Local News
By Joe Boyle Worth officials hope that the third time is the charm with a proposal for new management of the Water’s Edge golf course. Two representatives from Orion, which is based out of Kansas City, Mo., attended the Worth Village Board meeting on Tuesday night to respond to questions and provide a vision for running the…
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By Jeff Vorva In what could be one of the most interesting and heated congressional races in the state in 2022, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau announced Monday he is planning on running in the new 6th Congressional District. He will be running as a Republican and, so far, will battle energy consultant Niki Conforti in the…
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By Jeff Vorva Brand new fields and a retired mayor were the stars of the show on Oct. 14. Evergreen Park High School had a grand opening of its new turfed baseball and softball fields. The fields were used in late spring, but this event was to celebrate the fields and show them off to…
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By Joe Boyle The recent wave of restaurant grand openings has Oak Lawn officials excited about the future of the village. Trustee James Pembroke (4th) said the recent opening of Shake Shack has received an immediate positive response. “Shake Shack has had an impressive opening,” Pembroke said during the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting on Tuesday night.…
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By Joe Boyle Kelly Zabinski wanted to make it clear that she was not your typical accountant. “I don’t come in with pencils or pens in my top pocket,” Zabinski told members of the Worth Village Board Tuesday night. “I’m not like most accountants. I have a sense of humor. If you have any questions, I would…
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By Joe Boyle The first step to allow the operation of cannabis dispensaries in Evergreen Park was given the green light this week. The Evergreen Park Village Board approved Monday night an amendment to the zoning code to provide for specific locations and regulations of adult use cannabis and medical use cannabis facilities. An ordinance…
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By Jeff Vorva After the April 6 election, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau had a village board made up of six trustees that he had endorsed. Unanimous passage of items and proclamations were expected to be the norm. At the June 7 meeting, there was an interesting twist when the board voted 6-1 on an…
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Online services are also available for property owners From staff reports The Cook County Assessor’s Office has announced the resumption of in-person visits by the public to its downtown and branch offices, in accordance with Cook County’s reopening plan on Monday, June 14. All in-person visits are by appointment only and will require a mask, physical…
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From staff reports Property owners for the first time can find out what portion of local government debt falls on them, thanks to a new, groundbreaking online tool created by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. “Most reports identify government debt as an amount per person,” Pappas said. “My latest study takes a more targeted approach…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
Richards principal walks 24 hours for a cause
Raises $20,000 for student scholarships By Kelly White Most people spend New Year’s Day relaxing. Richards High School Principal Dr. Mike Jacobson spent it on the treadmill. For the second year in a row, Jacobson inspired generous donations of more than $20,000 on New Year’s Day by walking 24 hours on a treadmill without stopping.…
Students help design new District 230 logo
By Jeff Vorva District 230 has a new logo. Students Tina Alkayed (Sandburg), Nycholas Golla (Stagg) and Trinity Walker (Andrew) teamed with Director of Communications Carla Erdey and Five Star Design branding specialist Laura Gilarski to work on the logo, which was unveiled at the Dec. 16 board meeting at Sandburg. “It’s a concept of…
New county mandate to combat COVID surge
Restaurants, fitness centers, venues will be required to check vaccination status on Jan. 3 By Bob Bong The latest surge of COVID cases has people flocking to testing centers to see if they have the virus and those that definitely have it threatening to overwhelm local hospitals. The Illinois Department of Public Health last Friday…
Minimum wage hike among new state laws taking effect Jan. 1
By Bob Bong and Peter Hancock Minimum wage workers in Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets. Those are just some of the more than 300 new laws that take effect in the new year. The…
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd gives parishioners $100 to share
By Kelly White A local church is helping others during the financially difficult holiday season. Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 7800 W. McCarthy Road, Palos Heights, gave a $100 bill to every attendee at worship services and Sunday school on Sunday, December 12. The money came along with a letter asking that the money…
Straz back to relaying COVID concerns
By Jeff Vorva It’s been a while since Palos Heights Mayor Bob Straz used some of his reports at council meetings to warn about COVID-19. But a new variant is causing new concerns and on Jan. 3, Cook County will require vaccine proof for several indoor activities. The mayor read some of the mandates. “You…
Illinois News
New law ends parental notification in Illinois
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law on Friday that ends parental notification, a requirement that doctors notify the parents of a minor seeking an abortion. “With reproductive rights under attack across the nation, Illinois is once again establishing itself as a leader in ensuring access to health care…
Illinois jobless rate falls to 5.7%
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The unemployment rate in Illinois fell three-tenths of a point in November to 5.7 percent as employers added 19,500 payroll jobs to the economy. Preliminary data released by the Department of Employment Security and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the biggest job gains during…
Illinois jobless rate falls to 5.7%
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The unemployment rate in Illinois fell three-tenths of a point in November to 5.7 percent as employers added 19,500 payroll jobs to the economy. Preliminary data released by the Department of Employment Security and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the biggest job gains during…
Potential buyer identified for James R. Thompson Center
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Plans are moving ahead for the sale of the James R. Thompson Center at 100 West Randolph Street in Chicago. Gov. JB Pritzker announced on Wednesday plans to enter into exclusive negotiations with JRTC Holdings, LLC, for the purposes of acquiring and redeveloping the Thompson Center…
CAPITOL RECAP: JRTC Holdings will enter negotiations with state for $70 million purchase of Thompson Center
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS CHICAGO – Plans are moving ahead for the sale of the James R. Thompson Center at 100 West Randolph Street in Chicago. Gov. JB Pritzker announced on Wednesday, Dec. 15, plans to enter into exclusive negotiations with JRTC Holdings, LLC, for the purposes of acquiring and redeveloping the Thompson Center that…
Lawmakers push for nursing home reforms this spring
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Several Illinois lawmakers said this week they are determined to pass a bill in the spring that would overhaul the way nursing homes are paid through the state’s Medicaid program to address critical staffing shortages, but the state’s largest nursing home industry group is still pushing…
New law provides for licensure path of certified professional midwives in Illinois
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Colleen Marotta has delivered hundreds of babies. Marotta, 43, of Arlington Heights, became a nurse in 2001. Ten years later, she became a certified professional midwife, or CPM. When Marotta was a CPM the law barred her from delivering babies in Illinois, forcing her to drive to Wisconsin…
Edwardsville chief on Amazon warehouse: ‘It was definitely one of our worst days’
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] In the wake of Friday night storms that left six dead at an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, a disaster proclamation was issued Monday for 28 counties in southern and central Illinois. The proclamation will bring personnel or equipment from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to assist with storm…
Reimagine Public Safety Act to drive violence intervention funds to state’s most dangerous areas
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – A state program aiming to take a “comprehensive approach to ending Illinois’ firearm violence epidemic” will be expanded under a law signed Friday by Gov. JB Pritzker. The Reimagine Public Safety Act became law in June, but the expansion signed Friday clarifies guidelines in the original…
CAPITOL RECAP: Oral arguments begin in state redistricting challenges
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS CHICAGO – Oral arguments began Tuesday, Dec. 7, in three lawsuits challenging the new legislative district maps that lawmakers passed earlier this year with three federal judges asking detailed questions of all the parties in the cases. Each case centers on the question of whether Democrats in the General Assembly violated…
