Spring has sprung and Hollywood has returned to River North! Please take note of upcoming filming schedules in our neighborhood.

Filming Notification on Kinzie

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Location: 66 W. Kinzie

Traffic Impact: The north side of Kinzie

CTA Construction Activity under Brown Line

Date and Time: Every night beginning Wednesday, May 14, 2014 to Friday, May 16, 2014 from 7 pm to 6 am the next day

Location: Franklin St (between Illinois and Chicago)

Traffic Impact: To accommodate installation of new steel structure to remove a slow zone there will be a “No Parking / Tow Zone”

CTA Construction Activity under Brown Line

Date and Time: Sunday, May 18, 2014 from 6 am to 8 pm

Location: Franklin St (between Illinois and Chicago)

Traffic Impact: To accommodate installation of new steel structure to remove a slow zone there will be a “No Parking / Tow Zone”. Please note there may be noise prior to 9 am for staging of trucks and preparing equipment, but the most loud noise will take place after 9 am

The public is invited to attend a community meeting on Monday, May 19 at 6 pm for a development proposal for properties located at 167 West Erie Street and 720 North LaSalle Street. The meeting will be held at Gino’s East former site, 633 N. Wells Street.   Representatives of the Magellan Development team will present their plans and answer any questions you may have about these two proposals.

Alderman Reilly will co-host the meeting in conjunction with your River North Residents Association (RNRA) and monitor the discussion, take notes, and record your feedback.

WHAT:     167 West Erie Street and 720 North LaSalle Street

WHO:       Hosted by Alderman Brendan Reilly and River North Residents Association (RNRA)

WHEN:     Monday, May 19, 2014 at 6 p.m.

WHERE:   Gino’s East Restaurant (note the former location)

               633 N Wells Street

               Chicago, IL 60654 

We hope you can join RNRA and Alderman Reilly to engage in a direct dialogue with the development team to gain a better understanding of their proposal and receive answers to any questions you may have.

 Thank you to all our of our volunteers and families for another successful event Spring Egg hunt! We had record turnouts for hunting 1500 eggs on Saturday. A BIG thank you to our Family chair Lana Berkovich (lberkovich@rnrachicago.org) for organizing this year’s event along with our very special sponsors, Jeff Stogsdill State Farm, Connie Regas’ Fleur de lis, Suzuki-Orf music and Cleo. We also want to thank our volunteers and RNRA committee chairpersons for lending their help. We would love to host more FREE events for our families and are always looking for volunteers.

The public is invited to attend a community meeting on Monday, April 28th at 6 pm for a development proposal for the property located at 750 N. Hudson Avenue. The meeting will be held at Kinmont Restaurant, 419 W. Superior Street.   Representatives of the ONNI Group development team will present their plans and answer any questions you may have about this proposal.  Alderman Reilly will co-host the meeting in conjunction with the River North Residents Association (RNRA) and monitor the discussion, take notes, and record your feedback.

The ONNI group has submitted a proposal for the development of a 25-story mixed use building to contain 240 residential units, 10,000 square feet of retail space, two landscaped roof terraces for residents, and an open green space at the corner of Kingsbury Street and Chicago Avenue.

WHAT:     750 N. Hudson Avenue Proposal

WHO:       Hosted by Alderman Brendan Reilly and River North Residents Association (RNRA)

WHEN:     Monday, April 28, 2014 at 6 p.m.

WHERE:   Kinmont Restaurant

               419 W. Superior Street

               Chicago, IL 60654 

We hope you can join RNRA and Alderman Reilly to engage in a direct dialogue with the development team to gain a better understanding of their proposal and receive answers to any questions you may have.

Looking for something to do when the weather can’t decide if it’s spring or still winter? Check out some of Chicago’s best museums this month for free.

Monday

Adler Planetarium | Illinois teachers and active military personnel receive FREE general admission.

The National Museum of Mexican Art | Admission is FREE all month of April.

Tuesday

Adler Planetarium | Illinois teachers and active military personnel receive FREE general admission.

Swedish American Museum | FREE admission the second Tuesday of every month. (April 8)

Museum of Contemporary Art | FREE admission on Tuesdays year round for Illinois residents (April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29).

Loyola University Museum of Art | FREE for all visitors on Tuesdays (April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29). Free with proper identification to members, Loyola University Chicago faculty and staff, Loyola students, clergy members, employees of other museums, youth 17 and under, and active military members and their families.

The National Museum of Mexican Art | Admission is FREE all month of April.

Wednesday

Adler Planetarium | Illinois teachers and active military personnel receive FREE general admission.

Clark House Museum | FREE admission on Wednesdays (April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30).

Glessner House Museum | FREE admission on Wednesdays (April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30).

Charnley-Persky House | 1 tour at noon on Wednesdays (April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30): It’s first come first serve and there is a limit of 15 people who can take the tour.

The National Museum of Mexican Art | Admission is FREE all month of April.

Thursday

      Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier |  Kraft Free Family Night: Thursday evenings from 5-8 p.m. (April 3, 10, 17, 24).

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum | FREE admission on Thursdays for Illinois residents (April 3, 10, 17, 24).

The National Museum of Mexican Art | Admission is FREE all month of April.

Adler Planetarium | Illinois teachers and active military personnel receive FREE general admission.

Art Institute of Chicago | FREE admission for Illinois residents every Thursday evening (April 3, 10, 17, 24) from 5-8 p.m.

Friday/Saturday

The National Museum of Mexican Art | Admission is FREE all month of April.

Adler Planetarium | Illinois teachers and active military personnel receive FREE general admission.

Sunday

Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier | FREE admission the first Sunday of the month for visitors age 15 and under. (April 6)

The National Museum of Mexican Art | Admission is FREE all month of April.

Adler Planetarium | Illinois teachers and active military personnel receive FREE general admission.

Alderman Brendan Reilly has announced the completion of a resurfacing project on Kingsbury Street.  The Alderman initiated this significant infrastructure improvement in the River North area and allocated funds from his Aldermanic Menu to resurface the street between West Ohio Street and West Grand Avenue.  This project was finished November 13, 2013.The project required the removal of the old, deteriorated asphalt on the affected portion of street. Following the removal of the old asphalt, the Chicago Department of Transportation made the necessary structural adjustments to the numerous manholes, catch basins and curb side drains that are located along the street to ensure they were in alignment with the new layer of asphalt.

According to the Chicago History Museum, Kingsbury Street is named after E.S. Kingsbury, a landowner and subdivider of early Chicago.

The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS)  resumed their seasonal street sweeping schedule beginning Tuesday, April 1 through November 30th. DSS’ fleet of street sweepers help to keep streets clean and prevent dirt and debris from entering the sewer system-ultimately allowing for better drainage during a rain storm. Click on the image below to view an interactive map of the 2014 Street Sweeping Schedule.  Please note however, that DSS has not yet converted to the new ward boundaries for sweeping schedules. To download the full schedule, click here to visit their website.

Residents are asked to be mindful of all temporary and permanent street sweeping parking restriction signage. To ensure curb-to-curb street cleaning, temporary parking restrictions are posted the day before the work is scheduled to begin on any street.  Some arterial streets have permanent signage that specifies a once-per-week period when parking is prohibited for street sweeping.

Please take care to read all posted parking restriction signs and be aware that street cleaning signs take precedence over other posted signs on the street. On street cleaning days, the streets should be kept clear of vehicles from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Vehicles that violate street-sweeping restrictions will be issued a citation and possible tow.

From the River North Business Association,

We are proud to announce Gino’s East River North, Yamato Foot Massage and Bar and Kinmont Restaurant to RNRA’s Member Card deal program.

We also welcome Elite Performance Chiropractor and Susan Panozzo, Broker Associate with
Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty to our business sponsorship program. We thank you all for your support of our River North neighborhood.  For more information about sponsorship opportunities or for this year’s Taste of River North, July 18th-20th, please contact us at info@rnrachicago.org.

Individuals and families in Illinois can now sign up for quality health coverage through Get Covered Illinois by visiting www.GetCoveredIllinois.gov. Through the Marketplace, you can make side-by-side comparisons of health coverage options and find the plan that works best for you, your family and your budget.

All of the plans you’ll find through Get Covered Illinois cover important things like doctor visits, hospital stays, prescriptions and more. And you won’t be denied coverage if you are sick or already have a condition like asthma, diabetes or even cancer.

You may even be able to get help paying for your plan. For example, if you are an individual who earns less than $45,960 a year, or a member of a family of four that makes less than $94,200 a year, you may be able to get a tax credit to help pay for your health insurance coverage. You may even qualify for a free or low-cost plan.

 Sometimes finding the right health plan can be confusing. The good news is that you don’t have to figure it out alone. There are specially trained counselors, called Navigators, who are available to help you learn about your choices and enroll for free – online, by phone or in-person. To enroll online or find a Navigator near you, visit www.GetCoveredIllinois.gov.

So why wait? Enrollment is open through March 31, 2014. Take the first step to getting covered. To enroll online or find a Navigator near you, visit www.GetCoveredIllinois.gov or call the toll-free Help Desk at (866) 311-1119, open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m