Local News
Boys Volleyball | Brother Rice falls to Glenbard West and York, takes 4th at Smack Attack
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent It was a busy weekend in the area for boys volleyball as Brother Rice hosted its 14th annual Smack Attack tournament. The 24-team event played April 19-20 featured area teams Brother Rice, Marist and Richards, along with defending Class 4A champion Glenbard West and two highly rated teams from Kentucky. Matches…
Swanson scores, assists in Red Stars’ win over Reign
The Red Stars improved to 3-1-1 by beating the Seattle Reign, 2-1, on the road on April 21. Mallory Swanson had an assist on an Ali Schlegel goal in the fourth minute and added a goal of her own in the 31st minute. Swanson missed last season after sustaining a knee injury on April 10,…
Red Stars’ Tatumn Milazzo has top Save of the Week
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Tatumn Milazzo called her achievement “funny.” The Chicago Red Stars defender and Orland Park native was awarded the NWSL’s Save of the Week after chasing down a ball in a loss to Angel City on April 13. The Save of the Week usually goes to a goalie. Milazzo laughed about the…
Men’s College Volleyball | Saint Xavier captures fifth straight conference tourney title
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The SXU men’s volleyball team won its fifth straight Chicagoland Christian Athletic Conference tournament championship after a 25-16, 25-17, 25-22 sweep of Calumet College of St. Joseph on April 20 at the Shannon Center. Jan Lopuch had 10 kills and nine digs for the Cougars. With the win, the Cougars (21-8)…
College Baseball | Saint Xavier upsets Eastern Illinois
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Saint Xavier baseball team picked up a win that its players are going to remember for a long time. The Cougars stunned Eastern Illinois, 4-2, on April 17 in Charleston. It was the Cougars’ first win over the Panthers, a Division I program, since 2005. Lyons grad Troy Stukenberg had…
Boys Volleyball | Glenbard West tops Marist to stay unbeaten
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Marist boys volleyball team, ranked fifth in the nation by USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches, lost to Glenbard West, 25-23, 25-21, in the championship match at the Brother Rice Smack Attack on April 20 in Chicago. Glenbard West (19-0) is the two-time defending state champion and is ranked third in the…
St. Laurence hoops teams top honor roll
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Area basketball teams proved to be strong on the court and in the classroom this season, and St. Laurence was the leader of the pack. The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association compiled a list of the top academic teams, and the area did well. In Division 3 girls, St. Laurence was ranked…
Chicago Bears recognize St. Rita senior with All-Star award
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Chances are good that few outside of St. Rita football circles know who David Lyle is. With good reason. Lyle missed his senior season for the Mustangs last fall after sustaining a serious knee injury. He even postponed having knee surgery so that he could take care of his ailing father.…
Volunteers give Palos Heights a spring cleaning
By Kelly White Palos Heights works hard to keep its city beautiful. Gathering residents together for a day of cleaning and fun was the Palos Heights Green Team with a Clean Up Day on April 13. “This event invited everyone in our community to do their part in combating pollution by having a fun morning…
Comings & Goings: Ross to replace Walt’s at Tinley Park Plaza
By Bob Bong When Walt’s Foods closed its Tinley Park location almost three years ago, it left a giant hole in the Tinley Park Plaza near 159th Street and Harlem Avenue. That hole will soon be filled with a new 22,000-square-foot Ross Dress for Less store and a 9,800-square-foot Five Below store. A construction fence…
Orland Park Library collecting candy wrappers
By Kelly White Candy has taken on a whole new life at one local library. The Orland Park Public Library, 14921 S. Ravinia Ave., Orland Park, is happy to announce the launch of its very first Trash or Treasure candy wrapper recycling campaign. The Trash or Treasure program helps reduce the waste that accumulates around…
Palos Heights Knights of Columbus donate to GiGi’s Playhouse
Grand Knight John Laskey and Past Grand Knight Brian Mellenthin of St. Theodore Guerin Knights of Columbus Council 14057 presented a check for $1,500 to GiGi’s Playhouse of Tinley Park, one of several donations to local groups resulting from the Knights of Columbus’ Fall Tootsie Roll Drive. One of the most recognizable activities of the…
Worth police join task force to combat auto thefts
By Joe Boyle An agreement has been reached between the villages of Worth and Thornton regarding participation in the Illinois Statewide Auto Theft Task Force. Worth Police Chief Tim Denton said the approval of the memorandum to participate in the task force is necessary. “It’s no secret that there has been an increase in auto…
Softball | Oak Lawn’s Kasey Jackson fans 5 in loss to Shepard
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Oak Lawn entered its South Suburban Conference matchup with Shepard having won six of its last seven games. The Astros — even hotter with seven straight victories after beginning the season with three consecutive losses — cooled off the Spartans (8-5, 4-2 SSC) for a day, winning 3-0 behind a complete-game…
Softball | Shepard blanks Oak Lawn behind CG from Kailey Selvage, 2 RBI from Madison Scapardine
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Temperatures are not the only thing starting to warm up in the Southwest Suburbs. Shepard, which began the season with three consecutive losses, defeated Oak Lawn, 3-0, on April 15 to run its winning streak to seven games. Astros junior pitcher Kailey Selvage tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out 15 Spartans…
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Comings & Goings
Pritzker calls Illinois’ support for Israel ‘unequivocal’ after weekend’s Hamas attacks
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday condemned the deadly attacks on Israel over the weekend by the militant group Hamas, telling those gathered outside a synagogue in Chicago’s north suburb of Glencoe that Illinois “unequivocally stands” with the people of Israel. The governor, who himself is Jewish, was one…
7 years after passage, Illinois’ first in string of recent abortion protections gets day in court
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com ROCKFORD – In 2016 – before Donald Trump’s presidency paved the way for the eventual overturning of Roe v. Wade – Democrats in Illinois passed what would become the first in a series of laws shoring up reproductive rights in the state. That law altered Illinois’ 1970s-era Health…
Nurses unions push for mandatory staff-to-patient ratios
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Unions representing nurses in Illinois are pushing for legislation that would impose mandatory staff-to-patient ratios in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities. But lobby groups representing hospitals and nursing homes say they are steadfastly opposed to the legislation, arguing that a nationwide nursing shortage…
DCFS director to step down at end of the year after agency hit with another scathing audit
By BETH HUNDSDORFER & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith will resign effective Dec. 31, he told colleagues in an all-staff town hall meeting Wednesday morning. For years, critics had called on Smith to resign or be fired, amid legislative hearings, contempt citations, a murdered…
State-run developmental center in Dixon will not lose Medicare funding despite citations
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com A state-operated residential facility that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities will not lose Medicare funding despite receiving recent citations from state surveyors for failing to protect its residents from harm. Mabley Developmental Center in Dixon has two pending “immediate jeopardy” citations from the Illinois Department of…
Pritzker urges Biden to intervene amid ‘untenable’ pace of migrant arrivals
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com As Chicago prepares for an increase in the already steady stream of migrants arriving from the southern U.S. border this week, Gov. JB Pritzker is once again publicly pressuring President Joe Biden to play a larger role in coordinating relocation efforts. “There is much more that can and…
Buoyed by state funding, new biomedical research hub launches in Chicago
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com With vocal support from the governor and $25 million from the state, biomedical researchers are beginning to work on studying the fundamentals of human disease at a new facility in Chicago. The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub – named for philanthropists Priscilla Chan and her husband and Facebook founder Mark…
State-run developmental center in Dixon will not lose Medicare funding despite citations
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com A state-operated residential facility that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities will not lose Medicare funding despite receiving recent citations from state surveyors for failing to protect its residents from harm. Mabley Developmental Center in Dixon has two pending “immediate jeopardy” citations from the Illinois Department of…
DCFS director to step down at end of the year after agency hit with another scathing audit
By BETH HUNDSDORFER & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith will resign effective Dec. 31, he told colleagues in an all-staff town hall meeting Wednesday morning. For years, critics had called on Smith to resign or be fired, amid legislative hearings, contempt citations, a murdered…
Pritzker urges Biden to intervene amid ‘untenable’ pace of migrant arrivals
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com As Chicago prepares for an increase in the already steady stream of migrants arriving from the southern U.S. border this week, Gov. JB Pritzker is once again publicly pressuring President Joe Biden to play a larger role in coordinating relocation efforts. “There is much more that can and…