On the evening of Friday, August 16th, the years'-long effort to save the La Casita library at Whittier Elementary School in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood took a turn for the worse. With no advance notice, Chicago Public Schools authorities brought demolition equipment and a demolition order to destroy the library. Parents and community members staged an emergency blockade, which forced crews to depart for the night. Library supporters maintained the blockade overnight.
But on the morning of Saturday, August 17th, CPS and demolition crews returned, flanked by Chicago police. A bulldozer eluded the blockade by destroying part of the surrounding fence away from defenders, opening a direct path to the library. Defenders stormed the facility once the fence was broken, but all of the defenders present at the time -- about a dozen in all -- were placed under arrest while a bulldozer destroyed the library, to the heartbreaking screams of onlookers.
Despite the destruction, the community immediately vowed to redouble their efforts. Jail solidarity efforts were organized for those arrested in La Casita's defense, all of whom were released. Community members staged a vigil to mourn the destroyed fieldhouse, and called for a new center to replace La Casita. City officials claim that the demolition "had to happen" despite eyebrow-raising circumstances like an apparently invalid demolition permit and the sidestepping of standard procedure.
Additional Coverage: Mayoral Tutorial: The Whittier Lessons | The Real News coverage of La Casita defense | Gapers Block: La Casita Being Demolished | CTU Net: Whittier, La Casita News Roundup
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) "brings together major U.S. corporations and right-wing legislators to craft and vote on 'model' bills behind closed doors. It has come under increasing scrutiny for its role in promoting 'stand your ground' gun laws, voter suppression bills, union-busting policies and other controversial legislation. Although billing itself as a 'nonpartisan public-private partnership,' ALEC is actually a national network of state politicians and powerful corporations principally concerned with increasing corporate profits without public scrutiny." [
From the newswire: "Mark Neiweem, a 28-year-old Chicago activist, pleaded guilty in Cook County Court yesterday [April 11, 2013] to felony charges brought on by interactions with undercover Chicago police officers who had infiltrated activist groups prior to last May's NATO protests. Neiweem pleaded guilty to a probation violation charge from a previous conviction and to solicitation and attempted possession of an explosive or incendiary device. Neiweem, who had spent 329 continuous days in the appalling conditions of Cook County Jail while awaiting trial, will now serve out the remainder of a 3-year sentence in a state prison. He is expected to receive credit for time served and other reductions in the duration of his incarceration for good behavior.
A Chicago media activist looks at two heralded media outlets: the forthcoming Al Jazeera America, and Chicago Public Radio station WBEZ, and writes: "Al Jazeera and WBEZ are guided by lofty ideals, but only sometimes. What can be done to hold them to account to those ideals? I took a closer look at both WBEZ Chicago Public Media and Al Jazeera America and what I found confirms the need for an in-depth examination of the governance of U.S. public media -- and the need for a wide distribution of the findings." 
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On March 20th, 2003, shortly after more than 18,000 antiwar protesters marched against the escalation of the war in Iraq, in so doing overtaking control of the six-lane highway of Lake Shore Drive, in one of the landmark protests in Chicago history.
For years, activists with the Chicago south side group 
