Joan Hadac
Time for Grandma to smile again
Local News
Interior Secretary Haaland tours site of Emmett Till Memorial
By Carol McGowan Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, visited Summit last Friday to get a first-hand look at the site of the future Mamie Till Mobley and Emmett Till Memorial at Argo High School. Haaland then met with community leaders and had lunch with Emmett’s cousin, the Rev. Wheeler Parker, at the Emmett Till……
Brookfield Zoo sends thousands of endangered Crested Toad Tadpoles to Puerto Rico
In an effort to help increase the wild population of the Puerto Rican crested toad, last week, the Chicago Zoological Society sent just over 8,200 tadpoles that hatched at Brookfield Zoo to be released to the wild in Puerto Rico. The species, which is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, is……
Chills and thrills abound at Bridgeview’s Roeback’s Nightmare
By Bob Bong Bridgeview’s Tony Roeback begins looking forward to Halloween when most people are grilling burgers and cooling off in backyard pools. Roeback begins working on Roeback’s Nightmare in mid-July to be ready to serve up chills and thrills when October rolls around. For the past two years, he has turned his home at……
6th District changes do not bother Pekau or Casten
By Jeff Vorva The Illinois 6th Congressional District has been re-aligned but that doesn’t bother the two guys running for Congress. The district includes all or parts of Orland Park, Palos Heights, Palos Park, Oak Lawn, Hickory Hills, Evergreen Park, Worth, Chicago Ridge, Palos Hills Bridgeview, Bedford Park, Willow Springs, Countryside, Hodgkins, and portions of……
Pigskin Wrap: Marist great late in win over rival Rice; area teams prep for playoffs
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Marist didn’t have too much time to savor its’ come-from-behind rivalry 34-16 win over Brother Rice. Twenty-fours hours later, the IHSA announced its playoff pairings, with the RedHawks (6-3) drawing the eighth seed and on the road at 15th seeded Naperville North (7-2) at 7 p.m. Friday in the Class……
Area Sports Roundup: Sandburg cross country runners bring home two titles
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Sandburg doubled its pleasure in cross country regionals. Both the boys and girls came up with regional titles at Midlothian Meadows in Midlothian on Oct. 22. The Eagles girls won their first regional title since 2015, according to the IHSA, with 23 points. Runner-up Mother McAuley finished with 54 points.……
Mount Carmel comes back to top Loyola, finishes regular season unbeaten
By Steve Millar Correspondent With his team trailing Loyola by 10 points at halftime in a battle between two unbeaten teams, senior quarterback Blainey Dowling had a message for his Mount Carmel teammates. Dowling called upon them to remember who they are. “I gathered the team up and I said, ‘Hey, the first half didn’t……
Mother McAuley tops Lyons; teams could meet again in sectionals
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Senior Night is always a special event. Especially when senior twins are on the team. The Moonan twins, Maeve and Jillian, played their final home match together at Mother McAuley last week and the Mighty Macs sent them out in style. In a possible postseason preview, McAuley made short work of……
Brookfield Zoo’s animals receive Halloween treats
This week, several animals at Brookfield Zoo received pumpkins for enrichment. The sulcata tortoises; goats; PJ, a prehensile-tailed porcupine; and Hani and Kartik, the zoo’s two sloth bears all seemed to enjoy their Halloween treats. Pumpkins given to Brutus and Titus, the zoo’s African lions, were filled with bones and meat. Animals also will be……
Neighbors
Potawatomi land transfer advances in Illinois House
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A bill that would help the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation expand their newly established reservation in DeKalb County advanced out of a state House committee Tuesday, despite concerns about the tribe’s long-term plans for the property. House Bill 4718 would authorize the state to hand over……
Illinois could be 19th state to phase out subminimum wage for disabled workers
By ALEX ABBEDUTO Capitol News Illinois abbeduto@capitolnewsillinois.com After years of negotiations and continued opposition from service providers, Illinois appears poised to prohibit employers from using a federal exemption that allows them to pay individuals with disabilities less than the minimum wage. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established minimum wage law, but created……
Once again working through the night, lawmakers finalize $53.1 billion budget
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com After a near-derailment and an all-nighter to wrap up the General Assembly’s spring session, supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House gave final legislative approval to the state budget as the sun rose Wednesday morning. Despite holding 78 seats in the chamber, it took Democrats three tries to reach……
Members of House speaker’s staff sue over ongoing unionization conflict
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Members of a would-be union representing staffers in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office filed suit against their boss on Friday, asking a Cook County judge to force recognition of the union. The Illinois Legislative Staff Association, which formed in the fall of 2022, claims Welch’s……
Regulators slash Chicago gas utility’s rate request, setting up likely legal battle
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Regulators at the Illinois Commerce Commission on Thursday once again reduced a request to increase customer rates from Chicago natural gas utility Peoples Gas. In November, the ICC paused all spending related to Peoples Gas’ controversial “safety modernization program” for replacing aging infrastructure and reduced its $404 million……
Ban on ‘captive audience’ meetings, AI regulations among 466 bills to pass this session
By ALEX ABBEDUTO, COLE LONGCOR, & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com A bill banning what unions refer to as employer-sponsored “captive audience” meetings about religion and politics has cleared both chambers of the General Assembly. It was one of 466 measures to do so during the Illinois legislature’s recently concluded spring session, including measures……
Would-be union of legislative staffers accuse Welch of undermining organizing effort
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Seven months after Democratic Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch advanced a measure that would allow legislative staff to unionize, members of his own staff on Tuesday blasted the speaker for allowing the bill to languish. The legislation has not seen any action since its passage……
Lawmakers OK bill to require ‘faithful’ electors in 2024, loosen campaign finance rules
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — As the 2024 presidential election approaches, Illinois appears likely to join most of the rest of the country in requiring that the state’s Electoral College votes go to the winner of the state’s popular election. The measure is part of a broad package of election-related legislation……
Once again working through the night, lawmakers finalize $53.1 billion budget
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com After a near-derailment and an all-nighter to wrap up the General Assembly’s spring session, supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House gave final legislative approval to the state budget as the sun rose Wednesday morning. Despite holding 78 seats in the chamber, it took Democrats three tries to reach……
A security camera caught an employee beating a patient. It took 11 days for anyone to take action.
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. Cameras in the common areas of Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center were supposed to make the troubled southern Illinois facility safer for the approximately 200 people with developmental disabilities who live there. But……