Ron Roenigk, News Addict, Ink Junkie

Ron Roenigk, publisher of Inside Publications, has written a guest column for Chicago News Bench, which we present below. In March of 2009, he acquired News-Star and Booster from Wednesday Journal (in Oak Park). Ron shares something with many bloggers - his love of news and information. He writes about that lifelong obsession and about the business he loves so much. Still Addicted to the 20th Century by Ron Roenigk I'm a news addict - I have been an ink junkie my whole life. Frankly... I'm not looking to clean myself up either. I don't really care where I find the news... I just want as much as I can get, I'm hooked.. I read a lot and am very thankful for the band of citizen journalists out there who blog away digging up good solid local news content that they then make available to people like me for free on their sites. I am a true believer in the free press and citizen journalism. I have been doing that as a career my whole professional life. Gang - being in the media is one of the last vestiges of free enterprise out there. No license needed, no OSHA visits or bribes to city officials. Just pay your payroll taxes to the IRS and everyone else just leaves you alone. What a country! Personally I have never felt threatened by news web sites and feel that we are all part of the same community and can easily coexist. I give my news away for free too! My staff and I visit dozens of local web and blog sites each and every week as we do our own news gathering rounds. It is an integral part of our mission to see what is bubbling up of a local nature on the Internet and the dearth of information, feedback and comments helps us to establish our own goals for coverage. I won't play favorites here by naming names but trust that if you're blogging about something on Chicago's North Side then I or somebody else on my staff has read your work at one time or another - indeed there are several sites I visit just about every day. There is one major difference though between many of these news sites and what we do. We are primarily a print news source. I know, I know - 20th Century technology... so call me a dinosaur if you want... but my friends, that's where we make our money. Over 90% of our revenue comes from print advertising. So let me be clear: we're a business first and newspaper second. We must make money or we don't exist. It has been my own experience that generating advertising revenue on news sites on the Internet is not really working. So for now I must focus most of my effort making my print edition profitable... and it is, thank you! It wasn't in 2008 but since our acquisition of the Booster and News Star newspapers from Wednesday's Journal last March it is now and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the good folks at Wednesday Journal for making that happen. Don't take this wrong but I have often wondered why supposedly smart newspaper people today put so much effort and attention into their web presence to the detriment of their print products when their own numbers show that the revenue they generate from print advertising grossly outperforms what they're making online? I must be dumb because I choose to focus on what is actually generating revenue for me over betting my house that I will somehow figure out a way to make money on our newspaper web site? In that scenario I don't mind being the last one in the pool... when those smart guys figure out how to make real money with an online news site I'll jump back in with both feet. Thankfully, though, most of the citizen journalists out there blogging away are doing it for their own passion and self-gratification. It's very cool seeing your work in print and available to the world online via the Internet. No they clearly do not do it for the money or there would be a lot less content on the Internet. So a hearty three cheers for you... your selfless dedication and gumption has made the world a better place.

News-Star Apologizes, Makes Good

Let me start this by saying that my respect for Ron Roenigk, publisher of News-Star newspaper (Chicago), has been renewed. On September 3, I took him and News-Star to task for using one of my photographs without my knowledge in their Sept. 2-8, 2009. I'll admit that I was pretty rough on him in that post, in which I asked "for $100.00 payment immediately for the use of the photograph and an apology and attribution on page 3 of the next issue of News-Star." To his credit, Roenigk proved himself to be a gentleman about the whole affair, and it's my turn to make attribution - attribution to Roenigk, that is, for kindly sending me a check for $100 (no, it didn't bounce) and for printing a nice "correction" in Sept. 9-15 issue of News-Star. Inasmuch as the already-circulation issues of the Sept. 2-8 News-Star will not be rounded up and burned, my already-published Sept. 3 post will not be deleted for just a little while. However, it will now include a link at the top to this post, just to keep things straight. That's what this was all about - keeping it straight. Sincere thanks to Ron Roenigk. Cool Hats & Shirts for Cool Conservatives Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

Lorraine Swanson Is Back With New Online News Site

May 14, 2009 - Not that Lorraine Swanson ever really went away, mind you. She's been hard at work, prepping her next big move. The former editor and primary writer of the News-Star newspaper in Chicago has been busy regrouping and readying a full frontal assault.
UPDATE, Feb. 24, 2011: 'Lake Effect News' Blog Officially Dead
She left the News-Star when the Chicago Journal sold it in March. Since then, News-Star has been a shadow of its former self, and Swanson has regularly been barraged with the same statement by her fans: "We miss you, Lorraine!" Those fans won't miss her for long. Between now and May 22, Swanson will debut her new online news site, called "Lake Effect News."

VETERAN CHICAGO REPORTER STARTS ONLINE NEWS SITE

CHICAGO, IL

MAY 15, 2009 - Lorraine Swanson, 16-year veteran reporter and former editor of the Chicago Journal’s News-Star, will debut her own online news site next week. Called “Lake Effect News” (LEN), it will cover news and events in Chicago’s North lakefront communities.

Lake Effect News will be up and running before May 22, 2009.

Lake Effect News (www.lakeeffectnews.com) will be a daily online news site. It will be updated throughout the day, offering up a daily dish of politics, crime reports, development updates, school information, entertainment tips and more, all with a hyper-local focus.

Lake Effect News will focus on Rogers Park, West Ridge, Edgewater, Andersonville, Uptown, Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, North Center, Lake View, Albany Park and other neighborhoods. LEN will combine traditional journalistic values with multi-media news presentation. Swanson has long made community journalism a personal commitment. She has covered Chicago’s North Side from Howard Street to Roosevelt Road for Lerner Newspapers, Pioneer Press and, most recently, Chicago Journal.

Swanson resides in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.

“We’ll focus on those neighborhoods, but if something else is happening in the Chicago region that affects our readers we will certainly write about it, ” Swanson said. “For that matter, if something happens anywhere in the world that impacts our neighborhoods, it’s on our radar.”

“Now more than ever our lakefront communities need an independent neighborhood news outlet,” Swanson said, “We haven’t asked for a grant and don’t want one. We won’t pander to readers and have no hidden agenda. In fact, we love to expose hidden agendas.”

“Much of what transpires in the Chicago City Council is hammered out in neighborhood church halls, school gyms and community meeting rooms,” Swanson said. “The traditional neighborhood print newspaper has always served the role of watchdog. We want to continue that role online, with our strong personal commitment to and interest in neighborhood-level news.  Unlike a traditional newspaper, we’re more environment-friendly and none of our issues will ever end up in a puddle on your front yard.”

News-Star, Booster Sold

The Chicago Journal admits failure by selling off its two most profitable papers within Chicago. News-Star and Booster were sold this afternoon in a secret lunch meeting downtown. The papers were sold to Inside Publications, which publishes "Inside," a free weekly distributed in the North Center and Lincoln Square neighborhoods. Chicago Journal sold cheap. They paid $2 Million for the old Lerner Newspapers a year ago, and they took a loss on today's sale. This, sadly, was predictable. The Reader's Mike Miner has more... (Chicago News Bench will have more on this later, with some first-hand insight that The Reader does not have, such as the mismanagement of the papers by publishers Andrew Johnston and Dan Haley, and the day-to-day operations by "managing editor" Helen Karakoudas, and the horrible web site work by Graham Johnston.) RELATED: Worst Newspaper Web Site of 2008 Kindle and the Future of Newspapers Chicago Journal keeping 2 weekly newspapers, selling 2, closing 1 Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Cool Stuff...

Big Media Stumbled on Sunrise Equities Story

UPDATE, OCT. 17, 2008: Also see Obama Connected to Sunrise Equities, Part One

As is so often so typical, Chicago's dinosaur Big Media completely missed a major story - right under their noses. It's the story of a Muslim shariah financial investment company that has scamming as many as 300 investors for as much as $100 million. 

Salman Ibrihim, the CEO, and four other Sunrise officers vanished in late August, perhaps to Dubai or Pakistan. The entire Indian-Pakistani community, so prominent along the W. Devon corridor, has been abuzz about this scandal since late August, if not earlier. 

This would make one hell of a screenplay. The failure of Sunrise Equities, and the mysterious disappearance of five of its top officers, is the kind of story that should have made the front page of both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. It should have gotten big play on all of the local television and radio news shows. In this age of New Media, however, a local blogger proved - again - that the little guys can often out do the big ones. 

Bill Morton has a blog on Chicago's north side called "Rogers Park in 1,000 Words." Morton's contributor "Grammar Girl" broke this story on September 14, 2008. That is, RP1000 was the first medium outside of the Devon corridor to pay attention to it. (See all "Sunrise Equities" related stories at RP1000...) 

It should be noted that on Sept. 11 the story was reported by the Muslim Media Network. Needless to say, MMN has few audience members outside of its target demographic. (See "Sun Sets on Sunrise Equities : Muslim Media Network.") 

This blog, The Bench, picked up on the story on Sept. 15 after seeing the RP1000 posts. We ran "Chicago's Hidden Financial Scandal" and quickly scored more hits that day - and still today - than on any other story. RP1000 told The Bench that they, too, are scoring huge numbers. Both RP1000 and The Bench have seen big hits coming from Dubai, India and Pakistan especially. 

What is interesting about most of these hits - or clicks, if you will - is that they are coming from people who are specifically searching for "sunrise equities" or "salman ibrihim." 

By the afternoon of Sept. 14, the News-Star newspaper (a weekly publication, part of the Chicago Journal family), had also noticed both the RP1000 and The Bench posts and was diligently digging into the story. 

The News-Star's first story about the Sunrise Equities catastrophe, "Where is Salman Ibrahim?" was in their Sept. 17 issue. News-Star reporter Lorraine Swanson, who is also the Editor of the paper, made good use of already-established contacts in the Indian-Pakistani community, and followed up with another article, "Indo-Pak investors fear the worst," on Sept. 24. 

Along stumbled the Chicago Tribune, finally, on Sept. 19 with the story "Muslim investors claim fraud." However, the Trib used an Associated Press feed, and it was nowhere near as well researched as the News-Star's article on Sept. 17, two days earlier. To the Tribune's credit, though, they at least showed interest in the story. They were at least aware of it, unlike the other Big Media locally. 

The Chicago Sun-Times got into the story on Sept. 20, but with a very brief, scratch-the-surface blurb. At least their story, however, was written by one of their own staffers. 

Four days later, on Sept. 24, the Trib published "Dozens of Muslims lose life savings to real estate developer," this time by one of their own and not cribbed from AP. Although more in depth than their Sept. 19 story, it misses many of the points that News-Star got days earlier. The headline, which indicates that "dozens" of people may lose their savings, is weird: There are close to 300 investors who are in jeopardy. "Dozens" seems an odd choice of words. 

Today, Sept. 26, the Trib ran another AP story (are they that short-staffed over there?). "Chicago's South Asians shocked by investment scam" is yet another weird headline. Sure, people were shocked by the scam - when it was fresh. Now, they're all just pissed off, as the shock wore off about a week ago. 

Nowhere in any of the Big Media reports is Bill Morton's RP1000 blog mentioned. RP1000 will probably stay ahead of the curve on at least some of the aspects of the story, as will News-Star. Both are closer to the story than the Big Media, doing better on-the-ground footwork and making use of deeper contacts in the Indian-Pakistani community.

Uptown: Teen Shooting Victim ID'd

One of the THREE victims in Friday's triple shooting in Uptown, Chicago has - finally - been identified. "Tim" now has a last name. Kudos to News-Star editor/reporter Lorraine Swanson for staying on top of this sad story (see her story here). Meanwhile, only The Bench correctly noted that THREE, not two, people were shot in the mid-afternoon incident. (See: UPDATED: Triple Shooting In Uptown, Mourners Gather) Even the police - as of late this morning - were still confused and seemed unaware of the third victim, who was shot in the shoulder with non-life threatening injuries.

News-Star's Meat Couch

What the hell is that photo on the cover of this week's News-Star? At first glance, it looks like a green couch with big green and lavendar pillows on it. On closer inspection, however, you realize that its a wooden cutting board with cuts of meat on it. Jeez, man, that'll put you off eating meat for week. Disgusting. Will News-Star's publisher, the Chicago Journal, get a refund from the printer for the crappy color job?

News-Star Action Packed This Week

The News-Star newspaper is full of exciting news this week, in what some have dubbed the "Bilingual Crazy Chicken and Heroin Issue." Why that dubbing? Cuz, man, check out these headlines: Bilingual Headline - about crazy chickens! Uptown is 'muy loco' for El Pollo Loco Drama and human struggle! From heroin to hope Is this some kinda death threat? You'll never see your tombstone Gambling in Rogers Park! 49th Ward holds lucky CPAN lotto Dudes and dudettes, you gotta pick up an issue of the News-Star today. It's FREE! Check out the 7-11 at Pratt and Glenwood, Sonny's at Lunt and Sheridan, Common Cup at Morse and Greenview, and other places too. Call Alderman Moore's office at 773-338-5796 and ask him where you can pick up a copy of the latest News-Star newspaper, covering Rogers Park, Uptown, Ravenswood and Edgewater like nobody else! Let Alderman Moore know that you want your News-Star!!!

NEWS-STAR KICKS ASS

The new News-Star newspaper, recently acquired from the Sun-Times, is kicking ass and taking numbers. Boy, are they taking numbers. The self-appointed "leaders" of Rogers Park did not lead. Only two of their flock were in attendance. The room was tacitly against them. It was mercifully boring. It was most notable for who was not there.

Who was not there: Joe Moore, Katie Hogan, Michael James, Jim Ginderske, Tom "Wee Wee" Westgard, Rene Camargo, or any of the usual suspects - with the lonely exception of Brian White.

White actually did a fair job of moderation, but he was visibly uncomfortable as he realized minute by minute that this would not turn into a tarring and feathering.

The missed targets: Cool, calm and collected publisher Dan Haley, managing editor Helen Karakoudas (photo left) and editor Lorraine Swanson (not shown) of the News-Star.

Brian White called this meeting. It is unprecented: Inviting the new publisher of a small community-oriented newspaper to explain himself to the community. It was a thinly veiled attempt by the goons who lick Alderman Joe Moore's boots to bully the new kid on the block. But the bully tripped. Only two of Moore's waterboys were in attendance, Francis something-or-other and a caterer named Terry Feingold.

While the 45 - 50 people in attendance were asking polite questions about news coverage, requesting the return of the crossword puzzles, more pet news - in short, no political screeds - Francis whats-his-name and Feingold sat stone still, grimacing, pissed off. Why? Because the room was full of people gushing adoration and praise on publisher Dan Haley and star reporter cum editor Lorraine Swanson. THIS WAS EXACTLY OPPOSITE OF WHAT WHITE AND COMPANY hoped for.

Caterer Terry Feingold had the dumbest comment of the night:

He couldn't help himself. Like a man with an uncontrollable twitch, Feingold invoked the word "diversity" to the room. This neighborhood is very diverse, he said, and about 30 per cent of the residents are Latino. So, he asked Mr. Haley, why doesn't the News-Star have a Spanish language edition?

Huh? A Cuban-American woman was among the many of us who snickered. "Sure," she said, "as soon as La Raza puts out an English version."

Questions for Terry Feingold:

When will your crooked overlord and patron Joe Moore put his email blasts out in Spanish? And why are you fixated on Spanish? What about those among us who only read Urdu, German, Russian, Bosnian, Portugese, Congolese, and so on?

When will your liquor license violating friend Michael James put out a Spanish version of the menu at his Heartland Cafe? Gosh, Terry, wouldn't that make it easier for all the illegal aliens working in his kitchen to read the menu? Sure it would.

When will you demand that DevCorp put out a multilingual version of their little propaganda rags? No, not just Spanish and English, but in all of the other languages spoken in this oh-so-diverse neighborhood?

Why, Terry Feingold, is your Gold'n Pear Catering Company's web site in English only? Are you a racist, anti-Latino bigot? Are you deliberately excluding Latinos from being clients of your catering company? No, we know you're not. But since you're so into diversity, we look forward to seeing your web site in Spanish soon. And in about 40 other languages.

RELATED: DEFEND THE NEWS STAR, MARCH 6

DEFEND THE NEWS STAR, MARCH 6

The News-Star is a little neighborhood newspaper with great big job to do: Cover Chicago at the neighborhood level in a way the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times are not able or willing to do. Many, many stories are covered every week by the News-Star and its sister publications under the umbrella of The Chicago Journal. The News-Star and the sister papers get down into the neighborhoods, covering local store openings, neighborhood politics, school events and neighbors in a way that the "big" media just do not do. To lose the Chicago Journal's family of mighty little newspapers, or for the Chicago Journal to lose its nerve, would be a tragedy for Chicago. But on March 6, 2008 you can witness an attempt by a bunch of self-appointed neighborhood "leaders" to bully the new publisher of the Chicago Journal papers. These "leaders" - Brian White, DevCorp, the West Ridge Chamber of Commerce and others - would prefer that the Chicago Journal papers be cheerleaders for their socialist programs. They would prefer that the Chicago Journal cave in to their veiled demands to be just another sympathetic mouthpiece for aldermen, self-appointed "leaders" and others. Don't let them get away with it. Defend the News-Star and show your support for a free press, a press free from the bullies who pretend to be your "leaders": Thursday, March 6, 2008 6:45 pm – 8:45 pm Rogers Park Chicago Public Library, 2nd floor Community Room 6907 N. Clark Street, Chicago (312) 744-0156 RELATED: THE NEWS-STAR IS UNDER ATTACK

THE NEWS-STAR IS UNDER ATTACK

There is a sneaky attempt by self-appointed "leaders" of the greater Rogers Park communities (49th and 50th Wards of Chicago) to muzzle the free press and bully private enterprise. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.

They are, to put it simply, trying to intimidate Dan Haley, the new publisher of the New-Star newspaper.

It is well known that Alderman Joe Moore (49th) and Alderman Bernie Stone (50th) are not fond of an unfettered press. They are both know citywide for calling newspaper editors and screaming - literally - that they don't like what reporters write. They demand that editors give reporters a "good talking to." But the aldermen are not alone. The Queen of DevCorp North, Bimberly Kares, is not much better, and all of her staff are very tight lipped. Brian White of Lakeside CDC is part of this group, which also includes 49th Ward Democrat Committeeman David Fagus, CAPS fetishist Kevin O'Neal, and others who hate the free press.

These neo-Stalinists are especially freaked out by the now-not-so-new phenomenon of bloggers. See, you can call and scream at an editor. You can threaten them with business license shenanigans, and you can intimidate their advertisers. They are frustrated by local bloggers (citizen journalists) who have no advertisers, no business licenses and - in short - nothing that these bullies can threaten us with (legally)?

Here's what you do. You hold a "community meeting" and pretend it's something that the entire community wants. The following was printed in this week's News-Star and also appears at Lakeside CDC's web site as a PDF. It is subtle, and tells us more about the author than was intended. The Bench's very own Cryptology Unit went to work on it. Following is notice from Lakeside CDC, with The Bench's analysis inserted:

West Rogers Park Community Organization

Presents

“Covering the Community:Perspectives from the New News-Star”

With Special Guests Dan Haley, Publisher, Oak Park Wednesday Journal & Lorraine Swanson, Editor, News Star

Thursday, March 6, 2008
6:45 pm – 8:45 pm
Rogers Park Chicago Public Library
2nd floor Community Room
6907 N. Clark Street, Chicago

In this era of 24-hour news cycles, web blogs-as-news, and ever-increasing demands for residents’ time and attention, the role of community newspapers continues to evolve. In January 2008, the News Star newspaper was sold to the Oak Park WednesdayJournal newsgroup along with other Pioneer Press publications. The News Star has served in one form or another as the community newspaper in Rogers Park and WestRidge since the 1930s.

ANALYSIS: Author is something of a Luddite, with a fear of the new media (new sites, blog sites, etc.). He has an obvious ignorance of what blogs are. Evidence: His use of the phrase "web blogs." There is no such thing. The correct term, "blogs," is short for "web logs," not "web blogs." Furthermore: Author misunderstands the nature of a privately owned newspaper. Evidence: He says that the News-Star has "served...as the community newspaper," whereas in reality every newspaper serves as a revenue generating business. In the case of a newspaper, they do this by selling advertising space. They sell advertising space by providing readers for advertisers, not by providing public service announcements or propaganda for aldermen.

On March 6, 2008 the new publisher and editor of the News Star will meet with residents, community leaders, and business owners to share their plans and hear what readers and advertisers want from the paper. A lively discussion is anticipated. The meeting is open to the public; seating is first come first served. Call (773) 381-5253 or visit www.wrpco.org on the web for more info.

ANALYSIS: Author uses phrase "residents, community leaders, and business owners," but he does not make clear which residents, leaders, or business owners. Furthermore, there are - to use a round figure - over 100,000 residents in the areas served by the News-Star. However many residents will be able to cram into the library on March 6 will represent an insignificant percentage of the total. Same for the business owners; there are many hundreds of them. As for "leaders," does he mean elected leaders, or self-appointed "leaders?" The author also fails to explain how many employees of DevCorp North, Lakeside CDC, Northside POWER, and other quasi-Stalinist organizations will pack the room on March 6. "A lively discussion" is not only anticipated, it is guaranteed. In fact, The Bench sincerely hopes there will be security guards stationed around the room.

Co-sponsored by West Ridge Chamber of Commerce, DevCorp North, and Partners for Rogers Park

ANALYSIS: These organizations are headed by self-appointed "leaders," none of whom were elected by the general population of the neighborhoods served by the News-Star. Furthermore, they all have cozy ties to Aldermen Moore and Stone.

META ANALYSIS: The event is straight out of the old Soviet Union playbook of mock trials, with a clever (and necessary) twist. If these self-appointed "leaders" had their way, they would lock up publisher Dan Haley, editor Lorraine Swanson, and turn the News-Star into another propaganda rag such as the RPCC "newspaper" or the DevCorp propaganda pamphlets. Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for these "leaders," we have a long tradition of democracy, freedom of speech and private enterprise in this country, unlike the old Soviet Union (Russia). Nevertheless, these "leaders" continue to work at slowly chipping away at our freedoms. This is just one more attempt to put a chink in democracy's armor.

RECOMMENDATION: Get all your friends to join you in support of Dan Haley, Lorraine Swanson and the Chicago Journal's News-Star on March 6, 2008.

SUN-TIMES AXES NEWS-STAR, BOOSTER, SKYLINE

THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED: SEE http://rogersparkbench.blogspot.com/2008/01/sun-times-axes-news-star-booster.html FOR THE UPDATE News-Star, Booster and Skyline will shut down on Jan. 30. This will make Joe Moore, Gene Schulter and other shady characters very happy. It will further empower the local bloggers to fill the information void. Sun-Times closing neighborhood Skyline Newspapers From the Crain's Chicago Business Newsroom January 23 16:00:00, 2008 By Shia Kapos and Ann Saphir ----- (Crain’s) — Sun-Times Media Group is closing down its Skyline Newspapers, a cluster of neighborhood weekly publications throughout the city. "The Skyline, the Booster and News-Star will cease publication," a Sun-Times spokeswoman said. "The final day of publication for all of these titles is January 30. There have been jobs eliminated related to the shuttering of these publications." The Chicago-based media group plans at least 75 editorial job cuts companywide, including about 40 at its flagship Chicago Sun-Times. The cut-backs are part of the plan to cut $50 million in expenses in the first part of 2008. “These community papers can be a strong force, serving as a watch dog over zoning, growth and other problems. They’re a sounding board for neighbors. It’s more personal. And now it’s lost.” FULL ARTICLE at CRAINS...

Bad Times at Chicago Sun-Times

It the new media, Stupid. Good article by Mike Miner at The Reader. The Sun-Times wants to eliminate more than 30 Chicago Newspaper Guild jobs, and when guild leaders and union officials met Monday to begin discussions of how this should be done or might even be avoided, emotions ran high. They peaked on the subject of two employees whose jobs are safe. That's because James Smith, a page designer, and Garry Steckles, an editor -- both recent hires -- were just promoted to exempt positions by editor in chief Michael Cooke, thus getting them out from under language in the guild contract that protects members according to seniority. Cooke "was at the meeting. His basic position was 'I can promote whoever I want,' and he was pretty arrogant about it," says Gerald Minkkinen, executive director of the CNG. "The subject of exempting his buddies and making others vulnerable was a matter of considerable discussion. We were pretty angry about it." FULL ARTICLE...

FLASH: SCHULTER BLINKS

Updated 12/10, 7:20 P.M. Schulter derails plan for eminent domain December 10, 2007 By LORRAINE SWANSON Staff Writer, News-Star Alderman Eugene Schulter, 47th, backed down from a plan to condemn privately owned businesses on the 4800 block of North Western Avenue and hand them over to private developers--sort of. Schulter also went on to say that "the city will not seek to acquire any such properties by condemnation," for the properties north of 4807 N. Western Ave. GET THE FULL STORY NOW...