Patrick Filbin

2 weeks ago | blockclubchicago.org | Patrick Filbin

LINCOLN PARK — On a recent Friday afternoon, 14-year-old Nick Stratton walked the stretch of Armitage Avenue between the Brown Line station and Lincoln Park High School, pointing out every blind spot, bottleneck and narrow lane like a seasoned traffic engineer. “This bus stop gets insanely crowded,” Stratton said. “There are at least 40 people here after school. You have parents parked to pick up their kids.

2 weeks ago | blockclubchicago.org | Patrick Filbin

NORTH SIDE — Business owners and neighbors across Lakeview and Lincoln Park are on alert after a group carried out a string of four armed robberies within about 30 minutes late Monday. Chicago police said the robberies started about 11:30 p.m. Monday in Northalsted, when two men confronted a 47-year-old woman walking along North Broadway and stole her belongings. Three more people, including a DePaul student, were robbed at gunpoint over the next half hour, according to police.

2 weeks ago | blockclubchicago.org | Patrick Filbin

UPTOWN — Spirits and ghosts aren’t the only ones roaming the gravestones at Graceland Cemetery these days. A litter of coyote pups has taken up residence at the historic cemetery in Uptown, much to the delight of neighbors who’ve caught glimpses of the furry family darting between gravestones. But the animals’ presence has also prompted cemetery officials to temporarily ban dogs and issue safety warnings to visitors.

3 weeks ago | blockclubchicago.org | Patrick Filbin

CHICAGO — For many years, Black and Brown trans women in Chicago have sounded the alarm on a crisis that has been forced into the shadows. While public focus has come and gone, anti-trans violence has never faded for those closest to it. They’ve gathered to mourn, marched to demand justice and organized to protect one another in the absence of lasting solutions. In November, when the city launched a task force to address that violence, Channyn Lynne Parker didn’t call it a victory.

3 weeks ago | blockclubchicago.org | Patrick Filbin

LINCOLN PARK — A corner restaurant on Armitage Avenue in Lincoln Park is starting a new chapter this summer with the opening of Dimmi Dimmi Corner Italian, an Italian-American spot from Cornerstone Restaurant Group. The restaurant will open at 1112 W. Armitage Ave., formerly home to Tarantino’s, a neighborhood favorite for 30 years that closed this year. Dimmi Dimmi marks a homecoming for chef Matt Eckfeld, who is returning to Chicago after more than a decade in New York’s fine-dining scene.