Mary Stanek

Mary Stanek

Plenty to celebrate in February

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By Mary Stanek

Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon

3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 284-7394

“February is the month when days start to get long and gloomy nights to shrink.” –Anonymous.

Thank goodness there are only 28 days this year. We are getting closer to March. But it’s silly to wish life away.

February brings Black History Month, Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day.

I’m sure most of us have already read that my fellow neighborhood correspondent, Karen Sala of Gage Park, has decided to put down her pen.

MaryStanek 1

Mary Stanek

I wish her well in the future; but thankfully I will still see her on social media. She is one great baker and I enjoy her posts of the cakes and waffles she prepares. I can understand her wanting to take a break.

Week after week, trying to find something new can be a little challenging. That is why I rely on you, my readers. I absolutely love it when you call me with your opinions, praises and even criticisms. If you have friends or family that are celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, special events, please just give me a call. Some of you even write notes, which I am happy to receive in the mail.

Here is a reply to one very nice lady who left a message without leaving her name, worrying about my dog, Oliver, after my fall. Oliver is fine. My husband took him home; but he, Oliver, himself could barely walk on the ice. As a follow up on the knee, I will have started physical therapy on Feb. 2.

Property owners can now sign up for Cook County Free Property Fraud Alert. Help protect your property; the cook county clerk will call or email you any time a document is recorded against your property.

The 23rd Ward aldermanic office can help you sign up for this service. Please call (773) 582-4444 or email ward23@cityofchicago.org for free enrollment. You will be asked for the name of the property owner, address, PIN number and your email or phone number. Once registered and you receive a notice of potential fraud, please contact property fraud at (312) 603-4000 or Clerk.RecordsFraud@cookcountyil.gov.

The halls of St. Bruno School are alive with music! The young Trailblazers have been learning the guitar. That is a great way for the kids to appreciate music, encourage creativity and teach discipline, just to name a few advantages.

The Archer Heights Branch Library will be closed on Friday, Feb. 11 and Saturday, Feb. 12 in observance of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. President Lincoln’s birthday is actually Feb. 12. A few states, including Illinois, observe this day, while others celebrate it together with George Washington’s birthday on Presidents Day. I have some books I need to return, but the beauty part of the library system now is I can just go online to renew them.

Happy Birthday to Samantha Karim on Feb. 7.

Local News

GSWNH_HuescaCasket_050324

‘A man of honor, a beacon of kindness’

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Spread the love. Chicago weeps for Officer Luis Huesca  . By Tim Hadac People across the Southwest Side shed tears earlier this week, as throngs of police officers and other filled the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel at 77th and Western for a funeral Mass for CPD Officer Luis M. Huesca. Officer Huesca was…

GSWNH_AMLL11_050324

Archer Manor Little League starts its 2024 season

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Spread the love. Sunny skies and mild temperatures greeted the boys and girls, moms and dads, umpires and coaches, and everyone else participating in Archer Manor Little League’s Opening Day parade and ceremonies at Archer Park. Since 1952, AMLL has provided athletic opportunities for thousands of boys and girls in Archer Heights, West Elsdon, Central…

In a screenshot from a video showing drifting in a Southwest Side parking lot, Smoke billows from both a muscle car's wheels and the asphalt below. --Supplied photo

Dread over car drifters on streets

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Spread the love. Reckless drivers take over SW Side intersections  . By Tim Hadac At the April meeting of the Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch, a police officer admitted that the drag racing/drifting phenomenon seen and heard in the Midway area in recent years “probably will increase, but we hope not.” The admission was triggered by…

U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" García (D-4th)

Don’t raise pilots’ retirement age, García says

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Spread the love. From staff reports U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-4th), senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recently led a letter joined by 121 Members of Congress urging House Democratic leadership to reject any changes to the pilot retirement age in a final version of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill.…

CTAlogo

CTA launches ‘chat’ feature on website

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Spread the love. From staff reports Artificial Intelligence has made another step forward at the Chicago Transit Authority. CTA officials recently launched the “Chat with CTA” chatbot, a new virtual automated service featured on transitchicago.com. The communication tool allows riders to report issues, provide feedback and receive answers in real-time. Additionally, it provides the CTA with customer…

ChicagoCitySeal

New effort to aid kids with disabilities

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Spread the love. From staff reports A new grant program aimed at providing financial assistance to families of children with disabilities was launched recently by Mayor Brandon Johnson, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and Ada S. McKinley Community Services. Children with disabilities is a population disproportionately affected by the pandemic,…

Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart

Dart warns of Sheriff’s Office imposters

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Spread the love. From staff reports Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart recently alerted the public of an uptick in telephone and email phishing scams in which scammers identify themselves as a Sheriff’s Office employee in an attempt to defraud victims. Scammers are using the actual names and respective titles of Sheriff’s Office employees to…

Peggy Zabicki

It’s ‘Batter up!’ time in West Lawn

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Spread the love. Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327 . It must be May because baseball season is here. I recently reported on the West Lawn Little League, whose 2024 season is now underway. Another West Lawn youth athletic association is Midway Baseball Softball Association. Their teams…

Mary Stanek

Cinco de Mayo, here we come

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Spread the love. By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 517-7796 . It’s time to bring out the Corona, Tecate, Modelo or Dos Equis, along with a few limes. Heck, maybe even bring out the Patrón! It is Cinco de Mayo this Sunday, translated to…

Chicago Christian’s Holland Winthrop eyes a high fastball during an at-bat last week. Photo by Xavier Sanchez

Softball | Jocelyn Hovanec scores two runs, Ks 12 in Chicago Christian win

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Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Chicago Christian  is working to find its footing in the inaugural season of the Chicagoland Christian Conference. The Knights entered this week 6-8 overall and 4-6 in the CCC, putting them in fifth place with just two conference games to play among their final seven regular-season contests. The Knights…

Neighbors

Democrats muscle through changes to ballot access, advisory questions

Democrats muscle through changes to ballot access, advisory questions

By JERRY NOWICKI HANNAH MEISEL & PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House moved quickly Wednesday to push through a change to state election laws that partially limits ballot access and adds three nonbinding referendums to the 2024 general election ballot.  It’s a move that caused minority party…

After 3 years, state poised to enforce law aiming to end lending discrimination

After 3 years, state poised to enforce law aiming to end lending discrimination

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Community Reinvestment Act, a federal law that sought to wipe away the last vestiges of racial discrimination and redlining in America’s home mortgage industry. The idea was simple. By requiring lenders – primarily banks – to make…

Capitol News Illinois partners with ‘Illinois Lawmakers’ program to bring it back to air

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Capitol News Illinois announced today it will produce the long-running “Illinois Lawmakers” program this spring, in partnership with longtime host and producer Jak Tichenor.  “This new partnership is absolutely critical to providing Illinois residents with reliable, independent, in-depth, up to date coverage from the Illinois Capitol after many newspapers and broadcasters shuttered their Statehouse bureaus over…

Election officials to weigh whether Darren Bailey and GOP operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated

Election officials to weigh whether Darren Bailey and GOP operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated

By ANDREW ADAMS & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A year and a half after Republican Darren Bailey lost his campaign to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker, state election officials are weighing whether he illegally colluded with conservative radio show host and political operative Dan Proft in the 2022 campaign. The State Board…

Immigrant advocates tout new report showing benefits of state-funded health plans

Immigrant advocates tout new report showing benefits of state-funded health plans

By PETER HANCOCK  and JERRY NOWICKI  Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Immigrant rights advocates on Friday continued to push for one of their top budget priorities: full funding for state-run health care programs that benefit noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status. Those programs offer health coverage for low-income individuals who would otherwise qualify for…

As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away

As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away

By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com Lead pipes in public water systems and drinking fixtures have been banned in new construction since 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, but they are still in use across the U.S. and in Illinois.  The presence of lead pipes has persisted due in part to…

Capitol Briefs: State unveils report on racial disparities among homeless populations

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By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Tackling homelessness requires addressing racial injustice, according to a new report commissioned by the state’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness.  The report found that Black people are eight times more likely to experience homelessness than white people. Remedying this disparity, according to the report, would require “long-term…

Flooding is Illinois’ Most Threatening Natural Disaster. Are We Prepared?

Flooding is Illinois’ Most Threatening Natural Disaster. Are We Prepared?

by Meredith Newman, Illinois Answers Project April 16, 2024 This story was originally published by the Illinois Answers Project. The electricity in Mary Buchanan’s home in West Garfield Park was not working – again.  The outage lasted four days, starting just after a crew dug up her front lawn to install a check valve in…

Bears pitch $3.2B stadium plan, but Pritzker still ‘skeptical’ despite team’s $2B pledge

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By DILPREET RAJU & JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com The Chicago Bears laid out a $3.2 billion plan for a new domed stadium on Chicago’s lakefront on Wednesday afternoon, painting pictures of future Super Bowls and other major public events while pinning their hopes on yet-to-be-had conversations with the governor and lawmakers.  The Bears…

Regulators weigh future of gas industry in Illinois, while clamping down on Chicago utility

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By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Natural gas is fueling a fight between consumer advocates, a powerful utility company and the state. Amid competing advertising campaigns, accusations of mismanagement and state decarbonization efforts, the Illinois Commerce Commission is starting a process that will shape how the state regulates the increasingly controversial industry. …