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College Report: Moraine Valley celebrates 45 years of athletics in Finn fashion
By Jeff Vorva Staff writer Moraine Valley Community College celebrated its 45th year of offering athletics on April 30. Bill Finn has seen nearly all of them. Finn, the Cyclones’ athletic director, has spent 41 years at the college as a coach and administrator. The school opened up the Health, Fitness and Recreation Center for……
Lions Club offers eyeglass vouchers
Will be at Archer Heights Library By Tim Hadac People of limited means who need eyeglasses but have trouble affording them are encouraged to be at the Archer Heights Branch Library, 5055 S. Archer, from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 4–where a Lions Club International volunteer will be handing out vouchers worth $200 for……
Stars and Stripes 5K run returns
Will honor fallen CPD commander By Tim Hadac Hundreds of men, women and children will run, jog, walk or roll through the streets of western Garfield Ridge in about nine weeks, in part to honor the ultimate sacrifice made by a Chicago Police commander. The Stars and Stripes 5K Run will be held Saturday, July 2……
Chamber offers chance to hail grads
For the third year in a row, the Garfield Ridge Chamber of Commerce is offering people an opportunity to salute graduates in a high-profile way. Congratulatory banners with the names of graduates will again fly over Archer Avenue and other main streets in the area. Banners cost $125 each and are about 6 feet tall.……
Little visitors, big joy
By Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com As I write this, I am very excited about the upcoming visit of my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. They are coming for what I call a fly-by visit, short and brief; but no matter how long the visit is, I still get……
Farmers Insurance® names Sandra Cavoto to Presidents Council
From staff reports Farmers Insurance® agent Sandra Cavoto has been named to the national insurer’s Presidents Council, the Los Angeles-based organization recently announced. Cavoto maintains an office in Clearing, at 6118 W. 63rd St., as well as in Burr Ridge and downtown Chicago. Membership in Presidents Council is the organization’s most elite honor for the……
Kaegi cheers passage of bill to help seniors, vets, people with disabilities
From staff reports Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi recently praise the passage of SB1975, a bill in the Illinois General Assembly that creates automatic renewal options for the people with disabilities and veterans with disabilities exemptions and expands income verification options for the low-income senior citizen exemption. The bill, which passed both the Illinois House……
Treasure trove of historic photos posted by White
More than 21,000 images available free of charge By Tim Hadac More than 21,000 historic photographs from the Eddie Winfred “Doc” Helm Photo Collection have been put online by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, in his de jure role as State Librarian and State Archivist. The photos are from the 1940s to the 1980s.……
Old friends gather to review 65th Street successes
By Dermot Connolly Bedford Park Mayor David Brady discussed the development along the 65th Street corridor and the planned railroad underpass at Harlem Avenue at a recent United Business Association of Midway meeting About 30 members of the business organization attended the April 13 lunch meeting at the DoubleTree Hotel on Cicero Avenue, many of……
Neighbors
House GOP advances 2 human trafficking victim protection bills as others remain in limbo
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com After Illinois received another failing grade from a national advocacy group, state House Republicans have introduced legislation aimed at further protecting victims and prosecuting perpetrators of human trafficking. Shared Hope International, an advocacy organization that works to prevent sex trafficking, said in its 2023 Illinois report card that……
Hundreds of bills pass, including changes to state’s biometric data privacy law
By HANNAH MEISEL COLE LONGCOR & ALEX ABEDDUTO Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers passed more than 200 bills this week ahead of their scheduled May 24 adjournment. Many of the measures will soon head to Gov. JB Pritzker, including a bill that changes how damages accrue under Illinois’ first-in-the-nation biometric data privacy law.……
Pritzker pledges to expand access to mental health care in Illinois
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois draju@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – In the middle of Mental Health Awareness Month, Gov. JB Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton hosted a panel in Springfield this week at which he pledged to expand the state’s behavioral health services. With several dozen services providers from around the state in attendance, Pritzker……
With 1 week left in session, Pritzker admin says all revenue options remain on the table
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com While the governor’s office instructed its agency directors to prepare for $800 million in potential budget cuts last week, all facets of his plan to raise $1.1 billion in revenue to avoid those cuts remain under consideration. Read more: ANALYSIS: ‘Significant enough’ opposition to Pritzker’s revenue plan leads to……
Illinois launches summer food assistance program
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The state is launching a new program to provide food assistance during the summer for families with children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school. Gov. JB Pritzker joined other state officials and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thursday to announce that Illinois will……
Lawmakers consider tax break for news publishers, state-sponsored journalism scholarships
By ALEX ABBEDUTO & ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A new measure being debated in the Illinois General Assembly would create a tax credit for certain news publishers based on the number of reporters they employ. The proposal from Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, is part of a package of policies that he……
House gives OK to new state agency focused on early childhood programs
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House gave final passage Thursday to a bill establishing a new cabinet-level state agency whose mission will be to provide a kind of one-stop shop for services focusing on early childhood development and education. By the time it’s fully operational in 2026, the new……
As vacated Centralia funeral home prepares for new tenant, owner makes a startling find
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com In the basement of a Centralia funeral home in a dark hallway off the embalming room, tucked inside a nook behind two steel plates and a door, a visitor found three disembodied, neatly wrapped human legs, two of them marked with names and dated to the 1960s. The……
Illinois Supreme Court considers expectation of privacy in hospitals
By DILPREET RAJU & ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – While Cortez Turner was in a hospital room being treated for a gunshot wound to his leg in 2016, police took his clothes. Now, the Illinois Supreme Court is weighing whether that action violated Turner’s expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. The……
Capitol Briefs: House OKs program for student teacher stipends – but not the funding for it
By PETER HANCOCK & ANDREW CAMPBELL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House approved a bill Tuesday to allow student teachers to receive stipends while earning their education degree, even though the money needed to fund those stipends is unlikely to be included in next year’s budget. House Bill 4652, by Rep. Barbara……