#bicddnews

[sustainblueisland]

Help Build a Place to Play - National Parks & Rec Month

Providing more opportunities for play is emerging as a civic responsibility at the local level. Play as a policy imperative has not yet risen to the national agenda, despite increasing evidence of its importance:

Children are more overweight than ever, and they are actually gaining weight over summer break. The percentage of overweight children has doubled in the last 20 years, while the percentage of overweight teens has tripled.

The CDC reports that 4.5 million children (ages 5-17) have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Many of them are being medicated. 

Diagnoses of depression and anxiety disorders in children are also on the rise, with a corresponding increase in the use of psychoactive drugs to treat them. 

Violence, emotional outbursts, and lack of social skills for dealing with peers and authority figures are growing issues for schools. Today’s teachers spend more and more time on classroom management and less time actually teaching.

What can you do to help?

If you haven't heard, Blue Island Park District received a KaBOOM! grant to build a new Kiddie Corral Park. 

In just ONE day, a complete park will be built in 6 hours!

Blue Island Park District is looking for 150 volunteers. What a great opportunity for Blue Islanders to come together, help children stay healthy and leave a mark on our community. Call Cathie at 708-653-7354 for details.

When: Saturday, July 30 Where: Kiddie Corral Park, Blue Island

[bicdd]

Public Meetings for Comprehensive Plan

As a part of our comprehensive planning effort, the Community Development Department invites local residents, business owners, community leaders and other stakeholders to share their ideas about what the future of Blue Island should look like. Read more about Blue Island's Comprehensive Plan project.

The public will have 2 opportunities in June to contribute to the comprehensive plan by attending a special community planning event. These events will be held in the evening, and are open to all members of the Blue Island community. 

For more details, please contact Jessica Simoncelli via email or call [phone].

Workshop #1 Date: Monday, June 20th, 2011 Time: Evening, TBD Location: Salvation Army, 2900 W. Burr Oak

Workshop #2 Date: Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 Time: Evening, TBD Location: Blue Island Recreation Center, 2805 141st Street

[sustainblueisland]

Drive Safe! Complete Streets for our Community

June is Safe Driving Month, when motorists are reminded to observe safe driving practices. A recent report from the Children's Memorial Research Center notes that "motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in Illinois for children over 10 years of age." This includes children that are occupants AND pedestrians. We have to do more to protect our kids.

In Blue Island, a new approach is taking hold. It's called "Complete Streets" and it looks to make our roadways safe and functional for all users. A complete street provides safe, comfortable, and convenient travel for autos, cyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders. Supported by a Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant, the Active Transportation Alliance will work with a steering committee in Blue Island to create a Complete Streets policy for our community.

Complete Streets is about accessible community transportation - stuff like adequate facilities for transit, creating bike lanes, providing for equitable mobility, extending sidewalks, slowing down motor vehicles, and much more. The needs of those who can't afford to drive, or are too young to drive, are also considered. 

Curious to see a Complete Street in action? Visit Cal-Sag Cycles, 12840 Western Ave, for the June 11 grand opening of this pop-up bike shop! The kids from Cal-Sag Cycles will be on hand with Active Trans from 10a - 2p to help you gear up your bike for the Bike Commuter Challenge, as well as demonstrate ways Blue Island can complete its streets.

And for those interested in evaluating Blue Island's streets, see this "homework assignment" from Project ACTION: Did a recently completed road project adhere to Complete Streets principals?

[sustainblueisland]

Blue Island Designated Tree City USA - Just in Time for Arbor Day

Blue Island was recently recognized with a Tree City USA award designation by the Arbor Day Foundation. This award also contributes to Illinois' rank as the second state in the nation for Tree City municipalities.

Arbor Day Planting 2011

With the Urban Forestry Board and the Public Works Department leading the way, Blue Island will also be recognizing Arbor Day and celebrating with the planting of a new tree on the observed holiday date April 29 or a following Saturday (4/30).

Nationally the 29th of April is recognized as Arbor Day. Last year the UFB celebrated Arbor Day with the planting of a Patriot Elm Tree in the front yard of the Blue Island Historical Society. The location of the 2011 planting has yet to be determined.

During April, the Forestry Board is planning site maintenance and cleanup action days on Saturday mornings of the 9th and the 16th at several of last year's planting sites (City Hall, BI Video Parking Lot, Vermont & Rexford.) Plantings of trees and shrubs are being planned for several additional sites (TBA) which will likely take place on Saturdays April 30th - May 21, 2011. Check back for additional details.

Public Works Director designated official Forestry Manager

At it's March 24 meeting, the UFB also decided to designate Blue Island's Public Works Director (or his/her designee) as the City's official Forestry Manager for the purpose of stepping up enforcement of the Tree Ordinance. Blue Island's Tree Ordinance requires permits for any work on parkway trees, and levies fines for improper pruning such as the topping of trees which is forbidden by the ordinance.

For more information visit the Forestry Board web page. Our page also includes links to the Blue Island Tree Ordinance (94-301) and the 2010 Arbor Day Proclamation.

-Urban Forestry Board

[sustainblueisland]

Can Blue Island Create a Sustainable Local Food System?

We sure think so. And based on our recent CPPW Model Communities grant award, it would seem that Cook County Public Health Department & Public Health Institute for Metro Chicago both agree.

Blue Island Model Communities Grant: Creating a Sustainable Local Food System

One element of Blue Island's Model Communities grant directly to this month's national focus on nutrition. Our PSE* change strategy is to increase the availability and equitable access of healthy, locally produced foods by developing a Sustainable Local Food System.

The approach for this project is to form a taskforce(s) of interested and representative local stakeholders that will work through a 3-part process with our technical assistance partners at Delta Institute.

The 1st phase involves a community food assessment which will analyze Blue Island's food needs and the local resources available to meet them. 

The 2nd phase is a community food planning process that will use the results of the food assessment to identify projects, partnerships, and policy changes necessary to meet the food needs of all residents while also providing expanded economic opportunities for entire community.

Finally, the taskforce will work to implement the recommended strategies from the comprehensive food systems plan. Our existing community gardens will be expanded and we also hope to establish a food buying co-op, a community kitchen/kitchen incubator or a local CSA program.

Blue Island Needs Healthy Corner Stores

As a Model Communities grant recipient, we have also been linked with information and resources from the Healthy Corner Stores Network (HCSN). HCSN supports efforts to increase the availability and sales of healthy, fresh, affordable foods through small-scale stores in grocery, underserved communities. 

Details are still being sorted out by CCPHD & PHIMC, but it sounds like a great opportunity is just around the corner for one of Blue Island's corner stores. We've been informed by our CPPW Coordinator at PHIMC that Cook County Model Communities is currently planning a local Healthy Corner Stores program. 

The basic concept involves outreach to identify a corner store to work with - if the store owner is interested in participating and takes some initial steps towards change, he or she would be eligible to receive money to buy equipment to support the new healthy offerings. More details about this exciting program should be available within the next month or two.  

For more information about Blue Island's Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant or to get involved with the taskforce, please contact the Community Development Department's Model Communities Project Coordinator, Gita Rampersad.

*Policy, Systems, Environment Change. For more details on the PSE Change Strategy options, Model Communities Grant Program: Policy, Systems and Environmental (PSE) Change Briefing Book.

Healthy Corner Stores as an Economic Development Strategy 

[sustainblueisland]

Resolve to Be Ready in 2011

March is American Red Cross Month, a great opportunity for citizens, families and businesses to review disaster plans and build or restock emergency kits. 

According to FEMA Region X Administrator Ken Murphy, the American Red Cross not only provides help, hope and healing when disaster strikes, but also offers a wide selection of CPR/AED, first aid, disaster response and emergency preparedness training.

Said Murphy, "Red Cross classes and resources help people prepare with a few simple steps: build an emergency supply kit, make an emergency plan, and stay informed of the hazards in your area.  These resources can go a long way towards empowering our communities to make a real difference when the chips are down."

President Obama recognized the month's significance in a proclamation released yesterday.

Visit the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago for information on how to prepare your family for emergencies. 

Resolve to be Ready in 2011 is led by FEMA's Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and The Advertising Council.  For more information on the Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps, visit Ready.gov and CitizenCorps.gov. Follow FEMA online at www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Follow Administrator Craig Fugate's activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.  Social media links are provided for reference only. FEMA does not endorse non-government websites, companies or applications.

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. 

[sustainblueisland]

Model Communities Grant Award

Blue Island was recently awarded a $75,000 Model Communities grant through Cook County Public Health Department's Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) fund. The Model Communities program targets obesity reduction through policy, systems & environmental changes.  Included as a part of the award is free technical assistance from Active Transportation Alliance, Delta Institute & more.

The award will allow the Community Development Department & partners to:

1) Develop an Active Transportation Plan (non-motorized pedestrian plan) & Complete Streets Policy; 

2) Improve the local food system through a community food assessment; expansion of community gardens and implementation of other local food strategies; 

3) Help MetroSouth Medical Center become a Baby Friendly Hospital;

4) Build & strength partnerships through Blue Island's Model Communities Coalition. 

The Model Communities project will run from March 2011 - February 2012. During the next year, we will be actively recruiting input and participation from local stakeholders, like yourself. Stay tuned for more exciting details!

[sustainblueisland]

Reading the Landscape

As winter begins to thaw, we like to reach for some of our favorite nature writers in anticipation of Spring. One of the best is May Theilgaard Watts, a little known naturalist, educator, author and illustrator.  Watts was born in Chicago, went to the U of C, and lived in Highland Park's Ravinia neighborhood before being chosen as the Morton Arboretum's first naturalist.  Watts stayed with the Arboretum until 1961. In the following years, she was a champion of the rails-to-trails movement and the Illinois Prairie Path.

Watts may be best known for her economical illustrative style, used so effectively in her contributions to the popular, pocket-sized "Finder" series of guidebooks.  Through these guides, which feature "common" trees and "wild" flowers, she quietly promoted the movement to recognize and celebrate native plants.  Writing at the dawn of contemporary suburbia, the black-eyed susans and purple coneflowers that are now common in gardens across America were once unfashionable "weeds" in Watts' day. Watts major book is Reading the Landscape of America. Through it, Watts unpacks a unique sense of place in 21 short essays, guiding the reader as she reveals the story of each individual landscape. A sampling of favorite titles hints at the breadth of Watts' work: "Prairie Plowing Match," "Readin', Ritin', and Recess," "Watching the Islands Go By," "Coming Ashore," "Looking Down on Improved Property," "Reading the Headlines Only," "Botanizing from a Lower Berth." Watts' studied eye is quick to seize on how something as small as a switch of grass can change the course of a landscape's history. What is most compelling about Watts' work is her ability to uncover interwoven strands. Her writings show a deep concern for community, and carefully weighs the balance between the built and natural environments.  Watts returned to some of her favorite places two decades after first publishing Landscape, noting the ways they changed. As she wrote in her earlier preface, landscapes are made "by sun and shade, by wind, rain, and fire, by time; and by animals." If Watts' teaches us anything, it is that these records can't stand still - nor should we.