Pilsen, Little Village, Back of the Yards

Anquineice Brown, a fourth-grade teacher at Marquette Elementary School, was surprised with the award Thursday.

The annual list includes the Century and Consumers buildings Downtown and the Damen Silos on the South Side.

You can kick off the first weekend of May with Chicago's Latino Spirits Festival, a spring market, North Pond wildflower walk and more.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual alderpeople now are one-fifth of the City Council — and they represent all corners of the city. The new members show "there is LGBTQ life outside of Boystown," one said.

The Support Group has helped thousands of Chicago teens through entrepreneur camps, basketball clinics and work opportunities. "More funding needs to come to our communities for programs like this," its founder said.

Mario's has been a mainstay in the neighborhood since 1954.

The push for an in-person meeting comes as residents are struggling to “gain a sense of closure" after the Crawford Coal plant implosion, an environmental group leader said.

There's also a launch party for a Chicago brewery, an Edgebrook art and wine walk and a 5K through Ravenswood and Lincoln Square.

Jahmal Cole, who founded the group, said he'd like to turn the closed Walmart into a community center, though those plans are still in early stages.

At a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, city officials praised the deal while residents protested the use of public housing land for the training center.

Other neighbors said they support the fests because they bring money into Pilsen. Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said the "flawed" process for approving fests needs to be improved.

The money will support the $58 million United Yards project, bringing affordable housing, retail and a federally qualified health care center to 47th Street.

Experts point to lack of voter outreach by campaigns and diverse ideologies as reasons why Chicago's 14 Latino-majority wards split support for Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson and challenger Paul Vallas.

The fire at 25th Street and Rockwell Avenue raged for about two hours, but no one was injured. Wind and the density of wood made it difficult to extinguish, fire officials said.

The city previously suggested the vendors move into a closed CVS near the mall, but it was too small. The new space is large enough, vendors say, and the city is giving them $500,000 to ease the transition.

There are three tours: April 23, April 30 and May 7. Tickets are on sale.

The Little Village store is one of four set to close Sunday, forcing neighbors to find other grocery stores and pharmacies on short notice. "I know the people need this Walmart open," one resident said.

Neighbors have said they were stunned by the announcement and are worried about losing access to affordable food, prescriptions and necessities.

Smaller grocery stores were forced to close after Walmart opened in Chatham in 2012, Father Michael Pfleger said at a protest Thursday. “Now the bully pulls out and says it doesn’t want to be here anymore."

Customers and local leaders are scrambling to find alternatives for groceries, prescriptions and other necessities in the wake of the mega chain's decision to abruptly shutter four of its eight Chicago stores.