What’s up with that?

Q I’ve always been curious about the KID SAFE BUSINESS sign in the window of Rudy’s Bakery in Roscoe Village. How could a bakery not be kid safe? Booze-spiked cookies? —Mary, Lakeview

A We just put beer pastries on our to-do list, but, more to the point, the yellowing sign is the last vestige of a child-safety campaign from the late ’90s. “Believe it or not, just over ten years ago, gang presence in [Lakeview, North Center and Roscoe Village] was much greater,” says George Rimel, owner of the monthly Lakeview Newspaper and the one who launched the campaign. Concerned that gang members might target students walking home from the area’s many schools, Rimel sought to create “safe havens” for kids who felt threatened. “All along the business district,” he says, “kids knew that they could run into places like Rudy’s and the owner would be friendly and would call the police and their parents.” During its heyday, the campaign was effective, Rimel says, and, though the neighborhood is safer than it was a decade ago, he’s reviving the movement—this time with full-color posters. “Bullying is something that just doesn’t go away,” Rimel says. “I was bullied when I was a kid, and I’m, like, 50 years old.”

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