Local News
By Nuha Abdessalam As Ramadan was drawing to a close for Muslims worldwide, District 122’s Superintendent Joseph Matise, Oak Lawn Community High School’s Muslim Students Association club, and the district’s Parents Committee came together to create history. They hosted the first-ever Iftar dinner at Simmons Middle School on April 8, a significant event that hopes…
Read MoreBy Nuha Abdessalam A psychologist for Ridgeland School District 122 has resigned after hundreds of parents demanded she be fired for social media posts that were pro-Israeli and anti-Palestinian. District Supt. Joseph Matise announced at a schoolboard meeting last week that Dr. Laurie Hoke had resigned. “Dr. Hoke will no longer be working with students…
Read MoreBy Nuha Abdessalam A petition demanding the firing of a school psychologist at Ridgeland School District 122 for posting Islamophobic social media messages has gathered more than 1,400 signatures. The petition on change.org is “calling for the removal of the schoo psychologist Laurie Hoke for sharing posts and comments that are explicitly racist, Islamophobic, hateful,…
Read MoreNorth Palos School District 117 has announced that Christine Droba will become the next North Palos School District 117 Superintendent of Schools beginning July 1, 2024. The Board of Education selected Droba to fill this position following Dr. Jeannie Stachowiak’s retirement at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. Stachowiak will be retiring after 21…
Read MoreFrom staff reports Flexible, open-minded and adaptable are three qualities the new principal and assistant principal at Glen Oaks School cite as ingredients for continuing to build a culture of fun and success with both students and staff. Farah Daoud, who spent last year as assistant principal at the Hickory Hills’ school, was named principal…
Read MoreSeven new staff members have joined the team at Evergreen Park Community High School for the 2023-2024 school year. The newest Mustang educators were welcomed to campus earlier this month for a round table discussion and tour of the building. Martin Chappetto is the newest member of the EPCHS Counseling Department. He comes to Evergreen…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva District 230 Supt. Robert Nolting gave a shout out to the seniors on the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee. The committee is made of students from all three high schools – Sandburg, Stagg and Andrew – who serve their time meeting with Nolting and other district officials to talk about concerns from the student…
Read MoreMore than 200 Consolidated High School District 230 students from Amos Alonzo Stagg, Carl Sandburg and Victor J. Andrew High Schools recently received recognition for earning either a Seal of Biliteracy or a State Commendation Award. The Seal of Biliteracy is an award given in recognition of students who have attained proficiency in English and…
Read MoreBy Dermot Connolly Stagg High School administrators, teachers and students all lifted ceremonial shovels at a June 2 groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of a two-year $15.5 million expansion project that will add 11 new classrooms, four science labs and much more at the Palos Hills school. The build-out at the District 230 school at 8015…
Read MoreChicago Red Stars and Bay FC to play at Wrigley Field
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Chicago Red Stars forward Ally Schlegel loves Wrigley Field. “I adored Wrigley the second I went to my first Cubs game,” Schlegel said. “I fell in love with it thinking it was the perfect sporting experience with how they built it up down there.” She will go from a fan in…
Trinity Christian College names new hoops coaches
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Trinity Christian officials were busy on April 11 ushering in new eras for its basketball programs. Trolls Athletic Director Wendy Reid announced that Jordan Mast is taking over the men’s basketball program, while Jasmine Porter has been named women’s hoops coach. Mast comes to the school in Palos Heights after five…
Reavis baseball coach and Hall of Famer Don Erickson to retire after season
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent A deal is a deal. Longtime Reavis baseball coach Don Erickson has said he would retire after his son, Sam, graduates from high school, so he can watch Sam play in college. Erickson doesn’t get to many of his son’s high school games because Sam plays at Downers Grove South. Sam…
Worth Library offers seeds for free
By Kelly White A seed library collects and stores seeds and shares them with members of the community for free. Similar to a normal library, gardeners borrow seeds from the seed library at planting time. At the end of the growing seasons, they save seeds from the plants and return a portion of the seeds…
Paisans Pizza eyes May opening in Oak Lawn
By Joe Boyle Paisans Pizzeria is a step closer to opening in Oak Lawn with the approval of a liquor license for the establishment that will be part of the Stony Creek Promenade. Plans for the restaurant were originally approved at an Oak Lawn Village Board meeting in March of 2022. Tom Phelan, the village…
Blotter: Evergreen Park police issue scam alert
The Evergreen Park Police Department is warning the public of an ongoing scam where a caller claims to be an Evergreen Park Police Officer, and instructs the individual to send money in order to avoid criminal charges. In some versions of this scam, the offenders tell individuals they missed a court date related to a…
Moraine Valley Speech and Debate Team headed to nationals to defend title
When the Moraine Valley Community College Speech and Debate Team heads to the Phi Rho Pi National Tournament in Reno, Nevada, for nine days this month, they’ll have a target on their back as incoming consecutive champions. But they’re ready. “Last year’s team was amazing. Everyone was on their A game. This year is a…
Bridgeview condemns wars around globe in new resolution
By Steve Metsch As village officials noted, warring factions in the Middle East and elsewhere probably don’t care much about what happens at the Bridgeview Village Hall. But the village board still took a strong stance against war at its latest meeting. At their April 3 meeting, trustees unanimously approved a resolution that affirms that…
Boys Volleyball | Sandburg runs win streak to three with wins over Hinsdale South, DG North
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent After a sub-.500 start to the season, Sandburg returned from spring break with two victories, defeating Hinsdale South in three sets on April 3 and needing two sets to take down Downers Grove North the following day. The Eagles (6-4) ran their win streak to three games by topping the Hornets…
Illinois News
Illinoisans can now get documents notarized online
By ALEX ABBEDUTO Capitol News Illinois abbeduto@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinoisans who need a notary public can now access those services online through a new “E-Notary” portal launched by the secretary of state’s office. This process is one of the latest initiatives of Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ ongoing effort to modernize the office and its services. Notaries…
Prairie Band Potawatomi becomes 1st federally recognized tribe in Illinois
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Nearly 200 years after Native Americans were forced out of Illinois, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has become the first federally recognized tribal nation in the state after a decision from the U.S. Department of the Interior last week. The move represents the first victory in the tribe’s…
Remembering Lee Milner
NEWS TEAM Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com On Wednesday, April 17, the Springfield, Illinois Capitol and journalism communities lost a devoted friend and advocate when Lee Milner passed away. As Dean Olsen wrote in his piece in the Illinois Times earlier this month, “Readers of Illinois Times often have seen Milner’s work as a freelance photojournalist. But…
Capitol Briefs: Expansion of postpartum coverage, ban on kangaroos among hundreds of measures to pass House
By ALEX ABBEDUTO & COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois kangaroo owners are one step closer to being forced to surrender their marsupials this week after the House passed a bill criminalizing their possession. That was one of more than 300 bills to pass the House ahead of a Friday procedural deadline.…
Pritzker says state ‘obviously’ needs to change 2010 law that shrunk pension benefits
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com With a month-and-a-half left in the General Assembly’s spring session, Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is readying its proposal to address Illinois’ chronically underfunded pension system. But the governor this week also acknowledged in the strongest terms yet that any plans to finally get the state on track toward…
Pritzker’s health insurance reforms targeting ‘utilization management’ clear House
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated a partial legislative victory Thursday night when the House passed his initiative to end some practices health insurance companies use to control the amount and cost of health care services individual patients receive. The “Healthcare Protection Act,” House Bill 5395, cleared the…
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
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…
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…
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 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, a technician…