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

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…

Area Sports Roundup | Cougars get revenge on Marian, earn date with top seed
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Saint Xavier defense made sure to get some revenge for a couple of losses in recent years to Marian University. The Cougars racked up 10 sacks, 15 tackles for losses, three forced fumbles and two interceptions in a 31-21 victory over Marian in the second round of the NAIA…

Girls Hoops | St. Laurence stages huge comeback to win Beecher Tourney
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer This is not the way to start a championship game. But it’s a pretty good way to finish it. St. Laurence fell behind Rich Township, 19-0, in the Beecher Fall Classic final on Nov. 22. While it could have been easy for rookie coach Claire Austin and her troops to…

Two of the best in Illinois
Cristin Moreno, a senior at Hancock College Prep, and Nadia Cabral, a junior at Kennedy High School, proved themselves to be two of the best cross-country runners in the state. Both girls qualified for the IHSA Class 2A Cross-Country Championship, held earlier this month at Detweiller Park in Peoria. In the 5K race, Moreno ran…

St. Laurence falls to Rochester, takes second in Class 4A
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer As a four-year varsity player at St. Laurence, Corey Taubr experienced three losing seasons before the Vikings made a stunning postseason run this year. They made it to the IHSA Class 4A final, where they lost 59-38 to Rochester on Nov. 24 at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois…

Nazareth tops Joliet Catholic for historic title win
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Nazareth football coach Tim Racki was bummed out. The Roadrunners had completed an historic season by defeating Joliet Catholic for the IHSA Class 5A championship, becoming the first team in IHSA history to enter the playoffs 4-5 and win a state title. They are also the first team to win…
Illinois News

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…

State high court skeptical municipal police and fire pension consolidation hurt retirees’ voting rights
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case alleging the state’s 2019 law that consolidated nearly 650 individual police and firefighter pension funds actually hurt retirees by diluting their voting power. The nearly three-dozen pensioners and 17 individual pension funds that sued over the law…

Pritzker designates additional $160M for migrant response as winter approaches
By HANNAH MEISEL & JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – As winter quickly approaches, Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday announced plans for the state to spend an additional $160 million to aid and house a sustained influx of migrants sent to Chicago from the nation’s southern border. The administration sold the plan as…

Candidate filing begins Monday, signaling official start of 2024 election cycle
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois draju@capitolnewsillinois.com Monday morning marks the official beginning of the 2024 election cycle in Illinois, opening up the week-long period when candidates for local, state, congressional and judicial races are required to turn in the signatures they’ve spent the last two months collecting to get on the ballot. The…

State high court skeptical municipal police and fire pension consolidation hurt retirees’ voting rights
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case alleging the state’s 2019 law that consolidated nearly 650 individual police and firefighter pension funds actually hurt retirees by diluting their voting power. The nearly three-dozen pensioners and 17 individual pension funds that sued over the…

Iowa-Illinois carbon dioxide pipeline application withdrawn
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Plans for a pipeline that would have transported carbon dioxide from Iowa for eventual storage in central Illinois are off the table – for now. Wolf Carbon Solutions, the company behind the proposed project, filed a motion with state regulators on Monday to withdraw its application, although…

State school board weighs increased funding requests ahead of budget season
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Officials at the Illinois State Board of Education say they’re receiving more requests for increased funding for next year than the state could possibly afford, and they’re bracing for the possibility that budgets will start to tighten in the near future. “It does appear that…