From the grounds up

Lakeview's Heritage Bicycles General Store strikes a balance for cyclists

02/01/2012 10:00 PM

Mike Salvatore carries a lot of titles these days: local business owner, returning Chicagoan, and — perhaps with a slight wince — a self-admitted bike snob. “It comes off so wrong, it’s not really what I mean,” he said. “It’s an intimidating culture if you’re not part of it — and to clear the air, I’m friends with a lot of the so-called bike snobs,” he said. His Bowery Lane Bikes an online bicycle manufacturer launched in 2008 and has caught its stride selling handmade, simple models reminiscent of a time before speed frames and double-digit gear systems. (No Comments) Read more...

Wheels for the city

Newt Cole of Lake View and Nicole Ruiz of Ravenswood Manor relax at Heritage Bicycles, which also boasts a coffee shop.
J. GEIL/Photo Editor

Chicago Park District reveals final plans for North Grant Park redo

Skate park, ice skating ribbon, climbing wall highlight features at new park

01/27/2012

The far north end of Grant Park is set to be completely torn up next fall, and this week the Chicago Park District unveiled the final plans for the massive rebuild. The new park will replace the rigidly structured, concrete-heavy Richard J. Daley Bicentennial Plaza with a more pastoral park featuring winding paths connecting wide lawns and hills with active areas.
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Target makes inroads to Cabrini

Big box retailer gives land to Chicago Housing Authority that could go to public housing

02/01/2012

Plans for a Target store in Cabrini-Green are falling into place as the retail giant recently anted up its half of a land-swap agreement with the Chicago Housing Authority.
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Skip a sonnet and go for a bonnet

Heart of the 'hood

02/01/2012

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and once again stealing my heart with one of her unique and beautiful hats is milliner Sonia Caceres. I love checking in with Caceres to see what’s new, because her one-of-a-kind headgear is always brimming with amazing creativity. Caceres’s latest creation is an original-design, Valentine red wool hat, inspired by the flirty fashion of a roaring ’20s flapper girl.
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Death comes to town

The Cultural Center explores the intersections of art and death

02/01/2012

Richard Harris deals in death. The art collector and dealer has amassed a mammoth collection of art and artifacts exploring the iconography of death and mortality. The selections are astonishing — 1,500 works stretching the length of recorded history, from a carved jade skull dating to 2000 BCE China to works by contemporary artists and photographers.
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