Alderman Flores invites you to a job fair for the newest Dominick's Grocery Store located at 2021 W. Chicago Ave. When: Thursday, August 16, 2007 Where: Humboldt Vocational Center 1645 N. California Ave. Time: 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Now hiring for the following positions: Utility Clerks Deli Clerks Bakery Clerks Starbucks Clerks Floral Cashiers Produce Clerks For additional information, contact Chris Johnson, Director of Community Affairs to Alderman Flores, at phone number 773-278-0101. Dominick's is an equal opportunity employer.

by Scott A. Rappe, AIA The Polish Triangle, where Ashland, Division and Milwaukee meet is one of the City’s most historic six-corner intersections. Unfortunately, for decades, the southwest corner of Ashland & Division has been underutilized as a fast food restaurant and denied its highest and best use. The closure of Pizza Hut earlier this year offered a rare opportunity to correct this indignity and develop the site into one which more appropriately reflects its importance. Threatening this opportunity is recent news that a developer is in the process of purchasing the property for the purpose of building yet another one-story national chain, a Walgreens. At its July meeting, the East Village Association Board passed a resolution calling on Alderman Flores to demand something better. The concern is not that a Walgreens will occupy the site, but rather that it will be nothing more than a Walgreens. The motivation of chain store architecture, no matter how well designed, is to cre...

by Mary Szpur Learning to recycle can be a learning process that takes time, but here are a few tips: Dedicate a plastic bin or a separate garbage receptacle inside your house only for recyclables. Separate your recyclables first, as you use them. Empty this container when full into the city’s blue recycling bin. Check all of your plastic containers for the recycling logo and a number on the bottom of the container. Amazing how much of the copious plastic we use can now be recycled. A little rinsing of cans, plastics, bottles, etc., cuts down on odors. You should be noticing that the amount of trash you place in the city’s black garbage bin is much reduced!

by Greg Nagel Dear Neighbors, In the last meeting I volunteered to be the Aldermanic Liason for the 27th Ward. I have not met yet with Alderman Burnett but I intend to before the September meeting. I met with Alderman Flores on Monday June 16th and the the following is a summary of the key takeaways of the meeting; * Manny and Handbill Ordinance Advocate, Jeanne Felknor, walked East Village and collected illegally disseminated menus. Manny's observations matched up with the groups's feedback as far as the worst offenders (Bella's, Pizaanos, & Lucky Vitos). Many is following up with these restaraunts. * Manny indicated that he will ask the new Restaurant Boundary to present to our group at our 9/4/07 meeting. * On behalf of Scott Rappe, I followed up on the Pizza Hut lot and learned that the property is under contract to a developer affiliated with Walgreens. Manny indicated that he has discussed his expectation of reviewing several sets of plans and that the structure s...

by Brian Roman The Ugly Duckling is a famous Hans Christian Andersen story of a duckling, abandoned and deserted because he was different.… It is unfortunate that our East Village H.C. Andersen School is more often than not treated the same way. On July 25th at 9:17pm, a homicide of a 17 year old boy was committed on the playground of Andersen School. This was a recent but certainly tragic and extreme example of how this school has been used and abused by its neighbors and visitors to the area. Making the nightly news for this incident certainly was not what anyone wanted. Not to dismiss the severity of this incident but perhaps it is an extreme example of the ill treatment and apathy that this school receives daily from its neighbors. I have lived in the East Village neighborhood for 9 years and have seen a great deal of change first hand. Our area has undergone a huge visible change in housing stock, businesses and income level. One thing that I have not really seen is a dramatic cha...

by Scott A. Rappe, AIA The recent demolition of three vintage buildings in the 1600 block of Division street is truly shocking. As society becomes more aware of its impact on the environment and its unsustainable consumption of natural resources, such waste should be met with outrage. The premature destruction of these buildings is inexcusable, particularly in light of the fact that their owner, developer Joseph Freed and Associates, has stated that there are no specific plans for the properties. One of the great themes of contemporary life concerns the intersection of ‘rights’ and ‘responsibilities’. Our consumption-intensive culture is on a collision course with our growing recognition of the need to protect our world. Our daily lives are filled with contradictions: we dutifully fill our blue carts with recyclables, but drive when we could just as easily walk; we dream of putting solar panels on our roofs, but leave the lights on in empty rooms; we buy organic food and cage-free eggs...

EVA has heard a number of complaints from residents in the past about the disruption that street festivals cause. Apart from the inconvenience of having public streets be closed, problems cited include: excessive noise, overflow litter from festival-goers, and illegal parking that fills the streets. In order to address these problems, please keep track of any specific issues you observe during the upcoming WestFest (on Chicago Avenue, Damen Ave to Wood Street, August 11&12) and the Renegade Craft Fair (on Division Street between Damen and Marshfield, September 15 & 16th ). You can then bring them to EVA for compilation with other’s complaints. It’s necessary to speak about specific instances, not generalities, if we want to address these issues in the future with the festival organizers or others.

The membership committee is composed of Brian Thompson, John Scheer, Guy Rudolph, and Scott Van Den Plas. The committee has focused its recruiting efforts on former EVA members. Thus far, at least five prior members have pledged to rejoin EVA and/or have provided checks to EVA renewing their memberships. A special thanks to John Scheer for all his efforts! We look forward to recruiting many new members at the August BBQ.

At the July Board meeting, Greg Nagel was appointed as the fourth member of the EVA Board of Directors. Greg’s energy and ideas have been impressive, and we think he will be a great asset to the Board.

Have you visited our new fabulous website yet? The site contains both current and historical information, and we plan to add community planning tools in the future. We may start using the website more as a way to disseminate information and keep members current on topical issues, and thus rely a little less on printed materials. Thanks to Steve Rynkiewycz, our fine webmaster!

by Mary Szpur To keep my tiny front yard, front sidewalk, parkway, and streetscape clean in front of my house, I find I need to go outside every darned day and pick things up. If I don’t do it, no one else will. Garbage attracts more garbage. Those are facts. The same is probably true for your little patch of home, and many of you undoubtedly do the same cleaning on a regular basis. The city won’t do it—they can’t keep up. I have picked up all sorts of items, some disgusting in nature (including one large dead rat) and some inappropriate for mention in a community newsletter. I’ve picked up many, many cans and bottles (whole and broken) of cheap and expensive beer, wine, and hard liquor. I will often clean up my neighbor’s parkways and streetscape, and I have been known to pull up enormous weeds from my neglected neighbors’ front yards. If I don’t do it, no one else will. While I’m performing my cleaning ritual, I try to make eye contact with and say “Hi” to people who pass by. Often p...

Please come to the annual EVA August membership meeting and barbecue on Tuesday, August 7, at 7 pm, at the outdoor patio at Happy Village Tavern at 1059 N. Wolcott. Our guest speakers will be 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores and 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack. We are honored and excited to have both aldermen as guests this evening. We are hoping for a good turnout from members and members-to-be to meet the aldermen and to meet neighbors and friends. We may also have a raffle. Food will be donated by Dominick’s this year. Please come and bring a friend! Please join as a member that night if you’re not one already! We are grateful to Happy Village for hosting this event every summer. Please show your support to Happy Village by buying many beverages at our barbecue! EVA’s annual barbecue this year will have a few novel features: Our guest speakers will be 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores and 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack. Please come and make them feel welcome, and hear what they ...

7 PM July 11, 2007, Happy Village Tavern Submitted by John Sekowski Attendance: Members: 15 Non-members:1 1. Guest Speaker was Kara Salgado from the West Town Chicago Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Salgado spoke on what the organization does including promoting new businesses and retaining existing businesses. They hold newtworking events on a monthly basis, they represent members needs to city and state officials, and organize shopping events. West Fest is August 11th and 12th on Chicago Avenue and Craft Fair on Division Street on September 15th and 16th. East Village Association can possibly receive donations in exchange for help at the fest and can possibly have a booth. 2. June meeting minutes were approved. 3. Greg Nagel volunteered to be the liaison for the 27th Ward, (the east section of East Village). 4. Treasurer reported that there is $1,405 in the account. 5. Membership is currently at approximately 56 memberships. 6. The parking deck along Chicago Avenue is now gone. 7. Neighborh...