Local News
Folks urged to enter costume contest for La Grange Pet Parade
By Steve Metsch About 40,000 people are expected along the streets of downtown La Grange on Saturday morning June 1, with some of them dressing in costumes for the 78th annual La Grange Pet Parade. A costume contest has long been part of the parade, Molly Price, the parade’s executive director, said on May 23.……
Hodgkins breaks ground on new public works building
By Carol McGowan The Village of Hodgkins is getting ready to welcome a new public works office building at its facility off of 67th Street, east of East Avenue. Village officials and public works employees gathered last month for a groundbreaking. Hodgkins Mayor Ernest Millsap explained the history behind the Paul G. Struve Public Works Building. “Fifteen years……
Baseball | Sandburg wins a playoff game, but falls to LW West in regional final
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Sandburg won a playoff game for the first time in four postseasons, but for the second consecutive year its season came to an end at the hands of Lincoln-Way West. The Eagles (21-12) fell to the Warriors, 6-1, in the Class 4A Sandburg Regional championship game on May 25. They had……
Emma Sears scores match’s lone goal as Louisville blanks Red Stars
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Red Stars are miles ahead of where they were last year. The team secured its 16th point on May 12. In 2023, it had to wait until July 7 to hit its 16th point during a season in which it finished in last place in the NWSL. Despite that,……
Sports Bits | St. Michael seventh-grader sets Illinois state record in 110-meter hurdles
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent • St. Michael School seventh-grader Tommy Walter set a grade-school state record en route to winning the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 2A 110-meter hurdles at the grade-school state meet held May 10-11 in East Peoria. Tommy set the Class 2A record in the event with a time of 16.31. •……
Water Polo | Lions, Eagles, Macs, Crusaders and Mustangs earn All-State honors
All-State water polo Lyons girls water polo standout Maya Mladjan was named to the Illinois Water Polo organization’s All-State first team. The Lions’ Delaney Judkins and Isabella Recker, and Mother McAuley’s Becca Engquist earned second-team honors. Sandburg’s Claire Donnell made the third team and the Mighty Macs’ Andi Moriarity made the fourth team. In the……
Chicago Christian’s Grace Mullin caps successful spring by committing to Air Force
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Grace Mullin has proven talents on the ground. In the future, the Chicago Christian graduate may show more talents in the air. After an incredible spring and track season, Mullin — who graduated May 23 — capped things off by committing to the Air Force Academy. This came less than a……
Boys Tennis State Finals | Lyons’ Jack McLane and Mason Mazzone take 2nd
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Two doubles teams from Lyons made deep runs at the IHSA Class 2A boys tennis state finals, with one of them bringing home some hardware. The boys state tennis finals were held at various sites in the north and northwest suburbs May 23-25. The Lions’ Jack McLane and Mason Mazzone won……
Postseason Roundup | Area teams still alive in playoffs
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Several area baseball, softball, boys volleyball and girls soccer teams were still alive in the postseason heading into this week. Among those was two-time defending Class 3A champion Nazareth, which is competing in Class 4A this season. The Roadrunners, Brother Rice and Mount Carmel won regional titles. So did De La……
Boys State Track Finals | St. Laurence’s Harley Rizzs wins 100m title, helps Vikings to 400m relay gold
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent St. Laurence junior Harley Rizzs was a member of the Vikings football team that earned a 2023 Class 4A state runner-up trophy the day after Thanksgiving. He bettered that two days before Memorial Day when he became the first St. Laurence track athlete to win an individual state championship. Rizzs won……
Boys Volleyball | Sandburg seeks 26th regional title
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Coming off the worst season in program history in 2023, Sandburg was not going to settle for anything less than better results this year. Past the midway point of this season, however, the Eagles had a record of 11-8. But they closed the regular season strong, winning 11 of their last……
Baseball | Red-hot Reavis looks to make noise in postseason
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Reavis is determined to send their head coach Don Erickson into retirement on a high note and will head into the postseason red hot and as South Suburban Red champions. The Rams defeated Oak Lawn 3-0 for the second straight day on May 15 to clinch the conference title. They followed……
Sports Bits | Rice boats at Carlyle Lake, Hawkeye DB and Do It Stevie’s Way
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Noteworthy sports briefs from May 12-19 • Brother Rice’s No. 1 boat of Joe Hall and Joe Judeh took 31st in the state bass fishing tournament, which wrapped up on May 18 at Carlyle Lake. The Crusaders had a two-day haul of 7 pounds, 12 ounces. The Crusaders’ No. 2 boat……
Nothing NU at SeatGeek
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent There was speculation that because of the renovations being done at Ryan Field, Northwestern would schedule a few football games at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview this fall. The Wildcats announced their schedule and no home games are listed at SeatGeek, but the situation is still fluid. They are opting to use……
College Softball | Close losses at nationals end Saint Xavier’s season
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Saint Xavier softball team played three nailbiters in the opening round of the NAIA Tournament. But the end result was a 1-2 record to eliminate the Cougars from advancing. SXU (28-14) opened the tournament by nipping Bellevue (Nebraska), 5-4, in Sioux City, Iowa on May 13. Alexus Reese hit a……
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Illinois News
UPDATED: Optional all-gender bathrooms bill will head to governor
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill that would allow businesses and public institutions to provide multi-occupant all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so. House Bill 1286 would change current state law, under which single-occupancy bathrooms are automatically designated for all genders, but multi-occupancy……
UPDATED: Optional all-gender bathrooms bill moves closer to passage
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill that would allow businesses and public institutions to provide multi-occupant all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so. House Bill 1286 would change current state law, under which single-occupancy bathrooms are automatically designated for all genders, but multi-occupancy……
UPDATED: Environmental bills seek to improve soil health, ban state use of polystyrene foam containers
By ANDREW ADAMS & NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com nschoonover@capitolnewsillinois.com Editor’s note: This story will be updated as the measures make their way through the legislature this week. SPRINGFIELD – Several pieces of environmental legislation are making their way through the Illinois General Assembly on what was scheduled to be the final week of……
Native American history, ride-share regulation measures clear General Assembly
By NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois nschoonover@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Even though it became clear this week that the General Assembly’s spring legislative session would go longer than scheduled as lawmakers finalize a budget, several measures cleared the legislature by its original Friday adjournment date. Those include a requirement that schools teach a unit of Native……
UPDATED: Victims of ‘deepfake porn’ and ‘doxing’ could have right to sue under pair of bills
By NIKA SCHOONOVER & ANDREW ADAMS nschoonover@capitolnewsillinois.com aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Victims of “deepfake porn” and “doxing” would have a legal pathway to sue their perpetrators in Illinois under a pair of digital privacy measures that have so far received unanimous support in the General Assembly. House Bill 2954, which would allow victims of “doxing” to……
UPDATED: Lawmakers advance bills mandating salary transparency, community college credit parity
By ANDREW ADAMS & HANNAH MEISEL aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – As the General Assembly prepares to wrap up its spring legislative session this week, Democratic lawmakers are advancing a bill that would mandate job postings to include a salary range in a move they say would promote equity within the workplace. Meanwhile, a bipartisan bill……
Dems move to allow punitive damage awards in wrongful death lawsuits
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Democrats in the General Assembly this week pushed through a measure that would allow state courts to award punitive damages in wrongful death lawsuits – a departure from the status quo for more than a century in Illinois. Illinois is one of 16 states that does……