Local News
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…
Titanic memories haunt Worth Library
By Kelly White This year marks the 112th anniversary of the Titanic’s fateful ship crossing. Bringing the ship back to life was the Worth Public Library on April 15 with a program called, The Haunted Titanic, with local historian Bob Trzeciak, who walked patrons through the history, the lasting impact, and why it has remained…
Spring cleanup day in Bridgeview set for Saturday
By Steve Metsch Any Bridgeview resident with clutter to clear will be busy Friday night, May 10. That’s when they will be putting all kinds of things on the parkway as the village prepares for its annual spring cleanup day set for Saturday, May 11. All items must be at the curb by 6 a.m.…
Family of man killed in McCook struggling with his absence
By Steve Metsch On what would have been his 37th birthday, the family of Morales Ricardo Lopez gathered at his grave in Evergreen Park Cemetery. Lopez, of Blue Island, was gunned down in McCook early Feb. 17, leaving behind a widow and three children. His family, other relatives and friends gathered at his grave on…
Southwest Symphony presents ‘American Song Book’
From staff reports Southwest Symphony Orchestra will perform “The American Song Book” this weekend at Trinity College in Palos Heights. The performance will feature Grammy nominated Helen Welch under the direction of David Crane at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Trinity Christian College’s Ozinga Auditorium. Welch will perform some of America’s best loved classics. The evening…
Shoppers welcome back Evergreen Park Farmers Market
By Joe Boyle Rain was forecast for the morning of May 2, but nothing could dampen the spirits of customers who dropped by the Evergreen Park Farmers Market. The large crowd that attended were instead greeted with mostly sunny skies. Beth Novotney, director of the Evergreen Park Office of Citizen Services that oversees the market,…
Evergreen Park recognizes police for valor
By Joe Boyle The Evergreen Park police have been cited for valor after several key arrests that occurred the past couple of months. Police Chief Michael Saunders requested commendations for the officers during the Evergreen Park Village Board meeting Monday night. Mayor Kelly Burke and the board applauded the efforts of the force. Police were…
Hickory Hills police bid adieu and say welcome
By Nuha Abdessalam The Hickory Hills Police Department bid a fond farewell to Lieutenant Glenn Tienstra and welcomed new Officer Daniel Balzhiser. On a memorable Thursday evening, April 25, city hall was filled with the warmth of community family, friends, officers, and council members, all gathered to joyfully celebrate Officer Balzhiser and respectfully commemorate Lieutenant…
Mother Mac unveils new lights and scoreboard
By Kelly White Across the nation, women’s sports are on the rise in terms of viewership, enthusiasm, sponsorship and excitement. Mother McAuley is no stranger to the impact that women’s athletics has on the development of an individual, strengthening of a team and key skills and attributes developed along the way. South Side community partners…
Cicadas in the park in Palos Park
By Kelly White Cicadas are coming and the Village of Palos Park is ready. The village hosted its 31st annual Arbor Day Celebration on Sunday, May 5, themed, “The Wonder of Trees” at The Center in the Lodge, 12700 Southwest Highway, with featured speaker, Tricia Bethke of The Morton Arboretum who presented, “Cicadas in the…
Palos Heights SD 128 sees enrollment boom
By Kelly White Over the past few years, Palos Heights School District 128 has experienced an explosive growth among incoming students. There has been a significant increase particularly at Indian Hill Early Learning Center, 12800 S. Austin Ave. Chippewa Elementary School, 12425 S. Austin Ave; Navajo Elementary School, 12401 S. Oak Park Ave; and Independence…
Illinois News
House gives OK to new state agency focused on early childhood programs
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House gave final passage Thursday to a bill establishing a new cabinet-level state agency whose mission will be to provide a kind of one-stop shop for services focusing on early childhood development and education. By the time it’s fully operational in 2026, the new…
As vacated Centralia funeral home prepares for new tenant, owner makes a startling find
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com In the basement of a Centralia funeral home in a dark hallway off the embalming room, tucked inside a nook behind two steel plates and a door, a visitor found three disembodied, neatly wrapped human legs, two of them marked with names and dated to the 1960s. The…
Illinois Supreme Court considers expectation of privacy in hospitals
By DILPREET RAJU & ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – While Cortez Turner was in a hospital room being treated for a gunshot wound to his leg in 2016, police took his clothes. Now, the Illinois Supreme Court is weighing whether that action violated Turner’s expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. The…
Capitol Briefs: House OKs program for student teacher stipends – but not the funding for it
By PETER HANCOCK & ANDREW CAMPBELL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House approved a bill Tuesday to allow student teachers to receive stipends while earning their education degree, even though the money needed to fund those stipends is unlikely to be included in next year’s budget. House Bill 4652, by Rep. Barbara…
As Medicaid redeterminations restart, about 73% of state’s recipients remain enrolled
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois draju@capitolnewsillinois.com About 73 percent of Illinois’ Medicaid recipients remain on the rolls after the first redetermination cycle following the COVID-19 pandemic, while approximately 660,000 recipients have been disenrolled. Speaking at a news conference in Chicago, Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated the fact that 2.6 million Illinoisans remained on the rolls…
Capitol Briefs: Republicans sue over law banning legislative candidate slating
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com One week after Gov. JB Pritzker signed an elections-related measure that his fellow Democrats quickly muscled through the General Assembly, Republicans sued over the new law, alleging the majority party is blocking ballot access to would-be legislative candidates. The law , passed early this month as the legislature’s…
For Many Illinoisans in Flood-Prone Areas, Buyouts Are the Only Way Out
By Laura Stewart, Illinois Answers Project April 23, 2024 DIETERICH, Ill. – Every day, Berdeena Leturno checks her email for an update on when the state of Illinois will finally pay her $80,000. It’s been over two months since she signed the paperwork to sell her flood-damaged home as part of a buyout program, and…
Capitol Briefs: Senate advances elections bill, measure targeting ‘predatory’ lending
By PETER HANCOCK & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A bill that would put more controls on certain kinds of high-cost loans to small businesses cleared the Illinois Senate Thursday. Senate Bill 2234, known as the Small Business Financial Transparency Act, targets a relatively new kind of nontraditional lender in the credit…
Stateville may close as early as September under Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Stateville Correctional Center could close as early as September under a plan laid out by Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on Friday. Top officials with the Illinois Department of Corrections testified in front of a key panel of state lawmakers. The 12 members on the General Assembly’s…
Labor-backed bill banning ‘captive audience’ meetings awaits House action
By ALEX ABBEDUTO Capitol News Illinois abbeduto@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – With two weeks left before the General Assembly’s spring session is set to adjourn, negotiations continue on a labor union-backed initiative that would allow Illinoisans to skip religious and political work meetings without reprimand. Dubbed the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” Senate Bill 3649 advanced out…