Mary Stanek
Plenty to celebrate in February
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.
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
Grocery store manager is a West Lawn original
Spread the loveBy Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 Have you been grocery shopping at the Save A Lot at 4439 W. 63rd St. recently? If so, you may have noticed some improvements in the food displays. New manager Juan Valenzuela has goals of improving merchandise quality and…
We’ll write to you from Timbuktu
Spread the loveBy Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 I want to wish everyone a goodbye. My family and I are moving to Timbuktu. Welcome to 57th Place, baby Santiago. Our neighbor, Claudia, delivered her bundle of joy, and he is as cute as…
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
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Red Stars Report: Red Stars upset but Mahomes was happy with KC win over Chicago
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Sister Regina was a wonderful and kind leader
Spread the loveBy Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 As I wrote this column, I received the sad news that Sister Regina Dubickas, SSC passed away today. It is with a heavy heart that I send my deepest condolences to the Sisters of St. Casimir.…
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…
Boys Volleyball: Marist beats Lincoln-Way East in battle of national powers
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer High rankings do not mean a whole lot to Kellen O’Keefe. The Marist senior hitter was well aware the RedHawks were recently ranked 14th in the nation in a USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association poll in mid-March. But minutes after the RedHawks won their own 24-team tournament with…
Police close in on girl’s killers
Spread the loveRelease video of suspects firing weapons From staff reports Police have released surveillance video which they say shows three suspects wanted for questioning in connection with the slaying of a 12-year-old girl on her birthday. The video, a compilation of several cameras mounted at several Chicago Lawn homes, shows three men walking in…
Burglars hit Brighton Park businesses
Spread the loveFrom staff reports A trio of burglaries of businesses in the north end of Brighton Park has prompted police to issue a community alert. All three crimes were against businesses located in the 3500 block of South California on March 13-14. Police did not say what was stolen or how access was gained.…
Neighbors
State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois State Police say an automated license plate reader program has helped the agency identify witnesses or suspects in 82 percent of highway shooting cases this year, including all eight that resulted in a death. But as the state looks to further expand its network of more than…
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
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‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
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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
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Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign
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