Local News
Worth Spring Craft Night
The Worth Public Library, 6917 W. 111th St., held a Spring Craft Night for area children and their parents on March 10. During the event, Bonnie Pawlarczyk, Head of Youth Services, read When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes. Afterwards, children were able to make a variety of spring crafts that they could take home with them. The event…
Hockey star and police chief honored by Orland Park
By Jeff Vorva It was a night of celebration at Monday’s Village of Orland Park meeting with Kendall Coyne Schofield and outgoing police chief Joseph Mitchell serving as the stars of the show. Both received proclamations and standing ovations. Schofield, a Sandburg graduate, was honored for bringing home an Olympic silver medal in women’s hockey.…
Straz looking forward to bringing Pete’s and Pride to Palos Heights
By Jeff Vorva Pete’s and Pride. In Palos Heights’ immediate future, good things will come in “P’s.” Mayor Bob Straz gave his State of the City presentation Tuesday in the Orchard Room of the Recreation Center in an event hosted by the Palos Area Chamber of Commerce, and he was full of good news as…
Shepard rallies for Respect Week
By Kelly White Each year, schools across Illinois celebrate Respect Week. This campaign focuses on inclusion for people with disabilities, celebrating Respect for All – no matter the disability, gender, or race. Shepard High School students proudly took part in the week-long celebration that derived from the Spread the Word Campaign. “Plunging is an opportunity…
Shepard students take Polar Plunge for Special Olympics
By Kelly White After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shepard High School students once again took the plunge last week. The Polar Plunge, that is, which is a huge fundraising effort benefiting Special Olympics and the athletes. Participants take in pledges from family, friends and more before taking the literal plunge into…
Worth narrowly approves COVID testing and medical services site
By Joe Boyle With COVID-19 positivity rates declining in Illinois, some members of the Worth Village Board wondered why a business emphasizing testing is necessary? Trustees Rich Dziedzic and Brad Urban brought the issue up during the Worth Village Board meeting Tuesday night, questioning if Free COVID Drive Thru Testing Inc. should be operating with the current…
Batter Up: Richards and Stagg show resilience in baseball’s opening week
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer If the infancy of the high school baseball season has proved anything, it’s that Stagg and Richards are two resilient teams. Just when they look down and out … Let’s look at Richards first. The Bulldogs opened the season on March 14 with a 4-0, five-inning road loss to Marist.…
Area Sports Roundup: South Suburban College wins national title
By Jeff Vorva Staff writer Now for some March Madness that was not as heavily publicized over the weekend … Area athletes participated in three national championship basketball games on Saturday, and a couple of them can lay claim to being national champs. St. Rita grad Cameron Bartmann and Catalyst Maria alum Jonathan Brundidge play…
Pro Soccer Report: Red Stars seek title after back-to-back runner-up finishes
By Jeff Vorva Staff writer It’s an obvious goal. Win it all. The Chicago Red Stars, who make their 2022 home debut in the Challenge Cup at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Kansas City at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, finished runner-up in each of the past two NWSL seasons in 2019 and 2021. There was no…
Orland Park bookie sentenced to 18 months in federal prison
From staff reports An Orland Park man was sentenced last week to a year and a half in federal prison for conducting an illegal sports gambling business and laundering the proceeds. Vincent Delgiudice, also known as “Uncle Mick,” 58, directed an illegal bookmaking business in the Chicago area from 2016 to 2019, U.S. prosecutors said.…
Chicago Ridge detective honored for saving man’s life
By Dermot Connolly The Chicago Ridge Village Board and Police Department recently honored Detective David Jenen for likely saving a suicidal man’s life and probably others. At the March 1 Village Board meeting, Mayor Chuck Tokar read the details of what happened from a report prepared by Police Chief Jim Jarolimek. He said that on…
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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…