DNC Chicago 2024

Chicago Tribune photo

Haven't really had the time to watch the DNC this week. Got a lot going on at home right now.

I did at least see Doug Emhoff, Michelle Obama and former Pres. Barack Obama speak last night. Will share at a later time.

I also understand that IL Gov. J.B. Pritzker spoke last night at the DNC will also share that.

On Monday Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke to the DNC. And also so did outgoing President Joe Biden who dropped out of the 2024 race just last month.

Of course all of our local politicians - especially the high profile ones - will be speaking at a nat'l political convention. From Governor on down. However, expect me to share remarks by the Vice President's running mate MN Gov. Tim Walz and of course Vice Pres. Kamala Harris.

How these usually go Walz will likely speak tonight and then the Vice President will speak on Thursday night , the last evening of the convention.

Thankfully there weren't a lot of problems outside of the convention. I see police were shown in riot gear and of course arrests were made because well some people don't mind pushing the limits. People were expecting Chicago to be out of control and I'm not seeing that yet.

Then again admittedly I'm not following a lot of coverage on whatever protests are going on. Let's hope things don't go to out of control. However, I'm encouraged that Chicago Police will step in before things go too crazy.

Artistmac looks at the new Damen stop on the Green Line

 

[VIDEO] Damen/Lake opened last month as the newest station on the CTA Green Line. This station is very close to the United Center and among other options this will be where the delegates or anyone else going to the Democratic convention next week will be getting off the train.

And of course this is perfect for other events at the United Center which means Bulls/Black Hawks games in addition to any other events that will take place there when the NBA or NHL aren't in season.

Want to see a livecam of Chicago trains

 Via the Steel Highway YouTube Channel

We can start with this view of the Ogilvie Transportation Center. Metra trains leaving that station and watching CTA's Green & Pink line trains leaving the Clinton Station nearby. [VIDEO]

This view is looking east along Lake Street. We're looking at trains coming to and from Clark & Lake and possibly looking at trains entering and leaving the loop via Wells Street.  [VIDEO]

In this live stream we see trains leaving Ogilvie and yet another track at grade, those track at grade (on the ground as opposed to elevated) are leaving Union Station. You will see more Metra trains and Amtrak trains especially the Hiawatha & Empire Builder on those ground level tracks. 

UPDATED May 26, 2024 and we can add Amtrak's new service to St. Paul, Minnesota the Borealis will also be running this way. [VIDEO]

And finally here we're looking at the elevated track from Ogilvie and that means more Metra trains [VIDEO]

It's very cool to see a live look out of downtown Chicago

Classy Whale: Who Are New Orleans' Streetcars For?

 

[VIDEO] I'm adding NOLA as one of those places that I will visit in the near future. And perhaps ride on these famed streetcars. After all it provides a source for that play or classic movie A Streetcar Named Desire although the story itself doesn't involve any streetcars at all. There was a Desire streetcar line though.

That's the focus of this video by Classy Whale who looks at transit issues. The story of NOLA's streetcar lines and the history of NOLA. And I'll give you one answer for who New Orleans' streetcars are for.

The tourist as NOLA's brand is designed to make the city more attractive for tourists. That city is known for its history and architecture. Of course we hear so much about Mardi Gras. Also be aware that New Orleans was French Territory before the Lousiana Purchase during the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson.

Anyway how soon can I get down there to spend at least a day?

CTA Ride the Rails: Purple Line to Linden in real-time

 

[VIDEO] The CTA L trains have always fascinated me and just think there's still planning to not only maintain the system as the current major project is taking place on what they would call the north side mainline between Howard and Wilson which is where the Red & Purple Line Express runs.

The L not only allows people travel within the city, they allow people to commute to the suburbs and as you see here the CTA L goes into Evanston, IL - home of Northwestern University. For the next twelve mins. this video will take you along the route of the CTA Purple Line Shuttle between Howard and Linden. This actual video was recorded in 2015.

If you know nothing of the Purple Line - colored because of Northwestern University who's sports teams are known for wearing purple, white, and black - in addition to running regular service between Howard and Linden they run rush-hour express service into the Loop during the week.

This video only shows the portion that runs within the City of Evanston.

Chicago Geographer: How to navigate Chicago's grid system

 

[VIDEO] Chicago is a very navigable city. We know what the center of Chicago's grid which is State and Madison all addresses go from 0 from there north, south, east, and west. I never knew that a city block in Chicago is one-eighth (1/8) of a mile which means I've been walking miles for years especially from downtown Chicago. And of course in general street numbers go in each direction by mile you will know where you are in the city if you look at street signs or how far you are at least from State & Madison, however, the grid isn't entirely consistent.

Of course there are diagonal streets let's say south of State & Madison generally you have Archer Ave. & South Chicago Ave which go diagonal. I was always told that in the days before expressways or interstate highways that these were the original expressways.

Of course from Chicago Geographer those facts and some other quirks in the city's grid system as you see in this six minute video.

Chicago politics #ChiMayor23

 

Two days ago we had an election. The sitting mayor of Chicago placed third in this election, she didn't make the run-off. Paul Vallas who was formerly the CEO of our public schools and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson failed to get to 50% of the vote and are in a run-off to take place on April 4, 2023.

Regardless we will have a new mayor on May 15, 2023.

Lightfoot proved to be abrasive and undiplomatic. She wasn't a politician and some may say she made all the rookie mistakes. She assumed she had the power thought not just a position or a title. She forgot that politics isn't subtraction it's addition. 

She couldn't help but alienate people on the Chicago City Council. Indeed she lost a city council endorsement or two in the lead up to the election. The worst one when an Alderman had shot himself accidently and she failed to even check out him - wow! And of course what many would cite is that she definitely lost the voters who helped her in a runoff four years ago.

What's shocking is that the Black wards of the city still voted for her. But then I understand 83% of Chicago voters wanted Lightfoot gone.

Chicago is a solidly Democrat city. A Republican would have a difficult time winning in this city. Voters seem to only want to vote for a Democrat. With the two in the runoff I see a choice between a more law and order candidate vs a very progressive candidate who may well offer more of the same from Lightfoot.

I wish I can predict where this mayoral race will go on April 4. Vallas got a plurality but then again that's no guarantee he'll win the runoff. What will happen in a month's time.

Can Paul Vallas or Brandon Johnson get the endorsement of the other candidates and will allow one of them to take the mayor's office? Will Gov. JB Pritzker get involved in this race? Will Chicago choose the faces of the Fraternal Order or Police or of the Chicago Teacher's Union?

As for Lightfoot well she's a lame duck. I won't say her voice means nothing - and especially now she's still mayor as we learned a police officer was killed in a domestic incident. Her police chief is leaving - all candidates in this race wanted to fire David Brown save for his boss Lightfoot.

I see an opportunity for a new direction, even a city so heavily Democratic. Our city could reverse most of trends seen in other cities in America. Solve our many social issues - especially the homeless. Hopefully we can get a handle on violent crime in ways that Lightfoot wasn't able to.

And perhaps Chicago voters will recognize that so-called "progressive" policies are destructive.

See you on April 4th!

Successful president & CEO of Shedd Aquarium has died

 This really has nothing to do with Shedd School although the Shedd Aquarium both share the same namesake former Marshall Field's CEO John G. Shedd. One of my favorite memories from school was going on a field trip to the Shedd Aquarium. Of course that trip took place before this man Ted Beattie who recently passed away took over the Aquarium for 22 years.

Before arriving at the Shedd Aquarium he worked for the Cincinnati Zoo, also the suburban Brookfield Zoo and in 1994 arrived at the Aquarium. He left his position as President & CEO in 2016.

Here's more from the Tribune:

In 1994, Beattie was hired to be the Shedd’s third president and CEO. During his tenure, the Shedd perennially ranked as Chicago’s No. 1 or No. 2 paid attraction among zoos and museums. Among the projects he oversaw were the $47 million Wild Reef area and a $79 million rehab of the Abbott Oceanarium.

“He was really hardworking, but he got everything by building a consensus — that’s how he would do that,” said former Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner, a former Shedd Aquarium board chair. “That’s how he was able to build the Shedd to its size today.”

Beattie told the Tribune in 2015 that he wanted the Shedd “to be the friendliest place in town. Out of that statement we would manage our programs.”

Beattie played a role in the transformation of the museum campus that contains the Shedd, the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum of Natural History, and he also focused on developing talent at the aquarium.

Retired Lincoln Park Zoo CEO Kevin Bell, a longtime friend, recalled Beattie’s laserlike focus on developing leaders.

“The thing Ted was most proud of in terms of his accomplishments was his work with leadership,” Bell said. “Talk to most people around our industry, and those are the words that are going to come up.”

Fahner noted the numerous leaders of zoos and aquariums across the U.S. who once had worked for Beattie. “He’s got like 11 or 12 people (who worked for him) who are just kind of a diaspora all around the country,” Fahner said. “They were all disciples of Ted’s.”

Well I wonder how they're doing these days.

Come to think of it, time to pay that place another visit and share it on the YouTube channel. 

h/t CapFax

WGN People to People: 2022 Bud Billiken Day Parade Preview

 

[VIDEO] Just sharing this to let you know after two years the Bud Billiken back to school parade is back in Bronzeville this year. According to Dr. Marc Sengestack - Executive Director of the Chicago Defender Charities - in 2021 there was an abbreviated parade and there was none in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year full parade is back in force.

Dr. Sengestack discusses this parade on this recent edition. The parade will be on August 13th...

AND, since this is an election year politicians will be there. Next year we'll have a mayoral race so there's that going on also.

Chicago Stories: The Great Chicago Fire

 

[VIDEO] 150 years ago a major fire raged across the city of Chicago and as you see the city not only rebuilt in the wake of that it expanded to the limits you see now. 

There were some legends to this fire, for example Ms. O'Leary's cow kicked a lantern and the fire went out of control from there. You can see a monument to that at the city's fire academy near Jefferson and DeKoven two blocks north of Roosevelt Road. Hard to believe that in the 19th Century that area had farms with cows.

The site of Ms. O'Leary's farm

You see how this city has changed after 150 years....

I hope you enjoy.

Mustard: What Happened To The Antarctic Snow Cruiser?

 

[VIDEO] Before switching to Mr. Beat this morning I saw this latest video by Mustard which seems to cover a lot of videos discussing transportation projects such as trains, airplanes or even vehicles such as this Antarctic Snow Cruiser. That vehicle was constructed in Chicago by the Armour Institute of Technology (if you don't know that institution is now known as Illinois Institute of Technology).

Regardless as Mustard stated this does look like something out of a Jules Verne movie the design being perhaps very influenced by the then in fashion art deco/stream moderne styling. The unfortunate thing is that as the construction of this beast was rushed the cruiser itself had some issues involving speed and traction on the snow & ice that eventually it was abandoned.

According to this Wiki page we don't know about the current fate of this vehicle after 1958:

During Operation Highjump in late 1946, an expedition team found the vehicle and discovered it needed only air in the tires and some servicing to make it operational.

In 1958, an international expedition uncovered the snow cruiser at Little America III using a bulldozer. It was covered by 23 feet (7.0 m) of snow but a long bamboo pole marked its position. They were able to excavate to the bottom of the wheels and accurately measure the amount of snowfall since it was abandoned. Inside, the vehicle was exactly as the crew had left it, with papers, magazines, and cigarettes scattered all around.

Later expeditions reported no trace of the vehicle. Although there was some unsubstantiated speculation that the (traction-less) Snow Cruiser was taken by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the vehicle most likely is either at the bottom of the Southern Ocean or buried deep under snow and ice. Antarctic ice is in constant motion and the ice shelf is constantly moving out to sea. In 1963, a large chunk of the Ross Ice Shelf broke off and drifted away; the break occurred right through Little America. It is not known on which side of the ice shelf the Snow Cruiser was located.

I don't know how often during our geography lessons how much we were taught about Antarctica which is the only uninhabited continent on the planet owing to its position at the very bottom of Earth. The conditions there are inhospitable for people although as noted in the above video it's home to a number of natural resources such as minerals and fossil fuels (oil/petroleum). Quite a few nations have sent expeditions there and even laid a claim to the continent. 

I wish I.I.T. could rebuild this amazing vehicle the right way and perhaps get it rolling on Antarctica.

Chicago by 'L' w/ Geoffrey Baer

 

[VIDEO] I have always been fascinated by the CTA L trains, especially the operations. Geoffrey Baer of WTTW goes a bit further and explores the various parts of Chicago that the L travels through. The city is very large and expansive with many places to visit not just downtown but various neighborhoods.

YouTuuba visits the former Sears Tower before taking an Amtrak

 

[VIDEO] I wanted to share this with you because before YouTuuba leaves for his recent "Train Odyssey" he leaves his baggage at the Metropolitan Lounge at Union Station to go to the former Sears Tower 21 minutes into this almost two hour video and check out the Skydeck and the Ledge. To see Chicago from up there makes the city look like one massive modeling project.

Sadly I'm not very keen on going all the way to the top of a tall building. Just not big on heights although I have been to the top of the Washington Monument in D.C. for example or another time I went to the top of the Soldiers and Sailors monument in downtown Indianapolis. I feel as if going over 1000 feet over the ground is a bit too far.

Though I'd do it if this was an experience that you never had and hoping someone like me would share that with you. Just have to get over my phobia of heights and now I know to get "expedited" tickets to go up to the Skydeck. I don't know about the Ledge....

Meanwhile for the rest of this video you will see him pull off late from Union Station on board Amtrak's Capitol Limited and show us the south side from along the Chicago Skyway.

Winter isn't done with Chicago yet...

 Well the city and the area has been taking a beating by winter weather so far. We got hit by heavy snow on President's Day as you see in the Tribune. Winter was mostly mild and then January become February and not only heavy snow we got very cold temps also.

I also have to add this Sun-Times article that illustrates other weather related records so far. As of Monday we've had 16 straight days with snow cover of more than 10 inches.

Another thing to add, while CPS negotiated with the teachers to reopen classrooms the weather helps to keep our young people on continued remote learning. Grab and go meal distribution will continue however. [VIDEO]

A reminder, we're almost there. Next month is March which means spring will be here before we know it!

The Sixth Ward presents Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

 

[VIDEO] I posted this to The Sixth Ward's YouTube channel earlier this month. It shows my visit back in 2014 to the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park. It's a great place within a busy metropolis to chill for a moment. You might forget you're not too far away from the busy Lake Shore Drive.

You're actually within the confines of a major public park and you're actually steps away from Lincoln Park Zoo of which this area was once a part. Of course this place fell into disrepair at one point in the past and then received the TLC it deserves in recent years.

It's one of the many things I would like to share on my YouTube channel since I liken usage of that service to taking you places you never knew existed. I expressed this in my plans to visit Springfield, Illinois in the near future - especially to see the Illinois General Assembly in action.

I have a list of places within the city I like to share with you all especially if you've never been.

• DuSable Museum
• Shedd Aquarium - named for Shedd School's namesake John G. Shedd
• Field Museum - never been sadly
• Museum of Science & Industry
• Lincoln Park Zoo

Easy places to visit off the top of my head and hopefully once we get out of this pandemic. I'm thinking of other places to share without not just within Chicago or Illinois but around the nation as well. Because I like to share with you places I've visited and certainly to bring you places you've either never been or never knew existed.

So I hope you enjoy my presentation of the Caldwell Lily Pool on one summer day over six years ago.

Michigan Central Lines: Huge HO Scale Layout at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry

 

[VIDEO] The YouTube channel Michigan Central Lines takes a look at the HO scale model train layout at the Museum of Science and Industry on the south side. I've been thinking it's time for me to pay a visit to that museum and share with you some of things I've seen there since the last time I've been. Unfortunately I've not been inside the walls of that place since grade school at least.

Related another local YouTuber artistmac gets a behind the scenes look at this model train layout which is actually part of an exhibit. How about having a job overseeing the design and operation of this layout?

A streetcar near 79th & Western #tbt

Streetcar at 79th & Western via Chicago History Today

On June 16, 1956 streetcar service ended on Western Avenue. Over 64 years ago according to this post from back in June at Chicago History Today. I wanted to show this south side scene provided in that same post. I could show another near Western and Pershing Rd. during that period of time.

Either way streetcar service was on the wane here in Chicago and by 1958 something I shared last year all streetcar service in Chicago was eliminated. If there was to be a revival of streetcars or light rail in the city I'd say Western Avenue is one main thoroughfare that could use it.

As far as transit planning in Chicago, however, there has been emphasis on this idea of bus rapid transit. However, these plans haven't been implemented as of yet.

Bloody Chicago: Chicago's Graffiti Mayor Lori Lightfoot

[VIDEO] I'm starting to realize Lori Lightfoot elected Mayor of Chicago, Ill just last year really has a rough ride early in her first term. I recognized a tinge of thin skinned temperament from her in some respects as she referred to a police union official as a clown.

Vic Maggio of Maggio News has spent years in Chicago's neighborhoods tracking crime issues and he observes on the Eisenhower Expressway many instances of graffiti. In this time of civil unrest unfortunately graffiti is more prevalent. Some people don't see this as crime, but as expression. It was evidenced by a tweet I received a while back.

Graffiti is vandalism..... https://t.co/MEBuoZLWJ2

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) August 2, 2020

I also want to note that there is an instance of graffiti on a highway sign over the Dan Ryan past 63rd southbound. This is not something I recall seeing before ever.

 I'm a long way from blaming Mayor Lightfoot for many of this issues, but she has a hell of a case to present for her re-election in 2023. Depending upon what happens by 2022, I wouldn't be too surprised if she decided she wasn't going to run again! 

Chicago looted by BLM

[VIDEO] So after Mayor Lightfoot crashes a gathering of people on a north side lakefront beach we get another mass incident of looting locally. The basis for this is said to be a shooting that took place in Englewood on Sunday afternoon. From there, an organized caravan of people go into downtown Chicago and start looting not only there but also the Magnificent Mile. We already experienced some major unrest and now we got more.

Instead of showing some footage from our local news outlets, perhaps we watch someone outside of Chicago analyze what happened overnight through Monday. Anthony Brian Logan is a conservative YouTuber that has taken aim at BLM recently.

I did some posting with regards to this latest development at The Sixth Ward.

The Mayor breaks up a gathering on the north lakefront this past weekend

This tweet from over the weekend from Mayor Lori Lightfoot showed up on Instapundit. And I see a number of tweets on twitter that took her well intended post in a bad way.

It's called a pandemic, people. This reckless behavior on Montrose Beach is what will cause us to shut down the parks and lakefront. Don't make us take steps backwards. pic.twitter.com/FHxeYfH7Wf

— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) August 8, 2020

CWB Chicago shared this image of the Mayor at Montrose Beach crashing the so-called party along with her photographer on fb

Furthermore Ed Driscoll at Instapundit noted: "Curiously, none of the articles this weekend by the Chicago Sun Times, ABC’s Chicago affiliate, CBS’s Chicago affiliate, and NBC’s Chicago affiliate mention the July protests or Lightfoot’s blessings."

I admitted to an out of state friend that I miss Rahm Emanuel. He was unpopular as time went on but some of what's been going on in the city it wouldn't have been tolerated with him as mayor. However, the crisis going on he wouldn't let go to waste.

In addition, 2nd City Cop has an interesting post if you go to the bottom of the post about the various machines that exists in Chicago. In a fit of perhaps disrespect they refer to the mayor as Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, perhaps the Mayor will only have one term. We have a while before '23.