Local News
By Jeff Vorva The Stagg High School expansion project has a heftier price tag than originally thought. Consolidated High School District 230 officials were bracing for the project to cost roughly $12.5 million. At the Feb. 23 board meeting at Andrew High School, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services John Lavelle told the board that now…
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The Moraine Valley Community College Board of Trustees has selected two district residents to fill vacancies left by board members who resigned last month. Jaclyn O’Day, of Palos Park, was sworn in on Tuesday, Jan. 24, and Tiffany Robinson, of Robbins, was sworn in on Tuesday, Jan. 31. O’Day has over 15 years of experience…
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From staff reports Evergreen Park Community High School has hired Matthew Dugan as its next principal. Dugan’s appointment was made official during the January 24 meeting of the Evergreen Park Community High School Board of Education. Dugan will become principal on July 1, upon the retirement of current Principal Bill Sanderson. “I am thrilled and…
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By Jeff Vorva The pandemic may have helped to lower test scores in math and language areas throughout the nation, but Consolidated High School District 230 scores remained level. Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services Katie McMillan reported to the board on Oct. 27 that a national report card had the district scores close to 2019…
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By Kelly White Highlighting its love of the arts is Ridgeland School District 122. The district proudly showcased its new Fine Arts Center during ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 11, at 6500 W. 95th St. in Oak Lawn. “The layout of the Fine Arts Center has an aesthetic that promotes teamwork and invites students to…
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By Bob Bong Oak Lawn High School District 229 board members opted for a familiar face to replace ousted school board member Rob Cruz. Former board member Safaa Zarzour, 58, was named last week to fill Cruz’s term. Cruz was removed from the board by a 6-1 vote at a special board meeting on January…
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By Jeff Vorva In the wake of a judge’s decision, District 230 has gone yellow. The district, which serves Stagg, Sandburg and Andrew high schools, on Monday switched its COVID-19 status from orange to yellow. Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow ruled in favor of parents who took 145 Illinois school districts to court and that…
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By Jeff Vorva Stagg and Sandburg students, parents and teachers are awaiting the decision of a Sangamon County judge to find out if there is any change in the mask mandate. District 230 was one of 145 districts in the state taken to court by parents who are against the mandate and believe that students…
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By Jeff Vorva Tommy John surgery and an auto accident helped derail Josh Barron’s dreams of becoming a major league baseball player. So, he embarked on a different career path, teaching and coaching, and that evolved into his becoming a school administrator. He has worked his way up to the top spot as he was…
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By Jeff Vorva District 230 Supt. Robert Nolting likened the Stagg Health Education department to the New England Patriots. For the fourth straight year, Stagg won the Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in Education from the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Staff members said Stagg was the first school in Illinois…
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Worth Park District asks voters to support parks
Worth Park District officials will ask residents on April 4 if they are willing to pay a little more to support facilities. The district will ask voters to approve a 0.2000 percent tax rate increase. If approved, residents would pay about an additional $5 per month for every $100,000 of equalized assessed value of their…
OLCHS, Richards Contest Play advance to state finals
Both Richards High School and Oak Lawn Community High School Contest Play productions advanced to state finals March 24 and March 25 at Glenwood High School in Chatham after earning the title of Sectional Champions. OLCHS’ Mariana Salazar, Mariam Chuli, Melanie Cabrera, Jet Peleaz, Matthew Perry, Shawn Perry, Vasili Patrianakos, and Kathryn Fragapane were all…
Yarbrough and O’Grady join elected officials to recruit Election Day workers
Facing a critical shortage of election poll workers, Cook County Clerk Karen A. Yarbrough on Tuesday joined Orland Township Supervisor Paul O’Grady and Maywood Library Board Director Erica Sanchez to ask suburban residents to heed the call, help their local community, and get paid to volunteer as poll workers for the upcoming April 4 Consolidated…
At Stagg, bald is beautiful for St. Baldrick’s Foundation
By Dermot Connolly Students and staff at Stagg and Sandburg high schools raised thousands of dollars for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation on St. Patrick’s Day, with many going all out and getting their heads shaved. Leah Ellis, a counselor at Stagg, has been coordinating the Palos Hills school’s participation in the annual fundraiser for the…
Centennial Park West band shell project ready to roll
By Jeff Vorva A project that has been 20 years in the making finally is good to go. The Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees voted Monday, March 20, to give a green light to the Centennial Park West project. The revamped park will have a permanent stage to host three major concerts a…
Casten still learning the lay of the land in the south suburbs
By Jeff Vorva Sean Casten is getting to know his new mayors. Casten, the Democratic Congressman of the revamped 6th District, has been spending a lot of time meeting 40 mayors in recent weeks after he was sworn into office in January. Casten beat out Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau in the November election, but…
Court’s in session for Palos Park mayoral candidates
By Jeff Vorva Yes, they are lawyers. And they know how to give a closing argument. Longtime Palos Park Commissioner Nicole Milovich-Walters and Ronette Leal McCarthy are a pair of lawyers seeking the job as mayor to take over for John Mahoney, also a lawyer, who is retiring and did not seek a fifth term. …
Palos Heights water and sewer rates going up due to expensive projects ahead
By Jeff Vorva Palos Heights Alderman Donald Bylut, who heads the city’s Water and Sewer Committee, has been looking into the future and doesn’t like what he sees. There is an aging infrastructure that is already handing the city some pretty steep bills and there are more hefty price tags ahead. “We have a 10-year…
Baseball | Chicago Christian kicks off Brandon Hickey era with win over Bremen
By Steve Millar Correspondent Brandon Hickey is optimistic about his first season as head coach of the Chicago Christian baseball team. The Knights struggled to an 11-18-1 record last year, when Hickey was an assistant. But he saw some things to be excited about. “We saw we had a lot of talent last year with…
College Notebook | Marist grad Alex Knight slaying buckets for Lake Forest
By Mike Walsh Correspondent Lake Forest College’s Alex Knight has been named to the All-Midwest Conference First Team in men’s basketball for the 2022-23 season. Knight, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard who prepped at Marist, was the league’s leading scorer this season, averaging 18.1 points per conference game. He finished third in the MWC in field…
Illinois News
Indoor vaping, cat declawing could be banned under recently passed bills
By JERRY NOWICKI & PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate passed 68 bills this week while the House had advanced 284 as of Friday morning with hundreds more to go before their adjournment for the week. It was the first in a two-week stretch of legislative deadlines for bills to…
Lawmakers approve kindergarten reform, plan to address childhood literacy
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – Lawmakers are looking at several ways to improve learning outcomes and access for young students in Illinois. On Thursday, members of the House of Representatives approved a proposal that would require school boards in Illinois to provide full-day kindergarten starting with the 2027-2028 school year. The…
Former Madigan political director details push by speaker’s office for key ComEd bill
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – As was the case with many big legislative efforts in Springfield, former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s staff was deeply involved in negotiations over what would become the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2015 and 2016. FEJA had many backers in environmental circles and organized labor…
House narrowly passes bill allowing all-gender bathrooms
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House narrowly passed a bill Thursday that would allow businesses, universities and other building owners to designate multi-occupancy all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so. The bill passed on a vote of 60-40, the bare minimum number of “yes” votes needed for passage…
House narrowly passes bill allowing all-gender bathrooms
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House narrowly passed a bill Thursday that would allow businesses, universities and other building owners to designate multi-occupancy all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so. The bill passed on a vote of 60-40, the bare minimum number of “yes” votes needed for passage…
House narrowly passes bill allowing all-gender bathrooms
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House narrowly passed a bill Thursday that would allow businesses, universities and other building owners to designate multi-occupancy all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so. The bill passed on a vote of 60-40, the bare minimum number of “yes” votes needed for passage…
Advocates push for tax credit aimed at increasing affordable housing
By NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers are considering bills that would create a new tax credit for affordable housing, referred to as the “Build Illinois Homes Tax Credit.” The legislation, contained in the identical House Bill 2044 and Senate Bill 1737, would mirror a federal program administered by the Illinois Housing…
Utility’s indicted CEO considered Madigan when hiring, witness says
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – In April 2017, a top staffer in then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office was looking to leave his job after a combined nearly 18 years working for the speaker’s office and as his political director. Will Cousineau applied for a high-level job with electric utility Commonwealth…
House passes bill prohibiting book bans
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House passed a bill Wednesday that would prohibit libraries from banning books or other material because of partisan or doctrinal pressure, prompting strong opposition from Republicans who called it an assault on local control. House Bill 2789 is an initiative of Democratic Secretary of…
ComEd’s former top lawyer paints Madigan confidant as ‘double agent’ in testimony
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – Being the longtime friend of longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan granted Mike McClain certain privileges not afforded to other lobbyists in Springfield, jurors heard Tuesday in a federal corruption trial that, in part, centers around the relationship between the two. McClain “had pretty free access”…