Local News
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…
Boys Volleyball | Marist still unbeaten after downing Glenbrook South
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Marist is on a roll thus far this season, and improved to 9-0 after topping Glenbrook South in two sets last week. The RedHawks defeated the previously unbeaten Titans, 25-11, 25-21, on April 4 in Mount Greenwood, giving them eight straight matches that have gone two sets. Marist’s only three-set match…
Chicago Fire II to host Indy Eleven in U.S. Open Cup
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Fire II continue winning in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. They will be rewarded by hosting a third-round game against Indy Eleven at 7 p.m. April 17 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Entry to Fire II games are usually free; but tickets for the Cup match will be…
Red Stars to play in Summer Cup
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent When the NWSL season started, there was a gap in the schedule — created to accommodate international play — that left the Chicago Red Stars without a league game for most of July. But some extra games have been added, as the NWSL and Liga MX are participating in a Summer…
College Sports | Sidney Lovitsch is officially women’s hoops coach at SXU
By 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 this season…
Area natives Kendall Coyne Schofield, Abbey Murphy representing at Women’s World Championship
By 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, is in…
Hockey gold-medalist Abbey Murphy among college athletes to strike NIL deal with White Sox
By 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 who will…
Swallow Cliff Chapter NSDAR awards students
At its February meeting, Swallow Cliff Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, held its annual Youth Awards program to honor the DAR Good Citizens Award winners. Seven local high schools nominated outstanding seniors to be candidates for the DAR Good Citizens Award. To be eligible for this award, students had to demonstrate the…
Shepard welcomes alum as new band director
By Kelly White Shepard High School welcomed on one of its own to fill the shoes of former band director, Christopher Pitlik. Kenneth George, a 2001 Shepard High School graduate, has been named the new Director of Bands at the high school, 13049 S. Ridgeland Ave., Palos Heights, upon the retirement of longtime director, Pitlik…
Palos Heights considers TIF district for business corridor
By Dermot Connolly The Palos Heights City Council is considering creating a tax-increment financing district to generate funding to update the Harlem Avenue business district. Mayor Bob Straz discussed that during a wide-ranging State of the City address to the Palos Area Chamber of Commerce on March 26 in the Palos Heights Recreation Center. Palos…
Green Team of Palos Heights plans Clean Up Day
By Kelly White The Green Team of Palos Heights does just what its name implies and works hard to keep the city green and beautiful. “The mission of the Green Team is basically to raise awareness and educate the community about environmental efforts that protect and restore the environment in our community, recognizing that sharing…
Girls Soccer | Stagg, Reavis looking for more
By 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 huge leadership…
Sports Bits | Aaliyah Flores named St. Laurence hoops MVP
• 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 named the…
College Baseball | Saint Xavier and St. Francis combine for 68 hits, 11 HRs
By 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 runs over…
Brother Rice baseball field to get major upgrade
By 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. The completely…
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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…
Education leaders seek added state funding to help districts accommodate influx of migrants
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The recent surge of international migrants arriving in Illinois has brought with it a host of new challenges for state and local officials. Those range from filling their most basic needs like emergency food, clothing and shelter, to more complex issues like lining them up with…
Capitol Briefs: Lawmakers, advocates again call for affordable housing tax credit
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois draju@capitolnewsillinois.com Housing advocates are renewing a push to fund a $20 million state affordable housing tax credit in the upcoming state budget. Supporters of the “Build Illinois Homes Tax Credit Act,” modeled after a federal tax credit program, claimed it would result in over 1,000 affordable housing units being…
Solar investments take center stage as questions loom on state’s renewable future
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com BOLINGBROOK – A manufacturer in the southwest suburbs of Chicago received $2.6 million from electric utility Commonwealth Edison this week as part of a state program for generating its own electricity using solar panels and storing it in one of the largest batteries in the country. But even…
Advocates renew push to tighten firearm laws aimed at protecting domestic violence victims
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Advocates for stricter gun laws rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday for a measure aimed at protecting domestic violence victims and two other criminal justice reforms. The bills are backed by organizations such as Moms Demand Action and One Aim Illinois among others. “These policies support…
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…
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
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
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
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…