Will CTA Close Jarvis Red Line Station? Maybe!

January 25, 2011 - Chicago - This is a first: I'm agreeing with 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore. He's sounding the alarm over the CTA's proposal to shut down the Jarvis station in Rogers Park. That would be bad. CTA wastes a hell of a lot of money elsewhere, so what's the reasoning? Attend a public meeting on Wednesday, January 26 to learn more. Also see details below in an excerpt written by Ald. Moore on his own website: I just learned today that three of the six options the CTA is considering in its proposed "improvements" to the Red and Purple line include the permanent closing of the Jarvis el station. This is unacceptable. As I reported to you last week, the CTA is hosting a series of "public scoping meetings" to discuss the proposals. I urged you to attend the 49th Ward meeting to join me in pushing for improvements to the Jarvis, Morse and Loyola stations. Little did I know that not only were improvements to Jarvis not contemplated, the CTA was in fact thinking about closing the station! At this point, no funding for the Red Line improvements has been identified and the work is still many years away, but it's not too early to state loudly and clearly that the Jarvis el station must stay open. Join me at the CTA's "public scoping meeting" TOMORROW (Wednesday, January 26th), 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at New Field School, 1707 W. Morse (at Clark). Tell the CTA you OPPOSE the closing of the Jarvis el Station. Instead, demand the CTA give our community a long overdue NEW Jarvis Station, as well as improvements to the Morse and Loyola stations. I apologize for the last minute notice, but as I indicate above, I just learned today that the CTA was contemplating the closing of Jarvis. [Here is] a flier urging people to attend the meeting. Please feel free to make copies of the flier and distribute to your friends and neighbors: Save_the_Jarvis_El[1].pdf (115 KB) Read more at Ald. Moore's website....

Ethereal Evening Commute on the CTA Red Line (Video)

This dream-like video has a soft jazz music track, perfect for the evening commute at sunset. We start our train ride at the Fullerton station on Chicago's north side and head north to the Morse station. Scenes of passing buildings, including Wrigley Field at Addison, combined with a few still shots give a relaxing and almost hypnotic effect. Video by Tom Mannis, made with Studio XI. Enjoy...

Vandals, CTA Attack Uptown Parking Meters

Vandals Try to Destroy Meters and CTA Removes Perfectly Good Meters Once again, the big media and another local blog got local coverage wrong. The big media might be forgiven; they don't live in Uptown. Chicago News Bench saw a parking meter that was spray painted gold yesterday (Wednesday, June 3) near N. Sheridan and W. Wilson. According to Chicago Breaking News, "About 50 coin-fed parking meters were vandalized today in the three adjacent North Side neighborhoods of Uptown and Ravenswood, according to Chicago police." Wrong. They were vandalized yesterday. Chicago Breaking News was quoted without question by Uptown Update, which ran a photo of a non-vandalized, expired but perfectly funtional meter (which had nothing to do with vandalism) in their version of the story today. (Click photos to enlarge them.) As so often happens, Uptown Update ran none of their own photos. Chicago News Bench actually put down our tub of ice cream and got off our Lazy-Boy recliner to visit the streets of Uptown. We walked around and found the vandalized meters pictured here. The meter that was spray painted gold yesterday (above) is still functional. We watched a woman plug coins into it. No problem. It just looks nicer than it did before the new paint job. CTA Removes Perfectly Good Meters While the media are all aflutter about a few "vandalized" (but still functional) meters, they seem to have missed the fact that CTA has effectively destroyed more than 30 meters. As we walked the filthy streets of Alderman Shiller's 46th Ward, we noticed that all of the parking meters have been removed from the triangular parking lot behind the Wilson Broadway Mall. That's in the heart of a business district that needs all the help it can get, where parking is badly needed. The CTA has claimed that lot for its own "Under the L Monthly Parking Program." The program started on June 1, but the lot was empty this afternoon when we took these photos. Now, a public parking lot that used to help local merchants and their customers is vacant. Nice use of land, City of Chicago. Way to go, CTA. Leave a Comment Here... See our cool merchandise... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Hey! ChiNewsBench is on Twitter

Chicago Cops, CTA Employee Don't Know CTA Photo Policy

I was harassed on Thursday, May 7 by City of Chicago police officers and a CTA employee for taking photographs at the CTA Howard Station. None of the men knew CTA’s own policy regarding photography. (Click on photos here to enlarge them) I was at the station to revisit the scene of a weird incident that happened on April 25. That incident involved a man who was bleeding heavily near the CTA bus turnaround between the Howard train station and Gateway shopping mall, anchored by a Dominick’s grocery store. Initially, police thought he had been shot between 7:45 and 8:00 p.m. The bleeding man lay on the ground and was not transported to St. Francis Hospital in nearby Evanston until about 9:45 p.m. The fact that the man was allowed to languish on the ground for approximately two hours is strange enough, but at 11:20 p.m. the police issued this bizarre statement by e-mail: "Per Area 3, their investigation revealed the incident on the 7500 blk of N Paulina not be of a criminal nature after discovering that the M/44 subject appeared to be suffering from a medical condition and had NOT sustained a gunshot wound." How did the CPD officers on scene, not to mention paramedics, need over an hour to determine that it was not a gunshot wound? It challenges the imagination. Police went to the nearby Dominick’s to obtain video of what might have happened. Still unaware that the suspected gunshot wound was “a medical condition,” they even pulled over a car seen in the video that they suspected might have had something to do with what was initially assumed to be a shooting. (For more about that incident, see "Shooting at Howard El Station Mystery Deepens.") The problem with cops going to Dominick’s to obtain video of something that happened at or near the Howard station is simple: There is no clear line of sight between Dominick’s and the train station or anything else east of their parking lot, and there are no security cameras at CTA’s Howard Station. Standing in front of Dominick’s, you cannot see the station at all. I wondered why would the police go to Dominick’s for video? We know they did from police scanner chatter. Surely, I thought, CTA must have installed security cameras in a hub station that they just spent over $50 Million renovating. So, on May 7, I went to Howard Station to look for cameras there and to photograph both the station and the exterior of Dominick’s. As I exited the train at Howard, I stepped onto a crowded platform, camera in hand. I photographed the interior of the station as I walked through its public areas. I was in plain sight of several CTA employees, and I made no attempt to hide what I was doing, Nobody said a word to me about taking photographs. CTA’s "Photo & Video Policy," as posted on its own website, says this: The general public is permitted to use hand-held cameras to take photographs, capture digital images, and videotape within public areas of CTA stations and transit vehicles for personal, non-commercial use…. Large cameras, photo or video equipment, or ancillary equipment such as lighting, tripods, cables, etc. are prohibited (except in instances where commercial and professional photographers enter into contractual agreements with CTA). I should note that I took the photos for "personal, non-commercial use," since I've put them on my personal blog site, and I do not intend to sell them. CTA does not define "personal use." As I walked out of the station and into the bus turnaround, I approached a CTA employee. My camera was still in my hand, in plain sight. I had no large equipment or ancillary anything with me, only a small Canon PowerShot A530. We smiled at each other, and I asked him why there didn’t seem to be any security cameras in the station and whether Homeland Security requires them. “Who do you work for?” the CTA employee asked, in that you’re-trouble-now tone. The short man wore a short-sleeved white shirt and cap. He looked like Napoleon and was doing what so many “public servants” do: Divert, obfuscate and attempt to confuse in as rude a manner as possible. I told Napoleon that it was none of his business who I work for. If he had asked me politely why I was taking the photos, I might have told him about the April 25 incident and the police confusion and the Dominick’s video. He had asked the wrong question in the wrong way. He could have said something polite like, “Well, sir, I don’t know anything about CTA security camera policy, I’m sorry. Say, what are you taking pictures of?” Instead, what seems to be a possible Napoleon complex got the better of him. Many public servants seem to consider the most basic of questions to be a disturbance. It was apparently a slow day for Napoleon, and he was probably bored. I walked away from him, not in the mood for confrontation. He was not why I came to Howard Station. I went into the nearby Dunkin’ Donuts, got a coffee, came back into the bus turnaround plaza and continued to photograph it as I walked north toward Howard Street. That’s when two deputy dawgs showed up, each in his own Chicago police car. The polite cop was Officer Harris in car 2454. The sadistic old cop was Officer Steele in car 2424. They asked me what I was doing. I said I was enjoying a sunny day and taking photos, and asked them if it's illegal for me to be taking photos of a public facility or of the open plaza. "Maybe, depends," said Office Steele. (Depends on what?) He asked for my I.D., which I gave to him. They filled out a contact card. I asked Napoleon for his name, figuring I have the right to know the name of my false accuser. All he gave me was badge number, "23932." As they were wasting my time and theirs just off of Howard Street, drug deals were going down in the neighborhood. Domestic violence was occurring nearby. Loitering and criminal trespass was taking place, all within spitting distance of where two cops and a bored CTA employee were trying to get to bottom of why an old white guy was quietly taking photos of a public transportation hub wherein the official policy allows photos to be taken. The cops and Napoleon either don’t know the CTA policy or they were just eager to engage in a little sadism to break up an otherwise boring day. I was only in public areas as I walked through the station after getting off a train. As I stated above, I took photos openly, not trying to hide my camera (CTA policy says nothing about concealed cameras). More of the CTA photography policy: All photographers and videographers are prohibited from impeding customer traffic flow, obstructing transit operations, interfering with customers, blocking doors or stairs, and affecting the safety of CTA, its employees, or customers. All photographers and videographers must fully and immediately comply with any requests, directions, or instructions of CTA personnel related to safety concerns. I was not impeding traffic of any kind. I was blocking nothing, nor affecting anyone's safety. Napoleon, badge “23932,” did not request that I leave the station premises. He actually gave me no instructions other than to not take photographs, but I already knew that he had no authority to do so because CTA’s own policy allows me to do what I was doing. His question about who I work for had nothing to do with safety. If I worked for a terrorist organization, which I don't, I would not have answered, "I work for World Conquest Terror, Inc. You should have me arrested right now." Let me ask all the terrorists out there: Would you answer that way? No, of course you wouldn't. Officer Steele seems to be a frustrated old policeman who feels it's necessary to lob insults at citizens to make himself feel important. The CPD’s “diversity training” apparently doesn’t teach cops how to deal with somebody like me, a non-violent, over-50 white male sipping coffee, wielding a non-lethal, inexpensive digital camera, and not causing any trouble. Harris stood by quietly, not saying much. Steele accused me of being "on medication," which I’m sure was designed to get a chuckle out of Harris. I did not hear him chuckle. Steele taunted me about the possibility of being "taken in," and generally tried to intimidate and humiliate me, but his bully behavior did not have the desired effect. Like any bully who doesn't get a whiff of the desired smell of fear, he gave up and drove off. The cops and Napoleon left, seemingly disappointed that I was not intimidated. As they drove off slowly, I resumed my photography. In retrospect, maybe the cops actually did know that I was doing nothing illegal. After all, they did not arrest me or ticket me. The more I think about it, the more I believe that only reason Napoleon and Officer Steele detained me, asked for my I.D. and asked stupid questions was to break up their boredom. Perhaps I’m wrong about that, but the only alternative is that they simply do not know the rules. Congratulations to the bored CTA employee and to officers Harris and Steele. We’re all safer for your heroic vigilance. RELATED: Chicago Police Need Customer Service Training CommieBama Hats and More Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Follow ChiNewsBench on Twitter

Photo du Jour 23 March 2009

This is your CTA.

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Photo du Jour 12 March 2009

A pigeon enjoys a free CTA train ride on Christmas Day, 2006. (The humans on board had to pay full fare.)

After this photo was taken, another passenger and I shooed the bird off the train when the doors opened at the next station. Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Cool Stuff...

Photo du Jour, Feb. 29, 2009

Does that look like "fresh paint" to you? Seen on the platform of the Morse CTA Red Line station Chicago's north side, February 20, 2009. Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Cool Bench Stuff...

The Huberman Stink

Did something die under a couch in here? No, that smell is Ron Huberman, Chicago Mayor Daley's Waterboy and newest head of Chicago Public Schools. When the Blagojevich Crime Spree was finally crushed as the Illinois Senate removed him from office this week, it seemed like Chicago politics might become ho-hum until Blago's federal criminal trial begins. Silly us. Chicago politics is never ho-hum. But like a late Christmas gift, Mayor Daley named Ron Huberman to replace Arne Duncan as head of Chicago Public Schools. Chicago's City Council could still reject Huberman, and a number of local leaders are calling on them to do just that. Duncan was chosen by Barack Obama to be the nation's Secretary of Education, which means that every American will now be guaranteed a Chicago-quality schooling experience (be afraid, be very afraid). Huberman, until a few days ago the head of the inept Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), will undoubtedly bring his CTA style to the local government schools (be afraid, be very, very afraid). This has caused much outrage in Chicago. Many people are upset with the choice of Huberman. A sampling of that outrage follows: Ron Huberman "in over his head" Black leaders say no to Huberman for CPS Black leaders lament Huberman appointment Selection of Huberman just a bad choice Daley's appointment fishy Ron Huberman booed, heckled at his 1st school board meeting Jesse Jackson Slams Choice Of Huberman As New CPS Chief Some Teacher's Don't Want Huberman Why Daley Is Wrong to Move Huberman Transit Riders Still Second-Class in Second City Unauthorized BIO on Ron Hubberman Hubba Hubba Huberman!... CNB RSS Feed

Ron Huberman "In Over His Head"

We said it on Sunday. Days later, the president of the Chicago Teacher's Union said it, too. We said that Ron Huberman, most recently the CTA president, is not the right pick to replace Arne Duncan as the head of the Chicago Public Schools. Duncan recently became the new US Sec. of Edumuhkashun. On Tuesday, Mayor Daley appointed Huberman to replace him. Daley could have chosen from thousands of better candidates, but probably could not have found a better waterboy. A WLS report today tells us that "Chicago Teacher's Union president Marilyn Stewart said this is not the CTA, this is far more complex and we are not scheduling buses, we are educating children." Stewart, reports WLS, was called by Mayor Daley, who told her about his choice of Huberman. "I was really speechless. I was like, where did you get Ron Huberman from? I didn't understand the rationale for that." We understand it. Duncan is Daley's Golden Boy, popular in the gay community (not that there's anything wrong with that, but it neither disqualifies nor qualifies somebody to run a school system). Huberman is a good fundraiser, and he lends a pretty public face to Daley's haggard administration. Education-oriented blogs are upset about the Huberman pick, too. For example, a post today at MoreAboutEducation.info says this: "It's not so objectionable to me that Huberman is the third white guy in a row to head a school system that is overwhelmingly black and Latino. It's not that a non-educator can't run a big city school system. It's not even that Duncan's pick — Barbara Eason-Watkins — would necessarily have done a better job. Rather, it's the absence of any kind of national search that might bring in a new energy and thinking for CPS, and — perhaps most of all — Duncan's decision to support a decision he clearly disagrees with. Come on, man. Stand up." (Full post...) Huberman has not managed CTA well. He has not made changes in the CTA where they really count. Although he brags that the trains and buses run well, those of us who use then daily know that you'll lose money every time if you bet one will arrive on schedule. Huberman leaves a CTA with a bloated bureaucracy. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent to spruce up a few selected stations, while stations just down the street are left to rot because the folk there don't have clout. (See the slide show below, which shows CTA infrastructure decay.) It's nice that the Howard Station is being renovated, but does it really need a $250,000 piece of artwork? Security at many stations is lax or virtually absent. For decades, storefronts on CTA property have remained vacant, a wasted source of potential income for the CTA, which annually whines about budget woes. Now, Huberman will take on a larger bureaucracy. Like CTA, CPS has infrastructure problems. Huberman made spotty cosmetic changes at CTA, but nothing substantial. His record gives us no indication that he will address CPS infrastructure differently. Marilyn Stewart is correct when she says that running the schools is more complex than running the CTA. Mayor Daley should have chosen someone who had a track record of running a school system, not running political footballs down the field. RELATED: Lenz: Huberman "Knows Nothing About Education" Let's Get Real About Huberman Reaction to New Schools Chief Mayor Daley is Faking It HUBERMAN'S LEGACY: CTA ROT CNB RSS Feed

Chicago Police Protected Gang Graffiti

Chicago police officers threatened citizens with arrest yesterday if they went ahead with plans to paint over a growing wall of gang graffiti on CTA property at the Jarvis Avenue Red Line station. The station is just steps away from 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore's ward service office. (Click photos here to see larger images.) The Rogers Park residents who gathered for a bit of civil disobedience were shocked when police officers swarmed into the area to prevent them from doing exactly what Mayor Daley's Graffiti Busters charge taxpayers to do. The would-be painters decided that lockup was too high a price to pay for something that is not a life-and-death matter, and so they backed off. After letting the graffiti fester for nearly two weeks, CTA finally painted it over today. Nobody knows why Alderman Moore allowed this to continue right under his nose, or why this area - one block from his office and a block and a half from his home - continues to be the site of so many murders, muggings, assaults, and ongoing prostitution and narcotics sales. More reports here and here. Subscribe to Chicago News Bench

VIDEO: DANGER ON CTA TRAINS

Hat tip to The Sixth Ward. A CBS-2 video:

CTA TIF Meeting: Resistance is Futile

Weird meeting with CTA President Ron Huberman last night to discuss the ongoing renovation of the Howard Street CTA Station. The meeting was in gymnasium at Gale Elementary School in Rogers Park. Huberman were here to placate the little folks (us) by pretending to care about how we care about our own neighborhood. Huberman spent about five minutes telling us that he was once a beat cop in the hood. Dunno if that was to establish a bond with us, to threaten us subtly by pointing out that he's good with a gun, or what. Alderman Moore (49th Ward) was there and said a whole lot of nothing, as usual. Look, let's be honest. Moore doesn't give a crap about this or you or me, really, and Huberman already has his mind made up to grab 4.7 million bucks from the Howard Street TIF. One of the attendees asked Huberman, in an eloquent mini-speech, why he doesn't keep his mitts off the local TIF dough and dip into the tens of millions of dollars being pissed away to mothball CTA's Magnificent Failure at Block 37 in the Loop. No answer from Huberman to that, of course. I won't bore you with fine details - it doesn't matter because this is another done deal put before us to try to make us think we're involved. We ain't, folks, and lemme tell ya, Ron Huberman could sell shit to a maggot. Joe Moore, for instance, seems to have bought all the shit that Huberman has placed before him. Joe oughta watch Ron. Ron pretends he's interested in what people are saying, like Joe tries to do, but Huberman is more convincing. Daley's Golden Boy, Huberman is able to send out these weird hypno rays from his eyes to try to stupify us (see photo). You could see them if you looked close enough, but the ray seem to work only on stupid people. The room was filled with about 45 people, most of whom seemed to be too smart for Ron's eye rays. Huberman tried to frighten us by threatening to stop work on the half-finished Howard Station renovation. BS about the escalators needing to be completely enclosed, for example, even though the escalators at Loyola Station have been open to rain and snow exposure for years with no real problem. Huberman lied. He cajoled. He pouted. He made Jim Ginderske uncomfortable, for Jim found himself in the uncomfortable position of not being the prettiest boy in the room. Unfortunately, as I said, the TIF money for this over-budgeted, beyond projected completion, a done deal. This was all for show. Bottom line: CTA will rape and pillage as needed, they will threaten some miniature local version of a Doomsday scenario if we stand in their way, and ultimately, we will not be able to resist. Resistance is futile, folks.

Beggars and Thieves: Moore and CTA

Community Meeting on CTA's Request for TIF Assistance for the Howard El Station Redevelopment Alderman Joe Moore" Friday, August 1, 2008 11:38 AM Hey Neighbor, We all know that the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is a Third World-style transit system. I've said this in the past, you know. I was the one who first realized this fact. Well, now I invite you to attend a community meeting to review a recent request by the CTA for funding from the Howard-Paulina Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District to subsidize unnecessary embellishments to the still-unfinished Howard El Station. The meeting will take place on Thursday, August 7th, 7:00 p.m. at the Gale School Annex, 7650 N. Marshfield (at (Jonquil). Just like a corrupt Third World nation, the CTA has come begging for money - again! Oooo, what're you going to do, CTA, threaten us with a hyperlocal doomsday in Rogers Park if you don't get the money? What kind of game is are you playing where halfway through it you say, "Hey, Chicago, shell out more dough or you'll be stuck with a half finished station?" The CTA wants nearly $4.7 million in TIF assistance to make three unnecessary embellishments to the Howard El Station. Folks, that's YOUR tax dollars! For one freeking station! Frankly, even I don't understand this, which I will explain in a moment. But hey, didn't CTA just tell us a few weeks ago that ridership was up so much that they're thinking about ripping seats out in some cars so they're standing room only? What the hell?!? Use some of the windfall profit you guys are making! Anyway, the three items that CTA wants: "Extend the canopy roof over the el tracks to provide additional protection from the elements for CTA passengers and equipment." I'm wondering if they're all drunk at CTA. I mean, when I had that premature ribbon cutting a while back, I noticed that there is already a wide canopy over the tracks. Somebody's getting a kickback from this, and believe me, I know about kickbacks! "Provide more extensive enclosures for the north stairways and escalators to better protect the stairs and passengers from the elements." What the hell? Why should the folks at the Howard Station have more protection than folks at the Jarvis and Morse stations? I know that Howard is closer to the Arctic Circle, but is this expenditure really justified? "Make additional repairs to the Howard Street and Rogers Avenue viaducts to address further deterioration that was discovered after initial repair work had begun." Why wasn't this discovered before the work began? Good God, CTA, get your shit together! And by the way, have you clowns at CTA noticed that chunks of concrete are falling on cars under the viaduct at your Loyola Station? CTA President Ron Huberman will present the CTA's request and explain the scope of the proposed work. A representative from the City of Chicago Department of Planning also will be present to address any TIF-related questions. Think we'll get straight answers out of these stewards of a Third World-style transit system? Ha! This is not just a pipe dream, I say. This is a meeting about a real thing that will happen. The expected completion date for the building's design is July 2003, with construction beginning that fall and finishing in fall 2006, according to Alaaeldien Waziry, who is a consultant working for the CTA on the $2 billion 5-year project to improve stations around the Chicago area. I urge you to attend this important meeting and offer your input. If you have any questions or comments, or would like to attend my next Howard CTA Station ribbon cutting ceremony, please reply to this e-mail or call my office at 773-338-5796. Sincerely, Alderman Joe Moore Visit the website of the 49th Ward P.S. - You might also find the following articles to be of interest. Alderman's call for CTA hearing 10 years too late Chicago News ... Howard El stop renovation may start by 2005 - CITY Man stabbed outside CTA Red Line station on North Side - Topix Chicago Reader The Works Pedaling While Rome Burns... CTA to North Siders: Drop Dead (from Crowding) or Drive

Morse Avenue Urinal Gets New Tiles

The stairwells at the CTA's Morse Avenue Urinal are being spruced up!

The south stairs are shiny and new, ready for the drunk and stoned prostitutes, pimps, narco-retailers and Loyola students who regularly urinate, defecate and vomit here. The north stairs will be refurbished soon.

Aldershmendrik Joe Moore is unaware of this, as he only comes here when he's running for something.

Morse Mural Artist Caught in the Act!

The ugly mural on the CTA Red Line tracks over Morse Avenue in Rogers Park has just gotten uglier. The Bench caught "artist" Damon Lamar Reed in the act of painting ads on the east and west side of the overpass. The mural was painted last summer. Why the additions today? I asked him, "Hey Damon! How much did you pay for this advertisement?" "It's not an ad," he said. "It's got your name and number on it," I said. "It's not my number, so it's not an ad," he said. Okay, so if you see a big billboard with, say, just the word "Nike" on it, according to Damon Lamar Reed it's not an ad because it doesn't have Nike's phone number on it? When he finished, he dumped something into the sewer. Paint? Paint thinner? Was it environmentally friendly? RELATED: CTA Delays Murals, Breaks Promise

March, Out Like a Lion

At Wilson CTA Red Line station in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, 5:08 p.m. today. The wind and sloppy snow were blowing hard across Chicago.

VIDEO! Begging on the CTA Red Line

Gotcha. This scumbag has been begging on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line trains for months now. He claims he just got out of prison (looks like they feed 'em pretty well in the pen). He claims he's just trying to get a 30-day CTA rail pass (but he's been riding the train for months trying to get that pass; how's he do that with the pass?). And the dumb sumbitch looked right into the camera and asked where I got it. How do you think this guy will be voting - Democrat or Republican?

Ice Station Howard

The new roof over the renovated CTA Howard Red Line station is grooved. This, to my pleasant surprise on Friday, makes for some beautiful and unusual snow-cicles.

Another Chicago Tax Increase?

With all the fuss about the SuperBowl, today's big elections, and the usual array of Britney Spears coverage, the fact that your alderman may be about to vote in a big fat tax increase has gone largely unnoticed. So, notice it already. Aldermen mull CTA tax package Chi-Town Daily News, IL - Chicago real estate agents today railed against a proposed tax increase on home transfers to pay for a transit bailout. Committee wants strings attached before agreeing on real estate ... Chicago Sun-Times - The transfer tax increase is the Council’s end of a political deal that raised the regional sales tax to stave off massive CTA fare hikes and service cuts.

Singing in the Subway

Oy, I'm up to here with politics. Let's take a break. Here are three guys who are sure to bring a smile your way, with their nice harmonies and classic oldies sound. They sing in Chicago's Red Line Jackson CTA subway station in the "Loop." They call themselves "3.com." I recorded them on January 29. I hope you're able to catch their act in the subway soon.