Mary Stanek

Mary Stanek

Easter egg hunt coming to Archer Park

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By Mary Stanek

Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon

3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 284-7394

I would love to write something witty and cheerful, but I just can’t do it right now. Watching the news, the situation of the world, our nation, etc. is a heavy load for all of us.

There is a quote from Hawkeye Pierce, from the television series M.A.S.H.: War is a lot worse than Hell – there are no innocent bystanders in Hell.

MaryStanek

Mary Stanek

On a lighter note, the annual Easter Egg Hunt for the Archer Heights community’s children is planned by the Archer Heights Civic Association. The event is set for Saturday, April 16, pending any COVID-19 restrictions.

The event is set for the Archer Park field house, but it depends on adult volunteers to help out. If you can dedicate about 3.5 hours for this event, please call (773) 843-2232, and leave a message. More definite information will be available in April depending on the volunteer recruitment and any new pandemic restrictions.

Thanks to the Archer Heights Civic Association for still requesting fencing be installed under the bridges by the Stevenson Expressway and Cicero Avenue. There have been squatters living there in the past and the area does present an invitation for more squatters to set up home.

There was another clean up crew on Feb. 8 organized by 22nd Ward Ald. Michael Rodriguez and 22nd Ward Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Manuel Heredia – thank you for that. This location can be the very first sight of Chicago our visitors see on their way in from Midway Airport.

Maker Mobile is an event for children at our Archer Heights Branch Library. The event has everything needed to imagine, plan and create. It will be held on Sunday, March 6 from 2 to 4 p.m. and also on Sunday, March 20 from 2 to 4 p.m. Masks are encouraged for those not vaccinated or who are immune-compromised. Please refer to the website or visit the librarian. If you haven’t visited the Archer Heights Branch yet, I strongly encourage it. It is a peaceful plethora of knowledge.

Happy Birthday to Joann Smigielski and Maria Zubek both on the 7th and Happy Birthday to Erica Coghlan on the 9th.

Finally, a quick update on our therapy dog, Oliver. He completed his second session, with observation, with Rainbow Animal Assisted Therapy. He visited Midwestern University in Downers Grove for an hour of de-stressing students taking exams. He actually was in his glory, with the young adults, especially the young ladies. Yes, our Oliver loves his gal friends–fellas too, but he has a soft spot for the gals.

Local News

Peggy Zabicki

Paczki Day ahead, not behind

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Spread the loveBy Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327 If you read my column online last week, you might remember my reference to Paczki Day. I thought it took place on Feb. 9. I was shopping at a Jewel outside our neighborhood around that date, and I asked…

U.S. Rep. Marie Newman

Campaign 2020: 11 elected officials endorse Newman in primary 

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Spread the loveBy Bob Bong   Marie Newman’s bid to win the Democratic nomination in the new 6th Congressional District picked up steam Tuesday when 11 elected officials in Cook and DuPage counties announced they were endorsing her in the June primary over fellow incumbent Sean Casten. “Congresswoman Marie Newman has been a very strong and effective…

Among those at the Valentine Small Business Vender Pop-Up at the Monarca Event Room, 3300 W. 63rd St., were Brian and Alma Cabrales from Velia Bath Bombs, St. Nick’s Girl Scouts Lia Garcia and Layla Burns, Scout Mom Jennifer Burns, and Adriana Cardona from D Colores Accessories. --Greater Southwest News-Herald photo by Kathy Headley

Things were poppin’ at Valentine’s event

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Spread the loveBy Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 Last Saturday I stopped in at the Valentine Small Business Pop-Up at Monarca, on the northwest corner of 63rd and Spaulding. I really enjoy these events. I always walk out spending more than I planned, this…

Joan Hadac

The next correspondent could be you

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Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac GSWNH Columnist At-Large This week, it’s my privilege and pleasure to write the Greater Southwest News-Herald’s column for Greater Ashburn (the Wrightwood, Ashburn, Parkview and Scottsdale neighborhoods). Greater Ashburn has not had a correspondent in this newspaper since Carolina Franco stepped away from writing this column back in late 2019. Anyway,…

Kathy Headley

Bridget Ferriter, you will be missed

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Spread the loveBy Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 Last week I had the sad experience of attending the funeral of a good friend, Bridget Ferriter. We were neighbors for more than 30 years. We did things long-time neighbors do, like pop over for coffee…

Mary Stanek

To receive City services, you must ask

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Spread the loveBy Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 284-7394 The CHI311 website is the way to go, or a simple 311 phone call can help keep our neighborhoods clean and safe! To quote from an article written by Mike Kovac in the Archer Heights…

Peggy Zabicki

Winter Olympics bring back fun memories

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Spread the loveBy Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327 Have you been watching the Winter Olympics? My favorite sport is figure skating. It is beautiful and athletic. The athletes are so inspiring. I love to watch all the sports. I remember my family gathering around the TV, watching the Olympics in the early…

GSWNH_KeithThornton_021122

Mayor ‘out of control,’ hero says

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Spread the lovePolice ranks ‘thousands’ short, dispatcher tells Scottsdale  By Tim Hadac It’s not every day that a City worker has the courage to attend a public meeting and call a mayor “out of control.” But Keith A. Thornton Jr. did exactly that earlier this week on the Southwest Side. A 911 dispatcher hailed as…

GSWNH_FrontPageBottom_021122

Rockie is the new kid on the block

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Spread the love While some folks see heavy snowfall and curse the skies, children across the Southwest Side seemed thrilled with last week’s winter windfall. Schools cancelled classes, and kids like 9-year-old Rosie Arroyo showed her creativity by working with her father, Raul, to build a snowman in front of their home near 49th and…

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi

Kaegi, legislators, advocates unveil affordable housing initiative

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Spread the loveFrom staff reports Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi was joined by state legislators and affordable housing advocates earlier this week to launch the Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program, a new form of property tax relief recently signed into law. Kaegi worked with legislative partners who passed the law last spring, including State Sens.…

Neighbors

Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation

Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation

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Pritzker signs bill creating new Department of Early Childhood

Pritzker signs bill creating new Department of Early Childhood

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday creating a new cabinet-level state agency dedicated to early childhood education and development. The new Department of Early Childhood, which will become operational in July 2026, will take over programs currently housed across three state agencies, including funding for preschool…

Speaker Welch rebuffs lawsuit from would-be staff union as ‘forum shopping’

Speaker Welch rebuffs lawsuit from would-be staff union as ‘forum shopping’

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Advocates say SCOTUS ruling paves way for law ensuring abusers have guns confiscated

Advocates say SCOTUS ruling paves way for law ensuring abusers have guns confiscated

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com After the U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld a federal law that bars those under domestic violence-related restraining orders from owning guns, victim advocates say Illinois lawmakers should pass a measure to ensure firearms are actually confiscated in those situations. The legislation has been stalled for more than…

Communities, commission push Pritzker admin for more prison plan details

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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…

Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign

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…

State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’

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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

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

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Elections board dismisses illegal campaign coordination complaint, declines to clarify law

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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…