Oak Lawn’s Davion Lawrence (right) led his team with 14 points in a 57-52 victory at Evergreen Park on Thursday. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Here’s the skinny: Trimmed-down Lawrence helps Oak Lawn top Evergreen

By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Oak Lawn senior basketball player Davion Lawrence is 45 pounds lighter than he was last season, but insists his eating habits are the same. He has, however, changed up his training habits. Heading into football last fall, Lawrence and a few fellow seniors wanted to get in the best shape…

Former Mother McAuley star Hannah Swiatek (right) smiles and walks off the court with Justene Charlesworth after a recent University of St. Francis victory over Cardinal Stritch. Photo by Jeff Vorva Former  Mother McAuley star Hannah Swiatek (right) smiles and walks off the court with Justene Charlesworth after a recent University of St. Francis victory over Cardinal Stritch. Photo by Jeff Vorva

College Report: McAuley grad Swiatek plays hero for St. Francis

By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Hannah Swiatek comes off the bench for the University of St. Francis and is averaging 3.1 points per game. But when called on for the biggest shot of her college career, the 5-foot-8 junior guard from Oak Lawn delivered. Swiatek scored the winning basket in a wild 99-97 overtime road…

Argo’s Evan Shelton (30) and Will Adams battle Shepard’s Robinson Hale for the ball. Photo by Steve Metsch

Evans, Adams lead Argo past Shepard on Alumni Night

By Steve Metsch Corrspondent Argo’s Davonte Evans and Will Adams both knew it was just a matter of time before the Argonauts would find a way to beat Shepard. That time came in the third quarter of a South Suburban Red matchup, when Argo outscored Shepard en rout to a 61-52 on Jan. 14. “We…

Mother McAuley’s Bella Finnegan launches a 3-point attempt over St. Laurence’s Lilliana Magana as Vikings coach George Shimko looks on in a game on Jan. 11. Finnegan scored her 1,000th career point in the game. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Stagg’s Laila Barakat and McAuley’s Bella Finnegan hit 1K career points; Richards’ Kortz gets 300th win

By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Look what Laila Barakat started. The Stagg senior basketball star hit a milestone when she scored her 1,000th career point against Richards on Jan. 8. That was the first of three notable career accomplishments achieved the following week. It was followed by Mother McAuley senior Bella Finnegan scoring her 1,000th…

Shepard's Damari Reed takes on Minooka's Jake Hinders en route to the first of his four victories and the 152-pound championship at the Illini Classic. Photo by Jason Maholy

Marist wrestlers take Illini Classic crown; Shepard’s Damari Reed stays unbeaten

By Steve Millar Correspondent When Peter Marinopoulos was a freshman, he served as the Marist wrestling team’s manager when the RedHawks would travel to tournaments. Two years later, he is finishing tournaments on top of the podium. Marinopolous, ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 3A at 195 pounds by the Illinois Wrestling Coaches…

Marist’s Elisa Ward (right), and Mother McAuley’s Bella Finnegan and their teams will be a part of the Coach Kipp Hoopsfeast Saturday and Monday. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Local Sports Notebook: Four area girls teams headed to Hoopsfest

By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Four area girls basketball teams will participate in the 32nd running of the Coach Kipp Hoopsfest. This year’s tournament, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, takes place Saturday at Montini High School and Monday at Benet Academy. Sandburg is scheduled to play Downers Grove North in the 12:30 p.m. game on…

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Argo Wrestling busy over winter break

By Carol McGowan While many students enjoyed time off during the school’s winter break, Argo wrestlers were hard at work competing in an all level tri meet. They beat both DeLaSalle High School and Riverside-Brookfield teams and it came down to the last match to decide the winner. The Argonauts battled to the end and…

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Boys Basketball: Highs and lows for Oak Lawn

By Steve Millar  Correspondent During a week that Oak Lawn coach Jason Rhodes knew would present a huge challenge for his team, the Spartans started with a big win over a top South Suburban Conference contender. Then the league’s greatest perennial power provided proof that Oak Lawn still has a lot of work to do.…

Former Argo star Tadriana Heard, now playing for Morton College, looks for an open teammate against Moraine Valley on Thursday. Photo by Jeff Vorva

College Report: Division I schools listening to Heard

By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Tadriana Heard is ready for a second round of Division I basketball. The former Argo star is playing her second season for Morton College, and heading into this week’s action was first in the nation among National Junior College Athletic Association players with 64 3-pointers. She was also 10th in…

Evergreen Park’s Bakari Nelson (right) tries to stop Oak Forest’s 6-foot-10 Robbie Avila Friday night. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Boys Basketball: Evergreen Park riding out toughest stretch of schedule

By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer So, how did Evergreen Park get to 9-6 over in its first 15 games? The Mustangs took a rollercoaster ride. In a nutshell: They started the season with four consecutive wins, lost the next three, won five straight and then dropped three in a row. The latest three-game losing streak…

Sandburg’s Claire Callaghan dribbles during the opening round of the Eagles own holiday tournament on Dec. 27. The Eagles finished second in the tournament. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Girls Basketball: Sandburg falls to LW Central in champ game of Holiday Tournament

By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Two years ago, a group of promising freshmen were bumped up to the varsity at Sandburg, joining an already stellar sophomore in Erin O’Connell. The team went through some growing pains in 2019-20 but flirted with 20 wins, finishing 19-12. Then there were some pains of playing an abbreviated schedule during…

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St. Rita takes 5th at Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic

By Steve Millar  Correspondent St. Rita’s youth was evident in some mistakes the Mustangs made down the stretch in the fifth-place game of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic. But the Mustangs’ talent won out in the end. Sophomore guard Jaedin Reyna went coast-to-coast and scored on a drive to the basket with 2.5 seconds left…

Lyons Township’s Tavari Johnson was an all-tournament player as he helped his team to a second-place finish in the Jack Tosh Tournament. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Lions take 2nd at Tosh Holiday Classic

By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Glenbard West won the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic. That made sense. The Hilltoppers are ranked No. 1 in most state and Chicago-area polls. But not much else about this tournament made a lot of sense, especially when it came some of the seven area teams involved or, in two cases (Riverside-Brookfield…

Abbey Murphy, a Mother McAuley grad and University of Minnesota hockey player, was named to the Olympic team. University of Minnesota photo

Murphy joins Schofield on U.S. women’s hockey team

By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Abbey Murphy lists Kendall Coyne Schofield as her sports role model. Now, she will be a teammate of Schofield on the biggest stage for women’s hockey. Team USA Hockey announced its Olympic roster over the weekend and two-time medal winner Schofield, a native of Palos Heights and a Sandburg graduate, will…

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Starbucks opens on former vacant lot in West Lawn

A new Starbucks opened last week in Chicago’s West Lawn community on a lot that had been vacant for 40 years. Groundbreaking for the newest Starbucks took place in March at 6413 S. Cicero Ave. and was led by Mayor Brandon Johnson and 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn. The lot was a former gas station…

Besides the varieties of meat Fogo de Chao is famous for, the restaurants offer sumptuous salad bars. (Supplied photo)

Comings & Goings: Fogo de Chao coming to Orland Park

Fogo de Chao, the Brazilian steak house known for servers carrying slabs of meat on long skewers from table to table, announced last week that it had signed a lease to open a new restaurant in Orland Park. The new location at 15407 S. LaGrange Road would be the chain’s fifth Chicagoland restaurant. The 6,791-square-foot…

Monica Wiggins (from left), Mary Bowers, Kelli Moore, April Kates-Ellison, and Josette Thompson are members of Nubian 9 who are sponsoring get-out-the-vote efforts in Summit this fall. (Supplied photo)

Women’s social group launches voting initiative in Summit

A group of women from Summit called Nubian 9, better known as N9, are stepping up to ensure their community’s voice is heard at the ballot box. The social group of nine long-time childhood friends from the Summit-Argo community is committed to fostering sisterhood, social impact and sensational living (living life to the fullest). In…

Lyons Township Assessor Patrick Hynes assists taxpayers in Summit. (Supplied photos)

Lyons Township Assessor outreach event in Summit recovers $36,000 for taxpayers

An outreach event sponsored by the Lyons Township Assessor’s office at the Summit Park District recovered more than $36,000 for taxpayers. Nearly 200 Summit residents concerned about the recent jump in Cook County assessments attended the August 29 outreach. Assessor Patrick Hynes gave a brief presentation about the local property tax landscape, the recent reassessment, and tips…

Dr. Samer Rajjoub, a surgeon at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital, recently celebrated his 500th robotic surgery. (Supplied photos)

Local physician surpasses 500th robotic surgery at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital

Northwestern Medicine Palos Heights Hospital is celebrating an exciting milestone for one of its surgeons. Dr. Samer Rajjoub, a surgeon at Palos Hospital, recently celebrated his 500th robotic surgery with state-of-the-art da Vinci robots that allow surgeons to perform complex minimally invasive procedures with more precision, often leading to less pain for the patient post-surgery…

Sophia Aviles, a 16-year-old junior at Lyons Township High School, placed as the second runner-up in the National Miss Illinois Junior Teen Pageant. (Supplied photo)

Lyons High School junior shines in pageantry, animal advocacy

Sophia Aviles, a junior at Lyons Township High School, earned a national honor that propels her closer to realizing her dreams in pageantry, fashion modeling and animal welfare advocacy. The 16-year-old from La Grange Park enjoys photography, reading in the park, and volunteering at a local veterinary clinic. Recently, she placed as the second runner-up…

Owners of Magical Keys Institute of Music are joined by Palos Hills officials at the grand opening on Sept. 26. Taking part in the festivities were (from left) Kasia Szczech-Dlugosz, Bernadette Szczech, mother of the sisters; Mayor Jerry Bennett, Stan Szczech, father of the sisters; Ald. Donna O'Connell (5th), Ruby, the Palos Hills mascot, and Karolina Szczech. (Photos by Joe Boyle)

A Symphony of Dreams: Sisters open music school in Palos Hills

Two sisters are aiming to bring the power of music to the southwest suburbs. Kasia Szczech-Dlugosz and her younger sister, Karolina Szczech, opened the Magical Keys Institute of Music at 7840 W. 103rd St., Palos Hills, about three weeks ago. They celebrated with a grand opening on Thursday, Sept. 26, to greet the community and…

Palos School District 118 staffers celebrate Palos East Elementary being named a Blue Ribbon School. (Supplied photo)

Palos East Elementary named National Blue Ribbon School 

Palos East Elementary School in Palos Consolidated School District 118 has been named a National Blue Ribbon School award winner by the U.S. Department of Education. U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, made the announcement on September 23 that Palos East Elementary has been named a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School. Schools are nominated by…

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau is seeking a third term. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)

Pekau formally announces re-election bid and names slate

Even though he announced his intentions of running for another term in 2023, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau made a formal announcement on Sept. 30. He also announced his slate of trustees and clerk for the April 1 election at a dinner following his golf outing for veterans at Silver Lake Country Club. Current trustees…

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Palos Heights approves façade grant for Golden Shoes

Palos Heights aldermen were busy last month approving payments for road projects and demolition as well as a façade improvement. On September 17, council members approved a $206,939 payment to Simpson Construction for demolition needed for the pool improvement project. Additionally, a request was approved to purchase required Illinois Department of Public Health double doors…

Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church is proudly celebrating 115 years as a parish and 50 years residing in the Palos Hills community. (Supplied photos)

Honoring Faith and Tradition: Saints Constantine & Helen Church Celebrates 115 Years

A spiritual and social center to meet, practice, and preserve the Orthodox religion and Greek culture, Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church is proudly celebrating 115 years as a parish and 50 years in the Palos Hills community. “When a community of believers comes together in faith and the love of Christ, then He…

Morgan Lietz, 17, of Crestwood, and her father, Dan at the Community High School District 218 September board meeting where Morgan was recogonized for her efforts promoting the importance of organ donation.

A Legacy of Compassion: How One Family’s Fight for Organ Donation Continues After Tragedy

Vikki Tulcus devoted her life to helping others as an advocate for organ donation, touching countless lives.  As fate would have it, Tulcus became someone in desperate need of a donor.  Her story is one of compassion, dedication and tragedy.  Diagnosed with Wegener’s Syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease, Tulcus faced her own need for an…