FOREST P ARK
New task force
e goal is to discuss how to prevent what o cials say is dangerous behavior during
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
On June 7, Bernadette McLain of Forest Park was driving north on Des Plaines Avenue. But when she turned right on Jackson Boulevard, she encountered a funeral procession traveling west down the same road. Suddenly, McLain said, a big black SUV was speeding toward her, traveling the wrong direction into her lane. Far ther down the road, two other cars in the funeral procession did the same, swerving out of their lane toward McLain’s car before getting back into the procession’s line of cars.
“I was shook,” McLain said. “I was very scared.” Her experience is not unusual in Forest Park and surrounding areas, where funeral processions — typ-
By LUZANE DRAUGHON Staff Reporter
Are you looking for ways to show your American spirit this Fourth of July? Luckily, events in and around Forest Pa rk have you covered so you can rock red, white and blue in style
Events in the western Chicago suburbs include firework displays, parades, festivals and even a 5K Independence Day run for visitors and residents ali ke to enjoy.
Forest Park
In Forest Park, the Park District is hosting a local Fourth of July celebration for the village to indulge in. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. July 4, The Jolly Ringwalds will perform, followed by Good Clean Fun from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Once it’s dark, the village will hold a small fireworks celebration for residents.
THANK YOU, DEAR READERS
Our Spring Fund Drive ended at midnight Sunday. We closed out just a smidge short of our ambitious goal of $450,000 in annual revenue from our readers. That said, Growing Community Media ended our fiscal year with more dollars in reader support than ever before and with more supporters than last year.
We are grateful.
The reporters, editors, designers, photographers, freelancers in our nonprofit newsroom are smart and hardworking. Together, we tell stories that hold leaders to account, stories that explain complex issues, stories that connect and reflect these communities, stories that sometimes win awards.
Our purpose, as our name says, is to grow community. From Austin on the West Side, through Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park and along the Des Plaines in Riverside and Brookfield, GCM’s four newspapers are rooted in these neighborhoods. And since we became a nonprofit four years ago, we are truly owned by the people in these communities.
That means we now count on our readers – in print, online and via social media – in many ways. We look for ideas and input on our coverage. And we need our readers to join as members and to be a key part of our mix of revenues. Of course, we still sell a lot of advertising and print subscriptions.
So, thank you for making this fiscal year a success and, through your support, setting us up to make our ambitious plans for the year ahead real.
Dan Haley
Erika Hobbs Publisher Editor
Village council approves $20K lobbyist payment in tense meeting
‘By withholding information, that erodes trust, and we have a duty to the taxpayers,’ Commissioner Jessica Voogd says
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
At the start of every village council meeting, commissioners and Mayor Rory Hoskins approve Forest Park’s payment of bills. But before paying bills at the meeting June 24, the council returned to a discussion they started last August, requesting information about what Forest Park’s lobbyist has done for the village.
After the village paused payments to public af fairs and gover nment relations firm GPG Strategies last August and requested a re port detailing the firm’s accomplishments in Forest Park, 10 $2,000 payments were approved at the most-recent village council meeting to compensate the lobbyist retroactively – but not without pushback.
“We have a fiduciary d uty to the taxp ayers when we ’re spending taxpayer money to be able to tell them how we ’re spendin g it,” said Jessica Vo og d, c ommissioner of public property, at the June 24 meeting . “S o, to sit here and approve $20,000 tonight without any of that is ir responsibl e at the least. ”
During a council meeting last August, Voogd moved to stop payments to GPG Strategies after she had requested a detailed re port on the firm’s lobbying at least once a year since it started with the village in 2019, but didn’t receive anything. T he payment of bills was approved during the August meeting, contingent on GPG Strategies providing a re port.
When the village didn’t receive the report, it paused payments to GPG Strategies from August onward.
But as the village closes out the 2024 fiscal year, all those payments appeared on the bills at the June 24 meeting — one
at the beginning of June, then monthly starting in August for a total of 10 payments of $2,000.
Vague reports
During the June 24 council meeting, Voogd said she thought there weren’ t going to be more payments to GPG Strategies until the lobbyist sent a re port detailing its services and the village signed a new contract with them.
Commissioners received a re port from GPG Strategies in their staf f mailboxes in October, but Voogd said it wasn’t what she was expecting.
“It felt more like something you would attach to a proposal to hire someone for their services,” Voogd told the Review. The re port is “called a strategic plan, and it doesn’t necessarily have any concrete information or re porting about essentially four years of lobbying or consulting work.”
While Voogd said the report included some of GPG Strategies’ successes lobbying for Forest Park, she added that it was vague and there was no documentation of dates when the lobbyist met with local officials
“The thing that concer ns me about all of this is not whether or not they perform the work, but we don’t have the information to know that,” Voogd said. “By withholding information, that erodes trust, and we have a duty to the taxpayers to say, ‘We know how your money is being spent.’”
After commissioners received the report, nothing was put on the village council meeting agenda to discuss how to move forward with GPG Strate gies.
“Nobody ever brought it back up again,” Vi llage Administrator Rachell E ntler told the Review, outside of Vo og d saying the re po rt wasn’t wh at she was looking fo r. “I don’ t remember or recall any substantial q uestions being asked of me [about] the re po rt .”
“If anyone kind of let the ball drop, I think it’s us as a council for saying we want this re port, but then never doing anything with it, never telling staf f, ‘Here’s what we want you to do next,’” said Commissioner Maria Maxham at the June 24 meeting.
Voogd then said at the meeting that she’d like to respond to Maxham’s comment, but instead Hoskins asked Commis-
sioner Melin- Ro govin if she had an ything to add. When Voogd said she’d like to respond again, Hoskins answered, “We’ re done with this topic, Commissioner.”
So, Voogd moved to amend the bills and remove $20,000 of payments to GPG Strategies. No other commissioners seconded the motion, though, so it died.
T he majority of the council voted to pass the bills, with Voogd as the only dissenting vote. Commissioner Ryan Nero was absent.
GPG Strategies’ lobbying successes
Michael Axelrod, head of GPG Strategies, became Forest Park’s lobbyist in 2019. He’s the son of David Axelrod, who was chief strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama.
GPG Strategies did not respond to a request for comment.
In November, the Review re ported that Hoskins strategized with Axelrod before an August meeting.
In an email obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request by the Review, Hoskins sent two pages of bulleted talking points to Axelrod to help him prepare for a presentation, outlining GPG Strategies’ services and deliverables.
T he email shows that Axelrod lobbied several state and federal agencies on behalf of the village.
Fo r example, Axelrod lobbied the Chicago Transit Authority to secure $3 million to remove the decaying water towe r at the end of the Green Line. Axelrod also ar r anged a meeting in 2020 with the Deputy Gove r nor that resulted in a $750,000 gr ant to demolish buildings on the Altenheim proper ty.
T hough the village council never heard the presentation from the email, during the June 24 meeting, Hoskins added another success
A review of next year’s state budget, which Gov. JB Pritzker approved in early June, showed that Forest Park was appropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help to install traffic cameras on Jackson Boulevard, Hoskins said. The village has been wanting cameras at intersections on the street so they can ticket those who drive dangerously during funeral processions.
Hoskins said securing this money involved communicating with state agencies and the gover nor’s of fice.
“Not everybody can open those doors, but we have at our fingertips a consultant who can do that and who has been effective,” Hoskins said at the June 24 meeting.
According to previous re porting by the Review, Axelrod contributed $500 to Hoskins’ campaign in 2022, shortly after the mayor announced that he was r unning for election.
Moving forward, Voogd wants re gular, in-detail updates about work from the village’s lobbyist. Whether the lobbyist is GPG Strategies is up to the rest of the village council.
T he mayor said in the June 24 meeting that there will be the chance to vote on a new contract with GPG Strategies in the coming months.
“I’ve talked to some of my colleagues, and they prefer to just renew the contract and to for mally update it,” Hoskins told the Review GPG Strategies had a one-year c ontract with the village in 2020 and has wo rked on a monthly b asis sinc e, according to Entler
Hoskins told the Review that GPG Strategies has been providing services during the time their payments were withheld.
“It’s not uncommon for villages to engage a lobbyist, either re gistered lobbyist or other consultant, and have the entity on retainer,” Hoskins said.
A nother reason the village sw itched to a monthly ag reement with GPG Strategies, Hoskins said, was because he f elt li ke the firm was g ood value for thei r services and didn’t want the price to increase if the villa ge for mally renewe d its annual contract.
Matt O’Shea, who was the village’s lobbyist for eight years before GPG Strategies and village administrator before that, was paid $3,500 a month, according to Hoskins.
T he village council will vote on the new contract when it’s presented. T he village can choose to stay on a month-to-month basis with GPG Strategies, approve a yearly contract, or choose another lobbyist.
“The council’s going to have to decide if they want to go ahead and move forward with GPG as their strategist or if they want to look elsewhere,” Entler said.
K-Pop Dance
Saturday, July 6, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m., Forest Park Public Library - Austin Room
PureSoul Presents:
’90s Unplugged
Friday, July 5, 6:30 p.m.,
Rober t’s Westside
Featuring reimagined hits from Nirvana, Mazzy Star, Fiona Apple, Chris Cornell, and more by top Chicago musicians. Sing along and experience the nostalgia while exploring the era’s songwriting and poetr y. Tickets from $20.60. Purchase tickets at https://tinyurl.com/558rsyyv, 7321 Madison St., Forest Park
Dig Engine
Wednesday, July 6, 6:30 - 8 p.m.,
Rober t’s Westside
Rober t’s Westside presents Dig Engine with John Slivka. Enjoy an evening of live music featuring Dig Engine’s energetic per formance. This event is for ages 21 and older; attendees under 21 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Purchase tickets at https://tinyurl. com/38c9mujx, 7321 Madison St., Forest Park
BIG WEEK
4th of July Parade
Thursday, July 4, 10 a.m.
Celebrate America in Oak Park at the annual Independence Day Parade. The parade begins at Longfellow Park, located at Ridgeland Avenue and Adams Street, at 10 a.m., turns east on Augusta Street, and eventually disperses near Whittier Elementary School, close to Har vey Avenue.
July 3-10 Valius at Forest Park Summer Concert Series
Wednesday, July 10, 6:30 – 8 p.m., Roos Recreation Center
Performing classic hits from the ‘60s through today. Rock, pop, countr y, grunge, rap and even two albums worth of original music to round it out. 7329 W. Harrison St., Forest Park
and
M. E. Marketplace Summer Ar tisan Fest
Saturday, July 7, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., M.E. Marketplace
Come out and support M.E Marketplace vendors at its Summer Ar tisan Fest, where we will have food, fun, music, games, and plenty of shopping 7451 Madison St., Forest Park
Sunday, July 7, 3 - 4 p.m., Forest Park Public Librar y, Youth Ser vices Program Room
Enjoy experimenting with watercolors with the whole family. We’ll be following Andrea Nelson’s tutorials for beginning watercolor artists. Check out her work (and tips) on Instagram. Kids of all ages welcome, adults must be accompanied by a child to attend. Register at https://tinyurl. com/5n97df7y, 7555 Jackson Blvd., Forest Park
By LUZANE DRAUGHON Staff Reporter
How to observe the 4th of July safely
Fireworks, sparklers and party poppers are often handled on the Fourth of July to display colorful lightshows or excite children. But it’s important to ensure safety while partaking in the holiday with friends and family because the explosives, as innocent as they may seem, can be dangerous
In 2023, about 9,700 individuals were treated in emergency rooms for firework injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and eight people died. The CPSC, an independent agenc y, is tasked with protecting people from injury or death as a result of consumer products, like fireworks
According to the CPSC annual fireworks report, injuries from fireworks have increased from 2008 to 2023. About 66% of injuries in 2023 happened in the weeks before and after the Fourth of July. In studying the four weeks surrounding the holiday in 2023, CPSC found hands and fingers are injured the most by fireworks – about 35% of the time – followed by head, face and ears 22% of the time
Teenagers ages 15 to 19 had the highest rate of these injuries last year, followed by kids ages 5 to 9, according to CPSC. And about 42% of the injuries studied were for burns. Sparklers, for instance, burn at temperatures around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Additionally, CPSC tested fireworks products in 2023. About 18% of the selected projects had “noncompliant components,” such as fuse violations or prohibited chemicals
Illinois, however, is one of only three states that ban some or all consumer fireworks, according to NBC Chicago. But Illinois residents can buy items considered “novelty effects” and not fireworks, which includes sparklers and party poppers. Local laws vary, like in Chicago, where even sparklers are illegal.
“The safest way to view fireworks is to watch professional displays,” CPSC Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric said in a news release.
“If you choose light your own, make sure you only buy legal fireworks intended for consumer use from a reputable retailer.”
To stay safe this Fourth of July, CPSC has helpful tips:
■ Do not let children play with fireworks, including sparklers.
■ Only set off fireworks labeled for consumer, not professional use
■ Do not use fireworks if impaired by alcohol or drugs.
■ Keep water nearby in case
■ Light fireworks at once, then move back quickly.
■ Do not relight or use malfunctioning fireworks. Soak them in water and throw them away.
■ Do not place any body parts over a firework when lighting it.
■ Do not throw fireworks, including sparklers, at anyone
■ To prevent trash fires, d ouse firewo rks with water after use before throwing them out.
Officials from Loyola Medicine also recommend wearing heat-safe gloves and goggles when lighting fireworks.
“Even a split second of contact with a burning sparkler can be dangerous,” said Joshua Carson, MD, director of the Loyola Medicine Bur n Center, in a statement. “For young children, even the most innocent-seeming sparkler can cause serious burns.”
If there’s a traumatic injury, where fingers or part of the hand is blown off, wrap
it in gauze and place it in a plastic bag, according to Loyola Medicine. The bag should then be placed in a container with ice or cold water and the individual taken to the appropriate facility
A burn larger than one’s palm or a burn affecting the eyes or face should be treated hastily by a local burn center, officials said. Rinse bur ns with cool water, not ice water, and cover with a dry, sterile, nonstick bandage.
While ensuring safety during Fourth of July events, promoting sustainability is a good goal, too. A local waste management servicer, Lakeshore Recycling Systems, offered tips from Joy Rifkin, a LRS sustainability manager.
■ Choose reusable plates, napkins and silverware.
■ Use cups and glassware you own, especially aluminum water bottles that don’t break down.
■ Shop locally for food to reduce carbon emissions associated with transportation.
■ Send digital invitations, rather than paper ones, for parties and events
■ Separate recycling from trash and rinse before tossing. Dirty recyclables can contaminate the entire load
Joseph Business School plans $25M campaign to build ‘million-dollar businesses’
e 25-year-old Christian business school said it aims to bridge wealth gaps
By EJ HAAS Contributing Reporter
The Joseph Business School of Forest Park is launching a $25 million-fundraising campaign with the goal to expand its offerings to help minority business owners build milliondollar operations.
The Christian vocational school, accredited by the Council for Continuing Education and Training, is looking to raise money over five years to craft an af fordable course offering that teaches students how to create wealth.
The goal is to train 100,000 entrepreneurs
to earn $1 million in revenue. The class, described as “industry-agnostic” by the school’s president Deloris Thomas, is available to those with an existing business, product or business idea hoping to grow their project in size and scope.
The course will total 90 hours over the course of four months, longer than the school’s current offerings. Students will take more than 30 classes in subjects that include marketing, finance and strategy. It will be offered for $3,500 – a critical component of the campaign
“We have minimized the cost; that’s literally offering… a 90% discount because we believe in ministry first. So, this course costs only $3,500,” Thomas said.
Officials said they plan to raise funds through alumni and individual donations, federal grants and corporate sponsorships Thomas said they have a “strong volunteer pool” to assist them. She added that the school has begun its campaign.
Of that fundraising goal, 10%, or $2.5 million, will be directed toward the cost of acquiring more faculty and advisors.
“We’re so excited that we’re going to be launching this new program of training 100,000 entrepreneurs to reach $1 million in business, creating over a billion-dollar economy by eradicating poverty and closing the wealth gap,” Thomas said.
“Black and brown businesses, we’ve seen a huge increase in those businesses. But believe it or not,” she added, “the average revenue of those businesses are under 100,000 [dollars annually], and many of them are sole proprietors. But here, we believe in big dreams, and that starting businesses is about increasing the number of jobs that are created — and, as I mentioned, changing our communities by closing that wealth gap.
“I really want to … talk about the impor-
tance of transforming our communities through entrepreneurship and job creation; where we can reduce violence, we can also make sure that [people] are able to care for their families,” she said.
Graduate Helen Austin, who with her daughter, Kayla, developed the My Gun’s Been Moved smart pad – a tool that sends alerts when guns are moved from it – said her time at Joseph was invaluable.
“We didn’t have a strong business plan … so now we feel like we have a really strong business plan that we feel comfortable giving to investors,” said Helen. “[They] really helped us equip ourselves [with] the belief that we could do a million dollars in the first year.”
More information about The Joseph Business School can be found online at jbs.edu, or by visiting 7600 W. Roosevelt Rd
PAUL HAIRLSON PHOTOGRAPHY LLC
FUNERAL Potentially dangerous
from page 1
ically solemn, stately occurrences — occasionally evolve to include speeding cars, vehicles that weave in and out of traffic, and participants who hang out of car windows. Despite the g rief that participants harbor, and the American right to assemble, the behavior can create dangerous situations for pedestrians or other drivers, officials and residents say.
Forest Park held a town hall meeting mid-June to address what some say are dangerous funeral processions, and to announce the creation of a task force to discuss how to prevent them. Government officials, police, funeral home directors and residents gathered at Howard Mohr Community Center to explore ways to keep people safe during processions that critics say get out of hand.
“It’s been a topic long before I was elected,” La Sh aw n Fo rd told the Review. He’s b een a state re presentative fo r the 8th District since 2007 and co-hosted the town hall. Fo rd said r aucous b ehavior during f unerals li ke ly stems from pa rt icipants being allowe d to r un red lights and stop sign s.
“You get to be in a situation where you don’t have to follow the law,” Ford said.
Ford blames readily available drugs.
“Those breaking the law are, many times, those who are drinking, popping pills, smoking marijuana and things like that,” Ford said. “They don’t understand the level of danger that they’re causing because they’re not in their right frame of mind.”
To prevent hazardous funeral processions, Ford and Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins will co-chair a new task force, which they announced at the town hall. The task force will likely star t in August.
“The town hall was a starting point of getting several parties in the room together and bringing up the issues,” said Rachell Entler, Forest Park’s village administrator Cook County has had a task force in the past to deal with dangerous funeral processions, the Review re ported. Though for mer Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin helped start the Cook County Funeral and Cemetery Violence Taskforce in March 2018, when he lost his re-election to Commissioner Brandon Johnson that November, the taskforce dissolved.
Ford said he hopes the task force will come up with recommendations to take to Springfield by the legislature’s lame duck session in January. He said state legislation is likely the solution for such funeral processions because they often travel through several municipalities, from a funeral home in one area to a cemetery in the likes of Forest Park, Maywood or Hillside.
“This crosses jurisdictions,” Ford said.
A look at the problem and solutions
While McLain avoided the swerving cars in the funeral procession she drove past, previous local encounters with
processions haven’t been as uneventful.
Last June, four people were wounded from gunfire during a funeral procession traveling through Oak Park for Jamal Goings, a 33-year-old from Chicago who was re portedly connected to the Gangster Disciples.
Ford said he’s heard people say that those who commit violent crimes shouldn’t have a funeral procession. He added that others want to limit the number of cars in a procession.
But funeral processions that become dangerous aren’t always gang related. And funerals cannot be made illegal, especially when everyone has their own ways of g rieving, officials said.
So, they are looking at other possible solutions.
At the town hall meeting, officials discussed finding funding to install more cameras at intersections so that hazardous drivers can be ticketed retroactively for breaking the law.
Forest Park uses photo enforcement for funerals now, according to Entler. The Forest Park Police Department reviews video from intersection cameras and issues citations to drivers who break the law.
But while there are cameras at intersections on Roosevelt Road, they aren’t on every street that funeral processions use.
Fo r example, when M cLain encountered the procession on Jackson Boulevard, she said she laid on her horn, then c alled the Fo rest Pa rk Police Department when she got home
“They just said, ‘We’re doing what we can with cameras,’” McLain said. But she added that police told her there are no cameras on Jackson Boulevard.
A review of next year’s state budget, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker approved in early June, showed that Forest Park was appropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars for a reconstruction project on Jackson Boulevard, according to Hoskins.
“We may be able to use some of that money potentially for cameras as part of infrastructure,” Entler said.
To address the limited number of cameras, funeral directors, who lead processions, could take the streets where cameras are located. But they don’t always prefer to.
According to Entler, while village officials and residents at the town hall expressed the desire to limit funeral processions to busy Roosevelt Road, funeral directors said they prefer more residential streets like Jackson Boulevard, since there aren’t as many traffic lights that can break up a procession.
Forest Park has no legislation requiring processions to take certain streets, and processions don’t need a permit to travel through municipalities, Entler said.
The Forest Park Police Department also prefers processions to use Roosevelt Road so they can activate the Opticom system that controls traffic lights for emergency vehicles, allowing cars to get through town as quickly as possible, Entler said.
These measures are preferable to pulling over offenders, according to officials.
“The police at the town hall said, ‘It’s almost best that we don’t engage in the process and pull over a car during a procession. It could just cause more problems,’” Ford said. “So, if we can have some type of rules that funeral homes have to follow and that families have to be following as well, then that’s going to be best.”
D91 and FP Library host mental health course
e event is the next for D91’s Parent University
By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter
The Forest Park Library and Forest Park School District 91 are teaming up for another Parent University to tackle mental health first aid training this August.
“Mental Health First Aid Training: Be There for Those Who Need You” will be held Saturday, Aug. 3 as well as Saturday, Aug. 10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Forest Park Library on Jackson Boulevard.
The program is being provided by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, to help equip people with skills to reco gnize the signs of mental health challenges to offer initial support.
On Aug. 3, the session will focus on adult issues while sAug. 10, will focus on youth and teens.
According to NAMI’s website, the mental health first aid program was developed by
the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and has been taught across 25 countries for more than 15 years.
Re presentatives from NAMI could not be reached for comment.
The courses are intended help participants “identify symptoms of mental health challenges, understand common mental illnesses within the United States, and use the ALGEE action plan to navigate conversations,” according to its website.
According to Mental Health First Aid from National Council for Mental Wellbeing, ALGEE stands for:
A- approach, assess for risk of suicide or harm
L- Listen non-judgmentally
G- Give reassurance and information
E- Encourage appropriate professional help
E- Encourage self-help and other support strategies
T he sessions will cove r anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, as well as depressive disorders and eating disorders among other s.
The course will be taught by a certified instructor and upon completion, participants will receive a certificate. The course can also count toward credits for sional development hours, either continu ing education units or continuing professional development units.
The sessions come at a time when mental health continues to be a growing concern.
KFF, an independent source for policy research, polling and news, ed that the percentage of adults re po symptoms of anxiety and or depression disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased by 3.6% from April 2020 to March 2023 from 35.9%, to 32.3%, 90% of U.S. adults believe the country is facing a mental health crisis.
According to NAMI, 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year, with 50% of all lifetime mental illness beginning by age 14 and 75% of all lifetime mental illness beginning by age 24.
NAMI also re ported that 22.8% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2021, which re presents 1 in every 5 adults, with
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On-site management includes 24/7 emergency maintenance service and a senior services coordinator who is available during business hours to assist residents in accessing service
5.5% of adults experiencing a serious mental illness in 2021.
Re presentatives from D91 could not be reached for comment.
The course is free but re gistration is required and will be on a first-come, firstserved basis. Re gistration can be found on the Forest Park PTO Facebook page.
agencies and programs designed speci cally for seniors. e Oaks is owned and operated by the Oak Park Residence Corporation and is funded by the US Department of Housing and Ur-ban Development through the 202/ Section 8 Program. Monthly rent is based on the resident’s income, with individuals paying approximately 30% of their monthly income toward rent.
For more information, please visit us at www.oakparkrc.com or contact us at 708-386-5862.
Forest Park Public Library
JULY 4TH
T
he Pa rk District p ool will also be open from noon to 5 p. m. Ju ly 4 with a live DJ from noon to 4 p. m. for residents and passholder s.
Oak Park
In Oak Park, residents can once again celebrate Independence Day when the annual parade kicks of f at 10 a.m. on July 4 from Longfellow Park at Ridgeland Avenue and Adams Street.
Parade participants will march north on Ridgeland to Augusta Street, then turn east to finish near Whittier Elementary School. While some may be disappointed by the lack of fireworks, this festive celebration will allow residents and visitors to appreciate the village’s beauty and history on what will hopefully be a bright, sunny summer day.
The village’s fireworks were canceled in 2022 after the mass shooting that took place during the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park. The fireworks in Oak Park are historically funded by local businesses or private donations. In 2023, no such donor stepped up in time for the village to coordinate an event. In 2024, village officials said no entity ste pped up ag ain.
From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Village Commons, kids’ entertainment and food will be available. Hello Weekend will perform from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., followed by fireworks provided by the Riverside Golf Club.
Brook eld
Neighbors looking to celebrate in Brookfield can attend the Fourth of July parade and march to the “Party in the Park” on July 4 in Kiwanis Park. The parade will start at 10 a.m. on the corner of Blanchan Avenue and Kemman Avenue with exciting floats, marching bands and community members processing down the street.
After the parade, the “Party in the Park” at 8820 Brookfield Ave. will include live music from The Redmonds at 12:30 p.m. and Whiskeyfist at 3:30 p.m. Food and drinks from Beach Avenue BBQ will be available for purchase
Berw yn
At 8 p.m. July 3, a fireworks display will take place in Berwyn at the Morton West High School football stadium. The event is hosted by the World’s Largest Laundromat and is free to attend. Fireworks start after dark, but attendees might want to show up early to get a seat.
Other nearby events
Riverside/North Riverside
In Riverside, locals looking to get active before chowing down on burgers, hot dogs or ice cream at celebrations can participate in the 44th annual Independence Day 5K run at 7:15 a.m. Runners will receive goodie bags and Dri-Balance shirts. It’s $35 to participate, and runners sign up based on gender and age.
At 8:45 a.m. July 4, an Independence Day parade will start at Big Ball Park. After, a community celebration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. will take place at Guthrie Pa rk. In North Riverside, a free-to-attend parade will begin at 10 a.m. July 4 at Ninth Avenue and 26th Street, heading east to Veterans Park. At the park, a little league game will begin.
At Navy Pier, a firework show will begin at 9 p.m. July 3. Firework enthusiasts can find a spot along the lake and watch the annual show for free. Navy Pier also hosts firework shows twice a week throughout the summer.
At S oldier Field, fireworks will be on displ ay following the Chicago Fire socce r g ame against the Philadelphia Union at 7:30 p. m. Tickets for the g ame will vary in pric e.
At Blue Island, a parade through the uptown business district will begin at noon. A free firework show will begin at Waterfall Park at 9 p.m.
In Bridgeview, the Park District will host a free celebration starting at 9:15 p.m. July 3 with food trucks and a live DJ for visitors to enjoy.
Elgin’s Fourth of July parade will take place at 9:30 p.m. July 4 in Festival Park. The free event will include music, food, activities and fireworks starting at 9:20 p.m.
ReRan’s reparations plan aims to eliminate property taxes
Organizers hope to get the measure on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Howard Ray, founder of Reconstruction Era Re paration Act Now, or ReRan, is pushing a petition to add a referendum to the November ballot that would give Cook County residents the ability to vote to eliminate property taxes for ancestors of enslaved people as a means of re parations. From 2010 to 2020, there were 1,429 tax sale evictions in Cook County. Across the 11 zip codes with the highest number of evictions, 73% of those evicted were Black, according to Housing Action Illinois. By comparison, 82% of people were white across the 44 zip codes with no evictions over that decade.
A lthough slave ry was abolished with the Thir teenth Amendment to the United
States Constitution, many African American p eople still experience discrimination and systemic injustices that ke ep them from home ownership and economic advancement.
Ray estimated that eliminating property taxes will save the average homeowner $10,000 a year.
“This is the face of re parations,” Ray said of ReRan. “Reparation means somebody is giving you something because of what went wrong.”
“When you save $10,000, you’re able to invest in other things,” he added. “That becomes something that you can’t even measure.”
That money could instead be used for an improvement project that adds value to a house or go toward paying for children’s schooling or sports programs. And having more money would create less stress for people, Ray said.
Long-term, Ray said participants could set up a trust so that their children and loved ones can also access property tax exemptions, building generational wealth.
Eliminating property taxes for some doesn’t mean that others will have to pay more.
If passed, ReRan would reallocate money from Chicago’s and Cook County’s sales tax to pay for the property taxes of those whose ancestors were enslaved. ReRan is asking for three cents from every sales- and use-tax transaction in Cook County, and six cents from every transaction in Chicago.
The revenue would still be a part of Cook County’s budget, but ReRan would have oversight of the funds.
“Everybody’s paying sales tax,” Ray said. “We’re saying, ‘We want to work with you on this. We all want to pitch in together to make this right.’”
ReRan is an arm of West Humboldt Park Community Coalition. When Amazon started building a facility in Humboldt Park in 2022, the coalition wanted to create a community benefit ag reement with the company.
Among other requests, the ag reement asked for Amazon to pay property taxes, since the facility is in an Opportunity Zone that qualifies it for tax cuts. And when the coalition be g an researching local property taxes, members came across data that showed how property tax evic-
tions disproportionately affect Black Cook County residents.
But ReRan wouldn’t just eliminate property taxes for Black people. The tax cut would be available to anyone who is the descendant of an enslaved person who was emancipated by the Thirteenth Amendment. Those who apply for a property tax break would need to show documentation that their ancestors were enslaved from the likes of an ancestry test or the Freedman’s Bureau search portal.
Though Ray said he doesn’t know of any municipalities that have eliminated property taxes as a form of re parations, there are over 40 Illinois municipalities where residents don’t pay property taxes.
“This is not an impossible thing,” Ray said. “We want to show how this benefit is going to work and then research how this action could help other urban cities.”
ReRan needs over 100,000 signatures from voters who are re gistered in Cook County in order to get on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election.
After 9 months, state data begins to detail new pretrial detention system
Researchers say despite a new 75-county data trov about the SAFE-T Act, it’s still too early to judg bail reform law
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois
Nine months after cash bail ended in Illinois, the state is taking its first steps in publishing the data that crafters of the bail reform law saw as essential to judging its ef fectiveness.
The data shows that judges in the 75 counties served by the Illinois Supreme Court’s Office of Statewide Pretrial Services had collectively issued failure-toappear warrants in just 5% of more than 28,000 court dates as of Friday. Judges had approved about 63% of petitions to detain a defendant pretrial that were sent to them by prosecutors.
The OSPS, launched in 2021 to provide things like pretrial safety assessments and electronic monitoring for 75 of Illinois’ 102 counties, published the data in a new dashboard this week. It represents a key – but still early and incomplete – step in tracking Illinois’ progress as the first state to fully end cash bail through a wide-ranging criminal justice reform known as the SAFE-T Act.
Some state’s attorneys, sheriffs and other law enforcement organizations were staunchly and publicly opposed to the law when it passed – launching several lawsuits that ultimately delayed cash bail’s elimination by nine months. But retired Cook County Judge Cara Smith, who now leads the OSPS, said she believes the data shows everyone is taking their responsibilities under the SAFE-T Act “very seriously.”
“I think judges and the other stakeholders – everyone, regardless of what their position might have been on the policy behind the SAFE-T Act – that everyone’s doing their job,” she told Capitol News Illinois.
For David Olson, co-director of the Loyola University of Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice, or CCJ, the data demonstrates the complexities of tracking a re-
form as large as the SAFE-T Act in a state as geog raphically diverse as Illinois.
“Everyone wants to know: ‘How’s it go ing in Illinois?’” Olson said in an intervie “Well, which of the 102 Illinois(es) do you want to hear about? There’s 102 counties, and every one’s a little bit different.”
New pretrial detention system
The SAFE-T Act included a provision known as the Pretrial Fair ness Act that ended the use of cash bail in Illinois, meaning a person cannot be jailed while awaiting trial simply because they can’t af ford a dollar amount assigned by a judge. After litigation forced a delay in implementing the PFA, cash bail was officially eliminated on Sept. 18, 2023.
It created a re placement system in which prosecutors can petition judges to detain an individual based on the seriousness of the alle ged crime and the defendant’s dangerousness or risk of fleeing prosecution.
Before a judge can order detention, the state must prove “by clear and convincing evidence” that the defendant committed the crime, poses a specific threat to a person or the community and that no other pretrial conditions can mitigate the defendant’s risk.
The law also gives defendants a right to legal re presentation at their first court hearing, with the intention of making hearings more deliberative when an individual’s freedom is at stake as they await a full trial.
OSPS had completed more than 16,600 pretrial investigations since cash bail ended as of Friday, with just over 10,200 of them for defendants accused of a felony. As part of those investigations, the OSPS provides individual re ports about a defendant to judges, public defenders and prosecutors prior to a first appearance in court. The in-
vestigations usually include an interview with the defendant, a detailed criminal history, employment information and more.
The data showed that about 52% of cases that were subject to an OSPS pretrial investigation contained at least one offense considered “detainable” under the SAFET Act. As of Friday, prosecutors had petitioned the court to detain the defendant in 62% of those cases.
The fact that judges approved 63% of those petitions, Smith said, was evidence the system was working.
“If we would have seen 99% of detention petitions are granted, that would have been a red flag,” Smith said.
Smith also stressed that the statewide data only tells part of the story – countyand circuit-level data is just as important. The various circuit courts within OSPS’ jurisdiction had detention petition approval rates ranging from 48% to 84% as of Friday, though Smith pointed out percentages can be misleading, especially in smaller counties with low case volumes.
Four large c ounties that are not pa rt of the OSPS – C ook, DuPag e, K ane and McHenry – re po rt some level of pretria l d etention data individuall y. Detention p etitions as of F riday we re gr anted at a 38% rate in K ane C ounty, 41% in DuPag e
and 40% in McHenr y. Cook County, which has the highest volume of cases of any jurisdiction by far, broke down its data further, re porting that detention was granted for 61% of 93 petitions filed for misdemeanor cases as of June 8, 41% of 1,485 domestic violence cases, and 70% of 2,641 felony cases. Judges as of Friday had issued failure-toappear warrants in only 5% of 28,416 court dates in the 75 OSPS counties since cash bail was eliminated. But Olson – whose CCJ has been studying pretrial detention since before the SAFE-T Act’s passage – cautioned that those numbers could increase, as failure-to-appear warrants are most accurately accounted for once a case has concluded.
Hannah Meisel contributed.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primaril y by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCor mick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
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Proviso Math and Science Academy loses millions in fraudulent fund transfers
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
On June 24, the superintendent ofProviso Math and Science Academy called to report fraudulent transfers of funds, according to a police report. Officials said he told them an unknown offender, using the name Gilbane Building Company online, transferred over $949,000 on March 8 and $3.9 million on June 14 from the school. While Gilbane Building Company has a relationship with the school, the offender is not associated with the company, according to the police report Police said the superintendent was unable to provide them with information about how the transfers occurred but told officers he reported them to the FBI’s Chicago Field Division.
Aggravated assault
Police were dispatched June 25 to the Forest Park Blue Line station for reports of a woman threatening people with a box cutter. One man, who said she was harassing
him, had an altercation with the woman the day before, according to the police report, leading to officials trespassing him from the property for reportedly sexually harassing her. Police reported that the woman appeared to be under the influence ofalcohol June 25. Officers found the box cutter after multiple witnesses told them the woman was hiding it in her brassiere. She was charged with aggravated assault.
Burglary
■ A man living on Des Plaines Avenue reported a burglary to police June 26. His apartment was in disarray, according to the police report. The man told police he thought his neighbors burgled him, since he’s had previous incidents with them, although he didn’t tell police what those were Police reported that the man’s door frame was broken, displaying forced entry, and an estimated $4,000 worth ofshoes, jewelry and cash were stolen from his apartment.
■ Police received a call June 27 from a
BookFair
woman who said a man was attempting to get in her car, and she was holding him down. When police arrived at the scene around 1 a.m. in the 600 block ofLathrop Avenue, the woman told them that while walking to her car, she noticed a man in the passenger seat ofher neighbor’s car. The man told her he was detailing the vehicle, according to the police report. He was wearing the woman’s shoes and had a plastic bag of items she said belonged to her. The man was charged with burglary.
Suspicious circumstances
On June 27, a man left his apartment in the 300 block ofDes Plaines Avenue to find his next-door neighbor standing outside with an ax. Although the neighbor didn’t threaten the man with the ax, he said he accused him ofbreaking down his front door, according to the police report. The man and the building’s maintenance manager made the police report because they were worried the man’s future actions could become violent. The
man came into the police station on the same day to report that an unknown subject kicked his apartment’s door in and burglarized his home. He told police he approached his neighbor to ask ifhe saw anything and miscommunication led his neighbor to believe he was threatening him. The man also said he had Ring doorbell camera footage ofthe offender but refused to provide it before he became uncooperative and stopped answering questions, according to police
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated June 24 through June 30 and represent a portion ofthe incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race ofa suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed physical description ofthe suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.
D91 PTO makes record year with $21K in fundraising
A popcorn sale alone brought $6K to the PTO
By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter
The Forest Park D91 PTO marked its most successful year fundraising for the local community and D91 schools.
It raised $21,000, a roughly 45% increase from the $14,400 it raised the year before “This was a really successful year and we hope the trend c ontinues for next year,” said Rachelle Ernst, president of the PT O.
S he said a pa rt of the increase in suppo rt c ould be a result of the merger of the two district PTOs, wh ich o ccu rred a few years ago.
“Since then, we have combined into one organization that serves all of our schools,” Ernst said. “And through the fundraising of the community as the whole, I think that has greatly contributed to our success.”
T he PTO held a scholastic b ook fair, dine-out days, butter braid sales, as well as a Double Good f undraiser. A popcor n sale through that c ompany raised $12,000
PROVIDED BY D91 PTO Scholastic Book fair at Betsy Ross Elementary, Knox Marello (Kindergar ten)
alone – a record for the group. T he PT O rece ived half of the fund s.
“That is a lot of popcorn to sell,” Ernst said.
T he funds have been spent on supporting supplemental materials and activities such as birthday books for celebrating birthday kids at Betsy Ross Elementary, Garfield Primary Elementary and FieldStevenson Elementary School; reading specialist materials at Forest Park Middl e School; fifth-grade field-day shirts; student athlete hoodies; rewards closet restocks; and the FPMS sports banquet food, drinks and decorations.
Part of the money also pays for events, including the Betsy Ross ice cream social, color fun run, field game night, field multicultural night, staf f appreciation week, and the end-of-the-year volunteer party.
The PTO also spread support to other community organizations, including the Park District of Forest Park’s Fall Fest Vendor, Truck or Treat Candy, Holiday Lights on Beloit Avenue, Kiwanis Canned Food Drive participation, and the Brushes on the Bridge mural.
“We really want to be not only facing our D91 families, but also have a strong presence in the Forest Park community as well,” Ernst said.
“We are such a small community and such a small district that I think it’s important for people who might not know what we re present, it puts us on the map a little bit,” said Danielle Sobotka, vice president of the PTO.
“They get to see the positive things that come out of the school district … it is a really good way for the community to get involved and support the kids who live in their neighborhoods.”
PROVIDED BY D91 PTO Forest Park Middle School parents, Marissa Hubbard and Zoe Washington work at concessions table during home FPMS game
Consider our pets this 4th of July
We gotta talk about this birthday party of yours, America. The 4th of July, as holidays go, is fine. It’s nice to get a day off that is, for whatever reason, too sacrosanct to “observe” on a Monday unless it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. It’s nice to have a second midsummer holiday. There’s a whole lot of baggage to celebrating the day some people signed a piece of paper a long time ago that declared a bunch of things that applied to some people and not to other people, none of which is the point of this column. I also enjoy cooking food on the g rill. I’m not a monster
good chunk of one hand a few ears ago, and turn him into a national spokesman for the Why Would You Do This To Yourself? campaign, I have no idea. You buy a pack of cigarettes without someone giving you the stinkeye, but you can set of f a box of dynamite in your backyard and declare that you’re celebrating America? C’mon. Why don’t we just fire our automatic weapons in the air jubilantly? It’s not that different.
That being said: I think, at 248, it is high time for America to outg row throwing itself the same party every year. I have basically a three-part argument for this, most of which is probably going to be reasonably appealing to an audience from Forest Park, River Forest, and Oak Park so don’t stress about reading on.
Part 1: I am no longer sure how I feel about celebrating anything by giving the sensory impression that we are taking heavy enemy fire. Rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air and all that other outdated horsesh*t is a lot less funny when a firework goes off when you’re standing on the train platform and everyone thinks, “Is this it? Is it time to take shelter? Is it some kid with a black cat? If you heard the shot it didn’t hit you, right?”
I don’t leave a lot of space on this one for the things that are obviously too large to be small arms fire either, though I’m willing to entertain the argument that we are not yet into the car-bomb and suicidevest phase of declining civilization. I don’t know if we skipped that unit in Nation School or if we just like loud noises and the smell of cordite, but I gotta tell you I can think of better ways to celebrate then pretending that we are actually taking cannon fire.
Part 2: The risk of injuring oneself from fireworks would seem to take some of the excitement and joy out of the whole thing. Interspersed with all of the exploding around the 4th of July is a lot of sirens and some very crowded emergency rooms. Why we didn’t take Jason PierrePaul, the New York Giant who blew of f a
Part 3: All right, I’m going to confess that this is the part that makes me maddest. I had to pad out the rest of the column with Par ts 1 & 2 because I write about dogs often enough, but fireworks are inhumane. A decent country should not celebrate its birthday with lavish and prolonged acts of animal cruelty.
The number of tranquilizers I had to pour into my friend Leia so she could survive the 4th of July weekend with anything approaching sanity — even by the standards of a Staffy — is a dose that should give anybody pause. Hunter Thompson wouldn’t take this many drugs during a couple weeks in Vegas.
The de gree of misery that we visit on beloved friends who do not have the slightest idea 1) what is going on, 2) what Americ a is, and 3) why we celebrate its birthday by being mean to them is beyond even my ability to describe in metaphor. I understand that this is a nation that gives annual thanks for all of the blessings visited upon us by engaging in the greatest ritual animal slaughter in the history of the world (a slaughter in which I enthusiastically and greedily participate, mind you, this is not some sort of PETA screed), but doing something entirely optional that makes dogs beyond miserable is increasingly something I find unconscionable.
We’re hurting do gs, man! I should not have to coax my trembling bestie out from under the bed with cookies after a holiday weekend so we can go to the park. This is — there is no other expression for it — not OK.
I don’t want to be shrill with people who are setting off fireworks over their lack of safety or sense. Those frailties are their business. But I do want to go to them with video footage of cowering pets and say, “I just want you to know, this is what your ‘har mless fun’ is doing to my friend.”
OUR VIEW
Hoskins and the lobbyist
Mayor Rory Hoskins has more than a passing interest in growing his political career beyond the confines of Forest Park. Previously, he has run for the state representative seat that went to Illinois Speaker Chris Welch. Just last year, he came quite close to being appointed to the Cook County Board from the 1st District when Brandon Johnson was elected mayor of Chicago. He lost out when Johnson bigfooted Tara Stamps into that prime office.
Mayor Hoskins works his Democratic credentials assiduously and he is candid about the kick he got when he wound up in the Biden White House for an event.
We say good for Hoskins. Nothing wrong with ambition. Nothing wrong with working to rise in the ranks of your chosen profession. It all comes to mind when we try to figure out why it is so complicated for the full village council to receive ongoing and credible information from the village’s contracted lobbyist, GPG Strategies, aka Michael Axelrod, son of David Axelrod.
Last August, under proper pressure from Commissioner Jessica Voogd, Forest Park paused its $2,000-per-month payments to GPG pending the receipt of a detailed report from the contractor.
GPG sent a report to the council in October, which Voogd found to be more of a promotional piece than a detailed report on the issues Axelrod had been assigned by the village, the calls he made, the meetings he scheduled and the outcomes
After that, all went quiet with no further payments to GPG until late June, when the village’s routine bimonthly bill list included a $20,000 payment to Axelrod to catch up on paused payments over the past 10 months
Voogd rightly objected. When she attempted to pull the item off the check register, she got no support from her colleagues.
For his part, Hoskins says GPG has been effective and he lists a handful of successes he credits to Axelrod. That’s good. Forest Park needs outside help to finance its needs.
Our theory is that the politically-focused mayor wants to hold the lobbyist connection close because that brings him closer to regional and state politicians and agencies he enjoys rubbing elbows with. Nothing wrong with that except that it leaves taxpayers who pony up $2,000 a month in the dark regarding this vital aspect of local gover nance.
It is a bit of a vanity play on the part of Mayor Hoskins. Not his best look.
Focus on funerals
Mayor Hoskins, this time with the help of state Rep. La Shawn Ford, continues to focus on the genuine worries about high-risk funerals passing through the village. In mid-June, a town hall was held in Forest Park to gather input and seek solutions to what has been a chronic issue.
More traf fic cameras to record the license plates of bad actors is part of the solution to what is a vexing enforcement issue for police
In a village of cemeteries, this is a tough problem to fix
OPINION
The myth of independence
Tomorrow is Independence Day, the day in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress, our foundational document, which reads like a petition for dissolution of marriage.
Recently in this village we’ve had a string of events that, in one way or another, were celebrations of freedom.
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people were free. Sort of. Turns out they couldn’t actualize their freedom independently.
HOLMES
German Fest – Starting in 1820, more than six million people in “committed relationships” with Ger man-speaking countries left what they considered abusive situations — military conscription, economic hardship, religious persecution — and entered into a new committed relationship with the U.S. in which they believed they would have more liberty.
But the liberty they experienced in the new relationship could be frightening, isolating and uncomfortable, so they coped with their individualistic freedom by becoming joiners — committing themselves to vereine, such as dancing groups, associations, and churches where they spoke German and associated with people with the same values and cultural memories.
One of the predecessor cemeteries of Forest Home was named Wald Heim. The old peoples’ home was named Altenheim. German was spoken in St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s and St. John Lutheran churches for up to 80 years. The cornerstone of what is now St. Paul Thai Lutheran Church on Dixon Street reads, “Duetsche Evangelische Lutheranische Kirche 1899.”
Ger man Fest, among other things, is a celebration of belonging.
Pride Fest - When I was growing up I didn’t know any gay people, or at least I thought I didn’t, because 99% were in the closet. I wonder if they even admitted to each other that they were attracted to the same sex. Those who did functioned under the social radar.
Times have changed. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, 7.2% of U.S. adults openly identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than heterosexual.
But the pioneers enabling the change didn’t do it alone.
In 1924, Henry Gerber founded the first gay rights organization in America: The Society for Human Rights. Harry Hay and others organized the Matta-
chine Society in 1950. Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin founded the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, the first lesbian rights organization in the U.S.
Erich Krumrei organized the first Pride Fest in Forest Park by himself in 2022, but this year the celebration of LGBTQ+ rights and culture was also hosted by OPALGA+ (Oak Park Area Gay and Lesbian Alliance) and the village of Forest Park Freedom, it turns out, is hardly ever a solely independent achievement.
The members of the Progress Center for Inde pendent Living are dependent on personal care givers or technological aids or ADA laws enabling mobility. Progress in the disability community is never purely inde pendent. Indeed. Since I was diagnosed with my progressive disorder in 1997, my independence days have decreased significantly. My personal narrative was once one of increasing independence. Now at 76 years old with a disability, that myth has been tur ned inside out and upside down.
Business owners in town resist gover nment re gulations on the one hand but on the other hand lobby for zoning re gulations, breaks that promote business, and 160 members voluntarily pay dues to the nonprofit Chamber of Commerce to do what they cannot do independently.
One issue in the upcoming presidential election will be the size of gover nment, whether gover nments, for example, should be able to mandate mask wearing or vaccine immunization or not. Freedom for MAGAS means not being required to get a vaccine. Freedom for Progressives means not catching COVID from someone who hasn’t been vaccinated.
Or take a look at the issue of immigration. The surge at the border is motivated by millions longing for freedom from violence and poverty and striving to gain freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness
At first, most of us in this progressive lifestyle enclave were in favor of welcoming the stranger — in the abstract — until it be gan to affect our lifestyle in ter ms of village budgets We had to choose, increase our charity, which meant increasing our taxes or telling those freedom seekers that they had to leave Freedom, as they say, isn’t free. How willing are we to put our money where our mouth is?
It’s partly a spiritual issue. According to my worldview, love includes the freedom, at least temporarily, to give up some of my individual freedom so that others with less can have more.
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My wife and I visited Washington D.C. for the first time recently to soak up the sights. Among them was a statue I’ve researched and written about for decades but had never seen. The trip filled me with patriotism.
The patriotism of protest
When I say patriotism, I don’t mean it simply as flag-waving, although I love that form. I enjoy ceremonies celebrating our national holidays, be it Veterans Day, Labor Day, or the 4th of July. When we lived on Beloit Avenue, I blasted patriotic music for the people walking back from the fireworks. There is plenty of this kind of patriotism on display in D.C. Democracy is endangered, though, when we define patriotism as only an uncritical love for our country. This happened in the ’50s when a house committee condemned citizens for being “Un-American.” It occurred again in the ’60s, when the slogan was, “America – Love it or Leave it.” It’s happening today, when leaders equate patriotism with blind nationalism.
No American has a monopoly on patriotism. Patriotism can be volunteering for community service, or enlisting in the military. Voting is a simple act of patriotism. Patriotism means supporting active-duty soldiers, as well as veterans
It can also mean protesting what we believe is an unjust war
A group of us from Forest Park held up signs on Eisenhower Expressway overpasses, criticizing the Iraq War.
Dissent is a time-honored expression of patriotism. The slogan on D.C. license plates is “Taxation Without Representation.” It is a protest of the esidents’ lack of voting rights and a call for statehood. Dissent was displayed in mini-protests across the capitol.
We didn’t go to D.C. to see protests, though, we went to view the magnificent memorials that honor our history. These iconic monuments made me feel like I was in a movie — “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” to be precise. I felt like naïve, idealistic Senator Jefferson Smith when he saw the monuments for the first time.
We started with the World War II Memorial, which honors the conflict in which both our fathers fought. Beyond this was the Capitol Reflecting Pool, which evoked memories of Martin Luther King.
At the Lincoln Memorial, I got choked up reading Lincoln’s simple but stirring words. When a young dad recited the Gettysburg Address to his son, I turned away to keep from losing my composure.
The MLK Memorial, carved from rough-
A LOOK BACK IN TIME
hewn granite, reminded me of Stone Mountain, Georgia, which King cited in his “I Have a Dream Speech.”
Next was the FDR Memorial, depicting Roosevelt in his wheelchair. It’s massive, chronicling his four ter ms as president. Finally, we came to the Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson never said, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” But he did say, “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing for America.”
We had one more destination: The Death of Cleopatra statue in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum.
When we found her, I could see that Cleopatra had been through an ordeal. Though she has been magnificently restored, there are still signs of the wear and tear she suffered during her 70 years in Forest Park.
The statue is dissent in stone. Edmonia Lewis depicted the death of an African queen, who had been betrayed by powerful men. It echoed Edmonia’s betrayal by her college classmates and the racial prejudice she endured throughout her life.
When we returned to our hotel, a young girl was singing “This Land is Your Land” to her little brother. Woody Guthrie wrote that song as a protest against “God Bless America.” The beauty of our democracy is that we can sing either song to show our love for America.
Comings and goings in Harlem
The town of Harlem, which was incorporated in 1884, included today’s Forest Park and areas of River
The Harlem Post was a local German weekly newspaper for Harlem’s German population. According to the publisher, a German weekly was necessary because Harlem, based on its population at the time, “is considered the most German settlements in Illinois, because the German papers do not reach this area, and because most residents are not able to understand the English papers.” Its first edition was published on Sept. 12, 1895.
T he Ju ly 9, 1896 e dition included the following local news:
■ The Harlem Volunteer Fire Department is planning lively pick nick for Sunday, August 9th at Gaden’s Gr
■ Ferdinand Knipping, a brother of Chas. Knipping on dinand Avenue, arrived in Harlem from Germany the before last.
■ Theodor Geife will be taking over Henry Thiele’
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Published in Forest Park Review June 19, 26, July 3, 2024
EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.
e Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.
is newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis. Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.
To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-6699777.
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the Village of Oak Park, on behalf of Housing Forward, is applying for the final round of CDBG-CV funds in the amount of $637,166 to help fund rehabilitation activities of the St. Catherine of Sienna - St. Lucy rectory building located at 38 N. Austin, Oak Park, Il 60302, which is the site of Housing Forward’s emergency overnight shelter.
On March 27th, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to directly address the impacts of COVID-19. As part of the CARES Act, Congress appropriated $5 billion to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for allocation to cities and states through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The State of Illinois has been allocated $70,753,404 of these CARES Act CDBG funds (CDBG-CV funds). CDBG-CV funds must be utilized to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. The grant application is available for public review and comment during business hours MondayFriday, effective July 5th to July 12th, 2024 at the Oak Park Village Hall, Neighborhood Services Department, 123 Madison; on the Village grants webpage; and at the Oak Park Public Library, Main Branch, 834 Lake Street. Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities and non-English speaking persons, as needed.
Any comments concerning this grant application can be submitted in writing to Vanessa Matheny, Grants Manager, at grants@oak-park.us, as well as at the CDBG-CV Application Public Hearing to be held at Oak Park Village Hall, room 101, from 3:30-5:00 p.m. on July 12, 2024.
Published in Wednesday Journal July 3, 2024
PUBLIC NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF RULES AND REGULATIONSOF THE ENTRY LEVEL APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS
The Entry Level Appointment Committee of the Village of Oak Park, Illinois adopted Rules and Regulations for Fire Department entry level appointments on June 27, 2024. The Rules and Regulations may be obtained at the Human Resources Department, Village of Oak Park, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302 during the regular business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Rules and Regulations shall take effect ten (10) days from the date of publication of this notice.
Published in Wednesday Journal July 3, 2024
PUBLIC NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE ENTRY LEVEL APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS
The Entry Level Appointment Committee of the Village of Oak Park, Illinois adopted Rules and Regulations for Police Department entry level appointments on June 27, 2024. The Rules and Regulations may be obtained at the Human Resources Department, Village of Oak Park, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302 during the regular business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Rules and Regulations shall take effect ten (10) days from the date of publication of this notice.
Published in Wednesday Journal July 3, 2024
