Big changes for city council

Long-time aldermen are calling it quits, dreaming of running for mayor or running for cover from their constituents

08/25/2010

Next year, the Chicago City Council will be different. Jerry Morrison, Executive Director of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), foresees a turnover of 15-20 aldermen, the largest in modern political history. New aldermen with different bases of political support will create a new council.
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Meet a Chicago butterfly saver

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum works to expand rare and endangered populations

08/18/2010

Not all of the butterflies in the breeding program at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum are endangered. The Gorgone Checkerspot isn’t considered endangered, yet it has only a few populations in the Chicago region. Vincent Olivares, 31-year-old butterfly conservator at the Notebaert, protects endangered butterfly populations in Illinois through breeding programs and opens people's eyes to the importance of some of earth’s tiniest creatures - insects.
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Fourth Presbyterian unveils new addition

Plans met with applause at community meeting

08/18/2010

Fourth Presbyterian Church will soon construct a sleek new addition to the storied gothic campus with the green courtyard at Michigan and Chestnut. The church’s development team and Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) introduced the planned expansion to general applause at a community meeting held Tuesday night.
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Job seekers change up

Economy pushes their 'offices' from coffeeshops to libraries

08/18/2010

A change in scenery, it is said, can help change a person’s outlook on life. More Chicago residents have embraced this mentality fully -as high a level of joblessness continues they exchanging comfortable seats at the local coffee shop for library cards and the free Wi-Fi.
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Police urge caution after Lincoln Park attack

08/18/2010

Police officers are asking Lincoln Park residents to take extra precautions following an attempted criminal sexual assault that occurred on August 8. At 11 a.m. that day, police say a women was entering her apartment building in the 2000 block of N. Sheffield.
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Good ideas out of nowhere

Heart of the 'hood

08/18/2010

When Kathy Posner decided to support independent Scott Lee Cohen for governor, she held a Meet and Greet at her magnificent Mag Mile condo, which I decided to check out. I was curious why Posner, who I know is a staunch Republican, would support an independent. Besides that, I was pretty sure I knew Cohen’s older brother, Randy, from my disco dancing days at Frankenstein’s — a Far North Side bar.
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Chicago bike sharing program arrives

Stations at Hancock Tower and the park district's headquarters

08/11/2010

Last Thursday, after a two-hour excursion, Jared Mullendore and friend Melissa Siewe rolled their rented bikes into a B-cycle station at the Hancock Center, having finished a little pleasure riding to the beach and a trip to nearby shopping districts. Some kinks are still being worked out, but city dwellers and tourists alike have started riding through lakefront neighborhoods using bikes rented from a new bike sharing program that launched on July 30. Read More...

Alderman Vi Daley will retire

Contenders for 43rd Ward seat ready their campaigns

08/11/2010

Concluding more than a decade of leadership in Lincoln Park, Ald. Vi Daley (43rd) announced last week that she will not seek re-election to city council next year. Instead, Daley will step down at the end of her current term, when a new alderman is sworn in next May.
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Second TIF injection for WaterSaver

Commission OK’s $5.2M for 45,000 square foot addition to West Erie facility

08/11/2010

The city’s Community Development Commission Tuesday signed off on a second dose of subsidies toward an expansion plan for a River North faucet manufacturing company.
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A tale of two mansions

Heart of the 'hood

08/11/2010

The trouble all started a couple of years ago when George Giannoulias started building his four-story home at 21 E. Cedar St., next door to Dr. Gordy Siegel and his wife Clary’s circa-1891 house at 25 E. Cedar, a place where Frank Lloyd Wright once lived.
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