This Chicago Bears season has been a different one. It’s been one for the history books already, as the entire league has dealt with the pandemic. But, for the Bears specifically, it’s been a tale of two halves.
Chicago Bears: 3 starters who could be cut in 2021on November 28, 2020 at 1:00 pm Read More »
This week’s featured gig poster was created by Chicago artist and musician Erin Page.
We took a break last week to dive into the archives and came up with a poster from 2019 that celebrates a long-running event that (like so many other things) can’t happen in 2020.…Read More
Domenic Palermo started writing and recording dark shoegaze songs under the name Nothing ten years ago. Since then, Nothing have spearheaded a shoegaze revival by releasing a constant deluge of incredible material, and their recent fourth full-length, The Great Dismal, is no exception.…Read More
Gazelle Amber Valentine and Edgar Livengood of avant-metal powerhouse Jucifer are a married couple, which means that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo’s creative process hasn’t been disrupted like those of bands whose members can’t “pod up.” Formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1993 and nomadic since 2000, when they began touring full-time, Jucifer are most associated with the loud, sludgy sound of their live shows, but they’ve maintained a commitment to stylistic and thematic variety throughout their career: 2008’s L’Autrichienne is a genre-bending concept album about the French revolution, while 2013’s За Волгой для нас земли нет is a historical epic about the city of Volgograd sung entirely in Russian. But even given their explorative ways and penchant for total immersion in an idea, their new eighth full-length, ظم (Nazm), is a dramatic departure from anything they’ve previously released.…Read More
The crash happened in the 1000 block of North Lake Shore Drive.
The occupants of a red Ferrari suffered minor injuries in a roll-over crash early Saturday on Lake Shore Drive, officials said.
The crash happened before 1 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Lake Shore Drive, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
A red Ferrari, which was rented for the weekend, failed to make the curve at Oak Street and Lake Shore Drive and rolled over, fire officials said.
1000 north LSD. Ferrari failed to make curve at Oak Street rolled over. Occupants with minor injuries. Vehicle rented for the weekend. Please observe posted speed limits! pic.twitter.com/pKJaFMW8A9
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) November 28, 2020
The vehicle’s occupants suffered only minor injuries, according to officials.
In a tweet, the fire department warned drivers to abide by posted speed limits.
An elderly couple died Thursday night in a house fire in the Old Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.
Robert Szalacha, 85, and his wife Carol Szalacha, 78, were found inside the home and pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Their daughter, who was also inside, got out and refused medical attention, police and neighbors said.
The fire broke out about 9:20 p.m. on the first floor of the home in the 4200 block of North Kildare Avenue, and soon engulfed the building, according to Chicago Fire Department officials.
Deputy District Chief Brian McKermitt said crews “encountered heavy fire on the first floor” after receiving reports the couple was trapped. While inside, the blaze “started intensifying,” and the firefighters retreated outside.
Once the fire was brought under control, a search was conducted, and the bodies were discovered, McKermitt said. Fire department spokesman Larry Langford said Carol Szalacha was found on the first floor, and Robert Szalacha was found on the second.
An investigation found that Carol Szalacha was using supplemental oxygen, according to Langford, and officials believe it was ignited by a cigarette she was smoking. An autopsy conducted Friday showed she died of burn injuries and smoke and soot inhalation. The report also said “careless use of smoking materials” was a factor.
Robert Szalacha died of carbon monoxide poisoning and burn injuries, the report said. It also noted that “careless use of smoking materials” contributed to his death. Both deaths were ruled accidents.
Thursday night, dozens of onlookers lined the street and peered from their porches as crews of firefighters beat back the blaze.
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Two neighbors clung to each other, looking on in disbelief. The man and woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said they knew the couple and saw that their daughter had escaped the Thanksgiving Day inferno.
“No matter what time, it’s a tragedy,” said one of the neighbors.
By 10:40 p.m., the massive fire was largely reduced to smoldering rubble.
Twelve hours after a fire killed Carol and Robert Szalacha in their Old Irving Park home, a man silently stepped to the edge of the couple’s front lawn.
The grass was beaten down and muddy, telltale signs of the 80 or so Chicago Fire Department personnel who responded to the blaze at 4216 N. Kildare Ave. Thursday night.
The man knelt to ground and placed two red roses on the Szachalas’ lawn before turning and walking away.
For Carol Szalacha, 78, flowers were serious business.
For more than 20 years, she was a steady figure in the Irving Park Garden Club, serving as the group’s president from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2008 to 2009.
She was especially fond of her hostas.
“I’ve got at least 25 or 30 different kinds,” she said in the garden club’s April newsletter. “I love their versatility and their coloring.”
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Their home, built in the early 1890s, was in the family since 1948, according to the Irving Park Historical Society. By Friday morning, it was a husk of its former self.
CFD officials said Friday that “careless use of smoking materials” was likely the cause of the blaze.
A neighbor called 911 to report the fire about 9:20 p.m. and, within minutes, the fire had torn through much of the house, according to CFD spokesman Larry Langford.
The fire started on the first floor and was likely accelerated by an oxygen tank that was nearby, Langford said. The heat was so intense it melted the siding on the home directly north of the Szalachas’.
Autopsies performed by the Cook County medical examiner’s office Friday found Carol Szalacha died of burns as well as smoke and soot inhalation. Her husband, 85-year-old Robert Szalacha, died of carbon monoxide toxicity and burns.
Dozens of passersby stopped Friday to look at the heavily damaged two-story home as relatives of the Szalachas spoke with a few firefighters still at the scene. They declined to speak with reporters.
One neighbor, who declined to give her name, said the Szalachas had lived in the home for most of their lives.
Every year, the neighbor said, the garden club would organize a walk in the neighborhood to show off residents’ floral displays.
“This would always be the end of the tour, over here, to see her master garden,” the neighbor said.
CFD Deputy District Chief Brian McKermitt told reporters Thursday night that crews “encountered heavy fire on the first floor” after receiving reports the couple was trapped. While inside, the blaze “started intensifying,” and the firefighters retreated outside.
Once the fire was brought under control, a search was conducted, and the bodies were discovered, McKermitt said.
Langford said the Szalachas were the 20th and 21st people to die in house fires in Chicago this year. In all of 2019, Langford said, 26 people died in house fires across the city.
As is the case after every fatal blaze, firefighters canvassed the immediate area to pass out smoke detectors to neighbors Friday.
2 die in NW Side fire blamed on smoking materialson November 27, 2020 at 9:51 pm Read More »
On Tuesday I posted the monthly update of the Case Shiller home price index from S&P Dow Jones CoreLogic which showed a dramatic rise in Chicago area home prices during the last year. Unfortunately, that index only tells us how home prices are doing across the entire metro area when, in reality, home prices could be rising at dramatically different rates within different neighborhoods.
Fortunately, the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University produces a quarterly home price index analysis of 33 sub markets of Cook County, including 16 within the city of Chicago. They use a methodology that is similar to what the Case Shiller index is based upon. Two weeks ago they released their 2nd quarter 2020 report, which is not as current as the Case Shiller index but it still gives us a pretty good idea of which Chicago neighborhoods are the hottest right now. As you might expect there really are dramatic differences by neighborhood.
Their heat map of the county provides a pretty good quick overview of what is going on and it shows all the action on the south side for a change. In fact, the higher income areas on the north side, such as Lake View and Lincoln Park, are actually showing price declines over the last year.
The Chicago neighborhoods with the highest rates of appreciation are now south of downtown.
They also provide this interactive graph of the price trends for each of the sub markets from January 2000 – June 2020. Rolling over a line reveals which neighborhood it corresponds to and what the gain has been since January 2000. You can pick points anywhere along the line and get the appreciation through that point in time. Although the graph starts in January 2000 you can download a spreadsheet with data going back to the first quarter of 1997.
[embedded content]Here are a few of the highlights from their report:
#ChicagoHomePrices #ChicagoRealEstate #NeighborhoodNews
Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.
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After 20 years in the corporate world and running an Internet company, Gary started Lucid Realty with his partner, Sari. The company provides full service, while discounting commissions for sellers and giving buyers rebates.
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