Chicago Public Schools’ first day of school is Monday, August 26th – one week ahead of the traditional post-Labor Day start. The public school for most of River North children is The Ogden International School of Chicago.Parents should visit their school and/or visit www.cps.edu/B2S, or call the back-to-school hotline at (773) 553-3CPS (3277) for additional information.

Four Star Bike & Chow Bicycle Ride

This Sunday, August 25th, the Active Transportation Alliance holds their Four Star Bike & Chow ride through streets in the 42nd Ward.
Four different route options (12-, 22-, 35- or 62-mile) all start from UIC and head north through the Loop past Merchandise Mart through River North, Near North and Dearborn Street. Select routes will make their way back south along the Kinzie Bike Lane and Dearborn Bike Lane.
Note: All streets along this bike ride will remain open for vehicular traffic.
For detailed route information, please click here

The BEST Live music, the BEST Restaurants, the BEST artists and merchants were all on hand at our 12th Annual Taste of River North! Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors and volunteers. And a BIG thank you to our Executive Committee for putting it all together with the support of Ravenswood Events. Stay tuned for more pictures capturing ALL the fun at this year’s Taste. Hosted by your River North Residents Association.

We hope to see you next year!

DIVVY Bike

The City of Chicago’s new bike sharing program arrives in River North with sharing station installations all around the neighborhood. The Divvy program is set to begin on June 28th. Annual memberships to Divvy cost between $75 to $125. each. The memberships will allow for unlimited uses of up to 30 minutes. Overtime charges will apply after 30 minutes. Daily passes will cost $7 for 30 minutes. For more info, please go to www.divvybikes.com.

On July 24th, River North Alderman Brendan Reilly was joined by 11 of his colleagues when he employed a procedural tactic in the City Council Rules (called “Defer and Publish”) to delay a full City Council vote on “Building Energy Use Benchmarking” ordinance until the next City Council Meeting scheduled for September 11, 2013.

Mayor Emanuel’s proposed “Building Energy Use Benchmarking” ordinance would require all commercial and residential buildings over 50,000 square feet to provide their energy consumption data to the City of Chicago on an annual basis.  The proposal would require each building’s energy consumption data to be posted on a public website; and each building’s energy consumption would be rated and assigned an energy performance score.

Alderman Reilly hopes with help from residents, “we can work cooperatively with Mayor Emanuel to craft a responsible Energy Use Benchmarking ordinance that provides property owners with the valuable data they need to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings, without burdening them with additional costly government mandates.”

To share your concerns with Mayor Emanuel and request an opportunity to make reasonable changes to the proposal that would protect condominium and co-op owners from additional costly mandates, e-mail: letterforthemayor@cityofchicago.org

and cc: mayor.emanuel@cityofchicago.org. For more information about the proposed ordinance, please visit the Alderman Reilly’s “virtual office” at  www.ward42chicago.com.

Free Family Fun Festivals begin every Wednesday from June 12 through August 18th at 10 am in Millenium Park. These annual summer events for children features educational activities, arts and crafts and games. Children interested in music can enjoy The Wiggleworms at 10 a.m. everyday, which features Old Town School of Folk Music instructors who lead children in a sing-a-long and reading circle. Each week features a different theme hosted by museums and organizations throughout the city (themes TBA).  The park is located at 201 E. Randolph St. Millennium Park

Read more at Chicago Metromix.

What makes Taste of River North different from all the other summer fests in Chicago? We have a great KidZone dedicated to our River North Families. And this year’s KidZone is bigger and better! Sponsored by River North resident, Jeff Stogsdill and State Farm, we have non-stop entertainment for all ages. Please stop by Saturday and Sunday from Noon- 5pm.

Saturday Stage Schedule

12:00 The Great Scott

1:00 HealthKick Kung Fu

2:00 Reddy Set Yoga!

3:00 Miss Lauren

Sunday Stage Schedule

12:00 Mary Macaroni

1:00 Mr. Singer and Kerry Appleberry

2:00 Reddy Set Yoga!

3:00 Super Stolie

4:00 MyGym ChicagoSee More

Chicago City Council voted to approve Mayor Emanuel’s Parking Meter Settlement by a vote of 39 – 11 on Wednesday June 5th..

Alderman  Brendan Reilly was one of the 11 aldermen who voted against the Settlement, because the plan called for extending parking meter hours from 9 PM to 10 PM on 30,000 meters across Chicago and from 9 PM to Midnight at thousands of meters located across downtown Chicago’s 42nd Ward including River North – to offset costs associated with providing so-called “Free Sunday” parking in the outlying neighborhood wards.  Although he opposed the measure, Alderman Reilly recognized Mayor Emanuel, Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton and Chicago’s Chief Financial Officer Lois Scott for their excellent work negotiating the settlement of “true-up” calculations and invoices that will save Chicago taxpayers nearly $1 billion in payments to Chicago Parking Meters, LLC over the next 71 years.

During the debate, the Alderman raised concerns that the extended meter hours will result in yet another revenue windfall for Chicago Parking Meters, LLC, and could have a chilling effect on local businesses across Chicago and throughout the 42nd Ward.

Alderman Reilly appreciates the hundreds of phone calls and emails of encouragement and support he has received over the past month. He remains committed to trying to find a way for the City of Chicago to buy-back this valuable public asset and finally put an end to the disastrous Parking Meter Lease that continues to soak local taxpayers.