Local News
Comings & Goings: Great Lakes Beer and Bourbon closes
Great Lakes Beer and Bourbon abruptly closed its doors earlier this month in Palos Park after being open since last summer. The pub at 12900 S. LaGrange Road in Palos Park closed September 3 with little warning. The business posted a farewell message on its Facebook page: “To all our loyal customers over the last…
Remembering 9/11: Shepard High’s JROTC Cadets Walk in Honor of Fallen
Shepard High School students took time last week to remember fallen heroes during a 9/11 remembrance ceremony. On the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 11, Shepard High School JROTC students and staff members met on the school’s football field at 13049 S. Ridgeland Ave., Palos Heights, to honor the fallen heroes of the 9/11 tragedy. “9/11…
Stagg High Welcomes 3,500 for Marching Band Competition
Marching bands came together last weekend to share their love of music. Stagg High School, 8015 W. 111th St., Palos Hills, welcomed more than 20 marching bands from around the area at its annual March Band Jamboree on September 7. The Jamboree began with the national anthem performed by area middle schoolers from Palos South…
Football | Libertyville downs Richards for second year in row
Libertyville 48, Richards 15 Libertyville beat Richards in Week 2 for the second straight season, this time 48-15, to drop the Bulldogs to 1-1. Jaiden Henry scored on a 20-yard reception and Myles Mitchell tallied on a 2-yard TD run for Richards. The Bulldogs travel to Eisnehower this week for both teams’ South Suburban Red…
Football | Nazareth’s Logan Malachuk completes nine passes — six of them for TDs — in romp
Nazareth 42, Kenwood 15 Nazareth senior quarterback Logan Malachuk threw for 275 yards and six touchdown passes as the Roadrunners (2-0) trounced Kenwood, 42-15, in a non-conference matchup in LaGrange Park. Malachuk, who has been under center the past two seasons as nazareth won back-to-back state championships, did that damage despite completing only nine passes…
Football | Flutman and Boersma connect for four scores as Chicago Christian tops Elmwood Park
Caden Boersma returned a punt for a touchdown and caught four scoring passes from Christian Flutman as Chicago Christian defeated Elmwood Park, 49-16, on Sept. 6 in Palos Heights. Kenny Jager had a rushing TD for the Knights (2-0), who were up 49-0 at halftime. Chicago Christian plays at Wheaton Academy this week.
Football | Jake Ritter shines and Marist is great late in win over Brother Rice
It’s a new era at Marist under first-year head coach Mike Fitzgerald and his staff. But the more things change, the more they stay the same; at least when it comes to the recent history of the program’s annual neighborhood matchup with Brother Rice. RedHawks running back John McAuliffe’s second touchdown of the night proved…
Northern Illinois likely wrecks Notre Dame’s season
The Northern Illinois football team pulled off the biggest win in school history and the biggest stunner of the 2024 college football season thus far with a 16-14 win over 5th-ranked Notre Dame on Sept. 7 in South Bend. Three former area players are on the Huskies’ roster. Former Shepard star Roy Williams, a 6-foot-6,…
National Football Players Father’s Association honors Hall of Famer Steve McMichael
The Chicago Bears honored former defensive tackle and newly inducted Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve McMichael during the team’s home opener on Sept. 8 at Soldier Field. Three days earlier, McMichael he was honored by the National Football Players Fathers Association. The new vice president of that group is Orland Park Fire Chief Michael…
Girls Volleyball | St. Laurence strong on and off the court
The St. Laurence girls volleyball players are competitive on and off the court. On the court, the Vikings made it to Class 3A Supersectional play the past two seasons before ending those campaigns with losses to Joliet Catholic in 2022 and St. Ignatius in 2023. They are off to a big start this year, with…
Red Stars honor Olympians, then fall to Orlando
The Chicago Red Stars honored their four Olympians before the team’s Sept. 8 match with Orlando, but when went out and dropped a 1-0 decision to the first-place Pride in an NWSL game in front of an announced crowd of 7,291 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Olympic gold medalists Mallory Swanson and Alyssa Naeher, who…
Playoffs in doubt for Fire after loss to D.C.
Even playing in its former digs at SeatGeek Stadium couldn’t help the Chicago Fire. The Fire, playing for their MLS playoff life, took another step backward in a 2-1 loss to D.C. United in front of an announced crowd of 16,426 on Sept. 7 in Bridgeview. The Fire’s regular home is Soldier Field, but the…
Football | Lyons top Wheaton Warrenville South in Jon Beutjer’s return to alma mater
Back when he was breaking state and national passing records at Wheaton Warrenville South, Jon Beutjer proudly wore orange and black. Beutjer, the prolific passer who led the Tigers to the 1998 Class 6A title, was back in Wheaton last week; however, this time he was wearing royal blue and gold as the head coach…
Football | Sandburg’s Shelton throws 4 TDs in rout of Oak Forest
Whenever his team needs a lift or a teammate needs a pat on the back, Anthony Shelton is there to provide it. Shelton, Sandburg’s senior quarterback, can also throw touchdown passes. On Sept. 6 in Orland Park, Shelton threw four of them as the Eagles defeated Oak Forest, 43-12. Shelton was 15-of-16 passing for 283…
Stagg runs over Oak Lawn behind Olaf Kozub’s 351 yards and 4 TDs
After running wild in Stagg’s season-opening victory, Olaf Kozub bested that effort in Week 2 to help the Chargers to a second straight win. Kozub, a junior running back, totaled 351 yards from scrimmage, including 19 carries for 285 yards rushing (15 yards per carry) and scoring runs of 1, 29 and 65 yards in…
Neighbors
Comings & Goings
Federal judge rejects Illinois’ bid to end court oversight of disability programs
By MOLLY PARKER & BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois mparker@capitolnewsillinois.com bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com A federal judge on Friday denied Illinois’ request to end court oversight of its disability services. Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, agreed with legal advocates who argued that the state still hasn’t met its…
Coroner’s affidavit shows as many as 800 human remains could have been misidentified
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com As many as 800 families across the country who patronized a Carlinville funeral home may never know if the remains on their mantles belong to their loved ones, according to an affidavit signed by Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon. The affidavit was filed in a lawsuit pending against…
State law banning concealed carry on public transit ruled unconstitutional
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com A federal judge in Rockford has declared a state law banning concealed firearms on public transit systems unconstitutional – at least as it applies to four individuals who challenged it in court. But the law remains in effect for everyone else as the parties in the case consider…
Capitol Briefs: Secretary of state enlists high schoolers to encourage organ donation
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – The secretary of state’s office is launching a new program to enlist Illinois high schoolers to promote organ donation. The organ and tissue donation registry, a voluntary database administered by the secretary of state, catalogs peoples’ wishes regarding organ donation after death. On Tuesday, Secretary of…
Longtime Harris supporters do victory lap for their candidate at DNC
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – On a cold morning in late 2019, Illinois state Sen. Mattie Hunter, D-Chicago, boarded a bus bound for Iowa to knock doors for then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris in her bid for the presidency. At one particular door – one of many she visited in “mostly white…
Illinois Democrats see abortion rights as ‘fundamental’ issue in 2024
By PETER HANCOCK & JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Illinois delegates to the Democratic National Convention focused their attention Tuesday on reproductive rights, which some leaders say could eclipse the economy as a defining issue of the 2024 election campaign. “We want to be able to take care of our families. We…
DNC brings thousands of pro-Palestine protestors to Chicago’s streets
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Protestors in Chicago this week have shut down streets, broken through security fencing, clashed with police and interrupted events associated with the Democratic National Convention. Rallies and marches have focused mainly on the war in Gaza and reproductive health care. Most protestors remained peaceful, but a…
Report shows Illinois union participation declining despite growth in new petitions
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Overall participation in labor unions has declined in recent years in Illinois, although the state has seen an increase in successful unionization efforts for the second year in a row. That’s according to the State of the Unions 2024 report, the latest installment in an annual…
Capitol Briefs: Stateville workers picket as relocation begins; flag redesign contest to open next week
By PETER HANCOCK & ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Union workers planned to picket outside Stateville Correctional Center Thursday to amplify their concerns about how the planned closure and reconstruction of the maximum-security prison could affect their jobs and the state’s prison system as a whole. Calling for “No Chaos, No Layoffs,” members of…
Massey’s death underscores state delay in launching mental health response program
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com An Illinois law intended to help people with mental illness avoid confrontations with police had been on the books for three years when Sonya Massey was shot by a Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy. The Community Emergency Services and Supports Act, or CESSA, requires mental and behavioral health calls…
