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A crazy fun day
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Local News
![FINN Moraine Valley Athletic Director Bill Finn, who is retiring on June 30, has a little fun last year during the athletic department’s 45th anniversary. Photo by Jeff Vorva](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/FINN-1024x678.jpg)
Bill Finn retires after 40 years as Moraine Valley AD, passes torch to General McArthur
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer On July 1, General McArthur III will take over as the new athletic director at Moraine Valley Community College. It will be the first time since 1983 that someone other than Bill Finn will have that job. Finn announced his retirement months ago and his last official day…
![CollegeNotebook_Cantu 1 Morton College freshman baseball player Miguel Cantu hit .442 with a 1.339 OPS this season and set Panther season records in home runs (17), RBI (87) and hits (95). Photo courtesy of Morton College](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CollegeNotebook_Cantu-1-1024x683.jpg)
Morton College’s Miguel Cantu rakes way into record book
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent It had been a while since a Morton College baseball players claimed the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference MVP Award. It had been even longer since a Panther earned All-American status. The efforts of freshman first baseman Miguel Cantu this season ended both droughts. Cantu parlayed an impressive season into…
![Baseball in a mitt with a black bat low angle selective focus view on a baseball field Baseball in a mitt with a black bat low angle selective focus view on a baseball field](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/stock-Baseball.jpg)
Rice grad Payton is Buster Posey Catcher of Year finalist
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent Louisville catcher Jack Payton has been named a finalist for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. Payton, an Orland Park resident who prepped at Brother Rice, is one of three finalists along with Kyle Teel of Virginia and Ryan Snell…
![Szykowny 1 Charlie Szykowny, a Palos Heights resident who graduated from Shepard, played four seasons at a Division III school in Wisconsin before playing this year as a graduate transfer at Illinois-Chicago. Photo courtesy of Illinois-Chicago Athletics](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Szykowny-1-1024x576.jpg)
Shepard alum Charlie Szykowny runs hot for Flames
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent It’s not that Charlie Szykowny didn’t enjoy his time playing baseball at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. After all, he was a First-Team All-American in 2022, as chosen by D3Baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings. Szykowny, a Palos Heights resident and Shepard graduate, set a program season record that year with 18 home…
![OLIVIA TRUNK The Sandburg girls basketball team went 3-1 at the inaugural Windmill City Weekend Live Event, held June 15-17 at Batavia High School. Photo by Jeff Vorva](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/OLIVIA-TRUNK-1024x678.jpg)
Area Sports Roundup | Area hoops teams compete in summer showcases
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Five area girls basketball teams participated in a monster girls hoops showcase and showed their skills to college coaches during the NCAA’s live period. The first Windmill City Weekend Live Event took place June 15-17 at Batavia High School. Each team competed in a four-team pool and then…
![RYAN Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy contributed to the death of UNLV football player Ryan Keeler in February, the Clark County coroner's office determined.](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RYAN.jpeg)
Area Sports Roundup | Autopsy determines ex-Nazareth football player had heart condition
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Nazareth community was saddened on Feb. 20 when it found out that graduate Ryan Keeler, who was attending and playing football for UNLV, had died in Las Vegas. It was revealed last week that the results of the autopsy performed on Keeler determined the 20-year-old UNLV football…
![FIRE 2 The Chicago Fire's Arnaud Souquet scored the lone goal in a 4-1 U.S. Open loss to Houston in what is likely the last Fire game at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview this season. Photo by Jeff Vorva](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/FIRE-2-1024x684.jpg)
Pro Sports Report | Fire appear done in Bridgeview in 2023; Messi and Miami coming to Soldier Field in October
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Things will not get Messi in Bridgeview. And it’s likely that June 6 will be the last time SeatGeek Stadium in the village hosts the Chicago Fire soccer game in 2023. With the news that soccer legend Lionel Messi was going to sign with MLS team Inter Miami,…
Neighbors
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After 9 months, state data begins to detail new pretrial detention system
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Nine months after cash bail ended in Illinois, the state is taking its first steps in publishing the data that crafters of the bail reform law saw as essential to judging its effectiveness. The data shows that judges in the 75 counties served by the Illinois Supreme Court’s…
![ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS: Pritzker keeps economic development at forefront in exclusive interview ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS: Pritzker keeps economic development at forefront in exclusive interview](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ILLINOIS-LAWMAKERS-PRITZKER-opt1-JMjS50-1024x753.jpeg)
ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS: Pritzker keeps economic development at forefront in exclusive interview
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com With fiscal year 2025 slated to begin Monday, Gov. JB Pritzker continues to tout available state tax incentives and promote Illinois as a site for business development. On the season finale of “Illinois Lawmakers” this week, Pritzker pointed to a pair of developments in East Alton and Normal…
![Pritzker calls SCOTUS emergency abortion ruling ‘small respite’ as state protections await his signature Pritzker calls SCOTUS emergency abortion ruling ‘small respite’ as state protections await his signature](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240627-AVELAR-AA1-MkHa17-1024x682.jpeg)
Pritzker calls SCOTUS emergency abortion ruling ‘small respite’ as state protections await his signature
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Abortion remains legal as an emergency medical procedure in Idaho, for now, after a Thursday U.S. Supreme Court ruling, while a bill that would cement those protections in Illinois law awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature. The 6-3 decision saw the three liberal justices concur with the order. Three…
![‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan ‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240614-Logan-Prison-yard-signs-DoZFBM-1024x768.jpeg)
‘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…
![SCOTUS ruling could upend federal corruption cases for Madigan, allies SCOTUS ruling could upend federal corruption cases for Madigan, allies](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240103-MADIGAN-ALT-AA-Rcr9BK-1024x683.jpeg)
SCOTUS ruling could upend federal corruption cases for Madigan, allies
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the scope of a federal bribery law prosecutors have relied on in their cases against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and several of his allies convicted of bribing him. A jury last spring found those allies – former lobbyists and…
![Quantum technology companies set for big tax incentives under new law Quantum technology companies set for big tax incentives under new law](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240626-PRITZKER-AA-1ErpEg-1024x682.jpeg)
Quantum technology companies set for big tax incentives under new law
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday gave final approval to a plan to bolster the state’s tech industry, including an incentives package – backed by $500 million in the state budget – aimed at making Illinois the nation’s leader in quantum computing. The package also expands tax…
![Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it? Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ctc-calcArtboard-1-4x-1001-t2mth2-1024x682.jpeg)
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…
![Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240614-PRITZKER-AA1-ViOzVJ-1024x682.jpeg)
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…
![Another Choate Mental Health Center employee indicted for abuse of resident Another Choate Mental Health Center employee indicted for abuse of resident](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240610-CHOATE-CHARGE-OPT1-FB1xpE-1024x503.jpeg)
Another Choate Mental Health Center employee indicted for abuse of resident
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com Another caregiver at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna is facing charges for abusing a patient. A grand jury indicted Joseph A. Clark, 24, of Grand Chain, on a felony charge of aggravated battery and a misdemeanor charge of battery. Clark pinned a Choate resident to…
![State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’ State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’](https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/FLASHING-LIGHTS-SQUAD-POLICE-00971-ilpWzw-1024x682.jpeg)
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…