Local News
. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 . As happens every year, all of a sudden there is a chill in the air, events move inside and we spend less time out of doors. But of course, there is nothing like a walk or…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 . Since the early 1900s thousands of people worshipped at Hope Lutheran Church on 64th and Washtenaw. The congregation was formed in 1917, using a storefront on 63rd Street as their first home while their church was…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 Today I’d like to start by thanking you for the many anniversary congratulations. As I said last week, there is something very special about writing for a neighborhood newspaper. Now let’s see what’s coming up in the…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 As I am typing this column, I realize that today is my anniversary, for it was on Oct. 7, 1993 that my first neighborhood column appeared in the Southwest News-Herald. The fact that I’ve hit the 30-year…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 . During the first week in October, Christian churches around the world celebrate the feast day (Oct. 4) of St. Francis of Assisi by holding the Blessing of the Animals. This dates back 900 years. Francis, born…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 For the last several years, I have been periodically keeping you up to date on the progress of the gas company project that tore apart the grass, sidewalks and street. They did a very nice job replacing…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 If you have driven down 63rd Street between California and Kedzie in the past week, you definitely noticed work crews digging midway between the north and south sides of the street, near each corner. The Department of…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 I am reasonably sure that most of us watch a little bit of television from time to time. If that is true for you, and if you have had WGN on recently, you may have heard about…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 Isn’t it hard to believe that Labor Day, the official end of summer, is already upon us? If you have spent time around the Natural Areas at Marquette Park, which includes the Ashburn prairie, savanna and wetland…
Read More. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 If you have gone through Marquette Park recently and passed by the basketball court just east of Kedzie, you have for sure noticed that it has been cordoned off with tall fencing. Actually, it seems like it…
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Comings & Goings

College Report | SXU football falls in quarterfinals
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer For three quarters, Saint Xavier went nearly toe-to-toe with the No. 1-ranked football team in the nation. Justin Pringle had returned a kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown to bring the Cougars to within three points of Northwestern (Iowa), the top-seeded team in the NAIA playoffs and the defending national…

Area Sports Roundup | Richards grad Sean Lewis ready to air it out in San Diego
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The rollercoaster ride continues for Sean Lewis. The Richards alum went from being the head coach at Kent State to the offensive coordinator at Colorado, one of the most talked about college football programs in the country this season because of Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders. He was then demoted…

Girls Hoops | Sandburg and Oak Lawn to host holiday tournaments
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The field has been finalized for the third Sandburg Holiday Classic, which is the only girls basketball holiday tournament in the area to feature 16 teams. The host Eagles will be joined in the event, to be held Dec. 27-29, by area teams Oak Lawn, Richards, Argo and Riverside-Brookfield. Also…

Offer cash reward in Chrysler Village slaying
. By Tim Hadac . Someone somewhere knows who shot and killed Misael Sanchez. To help bring that person forward, the Cook County Crime Stoppers group is offering a cash reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Sanchez, 23, was shot in the 5200 block of West 64th Place (close…

Midnight Terror serves up a different kind of spirits at Christmas Fear
By Bob Bong The Halloween fans at Midnight Terror in Oak Lawn have decided to extend the haunted house season into the holidays with their eighth annual Christmas Fear weekend in December. Savage Santas, eerie elves, and sinister snowmen will be running amok and showing off their own kind of Christmas spirit at the haunted…

Dogs had their day at alderman’s office
. By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 517-7796 . Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who let the dogs out? Twenty-third Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares let the dogs in, at her office on 63rd Street. Our Oliver was one of the first to…

Yule decorations light the way to Christmas
. By Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 . Today (Dec. 1) is National Eat a Red Apple Day. Apples are a superfood. Eating them will reduce your chance of developing diabetes, heart disease and cancer. They are good for digestion and even improve brain health. Organic apples are better than…

Catholic schools dilemma
. After loss in Springfield, advocates search for a Plan B . By Tim Hadac After a clear defeat in Springfield earlier this month, supporters of the state’s Invest in Kids scholarship program—which includes a number of Catholic school parents on the Southwest Side—are searching for a Plan B. “What we do at this point…

Mount Carmel beats Downers Grove North for 15th state title
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Mount Carmel’s plan was to open and close the season in Normal. They wanted to open the 2023 campaign by beating then-nationally ranked East St. Louis in a neutral-site game at Hancock Stadium at Illinois State University, then return 13 weeks later and a win a state championship. Mission accomplished…

Cold Turkey Trotting | Young runners heat up Orland Park race held in freezing temps
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The temperature may have been freezing, but the winners were not complaining. The 35th Orland Park Turkey Trot, held per tradition on Thanksgiving, started in 30-degree weather. And the young champs embraced it. Jack Krusinski, 16, of Palos Heights, won the 2.5 mile event with a time of 14:01.04. The…
Illinois News

Dolly Parton Imagination Library officially launches statewide in Illinois
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois families with infants and toddlers now have access to free children’s books that can be sent directly to their home, regardless of their income. Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday announced the official launch of the state’s partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program founded…

What to know about Illinois’ assault weapons ban
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Gun owners face a Jan. 1 deadline to register their assault weapons with the state under Illinois’ assault weapons law. But between lawsuits and ongoing policymaking, the exact guns, accessories and ammunition covered under the Protect Illinois Communities Act remain unclear to many gun rights advocates, who point…

Capitol Cast: Filing Day for 2024 primary brings frigid temps and election themes to Springfield
Capitol News Illinois Broadcast Director Jennifer Fuller talks with Editor-in-Chief Jerry Nowicki about the 2023 petition filing deadline for Illinois’ 2024 primary election. Capitol News Illinois · Capitol Cast: Filing Day for 2024 primary brings frigid temps and election themes to Springfield

Supreme Court rules teen bicyclist is covered by father’s auto insurance policy
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that automobile insurance policies must cover people against uninsured motorists and hit-and-run accidents, even if the person covered by the policy is not in a vehicle at the time of the accident. The case involved a 14-year-old Chicago boy, Cristopher…

State high court finds medical personnel exemption to biometric information privacy law
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday ruled the state’s strongest-in-the-nation biometric information privacy law does have an exemption: health care workers who use fingerprints or similar scans to access things like medication, materials or patient health information. In a unanimous opinion, the justices ruled against a pair of…

Illinois Supreme Court: FOID records exempt from public disclosure
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that people may obtain records about their own Firearm Owners Identification cards, but they may not use the state’s Freedom of Information Act to do so. In a 7-0 ruling, the court said the Illinois State Police acted properly when…

Temporary staffing agencies seek to block new state labor law
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A group of temporary staffing agencies and their trade associations are asking a federal court to block enforcement of a new state law that governs how day laborers and temp workers are managed and paid. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Chicago, challenges several changes…

Former GOP senator, third-party governor candidate to represent himself in corruption trial
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Monday was supposed to have been the first day in the weeklong federal corruption trial of former Republican state Sen. Sam McCann, who allegedly misused more than $200,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses. A pull-down projector screen in the Springfield courtroom of U.S. District Judge…

Candidates for 2024 primary brave cold for potential ballot advantage
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Monday marked the kickoff for the 2024 election cycle, with hundreds of candidates filing their petitions at the Illinois State Board of Elections. Those in line by 8 a.m. Monday at the ISBE building in Springfield will be entered into a lottery to be the first…

State high court to hear case against staffing agencies accused of suppressing wages
By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments from three staffing agencies that say their industry is exempt from state antitrust laws in a case claiming the firms conspired to hold down wages for their workers. The Chicagoland-based companies have already lost twice in…