Lack of quorum delays vote for new Palos Park commissioner
By Jeff Vorva
Naming a new commissioner can’t come soon enough in Palos Park.
Monday night’s village council meeting was cancelled earlier in the day because of lack of a quorum. Ironically, one of the agenda items Monday night was to approve Michael Wade as a new commissioner and to swear him in.
That will have to wait until June 27.
Since Commissioner James Pavlatos died on Aug. 31, the council had 19 meetings scheduled and seven were cancelled due to a lack of quorum with one getting vanquished because of a lack of an agenda.
When it’s at full strength, the council has four commissioners and Mayor John Mahoney casting votes. Pavlatos’ death reduced the council to four voting members. Commissioner G. Darryl Reed has shown up to a few meetings but has been ill and calls in from home.
The process to find a person to fill the vacancy has been long. Months ago, Mahoney said that getting people who want to serve has been difficult.
Wade is an options broker and if he’s approved, Mahoney will take a vote for a few appointment changes.
Reed would switch from overseeing the Public Properties and Buildings department to Pavlatos’ former post, Accounts and Finances. Wade would move into the Public Properties and Buildings.
The council had tabled a couple of issues at its May 23 meeting that were scheduled to be brought up Monday.
But according to the agenda, those were going to be delayed to future meetings. A decision on an investment management agreement was postponed until June 27 and consideration of an IT maintenance agreement was pushed back to July 11.
Local News
Football notebook: Marko Franco gives Back of the Yards a boost
Mark Morgan had a plan when he took over as Back of the Yards football coach in the fall of 2021. The Bobcats hadn’t fielded a team in two years, skipping the spring 2021 pandemic season. Getting the program back on its feet took some heavy lifting. Back of the Yards went 1-7 and 2-7…
Postseason roundup: Nazareth boys, girls both advance to state golf
Nazareth boys golf coach Dave Reed didn’t see this coming. A sectional championship? That happened only twice in school history, in 2009 and 2013. Plus, the Roadrunners had not qualified for state as a team since 2019. Heading into this season, there were no sectional expectations. During regional play, the Roadrunners grabbed the last sectional…
Pro soccer report: Red Stars clinch playoff spot; Fire names new coach
If the Red Stars had their choice, they would rather have beaten Gotham on Sept. 12 to secure a spot in the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs. Instead, the Red Stars suffered a 2-0 loss to the defending NWSL champions at SeatGeek Stadium, and 24 hours later clinched a spot in the playoffs when Washington…
Saquan Commings’ pick-six highlights Curie shutout of Mather
Slowly but surely, Curie is learning how to win again. The Condors were one of the Public League’s top football programs earlier this century, advancing to the IHSA playoffs 11 times from 2005-19 and winning 41 games between 2014-17. But before first-year coach Jarve Lewis-Bey arrived this fall, Curie had only four victories in the…
Universal hires Mustafa Sulaiman as boys basketball coach
Mustafa Sulaiman wasn’t looking for another job, but one came looking for him. Sulaiman is a familiar figure in Chicago-area prep basketball circles as the creator of the Xposure Runs podcast and the Chitown Showcase for uncommitted players trying to raise their recruiting profile. Now he’s also the head coach at Universal. Sulaiman was hired…
AJ Powell does it all for Evergreen Park in win vs. Reavis
Anything you can do, chances are AJ Powell can do better. The 5-foot-9, 150-pound senior demonstrated that in a 21-13 Week 7 win against Reavis in South Suburban Red action. Playing running back and cornerback, Powell rushed 11 times for 83 yards. On defense, he had 9.5 tackles and two interceptions. Powell also blocked an…
Jack’s back: Elliott leads Mount Carmel past Joliet Catholic
Welcome back, Jack. Senior quarterback Jack Elliott missed Mount Carmel’s loss to Brother Rice in Week 6 with an injury. But he was back in the Caravan lineup for Week 7 against Joliet Catholic in Chicago. How much of an impact did Elliott have in Mount Carmel’s 35-21 triumph over the Hilltoppers? A significant one.…
Argo loses to Eisenhower on touchdown in closing seconds
A 19-14 South Suburban Red road loss to Eisenhower in Week 7 gave Argo coach Phillip Rossberg a bad case of déjà vu. Two weeks earlier, the Argonauts traveled to Tinley Park for a South Suburban crossover and lost to the Titans by the same score in a similar fashion. In both games, a big…
Palos Park’s Walsh skates for injured first responders at 911 Cup
Palos Park Officer Sean Walsh spent this past weekend in Las Vegas with his skates laced up and participating in the Las Vegas 911 Cup. The 911 cup is a fundraising event supporting police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, and EMTs injured in the line of duty. Officer Walsh’s hockey team, Level Zero Heros, played teams…
Herpich family’s epic Halloween decorations aim to scare
Care and Rick Herpich moved to Oak Lawn in 2001 with their son, Jake. It was then that the family began what would become an elaborate Halloween tradition, with their display growing more frightening each year. It is now known in the neighborhood as the Krazy Korner. Over the past two decades, the Herpich family’s…
Neighbors
Jury deadlocks, mistrial declared in case of ex-AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A federal judge on Thursday declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked in their deliberations over whether former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza bribed longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan via a no-work contract for the speaker’s political ally. After nearly 15 hours of deliberation…
High court: Smell of burnt cannabis is not cause for warrantless vehicle search
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Law enforcement officers in Illinois cannot rely on the smell of burnt cannabis alone to justify searching a vehicle without a warrant, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The decision was unanimous, though Justice Lisa Holder White did not take part in it. Writing for the court,…
State wraps up case in challenge to assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A federal judge invoked images from the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, on Thursday at the end of a trial in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines. Judge Steven McGlynn, who has…
Gun expert says assault weapons ban ‘describes the most popular firearms I’m involved with’
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A firearms expert testified Wednesday that the weapons restricted under Illinois’ assault weapons ban include many of the most common firearms that American consumers use for self-defense. Steven Randall Watt, a combat veteran and retired law enforcement officer who now owns a private firearms…
Case of former AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan heads to jury
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – On Valentine’s Day in 2017, then-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza got some good news: After years of trying to push for legislation in Springfield that would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars annually, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan had agreed to a…
State Supreme Court hears arguments in Jussie Smollett’s effort to overturn conviction
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in actor Jussie Smollett’s appeal to overturn his conviction on disorderly conduct charges for falsifying a hate crime. Smollett, who was an actor on the TV show “Empire,” was improperly charged with the same crime twice, his legal team…
Testimony continues in 2nd Amendment challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – An engineer who spent decades designing weapons for one of the world’s leading gun manufacturers testified Tuesday that the assault-style weapons now banned in Illinois are intended only for civilian use and cannot be easily converted into military-grade firearms. James Ronkainen, a former engineer…
Contractor’s unsecured databases exposed sensitive voter data in over a dozen Illinois counties
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Around 4.6 million records associated with Illinoisans in over a dozen counties – including voting records, registrations and death certificates – were temporarily available on the open internet, according to a security researcher who identified the vulnerability in July. The documents were available through an unsecured cloud storage…
Prosecutors rest case against former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – After years of pushing in Springfield, AT&T Illinois’ executive team was thrilled when the Illinois General Assembly in 2017 passed legislation that would get the company out from under expensive obligations to maintain its aging copper landline wires in Illinois. “Game over. We win,” AT&T Illinois…
Trial begins in challenge to assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – The owner of a gun store testified Monday that Illinois’ ban on the sale of assault-style weapons and large capacity magazines has had a significant impact on his business and prevented his customers from buying items they would normally use for self-defense, hunting, target…