CHICAGO — Too distracted by the warm weather this week to concentrate on news? Never fear, that's why our award-winning staff is here for you. Check out these neighborhood news stories you may have missed.
• Which famous Chicago business is located "just three blocks west of the Kennedy Expressway"? Longtime Chicagoans will recognize that phrase from catchy, annoying Tile Outlet television commercials.
Kyla Gardner tracked down actress Nicole Rigan, who landed the gig in 2005, to see what she's up to now. She might look different, having dyed her formerly bleach-blonde hair and gotten a nose job after sustaining facial injuries in a car accident, but she still remembers her lines.
[DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner]
• Another test for Chicagoans' memory: What type of music did Rahm Emanuel invoke on the campaign trail to win the votes of the black religious community?
Founders of the Chicago Gospel Heritage Museum are hoping the mayor remembers, too. "It's time for the mayor to deliver for the black religious community that just delivered for him in the election," said Mark Allen, who believes a shuttered South Side elementary school should be the permanent home for a national gospel museum.
The museum's collection has been displayed at schools, libraries and the DuSable Museum, but without a permanent home, the collection remains at risk, Mark Konkol reported.
• DNAinfo Chicago published a special report this week about speed cameras in the city, showing that almost 3,000 speed camera violations were issued per day citywide, totalling more than $100,000 a day.
Reporters Benjamin Woodward and Tanveer Ali created an interactive map and graphs showing which cameras were the most lucrative for the city, and which issued the most citations.
Click around to see cameras across the city, and read your neighborhood-specific story by your local reporter.
The analysis also showed that several cameras were located far from the park or school that they were supposedly placed to protect.
• The DNAinfo Chicago team also worked together to produce a report on "problem" bars, which a new city ordinance targets with more efficient shut-down strategies.
The Dolphin nightclub, Funky Buddha Lounge and Sawtooth Restaurant and Lounge have all made headlines this past year due to violent incidents nearby. Police and residents have said that the city's process to shut down these establishments was too slow, and now, City Council has moved to make it easier.
• A McDonald's drive-thru descended into chaos earlier this week when two Little Village men attacked a minivan, injuring three children, prosecutors said.
Erica Demarest reported that the two men, Jonathan Gonzalez and Luis Olvera, were charged with aggravated battery. They were targeting a rival gang member, the children's father, who was sitting in the front seat of the minivan.
Gonzalez removed two caps from a nearby fire hydrant and tossed them into the minivan's backseat, shattering the window and injuring the children, ages 7, 2 and 7 months, prosecutors said.
• Meanwhile, plans to demolish the Mega Mall, an indoor flea market along a trendy strip in Logan Square, were presented to a large group this week to mixed reviews.
A local alderman and developer presented renderings of the ambitious project, which will have more than 250 residential units, public green space, ample bike and car parking, a grocery store and a rooftop herb garden, according to the proposal.
Local groups are pushing back against the size and density of the development, which they say may change the character of the neigborhood, Darryl Holliday reported.
• "Not going to college wasn't an option," said 17-year-old Jamel Chambers, who was ecstatic to be named at 2015 Gates Millennium Scholar and receive a full-ride scholarship. Jamel said he and his mom shed tears when they found out he could attend college debt-free.
The West Pullman resident, who is among six students in Urban Prep Academies schools to receive the honor, told reporter Andrea V. Watson that he plans to start his own law firm and to "start from the bottom and work my way up."
Jamel Chambers (fourth from the left) poses with other Gates Millennium Scholars who attend Urban Prep Academies.
• The Lakeview police district is cracking down on bike theft by registering bicycles and encouraging residents to place special stickers on them that leave a large "void" if removed, reported Ariel Cheung.
The sticker will discourage bicycle thieves because pawn shops will be able to identify the bike as stolen when checking police data, according to Sgt. Jason Clark.
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