St Patrick's Day; Seed Giveaway

Hi neighbors,

Yesterday, I joined Catholic Charities and several dozen senior neighbors to discuss the vital services provided at the North Center Senior Satellite Center. For months, seniors have stressed the importance of midday meal service, medical care, and fitness and recreational classes. Catholic Charities plans to finalize its service calendar before the end of March. My office will share it with you once we receive it, and will continue to collaborate with Catholic Charities and other community leaders to help ensure the Satellite Center remains the welcoming and dynamic place it’s been for nearly two decades. 

Earlier this week, I met with leaders from the Active Transportation Alliance (ATA) regarding the City’s plans to reduce pedestrian- and bike-safety spending by 85% over the next three years. As I mentioned in my budget decision late last year, I’m strongly opposed to these planned reductions: safety improvements including pedestrian refuge islands and crosswalk signals have helped decrease vehicle speeding and crashes near schools, senior centers, and parks. I’ll continue working with ATA and other transportation leaders to stabilize funding for safe streets.

The City’s Department of Transportation is restarting work on resurfacing Ashland Ave. Right now, crews are improving bus stops from Montrose to School. In the coming weeks, more extensive resurfacing work will begin from Montrose to Foster which is expected to take 4-6 months. See more in the Infrastructure section.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend. If you’re looking for opportunities to celebrate the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday, consider swinging by Mrs Murphy’s & Sons for live Irish music and dancing, Piccadilly Pub for food favorites like corned beef and Guinness stew, Bartleby’s Ice Cream for Irish brown bread & whiskey caramel ice cream, and Begyle Brewing for a full day of celebrations!

Also, our next Ward Night Out is happening next Wednesday at 6pm at AJ Hudson’s. Swing by to pick up LV2 passes, ask us about a neighborhood issue, or simply watch the beginning of the Women’s NCAA basketball tournament.

Finally, please don’t forget to vote! You can cast your ballot at Welles Park and any other early voting location, including on Election Day. You can also vote in-person at your designated voting site on Tuesday.

Yours in service,

Alderman Matt Martin

Winners: Participatory Budgeting

The results are in! You have chosen to fund two important projects:

• A new flashing pedestrian signal at Western and Byron
• Accessibility improvements to the Welles Park playground

Thank you to the 1,500 plus neighbors who cast their ballots.

LV2 Permit Pick Up

You can begin picking up LV2 Cubs Permits at our office on Monday, March 16th. As a reminder, most qualifying residents will receive their permits automatically in the mail.

If you don't receive it in the mail or need extra guest passes, you can pick up extra permits at our office for free. We recommend filling our online application out in advance to speed up the process.

• Online Application
• Check Your Permit Zone
• After Hours Pick Up, March 18th

St Patrick's Day Celebrations

All Weekend

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is this Saturday! No matter how you plan to celebrate, local businesses are going all out with festive food, music, and fun all weekend long. The Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce compiled a local guide of St. Patrick's Day events and specials.

Learn more

Pollinator Seed Giveaway

Saturday, March 14th

Come on by the Gross Park field house (2708 W Lawrence) to pick up packets of native pollinator plant seeds including milkweed, smooth blue aster, butterfly weed, spiderwort, native grasses and more while supplies last!



Learn more

Andersonville Restaurant Week

Beginning Sunday, March 15th

Andersonville Restaurant Week is back! Restaurant Week is a great way to try a new spot, explore the diverse cuisine and fine dining in Andersonville, and support small businesses! The wide variety of restaurants will offer $30 / $45 / $60 special prix fixe menus* to enjoy. Prices vary by location.

Learn more

Pre-Sale: Pokemon Fossil Museum

Exhibit Opens May 22nd

The Field Museum is opening a special Pokemon Fossil Exhibit on May 22nd. Tickets are on presale now. Field Museum admission is free to Illinois residents on Wednesdays, but please note, residents will need to purchase special exhibit tickets to access the Pokemon Fossil Museum. The Field Museum will hold a small number of day-of tickets for sale in-person, but they expect those tickets to sell very quickly in the first weeks of the exhibit.

Learn more

Paid High School Civic Internships

Applications Due March 20th

Mikva Challenge Summer Fellows is a six-week program that places young people after their senior year to serve as Fellows in the offices of city, county, state, and federal officials across the city of Chicago for 30 hours per week, for 6 weeks between June and August. Mikva Challenge to pays Fellows $17 per hour for their hard work and valuable contributions in their offices.

Learn more

Ongoing Donation Drives

Our office continues to accept donations for various non-profits and community organizations. Currently, we're accepting:

• Children's Books: New and gently uses for ages 0-8
• Used Towels and Bedding: For Animal Care and Control
• Clothes: In season, casual, and clean

Additionally, Senator Simmons' office (1040 W Bryn Mawr) is accepting non-perishable food, clean and reusable grocery bags, and new cleaning supplies.

Learn more

Jeremy Allen White Stops By Aroy Thai

4654 N Damen

Jeremy Allen White from The Bear stopped by Aroy Thai for lunch this week. This BYOB spot has been serving our delicious Thai favorites in Lincoln Square for 20 years.

The Bear continues to spotlight Chicago's amazing culinary scene. We're lucky to have gems like Aroy Thai in the neighborhood.

Learn more

Puppet Show at Bartleby's Ice Cream

Saturday, March 14th

Stop by Bartleby's this Saturday at 3 PM for a puppet show titled "Dear Tooth Fairy (and Other Very Important People). This interactive improvised puppet show invites audience members name someone (or something) they’ve never been able to talk to, and the puppet becomes that character so we can finally have the conversation. It’s funny, and has led to surprising and sweet moments. The puppet show costs $10 at the door.

Learn more

Resources

Business



• Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber Annual Meeting, March 12, Learn more
• CPS Safe Passage RFP, Learn more
• Doing Business with City Public Safety Departments, March 31, Learn more
• Square Roots Vendor Applications, Learn more

Workforce

• Illinois Department of Human Resources, Recruitment Fair
• Coding and App Development for Apple, Free Training (search Apple Deployment)
• Color Me Mine Hiring, Learn more
• Greater West Town Woodworking Training, Learn more
• Greater West Town Shipping & Receiving Training, Learn more

Repair Cafe

Saturday, March 14th

Forward Chicago is hosting a Repair Cafe every 2nd Saturday of the month. In this program, Forward Chicago volunteers can repair jewelry, sew clothes, and repair general stuff too depending on the item. Volunteers are unable to repair watches nor properly hem garments. Adults and teens are welcome.

Learn more

Sew In: Make Re-Usable Produce Bags

Monday, March 23rd

Organizing for Plastics Alternatives (OPA) is having a fabric produce bag "sew-in" at Indigo and Violet Studio, 1411 W. Irving Park Rd. on March 23 from 6-8pm. No sewing experience necessary! We need people to sew as well as cut, iron and twine the bags. The bags will be given out at farmers' markets so people won't need to use plastic produce bags.

The sew-in has room for ten participants, so please be sure to register.

Learn more

Rally: Say No to People's Gas Hike

Wednesday, April 1st

Join the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition for a rally against the Peoples Gas rate hike and for clean energy alternatives! Peoples Gas is making record profits and wants another $200 million rate hike. Join the rally against the rate hike and for clean energy alternatives!

Learn more

Scam Alert

Texts claiming to be from the "Illinois Secretary of State Final Notice" are a scam. The Illinois Secretary of State's office does not send texts related to vehicle registration, driving privileges, or enforcement actions.

Do not click on any links associated with these text messages.

Learn more

Catalytic Convertor Theft Deterrence

The 19th Police District is hosting an event to spray paint catalytic convertors to deter theft and vehicle damage. Chicago police officers will also be available to speak on airbag thefts. Space is limited. If you're interested in attending or receiving more information, please call 312-744-0064 or email [email protected].

Western Brown Line Construction

The CTA has delayed the reopening of the Western bus turnaround to June. This is due to additional structural issues in the Western station that require an expanded construction operation and storage space. The bus detour that has impacted the #11 and #49B routes for many months will continue until June.

Sign up for Updates

Ashland Resurfacing

Concrete bus pads are being installed on Ashland from School to Montrose. This work is expected to finish by March 30th and may require taking up to two parking spots on each side of the bus stop. This will not impact CTA service, but anyone with mobility considerations should note that bus pick-up and drop-off is much more likely to occur away from the curb.

CDOT has paused work on the Ashland Resurfacing project from Montrose to Foster as they wait for required plan revisions. The estimated completion time of this project is 4-6 months, with no access to parking estimated for the next 10 - 17 weeks. For a breakdown of the timeline, sign up for updates.

If you believe a No Parking sign has been erroneously placed, send us a picture with the location of any signs you believe are suspicious. Expect travel delays throughout all of Ashland the next two weeks.

Sign up for Updates

This Year: Upcoming Projects

• Water Main Replacement near Greenview and Cornelia
• Water Main Replacement near Leavitt and Lawrence
• ComEd Projects on Greenview from Roscoe to Grace

This Weekend

• Pollinator Seed Giveaway, March 14th, Learn more
• Dear Tooth Fairy (and other very important people), March 14th, Learn more
• Lake View High School Pi Day, March 14th, Learn more
• St Patrick's Day at Begyle, March 15th, Learn more
• Andersonville Restaurant Week, March 15th-29th, Learn more

Next Week

• Spacca Napoli Parkinson's Fundraiser, March 16th, Learn more
• Cornelia Arts Building Open Studios, March 20th-21st, Learn more

• Mahjong at Dovetail, March 25th, Learn more
• KOVAL Game Nights, March 25th, Learn more
• Hop Butcher Brewery Tour, March 28th, Learn more
• Hop N Stop, April 4th, Learn more
• Asexual Visibility Day, April 6th, Learn more

Community Job Boards

Looking to work locally? Many of our local chambers of commerce offer job boards to help highlight openings at local businesses. Find more information at the following links:

• Andersonville
• Lakeview/Roscoe Village
• Lincoln Square/Ravenswood
• Northcenter
• Greater Ravenswood