Events

Welcome to stop #30 on the Brews and Choos project. Brewery: Spiteful Brewing, 2024 W Balmoral Ave., ChicagoTrain line: Union Pacific North, Ravenswood (Also CTA Brown Line, Damen)Time from Chicago: 16 minutes (Zone B)Distance from station: 1.6 km (1.5 km from CTA) Spiteful and Half Acre Balmoral occupy the same block, so cheating on distance (over 1,500 m from Metra) for one means cheating for both. I've gone to both for years, though, and they deserve the extra two blocks of walking. During Covid-19...

The National Weather Service has confirmed that Monday's storm spawned 7 tornadoes over Northern Illinois, including one that skipped through the far-North Side neighborhood Rogers Park: Local news site Block Club Chicago reports: The tornado saw estimated peak winds of 175 km/h, according to the weather service. It formed at about 4 p.m. Monday and traveled about 5 km, traveling roughly from Touhy Avenue near Lincoln Avenue and traveling eastbound to Lake Michigan. The storm toppled dozens of large...

Presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president Joe Biden, who I hope will have shortened that title by 5 words by January 20th, has picked US Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate: Ms. Harris, 55, is the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to be nominated for national office by a major party, and only the fourth woman in history to be chosen for one of their presidential tickets. She brings to the race a far more vigorous campaign style than Mr. Biden’s, including a gift for...

A derecho blasted through Iowa and Illinois yesterday, blasting 120 km/h winds through Chicago and spawning at least one tornado two neighborhoods over from me: Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed, meteorologists said it’s possible a tornado touched down in Rogers Park on the Far North Side, before heading out over Lake Michigan, where the funnel became a waterspout. The derecho blew in from Iowa, where winds surpassed 100 mph. It swept east across Illinois and into Indiana, with winds of 65 to...

Josh Marshall has a good summary of why things suck for parents, kids, and teachers right now: But the plan [New York] city and most of [New York] state has come up with shows how limited this can be and how much we’ve made a fetish of in-school instruction. There are two big reasons to have in-school instruction. The first and most important is the educational, social and emotional development and well-being of children. The second is the impact on the economy. Many parents can’t work if their children...

Welcome to stop #28 on the Brews and Choos project. Brewery: Half Acre Beer Co., Balmoral Brewery, 2048 W Balmoral Ave., ChicagoTrain line: Union Pacific North, Ravenswood (Also CTA Brown Line, Damen)Time from Chicago: 16 minutes (Zone B)Distance from station: 1.7 km (1.6 km from CTA) Half Acre actually operates two locations: its original brewpub on Lincoln Ave., and its newer and much larger brewery/restaurant/beer garden just south of Rosehill Cemetery. Both are on the Brews and Choos list, but the...

A friend I met just last November died on Friday night at 32. She owned Heirloom Books in Chicago's Edgewater community, one of the last independent used-book shops in the neighborhood. (Always a "shop;" never a "store.") She'd only recently adopted a kitten, Pilar, who I met a few weeks ago. Her father posted on Facebook that she died "peacefully but unexpectedly...from complications arising from a long-standing illness which she fought valiantly against over many years, but which few people were aware...

Welcome to stop #29 on the Brews and Choos project. Brewery: Sketchbook Brewing Co. Skokie Taproom, 4901 Main St., SkokieTrain line: CTA Yellow Line, Dempster-SkokieTime from Chicago: 48 minutesDistance from station: 900 m I have gone to Sketchbook Brewing in Evanston for years, so naturally I made a special trip to their Skokie Taproom for its grand opening last Friday. We had perfect weather, social distancing, hand sanitizer, and good beer. The brewery occupies the front part of a 1950s-era...

Started at Spiteful Brewery, Chicago