It’s been a while since I’ve written about immigration. Using RefugeeOne as my lens, I wrote several articles during the Trump years about the previous administration’s hostility to immigrants and refugees, and the consequences for Chicago and Rogers Park.

Dorian Bezanis is a lot of things, but if there is one word that just keeps coming back, it’s irrepressible. Anyone who knows him (and that is quite a lot of people) will agree, he is sort of the Energizer Bunny come to life.

By:

Mike Glasser, RPBG President
Winter, 2022

By:

Steve Cain
Winter, 2022

Carol and Sanford (Sandy) Goldman were fixtures in the Rogers Park community and seemed to have their hands in just about every local charitable group, contributing thousands of hours of volunteer service for numerous Rogers Park organizations over a period of decades. Carol worked for many years for the Rogers Park Community Council, serving as Vice President and then joining the staff as Director where she oversaw the Housing Conservation and Home Repairs Aiding Independent Living (HRAIL) programs.

After a long period of inactivity, work is finally underway on the site of the former Heartland Café, 7000 North Glenwood Avenue. RPBG Director Sam Goldman broke ground on his new apartment development this past September, two and a half years after the original café building was demolished in April 2019. As of this writing, the foundation is in place and vertical construction is ready to begin, pending the arrival of warmer weather.

RPBG Directors Jay Johnson and Sal Becovic are on both sides of the sale of the Howard Theater Building that closed in late December 2021. The sale marks the end of an era for Jay, and the continuation of a major push into the Rogers Park apartment market for Sal and the Becovic family.