| Talk of the Town
Remember: This too is a column
about community concerns. Want to
address an item that concerns you? Let
us know.
Today I drove to work planning a
quick stop at Walgreen’s because I was
early — about a 5 minute drive, okay
let’s give it 10 minutes. But today
things were different or were they?
Someone was blocking the one
1-way street I needed to get to Western.
No problem, I would go down
the alley since the next 4-streets were
all 1-way the wrong way for me. City
planning?
My 1-block alley journey took 7+
minutes because the alley was close to
impassable filled with gigantic holes,
ruts and bumps. I drove about 10 miles
per hour. Made a mental note not to try
that again. Wondered if I damaged my
car/tires? Cursed a little. Admonished
myself--should have known better. Forgot
where I was, but wondered why our
alleys have never been paved.
Okay, made it to Western Avenue
— uh oh, forgot I couldn’t turn into
Walgreen’s- waited for two lights in order
to jog around — 6-7 minutes drove
down to Vincennes. Whoops, forgot I
couldn’t turn into the Jewel parking lot,
barricades all over the place.
Got to Vincennes, was going to go
down Olive Street — no, that’s a dead
end — made an executive decision
and decided on a U-Turn on Vincennes
to go back to 127th. Doubt if
this is legal. Cursed. Another 3 minutes.
Finally turned into Walgreens.
Completed my errand and checked
out in 2 seconds.
Wanted to continue down Western
Avenue, so thinking I was slick, I
tried Walgreen’s drive-in path, made
another U-Turn to continue down
Western Avenue although I knew
this was definitely illegal — but, alas,
hit the light — another 3 minutes.
Cursed. Did not want to go to 126th,
twist and turn down Greenwood and
try to cross traffic into the right turn
lane. Now by this time, I was running
late, my blood pressure was up
to the sky, but, above all, any semblance
of a good mood that I started
out with was shattered. Cursed.
In our last issue, we published a
beautiful photo of the amazing quilts
displayed on the church pews in First
Evangelical Lutheran Church we
neglected to give credit to photographer,
Darren Thompson who runs the
Tech Annex at the Blue Island Public
Library. And if only the FORUM
issue (in black and white) could have
captured the real impact of both the
quilts and Darren’s photo!
The small family memorial for
Antonio Manrique which is located at
123rd and Irving met with a sad fate
— well, more than just a sad fate—it
met with desecration, vandalism and
once again our community does not
get “high marks” for tolerance. As
you may recall, Mr. Manrique’s death
was ruled a homicide although no
one was prosecuted. In honor of the
5th anniversary of his death, someone
broke and shattered a new cross that his family had placed at the site.
Having driven by there just a day
before the vandalism, we noticed how
lovely the memorial looked—pumpkins,
mums, a wreath and the wooden
cross. Mr. Manrique’s death seems to
be an unpleasant reminder for some
vindictive people. Desecrating a cross
is more than repulsive to most people.
In regard to Glen Szczypka’s letter
sent to Senator Emil Jones which we
published in FOR-U-MAIL, it is his
intent to start a grassroots organization
to do something about the Jewel situation.
Again, think about contacting
officials listed and maybe, just maybe,
something will happen. You’ve read it
here a thousand times — never doubt
that a small group of thoughtful committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed
it’s the only thing that has. Many times,
it is concerned, dedicated citizens that
truly care about a community so they
stand up for what they believe in—and
maybe change occurs. Make an effort
here and show support to Glen.
For your information, we gave you contact information at the end of his
letter.
Aldi’s is wonderful, thank the Lord
we have it, but it is limited. Hopefully
we can challenge some laws that
only benefit corporations, and leave
citizens out in the cold.
And, in regard to what’s next. It’s
got to be the railroads, the loud, blasting
continual whistles which some operators
go overboard as a warning (?).
Then, we’re back to where we started
years ago with blockage problems. In
City Council what was addressed was
an over 2-hour stall which occurred
recently and DDE students unable
to get to school who began trying to
crawl between cars. Those trains are
long—where do kids go? into Beverly?
down to Posen? Speaking of Beverly,
they have “quiet zones” and double
gates in many locations. A FORUM
plan will soon appear.
P.S. In situations such as this, protecting
kids who cannot help but be
frustrated should be our number one
concern. It should be handled with
tact and concern by police. |