CHICAGO — You might have been too distracted by the elections to notice, but our neighborhood reporters covered George R.R. Martin's cramped old Uptown apartment, a sabotaged nature preserve and an alleged murder involving dentures and a trash can this week.
• Whether you're heading to a viewing party to watch the "Game of Thrones" season premiere or just praying to the Seven Gods that your HBO Now account works, here's another Song of Ice and Fire-themed plan for the weekend: Check out the Uptown apartments where author George R.R. Martin once lived.
Mina Bloom reported this week that the famous novelist shared an apartment on Margate Terrace with "a bunch of guys," before he moved to a nearby apartment on Argyle Street where he penned his first novel.
• If you're not into former cramped apartments of reclusive authors, you might consider taking your dog to the dog park — chances are, it won't be too crowded. A local dog flu outbreak that "has impacted 1,000 Cook County dogs and has been linked to five deaths" has shuttered some doggie daycares and kept pet owners away from public spots.
"I'm aware of the flu and can see why the day cares are shutting down, but I think it's blown out of proportion," said one dog walker in Wicker Park.
• Police shared an elevator with a man who was on his way to dispose of his girlfriend's body in a trash can on Wednesday, prosecutors said. Erica Demarest reported on Friday that Robert Hill, 33, allegedly admitted to suffocating 56-year-old Sandra Fellows during an argument.
After the police followed Hill to Fellows' apartment door, Hill told officers his girlfriend had died the night before and "he was just there to dispose the body."
• With the baseball season officially underway, Mark Konkol took a look at how to get the best seats at the ballpark — be a Daley. "Every April ... Chicago’s ultimate boss, the late Mayor Richard J. Daley made sure his sons made it over to Comiskey Park to cheer on their favorite team at the home opener."
This year in particular, the Daley family is celebrating the recent election of Patrick Daley Thompson as 11th Ward's new alderman.
He told Konkol, “My brother and I spent a lot of time going to games. My grandma would call and say, ‘I’ve got tickets,' and we’d run over to get them and head to the game with friends. It was so fun."
• Speaking of the elections, despite losing the Big One, the City Council's progressive caucus has picked up reinforcements, Ted Cox reported. According to Ald. Nicholas Sposato (36th), election night was "a bad night to be a rubber stamper, good night for the independents."
Besides Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) who became a lame duck after an unsuccessful mayoral run, all seven remaining progressives on City Council won re-election. Ald.-elect David Moore (17th) and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) joined them after the Feb. 24 elections, and a handful more will join them after this week's runoffs.
• The runoffs also were a success for now-third-term Ald. Willie Cochran (20th), who celebrated by boarding a flight last Wednesday for Las Vegas. “My wife and I are heading out West and renting a convertible,” Cochran told reporter Sam Cholke.
Cochran said his victory was a clear sign that residents of Woodlawn, Washington Park and Back of the Yards appreciated his focus on education and development, while also dismissing fears of gentrification in Woodlawn, one of the few black neighborhoods seeing an influx of white residents. He said he would continue to push for new affordable housing to be built in the neighborhood.
• Some residents in Logan Square aren't very happy about a new housing development, dubbed the "Twin Towers," proposed for 2293 N. Milwaukee Ave., Darryl Holliday reported this week. The proposal is on the agenda for city approval, though neighborhood groups have called for more public hearings.
Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) downplayed the contentious nature of previous meetings, while saying that the project will generate a net $280,000 annually.
• Neighbors in West Ridge attempted to take matters into their own hands in the fight to remove invasive tree species from the city's new nature preserve, Benjamin Woodward reported. After the park district added identifying ribbons to the offending trees, neighbors entered the fenced-off park to remove them.
It didn't work, though — the trees were re-identified and chopped down.
