Mike's Corner
Major Gloating
For the full season, Glasser led the Scots with a .408 batting average and 74 total bases. He belted four home runs, the second highest total on the team. He also recorded a key save against Hamline in regular-season play. Before the start of his junior season, Glasser, like many in Minnesota that winter, reached a breaking point with the seemingly endless winter. “In February last year, I took an old softball bat and used it to bust down a big snow bank by my apartment,” he said. “It took about a week or two of hard swings to batter the bank down. All those hefty swings helped me quadruple my home run output.” He paused and added, deadpan: “to four.”More…
America’s Newest Heroes
This year, the Lost Boy’s homeland achieved an important milestone: South Sudan legally achieved independence, and though their new homeland faces overwhelming challenges and struggles, including more attacks from the North (its about oil reserves), they know that they have an important mission: to use their new found educations and build up their homeland. One of Rogers Park’s leaders, Peter Bul (who serves on the Board of Directors, Sudanese Community Association of Illinois), has already launched a school, which services hundreds of youth. (Peter is in his mid to late 20s). Another young man, age 22, speaks of his desire to start a school to teach engineering skills to high school graduates.More…
May 19th: A Choice Between Two Marches
Join the Family Matters’ 23rd Annual Walk A Thon, in support of Family Matters, an after school mentoring, tutoring and youth empowerment organization focusing on improving people’s lives North of Howard street – now celebrating our 25th year anniversary. Some people walking downtown might wonder if their efforts are worthwhile. Will their voices be heard? Support our walk, and you can rest assured that your efforts will go rewarded as the funds earned as a result of this walk go towards supporting important programming. Some people might not want to attend protest rallies downtown, out of fear of Chicago riot police. Join the Family Matters walk – our police are there to be sure that we cross Sheridan Road in safety. The protest rallies are serious demonstrations where attendees must generate attention so that the world leaders in attendance (and the media covering the protests) hear what the protests are all about? The focus of the Family Matters Walk A Thon is about having a peaceful and enjoyable stroll along the lakefront, and joining afterwards for a community picnic and perhaps some entertainment.More…
Posted by Mike G on April 13, 2012 |
Karen and Charlie: This Award’s For You!
Around nine or so years ago (I don’t remember when), I was toying around with this website, http://www.rogerspark.com, trying to figure out what to do with it. I had previously hired, on a freelance basis, a couple of different local part time self-proclaimed web designers, shared my ideas with them, tried implementing something, and never came up with a sustainable model. I discussed my situation with my new property manager, Charlie Didrickson, a long time community resident possessing a true passion for the neighborhood. Indeed, our work-oriented conversations often resulted in lengthy conversations about community issues - and Charlie knew (and still knows) his stuff. Charlie started mentioning his fiance (now wife), Karen Shaw, a talented graphic designer who was developing a strong niche in website design. He asked me if I’d consider hiring them to take a shot at redesigning and re-launching the site. Soon this website became reborn – Karen and Charlie at the helm.More…
Posted by Mike G on March 30, 2012 |
CTA Modernization Issues Worthy of our Time and Focus
The community must be forward thinking and consider genuine challenges that we as Chicagoans and Rogers Park residents face: a) how to assure that the stations remain structurally sound; b) how to make the stations accessible to all (consider accessing a train from a wheelchair, or the risk of simply standing on such narrow platforms, in crowded conditions.) c) issues of speed – the benefit if trains could proceed faster along straight corridors and how curves in the rail line impede travel times. Are there ways to eliminate some of the curves to improve speed? (Translate that to being able to sleep an additional 10 - 15 minutes each morning and returning home that much earlier at the end of the day!) d) Consider the importance of each of our rail stations, including the Jarvis stop, as previous proposals that the community vigorously opposed contemplated closing the Jarvis station and extending the length of the Howard terminal southbound to accommodate users of the Jarvis line.More…
Posted by Mike G on March 27, 2012 |
Craig’s Back
A hyper local website such as this one is often hard pressed to put out its own news. In recent months, we have begun an affiliation with a capable young Medill journalist, Bob Spoerl, a Rogers Park resident, who is writing a range of stories. (Last April he produced an excellent video clip about the Participatory Budgeting Process.) We welcome his energy and his skills as a budding journalist, and we value his contributions to this website.More…
Posted by Mike G on March 20, 2012 |
Questions For Democratic Candidates for State Representative, 14th District
To: Our esteemed candidates for the Democratic Nomination for State Representative, 14th District, State Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Paula Basta; Over the past weekend, we posed four questions to each of you, hoping that you can respond with answers on or before Thursday, 5:00PM, so that we can post them on our website on Friday. 1. Describe your experience and background that qualifies you to be our State Representative. 2. What would be your two - three top legislative priorities as State Rep? 3. What distinguishes you from your opponent? 4. How does the position of State Representative impact our daily lives? (In other words, why should we care about this race?)More…
Posted by Mike G on March 13, 2012 |
Shaking Heads Over Judicial Elections
Judicial races are far too important for us to be uninformed when we make these critical choices. Judges have immense power, and a good thoughtful creative judge can dramatically impact and improve the lives of ordinary people. We never know when we might be one of those people who lives will be impacted by a judge: whether we are accused of a crime, or we are a victim of a crime; whether we are defending a frivolous lawsuit, or if we are zealously trying to prevail in an important lawsuit against someone or some company that we believe wronged us. Judges make important decisions regarding involuntary placement of the mentally ill, regarding adoption of new born, deciding whether to issue a search warrant based on flimsy evidenceMore…
Posted by Mike G on March 01, 2012 |
Who are these 808s?
As I write this blog post, two days before the February 13th 808s: Youth Empowerment thru Dance's "Lover's Lane" performance at the Wyllie B. White Field House (1610 W. Howard), 6:30PM, the dancers are busily rehearsing. They all have one goal in mind: to rock the house, and to show all of the attendees that young people, left to their own devices, are capable of putting on a terrific dance show, using their own material, their own creativity, and for many of them, their new found talent.More…
Posted by Charlie on February 11, 2012 |
Invitation to Candidates in Contested 49th Ward Committeeman Races
Better to present that question to the existing candidates for 49th Ward Committeeman (both Democrat and Republican – yes, there is a contested race for Republican 49th Ward Committeeman as well)? Three questions come to my mind: a) What does a Committeeman do? b) Why are you the most qualified? c) Why should we care?More…
Posted by Mike G on January 29, 2012 |
About the Author
Mike has a long term relationship with Rogers Park, having lived here at various times in his life, most recently returning to the neighborhood in August, 2009. While living here as a third year law student, he remembers drunken nights at Biddy Mulligan’s and hosting a couple of memorable parties that he, hypocritically, now forbids his own tenants from having. Years later, after completing his stint as a lawyer, Mike started investing in apartment buildings in Rogers Park (and elsewhere), and soon after, did what many newly divorced real estate investors do: he moved into one of his buildings. In 1992 Mike was one of the founding members of the Rogers Park Builders Group, an organization that he eventually headed for six years, until yielding those reigns three years ago. Around a decade ago, on a whim, he reserved the web site “Rogerspark.com,” which he has been developing ever since, and which co-hosts RP BizArts networking events. Mike is the proud father of three wonderful children, Amy, Mitch and Ella.
Mike Glasser
