Local News
Stickney celebrates Cinco de Mayo
By Carol McGowan The Village of Stickney didn’t disappoint this year with its annual Cinco de Mayo celebration. Village Trustee Leandra Torres, who is the Co-Chaiman of the Parks and Recreation Commission along with Trustee Jim Hrejsa, said it was a fun-filled day. “We had 774 people attend this year,” she said. “It was free…
Summit congratulates District 104 westlers
By Carol McGowan At their April 15 board meeting, Summit Mayor Sergio Rodriguez and village officials presented Certificates of Accomplishment to boy and girl wrestlers from Summit School District 104. Rodriguez read their accomplishments and called them up one-by-one to receive their certificates. They were given a standing ovation by those in attendance. The girls…
Auto mechanic Vern Woyner honored for 47 years working in Lyons
By Steve Metsch If you have lived in or near Lyons the past 47 years and needed your car repaired, there’s a good chance you know Vern Woyner. Woyner, 70, has been repairing vehicles in Lyons since 1977. His longevity of expert service has earned him the highest award presented by the village. At the…
Rainbow Cone adds 4 new flavors
By Bob Bong Chicago’s iconic Original Rainbow Cone has been evolving over the past few years. First, it joined forces with the folks at Buono Beef and expanded its presence from its original location in Beverly to offer cones at Buono Beef locations and a few stand-alone stores as well as food trucks. Last year,…
Park Lawn opens day program in Palos Heights
By Kelly White Promoting inclusion and individuality, Park Lawn provides services that promote choice and access to community living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The mission behind the organization focuses on encouraging people with disabilities to discover their passion, to take pride in their accomplishments, to live more independently and to continue to…
EPCHS adds Emmy-winning actor Gary Sievers to Hall of Fame
Evergreen Park Community High School has added a name to its list of Hall of Famers. Gary Sievers, a 1968 EPCHS graduate who became well-known for his acting, public speaking, work in radio and television, community service, civic leadership and teaching, was posthumously inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame during the Honors Night ceremony…
Worth vehicle sticker applications ‘lost’ in the mail
By Joe Boyle Worth Village Clerk Bonnie Price said that even though application forms for village vehicle stickers were sent out to the post office last month residents were still waiting to receive those applications. “We have been doing this for 15 years,” Price said during the Worth Village Board meeting May 7. “This has never…
It’s ‘Play ball!’ for Midway Baseball & Softball
. If smiles were home runs, the boys and girls of the Midway Baseball & Softball Association were clearly the champions of West Lawn last Saturday, as they paraded through the streets of the community before beginning their 2024 season. – Photos by Steve Neuhaus
Hunt killer in ‘drifting’ slaying
. Police seek witnesses, video of 59/Western . By Tim Hadac Police are appealing to the public to help find those responsible for the slaying of a 20-year-old West Englewood man during a takeover of the intersection at 59th and Western at 3:21 a.m. Sunday, May 5. The victim–identified as Guillermo “Memito” Caballero Jr., of…
Mom gets 20 years in babies’ murder
. Stuffed her newborn twin boys in an alley garbage cart . By Tim Hadac The books closed this month on a double murder that shocked and sickened many in the Garfield Ridge area more than 20 years ago. Antoinette Briley, 44, pled guilty on May 7 to murdering her twin baby boys 21 years…
Ladies lead the way to stylish Kentucky Derby fun
As a tip of the cap–so to speak–to the Kentucky Derby, acclaimed chef Gloria Hafer (second from right) visited the Garfield Ridge Satellite Senior Center last week to cook a burgoo (a thick stew traditionally popular in the South). For an added bit of fun, the center had a derby contest. Among the very best…
Seek donations for charity at Two Holy Martyrs
. By Tim Hadac The Society of St. Vincent de Paul chapter at Two Holy Martyrs Parish will host a bundle weekend on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19. Volunteers will staff two trailers at the St. Rene Goupil Church parking lot, 64th and New England, from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and 7…
Palos Park finance director heading to Westmont
By Jeff Vorva Palos Park was in good hands with Altic. Finance director/treasurer Allen Altic is leaving the village later this month to take a similar position in Westmont, just a few miles from his home in Downers Grove. Altic was an assistant finance director in Bloomingdale from 2012 to 2020, when he was hired…
Orland Township hosting free senior health fair
Orland Township and Supervisor Paul O’Grady are hosting a senior health fair to provide free health services and information to senior citizens on Tuesday, May 21, from 9 a.m. until noon at Orland Township, located at 14807 S. Ravinia Ave., Orland Park. The Senior Health Fair is an excellent opportunity for seniors to receive free…
District 128 teacher joins Golden Apple Accelerator Program
By Kelly White A Palos Heights School District 128 educator was selected to be a part of the Golden Apple Accelerator Program. Also, a District 128 alum, Moira Touhy, a paraprofessional at Independence Junior High School, 6610 W. Highland Dr., Palos Heights, will be participating in the 15-month online program specifically geared toward obtaining a…
Crossroads plans approved in Orland Park despite adding apartments
By Jeff Vorva Crossroads did not hit a roadblock. Despite not wanting to bring more apartments to the village, the Orland Park Village Board approved plans for the Crossroads of Orland Park at its May 6 Committee of the whole and regular meetings and it will indeed feature 132 apartments. The Crossroads project, located on…
‘Anything that gets flushed’
. MWRD shows how it treats wastewater . By Dermot Connolly What better activity for a sunny spring day than touring the world’s largest wastewater treatment plant—which many people did during the open house held Saturday at the MWRD’s Stickney Water Reclamation Plant in Cicero. To celebrate Chicago Water Week, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District…
Giannoulias urges REAL ID signup
Flanked by TSA Illinois Federal Security Director Jim Spriggs (left), Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is launching his office’s “Get Real Illinois” campaign to encourage Illinoisans to obtain a REAL ID. The campaign will raise awareness about the May 7, 2025 deadline and encourage residents to apply early to avoid problems at airports and…
Charge Garfield Ridge man with March murder
. From staff reports . A 29-year-old Garfield Ridge man was charged with murder in connection with a slaying that occurred back in March. Alberto Rosas, of the 5200 block of South Central, was apprehended May 7 in the 6800 block of West Archer. Police said Rosas shot and killed 27-year-old Gustavo Suarez at about…
Rashid calls college demonstrators ‘student heroes’
. Rips Israel over “apartheid’ and ‘genocide’ . From staff reports The crisis in Palestine is taking a terrifying turn as the Israeli military is preparing to invade Rafah where more than one million Palestinians have been forced to after their homes in northern Gaza were destroyed, State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-21st) said in an…
Illinois News
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’
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
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
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
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’
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
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
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
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…
Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois law banning the sale and use of “bump stocks” and other devices that increase the firing power of semiautomatic weapons remains in place, at least for now, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday striking down a federal ban on such items. “Illinois law…