Karen Sala

Karen Sala

Primrose here, spring on its way

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By Karen Sala

Your correspondent in Gage Park

(773) 471-1429 • karen.sala@hotmail.com

January, on average, is the coldest month of the year. I sure hope it doesn’t get any colder than it has been, although I would rather have cold than snow.

I bought a yellow Primrose the other day. You know what I always say: when the Primrose are out in Jewel, spring is on the way! You have to think positive.

My Christmas decorations are down. I sure could have used Timmy to help, but I had to do it myself. I’ll probably find something still hanging about May or June.

KarenSala2021

Karen Sala

January is National Soup Month. I’m making French Onion soup today. I was watching Dean Richards on WGN-TV, make it on his cooking segment. Now I have a taste for it. I’m probably not doing exactly what he did but it’s starting to look pretty good and smell good too. It should be a nice warmer upper on this terribly cold day!

I bought myself three new bread pans at Jewel the other day. The gremlins in my house better keep their hand off of them.

The 2022 Obama Foundation Scholars have been announced, and one of them is Samantha Alexandra Martinez, co-founder of the Gage Park Latinx Council, who is working to empower young people of color from the Southwest Side to imagine new possibilities and make positive changes in their communities. Congratulations, Samantha!

I don’t have any pets anymore–not even a goldfish. I always had dogs, birds, a cat, fish, frogs, turtles, etc. I don’t understand having an animal, be it a dog or a cat and not letting it in the house. I’ll admit I spoiled all my babies.

If you are cold, your pet is cold. I know some dogs are made for winter more than others, but that doesn’t mean they want to be out all day and night. It doesn’t mean they want to sit in the snow and ice. If you cannot be responsible, don’t own a pet.

When taking your dog for a walk, pay attention to the pads on their feet. Many people use salt on their sidewalks that is not pet friendly. Don’t let them lick the salt off their paws. Booties help, but I have never had a dog that would leave them on.

Brush them to stimulate blood flow and keep their skin and coat in good condition. Antifreeze is deadly to animals, so wipe up any spills and keep it out of your pets reach. If I had one, wouldn’t let my dog out by itself anymore. I would stay out and keep my eyes on it. There seems to be too many lost pets.

There is a challenge on Facebook asking that on what would have been Betty White’s 100th birthday, Jan. 17, everyone make a $5 donation to an animal shelter. This seems like a good challenge.

Mark Stubitsch, it was nice to see you the other day.

Local News

Kathy Headley

Two ladies gone, but not forgotten

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Spread the loveBy Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 Guessing you have already read the sad news about the passing of Mary Ellen St. Aubin. For those of you that didn’t know, she grew up right here in Chicago Lawn, on 63rd and Richmond, and…

Mary Fabis (right) shows her award from Anita Cummings. --Greater Southwest News-Herald photo by Dermot Connolly

Honored for service to business

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Spread the loveFabis earns UBAM award  By Dermot Connolly The United Business Association of Midway recently honored founding member Mary Fabis with a Lifetime Membership Award for Outstanding Service for her 35 years of work with the business organization she continues to serve as a board member. Fabis, now 92, has owned and operated Archer…

With a long and colorful life, Mary Ellen St. Aubin had no shortage of good memories. --Supplied photo

She was a ‘Munchkin by marriage’

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Spread the loveMary Ellen St. Aubin dies at age 101 By Joan Hadac Mary Ellen St. Aubin once said that if her life could be summed up in a movie title, it might be It’s a Wonderful Life. That life came to a conclusion late last month. Mrs. St. Aubin was 101 years old. “I’ve…

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Fire and ice

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Spread the love December was unseasonably dry and warm, but it was cold enough late in the month to form icicles on a Bedford Park Fire Department truck– even after it returned from a blaze that gutted a warehouse in the 6500 block of South Lavergne, just steps south of Clearing. The weather forecast for…

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‘They made us look like fools’

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St. Rita takes 5th at Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic

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Spread the loveBy Steve Millar  Correspondent St. Rita’s youth was evident in some mistakes the Mustangs made down the stretch in the fifth-place game of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic. But the Mustangs’ talent won out in the end. Sophomore guard Jaedin Reyna went coast-to-coast and scored on a drive to the basket with 2.5…

Lyons Township’s Tavari Johnson was an all-tournament player as he helped his team to a second-place finish in the Jack Tosh Tournament. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Lions take 2nd at Tosh Holiday Classic

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Glenbard West won the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic. That made sense. The Hilltoppers are ranked No. 1 in most state and Chicago-area polls. But not much else about this tournament made a lot of sense, especially when it came some of the seven area teams involved or, in two…

Abbey Murphy, a Mother McAuley grad and University of Minnesota hockey player, was named to the Olympic team. University of Minnesota photo

Murphy joins Schofield on U.S. women’s hockey team

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Abbey Murphy lists Kendall Coyne Schofield as her sports role model. Now, she will be a teammate of Schofield on the biggest stage for women’s hockey. Team USA Hockey announced its Olympic roster over the weekend and two-time medal winner Schofield, a native of Palos Heights and a Sandburg…

A fast-food restaurant worker affixes a Fight for $15 sign to a window at a McDonald’s in the city. --Photo courtesy of FightFor15.org

New laws taking effect

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Spread the loveStatewide jump in minimum wage ‘just a start’  By Bob Bong and Peter Hancock Capitol News Illinois   Minimum-wage workers across Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets. Those are just some…

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Three Wise Men at Snows

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Spread the love Portraying the Three Wise Men at the Christmas pageant at Our Lady of the Snows School this year were Yarely Garibay, Noah Rosas and Amira Cepeda. The three eighth graders were part of “Las Posadas” a nine-night depiction of Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay and where Jesus Christ…

Neighbors

‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan

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SCOTUS ruling could upend federal corruption cases for Madigan, allies

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Quantum technology companies set for big tax incentives under new law

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Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?

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Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision

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Another Choate Mental Health Center employee indicted for abuse of resident

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State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’

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Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision

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Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation

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Pritzker signs bill creating new Department of Early Childhood

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