The 32nd Ward Office will be closed on Monday, January 17th in observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. All other city offices will also be closed and garbage/recycling services will be off by a day.

Check below for information on electronic monitoring, CPS testing, Cook County property tax auto exemptions, Chicago Recovery Grant applications, and recycling updates for our neighborhoods.

Have a safe and warm weekend,

Student Registration for testing can be done here: (use your child’s Student ID for “organization”). Color is partnering with CPS to have this testing done.

Quality masks have been readily available in many stores and businesses, online, and in ward offices.

As stated above, TO FIND A VACCINATION LOCATION; including at pediatricians’ offices, hospitals, pharmacies, community health centers, community events, and dedicated CPS and CDPH-hosted clinics CLICK HERE. If you need further help finding a location, call the CDPH at 312-746-4835.

COVID Self-Reporting - If your child tests positive for COVID-19, please email cps.edu/covidresults or call 773 553-5437 to self-report. Click here to find a testing site near you.  

Now that the initial rush has passed, starting Tuesday, we will up the quantity from 2 masks per person in your household to 5 masks per person in your household. For example, if you have 4 people in your home, you can take 20 masks. If you came by this week already, yes, it's ok to come back! We wanted our first distribution to allow for every resident who needed a few to get them, but we do have a number left over and are happy to provide this service.

CTU and CPS reached an agreement earlier this week to get children back into schools. The agreement will

 

For more information on the latest Chicago Dept. of Public Health data and policies you can view this PDF from the Health Committee of the City Council, as we heard from Dr. Arwady, Director at CDPH.

When the pandemic started, longtime Bucktown resident Jeff Solin (owner of local business Solin Systems) and some friends started the 100% volunteer non-profit illinoisppe.org to address the urgent and important needs of PPE in IL and surrounding areas. Their goal was to create and deliver as much PPE, to people who needed it, as quickly as possible, for free. Well over 100,000 PPE items have been donated to date. Through Illinois PPE, Jeff invented the 2-piece "flatpack" Solin Face Shield that's easy to manufacture, assemble and transport. Illinois PPE recently produced 72,000 of the new Version 9 shield and they're ready to be donated. One small box (12" x 14" x 3.5") contains 50 complete shields. Over 20,000 of the new shield have already been donated to individuals and orgs in need, including hospitals, first responders, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, places of business, museums, schools, camps, swimming programs, and any others who require supplementary face shields to stay safe. 

Due to the wonderful and generous donations of so many people, this is all completely free of charge (even the files and plans for the shield are available for free). Simply submit a request at illinoisppe.org, and you will receive an email to schedule pick up of the shields from one of their Chicago holding locations including Jeff's home in Bucktown and Lane Tech where he's a Computer Science teacher. No quantity is too small or too big (yet). 

I hope you were able to attend the Electronic Monitoring presentation from Sheriff Tom Dart this week. If not, the presentation is available and you can watch the Straight Talk with Sheriff Tom Dart program on Facebook here. At the meeting, the Sheriff presented his program on electronic monitoring (EM) and discussed some of the Cook County Chief Judge’s EM program. Links to the coverage on the event, with some more details are that are on EM is at the bottom of this section.

Cook County Judges are ordering Electronic Monitoring for more defendants on pre-trial status. The number has grown and included offenders charged with gun offenses and other violent crimes. Sheriff Dart indicated that there are over 2600 people on electronic monitoring and over 75% are charged with violent crimes.

The Sheriff also explained concerns about a second EM program run by the Chief Judge Evans. In this program, the defendants are only monitored from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. A report by the Appleseed Foundation has been critical of the EM program.

Here are some additional Links on Electronic Monitoring Programs

Armitage, Western to Kedzie- The west bound traffic on Armitage between Western and Kedzie is closed until completing the installation of the new water main on the north side of the street.

Graffiti is vandalism. To report graffiti and request its removal, call the City's service request line at 3-1-1 or call our office at 773-248-1330 to have graffiti removal teams notified.

Pic: Thanks to the Streets and Sanitation crews that removed several graffiti vandal tags near Webster and Damen this week.

The crews use high pressure water and baking soda to remove painted graffiti from brick, stone and other mineral surfaces, or they paint over graffiti on surfaces such as metal or wood.

As with the City's many anti-crime and beautification programs, we depend on community groups, block clubs, chambers of commerce, and individual residents to help remove graffiti.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation also works very closely with the Chicago Police Department who will apprehend graffiti vandals caught defacing property. No community should tolerate graffiti. Please join us in eliminating graffiti and maintaining the beauty of Chicago.

The City recycles Christmas trees from January 8-22. Bring in your tree and you can pick up mulch at locations listed in the flyer to the right.

Dried out Christmas trees pose a serious fire hazard and leaving them in alleys creates a fire danger to all nearby residents and businesses.

Wrapping, cardboard, delivery bags, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, and other products are treated differently so the best way to find out how to recycle it all is found in the Chicago Recycling Guide.

Always break down your cardboard boxes, keep them dry and place them into blue bins for recycling.

Packing peanuts are re-useable and it's best to keep them out of our rivers and lakes. Some other helpful REUSING tips for non-recyclable packing peanuts- Are Packing Peanuts Recyclable? 22 Ways to Recycle Packing Peanuts. Packing peanuts (and other EPS) are among the most common sources of marine garbage. They are ingested by marine life in our local rivers and lakes and destroy the ecosystem.

Visit these links for the details on bubble wrap and soft plastics (The Final Word on Plastics) like paper bags, mailing packages, Amazon packaging, and more. Click here to enter an address and find a nearby store location to drop off plastic bags. Let's keep all of this out of curbs, alleys, and trash cans as much as we can!

Visit here for more details on the City ordinances concerning residential and commercial recycling.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation website has been updated to include the 2022 Citywide Blue Cart Recycling Map and Schedule. As you know, the City Council and Department made changes to contracts and recycling zones this past year and the updates are reflected in this link and map.

Day-of-Service schedule can be found here.

Zone 1 - Serviced by LRS

Zone 2 - Serviced by City of Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation

Zone 3 - Serviced by LRS

Zone 4 - Serviced by City of Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation

Zone 5 - Serviced by LRS

Zone 6 - Serviced by LRS

To verify which exemptions were received last year, homeowners can visit the Cook County Property Tax Portal at cookcountypropertyinfo.com, enter their PIN, and look under the exemption tab. 

Additionally, homeowners will receive a postcard or letter in March 2022 confirming which exemptions will be automatically renewed. For those first time applicants, the 2021 tax year exemption filing period will begin in early March 2022. Homeowner are encouraged to file online. To learn more about property tax exemptions and eligibility, visit cookcountyassessor.com/exemptions.

SILVER SPONSOR:  

If you are interested in supporting Burley Elementary as a sponsor at the Winter Party, please contact Meg Puglisi ([email protected] or 703-408-7069) by February 11th to discuss next steps.

Chicago Association of Student Engineers (CASE)

Devin Abraham and William Bremen are juniors at the Latin School of Chicago. They have co-founded Chicago Association of Student Engineers (CASE) They seek to connect those passionate about STEM and foster an understanding of engineering principles and career paths in addition to giving back to the community.

CASE hosts bi-weekly Zoom meetings with an engineering professional to give members a better understanding of what a job in engineering actually entails along with their college experience. They have partnered with the IEEE along with the Chicago Engineers Foundation to help find speakers as well as set up a mentorship program for their members to receive guidance. CASE is also working on setting up a tutoring program for members to help elementary students with STEM related work, but the recent rise of COVID cases has made that difficult. You can see a sample of what they've done here.

To learn more and become a member click here.

Utility Billing Relief (UBR) provides low-income City of Chicago residents with a reduced rate on their water, sewer, and water-sewer tax as well as debt relief for those who demonstrate they can manage the reduced rate bills for one year.

To find out more, click here.

Do you want to bring an event to Lakeview? Apply for the SSA 27 Community Events & Placemaking Grant program where you can get up to $5,000 in funding and technical support for your event. Both individuals and organizations in and out of Lakeview are encouraged to apply. Learn more and apply by Tues, March 1 at https://www.lakeviewssa27.com/community-event-grants

The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) offers free business education workshops or webinars every Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning.

Please email [email protected] with any webinar questions.

Visit BACP’s YouTube for all webinars.

The CDC now recommends everyone 12 years and older get a Pfizer booster shot 5 months after their initial series. Information and resources can be found on http://chicago.gov/covid.