The empty Glenbrok North High School.

Illinois school district 225 governing Northbrook’s Glenbrook North and Glenview’s Glenbrook South high schools on Monday night announced that beginning on Aug. 19,

Students will follow a structured schedule with required synchronous learning experiences as part of every class as new content is introduced by teachers. Additional tiers of academic services will be available as needed to support student success and well-being.

“synchronous learning”? Let’s cut through the educationese, designed to obscured what really is happening. “Beginning on Aug. 19, students will be forced to repeat the totally failed online, at-home learning debacle. Parents and students who don’t like it can go pound.”

As for the damage that not being actually in school does to the students, here’s how District 225 will handle it:

The district states it will implement a social-emotional learning curriculum, integrated into PE and Health courses, that will address essential topics, such as creating a collective community; building resilience; coping with anxiety, fears, and stress; and accessing resources and supports.

More gobbledygook designed to obscure board’s anti-science program. It ignores the Centers for Disease Control’s finding that significant damage is being done to children by keeping them out of school. Instead of “following the science,” the school is following a political agenda that’s so obvious it doesn’t need to be described here.

So, if politics are to reign in District 225, remember that board members are elected. You’ll get your chance beginning in 2021.

OK. I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted. But I’ve been in the process of moving and have finally settled. Of course, the new abode is .6 miles from our mayor’s house, which brings all sorts of interesting new problems. But I digress. So, on to the topic at hand: This week’s Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.

We had a great episode with a very salient topic: Buying a car in the Covid Era. Our guest, Bill Haggerty, chairman of the Chicago Auto Show, talks about what it’s like in dealerships right now and why it’s a good time to take your vehicle in for any necessary recall repairs. 

We also discussed Honda’s cars that don’t make it to the next round: the Fit, Civic Coupe and MT Accord. <insert crying emoji on that last one> The world is steadfastly moving into the SUV era and Honda expects HR-V sales to ramp up to cover the first two. There is no replacement for the Accord Sport with the manual. Sigh.

Finally we also spent time discussing this week’s #cardujour, the 2020 VW Golf with a manual transmission (!!) and why it’s the last (literally) of a dying breed. Golf in its base form won’t be making it to the U.S. as a 2021 model.

While I will continue to post the podcast to my blog each week, you can subscribe to the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast on any podcast subscription service or visit the Buzzsprout link. New episodes are usually posted on Friday, and then the show itself airs on WCPT 820 AM on Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m.

The three episodes I missed posting while moving can be found via these links:

• Cars of 1940, 2021 Ford F-150
• Used Car Sales Recovery, 2021 Kia K5
• Summer Road-Trip Tips, 2020 Ford Bronco

Be sure to let us know if you have questions or if there are any topics you’d like us to cover on future podcasts.

You can follow us on social at:

• Jill: @jillciminillo (instagram/twitter)
• Tom: @car_guy_tom (twitter)
• Damon: @DamonRBell (twitter)
• Consumer Guide Automotive: @cgautomotive (twitter/facebook)
• Consumer Guide Car Stuff on facebook

The COVID-19 quarantine has taught many parents the importance of being proficient in technology in all aspects of everyday life, from family entertainment to working from home, even educating our kids remotely while school is out. It seems inevitable that our kids’ future is going to involve some aspect of working with tech, so why not allow them to learn STEAM as soon as possible?

According to stats, 91% of millennial parents want their child to learn computer science and 93% want schools to teach it. I believe learning to code is a critical life skill that young children need to learn either at home or school. Through playing at-home STEAM games like Osmo, kids get a headstart on learning to code and they develop creativity and problem-solving skills along the way, which they will use the rest of their lives. My 6-year-old daughter Ella, who started playing with Osmo at age 2, now has her own website that gifts dolls to girls in need all over the world; she envisions teaching these girls how to make dolls, so they can earn money. In fact, many early childhood education teachers agree coding helps kids develop creativity and problem-solving skills. Ella, who also likes online games, would greatly benefit by learning the back end of game development.

I allowed my other kids to experiment with technology at an early age for other reasons. My eldest daughter Taylor, 20, is autistic and deaf, and I felt she should learn to type on a desktop computer at age 7 to help enhance her communication abilities. Taylor is tech-proficient and currently uses 2 iPads–one for communication and another for watching YouTube videos; and she uses Zoom to communicate with her teacher. Her sister Brooklyn, almost 4, has a speech delay issue, and she uses technology for speech improvement, phonetics, and ABCs, via a tablet. I am still waiting to introduce my youngest, Winnie, 2, to technology.

As a family, we particularly like the Osmo Coding Starter Kit, which introduces basic to more advanced coding concepts to kids 5-10. Basic concepts include problem solving, computational thinking, and coding fundamentals, while more complex concepts involve sequencing of ideas, looping, logic thinking, and pair programming. Osmo also has specific games that help with math, spelling, reading, writing, and phonetics. Their games involve tangibles, physical objects designed to embody mathematical concepts, which have been proven as crucial to development and approachable for kids.

Given the kids will be staying at home for longer than expected, I think they’ll be playing a lot more Osmo now.

The Case Shiller Chicago area single family home price index has been trailing the rest of the country for quite some time now but this morning S&P Dow Jones released the CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price indices for May and Chicago looks less bad. Not because home prices are growing any faster here but because the rest of the nation’s home price appreciation slowed down a bit with only a 4.5% gain over last year. Phoenix had the strongest showing with a 9.0% gain and once again Chicago came in last place with a paltry 1.3% gain. New York came in second to last place with a 2.1% gain.

Condo prices in the Chicago area advanced in May by 1.2% over last year, the 4th month in a row where the annual appreciation rose from the previous month, after bottoming out in January with a 0.3% decline in prices.

Chicago area single family home prices have shown annual gains for 91 consecutive months but condo prices fell once again

Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, commented on the slowdown in home price appreciation:

The National Composite Index rose by 4.5% in May 2020, with comparable growth in the 10- and 20-City Composites (up 3.1% and 3.7%, respectively). In contrast with the past eight months, May’s gains were less than April’s. Although prices increased in May, in other words, they did so at a decelerating rate. We observed an analogous development at the city level: prices increased in all 19 cities for which we have data, but accelerated in only 3 of them (in contrast with 12 cities last month and 18 the month before that).

Case Shiller Chicago Area Home Price Index By Month

The graph below shows the monthly Case Shiller Chicago area home price indices for both single family homes and condos going back to the beginning of 1987 along with a trendline based on home price growth prior to the housing bubble. May single family home prices rose 0.7% from April and condo prices rose 0.9%.

Sadly, after nearly 14 years, we have not even recovered to the bubble peak levels – unlike most other parts of the country that have actually exceeded that peak. Single family home prices are still 12.8% below the peak while condo prices are 5.0% below peak. And catching up to that trend line is a pipe dream since we lag it by 27.9% and the gap seems to be widening, not narrowing.

Chicago area home prices are still so weak that, on average, if you had purchased a single family home between October 2004 and September 2008 or a condo between September 2005 – September 2008 you would still be under water. The only good thing you can say about Chicago area home prices is that they have rebounded quite a bit from the bottom. Single family home prices have risen 43.0% and condo prices have risen 57.2%.

The Chicago real estate market still has a long way to go before catching up to bubble peak prices.

#ChicagoHomePrices #CaseShiller #HomePrices

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.

While the world burns around professional sports and Major League Baseball faces a crisis with COVID-19 impacting its schedule less than one week after beginning the shortened 60-game season, enormous news comes out of Kansas City.

Patrick Mahomes, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, has bought a stake in the Kansas City Royals.

Welcome to the #Royals family, @PatrickMahomes!#AlwaysRoyal pic.twitter.com/mRJE0sgzMl

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 28, 2020

Mahomes, who won’t turn 25 until Sept. 17, signed the richest contract in the history of professional sports in July. The 12-year deal is reportedly worth more than $450 million.

But this isn’t about a half-billion dollars burning a hole in his pocket.

The son of a former major leaguer has become an owner of a Major League team. (Pat Mahomes pitched in the majors for 11 years.)

Major League Baseball has been facing an issue for decades. We have seen a consistent slide in the number of Black players in MLB for many reasons. I would argue the biggest reasons are the cost of playing youth baseball (especially at high levels in travel ball) and the lack of fields in cities across the country. But the realities remain: the game needs more Black players.

In the current social environment, Black players in MLB have stepped up their social voice. But the number of Black players is still strikingly low.

There is another, enormous social issue in professional sports: minority ownership. There is one Latino majority owner in MLB (Arte Moreno owns the Angels). There are other minority owners; Linda Alvarado owns part of the Colorado Rockies, Derek Jeter owns a piece of the Miami Marlins and Magic Johnson owns a part of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Michael Jordan owns the Charlotte Hornets. But the overwhelming majority of professional sports ownership is old, white men.

Let me be clear: what was announced today is enormous on every level.

An active, young Black athlete has bought into the professional sports ownership club.

Indeed, a superstar quarterback who is still entering the prime of his career has put his money where his mouth is and purchased a part of the major league team in the city where he plans to play professional football for the next 10-12 years.

We’ve all read the criticisms of Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez building a group in efforts to buy the New York Mets. There are certainly political reasons for baseball insiders to question/doubt the ARod-JLo group’s efforts to buy. ARod played for the Yankees (among others) but never the Mets. Buying a team in New York City is a huge money play, and an expensive one. ARod made a boatload of money during his career, a career that is stained with multiple suspensions for using PEDs.

One of the unheralded differences here is Kansas City isn’t a major market. The Royals have enjoyed success recently, but they’re entering a rebuild. On face value the Royals aren’t a club that figures to appreciate as quickly as a team in Boston, New York, Chicago or LA. The Royals certainly aren’t going to add brand prestige to Mahomes the way an ownership stake in a bigger market team would.

Mahomes has committed himself to the Kansas City market at an unprecedented level.

And he’s taken a significant step in breaking the concrete ceiling for other Blacks who hope to buy into the club.