City faces challenge developing vast vacant lots

The Home Front

02/22/2012

It’s leap year 2012, a time to take a leap forward to look at the challenge Chicago faces in the future of developing its vast supply of vacant land. One of the great questions Mayor Rahm Emanuel faces is what to do with the ever-growing real estate wilderness — Chicago’s vacant lots.
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Watch heist

02/15/2012

Burglars pulled a smash-and-grab at a Streeterville watch shop on the morning of Feb. 13. At around 7:30 a.m. that day, officers responding to an alarm call arrived at the OMEGA Boutique store, 909 N. Michigan Ave., to find the shop’s front window shattered.
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Rescues of the Week

02/15/2012

Caylee is an adventurous 1-year-old Boxer/Beagle mix that loves to play with both people and other pups. Caylee came to PAWS Chicago after she was abandoned by her previous owner. She is looking for a family that is spunky and energetic as she is. Caylee loves to run and play in the dog park, fetch tennis balls and chew on her Kong toys. She excels in her current obedience class and likes to snuggle at the end of a busy day. Caylee is looking for a loving family and a place she can call home.
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Church burglarized twice

02/15/2012

On the early morning of Feb. 10, a worker at a construction site on the property of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, 65 E. Huron St., arrived to find that an unknown offender had gained entry to the site sometime during the previous evening and taken several items from the premise, including a laptop computer, a scanner, a printer and electrical clamp tester. The employee said that the items had been kept in an enclosed office and that the perpetrator had apparently pried open the door to the building.
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A year of kindness

Chicagoan sets out to do good, one day at a time

02/15/2012

Ryan Garcia is standing at the corner of State and Madison with a huge smile on his face and one last paper valentine left in his hand. The 30-year-old Gold Coast resident has spent the breaks in his work day passing out valentines to complete strangers with the hope that his small act of kindness will inspire Chicagoans to pay it forward.
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Chicago Lights farm could go to market

Fourth Presbyterian hopes to raise cash while keeping the Cabrini farm open

02/15/2012

Citing financial needs for an expansion project at its Gold Coast headquarters, the Fourth Presbyterian Church is weighing fundraising options that could include selling off its Chicago Lights Urban Farm to an agriculturally-minded buyer.
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All hyped up

Some protesters and business leaders downplay early forecasts for disaster at G8/NATO summit

02/15/2012

As Chicago collectively gears up to play host for the G8 and North Atlantic Treaty Organization summits later this spring, idle talk of how the globally-watched events might play out in the white city has ranged from brassbound optimism to survivalist warnings.
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Kids nabbed after violent robbery

02/08/2012

Police tracked down several young people in connection with a violent robbery which occurred in the late hours of Jan. 31. At 11:51 p.m. that evening, police arrived at the first block of West Elm Street where a 22-year-old woman stated that she had been attacked and robbed by three people who were later identified to be two 14-year-old boys from Chicago and a 17-year-old girl from Woodstock, Ill.
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Love songs soar on Valentine's Day

Heart of the 'hood

02/08/2012

Here’s where I’d love to spend my Valentine’s Day, a place that is near and dear to my heart, the Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark St.
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Winter greens

In the lean and chilly months, Lincoln Park's Green City Market expands

02/08/2012

Last Saturday morning, Rene Gelder stood behind her produce stand in the back corner of the large khaki-colored tent at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. A few last customers perused the table and made their purchases, while a man holding a canvas shopping bag stopped to pick Gelder’s brain on some nuanced topic regarding apple harvests.
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