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8 Stories You Might Have Missed This Week

By Tanveer Ali | September 26, 2014 10:30pm
 We know you were too busy waiting in line for hot dogs to read the news this week, so the DNAinfo team rounded up some of our favorite stories to get you all caught up.
We know you were too busy waiting in line for hot dogs to read the news this week, so the DNAinfo team rounded up some of our favorite stories to get you all caught up.
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DNAinfo

If you were too busy waiting in line for hot dogs to read the news this week, DNAinfo Chicago's team rounded up some of our favorite stories to get you all caught up.

• Roller derby aces Sarah Knippel and partner Carlie Lusk planned to snag a hot dog from the soon-to-close Hot Doug's before heading to the courthouse to get married Wednesday, but the line was so long they had to change their plans. Instead of scrapping the sausage (which would have been a terrible idea), they got married in line.

"It was all impromptu, but it all came together," Knippel said.

And they now have the greatest wedding photo of all time:

Oh, and someone is making a movie about the closure of Hot Doug's as well. Chicagoans take their encased meats SERIOUSLY.

• Last week, DNAinfo's Mark Konkol wrote about his experience living in Streeterville for a six weeks instead of taking a summer vacation. His stay at a fancy high rise really highlighted how the haves and have nots live in this city. This week, he explained why he ultimately is happy to have a home in Pullman to come home to.

"Down in Pullman, kindred spirits — even the ones who I don’t always agree with — who tirelessly work to make our neighborhood better despite the long odds, are my kind of people," he wrote.

Check out the whole series here.

• A few weeks back, Rogers Park reporter Ben Woodard found a memo posted online instructing a CPS parent to stay away from future Board of Education meetings. After filing a formal request, he got a list of what we dubbed the "CPS Blacklist" — a handful of parents and activists who are no longer welcome at Board of Ed meetings. 

"Because you were disruptive and you punched, kicked and struck several security personnel, you have forfeited your right of reentry to future Board meetings," CPS security chief Jadine Chou wrote to Jesus Ramos, a parent and education activist banned from the meetings along with his wife, Rousemary Vega.

While some believe CPS made the right call, others think the "blacklist" is a bad idea.

But some activists say the bans impede their right to speak freely about big issues facing the city's education system.

"I think it’s a symptom of a totally flawed structure. Sure I get that screaming while someone else is making their point is a problem, but I don’t think banning people is the answer," said Wendy Katten, a parent of a sixth-grader and the director of Raise Your Hand, an education advocacy organization. "What we have here is a major stifling of voices — in all facets."

• Tuesday was the city's David Bowie Day. Everyone and their brother seemingly attended or wanted to attend the "David Bowie Is.." exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and for good reason.

Our reporter Ted Cox checked out the exhibit, which shows "all the care Bowie took and the artistic influences he drew upon to create his various rock and roll personae, from Ziggy Stardust to Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke and beyond."

We also created an interactive timeline of Bowie's time in Chicago — including the days he spent with Woodlawn native Ava Cherry.

• This summer, Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushed the City Council to stiffen penalties for vandalism, a measure he billed as a way to crack down on graffiti across the city.

Under the revised ordinance, fines for vandalism and damage to public property more than doubled. The increased fines would work first and foremost to "deter future vandalism," Emanuel said in announcing the change.

And though city leaders say the increased fines may have already led to a decline in graffiti, a review of city records by DNAinfo Chicago obtained through the Freedom of Information Act found fines for the crimes are rarely assessed or paid.

From 2012 through June of this year, the city handled a total of 1,607 cases of vandalism and destruction of property. Of those, only 58 — or 3.6 percent of cases — resulted in a fine, according to records from the city's Department of Administrative Hearings and the Department of Finance.

Those cases totaled about $24,706 in fines owed the city, of which $6,964 — or 28.2 percent — has been paid to date.

• There was also an update to a story of a murder in Old Town's "Sedville" section. Quentin Evans, who was part of DNAinfo's "Kids With Guns" series last year, was charged in the murder of 16-year-old Jesse White tumbler Devonshay Lofton.

"Last summer, I was almost certain Evans would turn his life around," Mark Konkol wrote after hearing of the charges this week. "He started attending an alternative high school with hopes of getting a high school diploma. He got a part-time job at TJ Maxx."

“Brother Ray” Richard, who was close with Evans and his family, also weighed in.

“This is heavy. This is no joke. This is real feelings. I tried to save that young man. You were there. You saw us trying to help him. You know that hurts,” Richard said. “I’m not saying 'Q' did it, but this is proof that no one is helping us help these kids. We’re out here trying to prevent these things from happening, but all the funds we had are exhausted, and there’s only so much we can do."

• Lincoln Square residents sounded off to police after finding out that an armed robber was on the loose in Winnemac Park last week — and they didn't get answers about what went down until five days later.

The neighbors had called 311 on Sept. 19 asking why a helicopter was flying overhead, and after being told there was a television show shooting, they finally got the real story at a community policing meeting.

"In this day and age, there is a way to alert people," one neighbor said, referencing Amber Alert texts many people receive. "They do it in northern Wisconsin where they barely have Internet. All they need to say is, 'Hey, stay inside.' "

• While one year on a train might sound nightmarish to some, University of Chicago student Korey Garibaldi is looking forward to it. Garibaldi was selected for Amtrak’s residency program for writers, which will allow him to spend the next year writing from trains crisscrossing the country.

He plans to use the time to finish his book book, “Different Trains,” which he's been working on with 2008 U. of C. alum Ben Shepard.

“In short, it is a combined travelogue and international history of the present as seen through trains,” Garibaldi said. “It is organized around six different long train rides around the world, including a six-week train trip Ben and I took through Japan and China this summer with two other U. of C. alumni.”

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