Orland Park board members get ready to wrap up Monday's meeting at Village Hall. Come late November or early December, the board will return to a revamped board room with high-tech improvements. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)
Orland Park board room ready to go high-tech
By Jeff Vorva
The next time the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees meet in the Village Hall chambers, things are going to look a lot different.
We’re not talking about a fresh coat of paint and some new furniture. We’re talking some design changes complete with high tech whistles and bells.
In the meantime, the Oct. 17, Nov. 7 and possibly the Nov. 21 meetings will be held in the training room at the Orland Park Police Station, 15100 S. Ravinia Ave.
When the trustees come back, the digs will look a lot more modern.
“We’re really ramping up the [audio-visual] stuff,” Village Manager George Koczwara said after Monday night’s meeting. “There will be cameras and monitors. There will be monitors behind the board and the trustees will see monitors in the back of the room.”
Public Works Director Joel Van Essen said the longtime carpet in the board room will also be removed and joked people could buy pieces of it as a keepsake.
He said the lighting will be better. Currently, the sunlight comes through in the beginning of many meetings in the spring, summer and fall, but the room darkens toward the end of those meetings.
SAFE-T meetings
Mayor Keith Pekau and the board are on the same page criticizing the state’s Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, more commonly known as the SAFE-T Act.
It’s been a hot-button topic during this election cycle and critics say it gives major leniency toward criminals. The trustees unanimously passed a resolution denouncing the act and imploring state leaders to rescind it before it takes full effect on Jan. 1.
Pekau and Orland Park Police Chief Eric Rossi will be hosting a pair of informational meetings with businesses and the public about the SAFE-T Act.
The meetings will be held at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in the Orland Park Civic Center. The public is invited to both, but the 10 a.m. meeting will be geared more toward the businesses.
“We may not be able to answer every question on this 767-page bill, but we will give you the best information we have,” Pekau said. “There are a few good things in it and most of it we do already. But there a lot of bad in it and businesses need to be prepared. And for the resident, we will try to get you the best information possible.”
Local News
Acting no more, Jennings named Bridgeview Fire Chief
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch After a year on the job, John Jennings can remove “acting” from his title. Jennings, 53, was officially named fire chief by the Bridgeview Village Board at its Feb. 16 meeting. The vote was unanimous. “I’m very proud to be the chief,” Jennings, 53, said. “I work with a bunch…
Cardz for Kidz at Shepard High School
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Yoga enhances connections among the mind, body and spirit. Shepard High School’s yoga students infused these spiritual teachings with their daily lives and passed along messages of peace, love and care to others. These students, ranging from sophomores to seniors, at the high school, 13049 S. Ridgeland Ave., Palos Heights,…
10th La Grange Restaurant Week kicks off Friday
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch For the 10th straight year, folks are invited to visit old favorites and try unfamiliar places during the La Grange Restaurant Week. “It’s a healthy way of building the community, getting people to try new things,” said Zach Molokie, culinary director for Cloud 9 Hospitality, which owns Barrel House Social.…
Orland Park park projects meet with some public resistance
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva With the exception of a few engineering decisions that have to be finalized, some of Orland Parks parks are ready for some major face-lifts. But not everyone is happy with the proposed plans. The two parks receiving the most attention in the coming years will be Schussler Park and Centennial…
Obituaries Feb. 24, 2022
Spread the lovePHYLLIS BANUELOS Phyllis Banuelos, 77, of Lyons, passed away February 11. She was the beloved wife of Jose Banuelos; dear sister of Margaret. Phyllis was a longtime employee of the Village of Brookfield Police Department. All arrangements are private. Condolences may be sent to Phyllis’s family on her personal tribute website at www.foranfuneralhome.com.…
Teaching students how to think, not what to think
Spread the loveBy Michael J. Bakalis Ph.D As one who earned a Ph.D in American history and has taught and written about this subject for many years, I like to think that perhaps I bring some credibility to a current topic engaging our nation. The discussion of Critical Race Theory and the New York Times…
L-W Central tops Sandburg in regional title game
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent Sandburg won 20 games for the first time in in six years, and entered the postseason seeking to add to its list of accomplishments by winning a regional championship on its home court. But Lincoln-Way Central made more plays in key situations and fought to a 55-47 double-overtime victory…
New Red Stars coach wants to bring ‘joy and positivity’
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer The Chicago Red Stars have found their new coach. The team announced February 18 that Chris Petrucelli will replace Rory Dames, who resigned a day after the 2021 NWSL championship game. Dames has since been the subject of national stories regarding his alleged abuse of players both on…
Upset Specials: De La Salle girls crowned regional champs; Meteors boys shock Marian Catholic
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer It was quite a 24-hours for De La Salle’s basketball teams. And it started out wrong. So wrong. On a snowy night when some area games were canceled because of a winter storm, the Meteors’ girls squad made the trek to Burbank to take on host St. Laurence…
Neighbors
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…
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
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?
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
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
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
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…