The Starting Bell Rings

So much work has gone into this moment. And yet, it is only the beginning.

In a little more than two weeks, we collected more than three times the number of petition signatures required to get Molly on the ballot and move our community forward. Molly filed those signatures this morning at the Chicago Board of Elections. Since Molly was among the candidates in line at 9 am today, she will be part of the Board’s lottery Dec. 1 to determine ballot position.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped us in this effort. We could not have done it without you!

This is only the start of the hard work we need to do to elect Molly as our next alderman. In the coming weeks, we will open our campaign office, distribute window signs, begin our direct mail campaign, generate media attention, and fend off the inevitable attacks. All of these activities cost money. To bring Molly’s message to voters and move our community forward, we need your generous contribution. If you can, please consider contributing.

Man charged in Halloween shooting of 3 teens

From the Chicago Tribune

A 20-year-old man was charged this morning in connection with a Halloween shooting that left three teens wounded and trick-or-treaters scrambling for cover on the North Side in the city’s Uptown neighborhood.

Akelo Washington of the 4800 block of North Winthrop Avenue, was charged with eight counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, police said.

The shooting happened about 5:13 p.m on Halloween on the 1200 block of West Montrose Avenue, said Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.

Police were called to the scene, where they found three wounded youths, one of them 13 years old, according to earlier reports.

All three victims were taken to hospitals in serious-to-critical condition, but their conditions were later stabilized, officials said.

One victim, 17, was shot in the leg. Another victim, also 17, was shot in the leg and forearm. The youngest victim also was shot in the leg, police said.

Washington was scheduled to appear in bond court later today.

Let’s Work Together to End Violence in Our Community

On Halloween, five different people were shot in three different incidents. Marlos Canteberry was shot and killed near Sunnyside and Sheridan early Sunday evening. Another man was shot in the leg while in his home early Sunday morning. And a 13-year-old and two adults were shot in front of trick-or-treating families late Sunday afternoon. My heart goes out to those injured and Marlos’s family, and I ask that you all keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

We cannot allow these crimes to go unanswered. We must remain strong in the face of such wanton violence.

Anyone with information to should contact the Chicago Police, 23rd District, at 312-744-8320 or 23ehotline@chicagopolice.org. Someone saw the shooters. Someone knows the perpetrators. If you haven’t done so already, stand up and do what is right.

As a community, we must come together against this violence. Two of the shootings happened in Beat 2311, the area between Broadway, Montrose, Lawrence and Clark. That CAPS meeting, originally scheduled for this Tuesday, has been rescheduled due to Election Day to 7 pm Tuesday, Nov. 9, at Truman College, 1145 W. Wilson. The shooting in the 1000 block of Sunnyside was in CAPS Beat 2313. That beat meets at 7 pm Wednesday, Nov. 10, at the Clarendon Park Field House, 4501 N. Clarendon.

To learn more about which CAPS beat you live in, along with when and where it meets, call 312-744-0064 if you live south of Lawrence. For CAPS beat meetings north of Lawrence, call 312-742-8714 Go to your CAPS meetings and help police identify problem individuals and buildings in the neighborhood.

Solving our crime issues will take a wide range of solutions. We need to go after problem landlords who allow gangs and drug activity in their buildings. We need to provide better business opportunities so that there are more jobs in our neighborhoods and more people walking our streets deterring crime. And we need more police officers walking and bicycling our streets. It won’t be easy, but if we all work together, we can end the violence and move our community forward.