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RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD Also serving North Riverside $1.00

Vol. 33, No. 5

January 31, 2018

Top spot Riverside woman named chair of tourism agency board PAGE 5

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Flu outbreak shutters Komarek School PAGE 3

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Brookfield recognized as solar friendly PAGE 8

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N. Riverside denied appeal on labor ruling

BRUSHING UP: Heather Kadlec’s career as an educator came to a sudden end after a stroke in 2011. After years of therapy, she has turned to art – painting water colors that she now sells at area stores.

If two sides can’t work deal, fire contract will go to arbitrator By BOB UPHUES Editor

Next stop for the village of North Riverside and its union firefighters: either the negotiating table or an appearance before a labor arbitrator. The village ran out of legal avenues to force the unilateral termination of union firefighters when the Illinois Supreme Court on Jan. 22 announced that it had denied North Riverside’s petition to appeal an appellate court ruling upholding an Illinois Labor Relations Board decision on the matter. Back in September 2017, the Illinois Court of Appeals upheld the labor board’s ruling that the village had committed an unfair labor practice by seeking to terminate its contract with union firefighters while that contract was subject to arbitration. Village Attorney Burt Odelson, however, convinced officials to petition the Illinois SuSee APPEAL on page 10

ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer

After stroke, former D95 teacher finds joy in art Heather Kadlec forges new path after being stricken at 41

By TOM HOLMES

U

Contributing Reporter

p until seven years ago, Heather Kadlec had created a good life for herself. An all-state tennis player in high school, she remained physically active as an adult, had earned two master’s degrees. She

was a beloved teacher at S.E. Gross Middle School in Brookfield who worked her way up to curriculum director in BrookfieldLaGrange Park District 95. Then, in 2011, she suffered a stroke that severely limited her ability to talk, read and write. Kadlec, who lives in Forest Park, was just 41 years old. Her story is one of grieving the loss of her past life and creating a

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new one for herself with the help of many allies. Emergency room doctors at Rush Oak Park Hospital took several hours to determine what was happening because, at 41, she just didn’t fit the prototype of a person experiencing an ischemic stroke, which See KADLEC on page 15

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