Little Village is on high alert as two young women have been found dead there in recent weeks. And now with a reported disappearance, 15-year-old Azreya Lomeli, who was last seen walking in Little Village, community members are increasing calls for action from the police.
Little Village
For the last two years, Discount Mall has been in the middle of a battle between its vendors and property owner Novak Development. Now, half of the mall’s vendors have until the end of this month to pack up and leave.
Improvements to the mall are planned, including new roofs and facades, parking lot resurfacing, new landscaping, new lighting and an underground storm water detention system.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) recently hosted a meeting Tuesday with vendors to reassure them he will be fighting to keep the retail hub open. Novak Construction, the mall’s owner, extended vendors’ leases until the end of March.
It's been one year since 8-year-old Melissa Ortega was shot to death in Little Village. The community is honoring her memory with a mural and peace tree.
Vendors have rallied in front of the Chicago Police Department headquarters, asking for more police presence in the morning, when many vendors are out as early as 4 a.m.
One by one, street vendors recently walked into Chicago Police Department headquarters. They were on a mission to get help following recent robberies of street vendors along 26th Street.
In Mexico, one or two days just aren’t enough to celebrate the holiday season. There, the traditional Christmas posadas are nine days long, and the parties keep going well into the new year.
A boxing gym in the basement of a Little Village church is on a mission to provide new opportunities for neighborhood kids. Chicago Youth Boxing Club started in 2006 as a refuge for young people seeking a positive outlet.
Through the month of October, a series of events called “Journey Chicago” is taking place at cultural heritage centers across the city and suburbs.
A quinceañera is all about the details. A family-run business in Little Village has been playing a part in the quinceañeras of area girls for years.
“Crunchy outside, soft center, golden brown and delicious” – that’s how Aldo Rios, owner of El Churro Shop in Little Village, describes the perfect churro.
After worrying for months that they would be kicked out under a new owner, vendors at the shopping center have been given a short extension on their leases.
For now, it’s business as usual inside the Discount Mall in Little Village as customers navigate through the aisles and vendors work to land a sale. But these merchants don’t know how long they have left to run their businesses.
Mothers and family members who are seeking justice in the killings of their loved ones stood outside the Chicago FBI field office. The rally was organized by the Little Village Community Council as a way to bring attention to unsolved homicides in the city and to ask the FBI for assistance.
The Little Village arch is the first structure designed by a Mexican American architect to get landmark status in Chicago, officials said.
