Should you remove caps from plastic bottles before putting them in your Blue Cart? Marjorie Isaacson, our favorite recycling block captain, says Chicago policy is that either way works. But the devil is in the details. "The city sends recyclable materials to different private recycling sorting facilities," says the city's recycling newsletter. "Some prefer that caps are removed while others prefer they stay on — it all depends on their process for recycling plastics. Since we can't tell which facility your recyclables will go to, it is best to do whichever is easiest for you." Why would you want to remove the caps? They melt at different temperatures, according to Recyclebank , a recycling loyalty program the city cites as an authority on this issue. When melted to form pellets for recycling, unmelted plastic can ruin the batch. Some cities won't accept drink bottles because of the sorting issues. That would seem like a good enough reason to remove th

By Ernesto Matias  Principal, Wells Community Academy   William H. Wells High School opened its doors in 1935. Originally it was an elementary school in 1859 and a middle school from 1883 till 1934. ( William Harvey Wells was Chicago's school superintendent from 1856 until 1864.) The school at 936 N. Ashland has long been a neighborhood school serving mostly poor and working-class families. The student body in 2000 was 78% Hispanic and 16% African American. That shifted to roughly 50% Hispanic and 50% African American after the district closed a low-performing high school in 2005, dramatically increasing the number of West Side students at Wells. Gang rivalries between students from different neighborhoods led to an upsurge of violence and disciplinary incidents at the school after 2005, eroding relationships between teachers and students and significantly disrupting an already tenuous academic environment. Meanwhile, the neighborhood around Wells was gentrifying. New residen

President's Message | By Greg Nagel    It’s that time of year again for the election of East Village Association officers. And that also means it’s time for the EVA membership to step up and exercise their voting rights one more time and vote for the EVA officers for this year. We have one new candidate running for treasurer. KK Goh has written a profile on his background and is eager to make a contribution to the organization. We are very fortunate to have the remainder of the officers re-pledge their time, energy and talents to EVA. With the influx of some new blood from KK and the experience and continuity of the existing board I think we are posed for a great year! Please join us at the March EVA general meeting and bring your support for our candidates for this next year. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the Happy Village, at Wolcott and Thomas streets. I want to make sure that everyone gets the chance to vote for the officers of their choice. Please join us. The East Villag

The East Village Association board has slated Kok Keng Goh as a candidate for treasurer in the March 7 election. Here is his introduction to EVA members. Nominations also will be taken from the floor at 7 p.m. in the Happy Village, 1059 N. Wolcott. The other slated candidates — Greg Nagel, Neal McKnight and Dana Palmer — will stand for re-election in their current positions of president, vice president and secretary. Their biographies can be found here . I graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and moved to Chicago in 2007 to work for ZS Associates, a management consulting company. I assisted clients, primarily pharmaceuticals, with optimizing their sales and marketing functions such as incentive compensation, realigning geographical coverages, promotion and call plans, and market research. I left ZS in 2010 after obtaining U.S. residency to pursue a career in real estate investing. Most of my work is currently on the South Side, where I partner with a nonprofit organ

Minutes for February 7, 2011 membership meeting submitted by Dana Palmer   Commenced at 7:06 p.m. EVA president Greg Nagel spoke briefly about current topics: • Schools: EVA is interested in having a greater involvement with the neighborhood schools and have invited the Wells High School principal to be the guest speaker at the membership meeting in April. • Voting for bylaw change: The EVA board is currently working on a solution to eliminate or lessen any abuse to the bylaws regarding voting and membership. • Elections: Elections for the board will be held at the membership meeting in March. An e-mail blast has gone out asking for interested parties. So far, Neal McKnight has agreed to run for vice president, Dana Palmer for secretary, K.K. Goh for treasurer and Greg Nagel for president. • Business Minute: Scott Rappe will ask Nicole Semple to invite Ron Leavitt, owner of The Butcher & Larder, to come to the March membership meeting to do the business minute. Rich

Louis Schriber III of Shorewood Development Group and Bob Brownson of Oxford Development Partners   Minutes of Feb. 15 board meeting submitted by Stephen Rynkiewicz Neal McKnight called the board to order at 6:42 p.m. at Leona's Restaurant, 1936 W. Augusta. Attending: Rich Anselmo, Kok Keng Goh, Scott Rappe, Stephen Rynkiewicz, Tom Tomek. Pizza Hut property The former Pizza Hut building at 1601 W. Division is in receivership with Wintrust bank, said Bob Brownson of Oxford Development Partners . With Louis Schriber III of Shorewood Development Group, Brownson outlined a plan that would anchor a PNC Bank branch there in a new four-story apartment building. Two drive-through lanes behind the building were a sticking point. "The drive-through is a deal-breaker," Schriber said. However, McKnight noted that the board last year rejected a similar proposal . The Division Street entrance could clog traffic at the busy six-corner intersection, McKnight said. And civic

Actors to architects, journalists to tattooists — the city wants to hear this month from anyone in Chicago's creative community. A web survey will aid the city's Cultural Affairs and Special Events department develop programs, artist spaces and "projects yet to be imagined," according to Chicago Artists Resource , a city website suggested in a similar survey from 2000. That census drew largely from visual artists such as painters, sculptors and photographers. A review of the results led the city to mount its annual Creative Chicago Expo workshops, a loft shopping guide and other projects for artists. This year's anonymous poll, which the Wicker Park-Bucktown business-improvement district promoted last week, looks for people who identify with a wide range of creative endeavors in academia, creative writing and marketing as well as performance and visual arts. The survey asks about your business and workspace, and which efforts would most help support it.