Local News
Red Stars Report: Red Stars upset but Mahomes was happy with KC win over Chicago
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Leading up to the Challenge Cup home opener against the Kansas City Current, the Chicago Red Stars were feeling pretty good. New coach Chris Petrucelli said every day was enjoyable. “They come out and have fun,” he said on March 24. “Everyone is smiling. I can’t think of anything that…
Area Sports Roundup: Brother Rice riding in style; Evergreen Park’s Lily Strand fans 27
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer For some games, Brother Rice arrives in style. On March 22, the Crusaders opened a few eyes when they arrived in Orland Park on a charter bus for a non-conference game against Sandburg. “We’ve had problems with the timing of getting a bus and sometimes 3:45 is the earliest we…
Boys Volleyball: Marist beats Lincoln-Way East in battle of national powers
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer High rankings do not mean a whole lot to Kellen O’Keefe. The Marist senior hitter was well aware the RedHawks were recently ranked 14th in the nation in a USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association poll in mid-March. But minutes after the RedHawks won their own 24-team tournament with a 21-25,…
Harlem Avenue resurfacing from 62nd to 111th to resume April 4
From staff reports The Illinois Department of Transportation announced that a resurfacing of Harlem Avenue, from 62nd Street, in Chicago and Summit, to 111th Street, in Worth, passing through Bedford Park, Bridgeview, Burbank, Chicago Ridge and Palos Hills, will resume, weather permitting, Monday, April 4. The $5 million project, which consists of resurfacing the six-mile stretch…
400 motorists get free gas at Hickory Hill station as police chief pitches in
By Steve Metsch Shirley Jenkins wasn’t about to miss her chance to get $50 worth of gasoline for free, even it meant getting in line around 6 a.m. The Justice woman, 63, waited three hours to pump free gas into her SUV Thursday morning at Falcon Fuel in Hickory Hills. “I need the gas,” Jenkins…
‘Squatters’ are removed from Oak Lawn neighborhood
Adult music fest to replace Fall on the Green By Joe Boyle While the effects of the pandemic are in decline, reports of “squatters” taking up residence in foreclosed homes in Oak Lawn has become an issue. However, the village has begun to fight back and are eliminating the presence of individuals residing illegally in…
St. Bernadette pastor thanks Evergreen Park for Ukrainian support
By Joe Boyle The pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Evergreen Park is thankful for the support the community provided to give aid to the suffering refugees of Ukraine. Evergreen Park Mayor Kelly Burke said during the village board meeting Monday night that collections for the refugees who have fled or are still living in…
Standing with Ukraine
Ask for prayers, donations at local church service By Joe Boyle Many parishioners at Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Palos Park are dealing with the shock of seeing their native homeland attacked by Russia. But what they were asking for during a Saturday afternoon service at the church, 8410 W. 131st St., was something…
Parking concerns silence proposed music venue for Chicago Ridge
By Dermot Connolly Insufficient parking has led the Chicago Ridge Village Board to put a damper a prospective business owner’s proposal for a live music venue in the 10700 block of South Ridgeland Avenue. Damon Payton, a cousin of Walter Payton, came to the March 15 Village Board meeting seeking a business license to open…
UPDATE: Wilson gas giveaway at Hickory Hills Falcon Fuel, Oak Lawn BP
From staff reports Chicago businessman Willie Wilson created massive traffic jams last week when he gave away $200,000 in free gasoline. So, he’s doing it again this week including at stations in Hickory Hills, Oak Lawn and Stickney. Wilson upped the ante from last week and announced he will be giving away $1 million in…
Jon’s Way to hold Family Fun Fair in Chicago Ridge
By Kelly White A Chicago Ridge youth group is finding creative ways to keep the community involved. Jon’s Way Youth Group will be hosting a Family Fun Fair on Sunday, March 27, at Freedom Activity Center, 6252 W. Birmingham Ave., Chicago Ridge. “With this event the teens get to show their leadership skills to the…
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Illinois News
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…
Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan
By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For the last two decades, each time a governor has moved to close a large state-run facility like a prison or mental health center, a legislative oversight panel has voted on the plan. That changed on Friday – at least for now –…
‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…