non sequitur Friday

Metra 100th St. grade crossing work

 FYI - Here's some info from Metra about 100th St. grade crossing work next week.

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A crossing replacement project on the Rock Island Line’s Beverly Branch will impact midday outbound service on Monday, April 29 and Tuesday, April 30.

Outbound Beverly Branch Line Trains #605 through #615 (departures from LaSalle Street between 8:25 a.m. and 1:25 p.m.) will operate on the Rock Island mainline, making stops at 95th Street/Longwood, 103rd Street/Washington Heights and Blue Island/Vermont Street, where they will turn around for an inbound trip on the Beverly Branch. Passengers on these outbound trains who need to access Beverly Branch stations will be allowed to stay onboard the train for the inbound trip, which will make all scheduled stops on the Beverly Branch.

During the replacement of the 100th Street crossing on the Beverly Branch Line, operations will be restricted to a single track. Because this greatly restricts the flow of traffic on the line, the schedule was modified to minimize delays for both Beverly Branch and mainline trains. A copy of the Rock Island Line schedule highlighting the affected trains can be found here.

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This morning I found detour signs for car traffic, so the work is already affecting folks who need to drive on 100th between Walden and Wood.

non sequitur Friday

Major Taylor Trail clean up this Saturday 4/20

 Our Earth Day trail cleanup is happening on Sat. 4/20 from 9 am to noon. 

If you have work gloves you like, please bring them. Dress for yard work. A limited number of work gloves will be available for use during the workday. 

Depending on how many volunteers we have, we may spread out to more locations along the trail.

Sign-up link is below. If you plan to come, it's helpful if you sign up so we have an idea of how many people to expect. We hope to see you there.

Sign up here.

non sequitur Friday

solar eclipse on 4/8

 On Monday 4/8, we'll be able to see a solar eclipse. While the path of totality will be a few hundred miles south of Chicago, it will be nearly total around 2:05 pm.

More info here - NASA web site.

electronics recycling

 It's a good idea to carefully read the list of what they accept. 

non sequitur Friday

Variations on a theme...

Major Taylor trail cleanup on Sat. 4/20

 Our Earth Day trail cleanup is happening on Sat. 4/20 from 9 am to noon. 

If you have work gloves you like, please bring them. Dress for yard work. A limited number of work gloves will be available for use during the workday. 

Depending on how many volunteers we have, we may spread out to more locations along the trail.

Sign-up link is below. If you plan to come, it's helpful if you sign up so we have an idea of how many people to expect. We hope to see you there.

Sign up here.

non sequitur Friday

Variations on a theme...

99th St. dry cleaner closing 3/28

 If you have clothing or other items at the dry cleaning shop on 99th between Longwood and Walden, you need to pick that stuff up ASAP.

non sequitur Friday

non sequitur Friday

Starbucks at 103rd and Longwood

FYI - The Starbucks at 103rd and Longwood is closing for remodeling starting on 3/17 and reopening in May. 

I heard through the grapevine that most employees will be working at the 95th and Ashland location until the Longwood location opens. I'm glad that they'll be able to keep working during that closure.

Other local coffee options:  Afro Joe's on 99th, Two Mile on Walden, Andy Sunflower Cafe on Western, O'Kelly's on Western, Erin's Cup on 111th and more. 

South Side Irish parade on 3/17

Tomorrow at noon the parade steps off from 103rd and Western. Enjoy!

More info here: official parade web site.

non sequitur Friday

Edna White garden Easter egg hunt on 3/23

The first spring event at Edna White Community Garden will be an Easter egg hunt on Sat. March 23rd from 10-1.

 10:00 Egg Hunt is for children of all ages with Special Needs
11:30 Egg Hunt all are welcome 

They will have sweets and coffee donated by Beverly Bakery and kid friendly lemonades and cocktails for adults, as well as a photo booth by All That Shimmers & Shine .

A $10 donation to the garden per family is appreciated!

They are seeking donations of plastic eggs and candy/toys that will fit into the eggs.

 

non sequitur Friday

forest preserve volunteering

 It's a great way to help with habitat restoration efforts and meet some great people. No previous experience needed. 

 

non sequitur Friday

non sequitur Friday

Variations on a theme - TUxedo Junction - Joe Jackson, others







Going WAY back...

Polar Adventure Day at Big Marsh Park on 2/17

 If you're looking for a bit of outdoor fun today, check out Polar Adventure Day at Big Marsh Park, noon to 3. Info below.

non sequitur special edition

Variations on a theme...

non sequitur Friday

non sequitur Friday

Variations on a theme

social bike ride on Sat. 2/3

Femmes & Thems does casual, social bike rides in areas across the city. They're coming to Beverly & Morgan Park on Saturday.

They describe their rides as "a safe space for women, femme, non-binary and trans Chicagoans to ride bikes together."

If this sounds like just what you're looking for, come out and ride next Saturday. 

Metra changes coming on 2/1

In case you missed the recent news, Metra has overhauled their fare structure. I grabbed one of these handouts from the train.  These changes are effective on Thursday 2/1. 

The number of fare zones is being reduced from 10 to 4. The new monthly pass from Beverly and Morgan Park to the Loop will be a reasonable $75, significantly less than the pre-pandemic cost of around $160. 

The info below is about changes related to buying tickets. There won't be ticket agents at any stations as of 2/1, only ticket machines and the Ventra app. 

If you are boarding at a station without a ticket machine and you don't use the Ventra app, you can pay cash to a conductor on board the train. If you board at LaSalle or another station with a ticket machine and you want to pay cash on the train, you will be charged a $5 surcharge, though they're waiving that in the early days of this transition. 

All ticket options (1-way, day pass, day pass 5-pack, monthly pass, Saturday/ Sunday/holiday pass, weekend pass and regional connect pass) will be available on the Ventra app. Only the 1-way and Saturday/Sunday/holiday pass will be available for cash on the train. 

Yes, they're really trying to nudge as many riders as possible to use the Ventra app. The good news is that it's pretty reliable now. I tried it in the early days and got frustrated because it crashed a lot. That rarely happens now.

They're also allowing bikes on all Metra trains now and they're starting to increase capacity for carrying bikes. Click here for more info.

The new fare zone map is below. If you want to see a bigger version, click on the map to go to a bigger version on the Metra web site.

non sequitur Friday

Variations on a theme...

Polar Adventure Day TODAY (1/20) at Big Marsh Park

 If you're looking for a bit of outdoor fun today, check out Polar Adventure Day at Big Marsh Park, noon to 3. Info below.

Metra information sessions about new fare structure

 If you ride Metra, either regularly or occasionally, you may want to check this out - either online or in person.

Metra has scheduled informational sessions at all downtown stations to answer questions from riders from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the schedule below:
Jan. 23: Millennium Station
Jan. 24: LaSalle Street Station
Jan. 25: Ogilvie Transportation Center
Jan 30: Chicago Union Station

On a related note, Metra has adopted a Passenger Code of Conduct. Anyone using Metra facilities or trains and who breaks the rules risks suspension of riding privileges and/or confiscation of the fare media. News release here.

non sequitur Friday

the Frunchroom - TONIGHT

The Frunchroom storytelling session is happening at Beverly Arts Center on Thursday 1/18 starting at 7:30 pm.  

Click here for more info. 

Rock Island Public House anniversary fun

 

13328 Old Western Ave. at Broadway, Blue Island

https://www.facebook.com/rockislandpublichouse/

non sequitur Friday

Variations on a theme

non sequitur Friday

Got some NOLA classics for you.