Breaking: Lori Lightfoot is officially out as Mayor of Chicago. As Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson advance to a runoff. (Kell: house, live)

[zach_33]

Was just reading about a woman stabbed to death on the L platform outside Miller's Pub late last night. Seems to be getting a little rougher down in the Loop.

Not sure about the election - Vallas on TV looks/sounds like an uptight east coast establishment elitist, who will try to "bring to heel" the criminal element of Chicago's street gang culture (lol Hillary's male doppleganger).

Johnson maybe tilting more towards community-based approaches and less police in general?

Neither sounds promising.

[bubs]

Yeah. It's getting kinda bad.... https://cwbchicago.com/2023/03/two-s...lebration.html

[Bitey]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

There is a lot of property crime everywhere, and there has been an increase in robberies and carjackings in more affluent community areas of Chicago. There do seem to be more gang related incidents in the Loop and Near North Side than there were several years ago. However, I can't recall innocent bystanders being caught in the crossfire outside of the roughest neighborhoods—and I'm not sure those stories are very accurate.

A lot of those "property crimes" are actually robberies and carjackings. Just in the last week alone, I give you:

• They’re back! Armed robbery crew sweeps across Chicago, targeting food vendors and people at ATMs
  
  
• Armed crew robs 8 men within minutes in West Loop as nightly holdup sprees continue
  
  
• Five more armed robberies, carjackings reported overnight in Lakeview, Wicker Park, West Town
  
  
• Armed men rob, carjack at least 14 people in another hours-long crime wave
  
  
• Armed crew robs 8 men within minutes in West Loop as nightly holdup sprees continue

And, there's been a notable uptick of people being randomly attacked by crazy people -- the crazy guy who just up and started punching women at Clark and LaSalle a couple weeks ago, a different crazy guy who walked up and punched some lady in the face on Ontario a couple months ago, the crazy lady who went on a stabbing spree on the Northwest side last year and then stabbed someone else in January while out on bail, the random sucker-punch of a 90-year-old in Chinatown, the crazy guy who walked into the Chase Bank in River North and stabbed a teller to death, numerous random attacks by crazy people on various L platforms and/or on trains, etc.

And don't even get me started on what a hot mess the River North night club district has become. You couldn't pay me to walk down any street between Kinzie, Chicago, State, and Orleans on a Friday or Saturday night, or be anywhere near Division & State through Wells.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Bitey

A lot of those "property crimes" are actually robberies and carjackings. Just in the last week alone, I give you:

• They’re back! Armed robbery crew sweeps across Chicago, targeting food vendors and people at ATMs
  
  
• Armed crew robs 8 men within minutes in West Loop as nightly holdup sprees continue
  
  
• Five more armed robberies, carjackings reported overnight in Lakeview, Wicker Park, West Town
  
  
• Armed men rob, carjack at least 14 people in another hours-long crime wave
  
  
• Armed crew robs 8 men within minutes in West Loop as nightly holdup sprees continue

And, there's been a notable uptick of people being randomly attacked by crazy people -- the crazy guy who just up and started punching women at Clark and LaSalle a couple weeks ago, a different crazy guy who walked up and punched some lady in the face on Ontario a couple months ago, the crazy lady who went on a stabbing spree on the Northwest side last year and then stabbed someone else in January while out on bail, the random sucker-punch of a 90-year-old in Chinatown, the crazy guy who walked into the Chase Bank in River North and stabbed a teller to death, numerous random attacks by crazy people on various L platforms and/or on trains, etc.

And don't even get me started on what a hot mess the River North night club district has become. You couldn't pay me to walk down any street between Kinzie, Chicago, State, and Orleans on a Friday or Saturday night, or be anywhere near Division & State through Wells.

Not long ago, I was briefly in that River North area. There was something about being by there in the evening, where it felt sketchier than it used to be.

I always felt that vibe where Division started to feel a little sketchier, when you got west of say like about Clark or LaSalle. I was surprised the old Popeye's on Clark(near Division) got replaced by a Taco Bell Cantina, so I don't think that area has slid downhill as much as some worry. And the newer Jewel at Clark and Division, is nicer than the original one. That said(sometimes I'll bike through that River North area near say like Grand you were talking about, on the way home from work), it seems like that area used to be a little nicer than it's like today. When I biked through Rush and Division not long ago, it seems like this area hadn't slid as downhill as much. Too bad Hash House A Go Go closed down.

I wish the Chicago Police and CTA could do a better job, on getting the safety of the L under control. It feels like to me the L can be too damn sketchy to ride, very late at night. And I wish that could change, to be how things were more like(better) pre-pandemic. CTA buses don't feel as sketchy, thank goodness.

As for the mayor race, I don't think I've been very impressed with what I've heard from Johnson. He may not be perfect, but I'll go with Vallas IMO. Johnson feels like he's doing stupid desperate last minute attacks on Paul that are unnecessary, each time I've watched more recent debates earlier this month. And why would you want a CTU bankrolled person that will give nearly everything the CTU wants, in CPS and teacher negotiations next time the CPS teacher contract is negotiated? Someone on reddit too posted an article, that showed CPS teachers already are paid pretty decently as it is. And for big city school districts in the US, CPS teacher pay already is in the top 5 in the country for bigger cities.

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

Any credible polls for the April 4th run off?

I saw 2 recent polls, that showed about a 10ish point lead for Vallas. Here's one such article(this shows more like a 5 to 6 point lead for Vallas): https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/p...go-mayors-race

I think there was another poll somewhere that showed a slightly bigger Vallas lead, but I'm weirdly not finding that other link at the moment when I searched for it. Maybe I'll find it later.

[dtcbnd03]

William Kelly...a reporter whose press credentials were revoked by Lightfoot...tells her to "Get the Hell Out". Awesome.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4DdylZ29lE

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by dtcbnd03

William Kelly...a reporter whose press credentials were revoked by Lightfoot...tells her to "Get the Hell Out". Awesome.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4DdylZ29lE

That was an amazing speech! Sucks he had his media credential taken away, just because Lori stupidly whined about him. Someone on Reddit posted a link to a reporter that wanted to do an outgoing interview with departing mayor Lori a day or 2 back, only to get a letter from her press secretary office that she won't be granting any more interviews with reporters.

[Robert9]

Originally Posted by dtcbnd03

William Kelly...a reporter whose press credentials were revoked by Lightfoot...tells her to "Get the Hell Out". Awesome.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4DdylZ29lE

Yeah it went viral real fast and made national news lol. What a great, great moment!

[Vlajos]

Who cares? She's done. We have an even worse potential mayor in Brandon Johnson.

[Ellwood]

You can bet George Soros will fund her future whacky positions.

[Bitey]

The Wookie just endorsed the Marxist (no surprise).