If the 150 people who showed up Thursday to voice their ideas last night at last night's town hall meeting in Edgewater were any indication, the city struck oil with its call for public comment on its first new cultural plan in more than 25 years. more ›

Everyone has wind on their minds today, so we took a look at some of the issues around the big turbines that have sprouted up on the South Side this year. more ›

We wanted to take a closer look at the proposed ordinance and the issues surrounding it, and contacted Harry Rhodes, executive director of Growing Home, to walk us through it. Rhodes doesn't seem nearly as worried as others about the new ordinance, and informed us that the city has been "very open" to meeting with representatives of the agriculture community. more ›

Last week, we urged you to support the zoning hearing of Logan Square Kitchen, a mixed-use community food space in Logan Square. They had been drowning in city red tape for months, due to a confusion about what sort of business they actually were - they fell in the gap between restaurant, product producer and event space, and were being required to adhere to complicated, contradictory and expensive regulations. more ›

Logan Square Kitchen has had a tough first year. Despite their immense success, the support of their alderman and lots of love from the Chicago food press, the shared-kitchen concept simply doesn't fit in with current Chicago zoning laws, which can't seem to decide whether the spot is a shop, a restaurant or a production space. In reality, LSK is all three, and provides an important space in Logan Square for community organizing. It also allows start-up businesses who cannot afford their own store a place to manufacture products. The Chicago Reader ran an excellent profile of the owner, including her troubles with inspectors, multiple licenses, and the general incoherence of the city's response to these issues. The ridiculous rules and regulations (Can they have tables? Must they provide parking? What about event permits) have led the owner, Zina Murray, to predict that she will be out of business by January, regardless of her success as a business owner. more ›

Don't look for that Toyota sign to be towering above Wrigley Field anytime soon. The city's Department of Zoning has come back to the Cubs with some demands they want met before they clear the way for the lighted sign to go up. The move confirms that the sign won't be in place before the Cubs' home opener on April 12. Among the demands is moving the sign closer to home plate, meaning it will rise from inside the stadium behind bleacher seats as opposed to Wrigley's exterior wall. In addition, according to the Sun-Times: more ›

Back in February 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale announced to the Chicago media that he had the votes lined up to bring Chicago's second Wal-Mart store into his South side ward. The store, which is intended to be part of the Pullman Park development on the old Ryerson Steel site between 103rd and 111th streets, next to the Dan Ryan Expressway, will feature a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which includes a grocery store. "I'm confident I have the votes. I'm floating around 34 or 35," Beale told Fran Spielman at the Sun-Times. At the time, Beale was expecting the Chicago Plan Commission to vote on the proposal at its March 18th meeting, and have the development before the council in April. The development wasn't on the commission's agenda this month, but it will be in April which means it could come up before the City Council by May. more ›

Chicago zoning inspector Dominick Owens faces charges of accepting bribes worth over $20,000 in exchange for handing out residential certificates in 2005 and 2006. He could face up to 10 years in prison plus a $250,000 fine. [WBEZ] more ›

U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald announced today the indictment of Ald. Ike Carothers (29th) and Galewood Yards developer Calvin Boender on corruption and bribery charges. Specifically, Carothers was charged with four counts of wire or mail fraud and one count each of accepting a bribe and filing a false federal income tax return and Boender was charged with four counts of wire or mail fraud, two counts of obstruction of justice, two misdemeanor counts of violating federal campaign finance laws, and one count of paying a bribe. According to the U.S. Attorney's press release [PDF]: more ›