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
Midway is new for Frontier
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Rush rips USDA over plight of black farmers
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Charge man with Archer Heights carjacking
Spread the loveBy Tim Hadac Police say they’ve solved a carjacking that occurred in Archer Heights earlier this month. An 18-year-old Southeast Side man was charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking in connection with the crime. Monte Handley, of the 9000 block of South Muskegon, was apprehended by police in the 7500 block of South Ellis…
Charge man in shooting of 2
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Police reports
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Tabares backs West Lawn Branch Library
Spread the love Twenty-third Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares (left) recently toured the renovated West Lawn Branch Library, 4020 W. 63rd St.,, with new branch manager Mina Duarte. Details about the renovation’s may be found in the West Lawn column in the January 28 Greater Southwest News-Herald. –Supplied photo
Chuy backs Starbucks unionization
Spread the love U.S. Rep Jesús “Chuy” García (D-4th), white mask, recently stood with those who support unionization of Starbucks workers, outside a shop in the city. Workers are attempting to organize under the banner of Chicago and Midwest Joint Board, Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. –Supplied photo
‘Grizzled’ sophomores help Naz beat Marist
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Nazareth’s “grizzled veterans” have won 19 of their first 20 games. The Roadrunners’ were victorious in a big East Suburban Catholic Conference showdown with Marist, with two sophomores doing most of the damage in a 53-42 win in LaGrange Park on Jan. 19. Nazareth improved to 19-1, 4-0.…
Postseason Sports Report: Area stars ready for state bowling and dancing
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The first two IHSA state tournaments for winter sports will take place this weekend, and an army of area athletes will be competing in both. The boys bowling and competitive dance championships will be held Friday and Saturday, with the bowlers heading to St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon…
We need real solutions to crime
Spread the loveBy Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 Crime and safety concerns are the number one topic of all the calls and texts I receive. It seems that many politicians offer no solutions except the usual lists of ways to keep safe. I think everyone knows about locking…
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?
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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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