Residents of Chicago's 11th Ward were outraged upon learning that $57.4
million in property tax money was sitting in their tax increment financing
(TIF) districts' collective bank accounts at the end of 2011, according
to data unveiled by the CivicLab.
One resident suggested at least one
way that money could have been put to use at the CivicLab's TIF Illumination Project meeting Wednesday night.
Maureen
Sullivan with Bridgeport Alliance said she has been pushing the city to
renovate the Ramova Theater at 35th and Halsted streets for years, to no avail.
The city currently owns the property, which has been closed since 1986, Sullivan said.
“It
could be a thousand-seat performance space and the largest economic
generator on Halsted Street, and it's sitting there empty," Sullivan
said in remarks after the meeting, held at the McKinley Park
library. "And I'm so angry, because when I talk to the city, they dangle
(TIF) in front of you, like 'we may be able to get you some TIF funds
for this.'” Read more »
Chicago
fast food workers and advocates for a living wage protested outside a
downtown McDonald’s Thursday morning, demanding that the company stop
mistreating its workers. 
Environmental activists are pushing to stay involved during the remediation and redevelopment of polluted sites on
Chicago’s Southwest Side.