Rogers Park - News, Photos and More on the Windy Citizen

Big love for the small stage: Pint-sized productions are the beating heart of the Rogers Park art scene

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:05 -0500

Peer off the platform of the Morse stop on the CTA red line and see… hardly anything at all. A dollar mart and a tiny drug store hold corners of the Morse and Glenwood intersection while liquor stores, coin laundries, small restaurants and apartment buildings dot the surrounding area. It’s unapparent that the grungy wooden platform overlooking this gritty, nondescript cross-section is a gateway to the Glenwood Avenue Arts District.

Developers seeking TIF funds for Rogers Park theater rehab

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:59:40 -0500

Developers are seeking permission to use $200,000 in public money to renovate the building housing the Village North movie theater, a discount venue popular with Loyola University students.

The project involves replacing the building's terra cotta facade with reinforced concrete, as well as remodeling second-floor offices and landscaping improvements.

At a community meeting about the project on Tuesday, developers said they are seeking to use funds from the area's Tax Increment Finance district to fund part of the $700,000 project.

Low income Chicagoans can still eat healthfully, nutrionists say

Fri, 23 May 2008 10:57:38 -0500

Put down the Honey Bun.

“Families should plan out meals and snacks,” said Jennifer McCaffrey of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. “We try to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables – especially the ones that are in season, since they’re cheaper. In Chicago, berries are very in season now, and melons will be in July and August.”

Low income families in the city are bearing the burden of rising food prices more than wealthier Chicagoans, but that doesn’t mean they have to sacrifice their health.

Secret to Chicago's bungalow boom lies in Rogers Park grandma's home-baked cookies

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:01:00 -0500

For many Chicagoans, the warmth of home is found in a bungalow. Bungalows are memories of baking chocolate chip cookies at grandma’s house, block parties on Independence Day, the smell of babies and friendly, familiar, smiling faces. They are constant reminders of the past.

“People long for the kinds of things they remember as children,” said real estate agent Mark Ahlheim about homebuyers and their attraction to bungalows.

Ethnic grocery store tour brings the world to your shopping cart

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:05 -0500

Evelyn Thompson combines her love of Chicago ethnic neighborhoods with her interest in ethnic eating.

Thompson teaches a class on ethnic foods at the University of Illinois at Chicago but leads tours for everyone to grocery stores that feature Thai eggplant, fiber-laden cactus pears and vegetarian raisin sausage among their staples.

Loyola exhibit displays Ugandan children's terrors and joys

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:01:00 -0500

Some sketches show children riding bikes, playing soccer and beating drums. Others show images of flowers, family and home.

The crayon and pencil drawings, matted on burlap sacks, are familiar creations made by young children.

But these sketches show other things: A tanker dumping "poisdus chemicals" into a river. A child-like figure huddled in a doorway as a machete-wielding man approaches. Stick figures are shooting each other.

Proposed budget cuts could endanger domestic-violence victims, advocates say

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:48:16 -0500

Proposed cuts in federal funding to domestic-violence services could lead to more cases such as those of Cindy Bischof and Mercedes McCauley, two Chicago-area women murdered by their ex-boyfriends in the past month, Illinois legal advocates fear.

Independent pharmacies struggling

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:02:19 -0500

At the end of an aisle crammed full of vitamins, cough drops, mops, notebooks, and greeting cards, Carl Rosenthal wheeled to face a visitor to his cluttered Rogers Park pharmacy.

"What do you think the biggest challenge facing independent pharmacies is?" he demanded.

Wal-Mart and Walgreens?

"Wrong!" Rosenthal relished responding. "They are not the enemy. It's the insurance companies."

As Cook County public clinics close, healthcare costs increase, the age of the population rises, and the ranks of the uninsured grow, more and more people are depending on pharmacies for medical advice and direction. The chain stores offer only curt one-size-fits-all answers, Rosenthal asserted, while independents like him remember their customers and go out of their way to make sure that each has the best possible treatment.

Yet community pharmacies are quickly disappearing. Medicare programs and insurance companies don't pay them enough to cover the cost of running a business, Rosenthal and others said. Three bills currently in Congress could be independent drugstores' last chance for survival-but they face formidable opposition from well-financed insurance companies that argue their methods keep prices down for both pharmacies and consumers.

"I may have to close," said Rosenthal, the 55-year-old owner of Morse Clark Drugs and two other pharmacies. He had a fourth that he already had to close. "Then my only hope is that I can sell my (patient prescription history) files to one of the chains."

Introduced March 12, the Fair and Speedy Treatment of Medicare Prescription Drug Claims Act of 2007 would require Medicare and private prescription drug plans, or PDPs, to pay electronic claims to pharmacies within 14 days. It would also bar PDPs from placing pharmacy trademarks on member cards or drug information.

The bill was sent to the committees of Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce on March 20. It has 232 cosponsors, more than half of the House, including, from Illinois, Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago), the Democratic caucus chair, and Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston).

"I think more and more people are turning to pharmacies for good medical advice," Schakowsky said.

Another bill, the Community Pharmacy Fairness Act of 2007, would allow independent pharmacies to negotiate for contracts from Medicare and PDPs; currently community pharmacies must accept terms insurance companies propose. The bill was introduced on Feb. 8, 2007, brought up for debate in the House on Nov. 7, and sent back to the House Judiciary Committee. The legislation has 179 cosponsors, but is opposed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which feels it is too broad and would raise costs.

A third bill, the Saving Our Community Pharmacies Act of 2007, was introduced on July 24 and referred to the Energy and Commerce committee. The legislation, with 139 cosponsors, would set median retail acquisition cost-a cost between the wholesale prices paid by chain stores and the higher prices paid by independents-as the basis for Medicaid reimbursements on generic drugs, likely boosting payments to community drugstores.

"Odds favor relief for independent pharmacies," according to an October issue of the Kiplinger letter. The newsletter predicted that the bills would be passed quickly.

Still, the legislations face tough resistance from insurance companies. If enacted, the legislation would cost the Medicare program at least another $32.7 billion over the next decade, according to studies by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and CRA International commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents pharmacy benefit managers.

Chip Riddleberger, state relations manager for the Washington, D.C.-based National Community Pharmacists Association, countered that the bill would only mandate what's fair.

"These bills would level the playing field for independent pharmacies so they can be competitive," Riddleberger said.

He said community pharmacies need help: more than 1,150 independent pharmacies nationwide went out of business in 2006, according to Riddleberger's organization.

Profits are declining. Average annual sales for these pharmacies went down .8 percent in 2006 to $3.6 million from $3.7 million the year before, according to the Coalition for Community Pharmacy Action. Gross profit was an average of 22.8 percent, near its 10-year low of 22.1 percent.

The PCMA counters that these figures are in reality much higher, but Riddleberger maintains the situation is worsening because fees paid by insurance companies and the newest Medicare program, Part D, are declining to the point where, at times, they don't cover independent pharmacies' cost of acquisition of drugs.

Part D, with 1.4 million members, pays community drugstores an average of $11.40 for each prescription dispensed, according to a January 2008 federal Inspector General's report. That's little more than $10.50, the average operations cost per prescription, according to a 2007 survey of more than 23,000 independent pharmacies by accounting firm Grant Thorton LLP commissioned by the CCPA.

The Bush administration proposed fiscal 2009 budget would lower Part D payments further.

Among insurance companies, the average reimbursement to Morse Clark per prescription is only about $2, Rosenthal said.

The low profits aren't a big deal for the chain stores, Riddleberger declared, because they supplement pharmacy income with sales of shampoo, candy, magazines, toilet paper, and cigarettes from the front of their store.

"How many people do you see walk out of Wal-Mart with one bag?" he asked rhetorically.

Such purchases made up 25 percent of Walgreen Co. sales in 2007, and 30 percent of sales at CVS Caremark Corp. according to the companies' annual reports.

At Morse Clark Drugs, that figure shrinks to just 10 percent. Despite the store's brimming shelves, little money is made from the front of the store anymore. Most sales are made in candy and lottery tickets, Rosenthal said. People who used to buy cigarettes at the corner store, providing the outlets with continual income, now go to the suburbs to buy cigarettes since the taxes are so high in Chicago, he said.

Nearly all of the store's revenue comes from the pharmacist counter, not from the cash register of Kathi Miller, who as store clerk has sat near the front door for 28 years.

"You go (to Target or Wal-mart) once a month, you stock up-so we're hit hard," Miller said. "We get walk-in traffic, but we don't have a parking lot. So people driving down the street don't stop here for toilet paper or a gallon of milk."

As his blue pharmacist's coat indicates, Rosenthal is the druggist at Morse Clark. He was raised helping out at the retail stores his parents started after surviving the Holocaust. At that time drugstores dotted every block. When it came time for Rosenthal to choose his own career, he and his father eyed those pharmacies and considered them a stable step up.

And, for a long time, being the owner of three community pharmacies seemed a good choice. Morse Clark built a loyal following in the neighborhood; families brought their prescriptions there for decades, Miller said.

"He takes a personal interest in a lot of our customers," she said. "I can't tell you how many times he'll be filling a prescription and he'll say 'oh wait, we've got to call the doctor. You can't take this.'"

Employees at the store speak several languages, and nearby immigrants depend on their translation services. The strong tones of Eastern European languages can be heard throughout the pharmacy as clerks converse with customers. The store is also one of few pharmacies to offer delivery services, which some elderly clients rely on, Miller said.

Customers said they drive across town to continue patronizing Morse Clark even after moving out of the neighborhood. Many stop by just to chat or get advice on medical bills. The phone rings constantly.

Morse Clark would hold its own against the chain stores if not for the tight margins imposed by insurance companies and government programs, Rosenthal said.

"There's enough for everybody," he said. "The people who need the service and want the service will come to us."

That is, unless insurance companies tell members to use mail-order services, or continue sending them to chain stores, which are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. There are now 6,179 Walgreens nationally and 532 in Illinois. A new Walgreens opens every 16 hours, according to the company.

CVS now has 6,208 stores nationally and 224 in Illinois. And, more than two years ago, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. arrived in Chicago; soon afterward, the store started selling 300 generic drugs here for $4 each. Some Chicago aldermen are advocating for a second Wal-Mart in the city.

"I don't want to work for the chains," Rosenthal said wearily, "but I could."

Chicago bank bandits on the rise

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:07:40 -0500

Move aside, Bonnie and Clyde. Modern-day desperados could put Chicago on pace for another record year of bank robberies.

Instead of career robbers, people from many walks of life are gravitating to robbery, ranging from drug addicts to employed middle-class individuals, according to Gregory Scott, professor of sociology at DePaul University.

"We're coming to the end of the really well-plotted, well-organized bank robbery that results from long-term strategic planning. Now we're talking about lower-level bank robberies," he said.

In addition, Scott said, the new breed of robbers is more diverse than the old guard.

According to the FBI, 9,010 people were involved in 7,272 bank robberies nationwide in 2006. Black males executed 46 percent of robberies nationwide, white males 36 percent, and women only 6 percent. Of these robbers, the FBI identified 3,584 people; 46 percent were narcotics users and 22 percent were previously convicted for bank robbery, bank burglary, or bank larceny.

Today's robbers are spontaneous and opportunistic, according to a 2007 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, which identified three factors contributing to rising robbery rates: more bank outlets and extended hours creating greater opportunities, robbers' perceptions of banks as a lucrative target and because robberies are usually fast, low risk crimes.

After decades of fewer than 100 robberies per year, robberies in the Chicago metropolitan area shot up in the mid-1990s. In 2006, the number of robberies peaked at 284, more than in the entire state of Florida.

The Chicago office of the FBI collects bank robbery data for the five-county area surrounding Chicago - Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will counties. As of March 12, there were 52 bank robberies in the area, on par with numbers for the same 10-week period in 2007. The total robbery tally for 2007 came in at 226, down 26 percent from 2006.

By extrapolating the first several weeks of robbery activity for the remainder of 2008, "we could be on pace for another record year," said Ross Rice, a spokesman in the FBI's Chicago office.

Illinois is not the only state grappling with higher robbery rates. Nationwide, a new era of bank robbery is on the rise - and banks are paying the price.

In 2006, robbers hit 6,985 federally insured financial institutions, stealing a total of $72.7 million, of which law enforcement recovered $11.2 million. Although 90 percent of robberies are a "success," according to the Department of Justice study, nearly 60 percent of robbers are eventually caught.

And robbers face big risks for a typically small reward. For an average take of $2,000 to $3,000 per robbery in the Chicago area, robbers face federal punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

To the non-robber, these risks may be too much, but Scott said some robbers may not even be aware of the how little they'll nab or how long they'll sit in prison if convicted.

"When people reach a point of fiscal desperation, they're often not weighing the costs and benefits," Scott said.

In addition, security measures apparently do little to deter robbers. Of the 7,272 robberies or attempted robberies nationwide in 2006, 98 percent of victim institutions had an alarm system and/or surveillance cameras.

One man accused of robbing seven Indiana banks told a newspaper earlier this month that his only deterrent to robbing banks was security guards. However, fewer than 10 percent of banks robbed in 2006 had a guard on duty.

After two robberies at a North LaSalle Street branch of Builders Bank, president Chas Hall said the bank decided to hire a guard for that location. He said the bank took this additional security measure in part to deter would-be robbers, but mostly to provide peace of mind to the bank's employees.

"We don't want that to happen to our employees again," Hall said.

But if a recession is on the way, could employees like Hall's be subjected to the desperate measures of desperate robbers again? Not necessarily.

There is no direct correlation between crime and unemployment according to Scott, though economic crime rates may move with changes in the economy.

"When things change fast - unemployment suddenly spikes or it suddenly goes down - people are thrown into what sociologists call anomie," Scott said.

Anomie is marked by instability and a lack of societal norms and Scott said individuals are more likely to take greater risks during such periods.

In addition, robbery was on the rise even before the r-word was on everyone's lips. Rather, rising robbery rates may just be a by-product of changes in the banking industry.

Price said the FBI does not interpret robbery data, but said the most commonly touted hypothesis for rising robbery rates is the proliferation of branch banking.

"The theory is that this creates a greater opportunity for people who are so inclined," he said.

This theory sticks with Scott. As financial institutions have become more decentralized, he said, banks have become more accessible to consumers, but at the expense of becoming more accessible to robbers.

"This is a technological innovation that has legitimate pro-social goals, but . the underbelly of greater accessibility is greater vulnerability," Scott said. "Banks are far more susceptible to being robbed and they're easier to rob."

But even as banks continue to expand, they are fighting back, according to Debbie Jemison, spokeswoman for the Illinois Bankers Association.

"Banks are doing everything they can to protect their employees and customers," Jemison said.

She said several security measures thwart would-be robbers, including security guards, bank fraud task force programs, and participation in the association's thumbprint signature program and FRAUD-NET.

The thumbprint signature program requires non-account holders to provide an inkless impression of their thumbprints for certain transactions. Meanwhile, FRAUD-NET is an online collaboration for banks to share information about robberies with other financial institutions and law enforcement agencies.

Within minutes of a robbery, for example, a bank can electronically disperse a physical description and information about the robber's modus operandi to other banks in the network and law enforcement officials.

In addition, many Illinois banks are participating in a program to combat rising robbery rates, the "No Hats, No Hoods, No Sunglasses" program. The bankers association launched the program in 2006--security guards ask people entering the bank to remove hats, hoods or sunglasses-- as an inexpensive way for banks to deter so-called "note job" robberies, in which a person hands a note to a teller demanding money. In 2006, more than half of robbers demanded money using a note.

Beyond the take, there are other costs to robberies, according to Hall, the Builders Bank president.

"The biggest cost [of a robbery] is that is such a traumatic experience for our employees," Hall said.

Hall said the emotional cost far outweighs any financial cost and said banks should be very appreciative of their tellers.

Jemison of the Illinois Bankers Association agrees. "There is definitely a psychological cost," both for employees and customers, she said. If a bank is a robbed, it will often provide a program for affected employees and customers. And the effects of a robbery are felt even after the robber has fled.

Working with the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force, victim banks provide valuable information to law enforcement to catch serial robbers - people who have committed at least three robberies.

And bankers are always looking for ways to keep robbers at bay, according to Jemison.

"Banks constantly review their procedures to better thwart robberies from occurring," she said.

But Scott, of DePaul, is not optimistic that these efforts are working yet. While he expects robberies to reach a saturation point, he said some security measures - such as surveillance cameras - do not effectively deter criminals.

West Rogers Park immigrants break the rules for Valentine’s Day

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:58:06 -0600

Young South Asian residents of West Rogers Park plan to take their Valentines to American restaurants on Thursday. But it’s not just a matter of cultural assimilation — it’s also to stay out of sight.

Tension between older and younger generations in the local South Asian community reflects escalating anxiety over Westernization in South Asia, where Valentine’s Day is considered by some to promote decadence and promiscuity.

Nevertheless, young people in South Asia and in West Rogers Park have embraced the holiday with enthusiasm.

“I would love to go out on Valentine’s Day,” said Aisha, the 22-year-old daughter of Pakistani immigrants who asked that her last name not be used. “But my parents are narrow minded and wouldn’t allow it. I would have to go to an American restaurant in a different neighborhood so nobody would see me.”

Valentine’s Day has always been surrounded by controversy. Pope Galasius first recognized it in 496 A.D. to commemorate a martyred priest, believed to be Bishop Valentine. Valentine defied Emperor Claudius II’s restrictions on marriages by performing them in secret. For that, he was beheaded.

The controversy continues today, as rapid economic development and globalization have led to increased exposure to Western holidays in South Asia.

“The root cause of the tension is not Valentine’s Day,” said Jay Luthra, director of the Indo-American Center on North California Avenue. “It’s the tension that comes from Western countries.”

In the past 10 years, Hindu nationalist groups like Shiv Sena have attempted to stop and even hurt Valentine's celebrators in India by crashing parties, disrupting shops and restaurants and burning cards in the streets. Anticipating violence in 2001, paramilitary troops were deployed in the state of Uttar Pradesh to keep the peace.

But despite the intimidation, young people in India descend on shopping centers in droves. Prasanna Bhosale, 23, an Indian national and West Rogers Park resident, said some Indians refer to the holiday as “gift shop day.”

Dev Jain, 35, a manager at the Viceroy of India restaurant on Devon Avenue, said he believes the trend is indicative of a booming new class of people with money to spend.

He said last year in India, there was a special Valentine’s Day wine that sold for around $25,000 per bottle.

In Pakistan, Valentine’s Day is morally condemned by some fundamentalist groups. But unlike in some Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia, where the BBC reports rising black market sales of roses and clandestine midnight deliveries of illegal bouquets, the holiday has exploded among the mainstream in Pakistan.

Oman Ijaz, a Pakistani resident of West Rogers Park, celebrated his traditional Pakistani engagement on Feb. 14, 2001. Ijaz, 28, who already has a bottle of perfume wrapped up for his wife, said Pakistanis take the day a few steps further than most Americans.

He said flamboyant, glitzy bouquets are hard to find because of their popularity. “No offense to Americans,” he said, “but they don’t know how to do bouquets like we do — with every kind of color and glitter.”

One of his friends even covered his entire car with roses before he picked up his date, Ijaz said.

But in West Rogers Park, Ijaz, who works at Sher-a-Punjab restaurant, said it’s rare to see unmarried Pakistani couples out for a romantic meal.

"They might be seen by someone, so they prefer to go somewhere more American,” he said.

Aisha said she can’t spend Valentine’s Day with her secret boyfriend of nine months because her parents would be suspicious if she went out that night.

“I’ve basically been here all my life,” she said, “but my parents don’t let me do anything that’s taboo.”

Men have it easier than women when it comes to romantic taboos, according to Aisha and other residents. Saud Farooqi, a Chicago-born 22 year old, said his Pakistani parents might suspect that he's up to something, but they don't ask questions.

“I just do the usual thing,” he said. “Flowers, chocolate, maybe a movie. And then I have to go to a motel.”

But not all parents are opposed to shifting toward Western values, and Valentine’s Day also marks a compromise between some immigrants and their children.

Restaurant owner Kamlesh Kisore, 49, has three grown sons and has never objected to their Valentines. She said as the world becomes more connected, people are more likely to take on other traditions.

“When kids are happy, parents are happy, too,” she said.

Despite the underlying cultural tension, West Rogers Park residents are looking forward to celebrating on Thursday. Jain said he doesn’t have plans yet, but with one day to go, there is still time.

“I am still looking for my Valentine,” he said.

What bloggers are saying:

St. Valentine's Day may be thought of as just a sentimental, but ultimately silly, holiday by many people, but it is symbolic of what makes us in the West what we are, with our idealism and sentimentality. The celebration is emblematic of the stark contrast between us and the non-Western world. To them, our romantic love is corrupt, decadent, and intolerable. I think they see it as weak and feeble. And, isolated from the rest of the chivalric code, maybe it is. Christendom, the West, must rediscover the strength and justice aspect of chivalry, and not only the softer, tenderer side which, alone, makes us vulnerable to the predators abroad in a dangerous world.