Alder-Joker Cards posted everywhere

I discovered these posted all over the neighborhood! They seem to be political satire that depicts 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore as the Joker on a card.

Rock N Roll

Rock N Roll of Rogers Park at Leone Park Beach

Rock N Roll of Rogers Park at Quest Network Services

Bill Morton and Rock N Roll of Rogers Park at Triangle Park

Rock N Roll of Rogers Park with Marie, owner of Rogers Bark

Rock N Roll of Rogers Park with friends at Sherwin on the Lake

More on Rock N Roll of Rogers Park can be found here.



Some additional areas of interest for the Rogers Park community on RP1000 include:

147 Outer Drive Express

A.L. Taylor and Associates

Adelphi Theater

Albion Avenue

Arthur Avenue

Ashland Avenue

Beach bonfires

Beat 2422

Beat 2423

Bill Morton

Bill Morton Promotions

Bill's Digital Photos

Birchwood Avenue

Bosworth Avenue

Buffalo Joe's

Burr Tillstrom

Cafe Society

CAPS

Caribbean American Bakery

Charmers Cafe

Chase Avenue

China Hut

Clark Devon Hardware

Clark Street

Cunneen's

Devon Avenue

Devon Market

Enjoying the beach

Estes Avenue

Fargo Avenue

First Commercial Bank

Flatts and Sharpe Music Company

Gateway Senior Apartments

Good morning

Good News Community Kitchen

Greenleaf Avenue

Grill Inn

Gruppo di Amici

Hartigan Beach

Hermitage Avenue

Howard Station

Howard Street

J.B. Alberto's

Jarvis Avenue

Jarvis Grill and Wok

Jarvis Station

Jonquil Terrace

Joseph J. Gentile Center

Juneway Terrace

Lake Michigan

Lakeside CDC

Lakewood Avenue

Leona's

Leonard Dubkin Park

Lifeline Theatre

Lightning storms

Loyola University

Loyola University Ramblers

Lunt Avenue

Madonna della Strada Chapel

Mayne Stage

Morse Avenue

Morse Station

Newgard Avenue

North Howard Neighbors Association

North of Howard area

North Shore School

Norshore Theater

Parking

Paulina Street

Poitin Stil

Pratt Blvd.

Quest Network Services

Ridge Blvd.

Robert's Cycle

Rogers Bark

Rogers Park Builders Group

Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce

Rogers Park Community Council

Rogers Park Garden Group

Rogers Park Presbyterian Church

Rogers Park sunrises over the Lake

Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society

Sam Leone Beach

Sam Leone Pier

Shambhala Meditation Center

Sheridan Road

Sherwin Avenue

Sherwin on the Lake

Soo Liquors

Taste Food and Wine

Tax-Increment financing

The Armadillo's Pillow

The Common Cup

The Growling Rabbit

The Lighthouse

The Parlor

Touhy Avenue

Tweedle Press

Ultimate Soccer Chicago

United Church of Rogers Park

V-Tone Fitness

Willye B. White Park

Willye B. White Park Advisory Council

Willye B. White Recreation Center

Winthrop Avenue

Wisdom Bridge Theatre

WLUW

Home Health Care Provider

Ropa Restaurant and Wine Bar

My Quiet Place Cafe

Rogers Park Landfill Meeting

RP1000 Update

The past few weeks have been the best!

Spent a lot of time at Artists of the Wall.

Visited Joe Moore and CTA President Ron Huberman at the new Howard Street El Entrance... and of course, lots of time BBQing, swimming and spending time on our public and private beaches.

New photos and video are on the way... including the lakefront landfill project, damage from recent storms, and discussion on neighborhood watches.

- Bill Morton
Rogers Park in 1,000 Words


Need a new computer?! Get it at Quest!!!!
7301 N.Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL.60626
(right here in Rogers Park)

Girl, 7, tells of abuse and rape: Janitor's lawyer hammers at story

Safe on the witness stand with her Winnie the Pooh doll, a 7-year-old girl testified yesterday that a janitor at her Rogers Park nursery school had repeatedly raped and sexually abused her.
But the child contradicted a score of other accusations made earlier to police and her mother, and admitted twice she had lied.

Her alleged attacker, Deloartic Parks, 47, of 7030 S. Peoria, is on trail in Skokie branch of the Circuit Court before Judge Jack G. Stein.

Parks is accused of abusing the girl over the past two years while she was attending the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center school, 7101 N. Greenview. The school closed Aug. 9.
Statements by the child and 20 classmates--about one-forth of the enrollment--claim the janitor, at least 10 staff members and people from outside the school sexually abused them. Only Parks has been charged.

Sex film cited

His attorney, Adam Bougeois, noted that the child's accusations came a month after pupils attended a child sexual-assault prevention program at the school.

The program, presented by a Chicago police officer, included the showing a film, "Mr. Stranger Danger."

The girl, answering questions brightly and with self-composure, but often after 10-second intervals, pointed out Parks and said he had forced intercourse and other sex acts on her at school.

She said he warned her, "Don't tell no one or I'll kill all of you," meaning the child and her parents.

But under questioning by Bourgeois, she denied charges that court records show she made to police and her mother: That Park's put her in the school's furnace and oven, that he gave her a drink that made her dizzy, that nude pictures of the children were taken at the school, that Parks killed a turtle in front other and more than a dozen other allegations. Read more here.

Trial Opens On Day Care Sex Abuse

A prosecutor said Thursday that a 4-year-old girl who told authorities she was sexually abused at a North Side day care center "regressed almost into infancy" after the child was repeatedly assaulted.

Kathleen Warnick, an assistant state's attorney, made the charges in opening statements at the start of the trial of a former janitor charged with sexually abusing three children at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave.

But lawyers for the defendant, Deloartic Parks, who was a janitor at the center for 13 years, depicted Parks as an innocent victim of children`s fantasies that resulted when the 88 youngsters at the day care center were shown a movie about sexual abuse.

The bench trial began Thursday before Judge Jack Stein in the Skokie branch of Cook County Circuit Court.

The charges are the result of an investigation in April, 1984, into 246 allegations of sexual abuse by the staff at the center. The probe, in which Parks was the only person to be charged, was the first in Illinois to involve accusations of widespread child abuse by a group of adults.

Warnick said the 4-year-old's mother began noticing startling changes in her daughter's behavior after she began attending the day care center.

The prosecutor also said the little girl developed "unexplained bruises" and a "vaginal rash."

The case began to unfold, Warnick said, when the little girl first denied and then later admitted to her mother that she had "been forced to have sexual intercourse" at the school. Read more here.

Embattled North Side Day-Care Center Will Close

A North Side day-care center that made headlines last year when children accused staff members of sexual abuse will close this summer for financial reasons, Jewish Community Center officials said Friday.

The announcement came three days after national child sex-abuse experts met at the request of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and reviewed the allegations of abuse at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave. The experts recommended that the center be closed pending further investigation, according to Gordon Johnson, DCFS director.

On Friday, Jerry Witkovsky, Jewish Community Center general director, said the experts' recommendation did not influence his decision to shut the center. "Up until today, I was unaware that these people had re-examined the case," he said.

Witkovsky said the center will close because the "changing demographics of the East Rogers Park community have decreased the demand for day care of Jewish children. "He said the center's dwindling enrollment has not been adversely affected by publicity surrounding the investigation. The facility will continue to operate as a senior citizen center, he said.

The center's teaching staff, some of whom are under investigation, will be transferred to Jewish Community Center facilities throughout Chicago and the suburbs, Witkovsky said. Children enrolled at the center will be given the option to attend other area community centers, including the Bernard Horwich Center, 3003 W. Touhy Ave.

The Rogers Park Day Care Center case was the first recorded in Illinois to involve accusations of sexual abuse by a group of adults. It consisted of 246 allegations that teachers and other staff members abused children there.

Last April the center's janitor was charged with criminal sexual abuse. His case is pending.
None of the remaining allegations have resulted in arrests.

State officials and Chicago police acknowledged that they made errors while investigating the case. Some experts say those mistakes--including a failure to thoroughly interview the children and a delay in responding to some children`s allegations of widespread abuse--made it unlikely that the year-old inquiry would determine the scope of the alleged abuse or if it occurred at all.

In an effort to improve the state`s investigatory procedures in large-scale abuse investigations, Johnson invited noted child-abuse experts to meet here earlier this week to discuss child sexual abuse and review the Rogers Park case.

The experts concluded that the allegations of widespread abuse appeared to have some foundation, Johnson said. The experts included Dr. Eli H. Newberger of Children's Hospital in Boston; Ann Wolbert Burgess, a psychiatric nurse at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing; Jon Conte of the University of Chicago; and Dr. Howard Levy of Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Parents of children enrolled at the center had mixed reactions to news of the center's closing.

"I think it's a real shame," said Daniel Zifkin, father of a 5-year-old girl who has attended the center for three years. "It's a good program. I don't believe the charges about the teachers. . . . I think it's a tremendous loss for the community."

Beth Vargo, whose 6-year-old daughter allegedly was abused at the center, said, "The allegations against the teachers who were there when my child was there are very serious. Transferring those teachers to other facilities is no solution to this nightmare." Read more here .

Day-care probe rife with errors: Rogers Park case "learning experience"

State officials and Chicago police made a series of errors investigating alleged sexual abuse at a North Side day-care center, making it unlikely that the year-old inquiry will determine the scope of inquiry will determine the scope of inquiry will determine the scope of the abuse or whether it occurred it all.

The mistakes in the case of the Rogers Park Day Care Center, a case that made headlines last April with the arrest of a janitor, reflect weaknesses in state and local efforts to handle inquiries into sexual abuse cases that may involve more than one adult.

The weaknesses--which include outdated policies, insufficient training of investigators and a reluctance on the part of some investigators to believe that this type of abuse occurs--persist despite national recognition of child sexual exploitation as a growing problem.

The case, the first recorded in Illinois to involve accusations of sexual abuse by a group of adults, consists of 246 allegations that staff members abused children enrolled at the center, according to the Illinois Department of children and Family Services (DCFS).

Only the janitor has been charged, and additional allegations have not resulted in charges in the continuing investigation.

The DCFS, which is responsible for regulating day-care centers and employees, also investigated the case and found insufficient evidence to support allegations against other staff.
Police and DCFS officials describe the day-care case as a "learning experience." They acknowledge that their investigators made errors but say the mistakes had little impact on the outcome of the case.

DCFS Director, Gordon Johnson said he has asked Jon Conte of the University of Chicago, an expert on child sexual abuse, and Jeremy Margolis, Illinois' inspector general, to review all aspects of the investigation "so we don't repeat our mistakes.

The case involved the following apparent errors:

• The children were initially screened in cursory, ineffective interviews that lasted an average of only 15 minutes. In most cases, they were never re-interviewed by police or DCFS investigators.

• One of the key interviewers brought in by the state to question the children had little formal training and misrepresented his credentials in his resume and during recent court testimony.

• Based on the cursory screening interviews, investigators decided which children had been abused. Many child sexual-abuse experts say that determination can be made only after extensive interviews.
  

• Despite the existence of a special child sexual-abuse police unit, the chief investigator in the Rogers Park Day Care Center was a regular violent-crimes detective who had no formal training in child sexual abuse. Burdened with the customary heavy workload, the detective said he was forced to investigate much of the case on his own time.
  

• During the crucial early interviews, investigators did not act immediately when one child accused seven day-care center staff members of sexually abusing her. "This was not our finest moment," said Belmont Area Detective Scott Keenan. "We had one simple case with one offender, and we felt uncomfortable with the nature of her allegations".
  

• Weeks later when DCFS and police began to examine allegations of wider abuse, they created a reporting system in which parents relayed their children's accusations to investigators. Many child sexual-abuse experts described this procedure as "ridiculous."
  

• The DCFS concluded its investigation partly on the basis of reports by a criminal psychologist and a child analyst who were asked by the agency to review the investigation but who were never asked to interview the children or parents.
  

• An outdated state law imposed a 90-day limit on the DCFS investigation, forcing the agency to make its concussions over the objections of the children's therapists, who said their young patients had only began to talk about the alleged abuse. Read more here.

State Called Remiss In Child-Sex Probe

Parents of children once enrolled in the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., criticized the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Friday for "mishandling" its investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse at the center. "We feel DCFS has been remiss in its obligation to provide safety for our children,"said Beth Vargo, 34, one of the parents. The center's janitor, Deloartic Parks, was charged a year ago with abusing three children at the center. The parents charged the DCFS mishandled the case because the initial investigative interviews with children were too short and social workers failed to reinterview children when some later told parents they had been abused by staff members other than Parks. Read more here.

Expert in Day-Care Probe Can't Back Up His Resume

A man brought in by the State of Illinois as an expert to investigate key aspects of allegations of sexual child abuse at the Rogers Park Day Care Center misrepresented his credentials in his resume and during recent court testimony, records show.

Allen Friedmann, 34, of 245 Court of Shorewood, Vernon Hills, played a critical role in the investigation. Working with a social worker and a Chicago detective, he conducted most of the sensitive interviews in which authorities tried to determine whether any of the 88 children enrolled at the center had been abused.

Friedmann was employed by Human Effectiveness Living Program (HELP), which treats sexually abused children and abusers. HELP was hired by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to provide expertise in interviewing the children who attended the center.
Along with HELP's director, Friedmann designed the format used in the interviews.

Examination of Friedmann's college transcripts, court transcripts and interviews with former employers show that he built his reputation in part on exaggerations and sometimes fabricated his qualifications.

In an interview Thursday, Friedmann said he "never intentionally misrepresented" his qualifications.

He acknowledged that he once told a prospective employer that he held a master's degree when he had not yet earned a bachelor`s degree, but said that was "a onetime, stupid" ploy.

Allegations of sexual abuse of children at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., surfaced in April, 1984. The center`s janitor, Deloartic Parks, was charged with three counts of sexual child abuse. His case is pending.

The Cook County state`s attorney's office is investigating accusations made by some children against center staff members. A DCFS investigation that ended last September found insufficient evidence to support those charges.

Questions about Friedmann's qualifications are the latest in a series of problems, which DCFS officials say stemmed from outdated regulations and their lack of experience in such cases, that have stymied the investigations.

Friedmann is no longer involved in the case, and he resigned from HELP in February.

DCFS Director Gordon Johnson said cases like Friedmann's are prompting his agency to more carefully scrutinize the qualifications of staff members and people hired under contract.

Sources in the state's attorney's office said they would review evidence of Friedmann's misstatements but added that questions about his credentials would not have "much impact." Chicago police detective Scott Keenan agreed, pointing out that investigators had "used a team approach" in the interviews.

Park`s lawyer, Adam Bourgeois, disagreed. "Whenever the court has an expert, all the parties tend to rely on that expert", he said. "If someone doesn`t have qualifications, it turns the trial into a charade."

"If what children say is not believed alone, then people who do the interviewing have to be beyond reproach. Anything else invalidates the process", said Jon Conte, a University of Chicago professor and abuse expert who advised DCFS in this case.

Friedmann has some experience in the field of child abuse investigation, including more than two years as an abuse investigator with DCFS and one year as a counselor at the Center for Children`s Services in Danville.

Some of those who have seen Friedmann`s techniques say he is a skilled interviewer. "I feel comfortable having him instruct doctors on how to talk to children," said Dr. Howard Levy, director of pediatrics for Mt. Sinai Hospital, where Friedmann teaches a course to doctors.

According to Friedmann's school transcripts, he does not hold a degree in psychology, medicine or social work, courses of study most commonly followed by sexual abuse experts. His only formal instruction in these fields consisted of undergraduate courses, one completed graduate course and several professional seminars, transcripts show.

While testifying under oath as an expert witness last year in a civil suit, Friedmann said he had completed a year of graduate work at Loyola University and "about a year" of graduate work at the University of Illinois.

Loyola records show that Friedmann took one undergraduate course in 1977 but show no graduate work. U. of I. records show that he attended one semester and took two graduate courses, one of which he did not complete. Read more here.

Abuse 'Expert Misled State, Records Show

A man brought in by the State of Illinois as an expert to investigate key aspects of allegations of sexual child abuse at the Rogers Park Day Care Center misrepresented his credentials in his professional resume and during recent court testimony, records show.

Allen Friedmann, 34, 245 Court of Shorewood, Vernon Hills, played a critical role in the investigation. Working with a social worker and a Chicago detective, he conducted most of the sensitive interviews in which authorities tried to determine whether any of the 88 children enrolled at the center had been abused.

Friedmann was employed by Human Effectiveness Living Program (HELP), which treats sexually abused children and abusers. HELP was hired by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to provide expertise in interviewing the day care center children.
Along with HELP`s director, Friedmann designed the format used in the interviews.

Examination of Friedmann`s college transcripts, court transcripts and interviews with former employers show that he built his reputation in part on exaggerations and sometimes fabricated his qualifications.

In an interview Thursday, Friedmann said he ``never intentionally misrepresented`` his qualifications.

Allegations of sexual abuse of children at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., surfaced in April, 1984. The center`s janitor, Deloartic Parks, was charged with three counts of sexual child abuse. His case is pending.

The Cook County state`s attorney`s office is investigating accusations made by some children against center staff members. A DCFS investigation that ended last September found insufficient evidence to support those charges.

Questions about Friedmann`s qualifications are the latest in a series of problems, which DCFS officials say stemmed from their lack of experience in such cases and outdated regulations, that have stymied the investigations.

Friedmann is no longer involved in the case, and he resigned from HELP in February.
Read more here.

Spooky Forrest

Some staff members of the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center day-care center who have been implicated in sexually abusing children at the center are still on the job, two mothers of alleged victims charged.

Their children said teachers at the center had organized class games where both they are the children were unclothed and the teachers hit the children on their heads hard enough to hurt, the mother told The Lerner Newspapers Tuesday, May 22.

The women, who asked not to be identified said they are outraged that the staff members have not been suspended and that the center has not been closed. The parents said they suspect the abuse had been going on for a long time.

The children have told their stories to the police and to the Cook County assistant state's attorneys.

May 21 an assistant Illinois attorney general said the center may continue to operate because it has cooperated with the investigation and complied with licensing procedures.

William Sullivan, assistant attorney general and attorney for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, said the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago have suspended all staff members against whom sufficient evidence was found. "The fact that somebody made an allegation does not mean there was a basis for it.", he said.

The parents said their children told them of the following incidents:
In one came, called "Spooky Forrest," one teacher pretended to be a bear and the other a wolf. They growled at the children and the children ran from them. When the children were caught, the teacher's would beat them on the head, a mother said.

In Another class game, called "Punchinello," the children were instructed to hit each other. The parents said their two 4-year-old daughters told their stories independently.

When one mother confronted a teacher about her daughter's version of "Punchinello," the teacher "turned white and never answered me,' the mother said.

Two mothers said their daughters did not tell them sooner about their experiences because they had been threatened.

One girl told her mother that if she talked, she would be cut into pieces in thrown in the garbage can. The children also were told that their parents would be killed if they told them, the mother said.

Some children reported being beaten, having needles stuck into their feet, being hurt with screwdrivers and being held by the ankles and turned head-first into garbage cans.

One mother now, attributes mysterious scratches that appeared on her daughters feet in the winter, when she always wore shoes to needles. Bruises on the child's lower calves substantiated her story about being held upside-down by the ankles, her mother said. Read more here.