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
400 motorists get free gas at Hickory Hill station as police chief pitches in
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Shirley Jenkins wasn’t about to miss her chance to get $50 worth of gasoline for free, even it meant getting in line around 6 a.m. The Justice woman, 63, waited three hours to pump free gas into her SUV Thursday morning at Falcon Fuel in Hickory Hills. “I need the…
Area Sports Roundup: South Suburban College wins national title
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer Now for some March Madness that was not as heavily publicized over the weekend … Area athletes participated in three national championship basketball games on Saturday, and a couple of them can lay claim to being national champs. St. Rita grad Cameron Bartmann and Catalyst Maria alum Jonathan…
Pro Soccer Report: Red Stars seek title after back-to-back runner-up finishes
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer It’s an obvious goal. Win it all. The Chicago Red Stars, who make their 2022 home debut in the Challenge Cup at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Kansas City at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, finished runner-up in each of the past two NWSL seasons in 2019 and 2021. There…
Madigan hits feds
Spread the loveActions routine, ‘not illegal’ By Peter Hancock Capitol News Illinois Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and former lobbyist Michael McClain have pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of racketeering, bribery, fraud and extortion. Both were arraigned on those charges last week during a teleconference hearing before U.S. District Judge…
Archer Avenue goes green for a day
Spread the loveThe Southwest Side Irish (as well as many more “Irish for a day” friends and neighbors) flooded Archer Avenue with good cheer earlier this month, at the Midway area’s only St. Patrick’s Day parade. Hosted by the Clear-Ridge Men’s Social Athletic Club and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, the Chicago Working…
Chuy rips Biden for ‘racist’ border policy
Spread the loveSays president using rule to unfairly deny asylum From staff reports U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-4th) recently joined Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), and Jose Luis Correa (D-Calif.) in demanding the Biden Administration revoke a rule they say is racist and anti-immigrant. “For nearly two years, the United States government has expelled individuals fleeing from…
Offer tuition help at SW Side Catholic schools
Spread the loveBy Kathy Headley The Southwest Organizing Project, in partnership with the Big Shoulders Fund, is offering scholarships to newly eligible students at six participating schools in the area. For students who qualify, annual tuition per child is $1,500 for a two-year term, with an option for renewal. A limited number of scholarships are…
City is anti-business, grocer’s son says
Spread the loveColumnist John Kass addresses UBAM members By Steve Metsch John Kass, whose father and relatives built a grocery business with hard work, knows about the pressures facing business owners in Chicago. The city is not doing enough to help small businesses, the former Chicago Tribune reporter and columnist recently told a gathering of…
Chill forced cancellation at park
Spread the loveBy Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 Well unfortunately, the beautiful weather and thawing of the ice on the lagoon at Marquette Park did not extend into last weekend. Saturday was the day the first Go Run Marquette Park was scheduled. With the…
Wearing the green year round
Spread the loveBy Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 Greetings to all! I hope everyone had a nice St. Patrick’s Day. I always wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. One year I forgot to wear green; but since my eyes are green, I technically am always wearing green. Wishing you…
Neighbors
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…
Judge blocks law that would have banned newly slated candidates from ballot
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A Sangamon County judge on Wednesday blocked the Illinois State Board of Elections from enforcing a new law that would have prevented certain General Assembly candidates who didn’t run in the March primary from getting on the November ballot. The move doesn’t void the bill in its entirety,…
“No Schoolers”: How Illinois’ hands-off approach to homeschooling leaves children at risk
By BETH HUNDSDORFER & MOLLY PARKER CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS investigations@capitolnewsillinois.com This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. It was on L.J.’s 11th birthday, in December 2022, that child welfare workers finally took him away. They arrived at his central Illinois home to investigate an abuse allegation and decided…
Brushing off concerns of overspending, Pritzker signs $53.1 billion state budget
By ANDREW ADAMS JERRY NOWICKI & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed the state’s $53.1 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, the largest in state history. The signing caps months of work – and tension – among top Democratic leaders in Springfield and within the…
Stalled bills: ‘Dignity in Pay Act,’ Prisoner Review Board changes fail to move
By ALEX ABBEDUTO, COLE LONGCOR & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com A bill eliminating the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities failed to pass the General Assembly ahead of its May adjournment, although sponsors say they hope to pass it when lawmakers return in the fall. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938…