Local News
The Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village of Palos Park, Cook County, IL has scheduled a public hearing on July 14, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Kaptur Administrative Center, 8999 W. 123rd St., Palos Park, IL to consider the following: ZBA 2021 – 05: An application has been filed…
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Teams honored and trainer mourned at SD230 meeting
By Jeff Vorva There was both celebration and sorrow at the Consolidated High School District 230 meeting on Nov. 16. The board recognized a pair of state champions – the Stagg unified volleyball team and the Sandburg Class 3A cross country team. But there was some sadness to the meeting as longtime Sandburg trainer Dave…
Palos Park looks to improve its image in the business world
By Jeff Vorva Whether the Village of Palos Park allows gaming machines in town or not, it has a problem it wants to address. The village needs to improve its image to the business community. “I think that Palos Park traditionally, for want of a better term, has not particularly been business-friendly,” Commissioner Dan Polk…
Parade adds fun to Orland Park holiday festival
By Jeff Vorva Every year, the Village of Orland Park tries to make its holiday celebration bigger and better. This year, officials took on the ambitious project of hosting a parade and more than 30 units stepped off on 151st Street and marched along Ravinia Avenue until they reached Village Hall, the site of various…
Pekau joins crowded Republican field in 6th Congressional District
By Jeff Vorva In what could be one of the most interesting and heated congressional races in the state in 2022, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau announced Monday he is planning on running in the new 6th Congressional District. He will be running as a Republican and, so far, will battle energy consultant Niki Conforti in the…
Palos Park delays gaming vote again
By Jeff Vorva Someone should send the mayor of Palos Park some Alka-Seltzer. For the third meeting in a row, the Palos Park Village Council did not take any action on bringing gaming machines to town. Mayor John Mahoney and Commissioner Dan Polk are leaning in favor of it to help out the local businesses…
Record number of runners come out for 33rd Turkey Trot
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent In 2019, Patrick Foster won the Orland Park Turkey Trot for his first top finish in a competitive race. This year, he was back in the winner’s circle. Foster, an Orland Park native who now lives and works in Madison, Wisconsin, finished the 2 1/2-mile race in 14 minutes, 19.9 seconds…
Teen helps others despite brittle bone disease
Family toy drive benefits Comer Children’s Hospital By Kelly White Early on in her life, Madelyn Rodrigues was diagnosed with Osteogeneis Imperfects, a brittle bone disease that has already resulted in more than 70 bone fractures in her 14 years of life. As a freshman at Illinois Lutheran High School in Crete, Madelyn’s inner strength…
Girls Basketball: Shepard, Knights among four area teams to open season at Bobby Bolton Classic
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Four area teams competed in the eight-team Bobby Bolton Classic at Richards, and each showed some bright spots and had some sloppy moments. That was to be expected. Richards, Oak Lawn, Chicago Christian and Shepard were all opening the season with young teams. According to their rosters, 15 of 54 players…
Pro soccer report: Red Stars lose Dames after losing in NWSL title game
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent After a bizarre season that saw many of their best players injured for much of the time, a 5-0 loss to open the season and the thrill of making it to the NWSL championship game, Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames announced late Sunday night he was resigning. “For 11 years,…
St. Rita tops Prospect, advances to second straight state title game
By Steve Millar Correspondent After entering the season with huge expectations, St. Rita lost two of its first three games and star senior running back/receiver Kaleb Brown to injury. While some may have written the Mustangs off, they still believed they had a team that could win a state championship. “We’ve been able to stick…
Illinois 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…
New state law bans ‘dark money’ in judicial races
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – A new law in Illinois aims to ban out-of-state contributions and so-called “dark money” in judicial campaigns by requiring all candidates to disclose the sources of their contributions. Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday signed Senate Bill 536 into law, an omnibus elections bill that makes a…
Pritzker signs electric vehicle manufacturing incentives into law
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law a tax incentives package Tuesday 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…
Capitol Cast: Climate, Supreme Court and Redistricting
Listen to the latest episode of Capitol Cast. Peter Hancock and Jerry Nowicki discuss Gov. JB Pritzker’s trip to the U.N. climate conference, an Illinois Supreme Court case concerning ride hailing services, and the latest developments in the legislative redistricting court cases. Capitol News Illinois · Climate, Supreme Court and Redistricting
GOP, advocacy groups submit changes to legislative district maps in court
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Plaintiffs in three lawsuits challenging the new legislative district maps that Democrats pushed through the General Assembly earlier this year have submitted their proposed changes, which would create more Latino- and Black-majority districts in Cook County and the Metro East region. The latest filings, submitted to…
State Supreme Court asked to rule in case of woman allegedly raped by Lyft driver
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The rideshare company Lyft argued before the Illinois Supreme Court Wednesday that a 2014 state law protects it from being held liable for the criminal actions of one of its drivers who allegedly raped a passenger in 2017. The case centers on the constitutionality of the…
Pritzker signs Health Care Right of Conscience change
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – A new law in Illinois will soon clear the way for employers to enforce vaccination, testing and other mitigation measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The measure, Senate Bill 1169, amends the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act, a 1977 law originally intended to…
CAPITOL RECAP: Pritzker pushes Illinois as EV leader at UN Climate Change Conference
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – As global leaders met in Glasgow, Scotland, over the past two weeks to discuss the effects of and potential policy solutions to climate change, Gov. JB Pritzker made the case in a pair of speaking events that Illinois is doing its part to counteract troubling climate trends. It was…
