Chicago street parking set to rise again

Sesamir Yearby of Chicago pays the parking meter box on South Clark Street in downtown Chicago on Wednesday as he makes his way to a job interview. (José M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago street parking rates are going up -- again.

The third of five scheduled annual rate increases is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1. But it probably will take several weeks or so to reprogram all of the 4,100 electronic boxes, and drivers will be able to park at the old rates until they are.

Here's what you'll have to pay:

--$5 an hour (up from $4.25) in the downtown area (bounded by the south side of Congress Parkway on the south, Lake Michigan on the east, the north side of Wacker Drive on the north, and the west side of Wacker on the west).

--$3 an hour (up from $2.50) in areas adjacent to downtown (bounded by the south side of Roosevelt Road on the south, Lake Michigan on the east, the north side of North Avenue on the North and the west side of Halsted Street on the west. Included are River North, the Gold Coast, parts of Lincoln Park and the Near North Side).

--$1.50 an hour (up from $1.25) in outlying neighborhoods.

According to published reports, Chicago will continue to have the highest downtown parking rates in the country, topping New York's $3.75 an hour and Los Angeles' $4.

Two more rounds of increases are scheduled under the roundly criticized lease agreement that gave the city a quick cash infusion three years ago of $1.16 billion--most of which has already been spent. The agreement covers the city's approximately 36,000 parking spaces for a 75-year term.

Downtown parking will rise to $5.75 in 2012 and $6.50 in 2013. Parking in areas bordering downtown will increase to $3.50 and $4. Parking in outlying areas will go to $1.75 and $2.

After 2013, rate increases will be tied to the rate of inflation.

A spokesman for Chicago Parking Meters LLC, the private firm that now operates on-street parking, was not immediately available for comment.

Parking meters on 79th Street in Chatham between King Drive and Cottage Grove Avenue will be affected by the neighborhood rate increase.

Happy Holidays!!!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year 2011 from ChathamNOW!

Happy Holidays from Alderman Freddrenna M. Lyle

From our house to yours, we're wishing you ............

Sincerely, Alderman Freddrenna M. Lyle

Paid for by Citizens for Lyle, 404 East 75th St., Chicago, Ill. 60619 773/994-5747 www.electlyle.com No taxpayer funds were used in the production of this document.

Editorial

We, ChathamNOW, feel it is time for residents in the community to form a non-profit group to be called Friends of the Whitney Young Branch of the Chicago Public Library, for the sole purpose of garnering private funds for the building of a 100-seat amphitheater for lectures and symposiums in the newly constructed branch library, due for opening in January, 2011. So it is time for the Oprah Winfreys, Bill Cosbys, Spike Lees, Michael Jordans, Magic Johnsons, and Tiger Woods of the world to pull out those hefty checkbooks and invest like any municipal bond venture and create a private fund to make this project a reality with real money coming from real places in a bank account by the end of April, 2011, so that it will ready and railing to go for the Public Building Commission of Chicago's public hearings on the new library construction in November. Especially for a place with no greater need for jobs for their people, most definitely, for their young people, than Chatham, that the new construction alone would create. The support of President Barack Obama with the release of federal economic stimulus funds will be most appropriate in funding the elevator, amphitheater, and plant maintenance contracts on a sustainable basis. We feel it is time for all the leaders in politics and business in our community to canvass President Barack Obama to provide federal largess through a stimulus package of $5-$7 billion dollars to revitalize Chatham through rebuilding, remodeling, rehabbing our housing stock, resurfacing our streets, especially the main arteries of 79Th Street and King Drive, rebuilding and modernizing our infrastructure at all levels, fortifying our public works, and reinvigorating our retail sector with new department stores that contrast the suburban malls. And it might be a good idea to propose an athletic center, a fitness club to be built on the site of the former Rhodes Theater vacant lot at 79Th and Rhodes Avenue like that of BosseSports in Boston. See bossesports.com. It is up to them, our local community leaders to meet President Obama, one-on-one in person, in the Oval Office to seek out this federal funding to turn Chatham around from a deteriorating neighborhood, ghettoized by apathetic newcomers to a great, reborn area with a high standard of living, an unparalleled level of comfort. Let us begin right away, shirt sleeves up, and proposals for the future ready. We feel it is high time for all community leaders to invite President Barack Obama to a dinner party with canopies set up in the parking lot behind Mayor Harold Washington's favorite restaurant, Izola's, at 79Th Street and Rhodes Avenue, with U.S. Senator Roland W. Burris as the official host (he is a long-time Chathamite), and have the dinner party the Mayor had in September, 1986, after he won the City Council battle, known familiarly as "Council Wars" and present economic development proposals for Chatham from federal stimulus funding to create jobs desperately needed, especially for the young people in the neighborhood, and to build a community center, a senior citizens center at the vacant lot at 82ND Street and King Drive, and a health and fitness club on the vacant lot that was the former site of Rhodes Theater at 79Th Street and Rhodes Avenue, like Bosse Sports in Boston, and to invite the upscale building of trendy shops and restaurants and tony places for people to dance and relax, like elegant supper clubs, to revitalize the area with a cash infusion of $5-7 billion dollars (you should know the nationwide white community received billions of dollars of federal largess under President Ronald Reagan to build absolutely beautiful neighborhoods all over the United States and a comfortable living in suburbia). So let's not waste time doing so. We appreciate the viral feedback from the literally thousands of residents through numerous blogs from all over the South Side of Chicago and even from the six collar counties, concerning the commentary on whether Chatham should be South Looped. Some have even proposed being Hyde Parked as more in line with what they have thought Chatham always was. We feel that a South Loop model would be the best for Chatham for two reasons. First, with all the damage done by the thug element of the younger generation (hoodlums and gang-bangers [black teenagers and young adults from broken homes] and bad-ass kids with little or no parenting--project people from prison), and second, the fact that the standard of living achieved by the suburban white community is now, since 1968, rising to be 40 years ahead of the black community, including Chatham, only a full-fledged South Loop overhaul is necessary to bring Chatham to what it must be, and most importantly, ought to be, and that is equivalent to the current comfortable standard of living enjoyed by the white community in the affluent suburban areas since 1980, all over the United States (as Chatham was in the 1950's and 60's). We feel that an overhaul, a complete rejuvenation of the neighborhood is needed. Some say Chatham is already a vibrant community; the problem with this view is that it is very limited: it ignores the fact that the people from the projects as Section 8 occupants have destroyed what was a good middle class life in Chatham; the thug element and the riff-raft up and down 79Th Street simply does not care, and other newcomers from other areas don't have a clue as to what Chatham was to the black community in the 1950's and 60's: once upon a time there was a Daley's Drugstore, a Hi-Low grocery, a Vito's grocery, two Certified's, a Rexall, numerous fresh bakery outlets, a Gracie's pancake house, a Dairy Queen, a Baldwins ice cream store, several Jewel's (inside Chatham proper), a Dominick's, a stationery store, a bowling alley, and we can go on and on and on, even with home delivery every morning of Wanzer's milk and Home Juice orange and cranberry juice at your doorstep at 7 a.m. Chatham needs a huge infusion of federal funds in the form of $5-7 billion stimulus dollars to reverse the damage done to public and private property, create good-paying jobs, improve the public works, infrastructure and city services, upgrade the technology in the public grid. There is nothing wrong in seeing Chatham recapture its status again today--an enclave, a neighborhood in the black community that uniquely had the identical standard of living, quality of life, as that found in the white community we know as affluent suburbia--where Chatham achieved an unparalleled level of extreme comfort for all its residents. It's TIME TO BUILD!

Try the Delicatessen at Chatham Food Market!

Delicatessen in German means "an abundance of good food." You can find that abundance of great food for the Christmas and New Year's holiday season at the delicatessen at Chatham Food Market, 327 East 79Th Street. http://www.chathamfoods.com/

Operation Santa 2010 helps families of slain officers

It has been seven months since gunfire took the life of Chicago police Officer Thomas Wortham IV outside his parents' home in the Chatham neighborhood.

Yet a visit to the home today by retired and current police officers -- dressed as Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and their elves, or on hand to help out -- was a reminder that his sacrifice will never be forgotten.

When the officers arrived with coffee mugs and a poinsettia, Wortham's mother, Carolyn, appeared surprised at the turnout of her son's brothers and sisters in blue.

The gifts were part of the second day of "Operation Santa 2010," the fourth event of its kind held by the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, which aids the families of Chicago police officers like Wortham and five others who died violently this year.

Thomas Wortham III, father of slain Officer Thomas Wortham IV, greets Chicago police officers who lined up in front of the family home in Chatham today. Retired and current police officers -- dressed as Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and their elves -- showed up with gifts as part of "Operation Santa 2010." (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)

The visits came near the end of a year in which the department's morale was battered by the deaths of six officers -- making 2010 the deadliest year for Chicago cops since 1984 and leaving many residents worried about the outbreak of violence against police.

Phil Cline, a former Chicago police superintendent who heads the memorial foundation, said, "The sheer number of police officers killed in the line of duty this year meant that we wanted to make sure we got each one of those houses, and let those families know that they will not be forgotten."

On Sunday, Wortham's father, Thomas Wortham III, recalled his share of tragedies involving fallen officers in his 30 years as a Chicago police officer.

"Until it happens to you, you have no idea what this means," a teary-eyed Wortham said inside his home surrounded by a number of officers and members of the foundation. "I think this is so fantastic that this organization does this."

Later in the day, a 10-vehicle motorcade made up of Chicago police officers and Illinois State Police troopers visited the homes of families of other officers who were slain or seriously hurt in the line of duty. There, children of those officers were showered with gifts such as board games, Lego sets, toy trucks, Bulls tickets and $250 gift cards.

One of those homes was that of Officer Michael Flisk, an evidence technician who was shot and killed Nov. 26 while he was processing the scene of a burglary in a Southeast Side alley. About a dozen officers from the Morgan Park Police District and several evidence technicians lined up next to one another in front of the Flisks' home in the Beverly neighborhood to receive hugs from Flisk's widow, Nora, and his other family members.

"Thank you. Thank you," a somber Nora Flisk told the officers repeatedly before going back into the home.

The event began Saturday with stops made to the several homes. Among those homes was that of the family of Officer Michael Bailey, who was nearing retirement when he was shot and killed in July outside his Park Manor home as he shined the windows of his new Buick.

Another stop that day was the home of Sgt. Alan Haymaker, who was killed in February when his squad car crashed off of North Lake Shore Drive while he responded to a call of a burglary in progress.

Wearing a green vest with red tights, Officer Eddie Langle joked that being an elf in the gift-giving event could represent a possible career change for him. "You've got to work one month out of the 12," he said.

Nonetheless, Langle acknowledged that the gig for him, although voluntary, is rewarding. "We get more out of it than the kids do. ...The hardest part about wearing the outfit is dealing with all the coppers and their one-liners," he said.

More than 20 years after Officer Bernard Domagala was wounded in the line of duty, he and his family met up with Santa and his crew Sunday morning at a Southwest Side police station to receive their gifts shortly before the motorcade began its journey.

Domagala, a former member of the department's hostage, barricade and terrorist unit, was shot in the head July 14, 1988, when he and other officers surrounded a home in the 7200 block of South Stony Island Avenue. Domagala was wounded by a former police officer who had barricaded himself inside the home after shooting a mover trying to evict him.

Domagala suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the shooting, said his wife, Denise. Their three children were youngsters when their father was shot.

On Sunday, all grown up, the children were given the gift cards, as their mother and father looked on.

Cline said that starting out the day by commemorating Domagala was an appropriate tribute. "Even 20 years ago, we're still going to remember ... he is a Chicago police hero and his family has made so many sacrifices," he said.

"The support was incredible. We feel like we're the police again," said Denise Domagala. "I can't believe how many (high-ranking police) officials shook his hand. I'm so proud to see Bernie in this environment."

Chatham Census Demographic NewsBrief

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the New York Times, Chatham has a 97% African-American, 1% white, and 1% Asian and 1% Hispanic as a community demographic.

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=globasasa210

Burris: I won't run for mayor

Former U.S. senator Roland Burris, a Chatham resident, announced yesterday he will not run for Chicago mayor, after filing petitions but never formally declaring himself a candidate.

Burris' intentions have been unclear -- he filed petitions to run for mayor just before the late November deadline but has not campaigned. With no campaign money and little political support, he was not considered a major factor in the wide-open race to replace Mayor Richard Daley, who is not seeking re-election in February.

"I want to thank all of those who backed me for the office of mayor and those who signed the petition, but I will not be offering myself as a candidate for mayor of Chicago," Burris said in the statement released this afternoon.

He did not elaborate on his reasons or endorse another candidate.

3 black Chicago mayoral candidates agree on little

A candidate forum Wednesday on a black-oriented Chicago radio station, WVON, based in the Avalon Park neighborhood, appeared to do little to find a consensus black candidate for Chicago mayor next year.

The three leading black vote-getters from a recent poll, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun and Illinois state Sen. James Meeks, participated in the afternoon candidate forum on WVON-AM. Under questioning by moderator Cliff Kelley, the three said they agreed on the need for increased transparency at City Hall and the importance of putting a professional educator at the helm of the Chicago Public Schools, but little else.

WVON president Melody Spann Cooper said earlier that the forum would be an important step in finding the best candidate for African-Americans, who are the largest registered voting base in the city.

"There are groups meeting all over Chicago in an attempt to pick a consensus candidate," Cooper said in a statement. "We look at this as an opportunity to showcase these candidates so that the voters can make an informed decision, versus a candidate being hand-picked for them."

In a Chicago Tribune/WGN poll released Tuesday night, Davis was the leading black candidate in the crowded field, with support from 9 percent of registered likely voters, followed by Meeks with 7 percent and Moseley-Braun with 6 percent.

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who is facing residency qualification challenges, was the only candidate in the double digits, with the support of 32 percent of those polled. That was only slightly higher than the 30 percent who were still undecided.

Mosley-Braun and Meeks were in the studio for the two-hour forum, while Davis participated through a phone link from an airport before boarding a flight to Washington at the end of the first hour.

After Davis caught his flight, Meeks and Moseley-Braun sidestepped Kelley's question about whether the 69-year-old congressman might be too old to serve the two terms the three candidates said might be necessary to deal with the city's budgetary, school and police problems.

Earlier, Kelley asked Moseley-Braun if she might consider dropping out in favor of another candidate, but she replied that she was "in it to win it."

The three clashed on such issues as downtown casino gambling, school vouchers and term limits for city and state elected officials.

Davis said he personally opposes gambling on religious grounds, but would definitely consider a casino to increase city revenue. Meeks, who is a pastor, said he opposes all gambling expansion, while Moseley-Braun said the issue should be subject to a referendum.

Meeks is a strong proponent of school vouchers, but Moseley-Braun said she opposes them and sees them as a step toward the privatization of education. And part of Davis' platform or school reform is an elected school board, which both Meeks and Moseley-Braun rejected out of hand.

On term limits for elected officials, Meeks said he supports them for all posts, but Moseley-Braun responded by saying, "The best term limit is the ballot box." She said imposed term limits weaken elected officials in their dealings with appointed bureaucrats. And Davis said term limits make sense for the executive branch, but should not apply to legislative posts.

From The Associated Press: Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2010/12/15/1517719/3-black-chicago-mayoral-candidates.html#ixzz18JzL9W6K

Blog Question

Do you think a Bosse Sports-type development or L.A. Fitness center at 79Th and Rhodes and a Costco Wholesale department store in the Chatham Market should be the next economic development for Chatham? Leave your comments on the comment line.

Blog Question: Chatham's Future

Do you think the direction for the future of Chatham is idea-based, knowledge-based, R&D (research and development)-based, innovation-based high technology businesses and start-ups, in line with Barack Obama's America of infrastructure, high technology, and hyper-industrialization? Leave your comments on the comment line.

Why Not Try It?!

How about a high-technology research and development industrial park in the vacant land on Holland Drive in Chatham Market, inviting corporations like Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and Yahoo to set up shop and build R&D centers employing and training the young people in our community to obtain high-wage, high demand jobs in the silicon industry...this could be Chatham's Silicon Hood. Further, Chatham could invite high-tech hardware and software engineers and research professors from countries known for outsourcing, most notably India and China to incorporate start-ups right behind Chatham Market. You are more than welcome to leave your comments on the comment line.

How About This?!

How about a Chick-Fil-A in the Chatham Market? Leave your comments on the comment line.

Open Forum

What are the stories in Chatham you will love to see covered in this blog in 2011? Leave your comments on the comment line. And do donate generously in the holiday spirit!

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Blog Question

Do you think that there should be a Costco Wholesale store in the Chatham Market, and should Mayor Richard M. Daley grant Costco a $1 million tax break incentive to set up shop there to create 600 jobs for Chatham? Leave your comments on the comment line.

Soon it will be the 12 Days of Christmas and a Great Place for a Holiday Feast Selection is the Chatham Food Market!!!

The Twelve Days of Christmas from December 25Th through January 5Th make for a great holiday feast...Make sure you stock up on fresh produce and great meats and poultry for the Christmas and New Year's holiday season with great grocery shopping at Chatham Food Market, 327 East 79Th Street in the heart of the Chatham retail strip! http://www.chathamfoods.com/

Hey, How About This?!

Do you think the Chatham Market should have golf pro shops and ski pro shops and the 84Th and King Drive vacant lot should be developed into an indoor year-round ice skating rink with an attached ski school for the winter and a golf school for the spring and summer? Or alternatively, use the vacant lot for a temporary ice skating rink with tarp layered with ice for just the winter months to give the youngsters a place to skate. The landlord can share in the proceeds while they amass funds for development. Leave your comments on the comment line.

It's Time for a Chatham Youth Mentoring Corps

Do you think mentors for the young people in our community would prove useful toward the development of our community. It would be productive if educated, skilled and trained men and women, seniors and middle-aged residents would reach out to the youth in Chatham, bring them under their wings and mentor them with internships and apprenticeships in business, the professions, athletics, the arts and sciences, beyond what they have learned in the school systems, and give them a stipend for their efforts and participation. Would you like to be a mentor for a few hours a week? It would cross the generational gaps with a bridge of trust, communication, and understanding to reach areas of common interests. Perhaps you would want to step up and create and lead a Chatham Youth Mentoring Corps. Let us know by leaving your comments on the comment line.

Please Join Me

Alderman Freddrenna M. Lyle I would like to personally invite you to my fundraiser this Thursday, December 2, at The Regal. Below are the complete details. If you have any questions, please call 773-994-5747. I look forward to seeing you there. Thank you. Sincerely, Freddrenna M. Lyle Alderman, 6th Ward Citizens for Lyle cordially invites you to join 6th Ward Alderman Freddrenna M. Lyle The Business Owners for Lyle Fundraising Reception for the Re-Election of 6th Ward Alderman Thursday, December 2, 2010 5:30 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. @ The Regal Theater 1641 E. 79th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60649 in the Atrium tickets: Starting at $100 RSVP at 773·994·5747 Paid for by Citizens for Lyle A copy of our report is/will be available from the State Board of Elections and/or the office of the Cook County Clerk www.electlyle.com

Fear silenced shooting victim -- until cop slain

The gun's flash lit up the night, illuminating the face of the shooter in the gangway.

Fernando Townsend later identified the gunman as 19-year-old Timothy Herring.

It was five months before police say Herring again fired a weapon in the South Chicago neighborhood -- this time killing a Chicago police officer and a former Chicago Housing Authority officer.

Townsend said he had no idea why Herring shot him that June night. At first, he was willing to cooperate with authorities, but he changed his mind after his mother, fearing retaliation, raised concerns about her safety in the tough Southeast Side community where they lived.

But Townsend's glimpse of the gunman's face that night was not in vain.

This week the identification became a key piece of the evidence built against Herring, who was charged Monday in the cold-blooded slaying of Chicago police Officer Michael Flisk as well as Townsend's close friend, Stephen Peters, who grew up a block away and dated his sister.

The missed opportunity to have Herring locked up months before he allegedly killed the two is not lost on Townsend, who feels anger within himself that he couldn't persuade his mother to let him cooperate last summer.

It even took an hourlong conversation with his mother in her front room Sunday night with Chicago detectives, her pastor and Townsend before her fears were calmed and she gave the go-ahead for her son to help prosecute Herring.

"Now I am a voice for Steve," Townsend, 41, said Tuesday as Herring was facing murder charges in court. "I can help him."

A disheveled Herring -- who prosecutors said had cut his own braids to evade capture -- listened in court Tuesday as Cook County prosecutors laid out the chilling confrontation Friday in the alley behind Peters' family home in the 8100 block of South Burnham Avenue.

Flisk, an evidence technician and a 20-year veteran, arrived at the alley early that afternoon to investigate the burglary of Peters' car, a customized red Mustang GT.

Herring had allegedly hatched the break-in months ago, telling a friend then that he wanted to "hit the victim for his sounds," meaning steal his stereo equipment from the car, prosecutors said.

As Flisk, 46, examined the scene in front of Peters, Herring, who lived across the alley, walked up and told Peters he knew who had pulled off the burglary, according to prosecutors. Peters, 44, replied it didn't matter because Flisk was able to recover fingerprints that would lead to the burglar's arrest, prosecutors said.

Herring, paroled earlier this year after serving half of a six-year prison sentence for the 2007 armed robbery of a liquor store, was determined to avoid a return to prison, police said. He turned away before drawing a gun, then shot each victim in the head once, prosecutors said.

Herring started carting off two trash cans containing the stolen stereo equipment, but then "noticed one of the victims was still moving," prosecutors alleged. Herring "then went up to the victims and shot each one a second time in the head," they said.

Herring was held without bail by Judge Ramon Ocasio III. He faces a potential death sentence if convicted of the two counts of first-degree murder.

A second man, Timothy Willis, 22, was also charged for allegedly helping conceal the murder weapon, which remains missing. He was ordered held on $250,000 bail.

Herring allegedly told several people in recent days that he had killed two people.

Several sources said the work done by Flisk on Friday afternoon -- particularly the evidence photos he took in the minutes before he was shot -- helped detectives understand what happened in the alley.

There was also a fingerprint recovered from inside one of the garbage cans that was linked to Herring, prosecutors said.

But in a key break, investigators traced four 9 mm shell casings found at the murder scene to the gun used to shoot Townsend last June, prosecutors said.

Within two days of the double homicide, detectives came to Townsend's door to tell him they suspected that the same man who shot him June 18 had shot his childhood friend.

"I felt anger, toward me, for not convincing my mom to let me do the right thing, no matter how much I tried," said Townsend, who had pleaded with her after his shooting last summer.

Townsend's mother was terrified of the neighborhood thugs, fearing they would attack her family or burn her house.

"Her sanity and peace of mind means more to me than anything," Townsend said.

When detectives came looking for help this past weekend, Townsend's mother remained fearful. But after praying with her pastor, she relented. Townsend cooperated with authorities, officially naming Herring as the person who shot him about 1 a.m. June 18 in the 8000 block of South Burnham Avenue.

He remembers the shooting vividly. Herring allegedly circled the block in a car as Townsend and his friends stood in the street. About 20 minutes later, Herring stepped from between two houses. He was visible under the street lights, Townsend said. Then the gun exploded.

"Once I (saw) that fire jump out that gun and it lit his face up ... I took off running," Townsend said. "The second shot is the one that caught me in the back."

Herring is now charged not only in the Flisk and Peters murders, but also in Townsend's shooting.

Townsend said he felt good about following through. Neither Peters nor Flisk deserved to die, he said.

Townsend shared a laugh with his friend a few weeks ago about how they were both walking with canes -- Peters because of a pulled hamstring and Townsend on account of his shooting.

"He was just doing his job," Townsend said of Flisk, a father of four. "It's sad. This guy is coming to do his job, and somebody took his life."

While Townsend can understand why his mother was so fearful in June, he hopes others will learn a lesson from this.

"You know something, tell something," he said. "If don't nobody step up to do nothing, it's going to continue to happen. That was my biggest point. ... If I don't stop this guy, he is going to hurt somebody else. That's the part that really gets to me." (Courtesy of Chicago Breaking News)