Local News
LaGrange Road ramps to Tri-State Tollway to be closed next week
The ramp connecting southbound LaGrange Road to the southbound Tri-State Tollway (I-294) is scheduled to close for two nights next week for utility and pavement work. Overnight Monday, November 15, ramp and lane closures are needed to accommodate overhead cable work as part of Archer Avenue Interchange improvements related to the reconstruction of the Central Tri-State Tollway. Beginning at 8 p.m.,…
3rd District carved up
Chuy, Casten move into Clearing, Garfield Ridge; Newman vows fight By Tim Hadac and Capitol News Illinois The shifting sands of political fortunes are having an impact on Clearing and Garfield Ridge, as mapmakers in Springfield have broken up what currently is the Third Congressional District. The new map was approved late last month by…
Plenty of ways to thank our veterans
By Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • [email protected] And at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, peace was declared. The armistice that signaled the end of World War I, some 103 years ago, certainly was a cause for celebration. In the decades since, Armistice Day…
COVID-19 vax now available for kids
From staff reports With final approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, all children ages 5 to 11 are now eligible to receive Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, Chicago Department of Public Health officials announced late last week. Pediatric vaccine doses have already begun…
Obituary: Janet Barham, assistant principal at St. Laurence High School
From staff reports For a quarter century, Janet Barham taught and served as assistant principal at St. Laurence High School. Mrs. Barham (nee Butler), a Tinley Park resident, died Oct. 26 at age 78. She loved mathematics–especially geometry–and kept her mind sharp with brain teasers, sudoku and competitive battles of Tenzi, Spot-It and Uno with loved…
Kennedy girls are regional champs
The Kennedy High School varsity girls volleyball team recently captured an IHSA regionals championship, reportedly the first in school history. At the regionals tournament, held at Mansueto High School, the Crusaders first defeated Morgan Park High School 25-14, 25-2 on Oct. 26, and then advanced to the finals, where they defeated Washington High School 18-25,…
Boys Cross Country State Final: Sandburg computes with 3A title; Marist’s Jake Phillips takes fourth in 2A
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Some exhaustive research combined with a little computer wizardry came up with the prediction that Sandburg would win the IHSA Class 3A title by 106 points. A simulation created by Illinois XC Speed Ratings used each state qualifier’s “previous four rated performances and season rating 1,000 times,” then took the average…
High School Football Class 7A Playoffs: Mount Carmel moves on with batty win over Batavia
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Dennis Furlong had three choices. The Mount Carmel wide receiver took a handoff from quarterback Blainey Dowling on an untimed down with a Class 7A second-round playoff game on the line and the Caravan down by four points to No. 1-seeded Batavia. His first two choices were to catch the Bulldogs’…
Pro Soccer Report: Red Stars blank Gotham, advance to NWSL semifinals
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Mallory Pugh and the Chicago Red Stars gave their fans a going-away gift. Playing in Chicago’s final home game of 2021, Pugh scored in the 61st minute and the defense made it stick as the Red Stars beat Gotham, 1-0, in the opening round of the NWSL playoffs Nov. 7 in…
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Illinois News
Democrats deny racial gerrymandering in legislative maps
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Lawyers for the General Assembly’s Democratic leaders filed documents in federal court Wednesday denying that newly drawn state legislative district maps amount to racial gerrymandering, instead accusing the plaintiffs in the three lawsuits of trying to use race to redraw districts for their own purposes. Wednesday’s…
House Democratic Leader Greg Harris announces retirement plans
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Illinois House Democratic Leader Greg Harris said Monday he will not seek reelection in 2022 and will step down from the General Assembly after eight terms in office. Harris, 66, of Chicago, is the first openly LGBTQ legislative leader in Illinois history who spent much of…
Niemerg says he wants to ‘speak up’ for downstate Illinois
By ANDREW ADAMS For Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Republican state Rep. Adam Niemerg grew up in a family that cared about politics, so it felt like a natural step for him when he ran his first campaign to get a seat in the House of Representatives in 2020. “There’s a lot of things that…
Niemerg says he wants to ‘speak up’ for downstate Illinois
By ANDREW ADAMS For Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Republican state Rep. Adam Niemerg grew up in a family that cared about politics, so it felt like a natural step for him when he ran his first campaign to get a seat in the House of Representatives in 2020. “There’s a lot of things that…
Freshman legislator Pacione-Zayas focuses on ‘solutioning’
By MARIA GARDNER For Capitol News Illinois State Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas’ friends tease her for changing the meaning of words. “Solution” becomes a verb when she says “I’m about solutioning.” Pacione-Zayas, 43, D-Chicago, has been actively “solutioning” since she took office in December when then-state Sen. Iris Martinez stepped down to become Clerk of the…
Freshman legislator Pacione-Zayas focuses on ‘solutioning’
By MARIA GARDNER For Capitol News Illinois State Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas’ friends tease her for changing the meaning of words. “Solution” becomes a verb when she says “I’m about solutioning.” Pacione-Zayas, 43, D-Chicago, has been actively “solutioning” since she took office in December when then-state Sen. Iris Martinez stepped down to become Clerk of the…
State Rep. Dave Vella continues in grandfather’s footsteps
By TAYLOR AVERY For Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Behind a window with a “Save the Byron Nuclear Plant” sign taped to the glass, Ricardo Montoya Picazo listened to a father of three wonder aloud if he would still be able to support his children in a few weeks. “If I lose this, the only…
State Rep. Dave Vella continues in grandfather’s footsteps
By TAYLOR AVERY For Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Behind a window with a “Save the Byron Nuclear Plant” sign taped to the glass, Ricardo Montoya Picazo listened to a father of three wonder aloud if he would still be able to support his children in a few weeks. “If I lose this, the only…
CAPITOL RECAP: In court documents, Democrats deny racial gerrymandering claims
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – Lawyers for the General Assembly’s Democratic leaders filed documents in federal court Wednesday, Nov. 24, denying that newly drawn state legislative district maps amount to racial gerrymandering, instead accusing the plaintiffs in the three lawsuits of trying to use race to redraw districts for their own purposes. Among other…
Democrats deny racial gerrymandering in legislative maps
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Lawyers for the General Assembly’s Democratic leaders filed documents in federal court Wednesday denying that newly drawn state legislative district maps amount to racial gerrymandering, instead accusing the plaintiffs in the three lawsuits of trying to use race to redraw districts for their own purposes. Wednesday’s…
