Local News
26 hurt in Bedford Park tent collapse
From staff reports More than two dozen people at an event in Bedford Park last week were injured when the tent they were meeting in collapsed. Bedford Park Police said they responded to assist the Bedford Park Fire Department at 10:44 a.m. on Thursday, September 14, in the 5600 block of West 73rd Street with…
Former McCook police chief pleads guilty to extortion
By Bob Bong Mario DePasquale, former police chief of McCook pleaded guilty last week to conspiring with the village’s former mayor to extort two businessmen out of tens of thousands of dollars. DePasquale, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion during a brief hearing before U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo. Bucklo…
AERO opens new facility in Burbank
By Bob Bong When Queen of Peace High School in Burbank announced it was closing in 2018, the good folks at AERO special education co-op saw a golden opportunity. They purchased the school’s 13-acre site at 7659 S. Linder Ave. in August 2019 for $3.2 million. The plan was to retrofit the high school for…
St. Gianna Fest (formerly Queen of Martyrs Fest) kicks off fall activities
By Joe Boyle Fall begins this week but there is no shortage of activities occurring this month and next in Evergreen Park. Mayor Kelly Burke reminded residents during the Evergreen Park Village Board meeting Monday night that the St. Gianna Fest (formerly Queen of Martyrs Fest) Family Carnival will take place Friday, Sept. 22, through Sunday,…
Oak Lawn village manager Tom Phelan receives pay raise
By Joe Boyle Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer is pleased with the overall contributions of Village Manager Tom Phelan, who will receive a merit-based pay increase. Phelan will see a 5 percent increase in pay after village trustees approved a resolution as part of the consent agenda during the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting on…
Peaks Park improvements underway in Worth
The Peaks Park improvements are underway in Worth. Work began this month on Peaks Park, which was awarded an Open Space and Land Acquisition Development grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The improvements will include the installation of sand volleyball courts, shelter, half-court basketball court and a walking path around the perimeter of…
Orland Park: Veteran and Pekau spar for a second time
By Jeff Vorva Round two. For the second time in three meetings, Orland Park’s Diana Howard, a veteran, stopped by Village Hall to get some things off her chest during her allotted three-minute public comment session. Howard visited the Aug. 21 meeting and accused Mayor Keith Pekau, also a vet, of yelling and swearing at…
Palos Heights: Classic Car Show celebrates but needs more volunteers
By Jeff Vorva When it comes to the Palos Heights Classic Car Show, there is plenty to celebrate and also plenty to worry about. The 20th running of the event took place in July and had a record 682 cars and the crowd was estimated at 6,000-8,000. Bob Starzyk, the organizer for all 20 events,…
Orland Township celebrates pets at Pet-Palooza
By Kelly White Orland Township knows how to celebrate its pets. The township hosted its 11th annual Pet-Palooza on Saturday, September 16, on the Orland Township grounds, 14807 S. Ravinia Ave., Orland Park. The free event was sponsored by Supervisor Paul O’Grady and the township’s board of trustees. “As a pet owner myself, I understand…
Worth withdraws from Southwest Central Dispatch
By Joe Boyle The Village of Worth has officially withdrawn from the Southwest Central Dispatch system. An ordinance was approved to drop Southwest Central Dispatch during the Worth Village Board meeting Tuesday night. Another ordinance was approved to withdraw from the Southwest Central 911 system. The village had previously entered into an agreement with Southwest…
Batting cleanup, Ryan Aderman
. By Tim Hadac Editor Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound . Baseball is in Ryan Aderman’s blood. Especially Little League ball. He even talked baseball with me last week, on his 33rd birthday. The Garfield Ridge native (St. Dan’s and later St. Laurence) was just a little boy when he donned his first baseball uniform—a Clear-Ridge…
Palos Park celebrates fall with annual festival
By Kelly White Palos Park is ready to celebrate the changing leaves, chillier weather and start of autumn. The village welcomed the season in just a little early with its annual Autumn in the Park festival on Friday, September 15, and Saturday, September 16, on the Village Green at 8901 W. 123rd Street. “This is…
‘We want to know why’
. Frustration mounting over Hancock principal’s ouster By Tim Hadac Frustration over the apparent ouster of Hancock College Prep High School Principal Vanessa Puentes appeared to grow this week, in the wake of a marathon Local School Council meeting that failed to yield answers many teachers, parents, students an Clearing community members sought. “We want…
Bursting with color and pride
Select dancers from Ballet Folklórico Estrella del Mar recently had the honor to perform with The Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago on the Jay Pritzker Pavilion stage. They, in turn, joined the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance and Cuerdas Clásicas at the event Somos Un Solo Pueblo, México y Puerto Rico. Showing a burst of…
Lyons Mustangs fundraiser is Saturday
By Steve Metsch The Lyons Mustangs Athletic Club is hosting its third annual September to Remember from 2 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Live music will be provided by Da Good Times Band, starting at 3:30 p.m., said Mark Anderson, a lifetime member of the Mustangs. The Mustangs’ clubhouse is at 4047 Leland Avenue in Lyons.…
Area sports report: Coyne Schofield signs three-year pro deal
By Jeff Vorva The new Professional Women’s Hockey League is forming, and Palos Heights native and Sandburg graduate Kendall Coyne Schofield will be a part of its historic first season. Schofield was one of the first three players to sign for the Minnesota franchise, a trio that also features fellow U.S. Olympians Kelly Pannek and…
Red Stars return to SeatGeek but long-term future a question mark
By Jeff Vorva After a long absence, the Chicago Red Stars will finally be playing a game at SeatGeek Stadium again. The Red Stars host Angel City at 5 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Bridgeview facility for the first time since Aug. 5. International breaks and other scheduling quirks have kept the team away from…
Antonio Clay-Jones carries Evergreen Park past Reavis
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent No deficit in sports is too great to overcome unless the double zeros on the clock are reached. Unfortunately for Reavis High School, that was the situation in their Week 3 matchup with Evergreen Park High School. Despite every Reavis Rams (1-2) effort to overcome their deficit, the Evergreen Park Mustangs…
Marist adds 5 athletes, wrestling team to sports Hall of Fame
By Jeff Vorva The Marist Athletics Hall of Fame is pretty crowded, with 111 individuals or teams recognized. But there is always room for more. Five more individuals and one team were honored Sept. 1 at halftime of the Brother Rice-Marist football game, won by the RedHawks in thrilling fashion, 30-24. Peter Bilecki, who graduated…
Turkish House offers imported and handmade items
By Joe Boyle A new business has opened in Palos Hills that should attract coffee lovers everywhere. The official grand opening for the Turkish House, 10703 S. Roberts Road, took place August 5 as the owners and employees welcomed local dignitaries and customers. Balloons were up throughout the store and signs were posted outside indicating that the…
Illinois News
As state Supreme Court weighs another BIPA lawsuit, lawmakers mull child data privacy framework
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] In Springfield on Thursday, the medical industry went to court. The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a pair of class action suits brought by two suburban nurses, Lucille Mosby and Yana Mazya, who allege their employers violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, a landmark 2008…
State’s high court opens new interactive learning center
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – In 1946, the Illinois Supreme Court heard a case that would eventually become a landmark in American legal history. The public school district in Champaign, like many other districts in Illinois at the time, allowed a group of local religious leaders to use their schools to…
Biden administration responds to calls from Pritzker, other leaders, for help in migrant crisis
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Department of Homeland Security will speed up the processing of work authorizations for asylum seekers and extend Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelan migrants, actions that could help thousands of migrants who have arrived in Illinois in recent months. Those moves were announced by the Biden…
Former Illinois State Police trooper who pleaded guilty in relation to deadly crash postpones hearing
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Matt Mitchell, the former Illinois State Police trooper who caused a high-speed, distracted-driving crash that killed sisters Kelli and Jessica Uhl, has asked to delay his Sept. 20 hearing for the reinstatement of his driver’s license. Henry Haupt, a spokesperson for Illinois Secretary of State Alex Giannoulias, said…
As SAFE-T Act goes live, murder suspects previously eligible to post bond are held in jail
By BETH HUNDSDORFER & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] In courtrooms around the state early this week, judges conducted the first hearings under a new system that determines whether a defendant will be jailed while awaiting trial based on dangerousness and risk of fleeing prosecution, rather than their ability to post bail. The abolition…
New State Police rules for assault weapons permits will take effect Oct. 1
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Illinoisans who own weapons that can no longer be purchased or sold in the state under its new assault weapons ban will soon be able to register those weapons so they can legally keep them. The law, officially known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, bans…
Ahead of cash bail’s end, state’s replacement pretrial justice system takes shape
By JERRY NOWICKI & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Beginning Monday, state courts in Illinois will be prohibited from jailing individuals who are accused – but not convicted – of crimes simply because they cannot afford to post bail while they await trial. Monetary bond will be abolished in favor of a system that…
Disparately resourced public defenders prepare for the end of cash bail in Illinois
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Illinois on Monday will become the first state to fully abolish cash bail through an act of the legislature — a major criminal justice overhaul spurred by the advocacy of a progressive faction of the Democratic Party that’s grown increasingly powerful in recent years. The reform goes into…
Illinois House Speaker’s staff could test limits of Workers’ Rights Amendment
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Efforts to form a union by staff in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office could provide an early and unexpected test of the new Workers’ Rights Amendment to the Illinois Constitution. Brady Burden, a staffer in the speaker’s office who is part of the organizing committee…
‘Thunderdomes of controversy and strife:’ Giannoulias testifies before U.S. Senate committee
By JENNIFER FULLER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C. this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans. LISTEN TO THIS STORY: Capitol News Illinois · IL Secretary of State testifies before U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee…
