Rats are not difficult to find on Chicago streets after dark on a summer night. According to our first hand experience at Practical Chicago the problem has been allowed to fester since Lori Lightfoot took office. And that figures. She has shown a preference for ignoring serious problems to focus on things like removing statues. But … Continue reading Chicago’s Rat Control Policy Seems Ineffective
Lake Michigan is one of Chicago’s greatest recreational assets and anyone can take advantage of it. You do not need an expensive yacht. Jet skis can be rented from a company called Chicago Jet Ski Rentals. They are located in 31st Street Harbor on Dock J. They offer an early week special of $59 … Continue reading Enjoy Lake Michigan with a Jet Ski Rental
Navy Pier was very crowded this weekend. The view above looks west along the Pier’s south side boardwalk. Nobody seemed terribly concerned about the “Delta Variant” of COVID. If they were they would have been locked up at home. Here is Practical Chicago’s math on COVID: Illinois population (U.S. Census Bureau estimate July 1, 2019): 12,671,821 Illinois … Continue reading Navy Pier Packed Over the Weekend: Nobody is Scared of COVID
Protecting yourself from the City’s parking enforcement is a wise strategy. Time was when a parking ticket was maybe twenty-five dollars. But that is no longer the case. Today a parking ticket costs seventy dollars. In the example illustrated above, from April, the driver pulled into a spot just as a parking enforcement employee was … Continue reading Playing Defense: Always Get a Receipt when Parking on Chicago Streets
The good news? The Chicago Air & Water Show will take place in some form this year. The bad news? There will not be much to it. The City of Chicago is billing it as “reimagined.” But that is not much of a head fake. The program will be one hour long and only feature … Continue reading 2021 Chicago Air and Water Show to be Abbreviated
Crain’s Chicago Business reported this week that Mayor Lori Lightfoot may not run again. Apparently in a New York Times interview she said that COVID, violence and the media may be getting to her. But as reporter Greg Hinz points out: believing a politician when discussing said politician’s future plans is not a situation where … Continue reading Lightfoot Says She May Not Run Again
A business owner in northwest suburban Prairie Grove was ticketed recently for flying the American flag outside his store, according to the Gateway Pundit. He was cited twice and fined $200 by the Village for flying American flags outside his restaurant around the Fourth of July. Terry Trobiani, the owner of Gianelli’s, says he placed … Continue reading Prairie Grove Restaurant Owner Ticketed for flying the American Flag
Where have we been? Practical Chicago’s hosting provider decided to retire the server that had been our home for the last several years. They put us in a queue to be ported to a new server and it took longer than anticipated to complete the process. The good news is this will not be required again any … Continue reading Practical Chicago Is Back
Chicagoans, showing no signs of COVID fear, packed Wrigleyville bars over the weekend. The footage above shows a long line to get into Deuces on Clark Street. It was the same most places. There was not a mask to be seen, nobody was social distancing, and COVID protective partitioning was gone from inside every business … Continue reading Chicagoans Return to Bars in Large Numbers
Did you know Chicago property owners are now expected to pay an automatic annual tax increase on their real estate? Here is a description that came to Practical Chicago from an aid in one of the Alderman’s offices: “The annual increase is linked to CPI or 5 percent, whichever is lower. The City of Chicago … Continue reading Chicagoans Now Pay an Automatic Annual Property Tax Increase