Blackhawks gear seems to suddenly be everywhere in a city starved for a winner. Chicago sports fans have seen just one Super Bowl champ since that game’s inception in 1967. Since 1918, Chicago’s two baseball teams have combined to win exactly one World Series. Only the Bulls have fielded consistently dominant teams for any extended period in recent years, winning six NBA titles during the Michael Jordan–era(s), though it’s been ugly since his departure.

The Blackhawks last won the Stanley Cup in 1961, but the team has recently captured the hearts of local sports fans, many of whom seemed indifferent just a few short years ago. The Hawks ranked next-to-last in the league in attendance in 2006-07, but they’ve drawn the most fans during the last two seasons. From the national anthem on, the United Center is a loud and raucous arena, which may bode well for the Hawks, who have home-ice advantage in the series.

This is the Blackhawks’ first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final since 1992. The Hawks advanced by sweeping San Jose to win the Western Conference title. They will have had six days to rest and prepare for the Philadelphia Flyers, who beat Montreal in five games.

Head coach Joel Quenneville replaced Hawks legend Denis Savard just four games into the season last year.  At the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final media day, Quenneville, famous for his intimidating, icy glare and thick mustache, seemed both modest and appreciative of just having the chance to coach this particular team.

“I think as a head coach you always dream about the position we’re in,” Quenneville said. “You always love to, at the beginning of the season, you hope you envision yourself in this position as well. But I felt very fortunate to be here in Chicago last year at the right time, at the right moment of having a young group and a special opportunity.”

Modest or not, Quenneville led his team to the Western Conference finals a year ago, and the Blackhawks were even better this season. “Coach Q” has brought out the best out in young stars Jonathan Toews, 22, and Patrick Kane, 21.

Six Blackhawks, including Kane and team captain Toews, played for their countries in the Winter Olympics. Toews said the pressure and intensity of representing a hockey-loving country like Canada, “where it means the world to every single Canadian across the country to win a gold medal,” was good preparation for the post-season.

Jonathan Toews (photo courtesy of Chicago Blackhawks)

“It’s something that you want so bad… dealing with that pressure, dealing with everything that goes on off the ice, it’s very comparable, and that experience definitely helps you to learn how to bring your best game at this time of the year,” said Toews, who played with Blackhawks teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook for Team Canada at the Vancouver Olympics.

Only three players have won both an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup ring in the same season, according to the NHL. With a series victory, the Blackhawks could double that total.

Toews enters the Stanley Cup Final with a franchise record 13-game post-season point streak. The Blackhawks have also received stellar post-season performances from forward Dustin Byfuglien and goaltender Antti Niemi.

Niemi began the season splitting time with Cristobal Huet, but he’s emerged as a star this spring.

“I think after the first games, I’ve gotten more and more comfortable and confident playing,” Niemi said. “I don’t know if I’m surprised, but I think I’ve been really playing at the top of my game.”

As good as the Blackhawks have been, they know better than to underestimate Philadelphia. The Flyers have made an unlikely post-season run after having to win a shootout on the last day of the regular season just to get into the playoffs. Philadelphia later became just the third team in NHL playoff history to come back from a three game deficit to win a series, stunning Boston with four straight wins in the conference semifinals.

Blackhawks right wing Adam Burish said both teams are coming into the series expecting to win. “It’s going to be mean; it’s going to be nasty; it’s going to be hard,” he said. “It’s the Stanley Cup finals… it doesn’t matter who you’re playing against. This is it.”

The puck drops for Game 1 at 7 p.m. Saturday, and Game 2 is scheduled for Monday evening at the United Center. The Blackhawks would also host Games 5 and 7 in the best-of-seven series, if needed. The games will be televised by NBC (WMAQ-TV 5 locally) and cable station Versus, and all games can be heard on WGN-AM 720.

Hear from Burish and Toews in this report from WBEZ-FM Chicago Public Radio.

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No one would assume that Mabouc was separated from his family when he was five years old in Sudan as people were dying all around him, or that he spent three years walking from war-torn Ethiopia to Kenya or that he was educated in a refugee camp, but that is how this well-dressed man spent his formative years.

Quiet, calm and slightly reserved, the handsome, dark-skinned Mabouc was very composed as he talked about the long journey that led him to Chicago.

Running for their lives

He was playing in a field with other kids from the Sudanese village of Kongor when his life was forever changed. Sudan has been ravaged by civil war more than once, and as Mabouc played with other village children, the war exploded into his life and separated his family. Tanks rolled into the area as shots were fired randomly and homes were set on fire.

“People were running in different directions,” Mabouc said. “Some of the children like myself were out playing in the field. We ran away from the fights in another direction.”

That group of people would keep running — running for safety, running for their lives. “We walked for several months,” Mabouc said, before the group ended up in a refugee camp in Ethiopia.

“In the camps, a lot of people had no parents,” including Mabouc. “We were put in groups,” he said. “Kids whose parents were unaccounted for were taken care of by the U.N. We were in camp for three years until war broke out in Ethiopia. We [then] walked for three years to Kenya.”

Mabouc said the group walked mostly at night, often setting up day camps in the forest, hiding for their own safety, as the various military groups who destroyed their village and many others would look for people in the daylight. Not everyone survived the long and treacherous journeys to Ethiopia and Kenya.

“Food was whatever we could find… leaves, anything,” said Mabouc. When asked about the availability of water, he said there was “not very much. If there were no rivers around, people would go without or drink whatever we could find… ponds, rain.”

Mabouc and the survivors among his group eventually arrived in northern Kenya, at a United Nations refugee camp in Kakuma. Mabouc said supplies were nearly always low, as the camp was built for a limited number of people, but continually received an influx of refugees, from Rwanda, the Congo and Somalia, as well as other refugees who had been forced to flee from Sudan.

Mabouc spent more than a decade in the camp. He said the camps had schooling set up for kids in kindergarten through high school. While Mabouc was educated in the camp, he got the chance to participate in drama.

“We did a bunch of plays,” he said. “We had professional writers who would write stuff, and we would perform them. We participated in national competitions in Kenyan schools.”

In the camp Mabouc learned English, which is taught in Kenyan schools. His native language is Dinka.

Throughout the long journeys to Ethiopia and then Kenya, and for much of his childhood, Mabouc did not know what happened to his family or even if they were alive. He left his parents and two older siblings behind when his village was raided.

Finally, in 1996, still not yet a teenager, Mabouc learned of their whereabouts. His family ended up in a camp in northern Uganda. The Red Cross had a system in which representatives went from camp to camp in an attempt to document the location of refugees in order to reunite families. Though he was not able to rejoin his family, Mabouc was able to see pictures of them.

Mabouc had some contacts with uncles and cousins who had been together since their arrival in Ethiopia, but through the efforts of the Red Cross, he learned that he now had four younger siblings. For the most part, the refugees in the camps and the people who had made the journey from Sudan to Kenya had become Mabouc’s family.

“I was able to connect with some family members… uncles and cousins. But mostly [it was] the guys. We were together since Ethiopian camp… we were together; we got to know each other. We were the family,” Mabouc said.

Brought to America, receiving little government help

In 2001 as part of a special program set up by the United Nations and the U.S. State Department, Mabouc was brought to America. He was 17 years old when he arrived in Syracuse, N.Y., that August. The group of refugees was settled in various locations in the U.S. and Canada and became known as “The Lost Boys of Sudan.” The group has since been documented in books and films.

Through the program that brought Mabouc to the U.S., he was set up in an apartment in Syracuse for three months. After that, it was up to him to pay rent and support himself.

The refugees received very little government support. They were assisted by some case workers, volunteers and community organizations. Syracuse doesn’t have a strong public transit system, so refugees like Mabouc were very dependent on the community organizations for rides to stores for groceries and basic supplies.

“Especially in the winter, it was very hard to get around,” Mabouc said. “I worked very hard to get my license,” which he received in 2002.

Mabouc’s struggles and the minimal amount of government support he received upon arriving in America are typical of what all refugees must deal with, though Mabouc at least knew English, something many refugees do not, according to Vanessa Parra, a spokeswoman for Refugees International.

“[Refugees] don’t have a lot of resources,” Parra said. “Each situation is very unique. It is very hard for people when they come here. It’s every kind of culture shock you can imagine.”

Mabouc was eventually able to speak with his mother on the telephone. At first, she didn’t believe it was really her son. He was also able to speak with his younger siblings for the first time.

“It’s very hard to establish that relationship on the phone with someone you’ve never met,” said Mabouc. “It’s hard to put your mind around a sibling you’ve never physically met.”

Moving to Chicago, making a difference

Mabouc moved to Bourbonnais, Ill., to study sociology at Olivet Nazarene University. Mabouc and other refugees face the same difficulties in paying for college as American citizens, including having to fill out the dreaded FAFSA financial aid application forms and relying upon student loans.

Mabouc later moved to Chicago, where he worked at the Pan-African Association. His job there was to help refugees and other immigrants from all parts of Africa.

Organizations such as this are essential to refugees, as government help is very limited in its scope. Assistance often comes from faith-based organizations, such as Catholic Charities, whose spokeswoman Kristin Ortman said creating self-sufficiency among refugees is their most important goal.

“I think the number-one issue is employment,” Ortman said. “Many times our staff and our many volunteers are able to offer job training and assistance in finding a job. So often [refugees] have many talents and job skills that they learned in their country. Our goal is to help them achieve self-sufficiency as soon as possible.”

Catholic Charities’ Refugee Resettlement Program helps refugees with basic life skills, such as learning how to navigate the public transportation system and how to operate basic equipment in their apartments. Their organization receives some government funding, but relies heavily on donations and the work of volunteers.

“I worked as a tutor for a family from Sudan, and they were very grateful to receive assistance from a local parish who found them and had taken them under their wing,” said Ortman.

Mabouc is still adjusting and settling into American life, living in Albany Park with two roommates who are also from Africa. His time at the Pan-African Association helped him meet people from all parts of the African continent.

Mabouc enjoys basketball and football, having attended a Notre Dame football game last fall and Chicago Bulls games in the past. He likes to play dominoes at home and listen to reggae music in Chicago bars and music venues. He recently started a new job for an organization that provides assistance to people in need in Chicago, though he asked that his new employer not be named, as he was unsure of their media policy.

Sowing the seeds of hope

Mabouc has had the opportunity to speak to various groups about his life’s journey. It was through a speaking engagement to a continuing education class of teachers studying genocide that he first met Oak Park teacher Karen Tokarz.

Moved by what she’d heard, Tokarz invited Mabouc to speak to students at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School in Oak Park, where he made quite an impression on students and teachers alike.

“We were all in tears,” Tokarz said of hearing Mabouc’s stories. “Watching friends get eaten by crocodiles or having worms in your feet because you have no shoes… it’s heart-wrenching… it’s an unbelievable story of inspiration, an unbelievable story of survival.”

Tokarz said part of what amazes her about Mabouc is how he has coped with “not having the nurturing of [his] parents.” She noted that as the Lost Boys were re-settled in different cities all over America and Canada, “it was sort of an abandonment all over again.”

Though Mabouc said he “likes Chicago as a city,” he is no fan of winter weather. And despite his success at becoming self-sufficient in this country, Mabouc still thinks about going home and helping the people of his village.

He is volunteering his time with the Oak Park school district and working with Tokarz on her school’s “Exchange of Hope” program, in which students from Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School participate in a cultural exchange with sometimes impoverished or underprivileged students in other countries. They recently started a program in which the students will connect and share ideas with new friends in Southern Sudan.

Tokarz also said each of the ten schools in the Oak Park school district will be raising money to help Mabouc fly to meet his family in Uganda and then check out the conditions in his homeland in Southern Sudan. (Donations can be made to the Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School Service Learning Club.)

Mabouc hopes to raise awareness of the situation in Southern Sudan. The people in his home village have farmlands to return to, as property rights are ancestral-based and very important to the people of his region, but right now they lack the equipment and tools to work the land, leaving them financially unable to leave refugee camps and move back home.

“What I can really emphasize is to support the programs and to get to know the situation,” said Mabouc. “Any sort of small help can make a big difference. Getting a hoe or a rake to clear your land is a big deal and can save lives. People don’t have money to buy these things.”

In addition to the Exchange of Hope program, Mabouc is helping to develop a non-profit group called “Tools of Hope” to help families such as his be able to return to their homes and farm their land. He said he hopes Tools of Hope’s website will be live soon.

“He’s such a peaceful person,” Tokarz said of Mabouc. “He’s always just happy that he has another day. He’s not living with any kind of wealth. He’s dying to get back there and see his family and help Southern Sudan.”

For now Mabouc works hard at his new job, while dedicating what time he has to helping his native village. For the most part, he is too busy to dwell on the journey that brought him to Chicago, but he does recognize the struggles he has endured and survived.

“It’s tough, but I’m still alive. That’s the most important part.”

See also: Lost Boys of Sudan in Chicago, Exchange of Hope: Southern Sudan

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Feb. 25, 2009 – Tens of thousands of Illinois students who maintain a “B” or better grade point average could receive scholarships covering the costs of college tuition and related fees under legislation introduced to the Illinois General Assembly, though opponents of the legislation say it’s too costly.

Though it’s unclear whether the proposal — House Bill 0079 — will survive a hearing in the Higher Education Committee, scheduled for 4 p.m. today, and be voted on by the entire House of Representatives, its sponsor wants the legislature to make college more affordable for the more than 800,000 students who attend school in Illinois, many of whom struggle to pay for college, but don’t qualify for government grants or scholarships.

“Middle-class students sometimes get squeezed,” said Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), the assistant majority leader and bill sponsor. “My goal is to create a program to help people in the middle… people who don’t get much elsewhere. We want to reward hard and good work.”

Lang introduced the legislation last month. The bill, titled the “Higher Education Scholarship Act,” sets state residency standards and requires students to achieve and maintain a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, while maintaining full-time status of 30 or more credit hours per school year.

Students at the state’s nine public universities on 12 campuses and 48 community colleges would receive a scholarship covering tuition and “approved mandatory fees” not covered by other grants and scholarships. Tuition at public schools in the state ranged from about $6,000 per school year at Governors State University to just over $11,000 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007-2008.

Students at the state’s 132 private for-profit and not-for-profit colleges and universities would receive an amount towards tuition and mandatory fees not to exceed the amount specified by the Higher Education Assistance Act, which designates $5,468 for fiscal year 2009 and adds an additional $500 for 2010.

At least one lawmaker said the state, with a budget deficit nearing $9 billion, simply can’t afford it.

“It sounds good in theory,” said Rep. Mike Bost (R-Carbondale). “To apply this in higher education, you could break the bank when we’re already broke.”

Lang admits the state’s current economic situation is the bill’s biggest obstacle.

“Economics in the state are in a dreadful place,” Lang said. “We could pass it and put it on the books, but it would be delayed until we can pay for it.”

Lang said perhaps money for the bill — whose cost the lawmaker couldn’t estimate — could come from the federal stimulus package, a potential increase in state taxes or cuts to other areas of the state budget.

The lawmaker acknowledges the first estimate was “astronomical,” however students are required to go through the financial aid process to be eligible, and this scholarship would supplement other grants, not replace them, “which will reduce the cost.”

A program in Georgia, which awards $3,500 Hope Scholarships to students who maintain a “B” average, cost that state $452.2 million in 2008-2009 and had nearly 193,000 recipients.

Undergraduate students in Illinois received nearly $3.9 billion in financial aid dollars during the fiscal year 2006-2007, about $560 million of which came from the approximately $51.5 billion state budget in fiscal year 2007, according to data published by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Rep. Mike Boland (D-Moline), one of the bill’s chief co-sponsors and chairman of the House’s Higher Education Committee, said he knows the expense of paying for college.

“I had a real struggle to get through school,” Boland said, noting it took him seven years to get through college, as he alternated between classes and jobs as a factory and construction worker, a custodian and “whatever I could get.”

“By being able to get through college, I was able to be a teacher,” Boland said. “I feel like I did something worthwhile.”

Boland said college graduates earn more money, pay more in taxes and “contribute more to society.”

Lang said the state would benefit from the bill in many ways.

“We have a brain-drain in Illinois. Some students never come back,” Lang said. “The idea is to keep the best and the brightest here to help Illinois.”

Data released by the Illinois Board of Higher Education shows over 24,000 “first-time students” left Illinois to attend an out-of-state institution in the fall of 2006.

The proposed bill would enable some students from out-of-state to also receive scholarships by establishing residency in the state and attending an Illinois college or university.

This isn’t the first time a bill like this has been introduced to the General Assembly.

Both Lang and Boland expressed optimism that the Higher Education Scholarship Act might pass this time.

“If it gets to the floor, I feel confident it would pass,” Boland said.

But Bost doesn’t think that will happen.

“I’ve always been opposed to it,” said Bost, a member of the Higher Education Committee that will consider the bill today. “You’ve got to weigh out the whole proposal, the whole cost. It’s more out of reach than before.”

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Feb. 11, 2009 – College students from low-income households stand to benefit most from the educational provisions in the economic stimulus package, but paying for college will remain a daunting task for many Illinois families.

The House of Representatives’ version of the economic stimulus package designates $15.64 billion for Pell Grants, with an additional $1.47 billion in “recovery funding” for the need-based scholarships, for the next two school years starting this fall.

The Senate version calls for less money, but students who qualify for the maximum Pell Grant award would likely see a $400 to $500 increase in the size of their annual grants in the compromise legislation that could be worked out yet this week.

Financial aid experts agree an increase is long overdue.

“It’s the biggest jump we’ve had on Pell Grants in some time. This is a decent jump,” said Bob Anderson, associate director of financial aid at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Anderson said the approximately 10 percent increase would be far more than the “1 percent or less” rise seen in recent years.

While he welcomed an increase, Anderson said the additional funds for Pell Grants wouldn’t help everyone.

“It’s a pretty small percentage that would be helped. We have about 28,000 undergrads and about 5,000 get Pell Grants,” said Anderson.

Currently, the minimum Pell Grant awarded is $400, while the average grant awarded in fiscal year 2008 was $2,945, according to the U.S. Department of Education website.

The House version would increase the maximum Pell Grant award by $500 to $5350 per year in 2009-2010 and up to $5500 the following school year, according to Melissa Salmanowitz, press secretary for the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said helping families pay for college is “critical” right now.

“With high college costs already making it harder for young Americans to earn their degree, the economic recession has further increased that burden. By increasing funding for Pell Grants… and expanding the Higher Education tax credit, the economic recovery package will help students pursue their dream of a college education,” said Titus in an emailed response from her chief of staff.

“It’s wonderful for a low-income family,” said Gerrie Hatten, assistant director of financial aid at Cal Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif. “It’s not really built for middle-income families.”

Many students seem resigned to working and borrowing their way through school.

Cara Boldarini, a senior art history and women’s and gender studies major at Roosevelt University in Chicago, said she has “over six figures out in loans right now.” She’s working two jobs “just to pay my rent.”

Boldarini said she has never qualified for a Pell Grant.

Neither has Mackenzie White, an advertising/art direction major at Columbia College Chicago.

“If I could get any money, it would make a difference for me. I have a job, but any money would help me out because Starbucks is my only form of income. The rest is loans. It sucks to be middle class going to college,” said White.

Although the increase in Pell Grants funding won’t affect the majority of college students, there are aspects of the stimulus package, formally called the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” that could help ease the burden of paying for school.

One financial aid expert points to an increase in the amount of the Hope Scholarship tax credit as a means of assistance.

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the student resource site FinAid.org and author of two books on financial aid, said both the House and Senate version of the stimulus package calls for a $700 increase in the tax credit, from $1800 to $2500 per student per school year.

“Low- and middle-income families will benefit from this tax credit, which is the same regardless of income,” said Kantrowitz.

He said families of college students can “actually get a refund for part of the credit. Normally, a tax credit can only offset a tax liability.”

Anderson pointed to an increase in funding for college work-study and an increase in unsubsidized loans as being of some assistance to students from middle-income families. Anderson said increasing the amount of unsubsidized loans students can receive is important because “alternative or private loans are drying up all over the place. They’re difficult to get right now.”

Most students who qualify for Pell Grants come from households with a family income “under $50,000,” Kantrowitz said.

In her experiences working with families and students in the financial aid realm, Hatten said, “College seems like a big stretch for most families.”

“No matter how big the Pell Grant gets, it’s just a drop in the bucket. A Pell Grant won’t solve someone’s financial aid issues,” Hatten said. “Loans allow the government to support a wider range of families. Of course everyone would rather have a grant.”

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Dec. 24, 2008 – Looking to save money and increase efficiency in the way minority and women-owned businesses secure contracts, Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman (17th) proposed eliminating a county department earlier this month.

Gorman’s move to approve two ordinance amendments that would eliminate the county’s Department of Contract Compliance elicited a request for a roll call vote from Commissioner William Beavers (4th), and later in the board meeting Gorman agreed to send her proposals to a committee for further study.

The Cook Country Department of Contract Compliance certifies Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MBE/WBEs) and ensures all county purchases meet the county’s requirements on working with MBE/WBEs.

Gorman’s proposal would have made the county’s purchasing agent assume the office, duties and staff of the Department of Contract Compliance.

“That’s like having the fox watching the chicken,” Commissioner Earlean Collins (1st) said during the Dec. 3rd meeting. “I’m sure no one is thinking about what it does. There are questions.”

Cook County has a long history of struggling to meet its goals in awarding contracts to women- and minority-owned businesses.

In 1988, the county adopted its MBE/WBE ordinance to ensure “full and equitable participation.” The board amended it in 1993 to set specific participation goals in construction contracts, and in 2001,  the ordinance was declared unconstitutional.

After the amendment on construction contracts was declared unconstitutional, there was a drastic drop in the number of MBE/WBE contracts, leading commissioners to order a review of the bidding processes in 2005.

The results of that review were presented in July 2006 in a report that showed “extensive evidence of discrimination” in the awarding of construction contracts, causing the board to re-vamp the process.

As part of a November 2006 ordinance, the Office of Contract Compliance was directed to oversee the process, with its director reporting to the board president.

At this month’s meeting, Commissioner Mike Quigley (10th) suggested Gorman’s proposals be sent to the Contract Compliance Committee, leading Gorman to withdraw her motions before a vote was taken.

“I was trying to get the pulse of the board,” Gorman told her fellow commissioners. “My intent is to keep opportunities alive for minorities and women, but to make it fair and equitable.”

Quigley said while “there’s some need for consolidation in the county,” he warned that incorporating one department into another doesn’t necessarily reduce the size of government. He said the commissioners “might do this if the board can save time and money.”

After the meeting, Gorman said she wants to “streamline” the process and save the county money. She’s not sure exactly how much money such a change could mean for the county’s financially strapped budget.

Gorman pointed to other government entities, including the city of Chicago and Orange County, Calif., which have one department performing the functions of both the Office of Contract Compliance and the Office of the Purchasing Agent.

“There are many errors that occur with the contract compliance offices,” Gorman said. “The vendors get qualified, and they’re not able to get the business they should. It ends up costing us money.”

She defended her proposals, saying they would actually create more opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses.

“We’re not looking to hurt women or minority businesses, we’re looking to help them – to get them business, to get them the opportunities,” said Gorman, who called her proposals a “positive change.”

Betty Hancock Perry, the director of the Office of Contract Compliance, did not respond to requests for comment on possible changes to her department.

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Dec. 16, 2008 – Baseball season may be nearly four months away, but Wrigleyville rooftop owners are among the Lakeview businesses looking to cash in on the first hockey game ever played at Wrigley Field.

Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) last week paved the way for rooftop owners by introducing an ordinance that would allow fans to view the game from the rooftops on Waveland and Sheffield avenues overlooking the ballpark.

The New Year's Day game will feature the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the Detroit Red Wings in a rare outdoor event the National Hockey League calls the "Winter Classic."

Calling it a "historic game" and "a real spectacle," Larissa Tyler, executive director of the Central Lakeview Merchants Association, said businesses hope for a rare January infusion of cash into the neighborhood.

"Winter is usually a bit of a lull," Tyler said. "It's going to be very — extremely — positive for the neighborhood, especially for businesses on the north side of Clark Street."

In what she calls a "lowball" estimate, Tyler said each attendee in the sold-out ballpark, which holds 41,160 fans, is projected to spend at least $30 in the neighborhood, which would include parking, food, drinks, and any souvenirs and shopping.

That would mean the neighborhood could rake in more than $1.2 million in sales in one day, and that estimate is based just on the projected spending of fans inside Wrigley Field, not including fans on rooftops and in neighborhood bars.

Although the full City Council needs to vote on the proposal that won unanimous support Dec. 10 from the Committee on License and Consumer Protection, rooftop owners have already been cashing in, as rooftop ticket sales began even before the 15 "official rooftop partner" buildings had permission to commercially operate Jan. 1.

"Ticket sales are going very well," said Patricia Purcell, director of rooftops for Beyond the Ivy, which takes care of sales for the buildings located at 1010, 1038 and 1048 W. Waveland Ave.

Purcell said the three buildings hold a total of 400 fans. Tickets on those buildings are selling for $400 apiece.

Sales are also brisk at 3639 Wrigley Rooftop, according to Steve Alexander, the building's director of events, who says he's been getting calls from many out-of-town hockey fans.

"Being a big hockey guy, getting calls from Boston or New York or any of the original six [hockey franchises in the National Hockey League], that's pretty cool," Alexander said.

Both Alexander and Purcell said they have received many calls from Canadian fans hoping to view the outdoor game at the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

Alexander said 3639 Wrigley Rooftop is charging $275 per ticket. Fans can view the game from a heated, tented area; an indoor club; or on top of the building in the elements "depending on their tolerance."

While the game is officially sold out, tickets inside the ballpark are also available through a variety of ticket services and brokers.

Fan-to-fan ticket service StubHub, with a pick-up office just north of Wrigley Field, has tickets ranging from $225 to $10,000 as of Monday.

Wrigley Field, built in 1914, hosts 81 regular season baseball games a year. Although the ballpark was also home to the Chicago Bears football team from 1921 to 1970, New Year's Day will mark the stadium's debut as a hockey venue.

The Chicago Blackhawks, averaging 21,475 fans per game at the United Center, will nearly double their average attendance at the Winter Classic.

Tunney's proposed exception to the Wrigley Field Adjacent Area Ordinance re-defines "game days" to include the hockey game on New Year's Day. Tunney said the ordinance exception was required due to agreements worked out between the City Council and the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field dating back to the installation of lights in the neighborhood ballpark in 1988.

Neighborhood issues, such as parking regulations, clean-up efforts and traffic control, are major concerns for the neighborhood, which Tunney said "is not interested in 365 days of activity."

"These are negotiated agreements that require community involvement," Tunney said. 

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Oct. 30, 2008 – Thinking they could cast a quick vote over their lunch hour, many Chicagoans working Downtown are finding the same unwelcome sight they hoped to avoid on Election Day: long lines.

Standing outside the Cook County Administration Building Wednesday at 69 W. Washington St., home of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and one of the 51 polling places open for early voting, Justin Rosier and Meara Ryan looked perplexed.

Asked if they voted, Rosier said, “Not yet. That was the plan.”

The pair met up to vote over Ryan’s lunch hour, but the winding line of potential voters in the lower level — numbering dozens — discouraged her.

While Ryan said her reason for trying to vote early was “more about convenience,” Rosier had other reasons.

“We’ve already decided on our candidate, so what difference does it make? It’s a show of support for the candidate,” Rosier said. “And I thought I would beat the lines.”

Thursday is the final day of the early voting period, which began Oct. 13.

Jim Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, said the final two days of early voting were expected to be the busiest yet. He  said he expected 25,000 to 30,000 votes each of these final two days.

Allen said more than 200,000 ballots were cast by the end of voting Tuesday. On average, approximately 3,000 people are voting per hour. He expects that by the time early voting ends at 5 p.m. Thursday, “upwards of 240,000 Chicagoans” will have taken part in the process, which would “triple the record set in January.”

This election season has already set records in terms of participation. On Wednesday, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Chicagoans cast early votes, a record-breaking single day turnout since early voting began in Illinois.

The previous record was set just the day before — Oct. 28th — when 22,800 Chicagoans showed up to cast their ballots. By the time early voting ends, officials expect nearly 17 percent of the estimated 1.5 million Chicago voters predicted in total this year to have already cast their ballots.

This is the sixth time voters in Chicago have been able to cast their votes before Election Day, a process that has been in place since the 2006 primary election. Since then, Allen said early voting has “gained widespread acceptance among the voters.”

Early voting, said Allen, “benefits the more organized campaign.”  As of Oct. 26, the board had identified 21 percent of early voters as Democrats and only 15 percent as typically Republican voters. The board based these designations on how each person voted in the last three primaries.

Allen added that the largest turnout has been in the city’s 42nd Ward, which includes Wicker Park, West Town, Streeterville and the Gold Coast. There, the large turnout has been “driven largely by younger voters,” or voters between ages 18-34, he said.

The high early voting turnout rate in Chicago mirrors what’s happening nationwide. States are seeing record-breaking turnouts, according to data provided by the Early Voting Information Center, a non-partisan academic research center.

Allen said there have been a few complaints from voters who have “shrugged off 20, 30, 40-minute waits,” but in general, he said voters have been “very patient, very enthusiastic.”

Kenny Kirkendall didn’t have time to wait over his lunch break, but that wasn’t going to stop him from voting early.

“You go down one escalator and come right back up another,” he said after seeing the line. “I’ll probably try to go to one of the libraries. I don’t want to fiddle around with Election Day.”

Some voters decided the chance to vote early was worth the wait.

Dana Blumthal smiled as she waited in line. She is an Obama volunteer with previously scheduled plans on Nov. 4. “I’m going to be helping out after work on Election Day,” she said, adding she would be helping with the Grant Park rally the Obama campaign has planned for election night.

While a record number of people are voting early, some traditionalists will wait until Nov. 4.

“There are people who feel as if Election Day is the time to vote,” said Michael Mezey, a political science professor at DePaul University. “Voting is a rite… it’s a ritual. It’s something one does on Election Day.”

Dimitrios Kalantzis contributed to this report.

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Oct. 1, 2008 – After her removal as a teachers' representative on a local school council (LSC), a veteran educator with over two decades of experience wants answers.

Sonia Flores said that on Sept. 5, she was called out of her sixth-grade classroom at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy and summoned to the assistant principal's office. There, in front of the principal, the assistant principal and six other LSC members, a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) official told Flores she was being replaced on the council. Flores is questioning the reason for her removal, the method by which it happened and asking to be reinstated.

Flores, who has taught for 25 years at the West Side school in the Little Village neighborhood, pleaded her case to the Chicago Board of Education last Wednesday at its monthly meeting. She asked for a "clear explanation for why this action was taken and why the action was handled in a manner that disrespects my service and reflects poorly on the ethics and the professionalism of your office."

Flores was one of 11 members of the LSC representing Maria Saucedo, having joined the council in June. Local school councils at each of Chicago's public elementary schools consist of the principal, six parent representatives, two community representatives and two teacher representatives. Teachers at Maria Saucedo selected Flores to represent them, having done so previously six years ago, when she served a two-year term.

The two community representatives on Maria Saucedo's LSC are both related to Flores: her sister, Mayra Bravo Gonzales, and her mother, Lourdes Bravo Flores. Flores mentioned this to the board, a fact which Board President Rufus Williams confirmed, though he offered no other comment.

Patrick Rocks, who serves as general counsel to the board, said he would look into the matter and the treatment of Flores, telling her "we will get back to you quickly with answers."

Neither Jose Alvarez, who serves as the district's director of the Office of the Local School Council and Community Relations, nor Abundio Zaragoza, who delivered the letter notifying Flores of her removal, returned phone calls seeking comment.

However, the CPS website explaining LSC elections mentions a "non-binding advisory poll of faculty and staff," the results of which "are sent to the Board, which will approve two teacher representatives to each LSC."

The website says relatives of the principal are not eligible to serve on an LSC. However, there is no mention of restrictions or limitations on the number of related family members eligible to serve together on a local school council.

An official from an educational advocacy group was not surprised to hear about Flores being removed.

"This has been happening on a regular basis with teachers' representatives," said Wanda Hopkins, an assistant director for Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE), an organization founded during the school strike in 1987, which provides assistance and information to parents on educational issues and offers training for local school council members.

"When a person runs and wins it means their peers think they are the best person for the job. The principal could believe this person will be a thorn in their side," said Hopkins. She said principals communicate with the board, and a principal could be against a teachers' representative for any number of reasons.

"It could be that the principal's contract [renewal] is coming up, or they just don't want to deal with them. They'll say it's just not a good fit. Of course, they will deny all of this," said Hopkins.

The principal of Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy said she didn't know Flores was being replaced until it happened.

"I was informed the same day and hour [as Flores]," said Principal Leticia Gonzales. "I have to enforce and respect the principles given to me." She declined to elaborate further on the issue.

Flores said she suspects she was removed because the principal's contract is up for renewal.

Local school councils monitor the principal's performance, evaluate the principal using a board-approved evaluation form every year and determine whether to renew the principal's contract every four years based upon the evaluations.

Flores refused to discuss Gonzales' performance as principal or offer any specifics. "I don't have a problem with her. The only thing I can say to be ethical and fair is some of the things that are happening are not going well. I am concerned with the environment, tension going on at the school and the happiness. Right now I'm not in a position to go into more detail."

Flores, who said she's been teaching at the K-8 school since 1983 through three different administrations, did say "the environment of the school is not what it used to be."

Gonzales, in her fourth year as principal, refused to speculate on the reasons for Flores being replaced on the LSC. She said "there are so many beautiful things happening" at the school, noting the high percentage of students exceeding state standards on ISAT composite scores. She said the school, located at 2850 W. 24th Blvd. in Chicago, is filled predominately with Mexican-American and black students who "are doing wonderful."

In 2007, over 80 percent of Maria Saucedo elementary students met or exceeded state standards in math and science, while 78.3 percent of students achieved composite ISAT scores which met or exceeded state standards. This is up from 64.1 percent in 2004.

For now, Flores will continue teaching and hoping the board will reinstate her to the LSC.

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The proposal, if it wins approval by the full council, paves the way for Frank Pressel to convert his 2-story, single-family home in the 6000 block of North Hermitage Avenue into a 4-story unit, which he plans to use for both residential and commercial purposes.

Pressel and architect Jesse McGrath of McGrath Architects, P.C. unveiled drawings of the proposed structure, which they plan to make eco-friendly.

After the vote, Pressel, a fireman who dabbles in development and real estate, said being “raised by hippies” helped inspire him to incorporate “green construction” into the project.

McGrath, whose firm specializes in green residential design in Chicago, said he plans on helping Pressel achieve a “three-star” rating in the Chicago Green Homes Program, a voluntary program that certifies environmentally-friendly construction.

McGrath will help design wall systems, with heavy insulation built in, along with tight seals on all windows and doors, which will help make the building energy efficient. That should save Pressel and others who work or live in the renovated building money on utilities, while reducing pollution and ensuring healthy indoor air.

Long-term plans for Pressel’s building call for solar panels and wind turbines. If the plans win full council approval, Pressel and McGrath hope to work with George Sullivan, whom McGrath said is “bringing to the U.S. the most recent solar panels and wind turbines from Japan.”

The cylindrical turbines likely to be used are approximately 2 feet by 4 feet and designed to go on top of residential and commercial buildings, McGrath said.

Pressel’s building plans call for eight residential units, six of them with two or three bedrooms, and one small commercial space, along with 12 parking spots.

Pressel presented three letters of approval, including one from Ald. Patrick J. O’Connor (40th).

“The alderman was concerned with the approval of the neighbors,” said Pressel, who added that he sought the input of locals at O’Connor’s request.

“Sure, everyone loves green,” said Pressel. However, his eco-friendly design plans didn’t matter much to his neighbors. They were more concerned with how the new building and its residents would affect parking and traffic in the North Side neighborhood.

Pressel said only a small amount of space will be used for commercial purposes, and that neighbors seemed satisfied that there would be enough parking.

Being a local boy didn’t hurt, either. Pressel believes he “swayed them in my direction because I grew up in the neighborhood.” He has lived in his current home in Edgewater since 1999, and his grandparents bought a house about a block away in 1950. Pressel’s mother lives there now.

One of Pressel’s neighbors did question his commitment to the environment. “You’re getting rid of your yard — that’s not green!” the neighbor told him.

Pressel said in this case, “being green means more density, which is better for the city as a whole.” Having a multi-unit residence prevents suburban sprawl. Besides, Pressel said “a backyard really isn’t that green.”

Still, Pressel has more work to do. “My next challenge is to get it financed,” he said.

The demonstration is part of Latina’s “war against racism and hatred.” The group is led by two women with much in common – Elvira Arellano and Flor Crisostomo. Both women are Mexican mothers with children born in the U.S. who sought sanctuary at different times in the Adalberto United Methodist Church on Chicago’s West Side.

On the one-year anniversary of leaving the church and being deported, Arellano spoke via videotape from Mexico, while her son Saulito watched from the church’s front pew.

“We must demand an immediate moratorium on all raids, deportations, incarcerations and separation of families,” said Arellano, in a translated transcript of her comments distributed by the church.

“The millions who are here are here to feed their children,” said the Rev. Walter Coleman. “They have suffered only because governments have not found a way to fix a broken system.”

The church is currently providing sanctuary to Crisostomo, a 29-year-old mother of three. Coleman called her “a young woman picking up the torch.” She spoke at the church Friday, wearing a fuchsia beret and brown scarf, as did a group of eight women, some of whom appeared to be as young as teenagers.

Spokeswoman Emma Lozano, the legal American guardian of Saulito Arellano, said fuchsia was a strong, feminine color while brown represented “the brown people and the land where they have worked.”

Some activists who want stricter enforcement of U.S. immigration laws are angry about the tactics Arellano and Crisostomo have used.

“There is a proper procedure for entering our country,” said Rick Biesada, leader of the Chicago Minuteman Project. “We’re being invaded by the country of Mexico. It’s a drain on our economy. It upsets the average American worker.”

Biesada said the Chicago Minuteman Project is not about racism or hatred, but rather protecting the Constitution, the nation’s laws, and its national security. He understands why families want to come to America and says he “can’t blame them for coming here, but you still have to obey the law. People are demanding the enforcement of laws.”

Biesada has little sympathy or patience for the impact that deportation has on a family. “They should have thought about that before entering the country,” he said.

“I think it’s disgusting that parents would do this,” said Jeff Schwilk, founder of San Diego’s Minutemen group, noting that illegal immigrants facing deportation are given the option of keeping their families together when they are deported.

The Minutemen often monitor the U.S./Mexico border with binoculars and notify authorities when they see suspicious behavior.

Latina will travel to Pennsylvania to attend a preliminary hearing for three white teenagers accused of murdering Luis Ramirez, a Mexican immigrant who was beaten to death in the town of Shenandoah. Latina also plans to hold a press conference in Philadelphia.

They hope to recruit a million Latinas, as they push for immigration reform and the re-negotiation of NAFTA in the first 100 days of the next Congress.

“Legal immigration works,” said Schwilk. “Our lifeboat is full.”