South Side residents unveiled plans for new sidewalks, a community
garden and other infrastructure needs to be created with Ald. Leslie
Hairston's (5th) $1.3 million in “menu money” at the ward's final participatory budgeting expo.
The projects are set to go up for a community vote next week.
Aldermen
typically decide how to spend their pot of discretionary funds for ward
improvements like fixing potholes and adding street signals, but
participatory budgeting puts the decision-making process in the hands of
the community.
"With your voice and your help, not only do you
get a better understanding of how much things cost and what it takes to
get a project from conception to completion, but also, I think, it helps
to walk down the street and see a light post and know that you had a
part in putting that light post there," Hairston told a few dozen
residents at the expo, held at the Catholic Theological Union over the weekend. Read more »
With a little more than a month remaining in the spring legislative
session in Springfield, advocates for Illinois children say it's
important to understand the factors driving the state's fiscal year 2014
budget debate and what can be done to help avoid damaging cuts to
education and other critical programs. 
Residents of the 8th congressional district are terrified that their
Social Security and Medicare benefits are going to be cut, U.S. Rep.
Tammy Duckworth (D, IL-8) said after an hourlong meet and greet with
constituents in Elgin this weekend.
Rogers Park residents gathered for the final installation of the 