Loyola Dispatch Still Reprinting Articles

To make matters worse the portion of the story that they reprint is from the Sun-Times which is obvious retread of the paper (Chicago Tribune) that actually made the scene and took pictures.

Crime reporting in Chicago reads like stock reports. Grains were at blah blah blah but closed up at blah blah blah with brisk trading at the end of the day due to the worsening drought in blank.

At least we got some photos from the crime scene from the Chicago Tribune. Loyola Dispatch could've saved themselves a lot of time and just retweeted the original source.

If LSD really wants in on the crime beat hire an honest to god reporter/producer that goes to the actual crime and interviews people, takes photos. Or they could just leave it to the professionals and amateurs.

Anyone remember when LSD reprinted a Chicago Tribune article and tweeted it onto DNAinfo.com's Twitter Feed?

Crime Scene @ Touhy & Lakefront

5 shots at the Leone Playground and one man two men taken away by ambulance ten minutes ago. Cbs,Wgn, Nbc, Abc news vans on site.

Yeah not much info to be gained at a crime scene. Couple of cars on Sheridan slowed down to ask what happened. Bystanders relayed what they saw or heard. Bicycler slowed down to see what was going on, "Just another night in Rogers Park".  Chicago Scanner tweeted that the shooting took place at 1222 w Touhy. One Everyblock poster heard eight bangs, another thought it was seven.

Chicago Tribune reported that TWO men were shot. The 19 year old took one in right arm and abdomen and was taken to the nearest level one trauma St Francis. The 21 year old with the less serious bullet wound to the leg was taken south to the other level one Masonic. (Probably best to separate the two victims and to not overwhelm the trauma surgeons.) Police told the newsmen that the victims were gang members. Bill Morton was on scene and posted a couple videos of the immediate aftermath. Vito888@vito888 posted pics of the gang members being hauled away by ambulance. This all took place under a blood red moon (last photo, hard to capture with camera phone).

Touhy and Lake Michigan can be a dangerous place for warm weather cookouts and hangouts. May last year two men were hit by gunfire at a late night bar-b-q.

Last updated 8-31-15 8:05 am

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Fear The Walking Dead

Billboard 002992 has its own power supply, electric meter, and sidewalk. But good luck trying to cross the street. Walking around the east end of the sign the concrete path abruptly dead ends without a crosswalk. Which makes one question the very existence of the sidewalk.

If you missed the first episode (pilot) of Fear The Walking Dead last week you can catch up tonight on AMC before or after the second episode (so close, yet so far).

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Sol Cafe Parking By Sick

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September Jargowood Meeting

Shortest street in Rogers Park
now on Google Maps street view

Jargowood meets on the first Tuesday of odd numbered months - that will be Tuesday September 1.

Usual time and usual place

of note :  The RP Historic Society will have its annual housewalk (a fund raising event) in the Jargowood neighborhood including some of our neighbors in Sherwin Chase.....around Touhy Park.  Our neighbors have graciously offered to invite us into their homes and gardens - so check out the website.  Tickets are cheaper if purchased in advance and if you are a member of the Society.

That's One Sick Fisher!

Yesterday Sol Cafe regrammed Mr Fisher's newly completed "Big Fruit". Quite a statement at forty six by fifty two (and twelve deep). According to the regram it took almost a fortnight, one cherry picker and a ton of paint rollers. Mr Fisher gives thanks to the RPBA* for the commission and much thanks to the "ever powerful Simone Freeman and Sol Cafe". In case you have amnesia Sick Fisher's painting of Howard and Marshfield hung in Sol Cafe's window overlooking the same intersection almost two years ago.

Apparently the Howard "L" stop is the second busiest in the city. All those people staring into space (or into their phone) waiting for their train now have something else to think about. Whatever (last pic on link) was there before we'll never remember.

*Rogers Park has been quite active in the mural department of late. Monstruo (at the Dunkin Donuts lot on Clark) was just added to the long list of murals excellente in earlier this month.

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Block Party Today Ashland South Of Howard

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Free Movie Night @ Howard & Ashland

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Rogers Park Woman's Club

This might have been discussed already on Facebook or Everyblock but the Unification Church of Chicago is no more. The plaques were removed revealing the original purpose of this building (at the southeast corner of Estes and Ashland). (And remember no apostrophe in Rogers Park.)

Stephanie Barto posted to EB that the building was for sale 6/15/15. The Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society's page on the Rogers Park Woman's Club (which closed in 1996).  According to Coldwell Banker 7077 N Ashland was added to the multiple listings last November and is going for some six hundred and fifty thousands. More than double Zillow's zestimate.

There is parking reserved for pastors, the Korean name for the building is still up as is the HSA-UWC (short for Holy Spirit for Association for the Unification of World Christianity) Family Church signage. Inside is sparse. The let's keep God's house clean reminder is gone.

What will the next hundred years be like for the RPWC building?

Last edited 8/17/15 9:23 pm

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When buying and selling are controlled by legislators, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.

Hotspot Grill Still Coming Soon

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Some grand openings never happen; like the Mexican restaurant across the street. New signage on this grill to be is a promising sign at Marshfield and Howard.

New Construction With Old Trees

Kenmore south of Granville - Edgewater, Illinois

It would appear that the developer strategically planted trees as the land sat vacant for many years. Or they are simply taking advantage of what greenery exists. Either way this four story apartment building on Kenmore is unusual. Maybe this will start a new trend?

This foundation work began mid June. According to the advert there will be three and four bedroom units for let with two and three baths respectively. Four bedrooms are uncommon outside the university setting. So this undoubtedly is catering to Loyola students. It also boasts a roof top deck with lake views.

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7331 n Sheridan Rd - A Walk Through

Lake themed reminders for each level; umbrella, flip flops, light house, beach ball, sailboat. Fire extinguishers every fifteen feet. One electrical vehicle Charge Point station. A few spots for Zipcars. Zippy two door elevator. A tour de force for parking garage aficionados.

About 20-30 cars using the lot so far. Bare bones office. Video cameras every fifty feet. Credit cards only, thirty minutes one buck, one hour two bucks, two hours four, first twenty four hours eight bucks, overnight six bucks,

A tale of two garages....

Updated 8-13-15 7:10 am - Finally had time to upload pictures and review everything published this week. Chistreetblog showed how a parking garage is a great place for a peaceful self reflective bicycle ride. Parking garages are great places for photos and panoramic views. Happy to see Chistreetblog took some nice pics and video. Their other article earlier in the week was just a retread and used stock drawings. Otherwise there is Joe Moore's email blast.

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No Turn On Red @ Morse & Clark

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The Tree That Blacked Out Fargo

Com Ed and the city of Chicago did an excellent job attacking the devastation left in the wake of Sunday's microburst. Clear the thoroughfares, restore power, trim precarious limbs, and then chip the rest as time allows.

This what the tree looked prestorm. Not only did it knock out power but it took out the gutters and blocked the alley. Power was restored Monday morning.

Twitter served most excellently for neighbors to share pictures of downed trees, dented cars, damaged street lights, etcetera. Bill Savage wasn't in town but he asked a very good question. Did our two most famous trees (at Farwell Pier) weather the storm? Yes they did. Edgeglendaily.com published a tree casualty map. While incomplete it does catalog the major trees that bit the dust.

Last edited 8-6-15 9:59 pm

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Spectator Car

Joe Runge likes to race every single weekend. There are different levels of racing; spectator, late model and super late model. This is a regular full size car with the doors welded shut. The welding makes it more solid and less likely to fly apart. Contestants drive as fast they can without crashing in the qualifying rounds. The best times compete in the last race of the day.

Racers accumulate points during the season. The top five places get a small cash prize and bragging rights. That's Joes car up there. He wasn't racing seriously this past weekend but he drove well enough to qualify for pole position. Spending lots of time on the track and working with cars probably helped.

1313 w Morse - Rogers Plaza Demolition

Slant of wind on Sunday didn't impede progress on J. Pritzkers' construction site at Morse and Wayne come Monday. This former drive in emporium is doomed. It served as a repository for valet cars for the past few months. Earlier this spring a couple guys tried to repair their car in the parking lot. The authorities came by and then a couple of big puffs of smoke and they were gone.

Fresh water is being siphoned off from the corner hydrant to prevent explosions and fire. A chain link fence was erected on the north end of the property for safety. Reminding this writer of the mini-mall on California and Armitage. Strip malls are a poor use of urban land. They can look and function better than the typical Rogers Plaza type. They could even have two stories.

When 1313 w Morse is finished it will be two stories taller than the Wayne Senior building seen above. J. Pritzker didn't waste anytime getting started. Just over a month since the Mayne Stage conclave.

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The Day After The Storm

An unusually bright cheery day after the hail storm that crunched cars, toppled street lights, strong enough to blow over bus shelters and knocked out power to thousands. You start looking at trees different after so many split open, fell apart or ripped free from the ground. Why didn't those leaning trees fall over? Were those trees leaning like that before?  The endlessly useful Google maps street view answers that question. Yeah they were and the trees that didn't make it looked sturdy enough..

Cherry pickers with chainsaws and linesmen from Com Ed were all over Rogers Park today. The poor silver Nissan that got squashed at Ashland and Greenleaf was photographed by everyone. Rahm stopped by to talk to those affected by the storm, assess the damage, and take pictures with the public.

Apparently the mayor has a professional picture taker that will fulfill that need to have your countenance next to Rahmbo's. Yeah he's short. But he has charisma and that you don't want fu$k with me that radiates from his small frame.  Flanked by his security detail he walked toward Heartland Cafe where a Channel 2 news van waited to interview the mayor and do their report.

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Hail Storm Culls Rogers Park's Topiary

The storm started innocently enough. A drizzle and a cool breeze. The wind quickly accelerated coupled with a torrent. Cars in Edgewater waited out the storm under the Granville viaduct. Hail and straight line wind downed many trees. So many trees were blown over or snapped that some thirty eight thousand lost power.

It didn't last that long. The fast moving storm sure left a lasting impression. People returning home at night surveyed the damage. Scratching their heads in disbelief, snapping photos and hoping that their power was still on.

Traveling through Rogers Park Ashland was blocked south of Greenleaf and Greenview was impassable north of Greenleaf. Tree trimmers and Com Ed will be busy in Rogers Park, West Ridge and Edgewater.

Storms like these are tree killers. 75 trees were damaged or destroyed in Sundays brief but brutal storm according to DNAinfo.com. The bus stop at Morse blew over too.

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1313 w Morse & Brick Paved Wayne

In the foreground one of the last two way brick paved streets left in Chicago. In the background a vacant mini mall near the Morse "L" stop to be demolished later this year. Then an eight story 45 unit building with three floors of parking is going up.

What does this mean for brick paved Wayne? There will be construction traffic, then more cars coming to Rogers Park to visit and live. Will this investment and increased attention to Morse and Wayne benefit this rare brick paved street? Only time will tell. Money is being poured back into Rogers Park. It may not be Wilmette, Illinois (home to many restored brick roads) but its not too shabby.

If you haven't strolled by 1313 w Morse take a closer look while its still unfettered by construction. At the entrance to the mini mall you will notice three rows of horizontal bricks perpendicular to the rest of brick paved Wayne. Details like this help make the 6900 north block of Wayne a one of a kind Chicago treasure.