Local News
Pro Soccer Report: Red Stars stun Thorns, will face Spirit for NWSL title
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Talk about coming full circle. The Chicago Red Stars opened the season in May with a full squad and dropped a 5-0 decision at Portland in one of the most lopsided defeats in franchise history. Then, on Nov. 14, with a team depleted by injuries and illness, they shocked the Thorns,…
Girls Volleyball Class 4A State Finals: Metea Valley tops Mother McAuley in three sets for state title
By Jason Maholy Sports Editor You can’t win them all. Coming into the state finals last weekend, Mother McAuley had won championships in 65 percent of its trips to state, including its last two in 2013 and 2016. After rallying past Edwardsville, 27-29, 25-21, 25-16, in the semifinals on Nov. 12, the Mighty Macs were…
Girls Volleyball Class 3A State Finals: Nazareth defeats Belvidere North for program’s first state title
By Jason Maholy Sports Editor Trailing 12-6 in the third set of the Class 3A state championship match last Saturday at Illinois State’s Redbird Arena, time was running out on Nazareth to right the ship. Belvidere North was riding a wave of momentum going back to the second set and had scored 28 of the…
College Football: Saint Xavier edges St. Francis in OT to clinch spot in playoffs
Jeff Vorva Correspondent With an automatic bid for the NAIA national playoffs on the line, Saint Xavier and St. Francis couldn’t decide anything after 60 minutes of play. So, the Cougars had to make it back into the playoffs in overtime thanks to a 25-yard-run from Amari Venerable on their first play from scrimmage after…
Obituary: Daniel Carroll, award-winning wrestling coach
From staff reports Daniel E. Carroll was a teacher and wrestling coach at St. Rita High School. In 2003, he was named Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Coach of the Year. A resident of Oak Lawn, he died Nov. 3. He was 61 years old. Born in Chicago, he attended Downers Grove North and…
Lyons School District 103 ups ante for short-term teachers
By Steve Metsch Lyons School District 103 is no different than restaurants, stores, and other businesses when it comes to finding employees these days. For whatever the reason — some say it’s the coronavirus pandemic — all of them are having trouble finding workers. With that in mind, the school district has dramatically upped the…
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.,…
Planet Fitness opens in Bridgeview
By Steve Metsch Calling it “a great addition to our community,” Bridgeview Mayor Steve Landek and village trustees recently celebrated the grand opening of Planet Fitness. The state-of-the-art fitness center opened on Oct. 27 at 8741-51 S. Harlem Ave. “Planet Fitness’s decision to invest in this facility shows their strong commitment and belief in the economic stability and vitality…
Stagg High School’s Fall Craft Show Returns Nov. 13-14
By Melinda Moore Live music performances will steal the show at the Stagg Music Boosters’ annual fall craft fair, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, at Stagg High School, 8015 W. 111th St. in Palos Hills. Madrigals will perform from…
Gurrie cross country boys race to third at state finals
By Steve Metsch Only two teams in the entire state are better than the cross country boys from Gurrie Middle School in La Grange. Gurrie’s cross country boys team placed third in the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 2A state finals held Oct. 16 at Maxwell Park in Normal. This is the second straight season…
Buddy Program underway at SD 104
By Carol McGowan There’s a new kind of mentoring program underway at Graves Elementary and Heritage Middle schools in Summit. Maria Torres, a dual kindergarten teacher at Graves Elementary, and William Vavrin, the dual eighth-grade teacher at Heritage Middle School, are piloting a program they created called the Buddy Program. It’s a way for eighth-graders at…
Stagg’s Math in Construction program has bright future
By Jeff Vorva Pardon the pun, but Stagg could be on the ground floor of something big. The Math in Construction course, headed up by the tag team of applied tech teacher Eric Malone and math teacher John Daniels has been getting some attention and the course was highlighted at the Consolidated High School District…
Roberts Park Fire Protection District celebrates 75 Years
By Carol McGowan The Roberts Park Fire Protection District, which handles fire and ambulance calls for the Village of Justice, City of Hickory Hills, nearby unincorporated Cook County, the Interstate 294 Tollway and Cook County Forest Preserve, is celebrating its 75th year. The district has two fire stations, one at the Justice Village Hall, and…
Bridgeview adds part-time cop, approves paving plans
By Steve Metsch The Bridgeview Police Department has a new part-time officer. Nicole M. Davis, who formerly worked a year for the Frankfort Police Department, was hired by the village board at its Nov. 3 meeting. Part-time officers fill a key role for the department, Police Chief Ricardo Mancha said. “They help support the full-time…
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…
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Illinois News
CAPITOL RECAP: Pritzker signs new congressional maps into law
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday, Nov. 23, signed legislation redrawing the state’s congressional district maps, saying they reflect Illinois’ diversity and preserve minority representation. Due to the state’s declining population, Illinois will have only 17 congressional seats after the 2022 elections, one fewer than it currently has. Because most…
New congressional maps signed into law
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed legislation redrawing the state’s congressional district maps, saying they reflect Illinois’ diversity and preserve minority representation. “These maps align with the landmark Voting Rights Act and will ensure all communities are equitably represented in our congressional delegation,” Pritzker said in…
1 million EVs: Inside the state’s plan for electrifying the transportation sector
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – With a pair of major policy victories in hand, Gov. JB Pritzker traveled to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, at the beginning of the month and shared a vision for his home state: “Illinois intends to become the best place in North…
Capitol Cast: A discussion on redistricting controversies
The Better Government Association’s Bryan Zarou and University of Illinois political science professor Brian Gaines talk with Peter Hancock about the redistricting process in Illinois and the upcoming oral arguments in three federal lawsuits challenging the new legislative maps. See congressional maps here:www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer…3130960460293&z=6 See IL House maps here:www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/viewer…8881118842843&z=5 See IL Senate maps here:www.google.com/maps/d/u/2/viewer…4259714843751&z=6 Capitol News…
State Supreme Court rules on pair of gun cases
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – In its latest round of opinions Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld a Village of Deerfield assault weapons ban and restored a Putnam County man’s right to a Firearm Owners Identification card over the objections of the Illinois State Police. The decision in the Deerfield case…
Illinois unemployment falls to 6%
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point in October to 6 percent as employers added 40,900 jobs during the month, the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday. According to the preliminary data, the industry sectors…
CAPITOL RECAP: Pritzker signs electric vehicle manufacturing incentives into law
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law a tax incentives package Tuesday, Nov. 16, that state lawmakers hope will help Illinois become a manufacturing hub for the budding electric vehicle industry. The Reimagining Electric Vehicles in Illinois, or REV, Act, passed the General Assembly with near-unanimous bipartisan support during the…
