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Know your waste

Beware household hazards

Common household chemicals that pollute groundwater, storm sewers and septic tanks occasionally catch fire and explode. Some are corrosive or toxic.

Oil based paints, pesticides, antifreeze, fertilizers, rechargable batteries, solvents, and mercury top this list.

When handling containers watch for these labels: Toxic, Flammable, Corrosive, Irritant, Caution, Attention, Poison, Volatile.

Later, when disposing household items, separate the dangerous ones because they fall into the category known as Household Hazardous Waste. Don't pour them down drains, into the ground, or send them out with the trash.

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Do you live or work in Chicago? Then get a FREE list of Chicago-area entry-level jobs. In your email, every month! SIGN-UP HERE.

Alternate Routes During Red Line Reconstruction

Several transportation services are providing alternate commuter routes to downtown Chicago this summer during the CTA Red Line reconstruction.

Pace now runs the Route 925 express service between its 127th and Kedzie Park-n-Ride station and the Roosevelt Red Line station.

Metra already runs on both sides of the Dan Ryan freeway. Metra Electric is east and Rock Island is west.

EAST (Metra Electric) has about 30 stations.

WEST (Rock Island) has stations at 87th, 95th, and 103rd -- all near Vincennes.

CTA is providing free bus service between closed Red Line stations and the Garfield Red/Green station at 56th and King Drive.

CTA riders along South Ashland, South Halsted, South King Drive, and Cottage Grove, where possible, should take their regular bus service to the rail line stations along 63rd Street.

Red Line service along the Dan Ryan, from 35th to 95th, ends on May 19, 2013 for five months.

And despite earlier promises, the terminal at 95th and the Dan Ryan, according to a recent Tribune report, won't be rebuilt. In fact it won't even be renovated during this project. It's as if the rebuild of the terminal was promised during the public comment stage and then dropped once the project got underway.

www.ilnri.org/#yep

Chicago Employers Needed for Summer Jobs Program

[img] Photo courtesy NRI.

This summer jobs program aims to prevent violence too.

"There is a tremendous need across the Chicagoland area," Izalia Short, Project Manager for Governor Pat Quinn's Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, explained.

See www.ilnri.org/about.cfm#communities to check if a participating agency exists in your community.

The Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, established in 1995, and the first state agency of its kind dedicated to violence prevention, oversees the program alongside the other partners.

Employers in several Southside communities including Roseland and Auburn-Gresham can contact Charles Williams now to hire subsidized youth employees.

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Calendar

Several South Side Chicago one-day volunteer positions for computer students and professionals are now available through www.worldcomputerexchange.org/chicago-il. Can you fix and repackage donated computers for distribution in poor and developing countries? Contact Charles Williams to sign up today.

Preparation starts now

Planning for college ... and life

My wife Debby and I are both the only members of each of our families to complete college. What's more, both of us tried college after high school but dropped out and then, later, much later, went back and graduated.

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By Charles Williams

Both of us finished high school on time, however.

Looking back, I think some common-sense advice would have helped me finish college right out of high school.

So I sincerely hope the following advice helps you finish college "on time".

STUDY ON YOUR OWN.: An incredible amount of self-discipline is required to complete college projects and pass college tests. It's possible high school doesn't teach this. Mine didn't.; Happily this can be fixed by yourself. How to study instructions will help, of course. But practicing these steps will prepare you too.; 1. Pick either a current activity of yours or join a new activity.; 2. Are there meetings? Take notes.; 3. Are you committed to a certain amount of time there? Pick something to learn about -- something hard! -- and take notes on how it works.; 4. On your own, research how "it" works, define all the important words, and even learn where "it" comes from. ("It" is the subject you're practicing this week.); 5. On your own, re-write your notes in a permanent journal. Write it "professionally" so someone else could read it and learn what you learned.; 6. Make up your own short, practice test on this subject. Take your test and grade yourself.; 7. Next week or next meeting, repeat these steps.

You will perform these same steps in college hundreds or thousands of times. So practice it every week.

JOIN A GROUP.: I was clueless about this. Joining professional groups of people who shared my career interests was critical to my success but I blew it off.; It's easy to practice this now, before college, making it easier to do once you're attending college.; 1. Pick a possible career.; 2. Either find a group that shares your interests or attend church and join the young adults group.; 3. Stick to the group like glue. Difficult personalities and boring meetings are the price of admission. The benefits are far greater than these minor problems.; 4. Stay in touch with the group and with its members when you're away.

By the way, this is where "networking" comes from. As a young professional you meet other people and, during friendly conversations, you exchange opportunities with them.

GRIT.: Don't just walk away when things get tough.; 1. Someone says something rude or mean.; 2. You experience some bad luck or a monstrous problem. Maybe a bad grade.; 3. But you stick with your plan anyway.

Good luck. You can do this.

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