SULLIVAN HIGH CALMS DOWN

The Bench went over to embattled Sullivan High School in Rogers Park's 49th Ward this afternoon, just as students were being dismissed. At 3:00, the neighborhood appeared calm. Students seemed more interested in getting home through the rain, sleet and occasional flakes of snow than in fighting. Several Chicago Police cars - marked and unmarked - drove slowly around the block, ready to contain any more outbursts of violence. At 3:15, The Bench saw one youth escorted out of the school by three uniformed officers. They put him into the back seat of an unmarked car and drove south, away from the school. It is not known why the young man was taken away in the car - was he being arrested, or was he a witness? Was he even a student at Sullivan High? Question: When will the next outburst occur at embattled Sullivan High? Not "if" - when.