Mary Stanek

Mary Stanek

Sweets are set for trick-or-treaters

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By Mary Stanek

Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon

3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 284-7394

The Halloween weekend is here. Hope Monday is a warm and beautiful day. The plan for our block is that we and neighbor Sam plan to sit on neighbor Claudia’s porch and all hand out candy. But don’t fret, each family will have its own candy to hand out so no child will be slighted. I myself am working on eight bags so far. I am sure there will be some Tecate for the adults.

MaryStanek

Mary Stanek

Some of our local markets and “pop-up” markets are selling marigold plants. I asked myself, “Why at the end of growing season?” Marigolds play a very important role in the Día de los Muertos celebrations. They are believed to guide the spirits of the deceased to their altars by using their vibrant colors and pungent scent.

Congratulations to Curie High School. It is the only U.S. school to win the “World’s Best School” designation in an international competition for improving students’ lives with its health team and arts curriculum. In addition to this honor a grant will be awarded.

I have written in the past about the mayor of Marquette Park, Kenny, who lived there for quite some time. We befriended him and I would bake every so often some jelly cookies for him. An update, he is doing really well living in a home by the Kankakee River. And what a surprise, recently he sent us a gift card. Thank you, Kenny.

Twenty-third Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares’ Get Behind the Vest pancake breakfast was a success with the help of several volunteers from around the city. The breakfast was held in support of the Chicago Police Department.

That said, I am writing of another fundraiser. Ed Sajdak, the president of the Peace Officers Memorial Foundation of Cook County, has asked me to mention their 20th anniversary celebration fundraiser being held at 115 Bourbon Street. The date is Friday, Nov. 11th from 7-11 p.m. Tickets at the door are $35 and include food and drink. All proceeds will go towards honoring fallen officers and building a memorial. Please visit POMFCC.org.

Happy Birthday to Sue Kermnitzer Pawlak. Sue – I miss seeing you on the Orange Line for our morning chats. Happiest of Birthdays to Elvira, whom I met at the St. Turibius Religious Education Program.

Both birthday wishes and thank you go out to my young neighbor, Arielle. She and her mom, Vanessa, and brother, Adam, came over with a birthday gift of fresh flowers and a gift card. We in turn tried to think of something original for Arielle and decided on a S’mores maker along with chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows. Hope she is enjoying it, I’m sure Vanessa is!

Local News

Sidney Lovitsch has been named women's basketball head coach at Saint Xavier, where she led the Cougars to a 16-12 record in 2023-2024 under the interim coach tag. File photo

College Sports | Sidney Lovitsch is officially women’s hoops coach at SXU

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Sidney Lovitsch was named interim women’s basketball coach at Saint Xavier shortly before the 2023-24 season opened and got a trial year to work with. The trial was successful, as the school announced the interim tag has been dropped and Lovitsch is officially the Cougars’ head coach. SXU finished…

Kendall Coyne Schofield is playing in her 10th Women's World Championship with the U.S. women's team. File photo

Area natives Kendall Coyne Schofield, Abbey Murphy representing at Women’s World Championship

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Local hockey legends Kendall Coyne Schofield and Abbey Murphy are back with the U.S. women’s hockey team at the 2024 Women’s World Championship. Schofield, a Palos Heights native and Sandburg graduate, is playing in the Worlds for the 10th time. Murphy, an Evergreen Park native and Mother McAuley graduate,…

Evergreen Park native Abbey Murphy is enjoying success at the collegiate and international levels as a member of the Minnesota and U.S.women's hockey teams. Photo courtesy of University of Minnesota Department of Athletics

Hockey gold-medalist Abbey Murphy among college athletes to strike NIL deal with White Sox

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Four college athletes who attended area high schools have been named CHISOX Athletes for 2024, an NIL initiative created by the Chicago White Sox. Notre Dame offensive lineman Pat Coogan (Marist), Minnesota hockey forward Abbey Murphy (Mother McAuley) and Illinois soccer player Yulexi Diaz (Solorio) are among the athletes…

Peggy Zabicki

Constructive activities for teens on 63rd Street

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Spread the love. By Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327 . As the weather gets warmer, we start looking forward to saving money by turning off the heat in our homes, putting away the winter boots, finding last year’s sandals and spending more time outside. We also…

Mary Stanek

Signs show planting season is approaching

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Spread the love. By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 517-7796 . It is officially April. That means sweet sweeping will be starting again. Be on the lookout for the No Parking signs to avoid a ticket. It is also garage sale time. Garage sale…

Reavis’ Alyssa Juarez dribbles the soccer ball down the field during a game against Stagg on March 28. Photo by Xavier Sanchez

Girls Soccer | Stagg, Reavis looking for more

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Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent The final match of March for both Reavis and Stagg ended in a 0-0 draw on March 28 in Burbank. The Rams (2-4-1 entering this week) are led by third-year head coach Konrad Dziedzic. This season’s team captains include seniors Alaina Hernandez and Olivia Smcyz. “The captains play a…

balls

Sports Bits | Aaliyah Flores named St. Laurence hoops MVP

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Spread the love• Shepard alum John Economos was named to the National Hellenistic Hall of Fame. Economos was a Regional News-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year in 1995. • Marist boys basketball coach Brian Hynes was named District 3 Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. • St. Laurence freshman Aaliyah Flores was…

Baseball in a mitt with a black bat low angle selective focus view on a baseball field

College Baseball | Saint Xavier and St. Francis combine for 68 hits, 11 HRs

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent In a showdown between two of the top teams in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, St. Francis (Illinois) won a strange and windy doubleheader over Saint Xavier, 21-4 and 30-14, on March 26 in Chicago. Yes, those were baseball scores. The teams combined for 68 hits and 11 home…

A rendering of the new Brother Rice baseball field. Construction is expected to take place this summer. Brother Rice photo

Brother Rice baseball field to get major upgrade

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Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Brother Rice is getting an upgrade to its baseball field. The project has been in the planning stages for years, but the Covid-19 pandemic and projects around the school have put it to the back burner. But the school announced last week that the project will commence this summer.…

Kathy Headley

Things are still sweet at 77th and Western

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Spread the love. By Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 . As I was eating the ears off a chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny the other day, my mind drifted to candies, and chocolate in particular, of the past. While it’s hard to find a good, old-fashioned…

Neighbors

Capitol Briefs: Pritzker appoints first-ever Prisoner Review Board director; Chicago advances migrant funding

Capitol Briefs: Pritzker appoints first-ever Prisoner Review Board director; Chicago advances migrant funding

By JERRY NOWICKI & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Weeks after two high-profile resignations at the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday appointed the first-ever executive director to help lead the beleaguered agency. To fill the newly created position, the governor tapped Jim Montgomery, who most recently served as director of…

INVESTIGATE MIDWEST: Farmers have clamored for the Right to Repair for years. It’s getting little traction in John Deere’s home state

INVESTIGATE MIDWEST: Farmers have clamored for the Right to Repair for years. It’s getting little traction in John Deere’s home state

By Jennifer Bamberg, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest Originally published April 10, 2024 During the 2023 harvest season, one of Jake Lieb’s tractors quit working. A week later, his combine stopped working, too. Both were new — and he was locked out from making any repairs himself because of software restrictions embedded in the machines.  Instead,…

Illinois Senate advances changes to state’s biometric privacy law after business groups split

Illinois Senate advances changes to state’s biometric privacy law after business groups split

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – It’s been more than a year since the Illinois Supreme Court “respectfully suggest(ed)” state lawmakers clarify a law that’s led to several multi-million-dollar settlements with tech companies over the collection of Illinoisans’ biometric data. On Thursday, a bipartisan majority in the Illinois Senate did just that,…

Capitol Briefs: Bill creating new early childhood agency among 244 to advance

Capitol Briefs: Bill creating new early childhood agency among 244 to advance

By ALEX ABBEDUTO HANNAH MEISEL & COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to create a new state agency to oversee Illinois’ various early childhood programs moved forward on Friday after the state Senate’s unanimous approval. It was one of 244 bills that cleared the Senate this week. Early childhood…

Lawmakers, cannabis industry calls for ban on ‘delta-8’ and other psychoactive hemp products

Lawmakers, cannabis industry calls for ban on ‘delta-8’ and other psychoactive hemp products

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ largest cannabis business association is pushing to ban the sale of delta-8 THC, an increasingly popular psychoactive substance that’s popped up in corner stores across the country in recent years. New legislation filed in Springfield this week revives an ongoing debate over delta-8 and other…

As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away

As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away

By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com Lead pipes in public water systems and drinking fixtures have been banned in new construction since 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, but they are still in use across the U.S. and in Illinois.  The presence of lead pipes has persisted due in part to…

Illinois Senate advances changes to state’s biometric privacy law after business groups split

Illinois Senate advances changes to state’s biometric privacy law after business groups split

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – It’s been more than a year since the Illinois Supreme Court “respectfully suggest(ed)” state lawmakers clarify a law that’s led to several multi-million-dollar settlements with tech companies over the collection of Illinoisans’ biometric data. On Thursday, a bipartisan majority in the Illinois Senate did just that,…

Giannoulias calls for disclosure of lobbyist contracts

Giannoulias calls for disclosure of lobbyist contracts

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For decades, lobbyists in the Illinois Statehouse have been required to report how much they spend wining, dining and entertaining lawmakers. Currently, though, there is no law requiring lobbyists to disclose how much they are paid by corporations, industry groups or other special interest organizations.. That…

Komatsu mining truck named 2024 ‘coolest thing made in Illinois’

Komatsu mining truck named 2024 ‘coolest thing made in Illinois’

By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A mining truck manufactured by Komatsu was crowned the winner of the 2024 “Makers Madness” contest, earning the title of “the coolest thing made in Illinois” at the Governor’s Mansion Wednesday.  The truck was one of more than 200 entries in the 5th annual contest hosted…

Regulators weigh future of gas industry in Illinois, while clamping down on Chicago utility

Regulators weigh future of gas industry in Illinois, while clamping down on Chicago utility

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Natural gas is fueling a fight between consumer advocates, a powerful utility company and the state. Amid competing advertising campaigns, accusations of mismanagement and state decarbonization efforts, the Illinois Commerce Commission is starting a process that will shape how the state regulates the increasingly controversial industry. …