OTL: Episode #235- Organic School Project, Lakeview Area Master Plan, Local Improv with Tibia Ballerina

TO HEAR THE SHOW, PRESS THE “PLAY” BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST… (podcasting from the studios in the OTL Bunker, somewhere in Chicago) (broadcasting on the “organic” radio station WLUW-FM (88.7) Chicago) Mike Stephen learns about the Organic School Project, gets the lowdown on the Lakeview Area Master Plan, and talks to the director of a new local Improv show featuring real stories from Chicagoans. Greg Christian— Founder and Executive Director of the Organic School Project The OSP works to educate children how to grow food and why eating right is important in their lives.  We get the story on the organization this week. Harvest Time at Lowell Elementary in Chicago Heather Way— Executive Director of the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce The residents and businesses of Lakeview provided their input to create a new master plan for that neighborhood’s future.  What is that future?  Tune in to find out! Adam Higgins— Director of Tibia Ballerina at the Chemically Imbalanced Theater We get the lowdown on this new local Improv show featuring Chicagoans’ real stories as Improv inspiration. OTL #235 local music provided by The Ultrasounds…

OTL: Episode #234- IL Beer Distribution, Green Chicago River, Center Square Journal Turns 1

Happy St. Paddy’s Day! TO HEAR THE SHOW, PRESS THE “PLAY” BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST… (podcasting from the studios in the OTL Bunker, somewhere in Chicago) (broadcasting on the “beer-distributed” radio station WLUW-FM (88.7) Chicago) Mike Stephen learns about the movement to change the IL beer distribution laws, plays a clip from his chat with the crew leader of Green Chicago River, and gets an update from the year-old CenterSquareJournal.com. Ryan Hermes— Co-Founder of GuysDrinkingBeer.com We explore how beer distribution in IL works and why some craft brewers are advocating for a change. OTL Rewind— Mike Butler, Head of the Green Chicago River Crew With this being St. Patrick’s Day we thought it’d be cool to dig into the OTL audio archives to hear a clip from OTL #25 that includes learning about the history of turning the Chicago River green. Mike Fourcher— Founder/Publisher of CenterSquareJournal.com This great local news site that serves the neighborhoods of Northcenter, Lincoln Square, and Ravenswood Manor turns 1 this week.  We hear what Mike has learned over the past year and where the site is headed in the future. OTL #234 local music provided by The Shams…

OTL: Episode #233- Where Does TIF $$ Go?, The Vegan Stephen Recap, Story Week Fest of Writers

TO HEAR THE SHOW, PRESS THE “PLAY” BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST… (podcasting from the studios in the OTL Bunker, somewhere in Chicago) (broadcasting on the “vegan for a week” radio station WLUW-FM (88.7) Chicago) Mike Stephen learns where Chicago’s TIF money has been going, recaps his week as a vegan, and learns about the Story Week Festival of Writers. Ellyn Fortino— Columbia College Senior and Reporter for ChicagoTalks.org Ellyn was part of an investigative team that tracked where exactly Chicago’s TIF money ended up.  We hear what her team discovered. The Vegan Stephen Recap— Mike and his wife decided to go vegan for one week.  We hear an audio recap of the Vegan Stephen Experiment. A Lovely Vegan Meal Randy Albers— Chair of Columbia College’s Fiction Writing Department and Founding Producer of the Story Week Festival of Writers This local week-long series of events celebrates the written word.  We get the lowdown from its founder. OTL #233 local music provided by yourfeetstoobig…

OTL: Episode #226- Benefits of Downsizing the City Council?, South Loop Transformation, Group-Buying Through City Swarm

TO HEAR THE SHOW, PRESS THE “PLAY” BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST… (podcasting from the studios in the OTL Bunker, somewhere in Chicago) (broadcasting on the “city-swarmed” radio station WLUW-FM (88.7) Chicago) Mike Stephen looks at how a smaller city council could save Chicago money, discusses the South Loop’s decade of transformation and learns about CitySwarm, Chicago’s newest group-buying option. Emily Miller— Policy and Government Affairs Coordinator for the Better Government Association What would happen if Chicago decreased the size of its city council?  The BGA investigates this question to see if the city could save some money.  Emily discusses what they found out. Matthew Blake— Contributing Writer for the Chicago Journal Recently, Matthew wrote an article for the CJ that examines the transformation of the South Loop area.  He joins us to describe how that neighborhood has changed over the last decade. A Slice of the South Loop Lindsay Saewitz — Founder of CitySwarm There’s a new local online deal site that combines group-buying and social interaction called CitySwarm.  Lindsay tells us how this works and how it gets Chicagoans to explore their city.   OTL #226 local music provided by Goodbye Cleveland…