CITY

Altgeld Gardens: A group of men last week began escortingchildren to and from school in the Altgeld Gardens public housingcomplex where there has been sporadic gunfire between rival gangs.Principals at Carver Middle, Carver Primary and the Wheatley ChildParent Center said some parents had been keeping children home orremoving them from classes early because of the shooting. JeanetteWilson, director of human relations and interfaith communitypartnerships for the Chicago public schools, said the men will repeatefforts that helped increase attendance at schools near the RobertTaylor Homes complex earlier this year.

Wrightwood: The Wrightwood Community Development Corp., the cityPlanning and Development Department and seven area banks have formedthe Southwest Community Partnership. The partnership has announced alocal business loan program designed to assist small and medium-sizebusinesses that have limited access to capital. For moreinformation, contact Virginia Bell, executive director of theWrightwood Community Development Corp., at (773) 476-9880.

Pilsen: Members of the Pilsen East Planning Association sayHalsted Street in their neighborhood is a disaster area because ofneglect. They called on the city at a news conference Tuesday toupgrade streets, sidewalks and other area facilities. Theycomplained of many potholes along Halsted from 16th Street to ArcherAvenue, missing sewer grates and crumbling sewers. The membersexpressed concern that children from Walsh Elementary School mightfall into sewers because of the missing grates.West Lawn: Hubbard High School will celebrate its 21st annualInternational Day on Friday. Two hundred students of variousnationalities will perform dances from around the world in the boys'gym, and there will be food from a dozen different countries.Loop: April is National Poetry Month, and the library is holdinga series of poetry programs. Thursday, Pulitzer Prize-winning poetLisel Mueller will read her work at 5:30 p.m. in the Chicago AuthorsRoom on the seventh floor of the Harold Washington Library Center,400 S. State.