Mary Stanek
Florida was just too far
By Mary Stanek
Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon
3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394
“Sing Robin from your woodland tree. I love your little melody”. And the sounds of robins mean spring is here!
Sorry I missed you last week. My family had intended to drive to Ocala, Fla., but we made it to Champaign and decided no more for now.
My husband has been having eye issues and with my bum leg, rising gas prices and a fidgety dog a 1,500-mile drive was too much.
Mary Stanek
Since I missed last week’s paper, I would like now to welcome our new columnist, Laura Ortega. Best wishes and I look forward to your words.
Mark your calendars for a holiday arts and crafts fair. The event will be held at Pasteur Park on April 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will also be face painting, crafts and an egg hunt.
I received a phone call from Mae, inquiring about some history of Lourdes High School. Her daughters also graduated from Lourdes but just a few years prior to my class.
So here is a synopsis from what I can determine. Lourdes high school opened during the great depression around 1936. The school was operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis and served to educate young ladies until its closing in 2002.
I remember attending a final walk through with some of my classmates and a Mass in Stritch Hall at its closing. I can’t believe that Lourdes High School closed more than 20 years ago. Where does time go? And here is an interesting tidbit: Lourdes, at least Stritch Hall and the third floor, is claimed to be haunted.
The cookbook that the Sisters from Lourdes put together years ago and I’ve been on the hunt for has been located. So, all I need is for Ted to call me back and we can hopefully locate some recipes. Janine, was instrumental in locating the book, so I will give her a call after I speak with Ted. And as a reminder I love receiving your phone calls and hearing your stories, so please keep them coming.
Here is a little heads up. Pulaski Road around 64th Street will be reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction for sewer work. This work is expected to last until the week of Monday, April 25.
On a final note, now that the days are getting longer and warmer its great that folks are out and about. It’s even better to see the neighborhood dogs that have been hibernating. Nancy and her Sparky and the 57th Place terriers have been staples through the dead of winter. It’s great to see the rest of the pups, such as Miley (who has more sweaters than me), Dhama (a beautiful bull) and Buddy, to name a few. We’ve missed them.
Local News
Hunt killer in ‘drifting’ slaying
Spread the love. Police seek witnesses, video of 59/Western . By Tim Hadac Police are appealing to the public to help find those responsible for the slaying of a 20-year-old West Englewood man during a takeover of the intersection at 59th and Western at 3:21 a.m. Sunday, May 5. The victim–identified as Guillermo “Memito” Caballero…
Mom gets 20 years in babies’ murder
Spread the love. Stuffed her newborn twin boys in an alley garbage cart . By Tim Hadac The books closed this month on a double murder that shocked and sickened many in the Garfield Ridge area more than 20 years ago. Antoinette Briley, 44, pled guilty on May 7 to murdering her twin baby boys…
Ladies lead the way to stylish Kentucky Derby fun
Spread the love As a tip of the cap–so to speak–to the Kentucky Derby, acclaimed chef Gloria Hafer (second from right) visited the Garfield Ridge Satellite Senior Center last week to cook a burgoo (a thick stew traditionally popular in the South). For an added bit of fun, the center had a derby contest. Among…
New mural may be coming to viaduct
Spread the love. By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 517-7796 . We are now half way through May. I hope the month is treating everyone a-May-zing! The CAPS Beats 822/824 meeting was held on May 7. I did not attend because I had just…
The big airport with the neighborhood vibe
Spread the love. By Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 . Happy 98th Birthday to Chicago Midway International Airport. Back in 1923 it was called Chicago Air Park with one runway. The city of Chicago leased it on May 8, 1926 and officially dedicated it as Chicago…
Good golfing is par for this course
Spread the love. Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 . As indicated by the full parking lot and adjoining parking spaces along Mann Drive, the Marquette Park Golf Course is open for the season. The unique, 36 par course with elevated trees, greens and fairways…
‘Anything that gets flushed’
Spread the love. MWRD shows how it treats wastewater . By Dermot Connolly What better activity for a sunny spring day than touring the world’s largest wastewater treatment plant—which many people did during the open house held Saturday at the MWRD’s Stickney Water Reclamation Plant in Cicero. To celebrate Chicago Water Week, the Metropolitan Water…
Giannoulias urges REAL ID signup
Spread the love Flanked by TSA Illinois Federal Security Director Jim Spriggs (left), Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is launching his office’s “Get Real Illinois” campaign to encourage Illinoisans to obtain a REAL ID. The campaign will raise awareness about the May 7, 2025 deadline and encourage residents to apply early to avoid problems…
Charge Garfield Ridge man with March murder
Spread the love. From staff reports . A 29-year-old Garfield Ridge man was charged with murder in connection with a slaying that occurred back in March. Alberto Rosas, of the 5200 block of South Central, was apprehended May 7 in the 6800 block of West Archer. Police said Rosas shot and killed 27-year-old Gustavo Suarez…
Beware, piano lovers, BBB says
Spread the love. By Better Business Bureau staff . If you’re in the market for a piano, then you know that the instrument can cost a hefty price and is not easy (or cheap) to transport. Scammers are targeting music lovers, businesses, schools, and churches with a new scam that claims to offer a piano…
Neighbors
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’
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is urging a Cook County judge to dismiss a lawsuit members of his staff filed against him last month seeking to force recognition of their union. In a new filing Monday, attorneys for Welch argued the Illinois Legislative Staff Association has no…
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
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
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’
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…