Speaking of newsletters, Laurino clearly has issues communicating with her constituents...

Staff at Laurino's office sent this news blast out at 3:45 PM today, titled "Montrose Closure," emphasis mine.

"Montrose Avenue will be closed at Kildare (4300 West) for a sewer main connection, starting immediately, and will be reopened on June 5th. The detour is Montrose-Cicero-Irving Park-Pulaski.

This is part of sewer reconstruction projects which will reduce flooding and reduce future maintanence needs. We apologize for any inconvenience in the interim. "

It would be nice to know about street closures before they actually happen, but yah know, maybe that is a little bit too much to ask from your alderman. (What exactly do they do all day again?)

Traffic on the North Side is already terrible, and now this? Ugh. Get it together, Laurino.

 

 

Particularly touching note from Alderman Mell regarding Memorial Day

Will his daughter write similar notes? (Also, Laurino never writes such nice notes...)

Alderman Mell speaking at the 17th PD Town Hall meeting, 2010

"Dear 33rd Ward Residents,   

Most of us think of the Memorial Day weekend as the start of summer, although you couldn't tell by the cooler weather we are experiencing. I suppose we will look back with fondness on such days as these as we inevitably see the temperatures turn hotter.   

However, tomorrow's holiday is rooted in a much more sobering reality. It started out as “Decoration Day” in rural areas of the South where the "decorating" of soldiers' graves with flowers around this time of year was the custom.   

Civil War General John Alexander Logan (for whom Logan Square and Logan Boulevard was named), the commander-in-chief of the organization for Union Civil War veterans known as the Grand Army of the Republic, issued a proclamation declaring that "Decoration Day" should be observed nationwide.  General Logan had a distinguished civil career as an Illinois state senator, a congressman and, eventually, a United States senator for Illinois.

  

As a result of General Logan's proclamation, May 30, 1868 is considered the start of our national commemoration. Today Memorial Day honors all those heroes who have died in the Civil War and all other wars since, an estimate than now comes close to a monumental 800,000 lives given in the service of our country.    

So as we fire up our grills and start our picnic season, do not forget those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice and whose graves are being decorated on this day.  

With kindest regards,  

Alderman Richard F. Mell"

why do bots love this blog's twitter...

Someone please tell me why the APCC is acting all crazy and drunk (and maybe stealing federal and/or state grant money?)

 Yeah, another one of Fruzs's rants about obscure neighborhood issues.

But seriously, as someone who has lived here for 5ish years with limited knowledge of how state and federal funds work, even I know what I am about to tell you is fucked up. (Note: the center on Kimball and Foster that teaches ESL actually does good work which I have seen first hand and is in no way included in this rant. All those teachers and staff in that building are exempt from my textual wrath as they actually provide a service to the community.)

Back in March I became furious upon learning the APCC moved their main building out of the neighborhood, for presumably cheaper rent and larger office space. But it wasn't just their offices; APCC moved community services too. I never actually used the APCC for anything, but people living in the hood that were in need of its services were always wary of it, which made me pause.  The fact that they were taking money out of the neighborhood -- ie, they got money for providing services in a troubled neighborhood but now they were no longer in a troubled neighborhood --  was what pissed me off.