Mary Stanek

Mary Stanek

Why not pumpkin spice year-round?

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By Mary Stanek

Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon

3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 284-7394

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Well, it is October. I started buying the Halloween candy, which I hid in the depths of my closet until Oct. 31. Next up: Christmas trees.

One thing I always ponder is, if pumpkin spice this or pumpkin spice that is so, so very good, why don’t we have it all year round? Pumpkin is available in cans, so why not? Maybe because it isn’t all that good? I would much prefer a sweet potato pie over pumpkin.

MaryStanek 1

Mary Stanek

Same thing with paczki. If they are so good in March where we must stand in line and pre-order? Why can’t they be made year-round? These are things I think about while eating licorice candy.

Now for serious business.

The Archer Heights Branch Library is hosting a community resource fair on Saturday, Sept. 30, from 1 to 4 p.m. Feel free to drop in anytime to learn about the resources available in our community.

St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of the environment and animals. His feast day is celebrated on Oct. 4. On Saturday, Oct. 7, Sts. Bruno and Richard Parish will be celebrating with a blessing of the animals, set for p.m. outside St. Richard Church, 50th and Kostner, and at 2 p.m. outside St. Bruno Church, 48th and Harding. All of God’s creatures are invited to be blessed. Please visit, and maybe you might see my Oliver; and hopefully even Elsa the Convent dog.

If you are a graduate of St. Bruno or St. Richard School, there will be a family and alumni Mass. The Mass is scheduled at St. Bruno Church, 4751 S. Harding on Oct. 7 at 4:30 p.m.

You are welcome to attend Sts. Bruno and Richard bingo, every Friday with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. and games starting at 6:45.

We missed the last CAPS Beat 822 meeting while we were away in Michigan. The next scheduled meeting is for Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at Peck School. Please enter through door #2 on the 58th Street side. And yes, my husband and I hope to be most definitely there.

Local News

Marist’s James Murphy and his teammates made three comeback attempts but could not top Homewood-Flossmoor in a regional final on Friday. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Boys Basketball: R-B, Lyons and De La Salle among seven area regional champs

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer St. Rita, Mt. Carmel, De La Salle, Curie, Lyons, Riverside-Brookfield and Nazareth survived the boys basketball regional wars last week and advanced to this week’s sectional action. Marist and St. Laurence were both a shot away from possibly joining them. Marist, the 10th seed in the Class 4A…

Nolan Harrison of Riverside-Brookfield sets state record in diving. Photo courtesy of Riverside-Brookfield High School

Area Roundup: R-B’s Harrison Nolan dives into record books

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Team USA diver Harrison Nolan capped off his high school career in a huge way. The Riverside-Brookfield senior smashed the record books en route to winning the IHSA state diving championship. The boys state swimming and diving finals were held Feb. 25 and 26 at the FMC Natatorium…

Chicago Police Department

Police Reports

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Spread the loveShot in the head and killed on Hermitage A 28-year-old man was shot in the head and killed as he sat in a vehicle in the 5300 block of South Hermitage at 6:05 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20. Police said the victim was approached by three unknown men who surrounded the vehicle and demanded…

Masks remain the order of the day at public and parochial schools across the city, although many appear to be ignoring public health advice on social distancing. As photos generated by the schools themselves show, it is not unusual for masked students to cluster—causing consternation among some but used by others to claim mask mandates are little more than “public health theater” that is more about appearances than preventing the spread of disease. --Supplied photo

Masks for the moment

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Spread the loveSchools still requiring face coverings By Peter Hancock Capitol News Illinois and Tim Hadac With all the machinations in Springfield over mask mandates for schools, parents in the city this week wondered if and when their children may remove their masks at school. “This is crazy,” said Brighton Park resident Ana Sanchez-Nowak. “Kids…

18th Ward Ald. Derrick G. Curtis

‘Will be great for everyone’

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Spread the lovePete’s coming to 87/Kedzie, Curtis says  By Tim Hadac Pete’s Fresh Market, which had been planned for the vacant Luther South High School site at the northeast corner of 87th and Kedzie, will instead move into the vacant Ultra Foods site on the northwest corner of the intersection. “This will be great for…

GSWNH_MahAndJB_022522

Tigers on Archer Avenue

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Spread the love State Rep. Theresa Mah (center) shares a joyful moment with Governor JB Pritzker at last week’s new year’s parade near Archer Avenue. This month begins the Chinese lunar new year, the Year of the Tiger, which will last into early January 2023. Mah’s district includes McKinley Park, which has a large and…

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle

Apply for violence prevention funds, Preckwinkle says

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Spread the loveFrom staff reports Community organizations engaged in violence prevention are invited to attend a series of virtual information sessions for the upcoming Gun Violence Prevention & Reduction Grant opportunity. The information sessions will help local organizations understand the application process for nearly $50 million in funding that will be awarded in the city and suburban…

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi

Kaegi hosts webinars on affordable housing

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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

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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

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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…

Neighbors

Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan

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

‘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?

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

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

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

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

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

“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

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

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…