We will post articles here that we believe are relevant to the positive life of the Southeast Chicago and Northwest Indiana Communities. Contentiousness can be found on Facebook and most social media, as well as on metropolitan and national media. We choose to limit our material to that which, in our opinion, does not erode the soul of the community. However, we will also reserve the right to comment about community matters that concern us. Our site, our choice. 🙂 -- k/j
Activist Carolyn Marsh Reports Dead Mute Swans in Hammond
Illiana Birds: Update more dead mute swans in Hammond
By Carolyn A. Marsh
Photo by Cathy
John Madeka’s media alert about the dead swans is reaching thousands of outraged people. I’m working on a public meeting on Whiting Metals and the dead Mute Swans in January.
Bob L. and I were at George Lake Monday (Dec. 17) about noon to find the seven Mute Swans he and his wife saw on Sunday. (He saw dead swans in September.) Bob took me to the place he saw the swans and they were gone. We looked around and couldn’t find them. I wanted to check to see if any of the swans were Tundra or Trumpeter. I counted as many as 16 Tundras and 3 Trumpeters on one day during the last 30 days. On Monday there were still three Tundras mixed in with Mute Swans because Hammond’s George Lake is open water.
People are asking why the Indiana Department of Environment Management (IDEM) and the Hammond Department of Environmental Management (HDEM) didn’t monitor the air and water previous to USEPA finding of lead in soil and residents finding dead swans.
IDEM links lead emissions to dead swans
Sarah Reese
“IDEM reports Whiting Metals groundwater has elevated levels of arsenic, lead and fluoride.” [more]
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/idem-cites-whiting-metals-violation-notice-in-response-to-questions/article_5a54cd38-fa5a-5bba-8a9d-287210e364d9.html
Information: Hammond Department of Environmental Management 219-853-6306.
Bob L. and I were at George Lake Monday (Dec. 17) about noon to find the seven Mute Swans he and his wife saw on Sunday. (He saw dead swans in September.) Bob took me to the place he saw the swans and they were gone. We looked around and couldn’t find them. I wanted to check to see if any of the swans were Tundra or Trumpeter. I counted as many as 16 Tundras and 3 Trumpeters on one day during the last 30 days. On Monday there were still three Tundras mixed in with Mute Swans because Hammond’s George Lake is open water.
People are asking why the Indiana Department of Environment Management (IDEM) and the Hammond Department of Environmental Management (HDEM) didn’t monitor the air and water previous to USEPA finding of lead in soil and residents finding dead swans.
IDEM links lead emissions to dead swans
Sarah Reese
“IDEM reports Whiting Metals groundwater has elevated levels of arsenic, lead and fluoride.” [more]
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/idem-cites-whiting-metals-violation-notice-in-response-to-questions/article_5a54cd38-fa5a-5bba-8a9d-287210e364d9.html
Information: Hammond Department of Environmental Management 219-853-6306.
What would Charles Dickens say about this?
Kevin P. Murphy
As we in the United States become immersed in the aura of this year's Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanzaa seasons, these traditional holidays occur in the midst of one of the most nightmarish times in our history. Dickensian-era greed, and lawless contempt for others, coupled with blindness to the future consequences of such anti-societal attitudes and behavior at higher levels of government and industry, make it easy for us to lapse into cynical weariness about any significance for those holidays, except as commercial "feeding frenzies."
As in much of life, we gain more accurate pictures of reality closer to us than at the telescopic distances of national and state governance and corporate floundering. Thus, we may have a better sense of our "world" at the neighborhood level than anywhere else. We may also have a better opportunity, locally, to participate in a Dickensian demonstration of the importance of this holiday season -- in this neighborhood, right now, as the following story will show.
For decades we have been aware of the important, largely unsung, work of one of our neighbors, Lolly Rodriguez. Her dedication to assisting members of our community whose fortunes have fallen victim to the indifference of those who possess power to improve our society has been a constant, for decades, a model of compassion in an inconstant, indifferent, milieu.
As those who participate in such beneficial activity know only too well, one does such things for reasons other than material profit. Too often in our neighborhood, those who dedicate themselves to helping people in need can wind up personally drained, and perhaps economically in need, themselves.
This is currently Lolly's situation. Her food pantry has been serving the community since 1980, also providing clothing and furniture give-away for people in need. Now, need has come home to roost, in the form of a wind-damaged leaky roof, a condition that will force the closing of the food pantry if it is not repaired adequately. The damage to Lolly's roof was caused by recent wind storms, which the insurance company (Ebenezer who, Mr. Dickens?) has refused to cover, condemning Lolly to absorb the full cost, herself.
To meet that obligation, Lolly has resorted to a fund-raising service to help her to raise the $20,000.00 needed to complete the repairs adequately: https://www.gofundme.com/lollys-roof-repair?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=campaign_title&utm_campaign=donation_receiptv5
Visit that site and you will see a much more detailed account of Lolly's many services to our community over her lifetime, thus far, with lots more potential for the future -- provided that we, her beneficiaries and admirers, can rise to the challenge and contribute something to her roof restoration.
Or, like the spotlight addicts in our headlines these days, we can shout, "Humbug!" The choice about this holiday season's aura, at least close to home, rests with us. Whether it is five dollars of five hundred, it will matter, but it needs enough of us who care enough, to reach that goal. So, will Holiday Season 2018 be "Humbug!" -- or "Happy Holidays!"?
As in much of life, we gain more accurate pictures of reality closer to us than at the telescopic distances of national and state governance and corporate floundering. Thus, we may have a better sense of our "world" at the neighborhood level than anywhere else. We may also have a better opportunity, locally, to participate in a Dickensian demonstration of the importance of this holiday season -- in this neighborhood, right now, as the following story will show.
For decades we have been aware of the important, largely unsung, work of one of our neighbors, Lolly Rodriguez. Her dedication to assisting members of our community whose fortunes have fallen victim to the indifference of those who possess power to improve our society has been a constant, for decades, a model of compassion in an inconstant, indifferent, milieu.
As those who participate in such beneficial activity know only too well, one does such things for reasons other than material profit. Too often in our neighborhood, those who dedicate themselves to helping people in need can wind up personally drained, and perhaps economically in need, themselves.
This is currently Lolly's situation. Her food pantry has been serving the community since 1980, also providing clothing and furniture give-away for people in need. Now, need has come home to roost, in the form of a wind-damaged leaky roof, a condition that will force the closing of the food pantry if it is not repaired adequately. The damage to Lolly's roof was caused by recent wind storms, which the insurance company (Ebenezer who, Mr. Dickens?) has refused to cover, condemning Lolly to absorb the full cost, herself.
To meet that obligation, Lolly has resorted to a fund-raising service to help her to raise the $20,000.00 needed to complete the repairs adequately: https://www.gofundme.com/lollys-roof-repair?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=campaign_title&utm_campaign=donation_receiptv5
Visit that site and you will see a much more detailed account of Lolly's many services to our community over her lifetime, thus far, with lots more potential for the future -- provided that we, her beneficiaries and admirers, can rise to the challenge and contribute something to her roof restoration.
Or, like the spotlight addicts in our headlines these days, we can shout, "Humbug!" The choice about this holiday season's aura, at least close to home, rests with us. Whether it is five dollars of five hundred, it will matter, but it needs enough of us who care enough, to reach that goal. So, will Holiday Season 2018 be "Humbug!" -- or "Happy Holidays!"?
One Veteran's Memorial Bouquet Long Overdue
by Joann Podkul Murphy
Alfred Urdiales was about 16, maybe 17. He and his sister, Phyllis, were both students in my last period of the school day History class at Bowen High School, where I began my teaching career. Students had finished the final exam and were putting on their coats anticipating the ringing of the final bell. There were a few minutes left to spare. I asked Phyllis how she did on the exam. She said "ok, but I didn't know what Imperialism meant." That, of course, was the subject of the entire exam. One heartbreak for me. Then I casually said to them, "See you next semester." Alfred, a gawky, shy-smile teen did not answer but his sister did, "Oh, you won't see him. He enlisted." How do you persuade a boy who sees all the glamor and adventure of defending his country to stay in school until he is old enough to know what he is doing? And do it in two minutes, before the bell rings. Which it did. And they were off. Alfred joined the Viet Nam War effort and, all too soon, returned in a body bag, not the last of the Hispanic young men from South Chicago to do so. Eleven more, who lived within two blocks of Chicago's first Spanish speaking church where most were parishioners, joined him. It was the hardest hit community in the nation.
Shortly after Alfred's death, a small concrete slab with a flag and his name on it appeared at the far northeast corner of Bowen's campus. The graduating class of 1968 paid tribute to him in the school's yearbook. As the war progressed, more names were added. Then, someone in the community conceived of a larger, more appropriate memorial, and a proper commemorative stone was placed at the corner of a parking lot diagonally across the street from the church. Eventually all the names were added. Also, the north wall of the Claretian Associates building adjacent to the parking lot became a back-drop and canvas for portraits of the twelve and names of all from Illinois who died during that war.
My husband, who is an Army veteran, and I usually honor Veterans Day with the local American Legion Post members at the veterans memorial at 100th and Ewing at 11 a.m. on November 11th. This year the Post celebrated the day on Saturday, November 10th. Freed for Sunday the 11th, we attended the observance at the Fallen Soldier Corner site in South Chicago. The space was filled with veterans of various wars, but Viet Nam was heavily represented as were many area veterans organizations.
South Deering American Legion Post President, Frank Corona, led the program, which contained tributes from community organizations and ended with family members of the honored soldiers laying wreaths near the stone as each name was called.
I had brought an ad hoc bouquet of purple (a Bowen High school color) chrysanthemums from our garden wrapped in red poppy-colored paper, in case it would be appropriate. Before the program started, one of the volunteers saw it sitting outside the fence near the memorial where I had placed it and asked if I wanted it in the memorial space. I said "Yes, if that is possible." He laid it inside the memorial fence. Heartbreak number two: I was too moved to tell him I had been waiting 50 years to place it there.
Shortly after Alfred's death, a small concrete slab with a flag and his name on it appeared at the far northeast corner of Bowen's campus. The graduating class of 1968 paid tribute to him in the school's yearbook. As the war progressed, more names were added. Then, someone in the community conceived of a larger, more appropriate memorial, and a proper commemorative stone was placed at the corner of a parking lot diagonally across the street from the church. Eventually all the names were added. Also, the north wall of the Claretian Associates building adjacent to the parking lot became a back-drop and canvas for portraits of the twelve and names of all from Illinois who died during that war.
My husband, who is an Army veteran, and I usually honor Veterans Day with the local American Legion Post members at the veterans memorial at 100th and Ewing at 11 a.m. on November 11th. This year the Post celebrated the day on Saturday, November 10th. Freed for Sunday the 11th, we attended the observance at the Fallen Soldier Corner site in South Chicago. The space was filled with veterans of various wars, but Viet Nam was heavily represented as were many area veterans organizations.
South Deering American Legion Post President, Frank Corona, led the program, which contained tributes from community organizations and ended with family members of the honored soldiers laying wreaths near the stone as each name was called.
I had brought an ad hoc bouquet of purple (a Bowen High school color) chrysanthemums from our garden wrapped in red poppy-colored paper, in case it would be appropriate. Before the program started, one of the volunteers saw it sitting outside the fence near the memorial where I had placed it and asked if I wanted it in the memorial space. I said "Yes, if that is possible." He laid it inside the memorial fence. Heartbreak number two: I was too moved to tell him I had been waiting 50 years to place it there.
Whiting Lakefront Hotel Proposal defeated
The following commentary is from community resident and activist, Carolyn Marsh, regarding the defeat of the aforementioned proposal:
Photos courtesy of Carolyn Marsh.
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OBAMA/SKYART VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0P5s6RdkHE&utm_source=All+Contacts&utm_campaign=cf8836e44e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_09_20_06_31&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_27b07ec424-cf8836e44e-11237293
Our thanks to Christian Belanger, Senior Editor of South Side Weekly, for sharing this article with us:
Link to Southside Weekly: https://southsideweekly.com/best-south-side-south-shore-south-chicago-2018/
The Late Senator John S. McCain Spoke Out for South Chicago
In this, the week that the nation lost Senator John S. McCain, we found a surprisingly local reason to mourn the late Senator from Arizona. More about that in a moment, but first, some background:
As long-time residents of the Southeast Chicago community, we have shared in the community-specific experiences of "Promise Them Anything, but Give Them the Shaft," and "Bait and Switch" tactics probably not uncommon to potential stand-alone cities that happen to be subsumed under larger urban politico-territorial umbrellas.
When our community was the major metropolitan bread-winner, it was more than tolerated, despite its gritty, grimy (and wealth-producing) presence at the metropolitan table. Lower-, and lower-middle-class residents were readily accepted, and encouraged to occupy the deadly periphery surrounding the vast steel and petroleum producing factories that energized much of the nation, and fabricated arsenals to win two global conflicts within the first half of the 20th Century, while simultaneously laying waste the landscape, and condemning an unusually large segment of its resident population to early, pollution-related deaths, bills that are still coming due well into the 21st Century.
However, after its wealth-and-pollution-producing engines were removed from that landscape, and after it became evident that the locals were, despite all odds against it, restoring the devastated brownfields to new, green treasures, greed-fired development engines began crafting ways to remove the final "pollutant," the existing low-to-middle income occupants of potentially vast wealth-producing real estate, who stood in the way of such schemes.
And that battle rages to the present day, with the target community, Southeast Chicago, whose central core, South Chicago, is not its own master, forced to rely for its survival on the larger metropolitan giant known as Chicago (essentially, every part of the city that is not Southeast Chicago), for allocation of resources to revitalize South Chicago and sustain the flesh-and-blood community that has been its vital engine since the beginning of its history. Some of that convoluted dance of deception, distraction, and dissolution has been described in this site over the past several years, in these sections:
Articles 2015 Archives: "Best Nest -- One More time"
Articles 2016 Archives: "The Best Nest — Hegewisch Marsh — Big Marsh Saga Continues," and "SMOKE & MIRRORS IN SOUTHEAST CHICAGO"
Although we -- along with many of our fellow residents -- have protested against the ongoing injustices, we have had little in the way of encouragement from outside the immediate confines of our besieged community, until this past week, when, quite unexpectedly, we came upon a Twitter-centered discussion of Senator McCain with respect to his long-time opposition to the current incumbent of the Oval Office, long before that "President" snatched that office. But for us, the most important bit of information is this: In September of 1996, Senator McCain commented on cities in need of economic support, and South Chicago was among the first cities he mentioned. I have taken the liberty of extracting Senator McCain's comments from the public record of that day, and include it here, verbatim.
Starting on p. 71 of the PDF document for September 5, 1996 of the United States Senate Congressional Record:
Mr. MCCAIN. Mr. President, I had intended to offer an amendment which would have stopped the Federal Housing Authority from using taxpayer dollars to guarantee mortgages for luxury housing developments, targeted to families earning over $100,000 per year.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is processing an application from a team of developers, headed by the venerable Donald Trump, to obtain Federal Housing Authority mortgage guarantees for their luxury apartment development in Manhattan known as Riverside South.
The HUD program to which Mr. Trump and his associates are applying for assistance is intended to promote development within urban renewal areas. To help qualify for the aid, Mr. Trump’s group has pledged to reserve 20 percent of the units for low- and moderate-income residents.
The issuance of the Federal mortgage guarantee and the 20 percent low-in- come reserve will entitle Mr. Trump and his partners to a vast array of municipal tax benefits, which one group calculates to be in the range of nearly $4.5 million per ‘‘needy’’ individual assisted—not exactly what most Americans would consider cost-effective use of Government assistance.
I certainly have nothing against luxury apartments nor do I have anything against very successful project developers, including Mr. Trump. I do object, however, to asking the taxpayer to bear the risk of a development for one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the country, to help finance a project that will predominantly benefit upper income Americans.
I do not know how many similar projects are in the pipeline but they should not be approved.
If this particular mortgage guarantee is approved, taxpayers will be on the hook for over $350 million. They will take this enormous risk—the largest ever in the history of the program—to help provide housing, in some in- stances, for people who earn an annual income of over $200,000 per year. the average apartment in the Riverside South project will be targeted to families who earn in excess of $100,000.
I want to stress, the FHA program tapped to guarantee the success of Riverside South and its financiers is de- signed to promote vital urban renewal.
I am not sure that downtown Manhattan is among our highest urban renewal priorities. Harlem, South Chicago, South Central Los Angeles, and South Phoenix come to mind as needier priorities. (Emphasis added. -- kpm)
Congressman NADLER who represents the area in the House, and who is a member on the other side of the aisle, does not consider the area around the development site to be blighted and he opposes the project. I am just not sure that Manhattan is particularly lacking the means to undertake urban renewal activities at its own expense.
The very simple premise is that we can and should focus our scarce Federal housing dollars, including loan guarantees, on projects that are primarily targeted to the needy in the most seriously depressed areas.
Moreover, the Donald Trumps of the world can more than afford to bear the risk of their endeavors, and should not be indemnified with taxpayer dollars. Quite to the contrary, scarce Federal housing resources should be used to maximize help to those who truly need assistance. I understand this amendment would be objected to.
In order to accomodate <sic> the leader’s desire to finish the bill in a timely manner, I’ve offered an alternative that will ensure that should HUD decide to approve the Riverside South project or any other project over $250 million, Congress will at least have the opportunity to act to stop it if we decide that the risk is too much or otherwise not in the public interest. Under the amendment Congress will have 30 days to stop the approval before it can become effective.
Today, 22 years later, the need is as great as -- if not greater than -- the need that caught Senator McCain's attention at that time. But Southeast Chicago, and its South Chicago heart -- are still at the mercy of a larger political entity that has no intention of letting it do what many other self-sufficient American cities are doing because they are their own entities -- rule, and redesign, itself.
Thank you, Senator McCain, for reaching through time -- and past death -- to remind us that Southeast Chicago residents are right to pursue their dream, and to resist in every way possible, the encroachment of "the Donald Trumps of the world" upon the community's resurgence in the 21st Century.
by Kevin P. Murphy
As long-time residents of the Southeast Chicago community, we have shared in the community-specific experiences of "Promise Them Anything, but Give Them the Shaft," and "Bait and Switch" tactics probably not uncommon to potential stand-alone cities that happen to be subsumed under larger urban politico-territorial umbrellas.
When our community was the major metropolitan bread-winner, it was more than tolerated, despite its gritty, grimy (and wealth-producing) presence at the metropolitan table. Lower-, and lower-middle-class residents were readily accepted, and encouraged to occupy the deadly periphery surrounding the vast steel and petroleum producing factories that energized much of the nation, and fabricated arsenals to win two global conflicts within the first half of the 20th Century, while simultaneously laying waste the landscape, and condemning an unusually large segment of its resident population to early, pollution-related deaths, bills that are still coming due well into the 21st Century.
However, after its wealth-and-pollution-producing engines were removed from that landscape, and after it became evident that the locals were, despite all odds against it, restoring the devastated brownfields to new, green treasures, greed-fired development engines began crafting ways to remove the final "pollutant," the existing low-to-middle income occupants of potentially vast wealth-producing real estate, who stood in the way of such schemes.
And that battle rages to the present day, with the target community, Southeast Chicago, whose central core, South Chicago, is not its own master, forced to rely for its survival on the larger metropolitan giant known as Chicago (essentially, every part of the city that is not Southeast Chicago), for allocation of resources to revitalize South Chicago and sustain the flesh-and-blood community that has been its vital engine since the beginning of its history. Some of that convoluted dance of deception, distraction, and dissolution has been described in this site over the past several years, in these sections:
Articles 2015 Archives: "Best Nest -- One More time"
Articles 2016 Archives: "The Best Nest — Hegewisch Marsh — Big Marsh Saga Continues," and "SMOKE & MIRRORS IN SOUTHEAST CHICAGO"
Although we -- along with many of our fellow residents -- have protested against the ongoing injustices, we have had little in the way of encouragement from outside the immediate confines of our besieged community, until this past week, when, quite unexpectedly, we came upon a Twitter-centered discussion of Senator McCain with respect to his long-time opposition to the current incumbent of the Oval Office, long before that "President" snatched that office. But for us, the most important bit of information is this: In September of 1996, Senator McCain commented on cities in need of economic support, and South Chicago was among the first cities he mentioned. I have taken the liberty of extracting Senator McCain's comments from the public record of that day, and include it here, verbatim.
Starting on p. 71 of the PDF document for September 5, 1996 of the United States Senate Congressional Record:
Mr. MCCAIN. Mr. President, I had intended to offer an amendment which would have stopped the Federal Housing Authority from using taxpayer dollars to guarantee mortgages for luxury housing developments, targeted to families earning over $100,000 per year.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is processing an application from a team of developers, headed by the venerable Donald Trump, to obtain Federal Housing Authority mortgage guarantees for their luxury apartment development in Manhattan known as Riverside South.
The HUD program to which Mr. Trump and his associates are applying for assistance is intended to promote development within urban renewal areas. To help qualify for the aid, Mr. Trump’s group has pledged to reserve 20 percent of the units for low- and moderate-income residents.
The issuance of the Federal mortgage guarantee and the 20 percent low-in- come reserve will entitle Mr. Trump and his partners to a vast array of municipal tax benefits, which one group calculates to be in the range of nearly $4.5 million per ‘‘needy’’ individual assisted—not exactly what most Americans would consider cost-effective use of Government assistance.
I certainly have nothing against luxury apartments nor do I have anything against very successful project developers, including Mr. Trump. I do object, however, to asking the taxpayer to bear the risk of a development for one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the country, to help finance a project that will predominantly benefit upper income Americans.
I do not know how many similar projects are in the pipeline but they should not be approved.
If this particular mortgage guarantee is approved, taxpayers will be on the hook for over $350 million. They will take this enormous risk—the largest ever in the history of the program—to help provide housing, in some in- stances, for people who earn an annual income of over $200,000 per year. the average apartment in the Riverside South project will be targeted to families who earn in excess of $100,000.
I want to stress, the FHA program tapped to guarantee the success of Riverside South and its financiers is de- signed to promote vital urban renewal.
I am not sure that downtown Manhattan is among our highest urban renewal priorities. Harlem, South Chicago, South Central Los Angeles, and South Phoenix come to mind as needier priorities. (Emphasis added. -- kpm)
Congressman NADLER who represents the area in the House, and who is a member on the other side of the aisle, does not consider the area around the development site to be blighted and he opposes the project. I am just not sure that Manhattan is particularly lacking the means to undertake urban renewal activities at its own expense.
The very simple premise is that we can and should focus our scarce Federal housing dollars, including loan guarantees, on projects that are primarily targeted to the needy in the most seriously depressed areas.
Moreover, the Donald Trumps of the world can more than afford to bear the risk of their endeavors, and should not be indemnified with taxpayer dollars. Quite to the contrary, scarce Federal housing resources should be used to maximize help to those who truly need assistance. I understand this amendment would be objected to.
In order to accomodate <sic> the leader’s desire to finish the bill in a timely manner, I’ve offered an alternative that will ensure that should HUD decide to approve the Riverside South project or any other project over $250 million, Congress will at least have the opportunity to act to stop it if we decide that the risk is too much or otherwise not in the public interest. Under the amendment Congress will have 30 days to stop the approval before it can become effective.
Today, 22 years later, the need is as great as -- if not greater than -- the need that caught Senator McCain's attention at that time. But Southeast Chicago, and its South Chicago heart -- are still at the mercy of a larger political entity that has no intention of letting it do what many other self-sufficient American cities are doing because they are their own entities -- rule, and redesign, itself.
Thank you, Senator McCain, for reaching through time -- and past death -- to remind us that Southeast Chicago residents are right to pursue their dream, and to resist in every way possible, the encroachment of "the Donald Trumps of the world" upon the community's resurgence in the 21st Century.
by Kevin P. Murphy
We have posted this SkyArt Newsletter note on our Articles page because we believe that it needs more than the transient exposure that our Announcements and Events pages provide.
Help! The Developers are doing it to us again!
BY Kevin P. Murphy
This time, they are downing us with allegations of a menacing "industrial heritage," and other phantoms, as weapons in the ongoing developers war against the Southeast Chicago community.
I served in a military unit whose mission was to provide security for an important installation. So, we were, understandably, steeped in matters related to that mission, and to concerns about decisions we might make with respect to potential threats to that mission.
Among the many tools that were used to sustain our alert mentality was a series of posters on display in some important areas. One, which might have seemed comical in ordinary circumstances, offered a maxim intended to reassure us of the importance of our observations: "If it waddles like a duck, has webbed feet like a duck, paddles in water like a duck, flies like a duck, quacks like a duck, and its feathers shed water like a duck, you can be reasonably certain that it is a duck!"
Functional sociologists, like Robert King Merton, might have sought more scientific bases for such things, pointing out that a recurring social phenomenon that makes no sense in terms of its avowed purpose must be serving some less obvious, unstated, purpose if it continues to persist over time.
That is the backdrop, I believe, against which to view the most recent development failure in Southeast Chicago, the collapse of yet another plan for the redevelopment of the massive South Works space along Lake Michigan. (To get a deeper insight into that persistent structured failure pattern in Southeast Chicago, a pattern that seems quite alien to much greater success in other parts of the city, I refer you to this site's 2015, 2016, and 2017 Article Archives pages.)
According to information provided variously by Friends of the Parks, The Chicago Tribune, and other sources, the final participant in the recent plan to develop the South Works site, the Irish firm, Emerald Living, has removed itself from the site development process, alleging unspecified "industrial heritage" problems as the reason, thus simultaneously bailing out and creating a lasting impression of some implacable, un-nameable "something" hovering just out of sight, that makes development at South Works impractical.
Given that EPA judged the site acceptable for development in 1992, we are inclined to believe that the Irish concern must, given its specialized cultural knowledge, have detected the presence of a banshee on the ground, since it is almost certain that EPA did not think to search for that possibility. Or, perhaps Emerald Living had inklings of a contingent of "The Little People" that may have landed in the Chicago region at the time of Lucifer's banishment from Heaven, and the condemnation of the neutrals -- "The Little People" -- to planet Earth until Judgment Day. But, whatever Emerald Living's mysterious discovery may have been, only one earth-born, likely explanation of "industrial heritage" issues occurs to me, and that is this: that the southeast Chicago community is, in large part, the product of the industry that shaped its workers and their families. Like the steel that this community's residents created and fashioned into everything from nation-building tools and products to a once formidable "Arsenal of Democracy," this community has refused to fall down and be plowed under by the plans that have, thus far, not included them seriously in their formulation and execution, nor in any profiting to be had from such multi-billion dollar developments.
Thus it is that plan after plan dies in its nutrient-deprived womb.
But, should a developer work seriously and inclusively with the community and absorb the initial hostile stuff patiently, that developer might tap into the genius that has enabled the community to not only survive abandonment by all of its major industries, but to make serious headway, with lots of community volunteer involvement, in restoring the resultant abandoned brownfield to green desirability.
Is the community likely to make unreasonable demands? Probably -- it has been excluded from the process for too long to be competent in all aspects of planning for such a future. But, persist in forcing it into such an excluded state, and quite correctly expect worse. On the other hand, the developer who works collaboratively with this community will likely tap into the same rich veins of enthusiasm and creativity that made it the flesh and blood engine that powered the magic machine of heavy industry for a century and a half.
Irish mythology has it that "The Little People" would "put the come-hither" on a person they found particularly attractive -- one who might brighten up their time in their hidden lair in the mountain Slievenamon, and they would take that person to become part of their condemned-but-grandly-hospitable micro-culture. Somehow, though, it appears that Emerald Living has got it backwards: with their unsupported allegations, they have -- intentionally or not -- "put the go-elsewhere" spell on South Works and Southeast Chicago.
So, future developers, beware the mythology of banshees and phantom "industrial heritage." Work with the community of Southeast Chicago. Be openminded, a good listener, patient with our long-induced impatience, and you may find yourself at the throttle of a powerful -- and environmentally friendly -- community engine. (052918)
© 2018 Kevin P. Murphy
I served in a military unit whose mission was to provide security for an important installation. So, we were, understandably, steeped in matters related to that mission, and to concerns about decisions we might make with respect to potential threats to that mission.
Among the many tools that were used to sustain our alert mentality was a series of posters on display in some important areas. One, which might have seemed comical in ordinary circumstances, offered a maxim intended to reassure us of the importance of our observations: "If it waddles like a duck, has webbed feet like a duck, paddles in water like a duck, flies like a duck, quacks like a duck, and its feathers shed water like a duck, you can be reasonably certain that it is a duck!"
Functional sociologists, like Robert King Merton, might have sought more scientific bases for such things, pointing out that a recurring social phenomenon that makes no sense in terms of its avowed purpose must be serving some less obvious, unstated, purpose if it continues to persist over time.
That is the backdrop, I believe, against which to view the most recent development failure in Southeast Chicago, the collapse of yet another plan for the redevelopment of the massive South Works space along Lake Michigan. (To get a deeper insight into that persistent structured failure pattern in Southeast Chicago, a pattern that seems quite alien to much greater success in other parts of the city, I refer you to this site's 2015, 2016, and 2017 Article Archives pages.)
According to information provided variously by Friends of the Parks, The Chicago Tribune, and other sources, the final participant in the recent plan to develop the South Works site, the Irish firm, Emerald Living, has removed itself from the site development process, alleging unspecified "industrial heritage" problems as the reason, thus simultaneously bailing out and creating a lasting impression of some implacable, un-nameable "something" hovering just out of sight, that makes development at South Works impractical.
Given that EPA judged the site acceptable for development in 1992, we are inclined to believe that the Irish concern must, given its specialized cultural knowledge, have detected the presence of a banshee on the ground, since it is almost certain that EPA did not think to search for that possibility. Or, perhaps Emerald Living had inklings of a contingent of "The Little People" that may have landed in the Chicago region at the time of Lucifer's banishment from Heaven, and the condemnation of the neutrals -- "The Little People" -- to planet Earth until Judgment Day. But, whatever Emerald Living's mysterious discovery may have been, only one earth-born, likely explanation of "industrial heritage" issues occurs to me, and that is this: that the southeast Chicago community is, in large part, the product of the industry that shaped its workers and their families. Like the steel that this community's residents created and fashioned into everything from nation-building tools and products to a once formidable "Arsenal of Democracy," this community has refused to fall down and be plowed under by the plans that have, thus far, not included them seriously in their formulation and execution, nor in any profiting to be had from such multi-billion dollar developments.
Thus it is that plan after plan dies in its nutrient-deprived womb.
But, should a developer work seriously and inclusively with the community and absorb the initial hostile stuff patiently, that developer might tap into the genius that has enabled the community to not only survive abandonment by all of its major industries, but to make serious headway, with lots of community volunteer involvement, in restoring the resultant abandoned brownfield to green desirability.
Is the community likely to make unreasonable demands? Probably -- it has been excluded from the process for too long to be competent in all aspects of planning for such a future. But, persist in forcing it into such an excluded state, and quite correctly expect worse. On the other hand, the developer who works collaboratively with this community will likely tap into the same rich veins of enthusiasm and creativity that made it the flesh and blood engine that powered the magic machine of heavy industry for a century and a half.
Irish mythology has it that "The Little People" would "put the come-hither" on a person they found particularly attractive -- one who might brighten up their time in their hidden lair in the mountain Slievenamon, and they would take that person to become part of their condemned-but-grandly-hospitable micro-culture. Somehow, though, it appears that Emerald Living has got it backwards: with their unsupported allegations, they have -- intentionally or not -- "put the go-elsewhere" spell on South Works and Southeast Chicago.
So, future developers, beware the mythology of banshees and phantom "industrial heritage." Work with the community of Southeast Chicago. Be openminded, a good listener, patient with our long-induced impatience, and you may find yourself at the throttle of a powerful -- and environmentally friendly -- community engine. (052918)
© 2018 Kevin P. Murphy
April 18, 2018: The following article is one that I posted recently on my LinkedIn account. Realizing that visitors to this site may not be connected to that LinkedIn account, I decided to share it here, because it may be of interest to colleagues in "The Region."
What we learned about collaborative video production from our first effort
by Kevin P. Murphy
Last week (April 10, 2018) we recorded an event in which two other videographers also participated. Subsequently, our colleagues shared their footage with us so that we could make a complete account of that event. The resulting video came together in almost comic fashion, given the timing of the sharing, but we believe that it is certainly not comic in its solid account of the event.
For us, that collaboration was of historic significance in the life of our YouTube site which, for 11 years, has been the product of our lone performance as documentarians on that site. While we have invited our regional colleagues to join us in such collaboration, circumstances were never favorable for such work -- until last week, and what a week that was!
That first collaborative video, regarding the move of three large components of the regional steel manufacturing industry to Steelworkers Park, on the former United States Steel/USX South Works Plant, in Chicago, rewarded us, convinced us that collaboration is to be valued, and began to educate us on what is important in such collaborative efforts.
Four of us embraced the opportunity to cover at least part of the transfer project. Tom Shepherd, Board Member of the Calumet Heritage Partnership (CHP), was at the starting site in the Pullman Historic District, from which the three items were to be removed. Sarah Coulter, Executive Director of the Calumet Collaborative, covered the Steelworkers Park arrival of the large bell from Pullman, while Joann and I covered the later part of the three item installations at Steelworkers Park.
Here is what we have thus far learned from that experience:
Lesson Number One: Glitches can blind-side a project:
Initially, it appeared that both Tom and Sarah had been blocked from sharing their recorded files, due to a cluster of technical problems. So, when we all became convinced that their footage was inaccessible, I edited our raw footage into the first YouTube posting of the event, Version 1.
Lesson Number Two: inaccessible/impossible is a fluid concept.
Shortly after the V1 YouTube posting, Tom found a way to successfully share his raw footage. We now had a solid beginning! I edited that into the original video, and reposted Version 2 on YouTube, while altering Version One to Unlisted status, so that those who were acting upon our original mailing would not be cut off from viewing it.
A day or two passed, and Sarah became able to access her computer after a service process was completed. She sent us her footage. It, too, was gold. We then had her coverage of the middle portion of the event, the delivery of the first item, the large bell, to Steelworkers Park, which gave us the final piece to create a complete account of the event.
That third, and final, video has now been posted as Version 3, at this link: https://youtu.be/ODbbBNYmcEM
Like Version 1, Version 2 is now Unlisted. At the end of April, I will delete those two versions from YouTube.
Lesson Number Three (really an amplification of Lesson Number Two): Patience is essential.
When we are working collaboratively with others in the region to produce a video, we must be ready to wait longer than has been our custom, in posting videos,.
Lesson Number Four: Waiting for others' footage can be highly rewarding.
Also, one can restrain impatience by using the time to learn new procedures required to incorporate others' material that may be in different formatting, 90 degrees out of orientation for publishing (as in, on its side), of different sound quality, coloration, etc. The good news is that there are solutions for correcting most of such variances.
Lesson Number Five: We need to work together to create a consistent end product.
Urge participants in our recording work to orient their phones and tablets to landscape mode when recording video. It will make the finished product more consistent, because we record our videos in landscape mode.
Suggest, also, that they limit commentary while recording their segment of the larger event. Too frequently, especially in outdoor settings, narration is a difficult process. There are too many challenges to the portable equipment that most of us use in a mobile situation. However, face-to-face interviews can be very important to the story telling, provided that the camera operator/interviewer and the interviewee can work close enough together to overcome competing crowd, machinery, music, wind noises, etc.
Armed with these bits of knowledge, we hope to move forward with collaborative recording work, when it makes sense to do that. We expect that the five lessons now on our list will almost certainly be joined by others as our experience increases. That is an exciting prospect!
###
May 27, 2018: Lesson Six: Prophecy is a risky business. While Item 2 includes a prediction that Versions 1 and 2 would be eliminated at the end of April, traffic to each of those versions deterred us from completing that prediction. It appears, at least for the present, that they have earned their slots.
What we learned about collaborative video production from our first effort
by Kevin P. Murphy
Last week (April 10, 2018) we recorded an event in which two other videographers also participated. Subsequently, our colleagues shared their footage with us so that we could make a complete account of that event. The resulting video came together in almost comic fashion, given the timing of the sharing, but we believe that it is certainly not comic in its solid account of the event.
For us, that collaboration was of historic significance in the life of our YouTube site which, for 11 years, has been the product of our lone performance as documentarians on that site. While we have invited our regional colleagues to join us in such collaboration, circumstances were never favorable for such work -- until last week, and what a week that was!
That first collaborative video, regarding the move of three large components of the regional steel manufacturing industry to Steelworkers Park, on the former United States Steel/USX South Works Plant, in Chicago, rewarded us, convinced us that collaboration is to be valued, and began to educate us on what is important in such collaborative efforts.
Four of us embraced the opportunity to cover at least part of the transfer project. Tom Shepherd, Board Member of the Calumet Heritage Partnership (CHP), was at the starting site in the Pullman Historic District, from which the three items were to be removed. Sarah Coulter, Executive Director of the Calumet Collaborative, covered the Steelworkers Park arrival of the large bell from Pullman, while Joann and I covered the later part of the three item installations at Steelworkers Park.
Here is what we have thus far learned from that experience:
Lesson Number One: Glitches can blind-side a project:
Initially, it appeared that both Tom and Sarah had been blocked from sharing their recorded files, due to a cluster of technical problems. So, when we all became convinced that their footage was inaccessible, I edited our raw footage into the first YouTube posting of the event, Version 1.
Lesson Number Two: inaccessible/impossible is a fluid concept.
Shortly after the V1 YouTube posting, Tom found a way to successfully share his raw footage. We now had a solid beginning! I edited that into the original video, and reposted Version 2 on YouTube, while altering Version One to Unlisted status, so that those who were acting upon our original mailing would not be cut off from viewing it.
A day or two passed, and Sarah became able to access her computer after a service process was completed. She sent us her footage. It, too, was gold. We then had her coverage of the middle portion of the event, the delivery of the first item, the large bell, to Steelworkers Park, which gave us the final piece to create a complete account of the event.
That third, and final, video has now been posted as Version 3, at this link: https://youtu.be/ODbbBNYmcEM
Like Version 1, Version 2 is now Unlisted. At the end of April, I will delete those two versions from YouTube.
Lesson Number Three (really an amplification of Lesson Number Two): Patience is essential.
When we are working collaboratively with others in the region to produce a video, we must be ready to wait longer than has been our custom, in posting videos,.
Lesson Number Four: Waiting for others' footage can be highly rewarding.
Also, one can restrain impatience by using the time to learn new procedures required to incorporate others' material that may be in different formatting, 90 degrees out of orientation for publishing (as in, on its side), of different sound quality, coloration, etc. The good news is that there are solutions for correcting most of such variances.
Lesson Number Five: We need to work together to create a consistent end product.
Urge participants in our recording work to orient their phones and tablets to landscape mode when recording video. It will make the finished product more consistent, because we record our videos in landscape mode.
Suggest, also, that they limit commentary while recording their segment of the larger event. Too frequently, especially in outdoor settings, narration is a difficult process. There are too many challenges to the portable equipment that most of us use in a mobile situation. However, face-to-face interviews can be very important to the story telling, provided that the camera operator/interviewer and the interviewee can work close enough together to overcome competing crowd, machinery, music, wind noises, etc.
Armed with these bits of knowledge, we hope to move forward with collaborative recording work, when it makes sense to do that. We expect that the five lessons now on our list will almost certainly be joined by others as our experience increases. That is an exciting prospect!
###
May 27, 2018: Lesson Six: Prophecy is a risky business. While Item 2 includes a prediction that Versions 1 and 2 would be eliminated at the end of April, traffic to each of those versions deterred us from completing that prediction. It appears, at least for the present, that they have earned their slots.