A political sign on a lawn in Forest View promoting the write-in campaigns on April 4. (Photo by Carol McGowan)
Forest View incumbents beat back write-in candidates
By Bob Bong and Carol McGowan
The three incumbent trustees appear to have won re-election in Forest View where results remain unofficial and incomplete because two candidates mounted a strong write-in campaign.
Apparently re-elected were Maria A. Ramirez, Mike Grossi, and Jim Sudkamp.
They were challenged by write-in candidates Kathleen C. Ehresman and Chad McDade, whose votes were unknown Tuesday night.
Incumbent Midalia Nevarez won the two-year term.
Willow Springs
The three Integrity Party incumbent trustees easily survived a challenge from the Willow Springs Alliance Party Tuesday night.
Ernie Moon polled 789 votes, Fred Posch had 801 votes and Terry Carr garnered 772 votes. Patrick Murray led the Alliance Party with 529 votes, Frank Bianco received 526, and Amanda Marie Chalus tallied 509.
Indian Head Park
Amy Jo Wittenberg will be the new mayor in Indian Head Park next month.
She will replace two-term mayor Tom Hinshaw who chose not to run for re-election along with incumbent Trustees Christian Metz and Rita Farrell Mayer.
Wittenberg easily defeated former Trustee Shawn Kennedy 674-292 in his bid for the mayor’s office. It was vindication for Wittenberg, who had lost her bid for trustee in 2021 by three votes.
Running unopposed for trustee were newcomers Cristina Saldana, Danielle Svestka and James Gazis.
Turnout in the election was 30.1 percent.
Bedford Park
One incumbent was re-elected while another went down to defeat in Tuesday’s race for Bedford Park trustee.
With both precincts reporting, Anthony Kensik was re-elected with 80 votes. Joining him are newcomers Sandra Maloy who received 73 votes and Juanita Rodriguez who led all candidates with 82 votes.
Incumbent Katrina Errant polled 63 votes and newcomer Eileen Doran trailed badly with only 37 votes.
Turnout was 32 percent in the election.
In other village races:
Emily Croucher and Joffrey Bywater were running unopposed for six-year terms as Bedford Park Park District commissioner.
Joanne Holdman ran unopposed for one of two seats on the Bedford Park Library District board. No candidate filed for the second six-year seat. Marc Ponczek was seeking the two-year unexpired term.
Moraine Valley Community College
Eileen Kerlin Walsh and Tracy M. Sullivan were easily elected as new six-year trustees for the Moraine Valley Community College Board in a race that featured 10 candidates on Tuesday.
With all 237 precincts reporting, complete but unofficial results showed that Walsh led all candidates with 9,804 votes while Sullivan received 9,556 votes.
They outpolled board president Brian O’Neill (4,994 votes) and newly appointed board member Tiffany Robinson (3,516).
Turnout in the race was less than 12 percent.
Home rule defeated in Lyons
Voters turned down the Village of Lyons request to make the town a Home Rule community.
The measure was defeated by a ratio of 2-1 at 925 “no” votes to 474 “yes” votes.
Turnout in the village was 22 percent.
Local News
‘Guilty’ bribe-taker William Mundy sues Summit over retaliatory firing
Former Summit public works director William Mundy, who pled guilty to federal corruption charges, claims in a new civil lawsuit he was fired for exposing the same village corruption he took part in, court records show. Mundy filed a federal lawsuit against the village, demanding back pay, reinstatement, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees, according to…
Sandburg’s touchdown pass in final minute sinks Lincoln-Way Central
By Mike Walsh Sandburg coach Troy McAllister faced a decision in a Week 6 Southwest Suburban crossover game at Lincoln-Way Central. In reality, it wasn’t much of a choice: Let your best athletes make a play. And they did. In the Eagles’ 28-27 victory over Lincoln-Way Central, Charlie Snoreck caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from…
Myles and Myles to go: Mitchell, Richards race past Shepard
By Mike Walsh Have a senior season, Myles Mitchell. The versatile running back delivered another dominant performance in Week 6 as Richards shut out Shepard 21-0 in a South Suburban Red game in Palos Heights. Mitchell ran 25 times for 233 yards, including touchdowns of 91 and 9 yards. The North Dakota State recruit also…
Football notebook: New Solorio coach eyes turnaround
By Mike Clark After eight years away from football, Jonathan Jauregui was ready to get back in the game. Already working at Solorio, he joined the Sun Warriors’ coaching staff as defensive coordinator last year. This season, he’s the head coach and Solorio is off to a 4-2 start after getting past host Back of…
Kamarion and Kavarion McCarter power Kennedy past Ag. Science
By Mike Clark Things are changing for Kennedy football, and the McCarter brothers are among those making it happen. In one of the biggest games in program history, the Crusaders knocked off Ag. Science 17-8 in Week 6 at Gately Stadium. That all but clinched the Public League White Southwest title for Kennedy (5-1, 3-0),…
Argo’s late rally falls short vs. Tinley Park
Argo had the final scoring opportunity it wanted in Friday night’s South Suburban crossover contest against host Tinley Park. Unfortunately for the Argonauts, an untimely interception thrown after reaching the Titans’ 30-yard-line with 56 seconds remaining on a first-and-10 play sealed their fate in a 19-14 loss. “The kids fought at the end, but we…
Area sports roundup: Cougars fall to national power; area golfers swing to sectionals
By Jeff Vorva St. Xavier has proven to be a solid top-15 football team in the country in NAIA play, but the Cougars need a little more work when playing with top-5 opponents. Cougars coach Mike Feminis didn’t sugarcoat things when he said his team took “a good old-fashioned butt whipping from an outstanding team,”…
Nazareth’s ground game dominates vs. St. Rita
By Mike Walsh Quarterback Logan Malachuk and the other skill players at Nazareth draw most of the attention and deservedly so. After all, the Roadrunners have piled up 206 points through the first six games of the season, a 34.3 average. But after Nazareth’s 45-21 CCL/ESCC Green victory at St. Rita in Week 6, it…
Mike Walsh’s Football Top 10, Week 7
1. MARIST (5-1) Last week: Beat Providence 28-7 This week: at St. Ignatius Comment: Running back John McAuliffe and quarterback Jacob Ritter accounted for two TDs each in a strong victory over Providence. 2. LYONS (6-0) Last week: Beat Oak Park-River Forest 49-14 This week: at Downers Grove North Comment: West Suburban Silver supremacy on…
Girls volleyball roundup: Mother McAuley beats Marist to take third in ASICS
By Jeff Vorva Mother McAuley’s chance for a three-peat of winning the ASICS Challenge was halted in the semifinals. But the third-place match was no disappointment. The host Mighty Macs took third in the tournament by beating rival Marist for the second time in 10 days, 25-20, 25-19 on Oct. 5. The two teams met…
Neighbors
Jury deadlocks, mistrial declared in case of ex-AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A federal judge on Thursday declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked in their deliberations over whether former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza bribed longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan via a no-work contract for the speaker’s political ally. After nearly 15 hours of deliberation…
High court: Smell of burnt cannabis is not cause for warrantless vehicle search
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Law enforcement officers in Illinois cannot rely on the smell of burnt cannabis alone to justify searching a vehicle without a warrant, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The decision was unanimous, though Justice Lisa Holder White did not take part in it. Writing for the court,…
State wraps up case in challenge to assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A federal judge invoked images from the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, on Thursday at the end of a trial in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines. Judge Steven McGlynn, who has…
Gun expert says assault weapons ban ‘describes the most popular firearms I’m involved with’
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A firearms expert testified Wednesday that the weapons restricted under Illinois’ assault weapons ban include many of the most common firearms that American consumers use for self-defense. Steven Randall Watt, a combat veteran and retired law enforcement officer who now owns a private firearms…
Case of former AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan heads to jury
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – On Valentine’s Day in 2017, then-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza got some good news: After years of trying to push for legislation in Springfield that would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars annually, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan had agreed to a…
State Supreme Court hears arguments in Jussie Smollett’s effort to overturn conviction
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in actor Jussie Smollett’s appeal to overturn his conviction on disorderly conduct charges for falsifying a hate crime. Smollett, who was an actor on the TV show “Empire,” was improperly charged with the same crime twice, his legal team…
Testimony continues in 2nd Amendment challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – An engineer who spent decades designing weapons for one of the world’s leading gun manufacturers testified Tuesday that the assault-style weapons now banned in Illinois are intended only for civilian use and cannot be easily converted into military-grade firearms. James Ronkainen, a former engineer…
Contractor’s unsecured databases exposed sensitive voter data in over a dozen Illinois counties
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Around 4.6 million records associated with Illinoisans in over a dozen counties – including voting records, registrations and death certificates – were temporarily available on the open internet, according to a security researcher who identified the vulnerability in July. The documents were available through an unsecured cloud storage…
Prosecutors rest case against former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – After years of pushing in Springfield, AT&T Illinois’ executive team was thrilled when the Illinois General Assembly in 2017 passed legislation that would get the company out from under expensive obligations to maintain its aging copper landline wires in Illinois. “Game over. We win,” AT&T Illinois…
Trial begins in challenge to assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – The owner of a gun store testified Monday that Illinois’ ban on the sale of assault-style weapons and large capacity magazines has had a significant impact on his business and prevented his customers from buying items they would normally use for self-defense, hunting, target…
