by admin | Jan 13, 2018 | Activism, Books, Chicago, Civil rights, Government, History, Immigration, Literature, National security, Racism
Greetings from the U.S. city founded by a Haitian immigrant. Sometime in the 1780s, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, reportedly born of a French father and an African slave mother, who had gained some education in France and made his way from New Orleans to the Midwest,...
by admin | Jan 5, 2018 | Climate, Geography, Personal history, Resilience, Travel, Weather
We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post . . . . Tens of millions of Americans are accustomed to weather bulletins in winter months advising them of wintry conditions, whether they involve bitter cold or blowing snow. It is no great secret to anyone in recent...
by admin | Jan 1, 2018 | Art, Geography, History, Humanities, Parks, Personal history, Recreation, Travel
For three months, I have been intermittently aware that, back in August, I shared two phases of a trip to Norway that my wife and I took in July—and that I promised to complete the story with two more. At the same time, I was laying the groundwork for an entirely new...
by admin | Dec 13, 2017 | Activism, Books, Climate, Crime, Disaster, History, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Resilience
Amid all the necessary attention to current disasters, small community conferences across the country are steadily training and educating local government staff, emergency volunteers, and local stakeholders in hazard-related issues to become more resilient. Because...
by admin | Nov 24, 2017 | Careers, Chicago, Environment, History, Humanities, Parks, Recreation, Urban Planning
Ed Uhlir died Wednesday, not living long enough to enjoy another Thanksgiving because multiple myeloma overtook him at 73. But the entire Chicago region can be thankful for his quiet service to the city and for his major accomplishment as both an architect and a...