Peggy Zabicki

Peggy Zabicki

Head to the library over Christmas break

Spread the love

By Peggy Zabicki

Your correspondent in West Lawn

3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327

The West Lawn Branch Library, 4020 W. 63rd St., is a good place to bring your kids during Christmas break.  Pick out some books to read together.

The library will be having some activities for parents and little ones next week. On Tuesday, Dec. 27 the library will have a Baby Story Time at 10:30 a.m. There will be a half hour of stories, rhymes, songs and movement for babies and toddlers up to age 2. Registration is required. Call (312) 747-7381.

The library will be hosting Yoga For Adults on Thursday, Dec. 29 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. All skill levels are welcome. Call the library for more information and to register.

PeggyZabicki

Peggy Zabicki

West Lawn’s bowling alley, Lawn Lanes, 6750 S. Pulaski, will be open on Christmas Day from noon to 11 p.m. They will also be open on New Year’s Eve from noon to 8 p.m. and New Year’s Day from noon to 11 p.m. Call them at (773) 582-2525 for more information about their holiday hours.

It’s never too early to think ahead to next year and make plans for new year’s resolutions or self improvement.  Do you want to learn about computers or improve your skills?  Daley College, 7500 S. Pulaski, will be having basic, intermediate and advanced computer classes in person. Most of the classes start the week of Jan. 16. Registration has begun. Call for more information at (773) 838-7500 or visit DaleyAdultEd@ccc.edu.

In the meantime, are you feeling the joy of Christmas? It is hard to feel merry and bright when we hear gunfire nearby, see neglected dogs running around our neighborhood every day, and when we discover that packages were stolen from our front porches.

How can we have hope and faith when we hear race cars at all times of day and night instead of the sound of Christmas carolers? Even if you did hear carolers, you would probably worry about their safety.

This is reality.  Sometimes, I wish I could take a break from it.

All I can say is that I hope that each person reading this calls a friend to say Merry Christmas.  I hope everyone gets a Christmas card.  I hope each of you will enjoy a Christmas movie on TV. I hope that when you look out of your front window, you see nothing but pretty Christmas lights.

I hope we can take a vacation from the things that weigh us down and be lifted up for just one day. I hope we can wake up on Christmas morning and feel joy. This is my Christmas wish for everybody.

Local News

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi

Kaegi hosts webinars on affordable housing

Spread the love

Spread the loveFrom staff reports The Cook County Assessor’s Office has announced dates for its upcoming informational webinars about a new affordable housing property tax incentive. Created by state statute, the Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program provides property tax relief to incentivize the creation, rehabilitation and maintenance of affordable housing units in Cook County. While…

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle

County offers help with water bills for people in poverty

Spread the love

Spread the loveFrom staff reports A new program to assist low-income residents with water utility bills has been announced by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County. Funded with dollars provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, the Low-income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) provides financial…

Richard Chavez, 24, of Oak Park, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Charisma Ehresman of Forest View. (Booking photo)

Oak Park man charged in Forest View woman’s murder

Spread the love

Spread the love By Carol McGowan and Bob Bong A 24-year-old Oak Park man has been arrested and charged in the strangulation death last month of 20-year-old Charisma Ehresman, of Forest View. Richard Chavez, of the 600 block of South Maple Street in Oak Park, was arrested on February 18 at Cook County Jail where…

Kathy Headley

Years later, he still takes the cake

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 In the past I’ve started columns dated Feb. 25 by giving a shout out to former Beatle George Harrison, who would have celebrated his 79th birthday today. Today is no different. He was my favorite of…

Joan Hadac

Laff-Jam coming to St. Bede, no foolin’

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac GSWNH Columnist At-Large joan.hadac@gmail.com Once again this week, it’s my privilege and pleasure to write the Greater Southwest News-Herald’s column for Greater Ashburn (the Wrightwood, Ashburn, Parkview and Scottsdale neighborhoods). As usual, there are plenty of interesting things happening in this special, vibrant part of Chicago. St. Bede School’s athletics…

Mary Stanek

Best of all, spring is coming

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 284-7394 Mardi Gras, Paczki Day, Fat Tuesday and the start of the Lenten season all happen this coming week. But the absolute best part is, March is here. Spring is just around the corner (we can…

Peggy Zabicki

A sweet treat, right on 63rd Street

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327 Hi neighbors! Today is Chocolate Covered Nuts Day. Celebrate wisely. I suggest a trip to Villa’s Nuts and Candy, 4635 W. 63rd St. They have scrumptious chocolate-covered everything and so much more. Call them for information on days and hours at (773) 581-8313.…

The late CPD Officer Ella French. --Supplied photo

St. Patrick’s Day parade dedicated to Officer Ella French

Spread the love

Spread the loveHeroism, sacrifice to be honored By Tim Hadac A 29-year-old woman remembered as a hero and martyr among many—in Chicago and elsewhere—will be saluted at the Archer Avenue St. Patrick’s Day parade, set for Saturday, March 12. The late Chicago Police Officer Ella French, shot to death during a traffic stop near 63rd…

State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr.

Pandemic relief funds available for business, Gonzalez says

Spread the love

Spread the loveFrom staff reports State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr. (D-21st) is calling attention to a new round of Back to Business grants available to local businesses dealing with financial hardship related to the pandemic. “For years now, the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for small business owners throughout Illinois, but they have largely…

Chris Petrucelli is the new Red Stars coach. (Photo courtesy of Chicago Red Stars)

New Red Stars coach wants to bring ‘joy and positivity’

Spread the love

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…

Neighbors

Pritzker signs bill creating new Department of Early Childhood

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’

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

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

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

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’

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

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

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

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

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…