The opening of a new park in Lawndale was celebrated with a ribbon cutting Thursday morning which was designed and constructed by Destination by Design restrooms and a large sandy beach where families can enjoy the sun and get in the water of the First Broad River There is also a kayak and canoe launch for boaters chairman of the Cleveland County Commissioners said the county was excited to take part in the collaboration and for the opportunity to give back to residents with projects that provide outdoor spaces and connectivity Gordon said it will be a great asset for the upper end of the county who serves on the Cleveland County Water Board said it feels great to see all the planning come to fruition for the first part of the project "It's something I've looked forward to for a long time The Lawndale Park is part of the larger Stagecoach Greenway that is in the works and consists of 60 acres including a trail that will extend three miles from the town of Lawndale north to the Cleveland County Water treatment facility The trail will run along the First Broad River for much of the way The trail is a partnership between Cleveland County Water the town of Lawndale and other agencies and groups The purchase of land by Cleveland County Water began in 2017 and planning started for the Stagecoach Greenway in 2020 with multiple public input meetings and the creation of design and logo plans Brad Cornwell said the Lawndale park was completed late last year but the celebration was postponed until the weather was nice He said people have already been out enjoying the park and weekends pack in around 40 to 50 people a day Cornwell said the Casar-Lawndale stretch of trail is in the design phase they plan to look for grants for construction "It depends on grants and availability," he said "A lot of that stuff is going away and being cut every day." For more information on the Stagecoach Greenway, visit the website, stagecoachgreenway.com https://youtu.be/LofU0m8OsJ4 Every second counts during an emergency response emergency vehicles rely on drivers to do their part and clear the… See the most recent messages from LASD - South Los Angeles Station, Los Angeles County Sheriff, powered by Nixle Sign up to receive messages by email & text message The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department asks you to please celebrate this historical day responsibly Don’t make #CincodeMayo a deadly holiday due to drunk & drugged driving we responded to a call of a person with a lower leg injury near Switzer Falls in the Angeles National Forest We had rescuers going down trail as @SEBLASD Air Rescue 5 lowered a medic to the victim The primary Mission of Parking Enforcement Detail (PED) is to ensure the residents of the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County are provided with expeditious vehicle movement to help alleviate parking congestion improve 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reporting A weekly program presented by the New Yorker magazine’s editor killer beats and the edgiest new talent in storytelling come together for a weekly show that straps audiences into an audio rollercoaster Radiolab is known for its deep-dive journalism and innovative sound design Created in 2002 by former host Jad Abumrad the program began as an exploration of scientific inquiry Over the years it has evolved to become a platform for long-form journalism and storytelling Radiolab is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser Keyana Meeks was fatally struck Tuesday by a vehicle driven by her 21-year-old sister on the West Side Angela Meeks gazed in horror at the motionless body of her 25-year-old daughter Keyana Meeks after she was hit by a SUV driven by her younger sister early Tuesday The mother added her family is in shock and disbelief over the deadly crash, which unfolded outside their home in the 1300 block of South Lawndale Avenue about 4:15 a .m guilt has taken hold of Keyana’s 21-year-old sister who police said was arrested and released without charges “She’s not doing too well,” Angela said of Keyana’s sister Keyana and her sister “loved each other,” said their 29-year-old cousin was driving through an alley off Lawndale Avenue and made a left turn onto 13th Street The collision caused the SUV to flip three times before landing on top of Keyana according to relatives and traffic reports The sisters were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where Keyana was pronounced dead at 4:52 a.m and her sister was treated for a leg injury Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash Keyana also had deep relationships with of other family members “She did whatever she thought was necessary in order to have a good life for her and her kids,” said Eddie Meeks III “She was strong-willed and could really do just about anything.” Keyana was a hair stylist who loved decorating for family parties She also had dreams of buying and flipping homes She also shared with her mother that she was considering converting to Islam to grow closer to God she “had a dominance about her,” her uncle said “She could have probably gone somewhere [in] professional boxing,” he said “She was not the type of girl you really wanted to mess with and she wasn’t just gonna let you get away with anything.” But Keyana showed a softer side around family members it felt like [she] was a big teddy bear,” her uncle said with a chuckle Terms of Use • Privacy Notice • Cookie Policy • Terms of Sale A woman was fatally struck by a vehicle April 29 A 25-year-old woman was killed when an SUV jumped a curb and hit her early Tuesday in North Lawndale on the West Side identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as Keyana Meeks when an Acura MDX driven by a 21-year-old woman was traveling through an alley off Lawndale Avenue The driver made a left turn onto 13th Street slammed into the curb and then into the woman suffered multiple injuries and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where she was pronounced dead suffered a leg injury and was taken to Mount Sinai in fair condition owner and pharmacist at Del-Kar Pharmacy decorates the corner of his North Lawndale drug store with depictions of his heroes including his parents and the Rev The mosaic on the entryway of Del-Kar Pharmacy in North Lawndale is a shimmering tribute to the long history of the West Side neighborhood Pharmacist Edwin Muldrow owns and operates it It’s been a neighborhood staple for more than 60 years that the mosaic installed on his entryway in 2023 reflects that history At West 16th Street and South Ridgeway Avenue Kamelia Hristeva’s mosaic honors the legacy of the neighborhood and Del-Kar Pharmacy which has been in the Muldrow family for decades “Let’s pay homage to the neighborhood,” he says Muldrow pulled out historic images of the store once-bustling West 16th Street and the people who frequented it Part of the mosaic shows a woman with a handbag reading “Simone’s,” which was a shop nearby the mosaic shows two women sporting 1970s-style Afros next to a street sign showing the corner of West 16th Street and South Ridgeway Avenue One woman carries a handbag that reads “Simone’s.” Simone’s Cosmetics was a business started by Sammy Davis Jr that allowed Black women to sell cosmetics door to door The west side of the building shows the Rev and bought his daily newspaper at Del-Kar Pharmacy after he and his family moved to Chicago for a year in 1965 A black panther stretches out from the newspaper’s front page — a tribute to the Black Panther Party and its work in North Lawndale Fred Hampton is at the north end of the west-facing mural The former head of the Black Panther Party was shot to death in 1969 in a raid by police officers as he slept in his own bed you see Davis crooning above a tiled image of Del-Kar Pharmacy in the 1970s Next to the image of the store: Muldrow’s parents Claudine and Edward owner and pharmacist at Del-Kar Pharmacy stands outside his North Lawndale pharmacy for which he commissioned a mosaic commemorating his heroes emblazoned next to Hampton are the words: “Past Lessons Become Future Blessings.” created the mosaic over about nine months in 2023 It was paid for with grants from Ferrara Candy Company and Amazon “Green Star’s work is deeply rooted in preserving the rich history of our diverse communities so it was incredibly fulfilling to weave those historic photographs and stories into the mosaic,” says Kamelia Hristeva Green Star’s founder and chief executive officer and it felt like we were not only creating art but also honoring the legacy of the neighborhood.” Muldrow says kids who live in the neighborhood ask about the mosaic and the street’s history as a thriving corridor before the protests and arson that followed King’s assassination in 1968 Many of the North Lawndale buildings that burned were never rebuilt Del-Kar Pharmacy was spared in those fires protected by members of the Vice Lords street gang whose headquarters also were in the building “You gotta know your neighborhood,” Muldrow says “You don’t need to call the police because neighbors police themselves.” His store also serves as a hub of North Lawndale “There’s so much more that we do than fill prescriptions,” he says and Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton appear in the mosaic with the slogan “Past Lessons Become Future Blessings.” Lawndale has launched an open call for its annual juried exhibition and named Dr Phillip Townsend as the juror for The Big Show 2025 Lawndale invites artists living within a 100-mile radius of the organization to submit up to three artworks to be considered for its annual juried competition the artworks must have been completed between January 2023 to the present pieces must fit through the 6-foot-9-inch-by-4-foot-11-inch entryway and cannot exceed 200 pounds the work must not have been previously exhibited in Houston unless it was shown as part of a school program in the city is the Curator of Art at the Art Galleries at Black Studies (AGBS) at the University of Texas at Austin and a lecturer in the university’s African and African Diaspora Studies Department an Austin-based curatorial collaboration exploring topics of race and gender in socially engaged art produced by feminist artists of color with a specialization in modern and contemporary art and a focus on BIPOC artists and identity politics Mr. Townsend has curated retrospectives on artists such as Melvin Edwards, Alicia Henry, and Nicole Awai and multi-institutional exhibitions on María Magdalena Campos-Pons and Charles White His scholarship has been published in peer-reviewed journals and exhibition catalogs The application deadline for The Big Show is Tuesday Artworks must be available for installation and delivered between May 20 and 30 and will remain on view for the duration of the exhibition (June 6 through August 2) Read the full guidelines and complete the application via Lawndale’s Submittable page and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" HAA Cultural Events Calendar — UPDATE: The road has reopened for all traffic City officials in Greensboro say that Lawndale Drive is currently closed near I-840 for a reported crash with serious injuries All northbound traffic on Lawndale Drive is being rerouted onto I-840 Any affected drivers are suggested to avoid this area This story will be updated when the road reopens The 100-foot long pergola at the historic Sears Sunken Garden in North Lawndale is slated to be restored this summer The long-awaited rebirth of a 120-year-old North Lawndale garden could begin this summer with the restoration of the park’s 100-foot long Mediterranean Revival pergola Construction drawings are being finalized that will guide the rehabilitation of the historic wooden pergola — a structure that is the key visual feature of the nearly 2-acre sunken garden “It’s the classical centerpiece of [the] garden and to have that restored is going to be amazing,” said the Rev chairperson of Friends of Sears Sunken Garden board “It’s something you could see when you’re driving down the street — and it is going to be eye-catching to have it redone.” The open-air structure was built in 1907 at 3330 W at the heart of what was then the retail goliath’s worldwide headquarters campus The pergola is composed of 20 classically designed columns set in tandem with a footpath through them and flanked by two Greek Revival porticos The structure is topped by a red clay tile roof Surrounded by greenery and colorful flowers during the park’s heyday the pergola was a fine place for Sears workers to enjoy lunch or listen to the musical entertainment provided by the company But in 1974 and at the height of its power the retailer bailed out of North Lawndale for the new Sears Tower downtown Sears left behind the garden and a campus of landmark-quality brick-and-limestone buildings all designed by architects Nimmons & Fellows and successor firms new uses have come to some of the old Sears buildings in recent years — a remnant of Sears’s mammoth mail-order operation building — now houses nonprofit groups Arthington Street has been turned into residential lofts (The Guardian in 2015 accused Chicago police of running an off-the-books interrogation facility in a former Sears warehouse at 1011 S Meanwhile the old Sears administration building — the nerve center of the old campus at 3333 W that will no longer be the case for the sunken garden which sits directly across Arthington Street from the administration building Funded by a $1 million grant from the Richard Driehaus Foundation, the pergola restoration is the initial step in a $7 million plan to revive the whole garden Globally renowned Dutch designer Piet Oudolf — who is a creator of Millennium Park’s Lurie Garden — and Chicago landscape architect Chris Gent The pergola restoration is being led by the Chicago architecture firm Arda Design. said the restoration will include replacing the structure’s roof tiles concrete repairs and installing modern LED lighting “And some supplemental lighting around the site so that it’s a more inviting space,” she said Terry said new roof tiles will be supplied by Ludowici company that manufactured the pavilion’s original clay pieces 118 years ago “So hopefully [the pergola] looks like it did [originally],” she said “And gives them less maintenance for quite a while.” Fitzpatrick said she hopes work on the pergola begins late this summer Chicago is a city of “no little plans,” for sure also go a long way toward making this town more livable Friends of the Sunken Garden is still raising the cash to complete the entire project Having a Piet Oudolf-designed green space in a workaday neighborhood rather than in the middle of a city center is a coup — almost like having a corner library that was designed by Frank Gehry or the late Zaha Hadid the residents of North Lawndale and the greater West Side who have spent years championing for the garden deserve this improved urban oasis and whatever benefit and credit that comes along with it “It’s just a beautiful space,” said Fitzpatrick, who is also executive pastor of Stone Temple Church, an architectural and historical landmark at 3622 W “We had a group of neighborhood gardeners come by [recently] to kind of tidy it up,” she said “It looks like it’s in a coming back stage It sends a sense of excitement and a spirit of unity Lee Bey is the Sun-Times architecture critic a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in Houston has announced a call for its 2025/2026 artist residency program 2024/2025 Artist Studio Program participant The organization’s long-standing Artist Studio Program (ASP) initiative is a nine-month residency that provides artists with a monthly stipend The upcoming program runs from September 1 and participants will receive a $750/month honorarium Houston-area and Gulf Coast-based artists who are 18 years of age or older Lawndale welcomes artists working in all media including visual arts This year’s applications will be reviewed by Jeremy Johnson the Operations and Exhibitions Manager at Lawndale; Alexis Pye a Lawndale Advisory Board member and past exhibiting artist; and Anna Walker Applications are due by Friday, March 7, at 11:59 p.m. Applicants will be notified in early May. Read the full application guidelines and apply via Lawndale’s Submittable page CHICAGO (WLS) -- Firefighters battled a house fire in the Lawndale neighborhood the West Side Wednesday morning The fire broke out in a home near Cicero Avenue and Polk Street and heavy smoke could be seen from the Eisenhower Expressway A man who is unhoused told ABC7 that he and five others lived inside the two-story townhome He said he went to go buy cigarettes and he came back and the house was up in flames The man said they were using candles for light inside the structure The role of the gun industry in America’s gun violence epidemic Our team is examining a decade's worth of data from the Gun Violence Archive for insights into one of the most devastating public health crises in the United States The National Rifle Association is one of the most powerful special interest groups in America We’re investigating how it spends its money and programs grappling with the gun violence crisis Sign up now to get our latest stories and eye-opening briefings I’ll never forget what the pastor said in a Bible class I attended two weeks after my son was shot and killed “Gun violence won’t take you and yours out.” I looked at the girl sitting next to me and said: “Too late church has been where I go when I have a problem I knew the pastor had probably said something like that before because I couldn’t understand why God didn’t protect me maybe I could’ve gotten him the help he needed When it was my turn to seek help after his death, I learned that there were no support groups for gun violence survivors in North Lawndale, one of the neighborhoods in Chicago that has struggled the most with gun violence. Ironically, shootings had decreased in 2017 when Fontaine was killed I knew other families here had experienced this kind of loss yet I had to travel to the North Side to find the support I was looking for.  Fontaine loved basketball, but injuries prevented him from playing professionally. He was attending Robert Morris University in hopes of becoming a physical therapist to help other injured players.  In 2015, Fontaine’s cousin was shot outside my hair salon. Rock was his favorite cousin, a brother to him. Fontaine was angry. He didn’t understand how something like this could happen because we were church people, family people. It created this downward spiral with my baby. He became a totally different kid. I watched him struggle in school, where he rebelled against teachers. He would do his work and then just walk out of the classroom. He became combative. He came to church in a white T-shirt and jeans. I was so embarrassed. But I love my pastor, because he said: “He still came. Let him get up there on them drums.”  That’s when people started telling me he needed therapy. I didn’t understand therapy at the time, but they told me he needed somebody to talk to about what happened. So he was connected with an agency in our community that was supposed to help, but I’m not sure they did.  Eventually, he was ready to begin his life again. He was supposed to shop for prom clothes with his cousin Rock. We told him that’s what Rock would have wanted, so he went and had a good time. He was accepted into college. He became more cooperative. I had my baby back.  But my relief didn’t last long. On April 10, 2017, Fontaine went to a park in North Lawndale to play basketball. Two people got out of a car and fired into the crowd. My son died the next day. He was 19. At first, I went back to my job at the salon, even though I had no clients, because I didn’t want to stay home and feel that void. I didn’t want to keep walking past a room I knew he wasn’t going to be in. I had to keep moving. I wanted to survive this.  I kept going to church, but this was the one time in my life that praying over it did not help me get over it. I had to find something more.  The nearest group I found was Parents for Peace and Justice in Rogers Park. I tried to get other families from my neighborhood who had been affected by gun violence to go with me, but they didn’t want to travel so far north.  I was skeptical at first because I was the only Black person there. The things they talked about were relatable, but some coping mechanisms might seem weird to people not used to therapy. There was a technique where you pull certain fingers on your hand to relieve pressure and stress in your body. They told us things like “it’s OK to just scream to release the chemicals in your body.” I didn’t necessarily understand it, but it helped, so it became a habit.  That support group helped me navigate back to my path – a different path, but a path of living still. Before, my life was all about what I was going to do for me and my son. Now, I have to learn to live for just me, and to keep his memory alive.  The day after I buried my son, I went to a basketball game held in his honor. People were coming up to me, giving me their condolences and sharing stories of my baby, and I spent hours comforting them.  Then one of the girls said: “We just had a session here! We need to do this on a regular basis.”  A week later, two more young men in our community were killed.  We began to meet up regularly and talk about how we were feeling. After I joined Parents for Peace and Justice, I realized we could benefit from something more formal. So I founded Help Understanding Grief, HUG for short. I asked my pastor if we could meet at the church, because even though the therapy and support groups helped me understand the pain, memory loss, and new health issues, my relationship with God has sustained me through these seven years without my son.  The first time we met at the church, the room was packed. People came, and they talked about my baby and the other two boys that got killed. We kept meeting. Some days, one person showed up, some days they filled the room.  The North Side group had therapists and clinical professionals. In HUG it was just us families.  At a recent HUG meeting, one survivor said: “Black men don’t get flowers. They only get flowers at their funerals. We need to give them flowers while they’re alive.” That’s what I hope HUG can do, give people their flowers while they’re still alive. I wish my son had support like this.  Since the day my son was killed, I’ve tried to survive by always being on the move, always doing something. Now, I take time away from work. I make choices based on what I feel is gonna make me live. I ain’t trying to just survive any more.  I’m trying to get my flowers while I’m alive.   Your tax-deductible donation to The Trace will directly support nonprofit journalism on gun violence and its effects on our communities. Seven gun violence survivors, seven stories of Chicago. How might their experiences drive change? Print A Lawndale resident was arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot crew members on a Metro project in his neighborhood The threat was made electronically via Metro’s public complaint portal on Feb. 20 and affected roughly 100 crew members working on the C-Line extension in the South Bay more than two dozen sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant on Scallion’s home around 4 a.m Wednesday and arrested him on suspicion of making criminal threats Online jail records show Scallion was booked around 6 a.m and held at the Lennox station jail on $50,000 bail He does not appear to have been formally charged and does not appear to have any prior cases in Los Angeles County Superior Court records “The Sheriff’s Department will continue to work in partnership with Metro to ensure the safety of all Metro employees ridership and the general public,” Jones said Jones said the anonymous threat was connected to Scallion after a warrant sought information through the internet provider He said it didn’t appear that Scallion had previously made any formal complaints regarding the project and did not have a known history of making similar criminal threats The light rail project aims to connect the South Bay from Redondo Beach to Torrance by expanding the C Line. It has received ongoing complaints from residents who have taken issue with the proximity of the project to their homes. But the threat of violence was out of the ordinary, a Metro representative told The Times. Metro said the project had continued during the investigation. On Tuesday, security was seen on site. The transit agency said the public was not in danger, but residents who learned of the threat last month were alarmed by the lack of information provided. Chelsea Schreiber has resided in Lawndale for nearly 10 years and lives about 30 feet from the project. For weeks, she has wondered about the threat, concerned that residents could be implicated. She said her husband witnessed the arrest Wednesday morning at Scallion’s home, not far from where they live. Scallion was known to regularly set off fireworks, Schreiber said. She doesn’t believe that violence is a solution. But she said that she and others have continued to voice their fears over the project’s impact on the community without any resolution. “Metro’s accountability is so lacking that residents are that frustrated,” she said. Colleen Shalby is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. She has covered education, the pandemic, the vaccine rollout and breaking news throughout California. She was part of the team that was a 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of a dive-boat fire off the Santa Barbara coast. Shalby grew up in Southern California and graduated from George Washington University. She previously worked for PBS NewsHour and joined The Times in 2015. High School Sports California Sports Business Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map Greensboro Police were called to a car crash with a pedestrian on Lawndale Drive near Cottage Place Responders say that an adult man in dark clothing tried crossing Lawndale Drive from a Food Lion parking lot The man did not stop for an oncoming Chevrolet Corvette going north on Lawndale Drive Police say that the pedestrian died from injuries at the scene pending his next of kin's alert to the death Neither the Corvette driver or passenger had any injuries Investigators say that driver impairment and speed are both not listed as crash-causing factors Greensboro Police are still investigating this incident It is possible that the infrastructure a particular culture develops and utilizes in unseen ways can provide a different kind of mapping, one that describes personal interactions and taboos, rather than septic routes and strategically positioned manhole covers. Ariel Wood adopts such a strategy in their new exhibition which is now up at Lawndale Art Center through December 21st This remarkable show combines three distinct bodies of work all focused around a particular “infrastructural situ.” The most subtle yet perhaps most alluring of the collection are the prints composed of hard ground etching and aquatint on Hahnemuhle copperplate The resulting images are a masterful exercise in tone manipulation They present vistas of quotidian infrastructural conditions They are unassuming and draw the viewer in the better the payoff in that one’s eye takes time to adjust to the gentle transitions of grey These 2D prints are joined with other objects made from a variety of materials Wood presents wonderfully realized plumbing infrastructure rendered in glazed ceramic blue strings that draw up to the ceiling in a smart nod to the existing gallery architecture make the presentation feel designed for utility These objects interact with one another in the way that plumbing or drainage lines do Wood shows us that we take for granted the “way things are” and we hardly ever think of something like plumbing infrastructure until we have a problem with it A similar light is shone on the issue of trans rights enlightening us that these issues are societal — all of our concerns This is done through Wood’s careful presentation of a show that speaks a universal language through excellent execution Lifelong West Side resident Karen Castleberry joined dozens of other community members for an open house hosted by Ald Monique Scott (24th Ward) and the city’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) on Thursday night UCAN Center in North Lawndale was the site for the meeting where the city introduced the developers for the pilot phase of the Missing Middle Infill Housing initiative.“I live over in Homan Square I own property in Homan Square and in K-Town so I’ve been invested in this community for a long time I just hope that everything that is done is made affordable for existing residents.”  The city’s Missing Middle Infill Housing initiative is described as a community improvement program designed to reverse decades of systemic disinvestment in Chicago communities on the South and West sides. Between 2000 and 2020, according to the city Chicago lost over a quarter million Black residents; some neighborhoods lost as much as 50 percent of their population has resulted in a concentration of vacant lots and “missing” middle-density housing in impoverished neighborhoods and courtyard buildings that once were owned by families on the South and West Sides but were lost to depopulation and disinvestment Financing for the housing comes from Johnson’s $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development Bond Roughly $75 million is allocated towards the Missing Middle initiative over the next five years they own roughly 10,000 vacant residential parcels primarily located on the West and South sides “We’ve seen North Lawndale, like so many other South and West Side communities, filled with vacant lots and missed opportunities. But today, this Missing Middle initiative is a chance to change that,” Bonita Harrison, CEO of Chicago-based development company Sunshine Management “It is a chance to sell homes that working families can actually afford community-based developers to lead the charge and ensure that North Lawndale’s future is shaped by the people who live here not just that outside interest,” Harrison added Last month, the city revealed the five developers selected to redevelop the 44 city-owned lots into one- to six-unit residential buildings in North Lawndale The lots are divided into six “clusters” designated with the letters A through E a developer for cluster B will be announced in the summer as proposals are still under review that’s an annual income of $109,900 for a household of one The Missing Middle initiative incentivizes developers by selling vacant lots to them for $1 and providing up to $150,000 in site preparation and construction assistance for each housing unit Harrison described the subsidies as “a big deal,” adding that the government usually doesn’t subsidize houses that are for sale.“So right now is $1.2 million for me to build it,” Harrison said “If the appraisers and the after-repair value is only $400,000 or $500,000 why would we build a house that we’re going to have a deficit and we’re going to lose $700,000?” Brian Hacker project manager for the Missing Middle initiative in North Lawndale said the goal of the program is to “incentivize private development” and encourage homeownership for those in the community “We are partnering with developers and then those developers have to make all of these properties for sale,” Hacker said “So the developers can’t hold on to any of their buildings and rent them out and then that family can rent out one of the units.”Asked how the city plans to ensure that ownership of the developments stays within the community Strazzabosco said refusing to sell to a buyer is discrimination we want to make it accessible to folks who are on the West Side and want to stay here,” Hacker said they’re just going to sell it to the qualified buyers.” Matthew Howery, 38, who works at the North Lawndale-based nonprofit New Covenant Community Development Corporation said he hopes that the initiative leads to ownership without gentrification Are all these gonna really be affordable housing what we have seen on the West side or South Side was ‘We’re gonna do these affordable housing here and there.’ Then all of a sudden they become mixed units where only so many are affordable  and other ones are not.”Harrison added what she finds most difficult in the process is trying to find those who may not have time to attend community meetings to learn about such opportunities to connect them to resources “I’ve definitely been having calls and conversations Because this is probably the most critical part so I never showed up at community meetings,” Harrison said So the people who really need the services they don’t have the time to show up to the community meetings So how do we meet them where they are?”Ald Scott said the Missing Middle initiative will bring families and investment back to the North Lawndale area without the fear of pricing out those who live there “Displacement wouldn’t be fair to any resident or myself I’ve lived in this community for 53 years and I think that bridging the gap between the community is what’s important to me,” Scott told The TRiiBE during the community event “Everybody should be able to live in one community You build housing that will include all.”The city expects to break ground on the North Lawndale developments by May A previous version of the story referred to the Missing Middle Infill Housing Initiative as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Subscribe to The TRiiBE Weekly to receive top stories and movement calls-to-action delivered straight to your inbox The TRiiBE is a media company that is reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago in pursuit of truth and liberation Collins Academy High School senior Francheska Cancel (left) wants to study nursing in college CPS has already invested in staff training at her school Collins and two others also will undergo renovations or additions impacting maker spaces Please check your inbox for your confirmation By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy Chicago high school senior Francheska Cancel carefully used clay to shape a triangular muscle and placed it on the shoulder of a plastic skeleton “I love science and now everything we do here is about science,” she said is one of three schools in the West Side North Lawndale neighborhood getting $41 million in investment to create state-of-the-art science and arts programming In a tour of the two elementary and one high schools on Tuesday Chicago Public Schools officials watched preschoolers learning about trees third graders using magnets to understand attraction and gravity and high schoolers not only working with skeletons but also getting a hands-on physics lesson This is all the result of community members dreaming and making it happen a former principal of a neighborhood elementary school and one of the main drivers of the project three [CPS] CEOs and three sets of members of the board of education and there have been many days when I wanted to give up,” she said at a press conference Tuesday at Collins Academy “But I thought about what I used to say to my students was one of the main drivers behind the effort to create state-of-the-art science and arts programming in North Lawndale Green said a community group took on this work and was determined to make sure students in North Lawndale a high-poverty community that has suffered from disinvestment get access to a high quality and rigorous education Many of the area schools have seen enrollment and budgets dwindle over the past two decades the group wanted several elementary schools consolidated into one brand new school noting the neighborhood had no modern school constructed for decades But there was a lot of pushback from the targeted schools they came up with the idea of infusing Johnson and Chalmers elementary schools and Collins high school with resources CPS set aside $31 million to renovate facilities Renovations are set to begin next summer and finish by the end of 2026 The City Council last week approved another $10 million from special taxing districts called TIFs noted the value of TIFs in funding projects like this “that help develop and enhance the quality of life in a community.” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez thanked the council members for the TIF money at Collins but on Wednesday he is expected to testify at a city council hearing about his request for $426 million in TIF money to cover CPS operating expenses this year — not for specific projects Ervin and other alderpersons have pushed back and said they doubt that is realistic but Martinez insists enough TIF money exists Martinez said some might argue that the district should stop investing in schools like Chalmers But Martinez said he believes they will be able to draw more students once people understand they have high-quality programming and resources Collins High School’s freshman class is larger because students have heard about this programming “So that’s what we’re talking about,” he said “That’s what we mean about investing in our neighborhood schools That is what’s possible when we start doing this across the city in underenrolled schools.” Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ. Follow her on X @WBEZeducation and @sskedreporter Postal Inspection Service is offering a $150,000 reward for information on the Lawndale Chicago robbery of a USPS letter carrier.CHICAGO (WLS) -- The U.S Postal Service is offering a $150,000 reward to anyone who can help catch three men accused of robbing a letter carrier on Chicago's West Side earlier this year near Flournoy and Francisco in the city's Lawndale neighborhood The thieves got away with USPS property and fled the scene on foot Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455 INTERACTIVE SAFETY TRACKER Track crime and safety in your neighborhood And it’s not just the patties. Each burger is a recumbent tower of meat, cheese and vegetables, some built with layers of both ham and bacon, shredded chicken and a fried egg. The buns struggle to contain their contents, appearing swollen and ready to soil the table, your lap and your shirt. Over the last five years, chef and owner Pedro Carvalho has become the great explicator of the Brazilian burger, on a quest to introduce Los Angeles to this supersized version of his favorite sandwich. Food Longtime and new restaurants alike make this Culver City neighborhood a unique destination for Brazilian food in Los Angeles. Visitors can sample Brazilian pizza, sandwiches, homestyle cooking, and, of course, barbecue. When Carvalho moved to the United States in 2016, he missed the burgers he ate in his hometown of Belo Horizonte, the capital city of Minas Gerais state in southeastern Brazil. There, the beef patties were stacked with fried potato sticks and corn, and the buns were slathered in a mayonnaise-based pink sauce. The burgers came wrapped tightly in small plastic bags that served a dual purpose: They made the burgers easier to transport and easier to eat without making a mess. “Every burger comes with corn and potato sticks for sure, and the special homemade mayonnaise,” says Carvalho. “It’s like a huge burger. We call it podrao, a big and dirty meal.” In February 2020, Carvalho was working as an Uber delivery driver when he decided to make his own version of the Brazilian burgers at home. His Brazilian friends took notice when he started posting his potato stick- and corn-stuffed burgers on Instagram. “A lot of friends asked me where they can buy the burgers because we don’t have any Brazilian burger places in L.A.,” he says. “I wanted to bring a taste of Brazil here.” A year later, Carvalho started cooking his burgers out of a shared kitchen space at the Brazilian Mall, a strip mall that houses multiple Brazilian businesses in Culver City. Pedro Carvalho outside of his Lawndale restaurant Pedroca’s Burguer. He’s celebrating the one-year anniversary of the restaurant in March. (Pedro Carvalho) He was able to build a steady business of fellow Brazilians who were looking for a taste of home. He spent a couple of years cooking there before taking a pause for mental health reasons. “I was not feeling good, I was depressed, but the Brazilian community, a lot of them already knew me, and they were missing my burgers,” he says. He found a small storefront in a strip mall in Lawndale and opened Pedroca’s Burguer in the spring of 2024. It’s named for the childhood nickname his godparents gave him in Brazil. Pedroca’s is a tiny space that exudes big personality, with yellow and green walls covered in various Brazilian paraphernalia. There’s a signed Brazilian national team jersey from Douglas Costa; each table is adorned with both a mini Brazilian and American flag; you can count on Brazilian soccer or music on the television; and the fridge is stocked with Guaraná Antarctica, a guaraná-flavored soda from Brazil that tastes like a mix between apple cider and ginger ale. The best burgers in Los Angeles span smashburgers, fancy restaurant options, roadside-style burgers with hefty patties, vegetarian options and more. Like the burgers you might find in Carvalho’s hometown, his Brazilian burgers sit snuggly in small plastic bags, bursting with tiny fried potato sticks and kernels of corn. On a recent visit, I look around at the fellow diners. The bravest are gripping their plastic-wrapped burgers, interchanging bites with swipes of a napkin. Others are cutting their burgers with a knife. Everyone has pink sauce on the corners of their mouths. Carvalho admits that his burgers are larger than the ones he grew up eating, but he’s hoping the size will help set him apart in a city crowded with smashburgers. The X-Raposão burger from Pedroca’s Burguer in Lawndale comes with two beef patties, cheese, a fried egg, fried sausage, ham, bacon, shredded chicken, corn, potato sticks, lettuce, tomatoes and pink sauce. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) “We know smashburgers are really popular here, so we wanted to think about doing something different,” he says. “Everyone asks me, ‘How do I eat it?’” My Picanha burger is at least 6 inches long, with a mound of grilled and sliced top sirloin cap (picanha) on the bottom, drizzled in a bright green garlic and onion sauce. On top is a pile of crispy potato sticks, leafy green lettuce and sliced tomato. The final layer is a scoop of canned corn in a puddle of Carvalho’s version of Thousand Island dressing called “special sauce.” I squeeze a corner then bite. Squeeze another corner then bite again. I begin to understand the significance of the plastic bags. “All my life in Brazil, I eat with this bag,” he says. “These bags are very hard to find, and we have to bring them from Brazil. We get them whenever we go back or my family comes here. When I know someone is coming here, I tell them to bring more bags for me.” The X-Raposão is the heftiest burger on the menu, stacked with two 6-ounce beef patties blanketed in mozzarella cheese, corn, potato sticks, sliced ham, shredded chicken breast, lettuce, chopped rounds of fried sausage, a fried egg, sliced tomato, bacon and “special sauce.” Owner André Lee said that he essentially made up the name As long as you get some of the potato sticks and corn into each bite there’s enough lubrication and varying textures to carry you through the many layers of pork Each component is cooked individually on the grill the burger patties plump with crusty edges the bacon crisp and the egg a couple of seconds past runny It will stretch both your mental and physical capacity for textures in a single mouthful But if you’re ever crushed potato chips onto a deli sandwich “It’s not easy to understand the flavors,” Carvalho says very popular in Brazil when you leave the clubs.” The Churrasco burger from Pedroca’s Burguer in Lawndale comes with sausage (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles ) For those looking for a more manageable bite The unanimous favorite at the table was the Churrasco Carvalho’s interpretation of a plate of Brazilian barbecue on a bun He layers a beef patty with sweet and smoky calabresa sausage and strips of bacon a firm Brazilian cheese with a similar squeaky texture to halloumi the yuca powder typically served with plates of grilled meat almost pickled vinaigrette Carvalho makes with chopped tomato It’s finished with a drizzle of American barbecue sauce “It’s nice to see him following his dreams,” says Thiago Carvalho Pedro’s brother who helps him run the restaurant but he works really hard and is never satisfied On the heels of the restaurant’s one-year anniversary Carvalho has his sights on a storefront in Hollywood where he plans to attract the post-club crowd and be open late “Every week by week we get more Americans,” he says Pedroca’s Burguer, 14405 Prairie Ave Unit D., Lawndale, (424) 297-0087, www.instagram.com/pedrocasburguer Jenn Harris is a columnist for the Food section and host of “The Bucket List” show. She has a BA in literary journalism from UC Irvine and an MA in journalism from USC. Follow her @Jenn_Harris_. World & Nation Work crews grind up railroad ties near a business park and neighborhood in North Lawndale Neighbors complain about the odors and the dust Wilfred Dowdell points to the railroad ties stacked up on top of a viaduct near his home on West 16th Street just west of South Kilbourn Avenue some of those old rail ties are being chopped and grounded up just yards away from his house “It stays in the air for a real long time,” says Dowdell who’s retired and has lived in his North Lawndale home since 2017 Railroad ties are piled up near an industrial park near the 1800 block of South Kilbourn Avenue in North Lawndale Others describe it as a chemical smell or an oily odor rail ties have been treated with the chemical creosote which protects the wood and acts as a pesticide The chemical is pungent and also blamed for respiratory issues It has been linked in studies to some types of cancer chief executive of the suburban Hampshire company TiEnergy says he’ll talk directly to neighbors affected and promises to figure out a solution for the air quality issues “I just want to fix the problem,” Berglund says He repeated his pledge several times in an interview What has frustrated residents and business owners in recent months is that they don’t know where to go to lodge complaints about the smell Monique Scott’s (24th) office and was told the grinding operation was being done in Cicero So he called the Cicero Fire Department but got no answers there A Cicero spokesman said the suburb has not received complaints from its own residents or businesses The town also has no jurisdiction over the activities on the railroad’s land Brian Monaghan, who runs his business Central Sculpture Works at 1804 S. Kilbourn Ave., also called Scott’s office to complain in January. A city environmental inspector came out the next day but Monaghan says he didn’t hear back from her Scott says the city inspector determined that the grinding operation was in Cicero She says she alerted Cook County officials Monaghan says he’s talked to other business owners in the Roosevelt / Cicero Industrial Corridor about the dust and smells The corridor runs along the land and tracks owned by the Belt Railway Company of Chicago which leases land to TiEnergy to grind and dispose of the railroad ties Other businesses have complained about the rail-tie operation who heads the Lawndale Business Renaissance Association He hopes that the matter can be resolved between Berglund of TiEnergy and the neighboring businesses Berglund says he talked to a city official about addressing the issue and is “disappointed this has gotten out of control.” Work crews grind up railroad ties set up near an industrial park in North Lawndale Other agencies looking into the matter include Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Cook County environmental officials While government bodies have been wrestling in recent weeks over jurisdiction questions these matters are sometimes tricky when property has been in the control of railroads for more than a century Aerial photos taken by the Sun-Times show extensive stacks of railroad ties and also piles of shredded materials that stretch for blocks About 20 million railroad ties are replaced every year The material is recycled for construction aggregate or other uses Berglund says the operation has been going on for about three years and said activity increased over the past year or so He says he’s surprised about the recent complaints The Belt Railway Company of Chicago is known as intermediate switching terminal railroad or “shortline railroad.” Belt Railway is owned by the six major railroad companies in the United States: BNSF Railway Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad the company said it expects any business operating on its land should adhere to government requirements “The Belt Railway Company of Chicago requires that all lessees comply with local state and federal laws and regulations,” the company says in a statement “This includes obtaining the proper permits for their business operations Any lessee that runs afoul of regulations or does not comply with required permitting processes risks termination of their lease.” Thousands of railroad ties sit in piles near the 1600 block of South Kilbourn Avenue in North Lawndale According a businesses owner next to this project clouds of dust cause a bad odor and coat surfaces — UPDATE: Greensboro Police have confirmed that there was a shooting involving an officer inside the store There is no word yet on anyone's condition or if there was any altercation that led to this incident WATCH: CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE 3:15PM PRESS CONFERENCE there is a large law enforcement presence at the Food Lion on Lawndale Drive in Greensboro Both Greensboro Police and Guilford County Sheriff's Office deputies are at this scene ABC45 News is on the ground there and will share more details when available