Ending hate, one show at a time

Heart of the 'hood

11/30/2011

A couple of months ago, my youngest daughter, Andie, came home visibly upset. "Mom," she said to me, "You would not believe what this girl said to me at work." Andie, who is 21 and half-Jewish, had been approached by a co-worker who came up and declared, "The only thing I hate worse than blacks is Jews." My daughter was totally flabbergasted, as she has been raised as I was, that there are good and bad in every kind.
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Photos: Occupy Chicago on the LaSalle Street bridge

11/23/2011

Web Extra! Slideshow
Protesters from various labor and community groups rally on LaSalle Street on Thursday, Nov. 17. The group, which was part of the national "occupy" movement, took over the LaSalle Street bridge over the Chicago River during rush hour.
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Lathrop Homes redo gets going

As North Side public housing complex’s rehab plan is formed, community remains skeptical

11/23/2011

Last week, a group of around 300 residents and community organizers gathered at the New Life Lakeview church in Hamlin Park to kick off the upcoming redevelopment of the Julia C. Lathrop Homes, a 75-year-old public housing complex on the city’s North Side.
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New booze tax goes down rough for Chicago

Duties on alcohol from Cook County jump 50 percent next year

11/23/2011

Bar and restaurant owners in Chicago say the effects of a recently approved alcohol tax increase could reach beyond the city's hospitality industry. Last Friday, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed its $2.94 billion budget for next year.
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Near North tutor gets golden results

11/23/2011

Mendacious. If you don't know the meaning of that word, then you are not smarter than a third grader. Well, not smarter than the two third graders I met recently at The Reading Clinic, 538 W. Menomonee St.
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Brizard prepping longer school day model for expansion in Chicago

Chicago schools chief wants more gym, end to homeroom

11/16/2011

Chicago Public Schools Chief Jean-Claude Brizard and Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis seem to have found some common ground in CPS's extended school day push. Brizard and Lewis were at odds over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's accelerated push to tack on an extra 90 minutes to the school day for elementary school students.
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Top cop defends Chicago police consolidations

Police Superintendent McCarthy says more than just money motivating change

11/16/2011

Chicago Police Department Supt. Garry McCarthy met with residents from the 19th and 23rd districts earlier this week to hash out Mayor Rahm Emanuel's designs to merge the area’s police stations.
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Community praises revised plan for 410 E. Grand

Unaffordable housing

11/16/2011

Plans for a two-tower development at the corner of Grand Avenue and McClurg Court are pushing ahead after the project's developers dropped an unpopular design for affordable housing in favor of medical office space.
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Counting the days for charity

Heart of the 'hood

11/16/2011

There are so many ways - big and small - to give this holiday season. I like presents that give twice, or even more, like the Calendar Raffle for Kids, a fundraising effort from the sale of a 2012 calendar highlighting stories of kids whose lives have been forever changed by the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and Children’s Memorial Hospital.
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A formula for success in Chicago's schools

Leadership, teachers, curriculum are the key ingredients, Brizard says

11/16/2011

There's a trifecta, Chicago Public Schools Chief Jean-Claude Brizard says, that leads to great schools - leadership, teachers and curriculum. Brizard spoke with Chicago Journal’s editorial board last Thursday about his vision for creating those great schools. Chief among them was establishing a longer school day, an initiative already begun in 13 CPS elementary schools.
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