Palos Heights Mayor Bob Straz thanks residents from his community for getting through the toughest times of the pandemic at Tuesday’s meeting. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)
Return to normalcy, war and gas prices draw Palos Heights council’s interest
By Jeff Vorva
The Palos Heights City Council had plenty to do Tuesday night when it came to decisions and votes on city matters.
But it also took some time out to talk about world concerns.
On the day masks became optional indoors in Illinois – signifying a possible return to normal – the Russian/Ukraine war and high gas prices were discussed.
Mayor Bob Straz thanked the residents of Palos Heights for enduring the pandemic, which started in March 2020.
“It was hard for many people,” the mayor said. “It was hard on the residents and the shop owners, and I thank them for getting through this.
“I also want to take time to thank our employees during this time when we struggled and, in some cases, we were able to give services that people in our town have grown to enjoy.”
On the war, Straz encourages residents to donate to two Ukrainian churches nearby – Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Nativity BVM Ukrainian Catholic Church in Palos Park.
“They are looking for soft goods, whether it be bandages or diapers or wipes or things like that,” he said. “They will send it all to Ukraine.”
The war is also causing gas prices to skyrocket and that concerns the council, which would like to see state officials get the word out to national decision makers.
“It’s getting out of hand,” Alderman Michael McGrogan said. “Maybe they are not getting the message in Washington, D.C., how critical this is and how it’s going to impact everybody who has a car or needs heating or any other type of power source. It’s ridiculous.”
McGrogan showed concern for younger people who are in college and wondered how they would afford to drive to school.
Alderman Jack Clifford suggested that the politicians in Washington consider rolling back tax rates to pre-1990 levels to help people out.
Gaming hearing is Monday
A public hearing and discussion on video gaming takes place at 7 p.m. Monday at the Orchard Room of the Palos Heights Recreation Center, 6601 W. 127th St.
Alderman Brent Lewandowski said there is consideration for allowing businesses with liquor licenses and the golf course the option for hosting video gaming with restrictions on advertising.
Since this has been a hotly contested issue in the past, council members want to take the temperature of the community at this meeting.
Local News
College Notebook | Marist grad Alex Knight slaying buckets for Lake Forest
Spread the loveBy 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…
Pro Sports Report | SeatGeek to host Major League Rugby championship; Hounds sniff out first win
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer SeatGeek Stadium, host of the expansion Chicago Hounds, will host this season’s Major League Rugby championship game. The game is scheduled to be played July 8 in Bridgeview. It will air nationally on FOX. “Moving the championship match to a predetermined venue has long been a goal of…
Area Sports Roundup | Nazareth grads Martinucci, Evans have unfinished business at NJCAA National Tourney
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer The Martinucci family carries a lot of weight in the Berwyn-Cicero area. Tony Martinucci has coached boys basketball at Morton High School for 24 years, racking up five regional titles and a trio of conference crowns during his tenure. His daughter, Jovanna, is hoping to do something even…
Call me Arab, not MENA
Spread the loveBy Ray Hanania No ethnic group in America suffers more than Arabs, even more so than African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans. Why do I say that? Because all of the groups I mentioned, with the exception of Arab Americans, are protected by American laws against discrimination and included in…
Bribery or lobbying? ComEd 4 jurors will decide
Spread the love, By Rich Miller ComEd has long been a source of political patronage. The company’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement with federal prosecutors even references how former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s “old-fashioned patronage system” obtained ComEd meter reader jobs for its precinct workers. Madigan’s wasn’t the only patronage network to do this. It was a…
‘He’s our brother’
Spread the love. Clearing, Garfield Ridge mourn Officer Vásquez Lasso By Tim Hadac Chicago Police Officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso didn’t live in Clearing or Garfield Ridge—he lived east of the airport, in West Lawn—but he and his family were essentially adopted by as many as 700 men, women and children here earlier this month.…
$15 million expansion for Stagg approved
Spread the loveFrom staff reports The Consolidated High School District 230 Board of Education last week approved a $15 million expansion at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills. The expansion will include much-needed classroom space, several science labs, offices and teacher workspace, as well as a rooftop environmental learning space. The project is…
Lake Katherine goes green again for St. Patrick’s Day
Spread the love By Kelly White One of Lake Katherine Nature Center & Botanical Gardens’ most popular features is its large waterfall, which tumbles over four separate falls, travels a distance of over 300 feet and descends approximately 30 feet before joining the lake itself on the east side. With Irish festivities in full swing…
Orland Township offers scholarships to high school seniors
Spread the loveLocal students graduating high school in 2023 and heading to college are encouraged to apply for an Orland Township Scholarship Foundation award. This program, launched in 1998, has since awarded over 340 scholarships to township students totaling more than $280,000. The Orland Township Scholarship Foundation award scholarships based on a combination of the…
Shepard breaks record for Special Olympics fund raising
Spread the loveMostly through the traditional Polar Plunge, this year Shepard High School broke its record for fund raising for Special Olympics. More students and staff — including nearly all administrators, band director Chris Pitlik, and choir director Roland Hatcher — participated than ever. This year also featured a new fundraising vehicle: A pie-in-the-face contest. …
Neighbors
Lawmakers advance measure to regulate ride-shares as ‘common carriers’
By NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers are considering a bill that would treat ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft as “common carriers,” opening them up to the same level of liability as other forms of public transportation. House Bill 2231 passed on the House floor this week with a 73-36…
Nuclear option: Illinois grapples with the future of nuclear power
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – A measure allowing the construction of new commercial nuclear power plants has bipartisan, bicameral support in the state legislature as the body considers its next steps in meeting carbon-free energy goals while maintaining grid reliability. Its advocates say the measure would open the door for the…
Wiretaps show Madigan, through McClain, forced ally out of legislature to protect himself
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – In fall 2018, longtime former State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, received a phone call from Mike McClain, who had spent decades lobbying for electric utility Commonwealth Edison after 10 years in the General Assembly. McClain was delivering a message from House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was…
House panel debates ranked choice voting
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers are debating whether the state should join a growing list of jurisdictions in the United States that allow voters to pick more than one candidate for an office, ranking them in order of preference rather than choosing just one. Ranked choice voting, or as…
Madigan looms large in trial of ex-ComEd lobbyists, exec
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan isn’t set to go on trial for racketeering and corruption charges until next summer, but his decades of power in Illinois government and politics loomed large Wednesday as opening arguments got underway in a related case. Madigan’s name was uttered…
Transit agencies look to the state to help make up projected $730 million budget gap
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – Officials with the state’s largest transit agencies met with lawmakers on Tuesday to sound the alarm for what Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Leanne Redden called a “looming operational crisis.” “By 2026, the region will face an annual budget deficit of nearly $730 million per year,”…
Pritzker: Tax cuts on the table if state revenues continue to exceed expectations
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – With two months to go before the legislature adjourns and current-year revenues continuing to smash expectations, Gov. JB Pritzker said he and legislative leaders are considering tax cuts. His comments came one week after the legislature’s nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, increased…
Pritzker touts higher education plan, joins call for pharmacies to state abortion pill plans
By NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – On his latest marketing tour to sell his state budget plan, Gov. JB Pritzker visited a community college in Normal Tuesday to highlight his proposed investments in higher education. “With an additional $100 million directed to the (Monetary Award Program) grant program, a student can pair…
Justices consider constitutionality of SAFE-T Act’s pretrial detention provisions
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The state’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday in a case that could drastically alter the legal landscape for criminal defendants who are incarcerated as they await trial. It’s the latest development in the ongoing legal challenge to the pretrial detention provisions of the SAFE-T Act criminal…
Moody’s gives Illinois another credit upgrade
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Moody’s Investors Service announced Tuesday that it has upgraded Illinois’ bond rating to A3, up from Baa1, marking the eighth credit upgrade the state has received in less than two years. Moody’s is now the second major rating agency to put Illinois in the ‘A’ category…