Chicagotalks » Uncategorized http://www.chicagotalks.org Community & Citizen journalism for your block, your neighborhood, our city Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:31:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Jones College Prep Readies for Longer School Day /2012/02/26/jones-college-prep-readies-for-longer-school-day/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2012/02/26/jones-college-prep-readies-for-longer-school-day/#comments Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:48:11 +0000 Maxi Masangkay /?p=20254 Members of the Jones College Prep community look ahead to find productive ways of using the extra 90 minutes planned to be added to CPS’s current six-hour school day. CPS plans to extend school hours starting in the 2012-2013 year. The longer school day will help students perform better in their studies, graduate from college and be prepared to work, according to a press release issued by the school district. In a street poll on Jan. 30, Joseph Powers, principal of Jones College Prep in the South Loop, said he favors extending school hours. He said that students’ performances will be better if they are in school longer. “We’re going to provide students with additional supports and interventions targeted for students that have specific needs, things like writing lab and math workshops,” said Powers. The school will run on a block schedule if everything goes according to plan, he added. “The schedule we’re looking at would be periods one through four one day, the next day periods five through eight and period eight would be our academic lab period,” said Powers. He added that the block schedule is something the school has been looking at for several years. According to Powers, [...]

Jones College Prep Readies for Longer School Day

]]> /2012/02/26/jones-college-prep-readies-for-longer-school-day/feed/ 0 Vinyl Records Are Cool Again /2011/12/29/vinyl-records-are-cool-again/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/12/29/vinyl-records-are-cool-again/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 06:00:52 +0000 Aspyn Jones /?p=18729 The needle scratching on an album, freshly plucked from its sleeve used to be something only the older set enjoyed. But not anymore. Vinyl record sales are on the rise, and Val Camilletti, owner of Val’s Halla Records, located in Oak Park, has an explanation as to why vinyl is suddenly all the rage again. “The major media just caught up,” she said. “This has been happening now for over the last two or three years.” Fellow record store owner Morry Barak of Favorite Records, in Wicker Park, attributes this spike to the death of digital. “I think people just are rejecting music in general of today,” said Barak. “There’s not a really good way to sell it, downloads are a weird, intangible thing.” Vinyl isn’t just limited to your mom and dad’s old Rolling Stones or Al Green LPs—or long-playing microgroove record, another name for vinyl. A wide variety of artists, both young and old, are on album covers. But exactly why would someone want to hear the new Feist album on a turntable when one can easily illegally download the album?  “More people are being accustomed to the analog sound,” said events coordinator Ami Gloria, 38. “It’s richer; got a [...]

Vinyl Records Are Cool Again

]]> /2011/12/29/vinyl-records-are-cool-again/feed/ 3 Chicago Ukrainian Overcomes the Odds /2011/12/28/chicago-ukrainian-overcomes-the-odds/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/12/28/chicago-ukrainian-overcomes-the-odds/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:00:41 +0000 Michael Sandler /?p=18705 Inna Zaborenko knew she had to get her family out of Ukraine. The married mother of two lived in Kiev, a city just over 90 miles away from the epicenter of the Chernobyl disaster. An explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in April 1986 released a large amount of radioactive material into the area. The explosion devastated the area and caused sickness, death and deformity amongst Ukrainian’s population. “Children were born with square heads,” she said, describing babies in Ukraine born after the disaster. In 1988, Zaborenko’s son was approaching his 18th birthday and would be required to enlist in the Russian army for two years of service. She said the Russian army was horrible, and she didn’t want her son to enlist. A friend’s son had recently died while serving, supposedly from pneumonia. But when her friend picked up her son’s body, army officials wouldn’t let her open the coffin. Her friend insisted upon seeing her son’s body and opened the coffin. “He had been beaten to death with shovels,” Zaborenko said. After a cousin who lived near Chernobyl died of leukemia, Zaborenko had enough of tragedy. In December 1988, she applied for and received permission to leave [...]

Chicago Ukrainian Overcomes the Odds

]]> /2011/12/28/chicago-ukrainian-overcomes-the-odds/feed/ 0 Breaking the Silence of Domestic Violence: A New Me Foundation /2011/12/27/breaking-the-silence-of-domestic-violence-a-new-me-foundation/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/12/27/breaking-the-silence-of-domestic-violence-a-new-me-foundation/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:36:21 +0000 Janelle Dukes /?p=18726 Felicia Simpson said she was 24 when a boyfriend threw a beer bottle at her and broke her nose. The relationship started as a typical love story, said Simpson. They had grown up only one block away from each other. When she first saw Juan, she was instantly attracted to him. She flirted. They exchanged numbers, but it wasn’t until the next year that they actually began to date. She said she liked his work ethic and how caring he was toward his son. The most important thing to her is that he accepted her two children from a previous relationship, she said. “Whenever we would go somewhere, he always invited my kids,” said Simpson, now 31, from the South Side of Chicago. “He never excluded them, and I saw him as a father figure for them.” He was willing to provide for the children, and she thought that also set him apart from other men. “He always made sure we were taken care of before he ever bought anything for himself,” said Simpson. Then one day during an argument, Juan threw the Corona bottle. The next day he came to the hospital with flowers, crying and apologizing for the [...]

Breaking the Silence of Domestic Violence: A New Me Foundation

]]> /2011/12/27/breaking-the-silence-of-domestic-violence-a-new-me-foundation/feed/ 1 Portraits, Books, Ornaments: Just In Time for the Holidays /2011/12/19/portraits-books-ornaments-just-in-time-for-the-holidays/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/12/19/portraits-books-ornaments-just-in-time-for-the-holidays/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:00:15 +0000 Jena Moore /?p=18538 Lots of people have heard of poetry slams — but what about a portrait slam?  The Chicago Cultural Center hosted Portrait Slam! last weekend to showcase the talents of artists with disabilities. Customers could buy portraits for as little as $20 in the slam, which was organized by Project Onward.  “I can almost promise I can make you look 100 times better than any celebrity,” said Andrew Hall, one of the artists who was completing portraits. “I have two appointments and have completed two walk-in portraits already.”  The slam is held several times a year and affords artists an opportunity to sell their work, earn money and interact with their customers.  About 15 artists were available for walk-in, original portraits at the event. Artists’ works were displayed at tables to give customers examples of portraits for sale.  “We usually do Portrait Slams every couple of months,” said volunteer worker Jaimee Schueller. “It’s a really good way for us to help the artists interact with people and show off their talents.”  Portrait Slam! events were created by Project Onward in 2009 after the recession made it more difficult for people to sell their artwork. The founders of the program, Mark Jackson [...]

Portraits, Books, Ornaments: Just In Time for the Holidays

]]> /2011/12/19/portraits-books-ornaments-just-in-time-for-the-holidays/feed/ 0 Occupiers Allegedly Sleeping At Area Businesses /2011/11/18/occupiers-allegedly-sleeping-at-area-businesses/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/11/18/occupiers-allegedly-sleeping-at-area-businesses/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:00:56 +0000 Tyler Davis /?p=17960 Members of Occupy Chicago are frequenting downtown shops and restaurants to use restrooms and to even sleep, according to local business employees.

Occupiers Allegedly Sleeping At Area Businesses

]]> /2011/11/18/occupiers-allegedly-sleeping-at-area-businesses/feed/ 1 CHA, Mt. Sinai Explore Swap Agreement /2011/11/15/cha-mt-sinai-explore-swap-agreement/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/11/15/cha-mt-sinai-explore-swap-agreement/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:00:15 +0000 Yari Osborne /?p=17886 A symbiotic relationship between the Chicago Housing Authority and Mt. Sinai Hospital Medical Center could mean more jobs and housing for CHA residents, as well as a new hospital building for Mt. Sinai.

CHA, Mt. Sinai Explore Swap Agreement

]]> /2011/11/15/cha-mt-sinai-explore-swap-agreement/feed/ 0 47th Ward Residents Voice Concerns About Libraries, Police Cuts at Budget Town Hall /2011/11/07/47th-ward-residents-voice-concerns-about-libraries-police-cuts-at-budget-town-hall/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/11/07/47th-ward-residents-voice-concerns-about-libraries-police-cuts-at-budget-town-hall/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:00:24 +0000 Ellyn Fortino /?p=17594 More than 60 North Side residents upset with Mayor Emanuel’s proposed 2012 budget--which includes cuts to close the city’s $600 million shortfall--attended a budget town hall meeting sponsored by Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) at McPherson Elementary School last Wednesday evening.

47th Ward Residents Voice Concerns About Libraries, Police Cuts at Budget Town Hall

]]> /2011/11/07/47th-ward-residents-voice-concerns-about-libraries-police-cuts-at-budget-town-hall/feed/ 0 New Proposed Initiative Would Ban Plastic Bags In Chicago /2011/11/03/new-proposed-initiative-would-ban-plastic-bags-in-chicago/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/11/03/new-proposed-initiative-would-ban-plastic-bags-in-chicago/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:17:48 +0000 Yari Osborne /?p=17586 Plastic bags in stores larger than 5,000 square feet would be banned under an initiative proposed Wednesday by Ald. Joe Moreno (1st).

New Proposed Initiative Would Ban Plastic Bags In Chicago

]]> /2011/11/03/new-proposed-initiative-would-ban-plastic-bags-in-chicago/feed/ 0 Vacant Ravenswood Hospital to be French Private School /2011/09/16/vacant-ravenswood-hospital-to-be-french-private-school/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2011/09/16/vacant-ravenswood-hospital-to-be-french-private-school/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:53:18 +0000 Ellyn Fortino /?p=16216 The Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved a proposal to build a new French multicultural and bilingual private school in Ravenswood Thursday. With the commissioners’ approval, Lycee Francais de Chicago (LFC), a preschool-through-12th-grade school that has operated in Chicago for 17 years, is set to relocate from its leased property at Irving Park Road and Lakeshore Drive, to a permanent location at 4550 N. Winchester Ave.—currently the home of the former Ravenswood Hospital that has been vacant for over a decade, said the project’s attorney Jesse Dodson of the law firm DLA Piper at the commission meeting. More than 600 students are currently enrolled at LFC—40 percent of those students are French or French American, 50 percent American and 10 percent international–representing 35 different nationalities, said the school’s President Alain Weber. “We are helping to bring international talent to our city,” Weber said at the meeting. The new five-story school building, slated to be completed in early September 2015 and costing around $33 million, will be a “very open” design featuring lots of glass, which will allow people to see straight through the building to classrooms and the protective courtyard in the center of the school—the main feature of the design, [...]

Vacant Ravenswood Hospital to be French Private School

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