A FUN DAY: Each Halloween almost every Little
Village child has walked down the 26th St. business district to “Trick
or Treat” at all the stores. Halloween is a big deal for the children in Little
Village because it is an occasion for them to dress in disguise and receive
treats. Every “character”
imaginable, scary or funny, is represented in the Halloween parade. Many
parents participate by dressing-up in costume to carry the youngest of “trick
or treaters”. The parade of children is hectic, but fun to see.
LAST
YEAR, 1,000 children in costumes visited the Little Village Community
Council to receive candy, popcorn, or watch a scary movie and listen to the
Halloween “Monster Mash” music. This year the LV Community Council, 3610 W. 26th
St. will continue the tradition with an added Haunted House for bigger kids. The Council wants the kids to have
fun and be safe. Vamos a tener una “Casa
de Espantos” para los ninos en La Villita. Free admission. Admision gratis.
DAY
OF THE DEAD: “Dia de los Muertos” [Day of the Dead] is a Mexican holiday. Scholars have traced the origin of this modern Mexican
holiday dating back hundreds of years and to the Aztec. “Dia de los Muertos” is celebrated immediately ending the
celebration of Halloween at midnight for two days, Tuesday, Nov. 1st and Wednesday, Nov. 2nd, in connection with the Catholic
holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.
TO
HONOR the deceased, family and friends gather together to pray for
and remember those close to them who have died. Private alters are built and
decorated with sugar skulls, marigold flowers, candles and the favorite food
and beverage of the departed. Grave sites
are visited with these gifts along with toys for the dead children and bottles
of tequila for adults.
IN
MOST regions of Mexico, November 1st honors children
and infants, deceased adults are honored on November 2nd. Maria Silva, Secretary, Little Village Community
Council, is building an alter with “oferta” [offering] for Dia de los Muertos. You are invited to come by and see her
alter.
Theresa Plascencia |
FARRAGUT HIGH: Theresa A. Plascencia, Principal of Farragut Career Academy High School,
2345 S. Christiana Ave. in Little Village is resigning from her post. She has accepted the CPS position as
Chief of High Schools for the West Side Network of Chicago. As Chief of High Schools, Plascencia
will have supervision over Farragut Career Academy, Crane, Little Village,
Manley, Juarez to name a few of a total of 26 high schools.
PLASCENCIA’s last day at Farragut will
be Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. She has been at Farragut since 1995 in which she was
a teacher, Dean, Assistant Principal and Principal for the past 6 years. “I am
most proud of taking Farragut to a Level 2 school. Meaning the school is in
good standing. This is the first time in 16 years for Farragut,” said
Plascencia.
CPS
CEO Jean-Claude Brizard will appoint an interim principal who
will serve until the Farragut Local School Council [LSC] members selects a new
principal. CPS will officially make the announcement of the Principal vacancy
at Farragut.
MEMBERS
on Farragut’s LSC are Maria Avila
[parent]; Eva Bahena [parent]; Maria Hernandez [parent/chairperson]; Rosa Perez [parent]; Martha Ramirez [parent]; Maria Rodriguez [parent]; August Sallas [community]; Maria Silva [community]; Leslie Andrade [student
representative]; Victor Younger
[non-teach staff]; Linda Trevino-Garcia
[teacher/secretary]; William Nelson
[teacher] and Theresa Plascencia
[principal].
Kimberly Wasserman,
Abraham Duenas, President of
LVEJO Board of Directors;
Selene Gonzales, Park Organizer
|
LVEJO GARDEN: The Little Village Environmental
Justice Organization [LVEJO] held a press conference Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011 at
2727 S. & Troy Ave. to announce that a former contaminated site will be a
future urban farm/community garden. “After 10 years of struggling for this
garden and park, we are now here to see it happen,” said Kimberly Wasserman, Executive Director of LVEJO.
WASSERMAN
also announced the City of Chicago’s acquisition of the 23
acre Celotex property, plans for a new 24-acre park development on the site
located at 28th & Sacramento Ave. in the 12th Ward in
Little Village. LVEJO’s work for a
park on the Celotex park site was highlighted in the Chicago Tribune article
by Blair Kamin.
GUEST SPEAKERS at
the press conference were Nelson Chueng,
Chicago Dept. of Housing & Economic Development; Martha Boyd, Angelic Organics Learning Center; Fermin Mesa and Elvia Garcia,
Little Village residents.
LVEJO
held a Networking for a Healthy Community forum
immediately after the press conference at the Little Village Library, 2311 S.
Kedzie Ave. to build support for the development of the community garden and
park.
Juan Rangel |
SALARIES: Juan Rangel’s yearly
salary is $266,000 as the CEO for
United Neighborhood Organization [UNO], a not-for-profit organization. As CEO
Rangel oversees 10 charter publicly funded schools. Chicago Public School CEO Jean-Claude Brizard receives a yearly salary of $250,000 overseeing Chicago’s 486 elementary schools and 107 high
schools; Mayor Rahm Emanuel, $216,210; Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, $260,004; Police Assistant Superintendent Beatrice Cuello, $188,316;
Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff, $202,728; Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino, $179,109; Alderman Ricardo Munoz, [part-time] $108,086;
Cook County Board President Toni
Preckwinckle, $170,000; Cook
County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia,
$85,000 per year. Both Illinois
House of Representative and Illinois State Senator base salaries are $67,836 per year, plus $132 per diem. [Per diem, from the
Latin term "per day" or "for each day". Usually refers to
the daily rate of any kind of payment. In employment it means that you are
working on a day to day basis.]
CITY ORDINANCE: “Title 8 of the Municipal Code of the
City of Chicago. Section 8-4-057, states: Excessive
barking—Prohibited. “It shall be unlawful for any person who owns,
controls, has possession of or is charged with responsibility for caring for
any dog or other animal to allow such animal, while the animal is outside, to
bark excessively in a manner that unnecessarily disturbs the comfort, quiet,
peace or repose of any other person in the vicinity anytime day or night. Any person who violates this section
shall be fined not less than $50.00
or more than $250.00 for each
offense. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate and
distinct offense.
FOR
PURPOSE of this section, the term “bark excessively” means any
continued, repeated or habitual barking, whining, crying, howling, whimpering
or loud noise common to an animal’s species that exceeds more than ten
consecutive minutes in duration.”
Eva Aquino |
LACC
BREAKFAST MEETING: The Latin American Chamber of Commerce is
hosting a LACC Business Roundtable breakfast meeting this Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 at Lazo’s Restaurant, 2009 N. Western Ave.
The meeting will feature Eva Aquino, SBA
Director, Citibank, as their guest speaker
REGISTRATION
and networking begins at 8:00 a.m. Breakfast will be served at 8:15 a.m. and
the presentation at 8:45 a.m. Ms. Aquino’s topic will be “SBA Loan Programs
from a Lender’s Perspective.” Donation for members and members’ guests: $25;
and Non-members: $30.
THE LATIN American Chamber of Commerce
is located at 3512 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago. The LACC Business Roundtables
provides “a forum where its members exchange ideas, network and address issues
related to financing, contract procurement, emerging economic topics and
legislation impacting commerce and industry.”