BY RanDY wHalen For the Bugle
$10.4m winning lotto ticket sold in Des plaines
There may have been a major game in New Orleans on Sunday night, but the biggest win of the weekend belongs to an Illinois Lottery player who purchased a jackpot-winning Lotto ticket worth $10,400,000 in Des Plaines on Saturday.
The lucky winner matched all six numbers in Saturday’s Lotto drawing to score the $10.4 million jackpot prize. The winning numbers were: 6-9-18-31-39-49.
The ticket was purchased for the February 8 Lotto drawing at a Mobil gas station in Des Plaines, located at 9660 Golf Road.
“We only bought this store a month ago, and already we have a big jackpot winner!” exclaimed Jinu John, co-owner of the Mobil gas station in Des Plaines. “I don’t know who won - but it’s certainly one lucky guy or girl.”
This is also an exciting win for the gas station, as the store will receive a selling bonus of one percent of the prize amount.
“Since we only recently took over this location, we are eager to get to know our customers and hope to start seeing some regular faces,”
sijo george (left) and Johnson Thomas (right), co-owners of a mobil gas station in Des plaines, take a celebratory photo with employee sam Barkho after selling a winning $10.4 million lotto ticket.
added John. “Our employees are all excited about this win, and of course we hope we’ll find out who the lucky winner is.”
Already in 2025, more than 805,000 winning Lotto tickets have been sold, with total prizes amounting to more than $13 million for Il-
linois Lottery players. Winners have one year from the date of the winning draw to claim their prize. The Illinois Lottery en-
courages all lucky winners to write their name on the back of their ticket and keep it in a safe place until they’re ready to claim their prize.
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D.86 students advance to science regionals
Congratulations to the Dirksen, Gompers, Hufford, and Washington Junior High School students who competed in Science Fair Competition at the Joliet Public Schools District 86 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Extravaganza. Activities also included an E-sport exhibition, robotics demonstrations, and interactives stations.
Eighth-grade Gompers students Alisson Gaitan Lopez and Emily Gutierrez both received a perfect score from the judges at the event for their science fair presentations earning them a Double Gold Trophy. Alisson’s winning project was titled “Can Hydrogels Replace Plastic Food Packaging” and Emily’s project “Will Bob Ross Approve” was an experiment investigating if plant-based paints perform better than store-bought watercolors.
In addition, the following seventh and eighth grade students each received gold medals at the event: Victor Arcand, Gompers Junior High; Anastasia Arreola, Gompers Junior High; Michelle Arteaga, Gompers Junior High; Rosita Cortez Ramos, Gompers Junior High; Benjamin Cuevas, Gompers Junior High; Giselle De La Cruz Ramirez, Gompers Junior High; Fidel Diaz, Gompers Junior
High; Aiden Gallagher, Dirksen Junior High; Jackelyn Garcia, Gompers Junior High; Jocelyn Gomez Viveros, Gompers Junior High; Pablo Hernandez Rodriguez, Gompers Junior High; Jovanny Ibarra-Ramirez, Gompers Junior High; Sandra Jimenez Chavez, Gompers Junior High; Camila Jorman, Dirksen Junior High; Dulce Medina Galvan, Gompers Junior High; Luis Mendez, Gompers Junior High; Sofia Morataya Mencos, Gompers Junior High; Daniel Ortiz Petrel, Gompers Junior High; Jairo Reyes-Najero, Gompers Junior High; Eliana Rodriguez, Gompers Junior High; Cynthia Sanchez Perez, Gompers Junior High; and Karyme Xicara, Gompers Junior High.
These students, along with Alisson Gaitan Lopez and Emily Gutierrez from Gompers Junior High School, qualified to participate in the Illinois Junior Academy of Science (IJAS) Region 9 Science Fair Exposition at North Central College in Naperville on March 15, 2025.
“Our students were outstanding,” said Joliet Public Schools District 86 Deputy Superintendent Dr. Tanisha Cannon, “I am confident they will do a great job and represent our District well at regionals.”
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(From left to right) Joliet public schools District 86 Deputy superintendent Dr. Tanisha cannon, Joliet District 86 Board of school inspector matthew pritz, and Joliet District 86 science and social science coordinator Tori Bailey congratulation the double-gold winners: gompers Junior High eighth-grade student emily gutierrez and gompers Junior High seventh-grade student alisson gaitan lopez.
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Board of school inspector matthew pritz and Deputy superintendent Dr. Tanisha cannon take a picture with the students who qualified to compete at the illinois Junior academy of science (iJas) Region 9 science Fair exposition.
niles launches lead pipe replacement pilot program
The federal government has mandated that all homeowners and municipalities replace lead water service lines by 2037, a requirement that affects households nationwide but has not received any funding from the federal government.
In response, the Village of Niles is set to launch a pilot program to replace lead service lines at more than 300 homes at no cost to homeowners.
The Village is leveraging a $4-million zero-interest loan to launch this lead service line pilot program, which will give the Village and its residents a head start to meet the upcoming federal requirements.
“This pilot project is a proactive step to help our community address the federal mandate by taking advantage of strategic funding. We encourage eligible homeowners to participate and take advantage of this no-cost opportunity,” said Mayor George D. Alpogianis.
“I want our families here in Niles to know that we are fully committed to securing state and federal funds to ease the burden on our residents and businesses,” Alpo -
gianis said. “I’ve been reaching out to our federal lobbyists as well as our federal and state leaders to push for more funding for the lead pipe replacement program.”
The 315 homes for the pilot program were selected based on Illinois Environmental Protection Agency criteria. Starting Febru -
ary 12, 2025, residents were notified by the village if they are part of the area designated for the pilot program and are asked to partici -
pate by submitting a Right-of-Entry form by March 1 at www.vniles. com/leadsafety or by calling 847600-LEAD.
communities split on immigration, TRUsT act
dent Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations.
wake of Trump’s changes to federal immigration policy.
As the Trump administration has begun enacting mass deportations in recent weeks, activists and public officials in Chicago have been scaling up protections for immigrants.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have both vowed to leverage state law to limit such arrests, leading the Trump administration to sue the state, Cook County and Chicago last week over their respective sanctuary laws. The state’s TRUST Act, enacted in 2017, prevents local authorities from assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement with civil immigration enforcement or asking people about their immigration status.
But beyond the Chicago area, the landscape of local immigration laws is more mixed, and some lawmakers in downstate Illinois are trying to block those protections.
In 2023 and 2024, over a dozen Illinois counties and cities passed nonsanctuary laws or resolutions, explicitly stating that they don’t intend to welcome undocumented immigrants — and many of these municipalities are doubling down on their non-sanctuary approach in the wake of Presi-
“We had a clear mandate from our voters that they wanted us to react with the more ‘Trump way’ of handling these immigration issues,” Drew Muffler, chairman of the Grundy County Board, said in an interview. “We didn’t want to find ourselves financially on the hook to have to provide accommodations (for incoming migrants).”
Grundy County was the first municipality in the state to enact a non-sanctuary ordinance in December 2023. Muffler said the move was sparked by voter feedback on a 2020 referendum, where 64% of county residents said they preferred a more conservative approach to immigration law.
Like Grundy County, the counties that have enacted non-sanctuary laws did so when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began sending buses of migrants to Illinois. Local officials hoped to send a message that they wouldn’t welcome these buses after some began dropping migrants off in the suburbs with no warning, rather than a drop-off site in Chicago.
But with the TRUST Act in place statewide, non-sanctuary resolutions in Grundy County and throughout the state have little legal power, even in the
“People have been asking, what is Grundy County going to do with the new facts on the table? And obviously we leaned on the sheriff for that question, and his answer is very simple: we have to, as of right now, follow the TRUST Act,” Muffler said.
Under this law, state and local police are legally not allowed to assist ICE in federal civil immigration enforcement, as long as they don’t prevent federal forces from doing their job. It applies to the entire state, even in communities that align more closely with Trump’s approach to immigration law.
“Counties or cities or villages where, say, the local government may not be so inclined to resist immigration enforcement, they still cannot participate in immigration enforcement activities,” Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said in an interview.
In the first few weeks of the Trump administration, this issue has mainly impacted the greater Chicago area, where the immigrant population is much higher. According to the ACLU of Illinois, there had been about 1,000 arrests nationally as of last Friday, with
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about 100 of these taking place in Chicago and its suburbs. The ACLU and local law enforcement officials told Capitol News Illinois that they aren’t aware of any ICE arrests outside the Chicago area.
Still, partisan opposition to the TRUST Act has become louder in Springfield. In January, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would overturn the TRUST Act, requiring local law enforcement to comply with ICE if necessary.
“It’s my view that public safety is at greater risk when you restrict the ability for federal and state authorities to communicate with one another,” Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, lead sponsor of the Immigration Enforcement Act, told Capitol News Illinois. “We have a responsibility to make sure that people are here legally, and that those that are not are quickly removed.”
The Democratic supermajority in the state legislature — led by Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, both of whom supported the TRUST Act in 2017 — is unlikely to support any challenge to the sanctuary law, Tsao said. The Immigration Enforcement Act is sponsored by
three Republican senators and has yet to gain Democratic backing.
The strongest local sanctuary laws in the state are mostly in the greater Chicago area, in towns like Skokie, Berwyn and Oak Park. In Evanston, the city council recently signed off on additional protections for the city’s sanctuary ordinance. It includes several additional protections for immigrants and city data on residents’ immigration statuses, making it “perhaps one of the strongest (sanctuary laws) in the entire country,” Tsao said.
“By taking these steps, the City of Evanston aims to uphold its values of community trust and safety while ensuring every resident has the opportunity to thrive,” the city said in a statement. “Together, we are building a vibrant, inclusive community for all.”
A handful of other municipalities in downstate Illinois have joined Chicago and some suburbs in their push for sanctuary laws. In 2017 and 2018, cities such as Normal and Urbana enacted local ordinances declaring that their communities welcomed immigrants. These came in response to stricter immigration policies during Trump’s first term.
B Y lilY ca R e Y capitol news illinois
LEGAL NOTICE
STATE OF WISCONSIN CIRCUIT COURT
LANGLADE COUNTY CIVIL DIVISION
COVANTAGE CREDIT UNION
Plaintiff,
Case No.: 2024CV000129 Case Code: 30301 (Money Judgement) vs.
DHARMEN PATEL and SONAL PATEL Defendants.
SUMMONS FOR PUBLICATION
THE STATE OF WISCONSIN,
To each person named above as a defendant:
You are hereby notified that the plaintiff named above has filed a lawsuit or other legal action against you. The Complaint, which has been mailed to you, states the nature and basis of the legal action.
Within 40 days after January 16, 2025, you must respond with a written answer, as that term is used in Chapter 802 of the Wisconsin Statutes, to the Complaint. The Court may reject or disregard an answer that does not follow the requirements of the statutes. The Answer must be sent or delivered to, or electronically filed with the Court, whose address is 800 Clermont St, Antigo, Wisconsin 54409, and to Frank W. DiCastri, plaintiff’s attorney, of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., whose address is 1000 North Water Street, Suite 1700, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202. You may have an attorney help or represent you.
If you do not provide a proper answer within 40 days after January 16, 2025, the Court may grant judgment against you for the award of money or other legal action requested in the Complaint, and you may lose your right to object to anything that is or may be incorrect in the Complaint. A judgment may be enforced as provided by law. A judgment awarding money may become a lien against any real estate you own now or in the future, and may also be enforced by garnishment or seizure of property.
Dated this 8th day of January, 2025.
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.
1000 North Water Street, Suite 1700 Milwaukee, WI 53202
414-298-1000
Fax: 414-298-8097
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 2965
Milwaukee, WI 53201-2965 Electronically signed by Frank W. DiCastri
Frank W. DiCastri
fdicastri@reinhartlaw.com State Bar ID No. 1030386
Attorney for Plaintiff CoVantage Credit Union
Published 2/6/25, 2/13/25 & 2/20/25
