Knights of Columbus do a sweet deed
Members of the Knights of Columbus from Two Holy Martyrs Parish recently hit the streets of Clearing to raise funds to aid people with intellectual disabilities–giving Tootsie Rolls to all who donated. Pausing for a photo are Art Smith, Linda McCullough, Sara Eminhizer, Jennifer Kolasa and Mike Smolek – Supplied photo
Local News
Boys Hoops: St. Rita hands Brother Rice first loss
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent St. Rita came into this season with plenty of hype, boasting a stacked roster led by the top three junior recruits in the state. Three early losses may have left some people questioning whether the Mustangs are legit, but junior forward Morez Johnson said he and his teammates are…
Crime fighter to lead Garfield Ridge Civic
Spread the loveHuff is interim president By Tim Hadac A civic leader with a familiar name is the new interim president of the Garfield Ridge Civic League. Jason Huff, best known in recent years as president of the Scottsdale Neighborhood Watch, is filling a vacancy created by the sudden death of GRCL President Richard Techman.…
Pappas criticizes ‘inequities’ in tax system
Spread the loveFrom staff reports As property tax bills land in Cook County mailboxes over the coming days, businesses and homeowners will likely find higher bills with some gentrifying Latino neighborhoods in Chicago seeing increases of nearly 46%, according to an analysis of 1.8 million tax bills, conducting by the office of Cook County Treasurer…
Kaegi touts new tax tool
Spread the loveFrom staff reports More than $180 billion in property taxes collected from every property in Cook County – from Ford Heights to Chicago to Winnetka – can now be analyzed with software code created by the Cook County Assessor’s Office. The Property Tax Simulator, or PTAXSIM, is a software code package implemented in…
Dems amend SAFE-T Act to address cash bail
Spread the loveSW Side voters rip GOP for ‘fear mongering’ By Jerry Nowicki Capitol News Illinois and Tim Hadac Lawmakers last week passed a long-awaited amendment to the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform’s provisions that will eliminate cash bail when the calendar hits 2023. The measure expands the list of crimes for which a judge…
Chicago Christian seeking new head football coach
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent Chicago Christian is looking for a new football head coach. The Knights’ next coach will succeed Tom O’Connor, who in two seasons in Palos Heights compiled an overall regular-season record of 9-9. This season, Chicago Christian won its last four regular-season games, including a 19-0 decision over Ridgewood in…
College Notebook: St. Laurence alum rewrites Greyhound record book
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent As senior seasons go, it’s tough to top the one authored by University of Indianapolis running back Toriano Clinton. Clinton, who prepped at St. Laurence, was one of three Greyhounds chosen for the 2022 D2CCA All-Super Region 3 Team, and the only one to make the first team. This…
Area Sports Roundup: Marist, Nazareth mourns deaths of coaches
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer It was a sad week for two area schools. The Marist and local running communities were saddened by the death of Jon Gordon on Dec. 9, two days after sophomore Nazareth baseball coach Mario Ortiz. Gordon, the RedHawks’ boys track and cross country coach since 2017, died…
Area Hoops Wrap: Holiday tournament season starts early at Oak Lawn
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Oak Lawn got a jump on the rest of the area basketball world when its girls holiday tournament opened for business Dec. 10. Most area boys and girls holiday basketball tournaments take place the week before or the week after Christmas. But Oak Lawn has a tradition of…
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…
Pritzker signs bill creating new Department of Early Childhood
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday creating a new cabinet-level state agency dedicated to early childhood education and development. The new Department of Early Childhood, which will become operational in July 2026, will take over programs currently housed across three state agencies, including funding for preschool…
Speaker Welch rebuffs lawsuit from would-be staff union as ‘forum shopping’
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is urging a Cook County judge to dismiss a lawsuit members of his staff filed against him last month seeking to force recognition of their union. In a new filing Monday, attorneys for Welch argued the Illinois Legislative Staff Association has no…
Advocates say SCOTUS ruling paves way for law ensuring abusers have guns confiscated
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com After the U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld a federal law that bars those under domestic violence-related restraining orders from owning guns, victim advocates say Illinois lawmakers should pass a measure to ensure firearms are actually confiscated in those situations. The legislation has been stalled for more than…
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…
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…
State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois State Police say an automated license plate reader program has helped the agency identify witnesses or suspects in 82 percent of highway shooting cases this year, including all eight that resulted in a death. But as the state looks to further expand its network of more than…
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…