Newman backs Starbucks unionization
Local News
College Report: Area alums gunning for back-to-back national titles with Carthage men’s volleyball
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer This Marist/Chicago Christian/Lyons connection could lead Carthage College to another national title. Marist setter Gene McNulty, Chicago Christian middle hitter Zach Bulthuis and Lyons outside hitter Matt Slivinski helped lead the defending national champs to the Final Four of the NCAA Division III men’s volleyball tournament with a…
Dems fight carjacking
Spread the loveBills unveiled in Springfield By Grace Kinnicutt Capitol News Illinois and Tim Hadac Illinois Senate Democrats unveiled legislation last week to address the increase in carjackings by protecting victims and providing additional resources to law enforcement in targeting and capturing offenders. Carjacking is a frequent topic of discussion in Clearing and Garfield Ridge,…
Thoughts of summer in the spring
Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com Spring has sprung, but I (probably like you) have gotten a bit wet. We seem to have had our share of rainy skies. I know the old saying is that “April showers bring May flowers,” but haven’t the flowers gotten…
Wildcats are hoops champions
Spread the love Two years after their playoff run was halted by the start of the pandemic, members of the St. Daniel the Prophet School’s eighth grade boys basketball team wear their championship T-shirts after they took the title at Hale Park recently. The Wildcats went 8-0 in the regular season, then stormed through the…
Crime fighters to meet
Spread the loveBy Tim Hadac Those who live west of Central Avenue in Garfield Ridge are invited to attend the next meeting of the Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 at Ward Hall, 5157 S. McVicker. The meeting will double as the April meeting of CAPS Beat 811. Crime statistics…
Garfield Ridge Civic to meet
Spread the loveFrom staff reports Garfield Ridge residents are invited to attend the next meeting of the Garfield Ridge Civic League, set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 at Crossroads Community Church, 5433 S. Austin. A guest speaker from the Citizens Utility Board will talk about saving money on utility bills. Those attending are enter…
Lopez announces mayoral run
Spread the lovePro-police alderman has been popular locally By Tim Hadac He does not represent Clearing or Garfield Ridge, but Raymond A. Lopez wants to. The 15th Ward alderman and Democratic committeeman last week announced his candidacy for mayor. With a simple tweet (“Chicago, I’m in!”), Lopez on April 6 signaled his candidacy. At a…
College report: Former Riverside-Brookfield star homers in four consecutive at-bats
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer Former Riverside-Brookfield baseball standout Ryan Cermak is a leadoff hitter who is belting the ball like a cleanup hitter. The Illinois State University centerfielder hit three straight homers — including grand slams in consecutive at-bats— and broke a school record with 10 RBIs in a 15-7 victory over…
Pro Soccer Report: Fire II gets a point, but still no goals after three games
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The new Chicago Fire II team is winless and scoreless through three games, but coach Ludovic Taillandier knows wins and losses are not the team’s main focus. The Fire II, which tied Rochester 0-0 April 10 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, is a mix of youth and Chicago…
Neighbors
Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Halfway through the 2024 election cycle and just a few weeks away from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy on Wednesday announced his resignation as head of the state Republican Party. Tracy, who’d held the job since February 2021, explained his resignation in…
As Illinois session ends, lawmakers’ attempt to reinstate wetland protections fails
by JENNIFER BAMBERG Investigate Midwest jennifer.bamberg@investigatemidwest.org In 2006, 19-year-old Jessica Whinston inherited 20 acres of land that her grandparents once farmed in Quincy, Illinois. The land had sat dormant since the 1980s and was overgrown, but Whinston and her husband Bradley worked to turn it into a productive farm. The couple were eventually able to…
Elections board dismisses illegal campaign coordination complaint, declines to clarify law
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – State elections officials on Tuesday indicated they were unlikely to step in to clarify what constitutes illegal campaign coordination after voting to dismiss a complaint alleging such coordination in the 2022 campaign for governor. At their monthly meeting in Chicago, Illinois State Board of Elections members…
Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois law banning the sale and use of “bump stocks” and other devices that increase the firing power of semiautomatic weapons remains in place, at least for now, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday striking down a federal ban on such items. “Illinois law…
Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan
By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For the last two decades, each time a governor has moved to close a large state-run facility like a prison or mental health center, a legislative oversight panel has voted on the plan. That changed on Friday – at least for now –…
‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…
Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children. The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although…
Members of House speaker’s staff sue over ongoing unionization conflict
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Members of a would-be union representing staffers in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office filed suit against their boss on Friday, asking a Cook County judge to force recognition of the union. The Illinois Legislative Staff Association, which formed in the fall of 2022, claims Welch’s…
Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A hearing officer is recommending the Illinois State Board of Elections dismiss a complaint that alleged conservative radio host and political operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated with former Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey during his 2022 campaign for governor. Proft, a one-time gubernatorial candidate himself, is behind an…
Communities, commission push Pritzker admin for more prison plan details
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Jimmy Soto spent more than 42 years wrongfully imprisoned in Illinois Department of Corrections facilities. In 2020, he was moved to the “F-House” at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, a condemned unit, not because he was being punished, but because it was where the facility was housing individuals…