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GROWING COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY JOURNAL, INC.

ForestParkReview.com

Vol. 101, No. x

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F O R E S T PA R K

REVIEW JUNE 20, JUNE 20, 2018

Auxiliary officer with stolen gun didn’t secure pistol, police chief says PAGE 4

Diversity head talks Pride in Forest Park PAGE 5

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D209 board approves new superintendent contract Rodriguez offered 5-year contract in 4-3 vote By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

The Proviso Township High Schools District 209 school board approved a five-year contract for Supt. Jesse Rodriguez during a contentious regular meeting on June 12 that could prove ominous, with some people referencing allegations of racist hiring and workplace practices lodged against the administration to argue why the school board should vote the contract down. The board voted 4-3 in favor of Rodriguez’s new contract. Board members Rodney Alexander, Claudia Medina, Ned Wagner and Sam Valtierrez voted for it, while Theresa Kelly, Amanda Grant and Della Patterson voting against it. The new contract, which extends from the June 20, 2018-19 to the 2022-23 school years, entails gradual salary increases over the next five academic years. Starting next school year, Rodriguez will collect a base salary of $228,960, which will gradually grow to $257,648 by 2023. Currently, Rodriguez makes a base salary of $234,090, according to district records. Board members who voted for the contract said that it was the result of a painstaking sixSee SUPERINTENDENT on page 11

Submitted photo

HEAVY WEIGHT: Arthur and Joseph Dierickx support elephants as part of their “strongman” circus act

One who survived the Great Circus Train Wreck Hagenbeck-Wallace disaster occurred 100 years ago this week By JOHN RICE Contributing Reporter

The Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918 occurred 100 years ago on June 22, 1918. The focus of the centennial has been on the 56 members of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus who are buried in the mass grave at Showmen’s Rest in Woodlawn Cemetery. However, thanks to the efforts of family historian, Michael Dierickx and his nephew, Drew Badger, the life and legacy of survivor, Joseph Dierickx has been brought to light. Joseph Filbert Dierickx was a member of

“The Great Dierickx Brothers” strongman act. The trio included his brother, Arthur and Max Freehand. Their signature stunt was to support a bridge with their legs, while elephants walked across it. The three were asleep on the circus train, when an empty troop train smashed into the rear cars. Arthur and Max were killed and Joseph Dierickx was thrown from the car. The wreckage was quickly engulfed in flames. Brakeman Oscar Timm pulled the unconscious Dierickx to safety. He remained unconscious for 30 hours, while he was treated at St. Antonio’s Hospital

in Gary, having suffered a skull fracture and multiple fractures to his jaw and leg. He was temporarily paralyzed on one side. The first face he saw when he awoke was his nurse, Marie Jones. The crash coincided with Dierickx’s 33rd birthday. He had been born in Belgium on June 22, 1885. His last name is common there and he later Americanized the pronunciation to “Derricks.” In 1906, Dierickx left his family to serve as a “captain’s boy” on a steamer sailing between Antwerp and America. Part of his job was to protect the captain. See CIRCUS on page 1

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