JA NUARY 17-1 8 , 2 0 24 • vo l . 6 3 i ssu e 12
News from Plainfield • Joliet • Shorewood • Lockport • Crest Hill • Bolingbrook • Romeoville • Downers Grove • Westmont • Woodridge • Lisle • Niles • Morton Grove • Park Ridge & more
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Local players become champions By mark gregory Editorial Director
@Hear_The_Beard mark@buglenewspapers.com
With four minutes left to play in the second quarter of the Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day, the University of Michigan was tied 7-7 with Alabama, with the winner earning a chance to play for an NCAA football national championship. Illinois native and former Nazareth Academy quarterback JJ McCarthy dropped back to pass and hit sophomore receiver Tyler Morris coming free over the middle. Morris caught the 7-yard strike heading toward the right sideline in stride, turned up the sideline, eluded Alabama defenders and dove for the pylon for a 38-yard touchdown – the first of his college career. It was not, however, the first time the two had connected for a score. Morris, a Bolingbrook native, also attended Nazareth Academy and in 2019 caught 68 passes from
McCarthy for 1,237 yards and 17 touchdowns. “It was amazing – it just felt amazing that it could be in that game,” Morris said of his touchdown. The Wolverines went on to win the Rose Bowl in overtime and on January 8, Michigan defeated the University of Washington, 3713, to claim the program’s first national title since 1997. Morris and McCarthy, the same players that won an Illinois state championship in 2018 are now part of the best team in college football. “JJ and I were talking about it before the (championship) game and saying, ‘who would have thought?,” Morris said. “Looking at it back six or seven years ago, who would have thought that we would both be playing in the National Championship game? “This is what we dreamed about when we were 14 or 15 years old. It is hard to understand, and it happened – you grow up wishing you could do it and to do it with someone you have known since
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you were 14 years old.” For Morris, it was something he had worked for from the beginning, choosing to attend a state football powerhouse in Nazareth instead of following friends from Liberty Elementary and JFK Middle School to his hometown Plainfield East, which only opened in 2008 and when Morris was set to attend, was still
developing its football program. He knew traveling to LaGrange Park daily would not be an easy task. “My parents worked hard for everything we had, so I understood that if you don’t work hard, you won’t get what you want,” Morris said. “They always made sure I knew the benefits and also what it would take. Even going to Naz,
they made sure I knew and they supported what I wanted to do and what I thought was best for me.” In the final game of his junior season at Nazareth, which was a four-game, COVID-19 shortened season, Morris tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament and
PNHS choir to perform at state conference The Plainfield North High School Concert Choir will perform at the Illinois Music Educators Conference or IMEC later this month. The choir will perform during the annual conference at 9 a.m. January 27, 2024, in Peoria. The choir was accepted based on an application that included performance recordings and letters of recommendation from other choral professionals, said Cristian Larios, PNHS Choir Director. The conference brings together music educators from around the
state for professional development, networking, and performances. This is the first time the concert choir will perform. The ensemble Northern Voices performed at the IMEC during the 2012-2013 school year. The 29-student choir has been working on its performance music since the beginning of the school year, Larios said. “I am very proud of the students’ hard work,” he said. “They continue to show up and are eager to grow musically and emotionally.” The group will perform a program
called “I Want” which includes seven songs. The program explores themes of longing, risk, forgiveness, triumph, and mutual aid. “I am most excited to articulate who PNHS Choirs are and to share our stories,” Larios said. “Through music, we hope to connect with others and create an enriching experience for all involved.” The choir made up of sophomores, juniors, and seniors will perform a free preview concert at 7 p.m., Monday, January 22, 2024, in the PNHS auditorium, 12005 S. 248th Ave.
see ‘champions’ page 4
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‘champions’ from page 3 subsequently missed his senior season with the Roadrunners. He left Nazareth and enrolled at Plainfield East for his final semester of high school in order to graduate early and get a head start at Michigan. “I had to think of what the situation was and keep the end goal in mind. I had been making sacrifices since going to Naz – I was on the bus early and getting home late. You can focus on having fun and relaxing, but you are not going to get the results you want doing that,” Morris said. After losing most of his final two years of high school, Morris was ready for his next chapter and that was with the Wolverines. “I was really just ready – football wise with the injury and COVID, I was ready to get to college and get started,” Morris said. “I knew a lot of guys from the area that were graduating early and the first guy I really knew that did it was JJ [who left Nazareth for IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL when Illinois cut the 2020 season short because of the pandemic] and we talked to his
family about that and he said how it helped him out. “Michigan was really consistent – they offered me my freshman year. Some schools were on and off, but Michigan was always there and they felt genuine – it didn’t feel like I was being recruited, just that I was talking to the guys. It did not feel like forced conversation. Then, during COVID year, other schools stopped calling when we didn’t play, but Michigan kept asking what I was doing. And now, in only his second season, he is a champion. “This season was amazing – we all got what we had worked so hard for,” Morris said. “I realized it is not an easy thing to do – playing for a national championship and I got calls and texts leading up to the game and I wanted to make all those that I love proud.” Morris did not have a catch in the title game, but was in on several key plays as a blocker and said he was happy to do whatever he was asked to do. “I went out there and did what I needed to do and as long as we won and I did my best to help the team, that was all I wanted to do,”
Morris said. “Next year, I will be one of the older guys in the room. Your freshman year, you really don’t know what you are doing and you just learn, sophomore year, it is easier and now I will be a junior and one of the older guys.” With senior Roman Wilson and graduate student Cornelius Johnson headed to the NFL draft and the announcement that sophomore Darrius Clemons and senior Jake Thaw are entering the transfer portal, Morris is expected to be a leader in a position group that will likely feature Semaj Morgan, Frederick Moore and Karmello English – all of who will be sophomores next season. Morris is ready for the challenge. “Freshman year, I talked to (former Michigan and current 49er wide receiver) Ronnie (Bell) and he helped me out a lot and then this year, I could just sit with Roman and CJ and watch film and see what they saw on the film and I would tell them what I saw,” Morris said, “They were all a big help.” Morris and McCarthy are two of 12 players on the Michigan team from the state of Illinois.
“It is great that we have so many guys from all around Chicago area – from all over the area – and we all made it to that point where we are playing for a National Championship,” Morris. Bolingbrook High School graduate Tyler McLaurin is a junior edge rusher and this season, he was three times named scout team special teams Player of the week for his role in preparing the special teams units for Rutgers, Michigan State, at Penn State and was named the scout team defensive player of the week for his role in preparing the offense for Michigan State. In the day of the transfer portal, McLaurin could have left Michigan and found more playing time elsewhere, but the competition is what kept him. “I feel like what keeps people here and what kept me here is the family environment. It is not always a situation where you go to a better opportunity, but to me it feels like sometimes you are running away from the competition and that is what makes us the best team in the country – we compete with one and other and really want each
other to thrive in any way that we can,” McLaurin said. With a national title under his belt, he is happy he made the decision he did. “For me it is the most amazing feeling in the world,” he said. “This is something that you can only dream about and very few people get to be part of.” Also on the team is John Weidenbach, a freshman linebacker who played at Benet Academy. “I am extremely grateful to be on such an amazing team. By winning a title during my freshman year campaign, my teammates and I now know what it will take to get there again,” Weidenbach said. “The players that are leaving laid the foundation for us, and now the returning players can continue that excellence. It is so awesome to win a title and it was a day I will never forget. Additionally, I was so happy that my family was able to be a part of it, too.”
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DMV launches changes By andrew adams Capitol News Illinois
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched an online appointment system in September for Illinois drivers needing to come to a driver’s services facility, ostensibly to reduce wait times. The “Skip-The-Line” program introduced upgrades to the secretary of state’s website as well as a shift in policy, requiring appointments to be made for more than 40 of the state’s highesttraffic driver’s services locations. Walk-in services are now only available in lower-traffic locations, at the downtown Chicago office and at four “Seniors Only” facilities in Bridgeview, Calumet Park, Evanston and Westchester. But the system’s first few months have not gone as Giannoulias had planned. “The amount of no-shows has been devastating,” he said Thursday. Giannoulias, who has made modernization a key priority in his first year in office, said that since rolling out the online appointment system, there have been periods when people skipped “upwards of 40 percent” of appointments made. “If that number is 20 percent, it’s devastating,” he added. The issue was exacerbated by several factors, he said, including driving schools which booked multiple slots every day without necessarily needing them. On Thursday, Giannoulias announced a suite of reforms to his office’s “Skip-The-Line” program, including text message reminders sent to those with an appointment. He said it has already helped decrease skipped appointments
since it launched last week. He also noted that his office is working with driving schools to allow them to offer driving tests to their students, similar to how driver’s education instructors in high schools can administer driving tests for their students. In addition to the text message reminders, Giannoulias announced his office launched a new appointment portal on its website this week, established a phone line to help those with difficulty accessing online services, and expanded eligibility for online license renewals to include those aged 75 to 78 and people who had previously changed their address online. Giannoulias also launched four “Road Testing Centers” for behind-the-wheel tests in Addison, Lockport, Naperville and Chicago last year as part of the program. “I’m asking Illinoisans to start 2024 by making a New Year’s resolution: don’t come to the DMV,” Giannoulias said. “I’m serious. Don’t come unless you are 100 percent certain that you need to visit one of our facilities.” In-person visits are unnecessary for several common services, including license plate stickers and many driver’s license renewals. Driver’s license renewals are available online for those with clean driving records and without a moving violation. According to Giannoulias’ office, roughly 2.25 million Illinoisans will need to renew their license in 2024 and a little more than 1 million are eligible to renew online. Drivers eligible to renew online should receive a letter in the mail, although they can also check their eligibility on the secretary of state website at apps.ilsos.gov/dlexamcheck.
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LEGAL NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICEv Certificate No. 34993 was filed in the Office of the County Clerk of WILL COUNTY on DECEMBER 29, 2023 wherein the business firm of JELLY CRAFT EMBROIDERY Located at 900 Willow Ln., Shorewood, IL 60404 was registered; that the true or real name or names of the person or persons owning the business, with their respective address(es), is/are as follows: JoEllen Eveland Sarpen 900 Willow Ln., Shorewood, IL 60404 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and Official Seal at my office in Joliet, Illinois. this 29th day of DECEMBER, 2023 Lauren Staley-Ferry County Clerk Published in the Bugle 1/4/24, 1/11/24, 1/18/24
LEGAL NOTICE Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held by the Village of Niles Planning and Zoning Board on Monday, February 5, 2024 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Niles Municipal Building, 1000 Civic Center Drive, Niles Illinois, to hear the following matter(s): 23-ZP-01 Nick Betzold of Impact Sport Lighting LLC, 175 Elizabeth Lane, Genoa City, WI 53128, is requesting approval of a Variation from Village of Niles Zoning Ordinance Appendix B Section 9.2(B)(1) to allow up to 21 foot candles at the property line, where a maximum of 1 foot candle is allowed at Pioneer Park, 7135 N Harlem Ave, Niles, IL 60714. Pin #: 10-31-100-006-0000 All persons interested should attend and will be given an opportunity to be heard. For additional information regarding the above case(s) or should any individual need auxiliary aid or service, such as sign language interpreter or materials in alternative formats, please contact the Village of Niles Community Development Department at 847-588-8077. Published January 18, 2024
oBiTUARY PoTToRff Robert E. Pottorff, age 98, a longtime resident of Plainfield, IL, passed away peacefully on January 12, 2024 at Bolingbrook Hospital. He was born on November 13, 1925 in Fairfield, IL. Bob is survived by his loving sons, Christopher (Carrie) Pottorff, Matthew Pottorff and Jonathan (Brittany) Pottorff; his cherished grandchildren, Haley and Jack Pottorff, and Jordan Pottorff. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Frank Pottorff and Irene Mary (nee Vaughan) Pottorff, and his brothers, Earl (Lorraine) and Charles “Chuck” Pottorff, Jr. Bob honorably served in the Navy during World War II aboard the USS West Virginia. After completing his service duty, he went on to build a
family and also obtained his Master’s Degree. Bob was one of the founding members of Naperville Presbyterian Church and was passionate about his faith. Bob was a police officer, a teacher, a principal, and became a school board administrator. He continued on to operate in real estate into his retirement years. He dearly enjoyed spending time with his family, fishing and hunting, was a dedicated father for his boys, and served his community well. Visitation will be held at Overman-Jones Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 15219 S. Joliet Rd., Plainfield, IL 60544 on Wednesday January 17thfrom 12:00 Noon until 3:00 PM. A funeral service will follow at 3:00 PM. All are welcome. For information call 815/436-9221 or visit www. overman-jones.com
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