it  serves  people  55 and older.   Carlson said the Lincoln Park shelter  refers  clients  to  the  Senior Aid Program,   run  by  Jewish  Vocational Services  in  Chicago.  Advocates cite other programs,  as well.

As  several  people  older  than  50 described  their experiences,   they noted a problem that had little to do with age.  They  expressed  concern  –  sometimes regarding  media  portrayals  –  about stereotypes  surrounding  homeless  people.  A 58-year old woman in the Lincoln Park  shelter  said  she had  a  bachelor  of arts degree in sociology with a psychology  minor  and  hours  of  coursework toward  a  certification  in  alcohol  and addiction counseling.  Her odyssey  into  the shelter  included what she described as an unjust eviction, for  financial reasons, from an apartment about  two  decades  ago.   She  later  took care  of  her  mother  until  her  mother's death  and  then  lived  with  a  relative before coming  to  the Lincoln Park shelter in June - a move  she  said "terrified" her.  Now,  grateful to have a place to stay, she  said  she  is  working  to  emerge  as swiftly as she can. 

"You just have to navigate yourself and stay  out  of  anything  that  isn't  productive, " she  said.  "This  is not a  spa -  I  am here to get myself back on track and do the things I need to do."

At  Matthew  House,   people  talked about  the deep need  for  respect  that  is often not met in the community at large.  

"I'm homeless but  I don't have  to act like I'm homeless - or be treated like I'm homeless, "   said  Gregory  Griffin,  55.  "When  we  leave  here,  and  this is my experience,  we get treated just like we're homeless. " 

Several  of  the  others  agreed  with Griffin  about  the  respect  received  at Matthew House,  but often not outside of those walls.  Clients also talked about the need for more jobs and the obstacles that can  stand between  them  and obtaining work. 

Stinson  mentioned  a  number  of employment-hindering  factors  that clients  at  Matthew  House  sometimes face:   ex-offender  status, disabilities  and past unemployment. 

"They're  basically  African  American males, "  she added,  motioning toward the men sitting at the table.   "I'm going to put it on the table. " 

Health  trouble  and  injuries  have  also taken tolls on the older homeless population. Christa Stauder,  a case manager at Deborah's Place,  is working with 52-year- old  resident  Mary Ann  Burkiet  to  find employment  and  to  obtain  disability assistance in the wake of an accident.

"At  this  point  it  has  to  do with  age, " said Stauder.   "The older you get,  the harder it is to find the energy to find a job. " 

Help  has  sometimes  emerged  unexpectedly  for  people  grappling  with homelessness,   in  ways  that  range  from the heart-wrenching  to  the bizarre.  The 57-year-old woman staying at the Lincoln Park  shelter  recalled  two  spots of kindness after she lost her job. 

During  a  medical  appointment,   the doctor  left  the  room and  returned with an  envelope.  When  she  opened  it,   she discovered $250 in food certificates and $250 in gas cards. 

"I just sat in my car and cried, "  she said.  "I  just  couldn't  stop  crying  -  I was  so overwhelmed with her kindness."  Later she received $150 from a priest. 

For the 54-year old man staying at the Lincoln  Park  shelter,   a  financial  break came in a stranger way,  and from a more massive source. 

"I  was  walking  through Wrigleyville and  a pretty gal came up  to me with  a yellow handbill and handed it to me, "  he said.  He  glanced  at  the print  just  as  he was about to toss it into the garbage and discovered an  invitation  to  try out  for a part as an extra  in  the Warner Brothers' film,  The Dark Knight.  He  snagged  the part,  playing  a hospital patient  dodging falling debris. 

That adventure won him three days of work for $320. 

But such chance events do not replace a firmer network of support services for homeless people who are older than 50, yet not eligible for Social Security or senior housing.  As Radner said,    "More people are finding a lack of a safety net. " 

For  an  aging  population  to  emerge from  homelessness,  say  those  close  to the  problem,   people  need  access  to something more stable than the kindness of strangers or  the bounty of very  large film companies.

To read other stories like this one, buy a copy of StreetWise.

August 25, 2008 - Convicted murderers serving  a life sentence would have a chance at parole under the terms of a bill now under consideration by a State House committee.  H.B.4154  would overturn a 1978 court ruling in Illinois that eliminated parole hearings for prisoners serving life.  The bill would also give prisoners over 50 who have completed at least 25 years of their sentence an elderly sentence adjustment.  Inmates on death row would not be eligible.

The House Committee on Prison Reform reviewed the bill for the first time last week just blocks away from an exhibit featuring the artwork of maximum-security prisoners, many who could benefit from the bill.  Light from Inside, an exhibit of over 150 art pieces from 51 Illinois inmates, opened two weeks ago at the Chicago Cultural Center and runs through Sept. 28.

The John Howard Association of Illinois , a prisoner advocacy group, organized the exhibit and strongly supports  the elderly sentencing reform bill.  "The value we see is in rehabilitation," said Malcolm C. Young, executive director of John Howard. 

"Criminals have problems and one of these problems is the inability to communicate," Young said. 

Eleen R. Arnswald, a 44 year old inmate of Dwight Correctional Facility and artist featured in Light from Inside, wrote in the description of her paintings: "I am beginning to understand the therapeutic effects of my artwork."

But a local victims advocacy group is skeptical.  "What about the victims?" asked Jennifer Bishop, founder of IllinoisVictims.org, a Web resource for victims and families of crime.

Bishop, 50, whose pregnant sister and brother-in-law were shot and killed in 1990 said she supports much of the John Howard prison reform effort, but objects to what she sees as a recent shift from prisoner's rights to sentence reduction.

If the bill would pass, the man convicted of murdering Bishop's family members would be eligible for parole in as little as 15 years. "It's not fair.  I would have to attend parole hearings every two years," Bishop said.

Janie Edwards, 62, is in a similar situation.  Sixteen years ago her son Jarrell was killed in a brutal attack in her home.  The convicted killer was sentenced to life.  His artwork appears in the exhibit.  H.B.4154 would make Jarrell's killer eligible for parole in the next 20 years.

When asked about this possibility, Edwards became silent before saying: "I would fight it tooth and nail." 

Though it may be years before the bill comes to a vote in the General Assembly, the wheels are in motion: "Someone's got to start it," Young said.