Local News
The Hounds are here. And a few things you should know about pro rugby
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer So, about this new rugby team in town … The Chicago Hounds will make their historic home debut at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 5 against Utah at SeatGeek Stadium in a Major League Rugby battle. Given that rugby is not considered by most people to be a major sport around…
Hoops Wrap | Chicago Catholic League dominates regionals with 10 champs
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer For more than a century, Chicago Catholic League football has bordered on being legendary. For decades, its baseball teams have frequently represented the league at the state tournament. But what the CCL’s basketball teams did last week was almost unheard of, when 10 of the league’s 14 teams brought home…
Shepard brings back A Little Bit of Germany
By Kelly White The celebration of German culture was back once again at Shepard High School with the return of A Little Bit of Germany. “It’s nice to see everyone out celebrating something that they love,” Juleaya Smith, 16, of Alsip, said. The food, music and fun festival took place on February 11 at the…
Referendum on manager heating up in Orland Park
Village manager a finalist for Janesville post By Jeff Vorva “Yes” is starting to make some noise. In what first appeared to be a referendum that might not generate a lot of controversy, the village’s request for voters to allow Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and the board of trustees to have the final say…
Worth FOP seeks sponsors, volunteers for Polar Plunge
By Joe Boyle The Worth Fraternal Order of Police is asking the community to take a dip in cold waters for a good cause. The annual Worth FOP Polar Plunge will be held under the pavilion at Altman Park near 117th and Harlem on Saturday, March 4. The FOP is looking for sponsors for the…
Longtime Lyons Trustee Pat Alonzi resigns for health reasons
By Steve Metsch Longtime Lyons Village Trustee Pat Alonzi has decided to resign as she faces mounting health issues. Mayor Christopher Getty read her letter of resignation, dated Jan. 3, into the record when the village board met on Feb. 7. Alonzi, 85, had been a trustee for 12 years, Getty said. Her letter to…
Roberts Road, 87th Street closures this week
Overnight local road closures with detours will be scheduled on Roberts Road and 87th Street this week to accommodate mainline bridge beam removal on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) Project. The temporary closures are necessary to safely to complete removal of bridge beams on I-294 over Roberts Road and 87th Street. Electronic message signs…
Palos Heights police arrest purse snatch suspect
A Chicago man has been charged by Palos Heights police for stealing a purse from a victim in the CVS parking lot on February 4. According to police, Kyuan Murry, 24, was wearing a mask when he approached the victim in the parking lot and ripped her purse from her hands. The incident happened about…
Czajkowski named new Palos Heights police chief
Larry Yott retires after 50-year career By Jeff Vorva William Czajkowski joined the Palos Heights police force in 1988 as a part-time officer when he was 24 and he remembers his first day well. “I was scared as heck,” he admitted. “I was very nervous.” He obviously got over his first-day jitters and began climbing…
Boys Wrestling State Finals | Mount Carmel’s Lemley wins 3rd Illinois title
Caravan’s Seth Mendoza and Crusaders’ Bobby Conway are also kings of the mat By Steve Millar Correspondent After winning his fourth high school wrestling state championship, Mount Carmel senior Sergio Lemley took a moment to look back on his career and what it took to have so much success. “It’s all in my heart and…
Hoops Wrap | Four area girls teams take regional titles
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Four area girls basketball teams won regional championships to advance to sectional action, which was scheduled to start Feb. 21. Two of those teams will play each other right away. In Class 3A, Nazareth won the St. Laurence Regional and De La Salle won its own regional, setting up a…
Girls Bowling State Finals | Shepard’s Kahlen Ranson rolls to fifth at Cherry Bowl
By Randy Whalen Correspondent While most competitors at the IHSA girls bowling state finals had practice time on the lanes the day before the tournament started, Kahlen Ranson did not. That worked out just fine for the Shepard senior. Ranson polished off her high school career by rolling a two-day total of 2562 to place…
College Notebook | Sandburg grad Madison Giglio making a splash at Toledo
By Mike Walsh Correspondent The University of Toledo’s Madison Giglio was lauded as the Mid-American Conference’s Women’s Diver of the Week for the timeframe ending Jan. 25. Giglio, a junior who prepped at Sandburg, won both diving events in the Rockets’ tri-meet against MAC opponents Buffalo and Ohio on Jan. 20. Giglio won on the…
Major League Rugby | Chicago Hounds could emerge strong in expansion season
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer There is a school of thought that the expansion Chicago Hounds could win the Major League Rugby championship in their inaugural season. Their first game, however, was a case of attending the school of hard knocks. The Hounds debut resulted a 42-27 setback to Old Glory DC at Serga Field…
Area Sports Roundup: Lyons’ Collins will be busy at state swim meet
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer A host of area boys swimmers qualified for the IHSA state meet, which begins Friday at FMC Natatorium in Westmont. At the Hinsdale Central Sectional, Lyons finished second with 253 points, 99 behind the champion Red Devils. Lions senior Quinn Collins is heading to state in four events — two…
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Comings & Goings
Lawmakers advance measure to regulate ride-shares as ‘common carriers’
By NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers are considering a bill that would treat ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft as “common carriers,” opening them up to the same level of liability as other forms of public transportation. House Bill 2231 passed on the House floor this week with a 73-36…
Nuclear option: Illinois grapples with the future of nuclear power
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – A measure allowing the construction of new commercial nuclear power plants has bipartisan, bicameral support in the state legislature as the body considers its next steps in meeting carbon-free energy goals while maintaining grid reliability. Its advocates say the measure would open the door for the…
Wiretaps show Madigan, through McClain, forced ally out of legislature to protect himself
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – In fall 2018, longtime former State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, received a phone call from Mike McClain, who had spent decades lobbying for electric utility Commonwealth Edison after 10 years in the General Assembly. McClain was delivering a message from House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was…
House panel debates ranked choice voting
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers are debating whether the state should join a growing list of jurisdictions in the United States that allow voters to pick more than one candidate for an office, ranking them in order of preference rather than choosing just one. Ranked choice voting, or as…
Madigan looms large in trial of ex-ComEd lobbyists, exec
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan isn’t set to go on trial for racketeering and corruption charges until next summer, but his decades of power in Illinois government and politics loomed large Wednesday as opening arguments got underway in a related case. Madigan’s name was uttered…
Transit agencies look to the state to help make up projected $730 million budget gap
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] CHICAGO – Officials with the state’s largest transit agencies met with lawmakers on Tuesday to sound the alarm for what Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Leanne Redden called a “looming operational crisis.” “By 2026, the region will face an annual budget deficit of nearly $730 million per year,”…
Pritzker: Tax cuts on the table if state revenues continue to exceed expectations
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – With two months to go before the legislature adjourns and current-year revenues continuing to smash expectations, Gov. JB Pritzker said he and legislative leaders are considering tax cuts. His comments came one week after the legislature’s nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, increased…
Pritzker touts higher education plan, joins call for pharmacies to state abortion pill plans
By NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – On his latest marketing tour to sell his state budget plan, Gov. JB Pritzker visited a community college in Normal Tuesday to highlight his proposed investments in higher education. “With an additional $100 million directed to the (Monetary Award Program) grant program, a student can pair…
Justices consider constitutionality of SAFE-T Act’s pretrial detention provisions
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The state’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday in a case that could drastically alter the legal landscape for criminal defendants who are incarcerated as they await trial. It’s the latest development in the ongoing legal challenge to the pretrial detention provisions of the SAFE-T Act criminal…
Moody’s gives Illinois another credit upgrade
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Moody’s Investors Service announced Tuesday that it has upgraded Illinois’ bond rating to A3, up from Baa1, marking the eighth credit upgrade the state has received in less than two years. Moody’s is now the second major rating agency to put Illinois in the ‘A’ category…