Hockey star headed to Wisconsin
Garfield Ridge resident Brooklyn Ramaglia, a star ice hockey forward with Team Illinois (the most respected Tier I, AAA hockey organization in the state), recently signed a letter of intent to continue her academic and athletic career with Concordia University (Wisconsin). She expects to wear the blue and white and play for the Falcons. She is a 2019 graduate of St. Daniel the Prophet School and will graduate in 2023 from St. Laurence High School. She learned to skate when she was just 4 years old and started playing hockey at age 6. Sharing the proud moment with her are her mom and dad, Sue and Frank; brother, Joey; and Team Illinois coach Nick Ponce, who described Brooklyn as “a strong and resilient player” who “has terrific speed, has a fantastic compete level, and is a heart and soul player that any coach would be excited to have on their team.” – Supplied photo
Local News
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…
Area Sports Roundup: Lyons and Sandburg lead contingent of area swimmers headed to state
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer Lyons, which won state titles in boys swimming in 2016 and 2017 and took second in 2018, is bringing a huge contingent of athletes to the IHSA state meet this weekend. Lyons is sending three relay teams and individual qualifiers in four events to the event, which will…
Pritzker, Ezike address plan to lift mask mandate
Spread the loveSchool mandates would remain in place for ‘coming weeks,’ pending court decision By Jerry Nowicki Capitol News Illinois and Tim Hadac If COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to decline for the rest of the month, Gov. JB Pritzker plans to lift his executive order that mandates face coverings indoors by Feb. 28. The plan does…
Eagle healed, released to mate
Spread the loveRescuers thrilled with victory By Kelly White Wildlife advocates last week released an eagle in the forest preserves several blocks northwest of Garfield Ridge. The eagle was the subject of a story last month in the Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound. The release marked the end of a six-week rehabilitation stint that started when…
Ease off vax regs, aldermen ask
Spread the loveQuinn, Burke, Tabares say regs ‘cripple’ businesses By Tim Hadac With numbers of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases falling across the city, the three aldermen serving Clearing and Garfield Ridge are among 11 City Council members who last week called on Chicago Department of Public Health Allison Arwady, M.D. to rescind a pandemic regulation…
Del Galdo named Super Lawyer for 12th straight year
Spread the loveLauded by suburban mayors for skills From staff reports A national legal magazine is out with its 2022 list of best Illinois lawyers and tapped eight Chicago-area attorneys as the state’s “super” local government lawyers–including Berwyn-based attorney Michael Del Galdo, a recognition that drew praise from several suburban Cook County mayors. “Super Lawyers” magazine,…
They had my back when I was stuck
Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com We’ve dug out from snowmagedon, and I want to personally thank the three people on 61st Street who came to my rescue when I got stuck in the snow. I was nervous and I was making all the mistakes a…
Girl wrestlers make history as first IHSA state qualifiers
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent For Morton senior Karla Topete, Feb. 12 was a special day for a greater reason than just her winning a sectional wrestling championship. Topete and her teammates competed at the Andrew Sectional, one of four sectionals that marked the start of the IHSA’s first individual girls wrestling state series.…
College Report: Former Stagg standout Kazanecki gives hoops one more year
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer The idea was for Tom Kazanecki to finish his basketball career at St. Ambrose in 2021. The former Stagg hoops standout was even toying with the idea of starting a military career, even though he had an extra year of athletics eligibility remaining, thanks to seasons getting snipped…
Neighbors
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…
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
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
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
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…