Local News

Indiana Wesleyan scrapes by Saint Xavier after missed 2-pt conversion
By Mike Walsh Correspondent Life is about choices. Sometimes, the result is to our benefit; sometimes it is not. In Saint Xavier’s loss to visiting Indiana Wesleyan on Sept. 16 at George R. Deaton Field in Mount Greenwood, head coach Mike Feminis was presented with an important decision to make with his team down a…

High School Football Wrap: Week 4 | St. Laurence has Ball in win over Providence
By Mike Walsh Correspondent Providence has won 10 state championships and finished runner-up four times, including last season in Class 4A. So how did St. Laurence’s student body celebrate the Vikings’ second-ever victory over the Celtics, 31-24, last Friday night in Burbank? With an old-fashioned field-storming. St. Laurence senior Aaron Ball scored the go-ahead touchdown…

Richards downs Oak Lawn in crosstown clash
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Merriam Webster defines a rivalry as “one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess.” In sports, that makes both sides of any competition rivals, but the term is often reserved for a special matchup, of sorts. One of those is Oak Lawn and…

AERO opens new facility in Burbank
By Bob Bong When Queen of Peace High School in Burbank announced it was closing in 2018, the good folks at AERO special education co-op saw a golden opportunity. They purchased the school’s 13-acre site at 7659 S. Linder Ave. in August 2019 for $3.2 million. The plan was to retrofit the high school for…

St. Gianna Fest (formerly Queen of Martyrs Fest) kicks off fall activities
By Joe Boyle Fall begins this week but there is no shortage of activities occurring this month and next in Evergreen Park. Mayor Kelly Burke reminded residents during the Evergreen Park Village Board meeting Monday night that the St. Gianna Fest (formerly Queen of Martyrs Fest) Family Carnival will take place Friday, Sept. 22, through Sunday,…

Oak Lawn village manager Tom Phelan receives pay raise
By Joe Boyle Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer is pleased with the overall contributions of Village Manager Tom Phelan, who will receive a merit-based pay increase. Phelan will see a 5 percent increase in pay after village trustees approved a resolution as part of the consent agenda during the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting on…

Peaks Park improvements underway in Worth
The Peaks Park improvements are underway in Worth. Work began this month on Peaks Park, which was awarded an Open Space and Land Acquisition Development grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The improvements will include the installation of sand volleyball courts, shelter, half-court basketball court and a walking path around the perimeter of…

Orland Park: Veteran and Pekau spar for a second time
By Jeff Vorva Round two. For the second time in three meetings, Orland Park’s Diana Howard, a veteran, stopped by Village Hall to get some things off her chest during her allotted three-minute public comment session. Howard visited the Aug. 21 meeting and accused Mayor Keith Pekau, also a vet, of yelling and swearing at…

Palos Heights: Classic Car Show celebrates but needs more volunteers
By Jeff Vorva When it comes to the Palos Heights Classic Car Show, there is plenty to celebrate and also plenty to worry about. The 20th running of the event took place in July and had a record 682 cars and the crowd was estimated at 6,000-8,000. Bob Starzyk, the organizer for all 20 events,…

Orland Township celebrates pets at Pet-Palooza
By Kelly White Orland Township knows how to celebrate its pets. The township hosted its 11th annual Pet-Palooza on Saturday, September 16, on the Orland Township grounds, 14807 S. Ravinia Ave., Orland Park. The free event was sponsored by Supervisor Paul O’Grady and the township’s board of trustees. “As a pet owner myself, I understand…

Worth withdraws from Southwest Central Dispatch
By Joe Boyle The Village of Worth has officially withdrawn from the Southwest Central Dispatch system. An ordinance was approved to drop Southwest Central Dispatch during the Worth Village Board meeting Tuesday night. Another ordinance was approved to withdraw from the Southwest Central 911 system. The village had previously entered into an agreement with Southwest…

Pro Soccer Report | New owners watch Red Stars tie in front of record-setting crowd
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Chicago Red Stars put on quite a show for their new bosses. It was fun. It was exciting. It had a big crowd and it felt like a big-time atmosphere. But in the grand scheme of trying to make it to the NWSL playoffs, it didn’t mean much. The…

Area Sports Roundup | Trinity soccer champs to be inducted into HOF
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The first team in Trinity Christian College history to win a national championship will be honored in October. The Trinity Christian College Athletics Department announced the 2005 women’s soccer team as the newest member to its Athletics Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place on Oct. 21 as…
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Illinois General Assembly passes hundreds of bills as session end approaches
By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News [email protected] SPRINGFIELD — The state Senate and House passed more than 750 bills between them last week, addressing isolated timeouts in schools, youth vaping, teaching Muslim history, the commemoration of Juneteenth and automatic voter registration in prisons, among other topics. Friday was the deadline for the General Assembly to pass…

CAPITOL RECAP: Revenue discussions progressing at Capitol
By Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Members of an Illinois Senate committee on Friday, April 23, sparred with officials from Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration Friday in a hearing on tax changes proposed by the governor in an effort to balance the state’s budget for the 2022 fiscal year. In his budget proposal released in February,…

Bills creating liaisons for homeless college students, addressing dental care in schools advance
By GRACE BARBIC Capitol News [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate advanced several bills to the House Wednesday, including one establishing a housing insecurity liaison for homeless college students and another allowing routine dental care to be provided at schools. Senate Bill 190, sponsored by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, D-Western Springs, would require higher education…

House passes bill to reclassify small-amount drug possession as misdemeanor
By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News [email protected] SPRINGFIELD — A bill to lessen penalties for possessing and selling small amounts of drugs, including heroin and cocaine, narrowly passed out of the state House of Representatives Wednesday after a contentious debate. The discussion over House Bill 3447 provoked strong emotions on both sides of the aisle, passing…

CAPITOL RECAP: Lawmakers begin review of state monuments
By Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – A House committee tasked with reviewing statues and monuments on state property held its first meeting Wednesday, April 21, hearing from historians and state government associations on what steps are being in other states and what frameworks can be established to guide the review process. Rep. Tim Butler, a…

Bill allowing name changes for convicted individuals passes House
By RAYMON TRONCOSO Capitol News [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – A bill allowing a person who must register with a state agency due to a criminal conviction to change their name under specific circumstances passed the Illinois House on Thursday with bipartisan support. House Bill 2542, introduced by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, amends several state statutes…

House passes leadership term limits, source of income protections for renters
By TIM KIRSININKAS Capitol News [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House advanced several bills Thursday, including one which would implement term limits on leadership positions in the General Assembly and another that would create additional protections for tenants’ sources of income. House Bill 642, introduced by Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights, would bar any individual…

Lawmakers question Exelon audit
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Members of a state Senate committee sharply criticized a recent audit of Exelon’s nuclear power plant operations that suggested ratepayers may need to subsidize two of those plants by as much as $350 million over the next five years. Gov. JB Pritzker’s office and the Illinois Environmental…

Illinois House OKs bill to license professional midwives
By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD — The certified professional midwife profession in Illinois moved one step closer to becoming an officially licensed occupation on Thursday with the passage of House Bill 3401. HB 3401 creates the Licensed Certified Professional Midwife Practice Act, which would license individuals who perform out-of-hospital births and have…

Springfield Republican calls out Democrats for placing bill ‘on review’
By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD — Republican Rep. Tim Butler on Thursday accused the new Democratic leadership in the state House of Representatives of preserving practices from previous leadership which Republicans say unfairly benefits the majority party. “So, what the speaker said back in January about this place being different and running…