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Hyde Park Herald
New grant program to redistribute millions of dollars to Woodlawn area nonprofits
A new grant program that aims to disperse up to $3 million to nonprofits serving the Woodlawn area and surrounding communities is opening soon for applications, part of an effort to redistribute funds after the bankruptcy of a longtime development group. The Community Investment Grant Program, a project of the...
Amid financial woes, Chicago Public Schools to receive similar state funding increase this year
Editor's note: This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters. Amid a bump in students learning English as a new language and a dip in local tax revenue, Chicago Public Schools would now need nearly $1.2 billion to be adequately funded, according to state data released Monday.
Jessica Biggs, former CPS principal and organizer, running for 6th District school board seat
Jessica Biggs, a former Chicago Public Schools (CPS) principal and a community organizer, is running for the 6th District school board seat to increase funding and retention of talent in the city’s public schools. With a long career in education, Biggs said she was motivated to run by the...
12-year-old boy wounded in Kenwood shooting Monday night
A 12-year-old boy is in fair condition after getting shot several times in a North Kenwood home Monday night, Chicago police said. According to police, the 12-year-old was inside a residence located along the 4500 block of South Drexel Avenue just after 10 p.m. on August 5 when an adult the boy knew — who has not yet been identified — drew a handgun and fired. The 12-year-old sustained gunshot wounds to the chest, abdomen and right arm; he was transported to Comer Children’s Hospital in fair condition.
New Illinois law aims to give free ID cards to citizens leaving correctional facilities
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill on Tuesday that’s aimed at providing free identification cards to more people exiting correctional facilities in Illinois. The state already provides identification cards to people leaving the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice, but the new law expands the program to every county jail and federal prison in the state. It took effect upon Pritzker’s signature.
Beach access delayed is beach access denied
34 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, South Siders still face barriers to public accommodations like parks and beaches. While 16 out of 31 beaches at the lakefront are 'accessible',the 2.5-mile gap between Oakwood Beach and 57th Street Beach has no ADA compliant accessible shoreline. Plans to make the southern lakefront accessible date back to the Burnham Park Framework Plan created in 1999. Our Near South Lakeshore area (the neighborhoods of Douglas, Oakland, Kenwood, and Hyde Park) is home to almost 11,000 adults with a disability according to American Community Survey data.
Jazz blooms in Kenwood Gardens
As DJ Duane Powell spun his mix of house, bossa nova and afro beats on Saturday evening, spectators rose out of their chairs and danced onto the lawn of Kenwood Gardens. He was closing out the latest Artist Corps show, a free summer concert series by the Hyde Park Jazz Festival (HPJF).
Apachi Hyde Park day camp closes for good
On the final day of summer camp at Apachi Hyde Park, 5-year-old Sammie Margolis excitedly ran circles around his mom’s bike, unaware it would be his last time ever at the neighborhood Jewish day camp. A long-running camp hosted by Jewish Community Center (JCC) Chicago, Apachi Hyde Park closed...
Man charged in killing off-duty sheriff’s deputy during Woodlawn robbery
A 32-year-old man has been charged in the killing of an off-duty Cook County Sheriff’s deputy during a robbery at a Woodlawn gas station last week. Just before 1:30 a.m. on July 30, Rafael Wordlaw, the 31-year-old sheriff’s deputy, was at Clark Gas Station in the 500 block of East 67th Street with a friend when he was approached by an unknown man who tried to rob them. A verbal altercation ensued and the man drew two handguns. Wordlaw drew a firearm as well and the two exchanged gunfire.
Leave the city bustle behind for a musical respite at the Rush Hour Concerts
This year, Rush Hour Concerts celebrates its 25th anniversary. The summer series was founded in 2000 by Deborah Sobol and is now presented by Classical Music Chicago (CMC), the organization famous for its year-round Dame Myra Hess concert series in the Loop. The Rush Hour concerts take place every Tuesday...
‘The Last Wide Open’ is an ode to love
It would be hard to imagine a lovelier play to inaugurate American Blues Theater's intimate studio theater than “The Last Wide Open” by Audrey Cefaly (book and lyrics) and Matthew M. Nielson (music). Subtitled “a love song in three movements,” the 80-minute one-act offers three iterations of the relationship between an immigrant and a local, subtly addressing existential questions in the process.
Anusha Thotakura, deputy director of political policy organization, running for 6th District school board seat
Anusha Thotakura, a former middle school math teacher and leader of a progressive political organization, is running for the 6th District school board seat to make sure Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students don’t have to travel across the city to attend a high-quality school. In an interview with the...
Hyde Park Labs names new partner for science startup incubator
A new startup incubator that aims to help scientists turn concepts into businesses is coming to Hyde Park Labs, the $225 million Harper Court expansion. Portal Innovations, a national venture capital firm, will team up with the University of Chicago's Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship to design and manage an incubator for early-stage life sciences, quantum, AI and climate and energy tech companies, the university announced Thursday. Portal will also oversee the day-to-day lab operations to “provide seamless growth opportunities” for startups, which will primarily be pursued by U. of C. faculty and researchers.
Under new law, Illinois employers can’t force workers to sit through anti-union meetings
ROSEMONT – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed legislation aimed at curtailing the practice of “captive audience” meetings – a strategy businesses sometimes use to dissuade workers from forming a union. The law, dubbed the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” was a top priority this spring...
Bill Ayers uncovers his old Red Squad surveillance files
Bill Ayers, a vigorous, 79-year-old leftist organizer and educator, strode into the Chicago History Museum in Lincoln Park, eager to see his Red Squad police file for the first time. A one-time leader of radical left-wing groups in the 1960s, Ayers, donning a “Boondocks” t-shirt and owlish glasses on that...
Hyde Park Stories: The Olympics
In the 1890s, Baron Pierre de Coubertin had a vision. Known today as the father of the modern Olympic games, Coubertin wanted to teach young people to build a better world through the celebration of sport. His message was exactly what William Rainey Harper, the president of the brand-new University...
Chicago’s elected school board races are narrowing as candidates are kicked off ballot
Editor's note: This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters. The race for Chicago’s first elected school board is narrowing. Five candidates are off the ballot for the election on Nov. 5, including three candidates who withdrew their names. The Chicago Board of...
Hijinks and life lessons abound in Hyde Park Players' ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’
The Hyde Park Community Players’ annual Shakespearean summer show, “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” promises to bring an antic-filled lesson in conflict resolution to Nichols Park this weekend as another contentious election approaches. In Shakespeare’s 1602 comedy, Sir John Falstaff arrives in Windsor short of money and...
Young English learners find a home in Hyde Park summer camp
Naima Ramos, a student teacher from the Hyde Park School of Dance, faced a circle of children sitting cross-legged on a gymnasium floor. As she stretched her arms out in front of her into the shape of an oval, next to her, a young girl from Afghanistan in a brilliant red and gold traditional dress followed along intently.
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