Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Bank of America Robbery at 5466 N. Milwaukee

Man In Straw Cowboy Hat Robs NW Side Bank


 
(Credit: ChicagoBanditTracker)
 
CHICAGO (STMW) – A man in a straw cowboy hat robbed a Jefferson Park neighborhood bank Tuesday on the Northwest Side.
The man robbed the Bank of America branch at 5466 N. Milwaukee Ave. on Tuesday, according to the FBI. He never showed a weapon and the FBI has classified the incident as a non-takeover robbery.
The suspect is described as a 5-feet-7 to 5-feet-8 Hispanic man in his 50s, the FBI said. He has brown hair and an unknown eye color.
He was last seen wearing a straw cowboy hat, a long-sleeve blue shirt and blue jeans, the FBI said.
A reward is being offered in the case and anyone with information should call the FBI Chicago office at (312) 421-6700.
© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributedUpdate:  01 August 2012





From "Everyblock"

Bank of America at 5400 block of Milwaukee was just robbed.Suspect wore a tan cowboy hat,sunglasses,blue long sleeve shirt,and blue jeans.About 5'7" and 200 lbs.About 55 years old,male hispanic.Suspect is armed.
Don't know how much he took,money had a die pack it in

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Tonight's Public Safety Town Hall Meeting: My Observations

Tonight was the Burglary Seminar/Town Hall Meeting for the 16th Police District.  I attended and I will be writing some of my observations from the meeting here over the next few days.  I invite all of you to send in a comment with your own thoughts and observations.

Place:  Copernicus Center
Time:  7pm to 9pm
Attendees:  Approximately 100 people, including:  Aldermen Sposato & Arena (Aldermen Cullerton and O'Connor not in attendance).  Chief of Patrol Escalante (Commander O'Donnell's boss, the Commander was not in attendance), Captain Jan Dillon, Executive Officer & Second in Command at the 16th District, Sergeant Kibble, CAPS Office, 16th District was the moderator, two detectives assigned to work burglaries in the 16th District and other 16th District CAPS officers, too.

Some of the more interesting questions asked during the Town Hall Meeting, Question and Answer portion of the meeting:

1.  Question:   How many active duty sworn police officers are currently assigned to the 16th District as of today?  How many active duty sworn police officers were in place at the 16th District, three years ago?  What is the plan to replace officers who have retired/left the 16th District?

Initially, no one on the panel seemed to know, how many officers report to the 16th District each day,  until the person asking the question reminded them.  The all of a sudden, Capt. Dillon remembered that there are 197 sworn police officers assigned to the 16th District, presently.  Three years ago, there were approximately 350 sworn police officers assigned to the 16th District. 

There are approximately 44% less officers assigned to the 16th District today, compared to three years ago. 

So what is the plan to replace the approximately 153 officers who have retired/left the 16th District?  According to Alderman Arena, no one has the "power" to determine police staffing and that the 16th District is the safest district in the city.   And yet, just 5 minutes later, Alderman Arena was answering questions about the murder on Milwaukee Ave just last weekend.  Alderman Arena also, conveniently didn't mention the 16th District % Change in the murder rate from 2011 to 2012 per the Clear Path Compstat report - an increase of 300%.  (Criminal Sexual Assualts  increased  9%, Robberies increased 4%, Felony Theft increased 10% and Motor Vehicle Theft increased 7%).  Check Compstat reports for the 16th District on Clearpath.

So, what we are left to understand from Alderman Arena is that until the 16th District is the murder capital of the city, police staffing shortages will not be addressed.

In summary:  In the 16th District, we pay more in taxes, fees and fines than ever before, but are receiving almost 50% less in public safety services, compared to three years ago.  And, according to Alderman Arena, the city council  can't do anything about increasing police officer numbers in the City of Chicago, and specifically in the 16th, until the 16th District experiences significant increases in crime.     Until then, we will be assigned no officers, and in fact, officers who retire tomorrow, will most likely not be replaced.

More tomorrow.

26 July 2012
The Burglary Seminar part of the meeting:

A couple of highlights from Officer Joyner, the moderator of the Burglary Seminar and the panel of convicted residential burglars:  Note - these are comments and opinions of the panel...

  • Alarm systems weren't much of a deterrent for the panel members because they were in and out of homes very quickly.
  • One panel member said a strong, heavy door with deadbolt hardware customized with 2 inch screws driven deeply into the door (rather than the 3/4 inch screws that come with many standard deadbolt locks) and a metal plate around the latch/lock gave him a hard time/it took to long to break in and he was caught.
  • One guy specialized in garages and said he would load power tools/gardening equipment, snow blowers etc into the homeowners black city garbage can and roll the can down the alley to his truck.
  • On guy said a deterrent for him was a satellite surveillance/alarm system.  He avoids homes with those.
  • All of the burglars said they were caught after the "nosey" neighbor called the police on them.  Officer Joyner made it a special point to say it is critical to get to know your neighbors on all four sides of your home.
  • Officer Joyner mentioned garage door remotes shouldn't be left in your cars, on visors etc.. because if you leave your car somewhere and someone breaks into your car, they could access your address from the vehicle registration you leave in your glove compartment and use the garage door opener to access the garage door.  She said you don't need to keep vehicle registration in your glove - keep it in your wallet.
  • Dogs that are specifically trained to protect not only you, but your property were a deterrent for a few of the burglars, but a few said they bring treats and meat for dogs and have no issue with them.
  • One burglar said he sells his stolen merchandise at flea markets, another used a fence, another on the street....
  • One burglar used google earth to check out neighborhoods and to plan how to get out of a neighborhood.  A couple burglars watched homes to see who left for work, who was home, etc..
  • Two of the burglars used partners as drivers/watchers, the others worked alone.  Most kicked in the front door or the garage door.
.


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Norwood Juction

Norwood Junction
 
Story Image
Bob Rustemeyer of Norwood Park stands in the middle of his family's garden-scale model train layout in the backyard as he arranges some of the figurines which fell over in the wind. | Ryan Pagelow~Sun-Times Media
storyidforme: 33672291
tmspicid: 12207061
fileheaderid: 5569807
 
Updated: July 16, 2012 7:27PM

What started as a simple model train loop in the backyard in 1998 has expanded to take up the whole backyard at Bill Rustemeyer’s home in Norwood Park.
“It started a lot smaller and every year we expanded it a little bit,” Bill said.
Now that all the grass is covered in the backyard, there’s nowhere else to expand.
The garden-scale model train layout has been a family affair. Bill and his sons, Bob and Don, along with daughter Judy designed the layout, added the buildings and wired the eight separate trains that run on the tracks.

Bill’s wife Shirley was skeptical of the project at first, but quickly became absorbed too. She planted the shrubs and bushes to look like miniature trees, as well as added several flowers around the track.
The family of five Rustemeyers calls their train layout the Five R Railroad Norwood Junction.
“This is our pride and joy,” said Don, who also volunteers as an assistant engineer on the model trains on display at the Chicago Botanic Garden in summer and Christmas.

“I have a cold beer and watch the trains run around. It’s a great way to relax,” he said.
The Rustemeyers are members of a garden-scale model train club and occasionally host an open house for other club members to see their trains.
Bob, who also volunteers building model train sets at a library, said, “This is fun. It gives you something to do. If you find a problem, you repair it.”
A recent video of their model train layout in action can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwwOEXji4fo

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Shooting 5300 block of North Natoma

Have received a number of emails about a shooting at 5300 block of North Natoma.  In today's "Chicago Northwest Side Press", specifically, the "Crime Watch" column lead off with:

"A man was shot at about 12:50am, Tuesday, July 3, 2012 in the 5300 block of North Natoma Avenue, according to the 16th (Jefferson Park) District police.  The 40 year old man reported that he was in his yard and that two men approached him and one of them put a handgun to his torso and shot him once in the stomach and that the other man also attempted to shoot him but that his handgun apparently misfired, according to police.  The man was admitted to Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center in serious conditio, police said.  The assailants were described only as white and white/Hispanic."

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Take a Look at 41st Ward Chicago Public Schools Individual Budgets

Below is a link to list of all CPS school/program budgets for 2013.  This particular list compares the 2013 budgets with 2012 budgets..  Taft lost $700,000+ dollars and a few teacher slots.  Check out various schools around the 41st Ward..

If you click on the school name you can see many budget details.


To enter the database with school-by-school information, go tohttp://www.cps.edu/FY13Budget/Pages/FY13ProposedBudget.aspx; on the left click “Interactive Reports,’’ and across the top click “Find Your School Budget.’’

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Town Hall Meeting on July 25, 2012


YOU ARE INVITED

TO JOIN
COMMANDER JAMES O DONNELL
16TH DISTRICT POLICE

COPERNICUS CENTER
FOR   A

“Town Hall Meeting and Burglary Seminar”
                                                                                                                                      
         When:           Wednesday, July 25th, 2012


           Where:           Copernicus Center 
                                5216 W Lawrence
 
             Time:              7:00pm -9:00pm                                                                 

“Keepin It Real” Encore Presentation
And
The Annual Town Hall Meeting which was created in an effort to build upon and strengthen relationships between the community, business owners, elected officials and the police within the 16th District. This is an opportunity for everyone with a vested interest in this community to come together and hear about the successes, goals and the future of this district.
                                               

              For more information, contact 16th District CAPS office at
                                                          312-742-4521

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

41st Ward Teacher Tells It Like It Is...

Good Article. 

50 Wards in 50 Weekdays: 41st Ward teacher Megan Vogt puts Mayor Emanuel in a time-out

July 2, 2012


(WBEZ/Sam Hudzik)
Megan Vogt, in front of a neighbor's house, in the Big Oaks neighborhood.
Megan Vogt has lived on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side for much of her life. She’s spent the last nine in a neighborhood called Big Oaks, named after a golf course that’s no longer. Back in the day, her house would’ve been on the course, she says.
“I love the trees. It’s shady. Just the fact that it’s an established neighborhood, and it doesn’t look like a cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood,” Vogt says.

“We have great neighbors. Everybody gets along really well. You know you walk up and down the block everybody says, 'Hi.' It’s a really nice neighborhood to live in. There’s tons of kids now for all the little ones to play with.”
Tons of kids – yes, including Vogt’s 1 ½-year-old – but not tons of places for those kids to play.
“Toddler parks: there are none. There’s a little bitty toddler park over at Norwood Park, and it’s decrepit,” she says. “There’s still a nice one [a couple blocks away] at Beard School, but they lock it. So you can’t get into it.”

Vogt says her daughter “just learned the word ‘no’ a couple days ago, so, yeah, it’s a lot of fun.”
And she’ll have plenty of time to have those fun talks with her daughter the next few weeks. Vogt is a special education teacher at nearby Taft High School, and it’s summer break.
“Just hanging out. Doing mommy-daughter things,” she says.
We're talking in a neighbor's yard, and at least twice in our short interview, a jet storms by overhead. O’Hare Airport is less than 10 minutes away by car (and I guess a lot faster by plane), but Vogt doesn’t bring up the noise when I ask about her gripes. She mentions those parks, and she mentions her job.

Local officials, she says, “could have parents actually take responsibility for their own children, instead of foisting it off on others. I mean, that’s really my big concern. But, you know, telling parents they’re not parenting is not going to get you re-elected. So they don’t do it.”

“I think a lot of people aren’t bad parents. They just don’t know how to parent. There needs to be resources for people to learn how to be good parents.”
You probably see where this conversation is headed. I ask Vogt about the teacher contract talks and the threatened strike. She doesn’t want one, but thinks it’s likely.
“To put all the blame on teachers and to say we’re getting paid too much and we’re not working long enough, we’re not working hard enough, we’re not doing any of these things, is ludicrous, I mean, it’s a group effort. Everybody has to do their part.”
And as for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s push for a longer school day, set to kick-in next school year across the district, Vogt is indignant.
 “It bothers me that I’m taking time away from my own child to spend more time with someone else’s children when the research shows that that’s not where the resources need to go,” she says. "Resources need to go into smaller class sizes and to more art and music and those types of things. Not a longer school day.”
Vogt’s problems with Emanuel extend beyond the schools. She takes issue with how he makes decisions, in general.
 “I think that he is somewhat like a petulant two-year-old, where he has his stance and that’s what he wants and…regardless of what anybody else says or anybody else thinks, that’s what he’s going to do.”

Wow. So, here’s guessing Vogt won’t be volunteering for Emanuel’s campaign in 2015. But these two North Siders do have something in common: neither is too interested in sending their kids to Chicago Public Schools.
“I went to Catholic schools,” Vogt says. “[My daughter’s] probably going to go to Catholic school, too. And…I think the teachers are doing a really good job. I just don’t necessarily want her exposed to some of the other kids.”
And, as Emanuel himself would point out, that is a personal decision parents must make, regardless of their jobs.
But for Vogt, the decision is a few years away. For now, she has an iced coffee drink in hand. She's got two more months for doing that “mommy-daughter thing.”
Or longer, if that strike happens that no one seems to want.

4th of July Activities In/Around the 41st Ward

July 4th

Oriole Park Community Club’s Independence Day Parade 7500 W Byrn Mawr 9:30 am

The Oriole Park Community Club’s Independence Day Parade will step-off at 9:30 a.m. Alderman Mary O’Connor will be the Grand Marshal of the 2012 Parade. Children of all ages in Oriole Park are invited to participate in the Parade. They are encouraged to decorate their bicycles in patriotic colors. Parents can accompany their children in the Parade. The parade route is Bryn Mawr Avenue west to Oriole Avenue, Oriole south to Berwyn Avenue, Berwyn east to Olcott Avenue, and Olcott north to the park. Parade watchers are encouraged to turn out along the route to enjoy this festive event. The parade will assemble at 9:00 a.m. at 7500 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., at the north end of the park.


July 4th

Community Parade North Mayfair Improvement Association Gompers Park

We will gather in the Gompers Park tennis court parking lot, and start the walk off promptly at 9:30am. Please arrive at 9am so no one is left out of the procession. We will travel Southbound on Keeler, Westbound on Argyle, and finally Northbound on Kostner to the Palmer Elementary School basketball courts. We will have games, activities, and refreshments for the children after the parade. Please remember the event is free, and the kids will have a lot of fun.

The NMIA looks forward to seeing all of you at this wonderful annual event. Don’t forget to have all the children decorate their bikes, strollers, or wagons with festive red, white, and blue. Anyone that cannot participate, or no longer has young children, please come out and cheer on all of our neighborhood children as they walk along our parade route. Your help would be greatly appreciated. For those of you that have already contacted Maria about volunteering, we will be having a meeting sometime in early June. Students in need of service hours are welcome. If anyone is interested in volunteering, please contact Maria by phone or email above as soon as possible.


July 4th

Community Parade Edgebrook Community Association.

Edgebrook Community Association will host its Fourth of July Parade through the neighborhood. This year’s theme is “Let Freedom Ring.” The parade Grand Marshal is Glenn Nadig, publisher of Nadig Newspapers. It will step off from Edgebrook School on Central at 11 am. From there, it will head south on Central, west on Devon, north on Leigh, and northwest on Hiawatha to Wildwood Park.


July 4th

Community Parade Forest Glen Community Club

The Forest Glen Community Club’s Fourth of July Parade. This year’s theme is “America – The Melting Pot.” The parade steps off at 10 am from Cicero and Berwyn. From there, it proceeds west to LaPorte, north to Balmoral, west to Lawler, and then north to Bryn Mawr.