The Logan Square Megamall parking lot, facing southeast at 2500 North Milwaukee Avenue on December 17. Last May, the street artist Amuse126 organized a group of 25 artists to paint murals on the doomed neighborhood relic. Photograph by Samuel Schwindt.
Developer Demolishes Beloved Megamall
The Chicagoist said it was the “end of an era” for Logan Square.
The plans to demolish the Logan Square Megamall, an indoor flea market and locally-lauded neighborhood treasure, has been public since 2015. But for many residents, the December 28 demolition still was too soon. Peter Contreras, who has neighbored the Megamall for over three decades, said to DNAinfo the demolition was an event he would remember for the rest of his life. “It was a lot of real good memories,” said Contreras.
The site will soon become Logan’s Crossing, a mixed-use development likely offering a Jewel Osco, apartments, a gym, a rooftop pool, and, of course, retail space. For many, it’s just one more step in the gentrification of Logan Square, as protesters have argued since May, 2016.
Farther south on Milwaukee Avenue is a similar development completed at the end of 2016. Christened MODE Logan Square, leases became available mid-January. The Domu description for a $1,575/month, 568 square-foot studio apartment said MODE “offers a boutique living experience” resulting in a “sanctuary between work and play.”
Uncovered Obsidian Points to Stone Age Human Evolution
A study published January 30 in the Journal of Human Evolution may enlighten researchers to the behavior of hominins during the mysterious Stone Age.
Researchers investigated obsidian found at the Sibilo School Road Site in the Kapthurin Formation of Kenya. Geochemical and tephrostratigraphic analysis presented the earliest evidence of long-distance obsidian transport during the Later Middle Pleistocene of East Africa — a significant behavioral evolution for the young homo sapiens species. This specific evolution was previously documented as having occurred approximately 150,000 years later.
Stephen Bannon Promoted to National Security Council
“This is stone cold crazy. After a week of crazy. Who needs military advice or intel to make policy on ISIL, Syria, Afghanistan, DPRK?” Tweeted Susan Rice, who was National Security advisor to President Obama, on January 28. She was responding in disbelief to President Trump’s overhaul of the National Security Council (NSC). President Trump gave chief White House strategist Steve Bannon and Chief-of-Staff Reince Priebus seats to a table that often decides between war and peace. He also demoted the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and director of national intelligence.
Bannon was the chief executive officer of President Trump’s 2016 campaign, and before that, executive chair of the far-right media website Breitbart News. Former Breitbart editor at large Ben Shapiro said Bannon taking over Breitbart led to an embracement of the white-supremacist alt-right:
Andrew Breitbart despised racism. Truly despised it … Now Breitbart has become the alt-right go-to website, with [Milo] Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning into a cesspool for white supremacist mememakers.
