Local News

Palos 118 hosting Community Feedback Forums Monday, Tuesday
Palos School District 118 will host a series of community forums for the public on Monday and Tuesday, January 10 and 11, as part of its first phase of strategic planning. The Palos 118 school board is engaging the entire school community in discussions that will lead to identifying the attributes and skills all Palos…

Bobby Rush to retire after 15 terms
From staff reports U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, the state’s longest serving member of Congress, announced Tuesday he would not seek re-election this year, stepping down after almost 30 years of representing Chicago’s South Side and southwest suburbs. Rush, 75, formally announced that he will not run for a 16th term in Congress, but vowed to…

Stagg health team earns fourth straight Blue Ribbon award
By Jeff Vorva District 230 Supt. Robert Nolting likened the Stagg Health Education department to the New England Patriots. For the fourth straight year, Stagg won the Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in Education from the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Staff members said Stagg was the first school in Illinois…

Palos Heights: Business owners must choose whether to comply with mandates
By Jeff Vorva Palos Heights is not cracking down on businesses that violate Cook County COVID-19 mandates regarding proof of vaccinations. But the city will help if asked. Among the mandates, which started Monday, businesses including restaurants and gyms must have patrons show proof of vaccinations, which is a controversial topic for some. The Village…

College Report: Division I schools listening to Heard
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Tadriana Heard is ready for a second round of Division I basketball. The former Argo star is playing her second season for Morton College, and heading into this week’s action was first in the nation among National Junior College Athletic Association players with 64 3-pointers. She was also 10th in…

Mayor reads hate mail before diving into COVID and crime issues
By Jeff Vorva Before Tuesday’s village board meeting, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said he received a disturbing email. The mayor, who shoots from the hip when it comes to his beliefs is a controversial public figure and figures to get hate mail. This one was especially nasty. “I figured that since I got this…

Stepson charged in Evergreen Park murder
By Bob Bong A 24-year-old Chicago man has been charged with first-degree murder in the New Year’s Eve shooting of his stepfather in Evergreen Park. Brandon K. Kizer, 24, of the 8100 block of South Loomis in Chicago, was charged Sunday with first-degree murder in the death of Anthony Young, 52, on the morning of…

Girls Basketball: Sandburg falls to LW Central in champ game of Holiday Tournament
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Two years ago, a group of promising freshmen were bumped up to the varsity at Sandburg, joining an already stellar sophomore in Erin O’Connell. The team went through some growing pains in 2019-20 but flirted with 20 wins, finishing 19-12. Then there were some pains of playing an abbreviated schedule during…

St. Rita takes 5th at Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic
By Steve Millar Correspondent St. Rita’s youth was evident in some mistakes the Mustangs made down the stretch in the fifth-place game of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic. But the Mustangs’ talent won out in the end. Sophomore guard Jaedin Reyna went coast-to-coast and scored on a drive to the basket with 2.5 seconds left…

Murphy joins Schofield on U.S. women’s hockey team
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Abbey Murphy lists Kendall Coyne Schofield as her sports role model. Now, she will be a teammate of Schofield on the biggest stage for women’s hockey. Team USA Hockey announced its Olympic roster over the weekend and two-time medal winner Schofield, a native of Palos Heights and a Sandburg graduate, will…

Richards principal walks 24 hours for a cause
Raises $20,000 for student scholarships By Kelly White Most people spend New Year’s Day relaxing. Richards High School Principal Dr. Mike Jacobson spent it on the treadmill. For the second year in a row, Jacobson inspired generous donations of more than $20,000 on New Year’s Day by walking 24 hours on a treadmill without stopping.…

Students help design new District 230 logo
By Jeff Vorva District 230 has a new logo. Students Tina Alkayed (Sandburg), Nycholas Golla (Stagg) and Trinity Walker (Andrew) teamed with Director of Communications Carla Erdey and Five Star Design branding specialist Laura Gilarski to work on the logo, which was unveiled at the Dec. 16 board meeting at Sandburg. “It’s a concept of…
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As state Supreme Court weighs another BIPA lawsuit, lawmakers mull child data privacy framework
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] In Springfield on Thursday, the medical industry went to court. The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a pair of class action suits brought by two suburban nurses, Lucille Mosby and Yana Mazya, who allege their employers violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, a landmark 2008…

State’s high court opens new interactive learning center
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – In 1946, the Illinois Supreme Court heard a case that would eventually become a landmark in American legal history. The public school district in Champaign, like many other districts in Illinois at the time, allowed a group of local religious leaders to use their schools to…

Biden administration responds to calls from Pritzker, other leaders, for help in migrant crisis
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Department of Homeland Security will speed up the processing of work authorizations for asylum seekers and extend Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelan migrants, actions that could help thousands of migrants who have arrived in Illinois in recent months. Those moves were announced by the Biden…

Former Illinois State Police trooper who pleaded guilty in relation to deadly crash postpones hearing
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Matt Mitchell, the former Illinois State Police trooper who caused a high-speed, distracted-driving crash that killed sisters Kelli and Jessica Uhl, has asked to delay his Sept. 20 hearing for the reinstatement of his driver’s license. Henry Haupt, a spokesperson for Illinois Secretary of State Alex Giannoulias, said…

As SAFE-T Act goes live, murder suspects previously eligible to post bond are held in jail
By BETH HUNDSDORFER & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] In courtrooms around the state early this week, judges conducted the first hearings under a new system that determines whether a defendant will be jailed while awaiting trial based on dangerousness and risk of fleeing prosecution, rather than their ability to post bail. The abolition…

New State Police rules for assault weapons permits will take effect Oct. 1
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Illinoisans who own weapons that can no longer be purchased or sold in the state under its new assault weapons ban will soon be able to register those weapons so they can legally keep them. The law, officially known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, bans…

Ahead of cash bail’s end, state’s replacement pretrial justice system takes shape
By JERRY NOWICKI & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Beginning Monday, state courts in Illinois will be prohibited from jailing individuals who are accused – but not convicted – of crimes simply because they cannot afford to post bail while they await trial. Monetary bond will be abolished in favor of a system that…

Disparately resourced public defenders prepare for the end of cash bail in Illinois
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Illinois on Monday will become the first state to fully abolish cash bail through an act of the legislature — a major criminal justice overhaul spurred by the advocacy of a progressive faction of the Democratic Party that’s grown increasingly powerful in recent years. The reform goes into…

Illinois House Speaker’s staff could test limits of Workers’ Rights Amendment
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Efforts to form a union by staff in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office could provide an early and unexpected test of the new Workers’ Rights Amendment to the Illinois Constitution. Brady Burden, a staffer in the speaker’s office who is part of the organizing committee…

‘Thunderdomes of controversy and strife:’ Giannoulias testifies before U.S. Senate committee
By JENNIFER FULLER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C. this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans. LISTEN TO THIS STORY: Capitol News Illinois · IL Secretary of State testifies before U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee…