Newman backs Starbucks unionization
Local News
Biz leaders launch effort to serve seniors
Spread the loveFocus is on safety By Tim Hadac Several leading businesses serving the Southwest Side have forged a partnership to serve the community’s elderly residents. All Exterior Contractors, Mike Riordan State Farm Agency and First Rate Realty—all members of the Garfield Ridge Chamber of Commerce—are teaming up to offer safety inspections of seniors’ homes, all at no charge.…
Hale hails police as ‘Hawk heroes’
Spread the loveHonored by school for quick actions last year By Cosmo Hadac A handful of Chicago Police officers were hailed as Hawk Heroes by administrators, teachers and students at Hale School last week. The honor was bestowed at a sometimes loud, joyful assembly at the Clearing school, in recognition of officers’ swift action to…
Byrne Bengals roar to Hale Park crown
Spread the love The Byrne School eighth grade volleyball team has once again won a championship in the league at Hale Park. In the regular season which concluded earlier this month, the Bengals went 9-0. Then in the playoffs, they first defeated St. Symphorosa; and in the championship match, they knocked off St. Richard in…
Going out like a lion or lamb?
Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com As I write this (March 23), the weather forecast I’m looking at for Marfch 31 calls for a high of 48 degrees with a 30% chance of rain. Does that mean March is going out like a lion or a…
Top wrestler headed to college
Spread the love Garfield Ridge resident Dorian Vaughns, a champion-caliber wrestler and senior at Kennedy High School, recently signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Central College in Pella, Iowa, where he will don the red and white and compete for the Dutch, an NCAA powerhouse in wrestling. In…
Newman notes fed funds for the CTA
Spread the loveFrom staff reports U.S. Rep. Marie Newman (D-3rd) recently said she has helped secure a $912.1 million award of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The new grant funding from the American Rescue Plan will help the CTA keep workers on the payroll as communities across the region…
Invite girls to Red Stars soccer camps
Spread the loveBy Tim Hadac Southwest Side girls are invited to take part in a series of camps and clinics offered by the Chicago Red Stars. The Chicago Red Stars Elite Soccer Academy provides an immersive experience for young female athletes. The program focuses on a full-day structure, much like collegiate and professional players, with…
Red Stars Report: Red Stars upset but Mahomes was happy with KC win over Chicago
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Leading up to the Challenge Cup home opener against the Kansas City Current, the Chicago Red Stars were feeling pretty good. New coach Chris Petrucelli said every day was enjoyable. “They come out and have fun,” he said on March 24. “Everyone is smiling. I can’t think of…
Area Sports Roundup: Brother Rice riding in style; Evergreen Park’s Lily Strand fans 27
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer For some games, Brother Rice arrives in style. On March 22, the Crusaders opened a few eyes when they arrived in Orland Park on a charter bus for a non-conference game against Sandburg. “We’ve had problems with the timing of getting a bus and sometimes 3:45 is the…
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…