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Bridgeview Police Sgt. Jason Stein (center) shares his Medal of Honor moment with brother-in law Mark Calcut (left), sister Sherri Calcut, stepdad Roger Shell and sister Theresa Hausmann. (Supplied photo) 

State Police honor Bridgeview Sgt. Stein for bravery

By Steve Metsch  It’s true, Bridgeview Police Sgt. Jason Stein said. When death seems imminent, your life does indeed flash before your eyes. “You see your life pass before your eyes. You do. Oh, yeah. Everything. Some stuff I didn’t want to remember,” Stein said. For his death-defying moment – a gun was pointed at his head nearly four…

Ed Krzeminski shows off the stop sign imbedded in a tree in his front yard on Lorraine Drive. (Photos by Steve Metsch)

Suspected tornado slams Countryside, nearby towns

By Steve Metsch A suspected tornado slammed into the south part of Countryside around 6 p.m. Wednesday, causing plenty of damage but no known injuries. Damage was also reported in Hodgkins, Lyons and McCook. “There’s lots of damage, but no injuries have been reported. That’s great news,” Countryside Mayor Sean McDermott said at 8:45 p.m.…

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Clear-Ridge Reporter and NewsHound July 12, 2023

New England Freejack fans were yelling all game as their team won the MLR championship July 8 in Bridgeview. (Photos by Jeff Vorva)

MLR happy with SeatGeek Stadium, but championship return uncertain

By Jeff Vorva They came from the East Coast. They came from the West Coast. Heck, one guy came in from Canada and was wearing a wrestling mask. An announced crowd of 10,103 descended on SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview on July 8 to witness the fifth Major League Rugby Championship. And that included Toronto’s Wayne…

New England Free Jack players are jacked up after winning the MLR Championship on July 8 at SeatGeek stadium in Bridgeview. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Pro Sports Report | Free Jacks top Legion for Major League Rugby title

By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer After a good afternoon of running, kicking and celebrating, Jayson Potroz needed a little rest. So, the New England Free Jacks flyhalf found a spot in the SeatGeek Stadium grass in Bridgeview and threw a shirt over his head. “I’m actually exhausted,” he said. In Major League Rugby’s first neutral-site…

Adversity finished fifth in the nation in the AAU National boys volleyball tournament in Orlando. Photo provided

Area Sports Roundup | Adversity volleyball finishes 5th in nation

By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Adversity was faced with adversity. As a result, its dreams of a national championship were dashed. Adversity 16 Adidas-South still finished tied for fifth in the nation at 50th AAU Boys National Volleyball Championships held in Orlando, Florida, in early July. The team is top-heavy with rising juniors from Marist.…

Julian Love (third from right) with his family. Included is younger brother Michael who also starred for Nazareth. (Photos by Steve Metsch)

Nazareth retires Julian Love’s No. 20, inducts him into Roadrunners Hall of Fame

By Steve Metsch Julian Love was not happy when he fell short of making the Nazareth varsity football team as a freshman. During the summer before bis sophomore year, he worked out every day, improved his skills and earn a varsity spot. And he did not disappoint, helping the Roadrunners to back-to-back state championships in…

chicago hounds block party

Chicago Hounds host Dawg Town Block Party, MLR Championship on Saturday

By Bob Bong The Chicago Hounds rugby team organization will host a day of festivities featuring a “Dawg Town Block Party” on Saturday, July 8, at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. DJ Diesel, who is also known as former basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, and American Celtic band Dropkick Murphys are set to perform at the 2023 MLR Championship…

Brooke Bestwina, owner of The Feed Store in Summit, stands in front of a new mural to celebrate 75 years in business. (Photos by Carol McGowan)

The Feed Store mural is a tribute to 75 years in Summit

By Carol McGowan If you drive south on Harlem Avenue from Interstate 55 in Summit, you’ll likely notice something new at The Feed Store, 5408 S. Harlem Avenue. The business is celebrating its 75th anniversary, and, as a tribute to their many years in business, there’s a mural on the north wall that harkens back…

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Clear-Ridge Reporter and NewsHound July 5, 2023

Illinois News

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…