Pilsen
As community organizers and Pilsen area residents celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Saturday at Dvorak Park, they were also calling out increased property taxes that shocked residents last year when they received their tax bill.
Six months ago, artist Amanda Williams and a crew of volunteers planted the tulip bulbs to highlight systemic disinvestment. Now, the work, titled “Redefining Redlining,” is blooming.
The annual reenactment of the last days of Jesus Christ’s life has long drawn crowds. In its 46th year, organizers said attendance was higher than it had been even before the pandemic.
El Valor, a community organization on the Southwest Side, hosts regular events for parents to find what they need to care for a baby.
At a forum in Pilsen, both mayoral candidates vowed to revive the shuttered agency to improve air, water quality and enforce ordinances to bring polluters into compliance.
The city’s inspector general cited the Hilco smokestack demolition debacle as one of 11 “missed opportunities” where interdepartmental coordination could have been improved had a chief administrative officer been on the job — as is required under city code.
Small business owners who talked to the Sun-Times in 2020 share how, three years later, they’ve made it to the other side.
Following renovations, the pantry will open at 2124 S. Ashland Ave. this summer. Plans call for offering other assistance, such as help with utilities and home improvements.
Community groups and volunteers are stepping up to assist — and sometimes take into their homes — new immigrants seeking refuge around the Chicago area as shelters fill up and temporary housing spaces, including shuttered schools, spark controversy.
Casa Durango hopes to eventually house 53 families at two locations, part of an effort to stem gentrification in the area.
A protest Thursday downtown and workshop Saturday in Little Village are the latest in a series of actions to help homeowners save money and change the process that led to the increases.
Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) and Chris Taliaferro (29th) aren’t keeping their constituents safe, their challengers say. The data tells a more complex story.
They said Christian Acevedo was expelled earlier in the school year and had questioned one of the victims about gang affiliation before the shooting.
Dr. Aleta Clark brought the group, who normally live in tents in Pilsen, to stay at a hotel for a month. After the hotel canceled the reservations, Clark decided she would carry out a dream to open a transitional housing center.
“We currently don’t have a clear motive for why a 16-year-old would want to shoot and kill other kids,” Police Supt. David Brown said. “It’s unconscionable, as you can imagine, trying to find some reasoning behind it.”
The Resurrection Project is seeking a zoning change to allow a seven-story building with 98 units on Ashland Avenue, across from Benito Juarez Community Academy.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez is concerned about a series of problems at the car-shredding operation. The fire started Saturday in a pile of scrap. No injuries were reported.
Weeks after a shooter opened fire outside of Benito Juárez Community Academy, leaders in the school and the community worry the mass shooting will overshadow strides made throughout school’s storied history.
Celso Dionicio Ignacio, 50, began volunteering during the pandemic and soon became the face of the pantry. He died Saturday.
After the Cook County Board of Review granted appeals to businesses downtown, the property tax burden shifted to Pilsen residents who fear they could lose their homes and businesses.
A UIC chemist calls the analysis from air monitoring around Sims Metal Management problematic, providing “no useful information for many important pollutants.”
A group of men who normally live in tents in Pilsen got two nights in hotels to help them through the freezing winter storm, courtesy of Aleta Clark. They enjoyed some warmth and also a trip to the movies.
Most of those who spoke at an emergency meeting Thursday night said having police officers patrol campus will not make the school safer after CPS students Nathan Billegas, 14, and Brandon Perez, 15, were killed last Friday as classes let out.
A lot at 18th and Peoria streets, vacant for more than 20 years, has long been the focus of affordable housing advocates. A new round of developer proposals will be sought next year.
Gathering outside the school, activists offer $2,000 for information on gunman who killed 2 and left 2 wounded, saying police presence could have prevented the attack.
Police also released photos of a person wanted for questioning in the fatal shooting Friday afternoon at the Pilsen high school.