CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS - ROGERS PARK, LAKEVIEW, LINCOLN PARK, ALBANY PARK, EVANSTON
ROGERS PARK
Asian cuisines combine
exotic flavors and techniques that are accessible to the home cook.
Dan Nguyen, who is the owner and a chef of Viet Bistro in Rogers Park, said that the toughest thing for home cooks who want to cook
and prepare Asian food authentically is the heat settings on most stoves.
Woks are traditionally set over an open flame.
At home, Nguyen says, "the burners restrict the cooking and you
don't see results. Plus, open flames are too scary." Click here for more information.
LAKEVIEW
Emily Blum was headed for life in a
wheelchair. Herdystonia, a neurological disorder that causes severe muscle
spasms, made walking increasingly difficult.
"Every step was a struggle," said Blum, 33, describing how her left
leg would fly up behind her.
Extensive Internet research left Blum convinced she was an ideal candidate for
deep brain stimulation, and doctors at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago agreed."
It took doctors at Rush almost a full year and
many surgeries and treatments to discover which current settings work best for
Blum. Now she walks 2 miles in the Lakeview neighborhood every morning before going to work. Click here to read the article.
LINCOLN PARK
A promotion to tap Chicago's philanthropic community for at
least $600 million was revealed Wednesday night. This dollar amount only represents 60 percent
of what's needed to build a replacement for Children's Memorial Hospital.
Children's plans to open their new hospital by 2012, when it will relocate from
Lincoln Park to Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood. Children's has
outgrown its more than 50-year-old Lincoln Park facilities, and it has had to turn
away more than 200 children a year. The new hospital will be larger, with 288
beds and the ability to be able to expand at least 310 beds.
The new hospital will be named the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's
Hospital of Chicago in recognition of Ann Lurie's monetary gift to the hospital last year. Lurie was a pediatric nurse at Children's in 1973. Her husband, Chicago real estate investor Robert H. Lurie,
died in 1990. Click here to learn more.
ALBANY
PARK
Like many of his faith, Yousif Marei
has been feeling particularly emotional about being a Muslim these days.
For one thing, the holy month of Ramadan is
under way. It is a time when Muslims
fasting from sunrise to sunset as they spiritually reflect on the period when
the first verses of the Quran are believed to have been revealed.
Then there is Thursday's dreaded anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and the
negative image of Islam which followed, and still resonates today. Marei is a 53 and a Palestinian who moved to Chicago in 1979.
"It is our duty to show that we are good neighbors,"
said Marei, a volunteer leader for Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy in his
Albany Park
neighborhood. "All we hear about Islam- and we
are listening with tears in our eyes- is Islam and terrorism. We must control
our own image." Click here to read all about it.
EVANSTON
It's been approximately 35 years since a tree was planted in the International Friendship Garden. This is a project of the Evanston Rotary
Club.
However, thanks in part to the work of one of the club's members, Dario
Kerkez, a new tree was introduced to the garden. Kerkez wanted to honor the country where he
grew up, Republic
of Serbia.
"When I first learned about the history of the
garden, I saw an opportunity to continue its traditions for building peaceful
relations around the world," he said in a statement. "The planting of the new tree provides a
lasting reminder to the citizens of Evanston and
every visitor who comes to the garden that the Republic of Serbia
is, and always will be, a deserving member of the international
community." Click here to read the rest of the article.
JENNIFER ARCAND & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
