North Center Senior Center located at 4040 N. Oakley serving over 2000 seniors monthly is looking for items their annual LITFEST, Book Sale, Raffle and Tea  Sunday June 22.  Items needed are all things tea - tea cups, tea pots, tea cozies, clean vintage linen, teaspoons, tiered serving plates, candles, good books and new, slightly used but not abused items and white elephant items to be used for raffle,  spa items, kitchen items.  Items can be dropped off anytime at the center in a bag or box to the Attn: Liza Martin with your name, address and phone #.   Pick-up available also.  Call 312.744.4015 for more information.  

EMAIL SCAMMERS POSING AS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE TO COLLECT PHONY DEBT

Attorney General Lisa Madigan alerted Illinois residents about an email scam that uses her office's name and falsely threatens prosecution to collect on supposed debts.

Madigan's office is investigating the scam after Illinois residents reported receiving emails from accounts that fraudulently appear to be sent by a representative of the Attorney General's office. The emails include an attached "final warning" letter stamped with an official-looking seal that alleges the recipient owes money on an outstanding loan and must pay off the balance or face prosecution by the office.

"This email is an outright scam," Madigan said. "Do not respond to anyone claiming to represent my office with demands for money or threatening prosecution. Instead, call our Consumer Fraud Bureau immediately at 1-800-243-0618."

Madigan's office said people who have applied for loans online may be at particular risk for the scam because they have provided their personal and financial information to companies that in turn sell the information to either lenders or, in some cases, illegal fraudsters seeking to use the personal information for profit.

The New Colony, 4740 N. Western Avenue, 773-413-0862
Orville and Wilbur Did It!, June 13th to July 20th

Witness firsthand the ups, downs and ego clashes of five actors and a stage manager traveling across the country 

American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron Street, 773-409-4125 

A group of hippies explore the idea of love and civil rights in 1968 in this classic rock musical.
www.atcweb.org

The Public House Theater, 3914 N Clark St. 773-904-8777
Bye Bye Liver, every Friday & Saturday 8PM & 10PM
A series of outrageous and hilarious comedic sketches, all centered around one thing...alcohol!

Pitbull & I, every Thursday 8PM

A comedic sketch with Brian McGovern "and" pop star Pitbull, where you will certainly be invited dance and laugh.

www.pubhousetheatre.com

The Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark St., 773-769-4451

Pimprov, every Friday at 10:30 PM

An improv sketch with "pimps" that may not be politically correct, but will leave you laughing on the floor!

www.blackensembletheater.org 

Cornservatory, 4210 N. Lincoln Avenue, 773-650-1331 

Deathprov, thru June 29th, Sundays at 7:30pm

Finding ways to kill someone may not seem that amusing, but in this improve sketch set in post Apolcalyptic world, it is. The only warning here is to not laugh yourself to death.

Bat Hamlet, June 20th to July 19th, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm

www.cornservatory.com   

Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, 1422 W. Irving Park Road, 773-865-7731

Open Mic, every Wednesday at 9pm

All art forms from music and acting sketches to comedic stand up will be presented to the public from local artists. All are welcome!
www.cicomedy.com

Ravenswood Elementary

Ravenswood Elementary School offers comprehensive school tours on the second Tuesday of every month that school is in session. All tours begin at 9 a.m. in the multi-purpose room, where we'll grab a cup of coffee and set off to observe classrooms, discuss the curriculum and learn what makes Ravenswood Elementary School a truly hidden gem.  Mr. Manaen, Ravenswood School principal, will meet with prospective parents for an open question-and-answer session following the tour.  Not sure if you're in the Ravenswood Elementary School attendance boundaries? Please click here .

The last tour of the school year will be June 10, all at 9 a.m. in the multi-purpose room. All are welcome!

Amundsen High School

Amundsen High School offers comprehensive school tours at 10 a.m. on the first Friday and the second Thursday of every month school is in session. Come learn more about Amundsen High School, its International Baccalaureate (IB) program and more great programs available at our neighborhood high school.

To join the tour, meet in the school office at 10 a.m. (enter through the main doors on Damen Avenue). Remaining tour dates for this year are:

• Thursday, June 12 at 10 a.m.

School tours are also available by appointment by contacting friendsofamundsen@gmail.com.   

North Park Elementary School

North Park Elementary School is accepting applications for the 2014-2015 school year. As a private, non-sectarian, coed school located at 2017 W. Montrose for children in Pre-K-8th grade, NPES has a proven record of academic excellence.  With one class per grade and an average of 20 students per class, every student is well-known, and receives individual attention from classroom teachers.  To learn more, email  npesadmissions@npeschool.org or visit www.npeschool.org 

Upcoming dates are: June 20, July 18 from 3-5pm

If you know anyone who needs assistance, please pass this along.

Lincoln Square Friendship Center Pantry Are you interested in our newest neighborhood pantry? Sign up for their newsletter: lincolnsquarefc@gmail.com  

There are many ways for you to help - volunteer, help fundraise, hold a food drive, donate bins, pick-up donations, sponsor/manage a community garden bed. We are neighbors helping neighbors and making a difference.  

Sulzer needs your old games.  Thanks to our neighbors who have donated games for the Sulzer's Game Night!  If you have games that your family no longer uses, please bring them to the 47th Ward Office or to Sulzer Library. Their ever-popular "Game Night" could use a few more board games like Sorry, Chess, Life, Uno, Jenga, Rummy Cube, etc.   

Check out the infrastructure map on our webpage!

3900 N Hamilton Street Resurfacing

• Grinding scheduled for mid-June (tentatively scheduled for June 18)
• Paving and striping scheduled for late June (tentatively scheduled for June 26)

Lawrence Avenue Streetscape

• New pedestrian refuge islands (including ADA compliant ramps) have been installed between Damen and Clark, and center turn lanes have been striped. Sidewalk replacement continues and ADA ramps will be installed to line up with the street crossings at the pedestrian islands.
• Sidewalk, driveway, curb and gutter, and ramp work continues along various stretches of the corridor. 

• Sewer and electrical work has started and new street light poles will go up starting in mid to late June.

• Plantings between Western and Damen are expected to be performed in late June or early July.  New trees have recently been installed in the pedestrian refuge islands and some of the planters. The remaining landscaping work between Damen and Clark will be finished up next spring.   

• Work on the south side of the street near McPherson will be completed over the summer once school is not in session.
• Street resurfacing and final striping will be completed in the fall.  

Brown Line Construction

Work on the Brown Line tracks near the Rockwell Station will continue through July.  CTA is replacing ties on the bridge over the river to improve the slow zone.  Some work will be done on weekends, where trains will operate on one side of the tracks. 

Water Main Replacement for Hoyne between Irving Park and Grace

Contractors working with the Dept. of Water Management have replaced the water main from 1895 under Hoyne between Irving Park and Grace. Concrete restoration is underway.  Street resurfacing will occur soon.  For full information, please click here.  

Water Main Replacement for Byron between Damen and Ravenswood

Contractors working with the Dept. of Water Management have replaced the water main from 1891 under Byron from Damen to Ravenswood.  Restoration will begin soon. For full information, please  click here.

Water Main Replacement for Warner between Leavitt and Damen

Contractors working with the Dept. of Water Management will begin replacing the water main from 1891 under Warner from Leavitt to Damen.  For more information, please click here.   

Water Main Replacement on the 3500 of Leavitt and Hamilton

Contractors working with the Department of Water Management have begun working to replace the 1891 mains under Leavitt from Addison to Belmont, Hamilton from Addison to School.  For full information on this project, please click here.    

Water Mains Coming Soon:

Berteau (Bell to Damen): Start in June

Ashland (Irving to Lawrence): Delayed until July - Stay Tuned!  

The Chicago Cubs have provided some additional funding for infrastructure improvements in the 44th 46th and 47th Wards.   In the 47th ward we will be getting new residential street lighting on: W Byron (Clark to Ashland), N Janssen (Addison to Irving Park) and N Greenview (Addison to Irving Park).

Chicago River Work (east side) Berteau to Montrose (from Riverbank Neighbors) 

Please check out this updated landscaping plan for the bank.

New to the plan:

• removal of all Ailanthus, honeysuckle and buckthorn (all invasives);
• add soil to the rip rap on the upper sections of the project area to make planting easier and recovery quicker;
• substitute for the elderberry, since we said we have a thriving e-berry community already;
• substituted a cover seed mix instead of the IDOT mix we objected to;
• four species of gray dogwood (stakes) that a vigorous colonizers for the new territories.

These will be substantial new lands, with the bank secured, and planting begun. Riverbank Neighbors will be able to enrich species diversity over time and introduce many new forbs. Habitat for birds and reptiles and amphibians and mammals will be greatly improved.

Horner Park Riverbank Project (from US Army Corps)

Tree cutting is complete. Erosion Control consisting of silt fence, silt curtain, inlet protection is installed. Excavation of topsoil, stripping, fill disposal and topsoil placement is underway.   Excavation to install Limestone/Flagstone is underway. Root Wads will also be installed along the river bank in the coming weeks.

• Leland Ave Full Closure will be up until June 2014.  
• Ravenswood from Lawrence to Leland Ave Full Closure will be up until June 2014 on the west side of Ravenswood.
• Ravenswood (east side) between Ainslie and Winnemac blockades may be in place on the street to make room for the work to be done however there is not a parking restriction when workers are not present.
• Ravenswood (west side) between Lawrence and Grace landscaping projects are underway along the base of the walls along the Metra tracks.  Short closures will be necessary to install the new plants, so pay attention to parking restriction signs.

For more information, visit the infrastructure section of our website or contact Jim Poole at jim@chicago47.org or 773-549-4462.