Local News
Oak Lawn seeks participants for Fourth of July parade
By Joe Boyle It may be spring, but it is not too early to talk about a summer parade. The Oak Lawn Village Board approved a resolution Tuesday morning authorizing the submission of a permit request to the Illinois Department of Transportation for the 2024 Fourth of July Parade. The resolution approves the closure of…
Residents warm up to Hills Chamber Business Expo
By Joe Boyle Spring has arrived but winter continues to leave its calling card. However, that did not prevent the Hills Chamber of Commerce from holding its 10th annual Business and Community Expo Saturday at Conrady Junior High School in Hickory Hills. While the temperatures were frigid and windy outside, the spirit inside the school…
Palos Park to tweak outdated village zoning codes
By Jeff Vorva The village of Palos Park has no grand plan to change the village landscape. But officials want to modernize some of its zoning codes. “The village has not comprehensively updated its development regulations since 1960,” Mayor Nicole Milovich-Walters said at the March 25 village council meeting. “Due to this, there are many…
SD122 psychologist resigns over Islamophobic posts
By Nuha Abdessalam A psychologist for Ridgeland School District 122 has resigned after hundreds of parents demanded she be fired for social media posts that were pro-Israeli and anti-Palestinian. District Supt. Joseph Matise announced at a schoolboard meeting last week that Dr. Laurie Hoke had resigned. “Dr. Hoke will no longer be working with students…
Thome sweet Thome: Nazareth baseball defeats Hall of Famer Jim Thome’s alma mater
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Nazareth baseball team took a road trip to the middle of Illinois and improved its record to 7-0 on March 23 by beating Limestone, 6-0. Limestone is the alma mater of former White Sox player and Baseball Hall of Fame member Jim Thome, who is an assistant coach for the…
Chicago Catholic League greats headed to Hall of Fame
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent A handful of area stars will be inducted into the Chicago Catholic League Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The list features Kevin Bracken (St. Laurence, wrestling), Kevin Carberry (St. Rita, football), Matt Macievic (De La Salle, cross county and track), Mike McGrew (Mount Carmel, football), Dan Nicholson (Brother Rice, football) and…
Fire II tops Chicago City, advances to to second round of Hunt Open Cup
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Fire II picked up a late invitation to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and beat Chicago City, 6-0, on March 20 in front of an announced crowd of 810 at SeatGeek Stadium. Defender Giovanni Granda and midfielder Vitaliy Hlyut each made their professional debut and scored their first…
Red Stars top Seattle, open season with two wins for first time in franchise history
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Last year’s last-place finish notwithstanding, the Chicago Red Stars have had a pretty rich history of success. The franchise has seven NWSL playoff appearances and has finished runner-up twice (2019, 2021), and prior to 2022 had finished no lower than fourth in the league ‘s regular season standings for six consecutive…
College Football | Marian (Indiana) and St. Francis highlight Saint Xavier 2024 home slate
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Saint Xavier has released its 2024 football schedule, which has the Cougars opening the season in Michigan. SXU will travel to the Detroit suburb of Southfield to play Lawrence Tech on Sept. 7 in a Mid-States Football Association crossover. The Cougars’ home opener kicks off at noon on Sept. 14 when…
Morton College women’s hoops takes fifth in nation
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent For the second year in a row, the Morton College women’s basketball team finished fifth in the country. The Panthers closed out the 2023-24 campaign in Joplin, Missouri, with a 75-67 victory over Iowa Western on March 23 in the consolation championship game at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament. It…
Boys Volleyball | Marist tops Lockport for Gold at RedHawks Invite
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Marist enjoys getting its season going by hosting a tournament that is now in its 20th year. They had a good time again this season, going unbeaten over five matches in two days to win the Marist RedHawks Invitational for the sixth consecutive time. The RedHawks ended the tournament with a…
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Illinois News
Ex-Madigan aide was warned several times that lying to grand jury would result in perjury charges
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Nearly six months after former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was forced to fire his longtime chief of staff, those in the speaker’s inner circle were once again realizing just how much they’d come to rely on Tim Mapes. It was late November 2018, and Democrats…
Pritzker vetoes measure granting Ameren authority over transmission line construction
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday vetoed a measure that would have granted existing utilities in downstate Illinois, notably Ameren Illinois, the “right of first refusal” for transmission line construction. This would have given Ameren, the electric utility that serves much of downstate Illinois, authority to build new transmission…
Trump, Rauner, policy wins on Democrats’ minds during State Fair’s political festivities
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Donald Trump and Bruce Rauner remained popular punching bags for Illinois Democrats as they rallied in Springfield Wednesday, while the party also touted a long list of recent policy wins. “Illinois Democrats have done more in the last five years to push back on the wave…
Choate director replaced as new report says abuse at the facility hasn’t stopped
By MOLLY PARKER & BETH HUNDSDORFER CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com mparker@capitolnewsillinois.com This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. State officials this week named a new leader of Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center amid a drumbeat of criticism and investigations into abuse and poor care at the…
Emails shown at trial detail Madigan world’s response to 2018 sexual harassment scandal
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – In early 2018, longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was facing a sexual harassment scandal that his closest advisors worried could doom his political future. A 28-year-old Democratic campaign operative named Alaina Hampton had publicly accused Madigan of mishandling complaints that another top political staffer within…
Gun industry group challenges new firearms marketing restrictions
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A gun trade association has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Illinois law that restricts how gun dealers and manufacturers market their products. The Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation filed the suit in the Southern District of Illinois on Monday, just two days after Gov.…
Gun industry group challenges new firearms marketing restrictions
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A gun trade association has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Illinois law that restricts how gun dealers and manufacturers market their products. The Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation filed the suit in the Southern District of Illinois on Monday, just two days after Gov.…