Peggy Zabicki

Peggy Zabicki

West Lawn is looking wonderfully spooky

Spread the love

.

By Peggy Zabicki

Your correspondent in West Lawn

3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327

.

Have you eaten all the candy you bought for trick-or-treaters? You still have time to run out and buy some more. While you are out, be sure to check out all the spooky and spectacular decorations in West Lawn. Residents have gone all out this year. Our neighborhood looks fabulous.

In previous columns I mentioned a few Halloween events going on in West Lawn. A dear friend of mine wanted me to remind everyone about the “Trunk or Treat” party going on at St. Mary Star of the Sea’s north parking lot (6435 S. Kilbourn) on Tuesday, Oct. 31 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Bring the kiddies to this safe and fun environment for candy and costume contests. If you have any questions or would like to participate by decorating your car and passing out candies, call (773) 767-6160 by Oct. 30 to register.

PeggyZabicki

Peggy Zabicki

West Lawn Park, 4233 W. 65th St., is hosting a Halloween party on Tuesday, Oct. 31 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. All kids ages 3 to 13 (and a parent or caregiver) are invited to join the fun. There will be costume contests, games and treats. Call for more information at (773) 284-2803.

Did you know that Universidad Popular, 3702 W. 60th St., offers free English classes and many other services? Call (773) 733-5055 for more information.

The West Lawn Branch Library, 4020 W. 63rd St., also provides free English classes on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from noon to 2 p.m. Call (312) 747-7381 for more information.

Neighbor and friend Adolfo Gustavo of the West Lawn Conservation Club told me that the West Lawn Library is home to a seed library. Vegetable seeds, as well as native flower seeds, are available to anyone who would like them–thanks to a generous donation from the Field Museum.

The Chicago Artopia Organization will present their next fall concert event at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4 at the West Lawn Library. Classical guitarist Gabriel Bianco, coming all the way from France, is the featured musician. All are invited to this free concert.

I would like to attend the library concert; but on that same evening, my hubby’s band has a North Side gig, and my daughter Gwendolyn will be showing her artwork at a North Side gallery. I will actually be able to attend both, thank goodness.

Twenty-third Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares will be hosting a free flu vaccine event on Friday, Nov. 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Metropolitan Family Services Office, 3843 W. 63rd St. Pre-registration is highly encouraged. Call (773) 582-4444.

Thirteenth Ward Ald. Marty Quinn and State Rep. Angelica “Angie” Guerrero-Cuellar (D-22nd) will be hosting a vaccine clinic at West Lawn Park on Tuesday, Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call their service office at (773) 581-8000 for more information. In addition to immunization services, they also offer referral services for Medicaid and Medicare, housing, employment, citizenship and youth mentoring. Call Jennifer at (773) 581-1313 for an appointment.

I’m still getting calls with suggestions on what people would like to see happen with the old Kmart building at 71st and Pulaski. I have to share just one more from my brother, Steve, who reads my column every week. He said, “They should build a Kmart there.”

Local News

Providence's Enzo Infelise dives into third for an RBI triple with Pancho Vazquez ready to field the throw. Photo by Xavier Sanchez

Baseball | Providence edges Mount Carmel in extras to punch ticket to state

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent After a stirring upset of unbeaten Nazareth to win the Class 4A Reavis Sectional championship, Mount Carmel’s bid for a trip to the state finals ended with a 3-2 extra-inning loss to Providence in the supersectional round. Celtics shortstop Jackson Smith’s single off Matt Murphy drove in Eddie Olszta…

MtC-Naz play at plate

Baseball Class 4A Sectionals | Third straight state title eludes history-making Nazareth

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent After back-to-back Class 3A state titles in 2022 and 2023, Nazareth jumped to Class 4A this season and did not miss a beat. The Roadrunners cruised to 37 straight victories heading into their sectional championship matchup with Mount Carmel. The Caravan scored two late runs in a tight contest…

MtC bsball Sect trophy

Mount Carmel dethrones unbeaten, two-time defending champ Nazareth for sectional title

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Mount Carmel came into its Class 4A sectional matchup against Nazareth viewed as the underdog. The favored Roadrunners did, after all, enter the game 37-0 and were gunning for a third consecutive state championship. The Caravan have respect for the Roadrunners, but they would never call themselves an underdog;…

Marist's Nathen Toth (3) was named the boys volleyball state finals MVP by the Illiniois Volleyball Coaches Association. File photo

Marist tops York for its fourth boys volleyball state title

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent What does it take to make a state champion? “We had guys that I’ve been hard on for nine months,” Marist boys volleyball coach Jordan Vidovic said. “All for a five-point stretch. “None of them ran away from the challenge.” How big were some of those five-point stretches? The…

Lyons’ Brody Lee-Caracci (right) and Lions fans go crazy after a play against Glenbard West in the state quarterfinals May 31 in Hoffman Estates. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Boys Volleyball State Finals | Hilltoppers prove to be thorn in Lions’ paw

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent After finishing state runner-up in 2023, Lyons knew it had the potential to be in position for another run at a state championship this season. The Lions did that, advancing to the state tournament for a second straight season. But they ran into an old foe in a rematch of…

Michael Schofield, Kendall Coyne Schofield and their son, Drew, with the Walter Cup won by Coyne Schofield and her teammates on the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Minnesota team. Photo courtesy of the Schofield family

Coyne Schofield continues to make hockey history

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Kendall Coyne Schofield has earned numerous significant accolades during her hockey career, including an Olympic gold medal and a pair of Olympic silver medals. The Sandburg graduate and Palos Heights native added to that collection by helping PWHL Minnesota win the inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League championship on May…

Red Stars defender Tatumn Milazzo, an Orland Park native, is looking forward to fans making a lot of noise for the team at the June 8 Wrigley Field match. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Red Stars ready for Wrigley

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent After weeks of hype and anticipation, the Chicago Red Stars are finally ready to invade Wrigley Field. While the Red Stars may not draw the NWSL record of 34,130 spectators they were hoping for on June 8, they do have a shot to surpass the franchise record 23,951, which…

Jamal Thompson is the new boys basketball coach at Richards.

Area Sports Roundup | New coaches named at Richards and Stagg

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent A few area high school coaching vacancies have been filled, including those for Richards boys basketball and Stagg football. Jamal Thompson takes over at Richards for Kyle Rathbun. Thompson has experience coaching at Seton, Leo and St. Rita. Jacob O’Connor will lead Stagg football, where he takes the reins…

New I-PASS sticker tag. (Photo from Illinois Tollway website)

Tollway to hand out free transponder stickers in Justice

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Earlier this year, the Illinois Tollway began phasing out the plastic I-Pass transponder and introduced a sticker tag that goes on your vehicle’s windshield. If you’re still using a transponder, or want to get a new sticker, the Village of Justice is the place to be on Saturday, June 8.…

Marist won the Marist Sectional and will play Payton on Friday, May 31 in the state quarterfinals. Photo by Xavier Sanchez

Boys Volleyball | Marist tops Jones, advances to state quarterfinals

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent For the first time since 2019, Marist will play in the IHSA state finals. The RedHawks (36-2) beat Jones, 25-13, 25-13, for their 17th straight victory and a Marist Sectional championship on May 28 in Mount Greenwood. They will face Payton in the state quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. Friday,…

Neighbors

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…

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…