Chicago homeowners can get up to $250 in rebates for flood-proofing landscape projects such as planting shrubs and catching stormwater. The city-funded Chicago Sustainable Backyards program will be detailed at the April 3 East Village Association meeting, starting at 7pm in the Happy Village, 1059 N. Wolcott Ave. The Wicker Park-based Center for Neighborhood Technology project refunds half the cost of trees, native plants , compost bins and rain barrels purchased this year. Garden centers and stores involved in the rebate include Ashland Ace Hardware, City Escape, Costco, Fertile Garden, Gethsemane, Home Depot, Jayson Home, Menards, Sprout Home, Christy Webber and Whole Foods. A 6 pm June 13 workshop at the West Town branch library, 1625 W. Chicago Ave., will offer more details on how to install a rain barrel, set up a compost bin or plant a tree.

East Village Association membership meeting minutes, May 6, 2013 Submitted by Meghan Quinn Guest speakers: Cook County Sheriff’s Police central warrant command staff director Bob O’Neill and chief Ed Burke Director O’Neill joined us to speak about the repurposing of the Chicago Police 13th District Station. While there is no final move-in date yet, O’Neill says that there will be about 85 people working out of the building and about 40 of them will be there per day. The building will be open from 5am to 2am daily. This time will be divided into two 10-hour shifts. The officers will drive out in their cars after roll call and will take their cars home at the end of their shifts. About 5% of the cars will be marked. No prisoners will spend the night in the building, though the officers will sometimes bring prisoners in to question for a brief them. In fact, they want to remove the existing jall cells altogether, and use that as part of their operational space. Ultimately, they would ...

By Jenny Turner, president, La Salle II LSC The LaSalle II Local School Council is pleased to inform you that after a vigilant search the Principal Selection Committee has successfully identified our new LaSalle II Magnet School principal. We are delighted to announce that Lauren Albani will be joining us in June to assume leadership of our school. Albani is a highly qualified and experienced elementary school teacher and principal, and is currently principal of Lafayette Elementary, 2714 W. Augusta Blvd. Her professionalism, dedication and knowledge made her standout during the selection process.

The East Village Association sent this letter on May 21 to Ald. Proco "Joe" Moreno regarding development on the 800 blocks of Marshfield and Paulina. We were disappointed to learn that the City will not facilitate a land swap to reestablish the original alley between and running parallel to Marshfield and Paulina. However, with your support and the developer’s cooperation, we believe we can still achieve some of what the alley swap would have accomplished.

West Town crime: April 2013 Last month's 48 reported violent crime incidents in West Town were one fewer than in April a year ago. There was one homicide, on April 28, described by the Chicago Tribune as a bar fight that spilled onto Division Street in the 2500 block. The East Village Association analyzed statistics downloaded from the City of Chicago Data Portal and published on the Tribune Crime in Chicago website, comparing them to the same period a year ago. Crime type April 2013 % change Jan-Apr '03 % change Violent crime 48 -2% 158 -12%   Homicide 1 0% 4 33%   Sexual assault 3 200% 4 -64%   Assault 8 33% 25 9%   Battery 15 36% 33 -11%   Robbery 21 -30% 92 -12% Property crime 313 -4% 1,099 -10%   Burglary 69 38% 230 14%   Theft ...

By Jennifer Mathews Adventure Stage Chicago’s youth mentoring program, the Trailblazers, presents the premiere of "Stuff: A Curious Collection," created in collaboration with playwright Sandra Fenichel Asher. The free, hourlong all-ages shows are at 7pm May 20 & 21 at the Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St. They're followed by snacks and interactive theater games. To reserve seats, call 773-342-4141 or visit adventurestage.org .