Local News
By Joe Boyle The Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce presented awards to the winners of the 2023 Fire and Public Safety Coloring Book Contest at the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting on April 9. Fire Bureau Chief David Wheeler and Police Chief Daniel Vittoro were on hand to present the plaques, along with Oak Lawn Mayor…
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By Bob Bong and Nuha Abdessalam The new year had only just begun when tragedy struck families living in a three-story apartment building in Hickory Hills. One man died, a second man was badly injured and several families were displaced by an early morning apartment fire Tuesday. Roberts Park Fire Department Chief Jeff Ketchen said…
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By Joe Boyle The Village of Worth has officially withdrawn from the Southwest Central Dispatch system. An ordinance was approved to drop Southwest Central Dispatch during the Worth Village Board meeting Tuesday night. Another ordinance was approved to withdraw from the Southwest Central 911 system. The village had previously entered into an agreement with Southwest…
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By Joe Boyle After some difficult years due to the pandemic, the economic health of the Village of Oak Lawn is on the rise. Additional funding has gone into the coffers for the Oak Lawn police and fire pensions. Village Manager Tom Phelan admitted during the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting on Aug. 8 that they had…
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By Kelly White Strengthening the relationship between neighbors and local law enforcement, the city of Palos Hills was proud to take part in National Night Out. Palos Hills held its seventh annual National Night Out event on Tuesday at Town Square Park, 8455 W. 103rd Street. “The City of Palos Hills is proud to again…
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By Joe Boyle Presentations by the police and fire departments — along with food and music — were the major highlights of the Oak Lawn National Night Out on Tuesday. National Night Out is held the first Tuesday in August. The lone exception is Texas, which marks the occasion in October. National Night Out was…
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By Isabella Schreck Many residents will be able to meet their local police officers and police canines, while enjoying food and fun activities at local National Night Out Against Crime events coming up on Tuesday, Aug. 1. The national event, which has occurred every year on the first Tuesday of August for the past four…
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By Kelly White Project Fire Buddies brings joy to kids struggling with serious illnesses. The program launched in 2016 when a group of Oak Forest Firefighters answered a 911 call. A young child who was battling cancer fell ill with a high fever. The department transported the child to the hospital for life-saving treatment, and…
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By Joe Boyle The North Palos Fire Protection District would like to see businesses that have numerous violations in Worth suffer the consequences. The fire department does not give out the citations specifically. They require an official from the village to give the offending businesses the citations. “North Palos Fire Protection District has been serving…
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The Illinois Tollway is scheduled to begin work to reconstruct the Roberts Road and 87th Street intersection as part of the Central Tri-State Tollway project. Local road and infrastructure improvements will include replacement of the existing pavement on the east side of Roberts Road and the north side of 87th Street as well as installation of new…
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Oak Lawn police target drivers who ignore stop signs
By Joe Boyle Oak Lawn police are going to crack down on reckless drivers who repeatedly blow stop signs throughout the village. And police will begin enforcing those measures within the next two weeks. The subject was brought up during the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting June 11. Village Manager Tom Phelan said that he…
Volunteers from Brother Rice, St. Rita and St. Laurence help indigent on their final journey
By Nuha Abdessalam Father Larry Sullivan, a director of Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago and pastor of Christ the King Parish, joined County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and spoke words of love, respect, and God at the 35th annual committal service at Mount Olivet Cemetery. The service on June 6 at 1:30 p.m.…
Riot Fest abandons Chicago park for SeatGeek Stadium
By Bob Bong Last year, Lyrical Lemonade moved its Summer Smash hip-hop music festival from Chicago’s Douglass Park to Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium. Thousands of fans poured into the stadium at 7100 S. Harlem Ave. over the course of three days and, by most accounts, enjoyed the experience. Summer Smash returned to SeatGeek this weekend for…
Comings & Goings: Orland Park Summerfest returns this weekend
By Bob Bong Back for a second go round this weekend is the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce’s Summerfest. The event combines a carnival, live music, an array of dining options and a car show, at the 153rd Street Metra Station location in Orland Park and will run from Friday, June 14, through Sunday,…
Softball | Marist will play for state title for fourth straight season
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Marist returned to the state title game for the fourth straight season with a 7-1 victory over Mundelein in the semifinals, held June 7 at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria. The Mustangs (36-2) were making their first appearance at state since 1996. “We have a core group of returners,” Marist coach…
Record crowd sees Bay FC top Red Stars at Wrigley Field
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Historic Wrigley Field hosted its first professional women’s sporting event in 80 years when the Chicago Red Stars hosted Bay FC on June 8. An NWSL-record announced crowd of 35,038 came out on a cool, rainy evening on the North Side and saw the expansion team from the San Francisco Bay…
Softball | St. Charles North rides big inning over Marist for Class 4A state title
By Randy Whalen Correspondent The final game was in doubt until the late innings but, in the end, Marist came up short in its bid for a second consecutive state championship. St. Charles North (25-6) broke open a tied game by scoring five times with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, eventually capturing…
Boys Volleyball | Marist’s Nathen Toth named state finals MVP
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent With the IHSA boys volleyball state semifinals and finals championships held on the same day, the round of four tends to get overshadowed once the smoke clears. But Marist’s 28-26, 26-24 semifinal win over Glenbard West in a battle of two of the top five teams in the nation, according…
Brown family legacy continues in world of Illinois boys volleyball
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Brown family’s legacy continues in the world of boys volleyball. Twins Chris and Eric Brown helped Oak Lawn finish fourth in the IHSA volleyball tournament in 1993, the second year the boys state tournament took place. Though the twins graduated that year, that season served as a springboard for the…
Don’t sleep on grappling great | St. Rita grad Austin O’Connor starts MMA career with a win
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The “Irish Nightmare” was not about to be put to sleep. Austin O’Connor, a four-time IHSA state wrestling champion during his years at St. Rita, made his professional MMA debut on June 9; and despite some pre-match taunting from opponent Camden Fontenot — who claimed he would put O’Connor to sleep…
Illinois News
Senate passes Medicare, tax zone legislation
By RAYMON TRONCOSO Capitol News Illinoisrtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Capping off a slow legislative week as the General Assembly grapples with drawing redistricting maps, the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year and massive energy overhaul legislation, the Senate passed 14 bills Thursday, most of them unanimously. Senate Bill 1747, introduced by Grayslake Democratic Sen. Melinda…
CAPITOL RECAP: Pritzker announces plans for broader reopening
By Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday that Illinois will enter the “bridge” phase to full reopening on Friday, May 14. And barring any reversal of current trends, Phase 5, or full reopening, will begin on June 11. He also announced that residents can now obtain COVID-19 vaccines from their physicians’…
Pritzker: Broader reopening to begin next week
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday that Illinois will enter the “bridge” phase to full reopening on Friday, May 14. And barring any reversal of current trends, Phase 5, or full reopening, will begin on June 11. He also announced that residents can now obtain COVID-19 vaccines from…
Pritzker now says budget can include added $350 million for K-12 schools
By JERRY NOWICKI and TIM KIRSININKAS Capitol News IllinoisJnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.comtkirsininkas@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Citing an “improved” economic outlook, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday his support to increase evidence-based education funding in the state by $350 million in fiscal year 2022 which begins July 1. In his February budget proposal, Pritzker originally proposed flat spending for education, citing…
GOP leaders call out House Dems for redistricting ‘hypocrisy’
By GRACE BARBIC and SARAH MANSUR Capitol News Illinois gbarbic@capitolnewsillinois smansur@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Illinois House Republicans continue to demand a “fair” redistricting process, following a news report depicting Democratic lawmakers meeting behind a closed door to discuss the mapmaking process. The “secretive” room on Capitol grounds where House Democrats are said to be drawing maps…
Bill proposes standardized election procedures
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Two Republican senators have introduced legislation to standardize the way local election authorities across Illinois handle elections, from the training of election judges to posting information about delays in election night ballot counting. Sens. Sally Turner, of the Logan County town of Beason, and Sue Rezin, of…
Illinois law enforcement community honors officers killed in line of duty
By TIM KIRSININKAS Capitol News Illinoistkirsininkas@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – After a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, members of Illinois’ law enforcement community gathered in Springfield Thursday to honor officers killed in the line of duty in 2019 and 2020. In a ceremony at the Illinois State Capitol, the names of 16 Illinois officers…
Illinois Attorney General responds to cybersecurity attack, audit warning
By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News Illinois smansur@capitolnewsillinois SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Wednesday addressed the recent cyber breach of his office’s online network, as well as an audit of his office released earlier this year that warned of weaknesses in its cybersecurity programs. Raoul told a House committee his office has implemented…
Judge vacates nationwide eviction moratorium, doesn’t impact Illinois
By SARAH MANSUR and TIM KIRSININKAS Capitol News Illinoissmansur@capitolnewsillinois.comtkirsininkas@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — A federal judge invalidated a nationwide eviction moratorium on Wednesday but the decision will not impact the moratorium on rental evictions in Illinois, according to housing attorneys. The decision from U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich involves the eviction moratorium issued by the U.S.…
Senate committee advances bills on sex ed, decriminalizing HIV transmission
By RAYMON TRONCOSO Capitol News Illinoisrtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Legislation that would overhaul sex education in Illinois and a measure to decriminalize the transmission of HIV were among several bills that passed the Senate Executive Committee Wednesday. The committee, following a long and contentious debate, advanced legislation that would require public schools to teach sex ed…