A proposal to extend Chicago Avenue pedestrian zoning will be taken up during a 1st Ward hearing at 6:30pm Monday in the Commercial Park fieldhouse, 1845 W. Rice St. As described on this site, the plan would ban strip-mall parking lots along Chicago Avenue from Wood Street to Damen Avenue, including the vacant lot at 1834-50 W. Chicago Ave. adjoining the park. To allow more East Village Association members to participate, the group has moved its monthly meeting to the fieldhouse. The meeting will start at 7:30pm or at the conclusion of the 1st Ward hearing. Chuck Templeton, a founder of the community bulletin board OhSoWe.com , will walk members through the site's neighbor-to-neighbor features, including a forum for tool sharing and odd jobs. EVA is one of more than 80 Chicago area groups with forums on the site.

Chicago Public Schools administrators confirmed in a meeting Monday that magnet admissions at LaSalle Language Academy in Old Town will not be shifted this fall to LaSalle II Magnet School in East Village. Adding pupils at LaSalle II, 1148 N. Honore, likely would have claimed foreign-language classrooms. "The meeting yesterday was brief and to the point," said LaSalle II Principal Suzanne Velasquez-Sheehy in an e-mail. "There is no room for an expansion at LII given our current facilities. CPS is also aware of LaSalle I's concerns so they have decided to allow LaSalle I to remain a magnet school for the upcoming school year." CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll announced last week that LaSalle's magnet program at 1734 N. Orleans would continue next year while the schools hash out long-term solutions to ease overcrowding at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, 615 W. Kemper Pl. When the school district floated a plan to make nearby LaSalle a neighborhood sc...

East Village Association board minutes for Dec. 19, 2011 LaSalle II Magnet School Before a meeting with Chicago Public Schools administrators, Neal McKnight issued a board statement seeking commitments for 50% of at-large admissions to neighborhood students at LaSalle II, 1148 N. Honore, and for retention of the foreign-language curriculum. The neighborhood quota, negotiated by former Ald. Manny Flores at the school's opening, has yet to be implemented. Architect Jon Heinert shows designs for 1601 W. Division. PNC Bank/Pizza Hut site Four more floors of apartments have been added to plans for the former Pizza Hut property at 1601-15 W. Division St. The 11-story building would rise to 120 feet, compared to 80 feet for the CVS Pharmacy building at 1200 N. Ashland Ave.; rooftop mechanicals for two elevator shafts bring the height to 140 feet. Wicker Park's Coyote building, the Northwest Tower at 1608 N. Milwaukee Ave., is 12 stories tall; across the Polish Triangle, Nobl...

Neal McKnight outlined neighbor concerns at LaSalle II language academy in a Dec. 19 letter to 1st Ward Ald. Proco Joe Moreno: I am the vice president of the East Village Association and I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of the East Village Association. We applaud you for taking such a proactive stance in addressing community concerns regarding the proposed increase in enrollment at LaSalle II Magnet School at 1148 N. Honore. As you know, LaSalle II is squarely within our boundaries and of great concern to our members and the broader community. Many of our members' children are enrolled at LaSalle II. Two of our board members' children also attend LaSalle II. We were recently advised that the Chicago Public Schools is contemplating increasing enrollment at LaSalle II. The East Village Association is concerned with the impact that increasing enrollment will have on the quality of education at LaSalle II.

By Tom Tomek Chicago Public Schools has proposed adding additional students at LaSalle II Magnet School, 1148 N. Honore, and converting the original LaSalle Magnet School in Old Town to a neighborhood school. LaSalle II has experienced considerable change in each of its four years. This year, newly consolidated with Andersen Community Academy, LaSalle II seems to have finally started to seek a level of identity with a basic plan for the future. The new CPS proposal has thrown a large wrench in LaSalle II's gears. The school does not have the faculty or campus to sustain 30 more new students each year for nine years. If the proposed plan is realized, the quality of experience at LII would be severely compromised.

The Polish Triangle overlooks the Noble Square Cooperative high-rise at 1165 N. Milwaukee Ave.   Developers are raising their sights for the former Pizza Hut corner lot at 1601-15 W. Division. Current plans involve an apartment building rising stories higher than the CVS Pharmacy across the street, at the Polish Triangle intersection with Ashland and Milwuakee. Developer Robert Buono reviews plans with the East Village Association board at 6:30 pm Dec. 19 at Leona’s Restauraunt, 1936 W. Augusta.

A newly vacant lot reveals an old Sinclair Gasoline billboard at 1854 W. Chicago Ave.   The long-shuttered auto warehouse at 1834-50 W. Chicago Ave. is gone, along with plans to locate a performance space there modeled after the Brooklyn Bowl nightclub in New York. A chain-link fence with concrete footings now surrounds the property. Two local alderman are advancing a proposal that would keep the vacant lot from becoming a strip mall. Aldermen Proco Joe Moreno (1st Ward) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) propose extending Chicago Avenue's "pedestrian street" designation from Ashland Avenue west to Damen Avenue. It now stops at Wood Street.

Catalytic converters (via How Stuff Works) By Sgt. Juan Clas, Chicago Police Catalytic converter thefts have been occurring throughout Chicago. Here is why they're being stolen and a few tips on how to help prevent thefts from your vehicle. Read more »

There's no reason to drop in at Bleeding Heart Bakery Cafe tonight except to meet people and have fun. No votes will be taken (well, maybe on Foursquare). The cash bar is lined up, but you work out who's buying the first beer. No builders will make presentations, although if you bring a dish for the potluck something good will develop. If it's not in your budget, just stop in and say hi. Wait till another day for trees to be planted, licenses granted or handbills supplanted. Looking for a public forum? Come chat up your neighbors. We'll start around 6:30 at 1916 W. Chicago. There will be no drive-through. Happy holidays! I'll give you a topic: Discussion has broken out at eastvillagechicago.org following last week's posting about convenience-store liquor sales. It's not all about whether more package goods are a good idea, although the neighboring Wicker Park Committee has a view on where that might lead. At facebook.com/eastvillagechicago the talk i...

Bleeding Heart Bakery Cafe, 1916 W. Chicago Ave.   Join your neighbors for Christmas cheer Monday at the annual East Village Association holiday party. This year's event is a potluck dinner in the upstairs mezzanine of Bleeding Heart Bakery Cafe, 1916 W. Chicago Ave. A cash bar will be open from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

CVS Pharmacy, 1200 N. Ashland  By Neal McKnight Last month the East Village Association learned that Ald. Proco Joe Moreno introduced and the City Council passed legislation lifting a longstanding packaged liquor moratorium on Ashland Avenue, from Division Street to Blackhawk Street. The sole purpose of this legislation was to grant a liquor license to the national retailer CVS Pharmacy. This single-purpose legislation was introduced and passed without the input of the community, and calls into question Ald. Moreno’s commitment to transparency and local business. The East Village Association , the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce and Near North Montessori School all opposed lifting the moratorium. The Wicker Park Committee requested that no action be taken until CVS made a presentation, which never happened. All of these groups have been working for years to improve the Polish Triangle, and all are concerned that liquor sales will set back their efforts to improv...

Thursday, December 01, 2011 Alderman Proco Joe Moreno 1st Ward On behalf of the Board of the Wicker Park Committee, I am obliged to express our extreme disappointment in your decision to suspend the liquor license moratorium for two blocks along Ashland Avenue, thereby allowing the package liquor license for the CVS Pharmacy at Ashland and Division. The Wicker Park Committee, along with neighboring East Village Association (EVA) and the Wicker Park Bucktown (WPB) Chamber of Commerce, has previously stated our opposition to lifting the decades old moratorium. The recent announcement by CVS of... “Beer and Wine Sales Coming Soon”… was a stunning surprise to the community, since there had been no discussions among Ward staff and the community groups that this liquor license application was going forward.

Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1st) at Oct. 10 police station house rally   By Greg Nagel and Neal McKnight The East Village Association Board recently agreed unanimously to issue a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Ald. Richard Mell (who is leading the aldermanic remapping process), Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1st), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) formally requesting that the East Village be mapped entirely within the 32nd Ward. Adding urgency to the decision were recent comments from Ald. Moreno that his ward was moving west and the rapidly approaching ward remap deadline.

November 18, 2011 The Honorable Richard F. Mell Alderman 33rd Ward 3649 North Kedzie Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60618 Attn: Mr. Jaime Andrade Re: East Village Association Ward Remap Dear Mr. Mell: The East Village Association (EVA) is a non-profit neighborhood organization with boundaries from Division Street to Chicago Avenue and from Damen Avenue to Milwaukee Avenue. EVA consists of individuals, families and businesses that live, work and operate in the East Village neighborhood. EVA has been actively working to improve our community for more than 30 years. This includes the efforts of hundreds of volunteers. Our organization writes to you to express our concerns regarding the impact of the current Ward remap on our community and on our mission. To understand our concern you must understand our mission.