Explore | Progress Illinois

Quick hits | All dates | All authors

All categories

Quick Hit

by Ellyn Fortino

2:32pm

Tue May 14

1 comment

Chicago's 4th Ward Residents Call For More TIF Transparency, Accountability At Town Hall Meeting

The 11 tax increment financing, or TIF, districts in the 4th Ward took $5.6 million in property taxes from those living within the boundaries in 2011, the CivicLab revealed at TIF town hall meeting Monday night.

Four of those districts fall nearly 100 percent inside of the ward and had extracted about $42 million from property taxpayers since the start of the TIF program back in 1986 through 2011, said Tom Tresser, co-founder of the CivicLab and leader of the of volunteer-based TIF Illumination Project.

Monday’s TIF town hall was the CivicLab’s eighth community meeting. Tresser and other “TIF illuminators” are holding meetings across the city in an effort to raise awareness about Chicago’s economic development program. The CivicLab's project sets out to find what wards are TIF "winners" or "losers."

Craig Coleman, a 10-year resident of the 4th Ward, said Monday night was the first time he heard exactly how much property tax dollars local residents had kicked into the program. He raised concerns about the TIF program’s lack of accountability and transparency.

“I think it’s money off the books that should be put back on the books,” Coleman said in remarks after the meeting, held at Room 43 in Kenwood. “How do you change it, and does your alderman control this or ... who controls the law to change this? When it’s time for the mayoral elections, does it get swept under the rug like everything else?”

Quick Hit

by Ashlee Rezin

12:23pm

Tue May 14

Abercrombie & Fitch's 'Exclusionary' Size Policy Draws Criticism, Triggers Protest (VIDEO)

The Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s “exclusionary” policies are perpetuating a culture that over-emphasizes the importance of thinness and acceptance, according to a group of approximately 20 protesters who took their message to Chicago’s Water Tower Place Monday afternoon.

“Abercrombie & Fitch represents what’s wrong with our society because they are emphasizing ‘you have to look this way or you can’t wear this; you have to have washboard abs’ and many people end up feeling inferior and bad about themselves,” said Dr. Maria Rago, a clinical psychologist and vice president of the Naperville-based National Association of Anorexia Nervosa (ANAD).

Quick Hit

by Ellyn Fortino

10:06am

Tue May 14

Illinois Senate May Vote On Comprehensive Sex Ed Bill This Week

A state measure that looks to revamp sex education in Illinois’ public schools was approved in the House last month and could possibly go up for a full Senate vote this week.

The bill, HB 2675, would require schools with sex education classes for grades 6 through 12 to stress abstinence, but also incorporate contraception into the discussion. Schools would also be required to provide students with information on how to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Under the measure, schools currently teaching sex education would also have to adopt medically-accurate and evidence-based information into lesson plans.

As it stands now, those components are not part of the Illinois School Code related to sexual health education, said Joy Messinger, deputy director of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health.

“That piece is extremely important,” Messinger said. “We believe, and we know based on lots and lots of research, that abstinence-only until marriage education is ineffective, and it often presents an inaccurate view of sexual health.”

Quick Hit

by Ashlee Rezin

5:57pm

Thu May 9

Education Arts Non-Profit Could Play A Role In Easing The Transition For Students Affected By CPS School Closures

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has asked Changing Worlds, a non-profit arts and education organization with a presence in schools across the district, to consider offering programs that will support welcoming students in schools slated for closure.

“This has had a dramatic impact on many communities,” said Mark Rodriguez, executive director for Changing Worlds, regarding a CPS proposal to close a recordbreaking number of schools across the city.

With 11 of Changing Worlds’ 32 school partners included on CPS’ proposed list for school actions, Rodriguez said the program is in dialogue with district officials regarding ways Changing Worlds can soften the blow to affected students.

“We’re trying to support the young people and help provide solutions and programming that will help schools that are welcoming new students,” he said, adding that Changing Worlds has provided testimonials and letters of support for several of the schools slated for closure. Read more »

Quick Hit

by Ellyn Fortino

5:31pm

Thu May 9

1 comment

IL Senate Committee Passes Legislation For State-based Health Insurance Exchange

The Illinois Senate Insurance Committee passed a measure Wednesday that looks to establish a state-run health insurance marketplace for small businesses and individuals as part of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Some health care and consumer advocates are pushing for a state-based insurance exchange, but questions still remain on how to make the marketplace the best it can be.

"We're walking into a new territory. We haven’t been here yet," said Brigid Leahy, director of legislative affairs at Planned Parenthood of Illinois. "But at least we know that if we're running things at the state level, we can fix things, we can make them better, we have better control over making sure that it works for consumers. If it’s in the hands of the feds, we don’t have that power."

Quick Hit

by Ellyn Fortino

2:50pm

Thu May 9

Lisa Madigan, Female Leaders Discuss The Political 'Year of the Woman'

Hemlines, husbands and hairdos.

Despite this year being coined the "Year of the Woman" by some political pundits, those characteristics continue to define women seeking a run for public office or who are already in power, said Bev Perdue, former Democratic governor of North Carolina.

But as America's demographic profile continues to shift, and as today's young women enter the workforce, bias against female politicians will eventually dissipate, Perdue added.

"I think you're going to bring about all this change we've been fighting about," Purdue said at a Women In Politics panel discussion at the University of Chicago (U of C) Wednesday evening. "I'd like to live long enough to see a real year of the woman, and actually a year of the gay man and a year of people not worrying about sex or race." Read more »

Quick Hit

by Ashlee Rezin

2:23pm

Thu May 9

1 comment

Tenants Accuse Residential Community Company Of 'Unfair Rent Increases', Abusive Practices (VIDEO)

Residents of the nation’s largest corporate owner of manufactured home communities, Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS), say the company is engaging in abusive practices and general disinvestment in its properties.

Wednesday, a group of more than 20 residents from across the country gathered outside ELS’ annual shareholder meeting in Chicago and demanded to be heard by the company’s founder and chairman, Sam Zell.

While a few demonstrators attended the meeting, several protesters rallied outside and urged Zell and other ELS executives to stop “unfair rent increases” that push residents, most of them retirees on fixed incomes, out of their homes and into poverty.

The demonstration was part of an ongoing battle between ELS and residents who want better living and renting conditions.

“My lot rent is more than half of my Social Security,” said Carla Burr, a 59 year-old resident of an ELS property in Chantilly, Virginia.

Burr pays a monthly lot fee of $945 and makes an annual income of $42,000. But, when she turns 65 she stands to lose an employer disability payment that will cut her income almost in half.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay in my house,” she said, noting her lot fee has increased $30 to $40 every year since she moved in, in 2006. “(ELS’) main goal is to win money for their investors at any cost, and they don’t care who they hurt.”

Quick Hit

by Ashlee Rezin

4:29pm

Wed May 8

Potential Koch Brothers Purchase Of Tribune Co. Incites Protest (VIDEO)

A group of approximately 20 demonstrators Wednesday protested the potential sale of all or some of the Tribune Company to the Koch brothers, Charles, 77, and David, 72, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of conservative causes.

According to protesters, if the Kansas-native Koch brothers were to own the Chicago-based multimedia corporation, right-wing propaganda will be pushed through mainstream media.

Activists protested outside of the Tribune Tower, at 435 North Michigan Ave., and attempted to deliver a letter to Bruce Karsh, chairman of the board for the Tribune Company, asking him to intervene on the potential sale. Karsh is also the owner of Oaktree Capital Management LP, the Tribune Company’s largest shareholder.

“People need independent, objective, daily journalism that they can trust—not libertarian propaganda,” the letter addressed to Karsh, who was elected chairman in January, reads. Read more »

Quick Hit

by Ashlee Rezin

8:03pm

Tue May 7

Community Activists Say Bank Of America Is A 'Destabilizing Force' In Chicago (VIDEO)

Bank of America (BOA) serves as a destabilizing force in Chicago’s blighted communities, according to approximately 50 protesters who took their message to a downtown branch on Tuesday.

Organized by the Grassroots Collaborative on the eve of Bank of America’s shareholder meeting in North Carolina, demonstrators rallied against policies that, according to protesters, has led to Chicago school closures and community devastation.

“We have schools that are closing, homes that are abandoned, and neighborhoods falling apart; this is a time when we need our neighborhoods to be built up and not destroyed,” said Amisha Patel, executive director of the Grassroots Collaborative. “It’s time for Bank of America to do everything they can to strengthen our communities.”

Explore our content