Local News
By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated especially by people of Mexican heritage. It is a joyful celebration, rather than mourning. Family and friends pay respects to those who have died. Traditions include building altars…
Read More By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Thank you to “Miami Joe” for giving me a phone call this past week. Joe was a bartender at the old Miami Bowl. We enjoyed reminiscing about the good spots in the old neighborhood. One of them…
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By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Brother Rice quarterback Jack Lausch has put up some impressive running and passing numbers in both wins and losses this year. The Crusaders, who were ranked No. 1 in the state by the sportswriters in the Associated Press poll heading into Friday’s action, had a 49-46 setback to Class 8A No.…
Read More By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Ladies, let’s dust off our brooms. It is riding season! Yes, Halloween is just around the corner. If you ask my husband, he probably will tell you I am always the wicked witch! A Halloween pet parade…
Read More By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Happy October! There is still some gardening to be done. Yes, it may be chilly, but it is the perfect time to plant tulip bulbs. Special thanks go out to Daria, the awesome bartender at Guide’s Tap…
Read More By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 As you know, West Elsdon and Archer Heights are in my blood. I was born and raised in West Elsdon. Schooled as well, starting with St. Turibius and then on to Lourdes. I met the “love of…
Read More By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Our family spent Labor Day week in the north woods of Michigan. The Staneks have roots in a small town, Vulcan, near Iron Mountain. We also have our favorite watering hole, The Bunker, in Niagara, Wis. As…
Read More By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Happy Grandparents Day on Sept. 12 to all the grandmas and grandpas in the area. This week also brings the holiest of the Jewish holidays. Yom Kippur starts at sundown on Sept. 15. It is also known…
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By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 “This world is not one color or culture. Everybody has a story. To tell that story or see that story reflected through art is extremely valuable to the community. The arts belong to everyone and our work…
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By Steve Millar Correspondent J.T. Harris knew he had just made a huge play for Mount Carmel in the final minute of Friday night’s season-opener against St. Rita. The senior defensive back just didn’t know it was part of a game-winning play. Harris blocked a 22-yard field goal attempt by Mustangs kicker Conor…
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Comings & Goings
Check your smoke detector batteries
By Karen Sala Your correspondent in Gage Park (773) 471-1429 • [email protected] It’s October. Check the batteries in your smoke detectors. I woke up to the unpleasant chirping of one of my smoke alarms the other morning at about 4 a.m. Thankfully I had a 9-volt battery, so I was able to change it and go…
Día celebrations coming this month
By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated especially by people of Mexican heritage. It is a joyful celebration, rather than mourning. Family and friends pay respects to those who have died. Traditions include building altars…
Room to grow at new dollar store
By Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 I finally went to the new Dollar Tree at 8444 S. Pulaski. It is a very big store and parking lot. It has the usual fun and useful dollar store items. Everything is still $1. There are lots of empty shelves and room for…
Unique collection in need of a caring home
By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 As you may remember, shortly before the pandemic began, St. Rita of Cascia Parish invited Myra Kathryn Richardson to showcase some exhibits from her Mary Eve Thorsen Museum collection in the parish hall. Items from the Dick and…
A ‘businessman with a heart’
Colleagues pay tribute to Jim Vondrak By Joan Hadac In a business world frequently competitive to the point of being harsh and even cruel, James C. “Jim” Vondrak stood out as a businessman with a heart. The scion of a Southwest Side newspaper family, Mr. Vondrak owned and operated a chain of community newspapers led…
She bleeds blue
Officer Maureen O’Neill retires after 38 years By Tim Hadac If things appear a little unglued in the commander’s office at the Chicago Lawn (8th) District Police Station, it’s because Officer Maureen O’Neill recently retired after serving in the district for 38 years, 7 months and 1 day. “It’s fair to say that in some…
Purple for a purpose
Taking a momentary break from tying purple ribbons around trees and fenceposts at West Lawn Park last Saturday are CPD Officers Sarai Trevino, Maria DeLaTorre, Raymond Tracy and Jose Supulveda, and Shari Grassmuck and Nancy Arroyo. The group made the park go purple in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. DVAM has been a national…
Scouts march in Houby Parade
Members of Boy Scout Troop 1441, sponsored by St. Mary Star of the Sea Holy Name Society, participated in the annual Houby (Czech word for mushroom) Parade, held in suburban Cicero earlier this month. Scouts enjoyed food vendors, live music, games and a carnival. Any boys ages 11 to 17 from any school interested…
Rush wants lower phone rates for inmates
From staff reports U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-1st) this month continued his push for his Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act (H.R. 2489) in the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. The bill would ban the commissions that prisons and other confinement facilities receive from communications providers, which are the primary cause…
Scouts set pancake breakfast fundraiser
From staff reports Boy Scout Troop 465 and Cub Scout Pack 3465 will host a pancake breakfast fundraiser from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7 at Five Holy Martyrs Church’s Abramowicz Hall, 4327 S. Richmond. Meals will consist of pancakes, sausages, eggs, orange juice, milk, coffee and tea. Meals are priced at $8…
Illinois News
Illinois Supreme Court strikes down Cook County tax on guns
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Cook County tax on gun purchases is unconstitutional, but it left the door open for a more tailored tax that specifically goes toward mitigating gun violence and its effects. The Cook County gun tax, which took effect in…
Public speaks out on proposed congressional maps
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Members of the public got their first chance to speak directly to state lawmakers Wednesday about a proposed set of new congressional district maps, and most of those who did were critical of the plan. Democrats in the General Assembly released a proposed new map Friday…
Heavy workload expected next week as lawmakers cancel Thursday session
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The legislative action was light during the General Assembly’s first week of fall session, and lawmakers in both chambers left town a day early after leadership canceled the Thursday session. That means bigger items, such as a vote on congressional maps and potential changes to the…
Federal court throws out June legislative maps, declines to send issue to bipartisan commission
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – A three-judge federal court panel in Chicago ruled Tuesday that the legislative redistricting plan that Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law in June – before official 2020 U.S. Census numbers were available – was unconstitutional because the population variances among districts violated the “one-person, one-vote” doctrine.…
State ramping up vaccine booster campaign
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday urged eligible Illinoisans to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot and called on skilled nursing facilities to make booster shots available to patients and staff by Thanksgiving. Currently anyone who received the Pfizer vaccine and is over 65 years of age…
State worker vaccine deadline extended to Oct. 26 for first dose
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker announced Monday that his administration has reached agreement with multiple trade unions requiring certain state workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but it is extending the deadline for workers to get their first shot to Oct. 26 while negotiations continue with the state’s…
Lawmakers returning to Springfield to consider congressional remap, more
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ first congressional remap draft is out but changes could be in store as lawmakers return to Springfield Tuesday for the first of their final two weeks of scheduled session in 2022. It’s customary for lawmakers to meet each fall to consider overriding or accepting any…
CAPITOL RECAP: New congressional maps unveiled ahead of veto session
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly released a proposed set of new congressional district maps Friday, just days before lawmakers return to the Statehouse for the start of their fall veto session, which begins Oct. 19. All states redraw their congressional districts following each decennial census. The proposed new…
UPDATED: New congressional maps unveiled ahead of fall veto session
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly released a proposed set of new congressional district maps Friday, just days before lawmakers return to the Statehouse for the start of their fall veto session, which begins Oct. 19. All states redraw their congressional districts following each decennial census.…
Tax summaries show Pritzkers made $5 million last year – not including family trusts
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker’s campaign released summary documents of his 2020 tax returns Friday, which showed the first family reporting $5.14 million in adjusted gross income, all from taxable interest and dividends. The campaign released seven pages summarizing the governor’s and first lady MK Pritzker’s returns, which…
