Peggy Zabicki

Peggy Zabicki

Viaducts looking much better

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By Peggy Zabicki

Your correspondent in West Lawn

3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327

Have you driven by the viaducts on Central Park Avenue, between 59th Street and 63rd Street? The long awaited repairs and painting are complete. Everything looks nice and clean. Thank you, 23rd Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares, for getting this done.

The West Lawn Branch Library, 4020 W. 63rd St., is having a book discussion on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The book is Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno. I’m giving you advance notice so you’ll have time to get the book from our library and read it. The discussion will take place at Palermo’s Restaurant, 3751 W. 63rd St., from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Call the library at (312) 747-7381o register for this event.

PeggyZabicki

Peggy Zabicki

The Walgreens at 59th and Pulaski is getting closer to completion. I’ve gotten a few calls and texts about it. Most people say that it doesn’t look like a Walgreens because of the blue panels on the building. We’ll have to wait and see how the building looks when it is completed. I will be happy when we can fill prescriptions and shop at the 59th Street Walgreens once again.

Another fine West Lawn business on 59th street is Big Tony’s Pizza, 3732 W. 59th St.  I like their pizza very much.  Did you know that they make delicious chicken as well? My hubby and I had a big party recently and ordered lots of food from various restaurants, including Big Tony’s. We bought 72 pieces of chicken which were the hit of our party. Call them at (773) 767-5966.

Here’s one last reminder about the block sale at the 3600 block of West 60th Place on Saturday, Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This sale will take place in the front yards, not back yards and garages. My neighbor, Gladys, did a great job in getting a block sale permit from 23rd Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares at her new office at 3954 W. 63rd St.  Gladys contacted each and every resident on our block for the signatures required for a block event. Thank you, Gladys!

I live near the middle of the block.  Come on by and say hi!

Local News

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It’s ‘Play ball!’ for Midway Baseball & Softball

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Spread the love. If smiles were home runs, the boys and girls of the Midway Baseball & Softball Association were clearly the champions of West Lawn last Saturday, as they paraded through the streets of the community before beginning their 2024 season. – Photos by Steve Neuhaus  

Surveillance footage shows the takeover of 59th and Western just after 3 a.m. Sunday, May 5. Guillermo Caballero’s black Honda Accord  is at the right of the circle. --Supplied photo

Hunt killer in ‘drifting’ slaying

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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…

Antoinette Briley

Mom gets 20 years in babies’ murder

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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…

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Ladies lead the way to stylish Kentucky Derby fun

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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…

Mary Stanek

New mural may be coming to viaduct

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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…

Peggy Zabicki

The big airport with the neighborhood vibe

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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…

Kathy Headley

Good golfing is par for this course

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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…

An open house on May 11 at the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant in Cicero gave participants a chance to see the circular settling tanks where millions of gallons of filtered water ends up each day--the last step before release into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. --Greater Southwest News-Herald photo by Dermot Connolly

‘Anything that gets flushed’

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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…

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Giannoulias urges REAL ID signup

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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…

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Charge Garfield Ridge man with March murder

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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…

Neighbors

Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan

Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan

By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For the last two decades, each time a governor has moved to close a large state-run facility like a prison or mental health center, a legislative oversight panel has voted on the plan. That changed on Friday – at least for now –…

‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan

‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…

Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?

Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children.  The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although…

Members of House speaker’s staff sue over ongoing unionization conflict

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…

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…

Communities, commission push Pritzker admin for more prison plan details

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…

Judge blocks law that would have banned newly slated candidates from ballot

Judge blocks law that would have banned newly slated candidates from ballot

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A Sangamon County judge on Wednesday blocked the Illinois State Board of Elections from enforcing a new law that would have prevented certain General Assembly candidates who didn’t run in the March primary from getting on the November ballot. The move doesn’t void the bill in its entirety,…

“No Schoolers”: How Illinois’ hands-off approach to homeschooling leaves children at risk

“No Schoolers”: How Illinois’ hands-off approach to homeschooling leaves children at risk

By BETH HUNDSDORFER  & MOLLY PARKER  CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS investigations@capitolnewsillinois.com This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. It was on L.J.’s 11th birthday, in December 2022, that child welfare workers finally took him away. They arrived at his central Illinois home to investigate an abuse allegation and decided…

Brushing off concerns of overspending, Pritzker signs $53.1 billion state budget

Brushing off concerns of overspending, Pritzker signs $53.1 billion state budget

By ANDREW ADAMS JERRY NOWICKI & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed the state’s $53.1 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, the largest in state history.  The signing caps months of work – and tension – among top Democratic leaders in Springfield and within the…

Stalled bills: ‘Dignity in Pay Act,’ Prisoner Review Board changes fail to move

Stalled bills: ‘Dignity in Pay Act,’ Prisoner Review Board changes fail to move

By ALEX ABBEDUTO,  COLE LONGCOR & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com A bill eliminating the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities failed to pass the General Assembly ahead of its May adjournment, although sponsors say they hope to pass it when lawmakers return in the fall. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938…