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April 26, 2026
Dear neighbors,
Our hearts are broken over the loss of Officer John Bartholomew, who was killed in the line of duty yesterday at Swedish Hospital in Lincoln Square. We’re praying for a second officer who was shot and in critical condition fighting for his life. CPD was able to apprehend the gunman and take him into custody.
To honor Officer Bartholomew, we’ve partnered with Midwest Lighting to offer free blue light bulbs to the community. Hang a blue light on your porch to honor him and to show your support for the Chicago Police Department. Get your free bulb at the 11th Ward Office while supplies last.
125 years ago Friday, 9,000 fans gathered at the South Side Park, otherwise known as the 39th Street Grounds, at 39th & Pershing to watch the Chicago White Stockings play their first game in the American League—an 8-2 win against Cleveland. If it’s up to me, the White Sox will continue to play in Bridgeport for the next 125 years (and more), too!
We saw the cancelling of the Cinco de Mayo parade in Little Village for the second year in a row due to concerns over fear of immigration enforcement raids. I look forward to getting back to a time when Chicago residents can celebrate without fear.
This week is National Library Week, I wanted to address one issue we are having at the Chinatown Library: Since the building was opened, the HVAC system has been finicky; and with these warm days we’ve been having, a control panel in the building also decided it was time to be defective. The control panel was defective because it was part of a slew of new equipment that was installed recently to deal with the same issue. While the building has been waiting for a new part for the control panel, I’ve been over to visit personally to make sure everyone is dealing with the heat safely, and to keep track of the progress of the work. I will be monitoring closely as we wait for the new part. Meanwhile at the Daley Library, we had a docuseries preview for the movie “My Father, Dick Allen,” about the legendary White Sox slugger from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Another engaging event from the Daley Library, which this time, I hear, featured lively accordion playing as well.
I got to speak to the kids at Armour Elementary School on Tuesday for Career Week. The 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes were great and had plenty of good questions to ask me. Many thanks to the school for inviting me to join the Career Week festivities. The Armour STEM Lab is also having an open house day on May 16 for current and prospective families. More details below.
I visited the Chicago Oriental Wholesale Market this week as part of the Department of Planning and Developments (DPD) work to re-evaluate Planned Manufacturing District (PMD) 11, also known as the Pilsen Industrial Corridor. DPD is conducting the Pilsen Industrial Corridor Study this year. I’m glad that this work is happening now. I have asked DPD to remove the parts of the 11th Ward that fall inside the PMD so that these parcels can be developed into uses other than industrial. Join the Pilsen Industrial Corridor Study kickoff meeting at 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 6 at Dvorak Park, 1119 W. Cullerton St. Businesses and residents are invited to help shape the new industrial corridor plan. The plan will assess land use patterns, employment trends, market conditions, and infrastructure needs. Spanish, Mandarin and ASL interpretation will be available for attendees. Please click here to register to attend. If you’d like to keep up with the study, you can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to making the ward beautiful this past week, I was able to stop by the Bridgeport Catholic Academy Clean & Green on Thursday. Everyone who participated did a fantastic job.
We are at key bird migration this week, so turn off any extra lights to protect as many birds as we can from injury!
Thank you to everyone who turned out for the Greater Bridgeport and South Loop Chamber of Commerce “Revitalize” event on Wednesday. A fantastic event from food, to friends, to business networking, to fun raffles, and our honored business, Filbert’s! Filbert’s has been in business for 100 years and we are so proud that the 11th Ward has been their home! Here are a few of the stories that have been done in the last couple of weeks to mark the milestone:
Block Club: For 100 Years, Filbert’s Has Made Root Beer The ‘Old Time’ Way: ‘Do It Well And Right’
WGN: Extremely Local News: Filbert’s Old Time Root Beer celebrating 100 years
CBS: Filbert's Root Beer in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood turns 100
Our hearts go out to the family and McCartin Boys & Girls Club family for the loss of their staff member, former club member and Youth of the Year Joshua who passed away. Our prayers are with his loved ones, and we honor the Club for its service and dedication to the children of the community.
Public Safety
A Workforce Allocation Study for CPD was completed recently, and it had at least one key finding: our City has more police officers on desk duty versus other cities that have civilians filling those roles. I think it could be a good step to hire civilians for roles like district administration and secretaries, using our already sworn in officers to fill in staffing emergencies we’re already having, increasing public safety without going through what can be a very slow hiring process for CPD. We’ll be looking at this study as part of the budget hearings and oversight for this department next year, which will be coming up sooner than we think!
Upcoming in City Council
On Monday, April 26, there will be a Subject Matter Hearing in the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations on the first quarter financial performance and to get an update on the efficiencies that were passed in the 2026 budget. I co-sponsored the resolution calling for this hearing on efficiencies with Ald. Scott Waguespack and 42 of our colleagues.
The next City Council meeting is May 20, at 10AM.
Around the Ward
With the Department of Planning and Development, I hosted a workshop for Small Business Development Program grant planning on Thursday. Thank you to everyone who came out and learned with me. The event was and can be viewed here If you’d like a copy of the presentation, please contact our office at ward11@cityofchicago.org.
Also, great news that the 35th & Halsted Small Business Improvement Fund will be open for applications on May 1st. The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) and SomerCor will roll out the Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF) grant program for applications in the following TIF districts in May:
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35th/Halsted, Bridgeport
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47th/State, Grand Boulevard and Washington Park
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Bryn Mawr/Broadway, Edgewater
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Elston/Armstrong, Jefferson Park
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Ogden/Pulaski, North Lawndale and South Lawndale
Applications open: 9 a.m. Friday, May 1
Applications close: 5 p.m. Saturday, May 30
The SBIF program uses revenue from TIF districts to help owners of commercial and industrial properties to repair or remodel their facilities for their own business or on behalf of tenants. Tenant businesses are also eligible to apply on their own.
Program participants can receive grants for 30 to 90 percent of project costs, with a maximum grant of $150,000 for commercial properties and $250,000 for industrial properties. The grants are administered by SomerCor on the City's behalf and do not have to be repaid. Those interested in applying can verify that their property is located in an eligible district by using the SBIF Locator Map tool.
DPD and SomerCor will host an informational webinar to review program requirements and the application process. For additional information, visit www.chicago.gov/sbif.
SBIF Informational Webinar
1 p.m. Wednesday, May 6 | Register
On Thursday, The Missner Group, a developer, held a meeting to discuss a proposed trucking logistics center that would be located at 35th & Racine. Staff from the Department of Planning and Development were in attendance to answer questions along with the development team who presented their plans, and both air quality and traffic safety studies to meeting attendees. The project would potentially bring more riverwalk frontage to Bubbly Creek, but residents and surrounding business owners in the area expressed many concerns with the proposed project. The project is still in the early stages. I will keep you aware of any future meetings.
Save the date for May 12, where the City and the Department of Aviation will be holding a small business summit, including a job fair, and information about updates to concessionaires programs at O’Hare and Midway. More info below.
Our next VA Office Hours are May 15th.
The Office of the Inspector General is collecting responses for a listening tour survey. Please consider filling out their short questionnaire here.
Let’s hope for no more extreme weather. Here are some tips from the Office of Emergency Management & Communications (OEMC), which includes downloading their app to get notifications from OEMC rapidly.
I’m relieved that our own neighborhood alumni and political heroes, Mayor Daley, is successfully recovering from a medical emergency as was reported in the news. We are sending prayers for a full recovery and we hope to see him at a White Sox game soon.
Have a great week,
Nicole
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