Manor Neighbors

Shootings are more frequent, killings closer to home, muggings 24/7. Maybe cops should just teach gangbangers to shoot straight. Blue light cameras, red light cameras, no visible police presence. More than five months of escalating complaints AND violence.

www.centersquarejournal.com

Alderman Mell has set up a Townhall meeting in conjunction with the regular CAPS meeting.

Jan 18, 7 pm, Our Lady of Mercy, lower level @ 4432 N Troy (1 blk W of Albany).  If you’re upset by recent muggings and shootings in the neighborhood – GO.  Police Supt Garry McCarthy & 17th District Cmdr Melissa Staples are to be there and answer previously submitted questions.  RSVP to RMell@cityofchicago.org

beth cole sez:

Happy November to all!! The Cole Family and Donna and Mark Smith, our dear neighbors that moved just a few blocks north, are now collecting for the Food Pantry for the month of November. Please drop off any canned food, boxed items, diapers, etc., (you know the drill).

Address is: 4515 N. Richmond

We will have a blue plastic bin outside starting today through the end of the month for your donations.

Thank you and enjoy the weekend!

Beth, Chris, Olivia, Max – and Donna and Mark : )

the food drive drop location moves around the neighborhood, a different family collecting each month.

Wanted for Armed Robbery with a Handgun
17th (Albany Park) District
About These Crimes
Armed Robbery incidents have occurred in Area Five, 17th Police District where multiple
offenders approached the victims on the street or in alleys and robbed them of their wallets,
money, and cell phones at gun point. The incidents have occurred in the early to late evening and
morning hours.
Incidents (by block of occurrence)
• 4100 N. Hamlin – Sep. 23, 2011, 9:45 p.m.
• 3300 N. Troy – Sep. 24, 2011, 4:50 p.m.
• 4000 N. Mozart – Sep. 27, 2011, 4:20 p.m.
• 4100 N. Elston – Sep. 27, 2011, 4:24 p.m.
• 4800 N. Albany – Sep. 28, 2011, 12:01 a.m.
• 3600 N. Whipple – Sep. 29, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
• 4400 N. Francisco – Sep. 29, 2011, 10:15 p.m.
• 3300 W. Lawrence – Oct. 04, 2011, 9:50 p.m.
• 2900 W. Belle Plaine – Oct. 07, 2011, 11:53 p.m.
• 3500 N. Springfield – Oct. 12, 2011, 10:55 p.m.
• 4900 N. Monticello – Oct. 13, 2011, 12:30 a.m.
About The Offenders
• Three male black offenders, described as 20-35 years of age, 5’09”-6’02”, and 180-200 lbs.
• The offenders wore dark hooded sweatshirts and blue jean type pants.
• At least one of the offenders is armed with a small caliber handgun.
What You Can Do
• Report any suspicious people or activity in the area.
• Be aware of this situation and alert neighbors in the area about this crime.
• Pay special attention to any subjects loitering in the area.
If you have any information about this incident,
Please call the Area 5 Bureau of Detectives at (312) 746-8362
Reference – RD# HT-511277, HT-512458, HT-517016, HT-516900, HT-517513, HT-520243,
HT-520530, HT-527945, HT-532592, HT-540176, HT-540285
Alert # 650-11-027
October 16, 2011

RMIA sez:

The RMIA Semi-Annual community meeting will be held this Tuesday, October 18, 7:30pm at the Horner Park Field House, 2nd floor lounge.

The guest speaker, Melissa A. Staples, District Commander of the Chicago Police Department 17th District, will be speaking and answering questions.

All manor residents are invited to attend.

I am having my first student recital of the year! It will be at North Park Covenant Church, 5250 N Christiana Ave., Sunday October 30th at 3:00pm. All are welcome! Halloween costumes are encouraged.

Narloch Piano Studio opened this past June in Ravenswood Manor, 4636 N Francisco Ave. More details can be found at www.narlochpiano.com.

This in today from Sarah Putrim:

The Putrims are collecting for Albany Park Pantry this month so please drop off all of your non-perishable items to: 2901 W. Sunnyside. Thank you so much for your continued generosity. Best, Sarah, Tom, Sophie, Oliva and Joey

Anyone can donate, just leave non-perishables, plus things like diapers and toiletries. It should be clear where to put them when you get to the house.

MEET BACKYARD CHICKENS AND THEIR PEOPLE at the 2nd Annual Windy City Coop Tour, Sunday, Sept 25 from 11AM to 2PM

The Tour’s webpage has instructions for the event, and links to area map and site info for 26 locations on this year’s tour! Visit the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts website for more information about backyard chickens in Chicago and beyond.

State Representative Deb Mell and Alderman Richard Mell will host a Community Resouce Fair in the Brands Park Field House, 3259 N. Elston, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 1.

At this fair, you’ll have the chance to speak with representatives of the City Clerk’s office, the Illinois Attorney General’s office, and Chicago and Illinois Department of Transportation as well as representatives from the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

The Citizen’s Utility Board (CUB) will be running a phone bill clinic so be sure to bring your phone bills along to see if you can save some money. MasterCard will have a table. There will be FREE face-painting for the children and much more.

For further information, please call Deb Mell’s service office @ 773-267-2880 or download a pdf here:

http://33rdward.org/Fair.pdf

Waters School’s ecology program video was chosen as one of 15 finalists in Coupon Cabin’s Back to School contest. Watch the very cute video on YouTube at this link: http://youtu.be/5-iETEwxvQ8 , then “like” the video. After Sept. 18, the three schools with the most “likes” will win $5,000; $10,000; or $15,000. We need votes to push us up in the list. Please help – it’s only takes 60 seconds!

Alderman Mell reports:

I would like to take this opportunity to officially welcome our new young Ward Superintendent, Noel Valenzuela, who is taking the place of Pete Lebron who recently retired.

He has created a 33rd Ward Streets & Sanitation Facebook page that can be found by clicking on this link:

http://tinyurl.com/33rdWard

Noel will be posting pictures and reporting on various constituent concerns he is addressing on a daily basis and invites you make use of the page. This will be an excellent supplement to our website (http://33rdward.org) our e-mail ALERTS and 33rdWardALERT on Twitter.

Alderman Richard Mell emailed today… “A friend of mine has partnered with the Active Transportation Alliance to develop a new local advocacy group to improve our pubic transportation system. Please take a look at their new website that can be found at http://www.ridersforbettertransit.org and consider joining in their worthy efforts.”

This from the 17th Police District:

An increase in vehicle thefts has occurred within the 017th District. Over 500 vehicles have been stolen in the 017th District during 2011 thus far. (No figure given for same period last year, but it’s up enough to warrant this alert.)

We need your help….Please inform your family, friends and neighbors to take measures to prevent their vehicles from being stolen!

Commander Melissa Staples is asking for volunteers to assist us with a new program that seeks to get the word out to the entire district about these crimes and what can be done to reduce and eventually eliminate this from our area. We would like to know what blocks have been flyered. Our goal is to make everyone aware of this Alert. After distributing the flyer (contact CAPS office for flyer, or copy/email this post), please email me to what blocks were covered. Teens who do more than six blocks will receive 3 hours of community service towards their high school requirement.

Also If anyone knows of garages working on the below type of cars, please notify the 17th District CAPS office at caps.017district@chicagopolice.org

Most frequently stolen vehicles:

HONDA ACCORD 1990-1997 (61)
HONDA CIVIC 1988-2002 (55)
NISSAN SENTRA 1992-1999 (25)
NISSAN ALTIMA 1993-1999 (23)
TOYOTA CAMRY 1988-2000 (22)
NISSAN MAXIMA 1992-1999 (21)
ACURA INTEGRA 1990-1999 (21)
SATURN SL 1993-1997 (21)

Vehicles stolen in Beat 1713 (Manor north of Wilson): 3
Vehicles stolen in Beat 1724 (Manor south of Wilson, plus part of Horner Park West: 52

Police are encouraging garaging when possible, locking, alarming (or alarm stickering), not ever leaving the car running and unattended, not leaving items visible in vehicles, and other common sense precautions.

Welcome to ManorNeighbors 2.0!

All our old content has been migrated to a new platform, all member information, too. (See “Lost your password?” link in top of sidebar if you need username/password retrieval help.) This new platform is running virtually for free (and open source), so it will nevermore be threatened by sketchy service providers deciding to run up the price of previously free accounts. Many thanks to those who sent encouraging notes when it looked like MN was finished. This new version is actually MUCH improved.

Here’s what’s new:

-Much cleaner format, easier to read, post, and manage
-More ways to read it: subscribe by email, rss or twitter, in addition to browsing the website
-Categories for blog posting: invitations, offers, requests, reports, thanks, resources
-Easier posting of MN2MN offers: just pop your offer (used items, music lessons, babysitting, etc) in a regular blog post, check the “offers” category, and click publish.
-Monthly Calendar that works like a google calendar, that anyone can post events, deadlines or volunteer needs
-Buttons for facebook liking, email sharing, tweeting, and google+1
-Links to a number of other websites where Manor folk are gathering
-Activity page will show you all recent posts and comments on different posts, and if we start Groups it’ll show that activity as well, all in one quick view.

For the moment, the Groups functionality is turned off, so your comments, questions, and suggestions about the new platform can be posted as comments to this blog post. For technical help, mailto:michael@michaelherman.com or watch the “How To…” tab above the sidebar for FAQs, tips, tricks and explanations.

What do you think of the new space? What more might we use it for?

With Your Help, We Can Earn a $1000 Matching Grant from the OpenLands Project.

The Horner Park Advisory Council (HPAC), in partnership with the Ravenswood Manor Improvement Association (RMIA), is seeking local donations to match a grant of $1,000 from the Openlands Project to plant 8 new trees in and around Ravenswood Manor Park.

In the last few years, we have lost several trees on the parkway surrounding the park, and in the park itself. This campaign calls for replacing the lost trees, adding one tree in Ravenswood Manor Park, and completing the ring of parkway trees on Francisco and Manor Avenues.

Your contribution will help plant new trees in and around Ravenswood Manor Park.

Please show your support for our neighborhood with a tax-deductible gift to the Horner Park Advisory Council. We are seeking donations of $10, $20, $50 or more from each interested household to get to our joint goal of $1,000. Checks can be sent payable to The Horner Park Advisory Council c/o John O’Connell, 4530 N. Mozart St. Chicago, IL 60625.

Or, you can visit the HPAC website at www.hornerpark.org and provide a credit card to the PayPal account. The Horner Park Advisory Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible.

All donations will be acknowledged, and a list of donors (with permission) will be posted on the HPAC and RMIA websites.

I’m sorry this website is closing and would be happy to join the 2.0 version when it’s available.

In case you haven’t seen it, there’s a new website called EveryBlock (powered by msnbc).  You can follow Chicago activities by zip code, Ward and/or neighborhood….as well as post comments/start discussions.  http://chicago.everyblock.com/

Ruth