WednesdayJournal_010417 by Wednesday Journal

W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

January 4, 2017 Vol. 35, No. 20 ONE DOLLAR

@O @OakPark

Oak Park candidates face petition challenges Three trustee and three clerk candidates face challenges By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter

Oak Park homeowner and accounts director at a digital marketing agency to a citizen activist and now a local politician — although he probably spurns that last label. He was at a local Starbucks one Saturday when a fellow Oak Parker, Mike Poirier, approached him about signing

Half of the candidates running for public office in the April 2017 municipal election in Oak Park are facing challenges to their nominating petitions. That includes the three candidates backed by the Village Manager Association (VMA). Three village trustee candidates – Glenn Brewer, Peter Barber and Emily Masalski – and three for village clerk – Mas Takiguchi, Elia Gallegos and Lori Malinski – have been challenged by Oak Park resident Kevin Peppard. Challenges similar to Peppard’s against Brewer, Barber and Malinski were brought by former village trustee Robert Milstein and against Masalski by George Lazewski. Peppard said in a telephone interview that he is not working with any other candidates and that he filed the six challenges independently because of his interest in enforcing the election code. “I don’t know who most of the people are, and I don’t have a dog in this fight,” he said. He said there is no authority in the state to challenge nominating petitions if there are irregularities in the signature gathering process and likened himself to a referee in a boxing match.

See SHEEHAN on page 13

See ELECTION CHALLENGE on page 14

WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer

STILL PETITIONING: Monica Sheehan, pictured in front of Oak Park and River Forest High School on Dec. 17. Sheehan, a married mother of two, has been a growing force in local school politics.

Villager of the Year: Monica Sheehan Sheehan’s Pragmatic Pool Solutions could be a force for years to come

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

Monica Sheehan, a former television news reporter and media professional, has been the guiding force behind the defeat of not one, but two multimilliondollar, publicly-funded construction plans and has inspired three people to run for local office, but she’d rather not

talk about herself, she said in a recent inter2016 view, deflecting attenVILLAGER tion to a core team of of the at least two dozen volunteers like Jack DaYEAR vidson. Davidson remembers vividly the day in November 2015 when his identity began to slowly change from

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happy th 100 birthday! To our sister paper, the Forest Park Review.

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I N S I D E

R E P O R T

Sugar Beet Schoolhouse gets new digs The Sugar Beet Food Co-op, 812 Madison St., has announced that its affiliated non-profit educational organization, Sugar Beet Schoolhouse, will be making a new home in River Forest Kitchen, 349 Ashland Ave., in 2017. “In addition to expanding our cooking classes and workshops in this beautiful space, we will offer new classes on food growing and sustainability in our greenhouse as well as host community events, private parties and more,” Cheryl Munoz, founder and executive director of Sugar Beet Schoolhouse, said in a press release. In 2016, the schoolhouse provided afterschool food education programs; collaborated with Hephzibah Children’s

Association, Oak Park Education Foundation and the Park District of Oak Park to offer cooking and gardening programs; established youth culinary programs at River Forest Kitchen; partnered with Autre Monde restaurant in Berwyn to create family dinner events; and donated over 900 pounds of fresh produce to the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry. Class listing for the upcoming year are available at www.sugarbeetschoolhouse.squarespace.com/events.

Timothy Inklebarger

Responding to Trump

The New Year has arrived and along with it Oak Parkers and the rest of the country will soon have a new president in the White House. The opposition to President-elect Donald J. Trump is beginning to take shape in the form of a community meeting on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. in the Veterans Room of the Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake St. The meeting was organized by Oak Park residents Ruth Rankin and her husband Steve Parker. Rankin said in a telephone interview that the meeting will be held in conjunction with similar meetings across the country sponsored by the progressive advocacy organization Moveon.org. Rankin said the meeting aims to bring together concerned residents to “talk about responding effectively to the

Real.

SUA candidate forum

Trump presidency.” “This will be an opportunity to find ways to get involved and harness fear and anxiety into action, to affirm shared

Local. Community.

ews. N

values of tolerance, social and economic justice, and peace in the global community,” Rankin said in an email.

The Suburban Unity Alliance (SUA) is launching the 2017 election season with a candidate forum in the Veterans Room of the Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake St., from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The event aims to introduce candidates running in the April 4 Consolidated Elections for the Oak Park Board of Trustees, village clerk, village president, school boards and library board, according to a SUA press release. “The objective is to provide the Oak Park community with an opportunity to meet and engage with candidates in conscious dialogue aimed at shaping the community,” Anthony Clark, founder and director of SUA, said in the press release. The forum will give audience members the opportunity to ask candidates questions. Following the Q&A, attendees will be given more time to informally speak to candidates.

Say “WednesdayJournal Breaking News Email Updates” three times fast! Join the community today at OakPark.com

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January 4-11

BIG WEEK Photo exhibit reception

Sunday, Jan. 8, 3-5 p.m., Oak Park Public Library: Reception for Michael Bracey’s Caras lindas de Colombia: Africans Within the Americas photo exhibit. See photographs of his exploration of South America’s Afro-Colombian population. 834 Lake St.

MLK film festival

More Than a Month events presents the Martin Luther King Jr. Film Festival from Jan. 4-18 at the Main Library, 834 Lake St., marking the 31st anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and celebrating King’s life and the legacy of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Oak Park Public Library’s Veterans Room. Wednesday, Jan. 4: Unchained Memories: Readings From the Slave Narratives (2004, 75 min.), 6-8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7: Malcolm X (1992, PG, 202 min.), 1-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11: Selma (2014, PG-13, 128 min.), 2-4 pm. See the full schedule at oppl.org/more.

The 12th Twelfth Sunday, Jan. 8 at 4 p.m., Pilgrim Congregational Church: The combined choirs of Grace Episcopal, United Lutheran, First United, Pilgrim, and Unity Temple will present the 12th Annual Twelfth Night Concert at Pilgrim Congregational, 460 Lake St. Free will donation is requested for admission. Visit www.office@pilgrimoakpark.org for more.

Play and a Pint Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m., Connolly’s Public House: Festival Theatre’s “Play + A Pint”series continues with a reading of The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn. Doors open at 5 p.m. for early-bird seating and dining. Tickets are $12 at the door or online at oakparkfestival.com. 1109 South Blvd., Oak Park.

Courage to Quit Tuesday, Jan. 10, 17 and 24 from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Rush Medical Office Building, Suite 2000: The Courage to Quit program at Rush Oak Park Hospital, designed by the Respiratory Health Association and led by a respiratory therapist at Rush, can help you meet your smoke-free goals. Topics covered include addiction and withdrawal, quit smoking medicines, managing cravings and avoiding triggers as well as the health benefits of quitting. To register, call 708-660-4636 or visitroph.org/ calendar. 610 S. Maple Ave., in Oak Park.

Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’

Education and advocacy

Sunday, Jan. 8 at 3 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Oak Park: Vivaldi’s Gloria will be performed with professional soloists, a chamber orchestra and the Good Shepherd choir to close out the Christmas season. A reception will follow. Good Shepherd (www.GoodShepherdLC.org) is located at 611 Randolph, corner of East and Randolph, in Oak Park. There is no admission fee, but free-will donations to support the music program are appreciated. All are welcome.

Sunday, Jan. 8 from 1:30 to 3 p.m., Oak Park Public Library: The National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) will hold its Education and Advocacy Series on Sundays from Jan. 8 to March 12. The first presentation is Jan. 8 by Joe Monahan, who will speak on “Navigating HIPAA and Other Confidentiality Laws.” The series is co-sponsored by the Community Mental Health Board of Oak Park Township and the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. For more call 708-524-2582 x101 or email info@namimetsub.org.

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ART BEAT

Playing the ‘demon barber’ in the All-State Show

digger to a lunatic in an insane asylum. By MICHELLE DYBAL “This group is passionate because we know Contributing Reporter what an honor it is to be part of this production,” said Krueger. “Everyone gives their he Theatre Department at OPRF utmost at every rehearsal.” High School stages more than a Giving their utmost also means the playdozen shows each school year — from ers wear more than one hat throughout musicals with 100-plus cast and crew, the production. At the first rehearsals in to smaller student-directed producAugust, OPRF senior Flynn Osman, who is tions. But when they take their talents on on crew for hair and makeup, worked on set the road, stars are born. Four OPRF students are part of the state’s building. For dress rehearsals and the pertop theatrical production, the All-State formance at the festival, the actors apply Show, at the Illinois High School Theatre their own stage makeup. “There are 34 actors and only six of us in Festival. In its 42nd year, the festival is attended by more than 4,000 students, teach- hair and makeup, so we had to teach the acers, and others, and consists of workshops, tors to do their own makeup,” Osman said. She and the team created individual high school photo templates and deshows, and more. scriptions for the styles OPRF has been particiso the actors could apply pating since it began and their looks. This crew also 25 students are attending assists with wig and costhis week from Jan. 5-7 at tume changes. “There is the University of Illinois so much going on in this Champaign-Urbana. This show. There are a lot of year’s All-State producquick fixes, such as a shoe tion, and festival highbreaking because they’re light, is Stephen Sondold, or an actor may come heim’s Sweeny Todd, The rushing over for help.” Demon Barber of Fleet Another challenge is the Street, a three-hour-long music itself. musical. “Anyone who knows Tryouts for the All-State Sondheim’s music knows Show began last June Provided how difficult it is,” said with actors auditioning and crew submitting OPRF senior Grant Reynolds as Michelle Bayer, Performing Arts Department samples such as lighting Sweeney Todd. chair and director of thedesigns and makeup from ater at OPRF, “and Sweeprevious productions. “The audition process was long and ney Todd is almost all music.” The actors find the music, along with othtough,” said OPRF senior Grant Reynolds. “There was a plethora of forms. Then at the er challenges, are ways to experience being first audition, there were 60 kids preparing in a show on a more professional level. “Sondheim is a mad genius. The music is and it was terrifying. When I got called in, I messed up.” Reynolds received a call-back hard to tackle,” said Krueger. “It’s a horror nonetheless. He tried out for two lead roles show with mature subject matter, blood on but could also be selected for the ensemble. stage, and five moving platforms. It’s inspirWhen the list came out showing who would ing to be part of this.” For Reynolds, the character he plays preplay each role, Reynolds received the news sented the biggest challenge. from a friend who congratulated him. “Sweeny Todd is loosely based on a real “I didn’t know what for,” he recalled, “and then I saw the list. I couldn’t speak and I person so to understand him, a murderer, was in tears!” Reynolds was cast as Swee- and put his life in perspective was difficult,” he said. “Also I thought portraying strong ney Todd. Students are selected from across the chemistry with the other actors with this state. Up to five from each school may par- type of story and because we didn’t know ticipate. Multiple rehearsals occur over each other would be hard, but we all got long weekends to prepare everyone for five close right away.” Also part of the production is junior BriJanuary performances put on during the three-day festival. Some rehearsal days go an Gallagher who is on the lighting crew. Krueger also appeared in 2016’s All-State as long as 13 hours. OPRF junior Drew Krueger, an ensemble Show, Rent. In the lead of that show — OPRF member, plays four characters and makes student Max Gonzalez — is now a musical five costume changes, ranging from a grave- theater major at New York University.

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A long year beating cancer

e realized the other night that we really don’t remember Christmas a year ago. We know it happened. We know we participated in some ways. There was a tree. Some uninspired presents. Always family. But as Mary worked quietly this Christmas Eve to make the nativity scene on the sideboard in our dining room, she backed into the realization of why she had put off one of her favorite Christmas projects for so long. A year ago, putting up the nativity had been the very last thing she did, in a rush and in a distracting haze, on the morning of the day we left for the hospital for her breast cancer surgery. You head out the door on a day like that with such trepidation and also with a naivete that makes it possible to put a foot in front of the other. But that naivete you will come to resent as it feels consciously crafted by multiple skilled doctors and otherwise wonderful nurses who knew better but were sworn to silence. Surely your lives are about to change enormously and forever. More for Mary than me, but also for me. And for us. There is the trauma of the surgery, the shock of the amputation, the ragged wounds, the indignity of the little plastic bulbs hanging from the wounds to siphon off, oh my god, whatever it was that was draining. The debilitating weariness of chemo every three weeks. And then the pounding radiation every day for six weeks more, the tiny tattoos added to the scarred chest to allow the pinpointing of the laser. Who the hell knew about the tiny tattoos? Weeks go by. And months. Hair falls out and then you proactively shave it all off, confronting that irrational fear of Mary’s that her Cassidy skull was somehow oddly misshapen. It wasn’t. It was lovely. Even sexy. You buy knit caps to “protect” just who? And then there is the spring day when the deck is re-opened for business, the sun is warm and the

Submitted photo

cap comes off, it is all bald and all dear and all lovely. And if the neighbors glance out a window, it is fine. It is real. Strength gathers. Very gradually, better days more than worse days. And there is gratitude and even an appetite. It feels more like a cancer accident averted than just the train wreck of the treatment. Hair sprouts and it is lovely, soft, salt-and-pepper. And you look younger, gone white and grey, than with any combination of the determined coloring of years past. We’ve been married 41 years. Just crazy. But that long. That’s a lot of sidelong glances. And to our daughter’s feigned horror and amusement, a lot of canoodling and whispering in ears for both intimacy and creeping hearing loss. It’s a lot of storms and a lot of grace. It’s many fewer days ahead than behind. All of that is clarifying. Now healed, I see Mary’s scarred chest as that of a warrior. I see strength and grit. I see spirit and connection. And together — with some urgency, some regrets — and with great hope, we see many possibilities. There is nothing like time. Nothing like enduring. Nothing like being there. Every day.

DAN HALEY

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H O W

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Wednesday Journal is published weekly by Wednesday Journal, Inc. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302-2901. Periodical rate postage paid at Oak Park, Illinois (USPS No. 0010-138). In-county subscription rate is $32 per year, $57 for two years. Annual out-of-county rate is $40. © 2016 Wednesday Journal, Inc. 12/7/16 1:16 PM

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

OPRF school board approves $3.2 million for improvement projects By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

During their Dec. 22 regular meeting, members of the Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 Board of Education approved spending $3.2 million for capital improvements next summer, including the replacement of air handlers, sump and ejector pumps, windows and doors dating from the 1890s, and electrical wiring, among other improvements. The board awarded a contract to Madison Construction Company, which submitted a roughly $2 million bid for the completion of those base projects. That was the cheapest of eight bids that were submitted. The board also approved seven alternate projects that include the installation of new security cameras and a baseball backstop, in addition to the replacement of hot water

heaters. The board’s process for approving summer construction projects usually starts the year before the work begins. Last May, the board approved a budget of $4.7 million for next summer’s capital work. “We go through a lengthy process of coming up with drawings,” said Robert Zummallen, the district’s supervisor of construction, in an interview with Wednesday Journal about the approval process last summer. “The bid process usually opens before Thanksgiving in November.” CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

d e Of an th m h iN l r Pa u yo

District 200 approves summer construction

Ev Er Ev Oa yt O Er k P hin ak y a g Pa on rk rk E

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2017: Stop Wishing, Start Doing with the Park District of Oak Park

he start of a new year is the most popular time of year for making resolutions about fitness and wellness. While many start the year with the best of intentions, resolutions often fail to get off the ground or fall by the wayside in a matter of weeks. The Park District of Oak Park (PDOP) wants to help you turn those resolutions into reality, and the Park District’s adult fitness programming is designed to help residents of every fitness level stop wishing and start doing. Program Supervisor Laura Greeley says that the New Year is a perfect time to reassess and look ahead. “The New Year affords us the perfect opportunity to reflect on our previous successes and also set goals for the upcoming year.” She recommends setting goals for resolution milestones since most people are motivated by rewards. “For example, if your goal is to lose twenty pounds, focus your efforts on achieving this goal five pounds at a time. Celebrate your

success with the first five pounds lost, then chase the next five. This will keep you motivated to achieve the larger goal, and who knows, you may end up losing forty five pounds or deciding you can conquer that 10k.” Emphasizing that health is a journey not a sprint, Greeley says it is important to understand that change takes time and effort. “Allowing and planning for inevitable bumps in the road and having a strong support system by your side can help you along the way. The Park District of Oak Park takes pride in building community in our classes. Community acts as a natural support system to keep you enthused about your progress. Our passionate instructors take pride in motivating and celebrating our members’ accomplishments, regardless of their goals.” The PDOP offers programming for all fitness levels to help members meet their New Year’s resolutions. Class size ranges from ten to fifteen people to allow instructors to customize each class and assist with technique correction to ensure that members have a safe and effective workout each class. There is something for everyone at the Park District. The 2017 schedule has grown to over fifty- five classes each week, ranging from total body conditioning classes such as Body Pump™, Cardio HIIT, Cycle Circuit, Kettleworx, Pilates, Barre and POUND® to dance formats Zumba® and Werq®, with yoga classes for the mind/body connection. The PDOP offers fitness classes at convenient locations throughout Oak Park at the Ridgeland Common Recreation

Complex (415 Lake St.) the Gymnastics and Recreation Center (21 Lake St.) Stevenson Center (45 Lake St.) as well as the Austin Gardens Environmental Education Center (167 Forest Ave.) and upstairs in the Fitness studios at the Dole Center (255 Augusta St.). Class times vary to allow workouts when it suits your schedule. Morning classes begin as early as 5:45 a.m. for those who want to get in a workout before heading to work. For those who prefer to hit the snooze button, classes are held throughout the day until 8:15 p.m. Greeley says the Park District has also adjusted class formats to offer more thirty and forty-five minute options to accommodate busy schedules. The PDOP offers flexible pricing options that make it easy to find a schedule that works for your budget. The most popular pass offers unlimited classes for $45 a month. There are also drop-in class options which allow members to pay by the class. With no joining fees or extra fees for specialty classes, the PDOP makes it easy to get the most for your money. If you’re ready to stop wishing and start doing in 2017, visit www.pdop.org/fitness for complete information on Adult Fitness Programming.

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2016 VILLAGER of THE YEAR FOR OAK PARK

SHEEHAN

and the school board pulled their intent to issue the bonds and decided to go back and look at the issue, that’s when we decided to change the name.” from page 1 Kleinman’s husband Bruce, a medical doctor, said that he was a petition in order to force a conattracted to the acronym PPS, bestruction plan approved by the cause it was one of the ways he District 200 school board onto could remember the name. the ballot the following March. “That stands for PostperiThe plan called for funding a cardiotomy syndrome,” Bruce $37.5 million swimming pool at Kleinman said, referring to an Oak Park and River Forest High immune system complication School with $17.5 million of nonstemming from heart surgery, bereferendum working cash bonds. fore he explained what prompted “Mike handed me a clipboard him to take action. with no signatures on it because “I was enraged,” he said, his there was no one else there,” said face turning red (“blood presDavidson, during an interview last sure!” shouted one of his colmonth inside the Oak Park home leagues, alluding to the PPS refof Doug Springer. Both will run for erence), “when they went around the D200 school board in April, the the citizens with their backdoor first time either has run for office. referendum. I felt that that was “I was his very first a voting rights issue. signature and he told That was avoiding the me something that stuck electorate. It was legal, with me. He said that but unethical.” this isn’t about the pool, “When the petition it’s about the process, came out to put the and it’s about having pool on the referenour voices heard in the dum, I began following community, which is the letter-writing comwhat’s important. Bements,” said Marty cause we haven’t had the Bernstein. “Monica is opportunity to do that.” MONICA SHEEHAN a beautiful writer.” Davidson, along In addition to critiwith Springer, would cizing what the group eventually lead the described as D200’s marketing effort in the lack of transparency group’s attempt to force the plan and openness to community diato a vote, an action that was ulti- logue, the group also advocated mately successful. for a cheaper swimming pool opThe group of volunteers were able tion, which wasn’t on the ballot to drum up over 4,000 signatures. Af- during the Nov. 8 election, when ter surviving a petition challenge, the voters decided on whether or not construction plan seemed headed for to partially fund the $44.5 million the ballot in March before the school plan with up to $25 million in refboard withdrew its plan to issue the erendum bonds. bonds and hit the reset button on the The ballot measure failed by process of replacing the high school’s just 28 votes, prompting the distwo, nearly 90-year-old pools. trict to extend something of an By the time the district went olive branch with the approval of back to the drawing board and a new community engagement selected an alternative $44.5 mil- and outreach committee that lion, five-year facilities plan — would be more comprehensive which called for the demolition than the pool committees that of the 300-space parking garage had formed in the past — at least and the construction of a $21.4 three since 2012, according to one million, 25-yard by 40-meter D200 official’s rough count. swimming pool and a brand new At a Dec. 13 special board meet240-space garage to replace the ing, then-interim Supt. Joylynn existing village-owned garage — Pruitt-Adams said the district Sheehan’s opposition movement should “take a step back because had settled on a name, D200 Prag- for us it’s not just about a pool. matic Pool Solutions. It’s about academic program“The original name when we ming, it’s about equity, it’s about first started was Petition for Ref- having facilities that are going erendum,” said Maureen Klein- to support the next generation man. “That was a year ago. Once of learners in terms of labs that that whole issue was resolved support the new national science

Leading the opposition

“We think the core mission of the high school is academics.”

standards and technology [that we can] take a step further.” The new move may be genuine, PPS members argued, but the now permanent superintendent’s efforts won’t be enough to overcome the status quo. “I think she’s been handcuffed already,” said Davidson. “The board wants control over financial aspects, intended outcomes and the process. Her approach is right, but the board significantly handicaps her.” Critics of PPS have said that the group has significantly downplayed years of public discussion and community engagement that’s already been put forth on the pool. Since 2012, according to one district official’s estimate, there have been at least three different pool committees, two longterm facilities planning processes and countless public hearings on the district’s various pool plans. Sheehan’s group also effectively labeled proponents of the spending project as “the pool lobby” and characterized them as elitists seeking funding for a very narrow sporting use. District 200 board President Jeff Weissglass, who insisted that he was speaking for himself and not for the board, said he believes that Sheehan “touched an important concern in Oak Park and River Forest around the amount of our property taxes and the cost of the proposed pool and facilities project. “Our community faces a real dilemma as we work to both maintain our economic diversity and provide the level of services and facilities that make our community such a great place to live,” he said. “The board and district have been studying these facilities issues extensively over the last three years with numerous opportunities for community input. The virtual tie in the referendum provided little additional guidance and I continue to believe that the solutions suggested by the Vote No group are not sufficient.” Sheehan said her group’s mission is succinct. “I think everything we have been working on is for the greater good of every student at the high school,” she said. “We think the core mission of the high school is academics and we think the expenditures should be aligned with that mission.” CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

Villager of the Year honorable mentions James Taglia

Company LLC and Wood Partners were the developers of the project – and public officials. But it was Glazier who has been working on the Vantage project since at least 2007. Glazier and his former development firm Sertus Capital Partners purchased the property – formerly the site of a grocery store and pancake restaurant – in 2006. His first proposal was for a 13-story, 208-unit condo building. Under pressure from village hall, the project changed to become a 20-story, 140-room hotel with 89 luxury condominiums. But Sertus was unable to secure financing for the development after the financial crash of 2008. Glazier kept pushing the project through its various permutations until it was finally accomplished.

It’s been a busy year for Oak Park Township Trustee Jim Taglia, who advanced two initiatives at the village that likely already have saved lives. Taglia spearheaded an effort at the township to enJAMES TAGLIA Oak Park Township Trustee courage officers in the Oak Park Police Department to begin carrying Narcan, a medication used by paramedics to reverse the effects of opiate overdoses. The Oak Park Fire Department already was trained to administer the drug and Deputy Fire Chief Peter Pilafas MICHAEL GLAZIER said they used it an averVantage Oak Park developer age of about once a week in both 2014 and 2015. Taglia and the township are now working to institute a program that makes the drug free of charge for those at risk of accidental overdose. Taglia also made headlines this year with an initiative he and Oak Park Township trustees ANTHONY CLARK pushed that increases OPRF teacher the age to purchase toAnthony Clark bacco products from 18 to 21 in Oak Park. Taglia said he When OPRF student Elijah was inspired to pursue the iniSims was murdered, Anthony tiative after seeing a so-called Clark facilitated a vigil in Scoville Tobacco 21 initiative approved in Park shortly afterward. A NovemEvanston. “If Evanston can do it, ber gathering, also in Scoville why can’t we do it,” Taglia told Park, prompted a message of uniWednesday Journal in February. ty in the wake of President-elect Expect to hear more from Taglia Donald Trump’s shocking Nov. 8 on the campaign trail in 2017 as election and the hundreds of hate he makes his run for a seat on the crimes that happened across the Oak Park village board. country. After spearheading a march Michael Glazier against suburban racism and discrimination in July, Clark went on The opening of Vantage Oak to create the nonprofit Suburban Park – the 21-story mixed-use Unity Alliance, an organization luxury apartment building at committed to increasing equity the corner of Lake and Forest in and fighting various forms of disdowntown Oak Park – is arguably crimination. the most notable structure built in Since then, the group’s presence Oak Park in the last decade. The permeated throughout the village project – which includes 270 apart— from the hundreds of businessments, a major restaurant, a new es that have posted the organizamedical facility and a 588-space tion’s pledges onto their windows parking garage – took the efforts to the numerous forums, vigils of a seemingly countless numand charity events the group has ber of business people – Golub & hosted around town.

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

ELECTION CHALLENGE Objections could change election from page 1 Peppard has a history of both challenging local election petitions and working to support candidates who have been challenged. Perhaps Peppard’s most notable challenge is to the nominating petitions of three candidates running on a slate established by the VMA, a group that vets and slates candidates for public office. Incumbent trustee candidates Brewer and Barber are running on the slate with village clerk candidate Malinski. Peppard argues in his challenge that the three candidates do not constitute a full slate, which would have required a third candidate for trustee – three seats are up for election in April – and a candidate for village president. Candidates must collect signatures equal to 5 percent of the number of people who voted in the preceding municipal election. With 5,021 votes cast in that election, candidates needed to collect 251 signatures, Peppard contends. The petition submitted jointly for those candidates had 735 signatures, according to the challenge. Peppard says the VMA group would collectively need 753 or 251 signa-

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“The three candidates sought to do things on the cheap and not do the hard work required by the election code.”

tures times three. Petition signand must be declared invalid.” ers were put in the position of Milstein, a one-time Oak Park signing for all three candidates, village trustee who beat a VMA even though they are not an ofcandidate in his election, also are ficial slate, he wrote in the comargues that the group would have plaint. needed 753 signatures. “The three candidates sought Trustee candidate Emily Mato do things on the cheap and salski also faces challenges from not do the hard work required two individuals, Peppard and by the election code,” Peppard Lazewski. Both argue that Masalwrote. ski did not collect the requisite In an e-mail statement late 251 signatures necessary to get Thursday afternoon, Michelle on the ballot. Mbekeani-Wiley, a spokesperLazewski could not immediateKEVIN PEPPARD son for the VMA-slated candily be reached, but his challenge Objector dates, wrote, “Our campaign states that Masalski collected team has been informed of the only 118 signatures. Peppard two petition challenges as well separately argued that her nomias the FOIA requests made by nating papers were submitted a few of the opposing Village Trustee can- “without specifying a date of the election” didates to review our petition signatures. and which sought to “run as a non-partisan We are confident our petitions are in com- where only independent and partisan are pliance with the Illinois Election Code and available” and “filing for a primary election look forward to ensuring that the vibrant where she obviously wanted a consolidated diversity of this community is reflected on election …” the ballot this spring for Oak Park voters.” Masalski responded to the challenge in an Milstein, who could not immediately be email to Wednesday Journal, stating that reached, filed a similar challenge to the Lazewski is being represented by attorney VMA-slated candidates, arguing, “Indepen- Burton S. Odelson “the same attorney who dent candidates are not allowed to join to- challenged Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s petition.” gether on a single petition, but are required “As a daughter of a retired Chicago Police to have individual petitions, and said the pe- officer, I have been raised to never give up tition is not in compliance with the state law and always fight the good fight,” Masalski

said in the email. “I joined this race so that Oak Park citizens would have a truly independent candidate choice in April. I look forward to debating the issues facing our Village.” Peppard also contends that the petition for clerk candidate Takiguchi was improperly notarized in one sheet by a relative of Takiguchi and on several other signature sheets by a notary who signed his name with “four stars” instead of a signature. Takiguchi started out with 257 signatures, just six more than was needed, and the faulty notarization invalidates several pages of his nominating petition, putting the candidate below the 251-signature threshold. Takiguchi could not immediately be reached for comment. Peppard also brought a challenge against clerk candidate Elia Gallegos, arguing that she failed to properly “fasten” her nominating papers “in any manner.” He contends that this should invalidate her candidacy. Peppard said in an interview that it’s the candidate’s responsibility to bind the petition papers “so the thing can’t easily be tampered with.” He said the requirement aims to “make sure no one can go in there when they’re examining them and slip something in.” Gallegos could not immediately be reached for comment. CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com

Residence burglarized on South Euclid

A residence was burglarized in the 200 block of South Euclid sometime between 5:30 and 6:25 p.m. on Dec. 28. The burglar entered through an unlocked rear door and stole a brown leather Fry purse, a green wallet, $100 in cash, miscellaneous debit and credit cards, an iPhone 6 and an Apple laptop. The loss was an estimated $2,000.

Theft arrest

Battery

A Maywood man was arrested for battery in the 1100 block of Pleasant at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 30. He was released after posting bond.

Burglary and outside warrants arrest

A 22-year-old Chicago man from the 2300 block of W. 36th, was arrested for theft at Oberweis Dairy, 124 N. Oak Park Ave., at 9:50 a.m. on Dec. 29. The man was held for bond hearings.

James E. Teresi, 26, of the 7100 block of Richmond in Darien, was arrested at 3:13 a.m. on Dec. 30 in the 100 block of Elmwood for burglary, possession of drug paraphernalia and having two outstanding DuPage County warrants for burglary and attempted burglary.

Theft

Outside warrant arrest

■ A FedEx package containing $33 worth of toys was taken from the front porch of a residence in 300 block of South Maple sometime between 10:43 a.m. and noon on Dec. 29. ■ A silver Apple iPhone 6, a pair of black boots and a silver purse were stolen from a River Forest resident while she was sleeping on the couch at a residence in the 400 block of North Harlem Avenue sometime between 11 p.m. on Dec. 31 and 8 a.m. on Jan. 1. The loss was an estimated $720. ■ A silver iPhone 6S was stolen from a book bag in the 200 block of North Scoville sometime between 7 and 10 p.m. on Dec. 15.

A 34-year-old man, of the 4900 block of West Quincy in Chicago, was arrested at 2:44 p.m. in the 100 block of North Austin on Dec. 21, after a name check revealed a warrant out of Lake County for retail theft.

Burglary to motor vehicle ■ A black IBM ThinkPad valued at $600 was stolen from a black 2001 BMW X5 in the 800 block of South Mapleton, sometime between 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 and 2 p.m. on Dec. 30. The offender entered the vehicle through an unlocked door. ■ A white Toyota Prius was burglarized

in the 400 block of South Euclid sometime between 5:30 and 10 p.m. on Dec. 25. The burglar entered through an unlocked door and stole a blue and white mesh bag containing miscellaneous paperwork and a brown leather wallet containing an Illinois driver’s license; credit, debit and gift cards; and miscellaneous identification. The loss was an estimated $40.

Criminal damage to property arrest A juvenile male from Chicago was arrested in the 700 block of Wesley at 12:54 p.m. on Dec. 28, for criminal damage to property that occurred in the 1000 block of Gunderson. The juvenile was referred to court and released to a parent.

Recovered stolen motor vehicle ■ The Chicago Police Department recovered a black 2008 Saturn SUV at 4:32 p.m. on Dec. 25 that was reported stolen on Nov. 17, 2016 from the 100 block of Chicago Avenue.

Burglary ■ A business was burglarized in the 1000 block of Lake Street sometime between 5 p.m. on Dec. 23 and 8:45 a.m. on Dec. 26. The burglar may have entered through an unlocked door and used a pry tool to defeat a

locking mechanism on the interior door. The loss due to damage was an estimated $510. ■ An office in the 1000 block of Lake Street was burglarized sometime between 4 p.m. on Dec. 23 and 11:45 a.m. on Dec. 25. The burglar broke the glass on the front door to the office to enter. The estimated loss due to damage was unknown. No additional information was given.

Attempted burglary A building in the 1000 block of Lake Street was the target of an attempted burglary sometime between 2 p.m. on Dec. 24 and 8:22 a.m. on Dec. 27. The burglar entered the building through unlocked doors within the common lobby area. Once inside, they tried to enter four suites by unsuccessfully attempting to pry open the corresponding interior doors. An estimate on damage was not given. These items, obtained from the Oak Park and River Forest police departments, came from reports, Dec. 25-31, and represent a portion of the 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 of a 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 of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.

Compiled by Timothy Inklebarger

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

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Environmental lawyer to run for Oak Park village trustee Masalski to focus on business, safety, sustainability By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter

Photo providedtle

Emily Masalski FHS_2015_JournalAd_Oct_R4.pdf

An environmental lawyer and first-time candidate for public office has announced her bid for the Oak Park Board of Trustees in the upcoming municipal election set for April 2017. Emily N. Masalski is an attorney for Rooney Rippie & Ratnaswamy LLP, focusing on litigation associated with health and safety, natural resources and the environment. Masalski said wanted to run for public office locally “to have the greatest impact on the people I care about and my community.” She said she aims to focus her campaign on environmental sustainability, community engagement, retaining local business and diversifying the tax base. Masalski described herself as a working mom who wants to have diverse voices on the village board. “I want to make Oak Park vibrant and strong and make sure that we retain our local businesses,” she said in a telephone interview. “My kids are little, and I want to

10/14/15

make sure our village continues to thrive so they stick around.” Masalski has been an active member of the Illinois Bar Association; as former chair of the association’s Standing Committee on Women and the Law, she helped draft and pushed state lawmakers to approve the state’s “Lactation Accommodation in Airports Act”, which requires airports to accommodate women in need of pumping breast milk. Masalski is running as an independent candidate and did not seek the endorsement of the Village Manager Association, an organization that vets and slates candidates for public office. She faces five other candidates in the race: incumbents Peter Barber and Glenn Brewer; former village attorney Simone Boutet; restaurateur Dino Andrews; developer Dan Moroney; and Oak Park Township Trustee Jim Taglia. Masalski said she would focus on environmental sustainability that follows the recommendations of Oak Park’s 2014 Comprehensive Plan. She also would aim to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in the village. She wants to create new opportunities for engaging residents – possibly an option to opt-in for text messages from the village for community related events. Masalski also

said she’d like to explore the possibility of a community watch program with the Oak Park Police Department that would keep residents informed, via text, of criminal activity in their neighborhoods. Retaining existing businesses would be another focus, Masalski said, noting that she would bringing renewed focus to studying traffic patterns before a new development is approved. Residents have been negatively impacted by construction and new development in downtown Oak Park, she said, and spillover traffic to side streets could pose a safety hazard for residents and pedestrians. “We should be proactive in keeping our streets safe and make sure our local businesses thrive and stay in our community,” she said. She hopes to help Oak Park diversify its tax base, proposing that the village explore opportunities to establish a co-working space or business incubator. Masalski holds a bachelor of science in environmental communications and education from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a J.D. and environmental law certificate from Pace Law School (now Elisabeth Haub School of Law). She is admitted to practice law in Illinois, Connecticut and New York. CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com

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cal Jewel. You can use thinew Year’s resolutions are ner bacon, but thicker bacon usually like a Mission seems to turn out especially Impossible tape: designed to well when baked. self-destruct, the goals too lofty and onerous to pursue 2. Preheat oven to 350, for any length of time. That’s put bacon on a baking sheet one reason I keep my resolutions and cook for around 10 simple and achievable. minutes; this slowly renders So in 2017, I resolve to bake all out the fat. You will want to my bacon. use a rimmed baking sheet This seems like a natural — I so that the fat doesn’t flow mean, the word “bake” is literally off the pan and into your in the name of the food — but in otherwise pristine oven. For the past, too many of us, myself a spicier rasher, give the included, have opted for pan-frying Local Dining bacon a good dusting with or, ugh, microwaving. The latter & Food Blogger black pepper; the slight heat technique is particularly undesirpairs beautifully with the able because it seems to result in sugar-cured meat. bacon that’s limp, not crisp, and disturbingly moist. 3. Crank oven to 400 and My son-in-law, Ben Grimes, re438 Madison St., cook for around 5 minutes or cently turned me on to what I think Oak Park so; this crisps up the bacon is, by far, a superior technique for 708-383-7111 beautifully. preparing sliced pork belly (aka bacon). This technique of bakIt’s as simple as that — and because you ing bacon is not unheard of, certainly, but many of us get into a set routine (especially don’t have to turn the bacon, baking bacon requires even less attention than frying in the morning), and if your routine involves preparing bacon, you might consider bacon in a pan. You will be very happy with the end using the oven instead of a frying pan or result of baking your bacon, and once you microwave. Here’s how to bake bacon in go baked, you won’t go back. three simple steps: In 2017, I will bake my bacon. So resolved. It’s good to set achievable goals for one1. Buy thick-cut bacon. I use Hormel self, right? Black Label Thick Cut, available at any lo-

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

Homes

NEED TO REACH US?

oakpark.com/real-estate editor Ken Trainor at 613-3310 ktrainor@wjinc.com

The slow season C What do Realtors do when winter doldrums hit? By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

onventional wisdom says the winter season is slumber time for real estate. Potential sellers and buyers are too busy with the holidays to list or look for homes, and the onset of winter ice and snow makes everyone want to stay inside. What do local real estate

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

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SLOW SEASON

Staying alert, looking ahead from page 17

Is there an ‘off-season’? Zak Knebel, an agent with Weichert Realtors – Nickel Group in Oak Park, defines it as follows: “As far as the slow season, technically, that kicks off with Thanksgiving and ends with Super Bowl Sunday.” Cory Kohut also of Weichert, says the slow-down is real, but things don’t come to screeching halt. “A lot of people do not want to close on a house and move during the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas. It’s not the desired time to do that, plus it’s winter in Chicago which is not an ideal time for looking at houses or moving a household. “In terms of ZAK KNEBEL new listings every Broker | Realtor November and DeWeichert Realtors – Nickel Group cember, activity does slow. In early December 2016, we had 35 new listings, and during March through May, that number was closer to 85 or 90.” Kohut feels that for those looking to sell quickly and get the best price, the best time to list is CORY KOHUT March through May, Realtor/Broker Weichert Realtors – Nickel Group but he also says Oak Park is a unique market. “There’s definitely a slow-down,” he noted, “but in Oak Park, good properties will always sell. I’ve had four closings in December. Things do sell this time of year.” Linda Rooney of LINDA ROONEY Re/Max in the VilBroker with the Pych Team lage’s Kyra Pych Re/Max in the Village Group agrees that, in general, sales slow during the winter, but this year has been a bit different. With mortgage interest rates beginning to rise, she thinks a lot of would-be buyers want to close before continued projected rate increases in 2017. “Because of interest rates and low inventory in the area, things are moving pretty fast,” Rooney said. “Rates are just phenomenal now. Interest rates are supposed to go up two more times in 2017, so it makes sense to look now.”

no matter the season. I just Knebel also points to interest rates as the motivation behad a house that had been on hind several of his December the market for six months, sales. “Right now, the rates which went into a multipleare starting to go up and peooffer situation.” ple are a little nervous about For Knebel, a lot of activwhat’s going to happen. I’ve ity in winter is predicated on had several buyers choose to what buyers and sellers want. buy this month because of “Sellers who list a home at that.” this time of year know that Rooney hasn’t seen a buyers who are out there are marked holiday slow-down very motivated, which is a either. With two closings the good thing,” he said. “There’s Monday after Thanksgiving less competition with fewer LINDA ROONEY and two more in mid-Decemproperties on the market. Re/Max in the Village ber, she said that life circumThe sellers might see a lower stances can keep the market price than they would in the moving even during the coldspring, but they can weigh er months. what’s most important for “One couple was transferred to Buffalo their individual circumstances.” and the timing just worked right for them to On the other side of the coin, he sees some sell their house during the holidays. Their buyers, often those looking for their first buyers were renting on a month-to-month home, who do not want to deal with the comlease, so they were ready to move at any petitive spring buying season which might point when they found the right house. An- include multiple-offer situations. For those other young couple found the perfect first buyers, it might make sense to look during house for them after looking at maybe 10 the quieter winter season, even if inventory houses. They were renting, too, and able to is lower. close when they found the right one.” What do agents do when clients Kohut agreed that individual circumstancaren’t buying or selling? es and relatively low inventory of homes in Oak Park are factors in winter sales. Local agents say that with a slower mar“A lot of people are looking here and may ket comes time to focus on other tasks. Kohave been shopping for just the right one,” hut, who has been working with his mothhe said. “If it pops up, they are ready to go er, an agent for 25 years, says part of the

“Rates are just phenomenal now. Interest rates are supposed to go up two more times in 2017, so it makes sense to look now.”

season is about reflection. “Our business is based on referrals. At our office, we have a big client party in early November at the Nineteenth Century Club to say thank you to everyone we’ve worked with.” The winter is also a time for housekeeping and education. Kohut tries to prepare for the coming year by examining his marketing strategies and going over his database. He also says winter is an ideal times for continuing education. “A lot of people take classes,” he said, “either in person or through webinars. December and January is also a good time to get a new designation.” Rooney, who works on a three-person team alongside Kyra Pych and Laura Christafano, is in her third year as an agent and says winter is a great time for networking and educating. “We definitely take a classes and work on our marketing,” she said. “It’s a good time to contact old clients and people we’ve been in contact with throughout the year.” In the past three years, Knebel has used the winter months to take courses and earn recognition, such as a seller designation, a buyer designation, or a short sale designation. He also counsels future sellers, who plan to list their homes in the spring on how to best prepare their home for the market, and works with future buyers about what to expect when they go to buy a home.

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

PlaydateITION

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SPECIAL NEEDS ED

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Saturday, Jan. 28

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Pediatric Occupational Therapy Services

entertainment stage sponsored by:

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Thank you for your support of the Season of Giving. From the Wednesday Journal, who supports the effort... to the organizations who sponsor ads... to the donors who give their time and money to help our neighbors in need... The Season of Giving is about coming together to stregthen our community. Thank you for being a part of what makes our community great!

Donate to the Fund for Now https://v.gd/7cO3Kb

Donate to the Fund for Forever https://v.gd/BR71VE

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation has partially underwritten the Season of Giving in support of nonprofit organizations serving Oak Park and River Forest.

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

VIEWPOINTS

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M. Call Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at 613-3310 ktrainor@wjinc.com

DOOPer’s Memories p. 27

Embracing every moment of our journey Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those you hold well.

Josh Billings

here is poignancy to our last third of life that is difficult to know and understand until one gets to it. It takes time. Several months ago I wrote about wabi-sabi, a Japanese expression for appreciating the beauty of impermanence (e.g., the old wooden bannister worn smooth by thousands of hands over the years). Implicit in wabi-sabi is the passage of time. Teenagers attempt but fail to achieve this appreciation through buying pre-faded or pre-ripped jeans. There’s no getting around that it takes time. As time passes, the poignancy is more intense and heartfelt. I used to just try to get from point A to point B, but as I slow down a bit and start to actually feel the journey itself, I have started to appreciate what an awesome experience this physical existence has been. Awesome, as in awe — a jaw dropping, noetic experience. The movie Collateral Beauty, currently playing at the Lake Theatre, quotes Albert Einstein saying that time is an illusion. Time is a gift not to be wasted. The film, starring Will Smith, is partly about the important conversations we usually avoid and the importance of relationship. A parent whose 6-year-old daughter has died of cancer, Smith’s character is immobilized and crippled by grief. In an exchange with a grief counselor, Smith laments, “I have to fix my head!” and the response is “Your daughter died. You can’t fix your head.” In the recent movie Arrival, the main character (Amy Adams), a linguist communicating with recently-arrived extraterrestrials, has an epiphany regarding time, which causes her to exclaim, “Despite knowing the journey and where it leads, I embrace every moment of it and welcome it.” These are two good examples of why the question we need to pose regarding our own aging and death is, “How are we going to behave toward them?” rather than “What are we going to do about them?” Like Adams’ character, we generally know the journey and where it leads. However, we don’t usually choose to embrace and welcome it. And like Smith’s character, we can’t fix our inevitable aging and death. Last year I saw an advertising billboard along the highway that read “Take care of your body; it’s where you live.” We should certainly be wise about our physical health, especially as we age. There’s no question that this can make a big difference in the quality of our lives. But our aging and death are not problems to be fixed. It is our intention and our consciousness that can help us play the cards that we hold, and play them well. Marc Blesoff is a former Oak Park village trustee, co-founder of the Windmills softball organization, co-creator of Sunday Night Dinner, a retired criminal defense attorney, and a novice beekeeper. He currently facilitates Conscious Aging Workshops and Wise Aging Workshops in the Chicagoland area.

MARC BLESOFF

FILE 2016

BETTER THAN THE NORM: Vantage, at Forest and Lake, is a big urban modernist building with a touch of brick at street level to connect to the human scale.

Is architecture dead or alive in Oak Park?

orget politics. Forget the pool. I’d like to ask a different question: Is architecture dead in Oak Park? Did it die with Frank Lloyd Wright? Is there anything new to say in recent buildings or are we stuck in a ninth circle of Prairie School hell? I’m not talking about village government mandating architectural styles. I’m not presuming to speak with the rarefied authority of architectural historians. I am asking the vox populi to evaluate the state of modern architecture in Oak Park. My answer? Recent building design in Oak Park is pretty much a mixed bag, with several — dare I say it? — inspiring additions. Any review of recent architecture in Oak Park has to start with the Whiteco building (or whatever company owns it now) at Harlem and Ontario, the one that houses Trader Joe’s. I call this style “Brutalist El Cheapo.” It would be at home in East Berlin during the Cold War. Its main design feature is precast con-

crete slabs that display all the finesse of an expressway sound wall. The main driver is throwing up as quickly as possible a big block of apartments, and its closest cousins are public housing units built in the 1950s. It makes the adjacent village parking garage appear thoughtful. Around the corner on Lake Street (across from FFC), a new large project is going up with a Target on the first floor (yeah) and rental units above. Here, the developer takes a different tack. It’s a style I call “Prairie School College Dorm.” You can almost hear the developer instructing the architect: “Look, it’s Oak Park, so give me Prairie. Throw in some horizontal banding. But nothing too fancy.” It looks like the monotonous multi-unit buildings lining main streets on the North Side of Chicago in “up and coming” — but not yet there — neighborhoods.

JACK CROWE

See ARCHITECTURE on page 29

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

O U R

V I E W S

Time to innovate at OPRF

onestly, we like to see the emotion, the passion that was on display in late December as Joylynn Pruitt-Adams was named the permanent superintendent of Oak Park and River Forest High School. Tears were shed by some school board members and by PruittAdams as well as explanations offered as to why the interim superintendent was deemed right for this school and why the new superintendent felt OPRF to be such a match for her. Audience members attending the school board meeting also stood and cheered the choice. This is not typical in a setting more often ruled by protocol and a steady professionalism. But where exactly have such polite approaches gotten us? We are a divided district, divided over a damned swimming pool. And while we mouth platitudes about educational equity for our diverse array of students, we’ve done little to actively, inventively, determinedly move the needle. It is time for this district to take the vast resources its taxpayers have allowed it — or actually had taken from them via taxing subterfuge — and throw it all at this intractable issue of the achievement gap. Not that we believe the primary answers to this challenge are financial. The path to success is through our hearts, our beliefs, our values. It is not right that Oak Park and River Forest, of all places, have spent decades pussy-footing around this challenge. These towns are national leaders on matters of race, diversity and equity. It is long past time that our high school led and showed results on this complex and fascinating issue. We welcome Dr. Pruitt-Adams to this full-time post. We look forward to her listening and her leadership on academic and discipline equity, on financial restraint, on innovative teaching, on technology and, yes, on the pool. We want to see her rallying this school and this community to the energy and the possibility of growing to our potential.

Doubling down at D97

We’ve known for some time that District 97, the Oak Park public elementary schools, would be coming to voters in April with a tax hike proposal. What wasn’t clear until last week is that the spring ballot would include two tax hike referenda from the district. But on Dec. 20 the school board agreed to go for both an operating tax increase which would fund ongoing operations of the schools as well as a request to issue new bonds to pay for facility improvements and expansions. That could make Election Day a very costly one for Oak Park taxpayers, already burdened with steep property tax obligations. Illinois’ property tax caps were well designed to bring our schools back to taxpayers on a fairly regular basis — every six to eight years — to seek permission to raise taxes. If the money is well spent and the outcomes are solid, there is no shame in a school district making that request. The bond proposal will be sold to voters as having no impact on their tax payments as the new bonds would replace the bonds issued two decades ago to build the twin middle schools and now scheduled to be paid off. Of course, taxes could actually decline if no new bonds were issued or approved by voters. Notably, the district argues that both tax hikes are necessary because of the 24 percent spike in school enrollment over the past 10 years. More kids equals more teachers and more necessary space. That said, voters will require a lucid and transparent argument if the school district has any hope of making this sale.

Sophia Anastos

A year ago, Sophia Anastos, the eight-year veteran at the helm of the River Forest Public Library, went on disability leave for reasons of health. She died in mid-December. We lend our voice to those across River Forest who believe that Anastos played an essential role in reconnecting that library with the community. By empowering her staff to simply say “Yes,” she changed the tenor of the institution, making it a place of innovation and welcome.

V I E W P O I N T S

@ @OakParkSports

Resolving to make more resolutions

e have arrived: 2017, a brave new world — that is to say, a new world to brave. And many are feeling none too brave about weathering what’s to come. What we need most is resolve. So I went back to a column from Jan. 4, 2006 to firm up my resolve (I updated a bit):

minding myself, “It’s not about me.” To climb onto my high horse, onto my soapbox, or into my pulpit to rail against some injustice. To gently challenge someone’s thinking. To weigh less at the end of the year than I do at the beginning. To see the sun rise. To view a planet through a telescope. To remind myself frequently that I am not the center of the universe. To hear live music. To watch a film with subtitles. To attend a play or movie with friends and discuss it afterwards. To attend one opera. To see the Chicago skyline from a boat on Lake Michigan at sunset. To walk along the lakefront while I’m “off the clock.” To attend a Friday night football game at OPRF High School. To get a massage. To spend a day in a place where there is no pavement and I can’t hear any traffic. To embrace the Christmas season in spite of its flaws. To add a new dish to my culinary repertoire. To focus on what’s good about getting older. To celebrate what is good. To replant my one and only plant. To savor the momentary visitations of happiness. To let laughter take me by surprise. To donate a few more dollars to worthy causes. To enjoy winter instead of simply enduring it. To learn the words to more songs so I can sing them — or at least quote them. To attend more Millennium Park concerts in the summer. To spend time contemplating great art. To use less plastic. To use less gas. To use less. To live simply and reduce my eco-footprint. I resolve to cooperate, collaborate, contemplate, congratulate, articulate, reciprocate, create, graduate, elevate, anticipate, innovate, relate, elate, be passionate and compassionate, and not be late. I resolve not to implicate, complicate, excoriate, inflate, berate, sedate, aggravate, emasculate, eradicate, expectorate, exaggerate or get irate. Most of all, I resolve to keep making resolutions. Will I come up short? I’ve been coming up short for 64 years, with notable, glorious exceptions. Coming up short is part of the package when you resolve to live a fuller life. A quote from a friend the other day contends that “A winner is a loser who tried one more time.” We strive. We come up short. We keep striving. Resolutions are my way of defining the kind of person I would like to be — that I hope I am becoming in my incremental amble through life.

KEN

Everybody seems to look down on making resolutions these days. Too self-defeating, they say. Setting ourselves up for failure. People feel bad enough about themselves as it is. But, feeling contrary and defiant, I nonetheless resolve: To be less defiant and contrary. To walk slower. To let fear rule my life less. To prepare my will. To be more patient and understanding behind the wheel. To write something that changes someone’s life ... for the better. To accept the weather as it comes and stop complaining about it. To make the best of one bad situation. To assume the best instead of the worst. To help someone feel better about him/herself. To make someone’s life a little easier. To ask for something I want. To figure out what I want. To ask good questions. To spark stimulating conversations (by asking good questions). To be a better friend. To utterly charm someone. To listen to someone I’m tempted to dismiss. To refuse to settle for less, at least once. To read more Emerson. To read more poetry. To read more. To revive one lapsed relationship. To celebrate someone’s accomplishment. To let work rule my life less. To believe in someone in spite of doubts. To make just one someone happy. To keep falling in love. To be part of some solution. To feel humble in the presence of beauty. To ask someone to dance. To learn how to waltz. To invite more people into my home. To experience ecstasy (without chemical assistance). To have a mystical experience (without chemical assistance). To forgive someone. To ask forgiveness of someone. To hold a baby. To spend more time laughing at the comic choreography of 3-year-olds. To write more letters. To be more conscious of tasting my food as I eat. To pay closer attention to my immediate surroundings. To be more mindful of living in the present. To keep re-

TRAINOR

V I E W P O I N T S D O O P E R ’ S

M E M O R I E S

When boxing and ‘Creature Features’ ruled Friday nights

was 12 when my family first bought a television set, and the main feature on Monday and Friday nights was boxing. Before we bought the TV, my grandfather told us we would ruin our eyes watching it, but he was the one seated within 6 feet of the set on fight nights. I watched the bouts only on Friday nights because the other nights were devoted to activities like homework or movies at the Lake Theatre (Saturday night only). Some of the more popular boxers of the time were Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano, Ezzard Charles, and Jersey Joe Walcott. These men were great boxers, but I could relate better to Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler because these men were featherweights — and so was I at that time. I was a boxing fan for a few years, but I lost interest in 1954 when Willie Pep was knocked out by Lulu Perez in a fight colored by controversy because it was believed that Pep took a dive. My grandfather and my uncle Gene liked Rocky Graziano, and they groaned when Sugar Ray Robinson retained his world middleweight title by knocking out Graziano, a former middleweight champion. I thought that, of the two, Robinson was the better boxer. The last bout I ever watched was in the summer of 1954 when Rocky Marciano retained his world heavyweight title by defeating Ezzard Charleds in a 15-round unanimous decision. After my grandfather died in 1955, it was only rarely that Gene watched boxing, and by 1956 I never again saw the TV tuned to the boxing bouts. When I was a junior and senior in high school, my TV interest turned to horror movies, which were

shown on WGN-TV from 10:30 to midnight on Saturday nights. Usually 4-6 guys would come to our house to watch the movies. The host of these shows — known as “Creature Features” — was a creepy guy named Svengooli who, during the commercial breaks, would goof around like a monster. While we watched the movies, we would fill up on junk food and pop and laugh at the outrageous acting and sets displayed in these films of the 1930s and early ’40s. The movies I remember best were Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi; Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff; and The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney Jr. Of the movies we watched, I felt that only The Cat People and The Invisible Man were well made and had a serious plot, but even these films did not totally follow the books on which they were based. Every once in a while when a movie was playing, one of the guys would try to scare the rest of us by cutting the lights and screaming hysterically, or by creeping behind someone who was really into the movie and touching the person’s neck or head. When this happened, the victim would let out a yell and jump out of his chair. By the time I graduated from high school, my interests turned away from TV in general, and Fright nights became a thing of the past. John Stanger is a lifelong resident of Oak Park, a 1957 graduate of OPRF High School, married with three grown children and five grandchildren, and a retired English professor (Elmhurst College). Living two miles from where he grew up, he hasn’t gotten far in 76 years.

JOHN

STANGER

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

Editor and Publisher Dan Haley Senior Editor Bob Uphues Associate Publisher Dawn Ferencak Staff Reporters Michael Romain, Timothy Inklebarger Viewpoints/ Real Estate Editor Ken Trainor Sports/Staff reporter Marty Farmer Columnists Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, John Hubbuch, May Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger, Stan West Staff Photographer William Camargo Editorial Design Manager Claire Innes Editorial Designers Jacquinete Baldwin, Javier Govea Business Manager Joyce Minich IT Manager/Web Developer Mike Risher Advertising Production Manager Philip Soell Advertising Design Manager Andrew Mead Advertising Designers Debbie Becker, Mark Moroney Advertising Director Dawn Ferencak Advertising Sales Marc Stopeck, Joe Chomiczewski Media Coordinator Kristen Benford Inside Sales Representative Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Distribution Coordinator Caleb Thusat Comptroller Edward Panschar Credit Manager Laurie Myers Front Desk Carolyn Henning, Maria Murzyn Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

About Viewpoints

Thank you, Oak Park

six Oak Park governmental units. Finally, For personal reasons, I have decided to I will forever be thankful for all my friends withdraw my bid for election to a third and colleagues across Oak Park who supterm on the District 97 Board of Eduported my bids for election to the board cation. While the D97 school board is by donating their time and energy and for losing two amazing leaders in Graham their belief in my commitment to serve. Brislen and Vice President Amy Felton I look forward to completing my second as they step down in April, a core of four term and working with my colleagues and highly intelligent, talented and collaborathe administration on behalf of all Oak tive members remain: Rupa Datta, Jim Park stakeholders, especially the children O’Connor, Bob Spatz, and Holly Spurlock. Furthermore, I am heartened by the numof Oak Park. I will continue my volunteer JIM GATES ber of outstanding fellow Oak Parkers activities for St. Giles Parish and for the who will vie for the three open seats on the Edward Hines Veterans Administration D97 board. I am confident that the commitment to the Hospital; I look forward to other opportunities to community and cohesion of the board will continue serve this extraordinary community and to new adinto the future. ventures with my family and friends. It has been both an honor and a privilege to serve I have been blessed beyond words, both personally my community for 33 years as a public school edu- and professionally, because my life journey led me to cator and as a D97 school board member for the last Oak Park. eight years. I am grateful for the opportunity to deThank you. velop the working relationships and friendships I Jim Gates have made with my remarkable colleagues across all Oak Park District 97 board president

Our mission is to lead educated conversation about the people, government, schools, businesses and culture of Oak Park and River Forest. As we share the consensus of Wednesday Journal’s editorial board on local matters, we hope our voice will help focus your thinking and, when need be, fire you to action. In a healthy conversation about community concerns, your voice is also vital. We welcome your views, on any topic of community interest, as essays and as letters to the editor. Noted here are our stipulations for filing. Please understand our verification process and circumstances that would lead us not to print a letter or essay. We will call to check that what we received with your signature is something you sent. If we can’t make that verification, we will not print what was sent. When, in addition to opinion, a letter or essay includes information presented as fact, we will check the reference. If we cannot confirm a detail, we may not print the letter or essay. If you have questions, call Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at 708-613-3310 or email him at ktrainor@wjinc.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR ■ 250-word limit ■ Must include first and last names, municipality in which you live, phone number (for verification only)

‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY ■ 500-word limit ■ One-sentence footnote about yourself, your connection to the topic ■ Signature details as at left

Email Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com or mail to Wednesday Journal, Viewpoints, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

V I E W P O I N T S

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

A lack of transparency at village hall Noted with interest the “One View” of Chris Donovan [Increase participation at village board meetings, Viewpoints, Dec. 14]. Mr. Donovan stated much of my personal thoughts in his column pertaining to the Madison Street debacle. No one appears in village hall (esp. our mayor/president/ ruler) to care much about some Oak Park citizens’ thoughts and concerns relative to traffic flow and other aspects of the project. To do as little as possible to notify concerned citizens of board meetings, etc., for this project just confirms the lack of transparency on the part of village hall. You can rest assured that had this been a project that our Mayor/President had not favored, meeting notices would have been posted on a regular basis to encourage attendance. Instead, people who have concerns are told to “look it up yourself ” when they request further notification. Not all of us are involved in village government on a daily basis and shouldn’t have to seek out meeting

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information concerning projects of interest, whether in favor of the project or not. Also, the Journal’s statement concerning “a handful of niggling critics” is hitting below the belt when, in fact, there are many more concerned parties as to the Madison Street project and how it would affect traffic flow through the village than a “handful.” You took this same tack relative to the pool vote and you saw where that led, regardless of whether the “yes” votes claimed victory despite losing the vote itself. Our village and people in village hall seem to be doing whatever they wish without much transparency when it comes to projects they desire. Note how the information relative to increasing taxes was made public after the November election. Was this another of our Mayor/President’s favorite projects? It seems that he’s a real gentleman until someone criticizes any of his personal favorite projects.

Jim Agin

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Here’s why the Journal prints my letters I appreciate Roberta Arnold’s freedom of speech, but it is clear she does not respect mine [Why keep publishing Milstein’s letters? Viewpoints, Dec. 28]. In addition, nice try comparing me to Donald Trump (I voted for Clinton). That’s the new thing, right? I do not like what you said; therefore, you are just like Donald Trump. Take out your anger on the Donald not me. Ms. Arnold asks why the Journal prints my letters. Perhaps my positions represent a portion of the electorate’s disgust at a lack of transparency by Mr. Abu Taleb. Perhaps my positions represent a portion of our electorate’s dislike of autocratic leadership by Mr. Abu Taleb. Perhaps the editor realizes he has written similar comments about Mr. Abu Taleb. Did you see those articles Ms. Arnold?

My comments on our autocratic president have been reasonable. Yes, I refer to him lovingly as our Grand Poobah as he piles tall building after tall building into our village. Believe me, there are much worse words. Your fact-filled letter with specifics of my performance in government was well thought out. Your recall of the facts left me spellbound. What you are writing is more like Trump: If I do not like what someone writes in the paper, then I will question their right to do so. I will gladly give you my copy of the Constitution. The paper prints many things I do not like — like your letter — but I would never deny you the right to freedom of expression. Happy New Year, Ms. Arnold

Robert Milstein Oak Park

Letters to the editor

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Oak Park

I always fetch the Wednesday Journal!

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V I E W P O I N T S

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

Provided

CREATIVITY: The soon-to-be-built District House, at Euclid and Lake, shows that building design doesn’t have to be boring.

ARCHITECTURE

fer solely to the address), an even more successful attempt is going in the ground called District House, judging by the computer renderings. The developer realized that buyers of condos in Oak Park will pay a premium from page 25 for forward-looking architecture. I like the 5-story glass pagoda effect at the front of the A glimmer of light on Lake Street? The building. It forgets the faux-prairie nonsense. Vantage Building. That big, glass structure It says that glass and steel are OK to use in at the corner of Lake and Forest, a few blocks Oak Park. It’s trying to find a way forward south of Wright’s Home & Studio? I like it. here. I’m a modernist. There, I said it. I like the Not so the condo building going up on Chiairiness of the main glass structure. I’d like cago Avenue near Harlem, and bookended by to ride up the elevator and take in the view Dressel’s Hardware and Giordano’s Pizza. I from the three-sided apartments fronting call this “Drive-By Architecture.” People will Lake Street. I like how the design separated drive by and never register that the building out the retail units below in brick to make is there. And it is a literal stone’s throw from them relate more to the street. The only part a Frank Lloyd Wright bootleg house. This I’m not crazy about is the white monolith at new building — still under construction — the back. It’s as if the developer let the archi- seems to say, “Whatever. We got condo units tect have fun on the front of the building, but to sell on a tight lot.” drew the line and economized in back. I have saved the best for last. For years, Down Lake Street just east of Oak Park Av- the small lot on the north side of Chicago enue, across from Starbucks (I never know Avenue at Marion Street housed a hair sawhere buildings are when newspapers relon. There is currently a hole in the ground and a drawing of the building promising the new home of Yuppy Puppy Dog Walking. The building, remarkably, is designed and built by the owner. And if it looks anything like the drawing, it will be a modernist head-turner, only a block from the Home & Studio. The drawing has the feel of Phillip Johnson’s Glass House, with two work pods connected by a glass and steel structure. Simple. Elegant. And in your face, Frank Lloyd Wright, who would have hated it. What are your most and least Photo by Jack Crowe favorite new buildings in Oak SOMETHING UNEXPECTED: The new Yuppy Puppy build- Park? Let’s get a discussion ing is under construction at Chicago and Marion. started on design.

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O B I T U A R I E S

Robert Filek, 78

U.S. Army Colonel, OPRF grad Robert L. Filek Sr., 78, of Oak Park, died on Dec. 24, 2016. Born on Jan. 28, 1938, he graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1955 and Ripon College in 1959. He started his career at St. Paul Federal Savings & Loan, where he rose to the level of vice president. He later went on to pioneer the first ATM-like cash card, the Prestige card, for savings and loans, and ROBERT FILEK was an early contributor to the technological revolution in credit card authorization as vice president of sales for Omron Business Systems. He was also a retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel who, during the late 1980s, was commander of the 1st Brigade of the 85th Division, a training unit for armored cavalry scouts. He loved spending time with family and fishing in his favorite spots in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Robert Filek was the father of Robert L. Jr. (Jane) Filek, Lynne L. (J. Coulter) Greenwell, and Julie S. (Mark) Fera; the grandfather of Matthew R. Filek, J. Zachary Greenwell, Michael W. Filek, and Coulter J. Greenwell; the friend and former husband of Judith Kessler; the brother of Alan (Judy) Filek; and the uncle of Craig Filek and Christy Filek Foley. A visitation will be held on Sunday, Jan.

8 from 1 p.m. until the time of the memorial service, 2 p.m., at the Oak Park Country Club, 2001 Thatcher Ave., River Grove. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations to Wounded Warriors are appreciated. Arrangements were handled by Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home.

Wendell G. Rayburn, 87

Educational administrator Wendell G. Rayburn Sr., Ed.D, 87, died in his sleep on Dec. 27, 2016 at his home in Oak Park. Born in Detroit on May 20, 1929, Dr. Rayburn was vice president, secretary-treasurer and senior associate of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) in Washington D.C. from 1996-2006. In retirement, he remained a director of the AASCU Pension Center for Professional Devel- WENDELL G. RAYBURN opment. Dr. Rayburn held successful presidencies at Savannah State College (1980-1988) in Savannah, Georgia, and Lincoln University (1988-1996) in Jefferson City, Missouri. At Savannah State College, he oversaw the implementation of the Georgia Board of Regents’ mandatory desegregation plan. A former academic dean at the University of Louisville, he also held senior-level positions at the University of Detroit. He served as a facilita-

tor and faculty member of AASCU New Presidents and Experienced Presidents academies. A former science teacher and administrator for the Detroit Public Schools, he had a special understanding of teacher education and program development for minority and disadvantaged students. He was a Presidential appointee to the Board of International Food and Agriculture Development (BIFAD), the Board of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and chair of the Missouri Council on Public Higher Education, the first to serve two consecutive terms. In 1993, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Wayne State University Alumni Association. A U.S. Army veteran, Korea, he was a board member of the Rotary Club of Oak Park-River Forest and former president of the Jefferson City and Savannah Rotary Clubs. In Oak Park, he also served as a board member of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Grace Episcopal Church. Wendell Rayburn was the husband of Gloria A. Rayburn; the father of Mark (Eland Tooley) Williams, Rhonda Rayburn and Wendell G. (Terrie) Rayburn Jr.; “Gpa” of Taylor, Carter and Sydney Rayburn and Nia Nau; the brother of Lynette Payne and Charles (Martha) Rayburn; and the uncle, cousin and friend of many. He was a mentor to many and will be remembered as a warm, kind and loving man. Visitation will be held on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 9:30 a.m. until time of Requiem Eucharist at 11 a.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, 924 Lake St., Oak Park, followed by interment at Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park. Donations may be made to the Rotary Foundation, www.Rotary.org.

W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

Scott Larson, 41 Technology expert, avid outdoorsman

Scott Robert Larson, 41, of Oxford, Wisconsin, died unexpectedly on Dec. 23, 2016 at home. Born in Oak Park on Jan. 25, 1975 to Robert and Margaret (Schmidt) Larson, he graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1993 and was an international internet technology expert, as well as an avid outdoorsman, fisherman, hunter, craftsman, golf enthusiast and active member of the Jordan Lake community and the Jordan Lake Board. He was the go-to-guy for family, neighbors and friends, there with a helping hand and quick wit that always made you smile. Scott is survived by his parents, Peg (Jack) Mazeika of Jordan Lake and Robert (Sue) Larson of Oak Park; his siblings, Ingrid (Jim) Wappler, Ian (Katie) Mazeika, and Katherine Larson; his maternal grandmother, Jane Larson; his nieces and nephews, Savannah, Louis and Dakota Wappler; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors and friends. He will be deeply missed by all. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather and maternal grandparents. A funeral service was held on Dec. 28 at the Crawford Funeral Home in Oxford. Private family burial will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Hope House of South Central Wisconsin at 720 Ash St., P.O. Box 557, Baraboo, WI 53913 would be greatly appreciated. Arrangements were handled by Crawford Funeral and Cremation Service of Oxford and Montello (www.CrawfordFH.com).

To run an obituary Please contact Ken Trainor by e-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com, or fax: 708/524-0447 before Monday at noon. Please include a photo if possible.

News

Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home

Since 1880 Family Owned & Operated Charles Williams, Owner/Funeral Director 203 S. Marion St. Oak Park 60302 708/383-3191

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Gamboney & Son Funeral Directors

We are there for you in your time of need. All services handled with dignity and personalized care. ~ Traditional or Alternative ~

Robert P. and Joseph R. Gamboney Cell: 708.420.5108 • Res: 708.848.5667 We are affiliated with Peterson-Bassi Chapels at 6938 W. North Ave, as well as other chapels throughout Chicagoland.

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Miss a week…

...miss a lot.

Answer Book 2016

W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL

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If you don’t have a subscription to Wednesday Journal, you’re missing a lot. Each week Wednesday Journal covers local news, local people, local sports and the local ads you want to see. Village hall, police, OPRF, the elementary schools, business, religion, we have Oak Park and River Forest covered.

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atio All Wright walk marPks milestone ye Celebrating the 40th anniver ar sary of the

orty years I/Staff DAVID PIERIN is rapher fairly young house, particoldPhotog ularly in for a many of Oak Park our home s hit 100-pl where ever, in terms of us. Wright the Frank HowLloyd cant. That’ Home (& Studi o), 40 s the It’s a miles age of the Wrigh is signifit Trust. tone, says CEO/presi Celeste dent. Seven cant numb teen is also Adams, er. a signifiHousewalk May 17 is the 40th ; June 17 Wright Plus zation’s Founders is the nonprofit organiDay; and the day in July 17 marks opened for 1974 when the Home & its Studio And there first tour. — the 1889 is one other happy coincidenc Ave. celeb Home & Studio at 951 Chica e rates 125 cant years architectu go . rally signif “Our 40th ianniv ersary is the next the begin generation ning of to celebrate of the Trust all and those a way we are today who have made it ,” what And what Adams said. four decad they have made it over the es past three is … bigger. In last fact, just years , in she said, grown to the the Trust oversee five touring/ed has ucation/re Frank Lloyd Wrigh Chicago storation t area. sites in the “The Home Lloyd Wrigh & Studio is the Isabel Robe oldest Frank rts House (Fran t site in a muse um,” Adam the world, and k Lloyd Wrig is now Society this repre s noted ht, 1908) bus tour . “For sents 40 excursion me, group of years of friends passionate and talen attended welcoming all buffs, and t to the by a architects, ing with new Trust and deter each passi local buildng the wond “Elsie Jacob mined community history erful volun year on the talen sen got to activists. to take there. We ts of teers who talking about back [the have just are alrea trying Home & site, flwrig launched dy because at the ht.org, and a time it was Studio] building with techn are doing new web- John Thor pe, for sale,” recal ology, so more thing local prese Wright, led I s and founding rvatio we’re able hope, like Frank Lloyd of the Home member and formen architect to captu of a young re the atten er audie r & spire all nce and tion Wright Trust Studio Foundatio president people with conti ). n (now the nal sites. Back these wond nue to in” erful, origi- husba then, Mrs. Clyde nd had owne Nooker, whos d the struc 1940s, was Mrs. Nooker ture since e looking and the corsa Wright’s for a buyer the The migh client . They were ge ty grass of the office s, circa 1956, sparked for a remo this positi roots movement , library, deling kitchen ve chang fortunes that had opened part e in began in of the build and bath and 1972, durin Oak Park’s since 1966 for ing to the publi tours. g a Histo rical c See ALL WRIGHT on pa page B B33

the Oak Park

144 s. oak

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Arthu thurr B. H THE M Heur Heurttley H ley House OST LO ouse (Fran (F k Lloyd Lloyd Wrigh Llo CAL RE Wri W right,t 1902) righ AL EST ATE IN PRINT AND O N

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Special pullout section

Oak Park police to carry anti-overdose drug

A day of remembrance

WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer

Participants wave at the crowd during the annual Memorial Day Parade in River Forest on May 30. For more photos, page 10.

An American Ramadan

River Forest couple says don’t make assumptions about Muslims By TOM HOLMES

to sunset, every day for four weeks. Nausheen sounds very much like a Jew on Yom Kippur or a Christian during Lent when she describes what Muslims are striving for during Ramadan. “What people may not know,” she said, “is that the purpose of Ramadan is to bring you closer spiritually to your Cre-

ator, to develop patience, gratitude and to perfect one’s character. When fasting, a Muslim is supposed to be on their best behavior, avoid anger, bad language, lies, etc. Many people give up bad habits, for example smoking. It is a time of introspection and self-reflection on how to bet-

Enclosed is my payment of ¨$32 for 12 months Name _______________________________________________________

Oak Park Fire Department already administers Narcan roughly once a week

Address ______________________________________________________

By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER

City _____________________ Zip ________ Phone __________________

Staff Reporter

Contributing Reporter

today!

RIVER FORES T 4BR, 3BA . . .... See page B6 . .$615,000

of Oak Park and River Forest

Syed Mohuddin (a.k.a. Mohi) Ahmed and his wife Nausheen Akhter will begin keeping the month of Ramadan on June 5. The River Forest residents will fast, going without food or drink, from sunrise

Oak Park police officers will soon be equipped with an anti-opioid overdose drug known as Narcan, confirmed Oak Park Deputy Police Chief Tony Ambrose. A state law that went into effect in January mandates that all Illinois police departments begin carrying the drug in an effort to prevent overdoses from heroin and opioid-based prescription drugs. Ambrose said in a telephone interview that the OPPD is working with the Oak Park Fire Department to receive training and grant funding for the Narcan program. Oak Park Deputy Fire Chief Peter Pilafas said in a telephone interview that fire department paramedics have been trained to administer Narcan for some time and used it an average of four times a month in 2014 and 2015. Pilafas applied on May 20 for the grant, which will cover 100 percent of the costs for the OPPD program, and it was approved three days later. He said now police and fire department officials will attend a training seminar to instruct police officers on how to administer the drug. Earlier this year, Oak Park Township Supervi-

See RAMADAN on page 12

Father ’ s Day | Sunday

See NARCAN on page 13

6/19

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Religion Guide Methodist

Check First.

First United Methodist Church of Oak Park

First Congregational Church of Maywood

400 N. Fifth Avenue (1 block north of Lake St.) Come join us for Sunday Morning Worship at 11 am Pastor Elliot Wimbush will be preaching the message. Refreshments and fellowship follow the service. 708-344-6150 firstchurchofmaywood.org When you're looking for a place to worship the Lord, Check First.

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re Invited to A Church for All Nations A Church Without Walls SERVICE LOCATION Forest Park Plaza 7600 W. Roosevelt Road Forest Park, IL 60130

William S. Winston Pastor (708) 697-5000

324 N. Oak Park Avenue 708-383-4983 www.firstUMCoakpark.org Sunday School for all Ages, 9am Sunday Worship, 10am Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chapel during Worship Rev. Jenny Weber, Pastor Professionally Staffed Nursery Fellowship Time after Worship Presbyterian

Fair Oaks

Lutheranâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;ELCA

United Lutheran Church 1 5LGJHODQG *UHHQÂż HOG Oak Park Holy Communion with nursery care and Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chapel each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Dennis Bushkofsky, Pastor Handicapped Accessible www.unitedlutheranchurch.org 708/386-1576

Sunday Service 7AM, 9AM & 11:15AM

LIVE Webcast - 11:15AM Service Believerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Walk of Faith Broadcast Schedule (Times in Central Standard Time) Television

Need a new dress code at work?

Find a new job in our great classified section!

Classified. In print. Online. oakpark.com/Classified

DAYSTAR (M-F)

3:30-4:00pm

Nationwide

WJYS-TV (M-F)

6:30-7:00am

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WCIU-TV (Sun.)

10:30-11:00am

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Word Network

10:30-11:00am

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(M-F)

www.livingwd.org www.billwinston.org

West Suburban Temple Har Zion

1040 N. Harlem Avenue River Forest Meet our Rabbi, Adir Glick Pray, learn, and celebrate with our caring, progressive, egalitarian community. Interfaith families are welcome. Accredited Early Childhood Program Religious School for K thru 12 Daily Morning Minyan Weekly Shabbat Services Friday 6:30pm & Saturday 10:00am Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 708.366.9000 www.wsthz.org

Lutheran-Independent

Grace Lutheran Church

7300 W. Division, River Forest David R. Lyle, Senior Pastor David W. Wegner, Assoc. Pastor Lauren Dow Wegner, Assoc. Pastor Sunday Worship, 8:30 & 11:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Ed. 9:45 a.m. Childcare Available

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

744 Fair Oaks Ave. Oak Park 386-4920 Rev. Daniel deBeer, Interim Pastor Sunday Schedule Christian Education for All Ages 9:00am Worship Service 10:00am

Roman Catholic

St. Bernardine Catholic Church Harrison & Elgin, Forest Park

CELEBRATING OUR 105TH YEAR! Sat. Masses: 8:30am & 5:00pm SUNDAY MASSES: 8:00am & 10:30am 10:30 Mass-Daycare for all ages CCD Sun. 9am-10:15am Reconciliation: Sat. 9am & 4pm Weekday Masses: Mondayâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Friday 6:30am Church Office: 708-366-0839 CCD: 708-366-3553 www.stbern.com Pastor: Fr. Stanislaw Kuca Traditional Catholic

Child care available 9-11am

fairoakspres.org

OAK PARK MEETING OF FRIENDS (Quakers) Meeting For Worship Sundays at 10:00 a.m. at Oak Park Art League 720 Chicago Ave., Oak Park Please call 708-445-8201 www.oakparkfriends.org

Roman Catholic

Ascension Catholic Church

The Traditional Catholic Latin Mass

Our Lady Immaculate Church 410 Washington Blvd Oak Park. 708-524-2408 Mass Times: Sat. 8:00am Sun. 7:30 & 10:00am Operated by Society of St. Pius X. Confessions 1 hr. before each mass

Third Unitarian Church 11am Service: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Celebration of Lifeâ&#x20AC;? thirdunitarianchurch.org (773) 626-9385 301 N. Mayfield near Austin and Lake

Grace Lutheran School

Preschool - 8th Grade Bill Koehne, Principal 366-6900, graceriverforest.org Lutheran-Missouri Synod

Christ Lutheran Church

607 Harvard Street (at East Av.) Oak Park, Illinois Rev. Robert M. Niehus, Pastor Sunday Bible Class: 9:15 am Sunday School: 9:10 Sunday Worship Services: 8:00 and 10:30 am Church Office: 708/386-3306 www.christlutheranoakpark.org Lutheran-Missouri Synod

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church

305 Circle Ave, Forest Park Sunday Worship, 8:30 am and 11:00 am Adult Bible Class, 10:00 am Wheelchair Access to Sanctuary Leonard Payton, Pastor Roney Riley, Assistant Pastor 708-366-3226 | www.stjohnforestpark.org

808 S. East Ave. 708/848-2703 www.ascensionoakpark.com Worship: Saturday Mass 5:00 pm Sunday Masses 7:30, 9:00, 11 am, 5:00 pm Sacrament of Reconciliation 4 pm Saturday Taize Prayer 7:30 pm First Fridays Feb.â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Dec. & Jan. 1 Holy Hour 6:00 pm Third Thursdays

Unity

UNITY CHURCH OF OAK PARK 405 North Euclid Ave.

The power of God protects you.

Rev. James Hurlbert, Pastor

Sunday Services 9 am & 11 am Youth Education 11 am

Roman Catholic

St. Edmund Catholic Church

708-848-0960 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; unityoakpark.org

188 South Oak Park Ave. Saturday Masses: 8:30 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. Sunday Masses: 9:00 & 11:00 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. Weekday Mass: 8:30 a.m. Holy Day Masses: As Announced Reconciliation: Saturday 4:15 p.m. Parish Office: 708-848-4417 School Phone: 708-386-5131

Upcoming Religious Holidays

Jan

5 Twelfth Night Christian Guru Gobindh Singh birthday Sikh 6 Epiphany Christian Feast of the Epiphany (Theophany) Orthodox Christian Dia de los Reyes (Three Kings Day) Christian Nativity of Christ Armenian

Fire Escape Counseling Psychotherapy & Life Coaching Services

Rev. Dr. Charles E. Cairo

Master Addictions Counselor -Therapist Certified Criminal Justice Specialist www.fireescapecounseling.com 7645 W Jackson Blvd. Suite 200 Forest Park, Illinois 60130

FireEscapeEFBC@gmail.com Proverbs 13:10 - Jude 1:22-23 312. 719.6936

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM New local ads this week

YOUR WEEKLY AD

REACHES SIX SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES: OAK PARK, RIVER FOREST, FOREST PARK, BROOKFIELD, RIVERSIDE, NORTH RIVERSIDE, AND PARTS OF CHICAGO

WEDNESDAY

CLASSIFIED

HOURS: 9:00 A.M.â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5:00 P.M. MONâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;FRI

Deadline is Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

Please Check Your Ad: The publisher will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion. Wednesday Journal Classified must be notified before the second insertion. The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement.

Place your ad online anytime at: www.OakPark.com/ClassiďŹ ed/

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 | BY FAX: (708) 524-0447 | BY E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@OAKPARK.COM | CLASSIFIEDS@RIVERFOREST.COM HELP WANTED CAREGIVERS Cantata Services has immediate assignments for 12/24 hr. care giving in the homes of our clients. Call 708-387-8351 or apply online at cantata.org.

HELP WANTED PART-TIME SOCIAL PROGRAMMING COORDINATOR SENIOR COMMUNITY Please send resume to: 7824 West Madison Street Forest Park, IL 60130 Attention: Administrator

SUBURBAN REAL ESTATE HISTORIC MAYWOOD MANOR

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Community Relations Coordinator. This position will administer various community relations activities for the Village; to provide assistance and information to Village residents with community relations issues; and has responsibility for community relations events; helps to promote positive relations among all Village residents, among other duties within the Village of Oak Park Community Relations Department. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website http://www.oak-park.us/. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application no later than January 6, 2017.

902 S. 3RD AVENUE (behind Aldi) Tired of renting? Why not consider buying an affordable 2BR condo w/ 1000 sq ft of living space on this historic site at less than market rents? Savings are built in from a unique 12 year tax freeze plus lower utility costs from energy saving systems and appliances. Onsite pkg, exterior lighting and enhanced security systems included. Be among the first to benefit from this unique project in which the buyer can have input into the individual unit(s). Call 708-383-9223.

Selling your home by owner? Call to advertise: 708-613-3333

Substitute Teachers Needed for River Forest Public Schools District 90. Must have Valid Illinois Teaching License; Professor Educator License with Endorsements (PEL); or, Substitute Teaching License (SUB); or Educator License with Stipulations with a Para-professional Educator Endorsement (ELS). Required Certification: Current State of Illinois Professional Educator License or Substitute License Certificate must be registered in West Cook Region 06. Working Conditions: Available to work on an as-needed basis for Early Childhood through 8th grade classrooms, including core subjects, art, music, physical education and special education. Position not eligible for benefits. Rate of Pay: $105/day for 1-20 days $115/day thereafter Application Procedure: Interested candidates should complete the on-line application available at district90.org. Please do not send hard copies of supporting documentation, i.e.; cover letters, resumes, etc. to River Forest Public Schools. Selection Process: If your qualifications meet the District requirements, a District administrator will contact you directly for an interview and to pick up a document packet from the District office.

7776 Lake Street, River Forest, IL 60305 708-771-8282 â&#x20AC;˘ www.district90.org

Lost & Found and To Be Given Away ads run free in Wednesday Classified. To place your ad, call 708-613-3342

SUBURBAN RENTALS OAK PARK FOREST PARK Studio, 1, and 2 BDRM. Heated. Dining room. Parking available. Walk to El. $625-$1250.

www.oakrent.com

RIVER FOREST 2BR CONDO River Forest condo for rent. 2 BR, 1 BA, Hardwood floors, built-in microwave and dishwasher. $1350 per month includes heat + 1 parking space. 1-1/2 month security deposit. $39.95 application fee. Call Vicki at 708-714-0686 or vicki@beyondpropertiesrealty.com. RIVER FOREST 2BR & 1BR Hardwood floors throughout. Spacious walk-in closets. Storage. Parking. Laundry in building. Heat incl. Call 708-657-4226.

ROOMS FOR RENT AUSTIN CLEAN ROOM With fridge, micro. Nr Oak Park, Super Walmart, Food 4 Less, bus, & Metra. $116/wk and up. 773-637-5957

ROOMS FOR RENT

SPACE FOR RENT

Large Sunny Room with fridge & microwave. Near Green line, bus, Oak Park, 24 hour desk, parking lot. $101.00 week & up. New Mgmt. 773-378-8888

OAK PARK SPACE Suitable for not-for-profit. Varied uses possible such as school, office spaces, community services center, clinic, etc. Please call 312-810-5948

CHURCH FOR RENT

7756 Madison St.

- Store: 926 sq. ft. - Medical Office Suite, 2800 sq. ft.

BEAUTIFUL CHURCH FOR RENT

- 1, 2 & 3 room office suites

in OAK PARK. Perfect for a congregation. Other potential uses. Corner of Scoville & Adams. 708-848-5460 MAYWOOD COUNTRY CHURCH Lovely, old fashioned country church in Maywood, on corner of Fifth and Erie is looking for a roommate or tenant. We are willing to work out a flexible arrangement if you are an appropriate tenant. Various size spaces. Call 708 344-6150, leave a message.

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708-386-7355 â&#x20AC;˘ www.mmpropmgt.com 649 Madison Street, Oak Park Oak Park: Studios, 1 & 2 BR from $750-$2000 Forest Park: Studios, 1 & 2 BR from $750-$1300

GLA PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, INC. LaVerne Collins Managing broker

Office located at: 320 S. Wisconsin Ave. Oak Park

708-763-9927 www.glapropertymanagement.com

Properties may be broker owned.

Call us for a complete list of rentals available.

Apartment listings updated daily at:

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RELIGION NEED A RESTART? Christmas and the New Year are perfect opportunities for each of us to jump start our year and recalibrate our priorities and relationships. Are you ready for a restart? A new beginning? Your time is now!

Strand & Browne 708/488-0011

Join us Sundays @ 11:30am New Life Community Church 3801 Madison in Brookfield newlifechicago.org/brookfield (meeting at Faith Lutheran Church)

ESTATE SALES

CLEANING

Oak Park 60302

ESTATE SALE 940 NORTH TAYLOR SAT JAN 7 9AM-4PM SUN JAN 8 9AM-3PM

50 years of collecting from the 60â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - 70â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s: Vintage clothing, 60â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s-80â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toys, vintage ephemera from 30â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s-70â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Almost everything in this house is vintage. View full details at EstateSales.NET: https://www.EstateSales. NET/IL/ Oak-Park/60302/1401594

ITEMS FOR SALE BLUE ZUCA Blue Zuca with snow flakes,great condition,paid $178.00 in 2012, asking $50.00 Staking Jacket with paints. $50.00. Please call 708-763-0710 or email timrule19@ yahoo.com KENMORE SIDE BY SIDE STAINLESS REFRIGERATOR 3 months old. 69 1/2h x 36w x 27d (including handles). $450. Call 708-288-6004.

WANTED TO BUY WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, flags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers-lead plastic-other misc. toys. Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400

Find your new apartment this Saturday from 10 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4pm at 35 Chicago Avenue. Or call us toll free at 1-888-328-8457 for an appointment.

ELECTRICAL

You have jobs. We have readers!

Pamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A+ Cleaning Service

A cleaner day is just a phone call away. For a detailed cleaning please call 708-937-9110

ELECTRICAL Electricians serving the greater Oak Park area. Licensed, Bonded & Insuredâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Reasonable Pricing & Free Estimates. Kineticâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proud to say you have never experienced service like this! 15 years experience and dedication. No job too big or small!

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FLOORS KLIS FLOORING INC.

New hardwood flooring installation & pergo. Sanding, re-finishing, staining. Low prices, insured. Call: 773-671-4996 www.klisflooring.com

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HANDYMAN CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE Drywall Repair â&#x20AC;˘ Painting Fans Installed â&#x20AC;˘ Carpentry Trim Gutter Cleaning â&#x20AC;˘ Window Repair

FREE ESTIMATES Excellent References No Job Too Small

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

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BASEMENT CLEANING Appliances & Furniture Removal Pickup & Delivery. 708-848-9404

HEATING/ AIR CONDITIONING

Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/Plaster Repair Low Cost

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PUBLIC NOTICES

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Home Maintenance Services, Residential & Commercial Remodeling Ask for Barry @

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LEGAL NOTICE

TO ALL INTERESTED FIRMS

On January 5, 2017, the Village of Oak Park (Village) will release requests for qualifications (RFQ) to interested firms (prospective consultants) to provide on an as-needed basis, loan underwriting, monitoring and oversight services related to the Villageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program for a Business Loan Fund. The above services are required to implement future Section 108 Loan Fund projects and ensure compliance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules, regulations and guidelines. The various types of potential loan projects include CDBG Special Economic Development Activities geared toward small- and medium-sized businesses located in Oak Park or seeking to locate in the Village. Beginning January 5, 2017, the RFQ materials can be obtained at the Village of Oak Park, Neighborhood Services Division, in Room 214 of Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, or via email from Mark Dwyer, Grants Supervisor, at mdwyer@ oak-park.us (708.358.5416). Other than the detailed narrative description, RFQ materials include two attachments: revised Village Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program application to HUD; and draft Section 108 application for businesses (borrowers). Qualifications are due by 5 p.m., February 3, 2017. Published in Wednesday Journal 1/4/2017

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE

VILLAGE OF BROOKFIELD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Official notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received at Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Administration Buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;260 Madison; Oak Park, IL 60301 until 1:30 p.m. local time on January 11, 2017, for the following:

PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION January 26th, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Meeting The Village of Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on Thursday, January 26th, 2017 in Edward Barcal Hall located at 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Illinois for the purpose of considering and hearing a request for a special use permit for a high school parking lot at the property located at 160 Ridgewood Road, Riverside, IL 60546 (PINS 15-35-104-017, 15-35104-004, and 15-35-104-016). Legal Description: Lots 1 to 7 both inclusive and lot 8 (except the south 45 feet thereof) and east 45 feet of lots 9 and 10 all in block 1 in the second addition to Hollywood in the northwest quarter of section 35, township 39 north, range 12 east of the third principal meridian in Cook County, Illinois. Application materials may be viewed at the Village of Brookfield Village Hall. Comments, if any, should be provided in writing prior to the date of the public hearing to: Village of Brookfield, Planning and Zoning Commission c/o Emily Egan, 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, IL 60513, or in person during the public hearing. Please reference PZC Case 17-01 RBHS Special Use Permit. Individuals with disabilities requiring a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in any meeting should contact the Village of Brookfield (708) 485-7344 prior to the meeting. Wheelchair access may be granted through the front (South) entrance of Village Hall. By the Order of Chuck Grund, Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman. Published in Landmark 1/04/2017

LEGAL NOTICE OAK PARK TOWNSHIP INVITATION FOR BIDS FOR LIFT EQUIPPED BUS AND LIFT EQUIPPED MED-TRANSIT VAN The Township of Oak Park does hereby invite bids for the furnishing of one (1) 14-passenger Transit bus with two wheelchair positions, equipped with a required wheelchair lift. And (1) 7-passenger Med Transit Van with three wheelchair positions, equipped with a required wheelchair lift. Bids will be received by Desiree Scully-Simpkins, Director at Oak Park Township Senior Services, 130 S. Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park IL 60302 by mail or hand delivered from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M., through Friday, January 20, 2017. At 3:30P.M. on Friday, January 20, 2017, Bids will be publicly opened and read. Upon request, one set of SpeciďŹ cations will be supplied without charge to each manufacturer or manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agent interested in bidding. In awarding the contract, consideration will be given only to bidders who are recognized manufacturers of vehicles comparable in all respects with the vehicle set forth in the SpeciďŹ cations. Oak Park Township reserves the right to reject any and all bids. Oak Park Township is in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. E.O.E./M. /F. /H. /V. and the ADA ________________________ Gregory P. White Town Clerk Published in Wednesday Journal 1/4/2017

OakPark.com | RiverForest.com

OAK PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 97 LIFE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS & RENOVATIONS BIDS WILL BE PUBLICLY OPENED AT 2:00PM ON JANUARY 11, 2017 AT THE OAK PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 97 ADMINISTRATION OFFICEâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;260 MADISON STREETâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;OAK PARK, IL 60302. Scope of work for Life Safety Improvements includes, but is not limited to: site concrete, masonry repairs, roofing, carpentry, doors and hardware, drywall, acoustical ceiling grid and tile, painting, HVAC, plumbing and electrical. All available bid documents will be available December 21st and may be purchased from BEST Imaging Solutions (312-357-9050)â&#x20AC;&#x201C;55 E. Monroe St.; Chicago, IL 60601. Plans are available for viewing/ download at Bulley & Andrews FTP Site. https://ftp.bulley.com username: D97LifeSafety password: bulley1891 Bid security in the form of a bid bond, certified check or cashierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s check in an amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the Base Bid shall be submitted with the bid. Certificate of Insurance may be required from the successful Bidder. Oak Park Elementary School District 97 reserves the right to reject any and all bids or parts thereof, to waive any irregularities or informalities in bidding procedures, and to award the contract in a manner best serving the interest of the Owner. All Bidders must comply with applicable Illinois Law requiring the payment of prevailing wages to all laborers, workman and mechanics working on public funded projects. If during the time period of work, these rates change, the contractor shall be responsible for additional costs without any change to the contract amount. The proposed contract is subject to the requirements of the Equal Employment Practices Commission and the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHA) Illinois Revised Statute, Ch. 69, Par. 1-101, et. seq. Offers may not be withdrawn for a period of sixty (60) days after closing date. Any Bid submitted unsealed, unsigned, fax transmissions or received subsequent to the aforementioned date and time, may be disqualified and returned to the bidder. The Oak Park School District 97 reserves the right to reject any and all bids or parts thereof, to waive any irregularities or informalities in bid procedures and to award the contract in a manner best serving the interest of The Oak Park School District. Dated: 12/21/16 Jason Stonchus Bulley & Andrews, LLC Published in Wednesday Journal 12/21, 12/28/2016, 1/4, 1/11/2017

PUBLIC NOTICES

Public Notice Pursuant to 65 ILCS 5/11-74.3-2(b) The corporate authorities of the Village of Riverside (the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Villageâ&#x20AC;?) will hold a public hearing on February 2, 2017 at 7:00 p.m., at Riverside Township Hall, 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois (the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hearingâ&#x20AC;?), to consider whether to designate the following described property (the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Proposed Harlem Avenue Business Districtâ&#x20AC;?) as a business district as set forth in the Illinois Business District Development and Redevelopment Law, 65 ILCS 5/11-74.3-1, et seq. (the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lawâ&#x20AC;?), and whether to approve a business district plan for the Proposed Harlem Avenue Business District as set forth in the Law: THAT PART OF THE EAST HALF OF THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 25, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 12 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, BEING DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE POINT OF INTERSECTION OF THE EAST LINE OF SAID EAST HALF OF THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 25 AND THE EASTERLY EXTENSION OF THE NORTH RIGHTOF-WAY LINE OF BERKLEY ROAD (a.k.a. BERKELEY ROAD); THENCE SOUTH ALONG SAID EAST LINE TO A POINT OF INTERSECTION WITH THE EASTERLY EXTENSION OF THE SOUTH LINE OF A 16-FOOT-WIDE ALLEY LYING SOUTHEASTERLY OF LONGCOMMON ROAD; THENCE WEST ALONG SAID EASTERLY EXTENSION AND SAID SOUTH LINE OF THE 16-FOOTWIDE ALLEY TO A POINT OF INTERSECTION WITH THE SOUTHEASTERLY EXTENSION OF THE SOUTHWESTERLY LINE OF LOT 1 IN KIRCHMAN AND JEDLANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S RIVERSIDE PARKWAY AND HARLEM AVENUE SUBDIVISION OF PART OF LOT 2 AND ALL OF LOTS 3 AND 4 IN CIRCUIT COURT PARTITION BEING A SUBDIVISION IN SAID SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 25; THENCE NORTHWESTERLY ALONG SAID SOUTHEASTERLY EXTENSION, THE SOUTHWESTERLY LINE OF LOT 1 AND THE NORTHWESTERLY EXTENSION THEREOF TO A POINT ON THE NORTHWESTERLY RIGHT-OFWAY LINE OF SAID LONGCOMMON ROAD; THENCE NORTHEASTERLY ALONG SAID NORTHWESTERLY RIGHT-OF-WAY LINE TO A POINT ON THE WESTERLY LINE OF A 16-FOOT-WIDE ALLEY LYING WEST OF HARLEM AVENUE; THENCE NORTHWESTERLY AND NORTHERLY ALONG SAID WESTERLY LINE OF THE 16-FOOTWIDE ALLEY AND ITS NORTHERLY EXTENSION THEREOF TO A POINT ON THE NORTH RIGHTOF-WAY LINE OF AFORESAID BERKLEY ROAD (a.k.a. BERKELEY ROAD); THENCE EAST ALONG SAID NORTH RIGHT-OF-WAY LINE OF BERKLEY ROAD (a.k.a. BERKELEY ROAD) TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING, ALL IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS. PROPERTY IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS (PINS): 15-25-407-013-0000 15-25-407-014-0000 15-25-407-015-0000 15-25-407-016-0000 15-25-407-017-0000

15-25-407-018-0000 15-25-407-019-0000 15-25-407-020-0000 15-25-413-013-0000 COMMON ADDRESSES: 2704 S HARLEM; 2710 S HARLEM; 27202728 S HARLEM & 539 LONGCOMMON STREET LOCATION: GENERALLY LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF HARLEM AVENUE FROM BERKLEY ROAD ON THE NORTH TO THE ALLEY APPROXIMATELY 150 FT SOUTH OF LONGCOMMON ROAD TO THE SOUTH IN RIVERSIDE, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, AS MORE FULLY DEPICTED IN THE MAP ATTACHED TO THE BUSINESS DISTRICT PLAN ON FILE WITH THE VILLAGE FOR REVIEW AT VILLAGE OFFICES, 27 RIVERSIDE ROAD, RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS. All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard at the Hearing. The business district plan for the Proposed Harlem Avenue Business District under consideration at the Hearing provides, generally, that the Village may provide or enter into an agreement with developers or business owners and tenants to provide certain public and private improvements in the Proposed Harlem Avenue Business District to enhance the immediate area and to serve the needs of development and the interests of the Village and its residents. The Village intends to develop the Proposed Harlem Business District to further contribute to the long-term economic health and vitality of the Village. Proposed Village projects in the Proposed Harlem Avenue Business District may include but shall not necessarily be limited to: improvement of public utilities including water mains, sewer related system improvements and storm water retention; property acquisition by contract or eminent domain; environmental remediation and site preparation; rehabilitation of building exterior and interior components; improvement of roadways, alleyways and sidewalks; beautification and installation of identification markers, landscaping/ streetscaping; and relocation and/ or extension of utilities. A copy of the business district plan under consideration for the Proposed Harlem Avenue Business District is available at Riverside Township Hall, 27 Riverside Rd, Riverside, Illinois, for review. Any party interested in submitting an alternative proposal or bid for any proposed conveyance, lease, mortgage, or other disposition by the Village of Riverside of land or rights in land owned by the Village and located within the Proposed Harlem Avenue Business District, should contact Jessica Frances, Village Manager, at (708) 447-2700. Any alternative proposals or bids must be addressed to and submitted to Jessica Frances, Village Manager, at the above-listed Village Hall address, no later than Friday before the Hearing, January 27, 2017, at 4:00 p.m. Village of Riverside Jessica Frances Village Manager

Published in Landmark 12/28/2016, 1/4/2017

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

CLASSIFIED

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

(708) 613-3333 • FAX: (708) 524-0447 • E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@OAKPARK.COM | CLASSIFIEDS@RIVERFOREST.COM

Let the sun shine in...

Public Notice: Your right to know In print • Online • Available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year OakPark.com • RiverForest.com • PublicNoticeIllinois.com PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16148969 on December 6, 2016 Under the Assumed Business Name of EN PRODUCTIONS with the business located at: 2729 KENILWORTH AVE, BERWYN, IL 60402. The true and full real name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: NICHOLAS ROBERT PROVOST 2729 KENILWORTH AVE BERWYN, IL 60402.

Chertkow and Chertkow (22019) Attorneys for Petitioner 1525 East 53rd Street Chicago, Illinois 60615 STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division. In re the marriage of Sergio Jimenez, Petitioner and Silvia Jimenez, Respondent, Case No. 2016D-007640. The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 24, 2017, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition. DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk. Published in Wednesday Journal 12/21, 12/28/2016, 1/4/2017v

LEGAL NOTICE Chertkow and Chertkow (22019) Attorneys for Petitioner 1525 East 53rd Street Chicago, Illinois 60615 STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division. In re the marriage of Maria Adela Ruiz, Petitioner and Alejandro Reyes, Respondent, Case No. 2016D-011584. The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 30, 2017, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition. DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk. Published in Wednesday Journal 12/28/2016, 1/4, 1/11/2017

Published in Wednesday Journal 12/21, 12/28/2016, 1/4/2017

Public Notice

ADVERTISEMENT OF BIDDING

Request of bids for Motorized Window Blinds installation at Ridgeland Common Recreation Complex. Owner: Park District of Oak Park 218 Madison St, Oak Park, IL 60302

The Park District of Oak Park seeks bids related to the installation of Motorized Blinds at the facility’s west elevation windows. The Park District of Oak Park will receive individual sealed Bids until 10:00 a.m. (Chicago time) on Wednesday, January 25th, 2017, at 218 Madison St., Oak Park, Illinois. The bidding documents and requirements will be available on the Park District’s website as of 5:00 pm Wednesday, January 5th, 2017. Two nonmandatory pre-bid walk-thru’s are scheduled for Friday, January 10th & 17th, 2016 at 10:00 am at Ridgeland Common Recreation Complex, 415 Lake St., Oak Park, IL 60302. Copies of the bidding specifications are available via the Park District of Oak Park website at: http://www.pdop.org/bids-andrfps/ For additional information, contact Bill Hamilton at bill.hamilton @pdop.org or (708) 725 2304. Only the bids prepared in compliance with the bidding documents will be considered. This project must adhere to the Prevailing Wage Act of 2016. The Park District of Oak Park encourages minority and women owned business firms to submit bids for this project. Park District of Oak Park By: Sandy Lentz, Secretary Park District of Oak Park 218 Madison St. Oak Park, IL 60302

Published in Wednesday Journal 1/4/2017

Starting a new business in 2017? Call the experts before you place your legal ad! Publish Your Assumed Name Legal Notice here! Call 708/613-3342 to advertise

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION FIFTH THIRD MORTGAGE COMPANY; Plaintiff, vs. JAMES E. FORD AKA JAMES FORD; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON RECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 16 CH 2424 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-17-330-012-0000. Commonly known as 1180 Lyman Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois 60304. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call The Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Anselmo Lindberg Oliver LLC, 1771 West Diehl Road, Naperville, Illinois 60563-1890. (630) 453-6960. For Bidding instructions visit www.falillinois.com 24 hours prior to sale. F16020148 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122

Property Index No. 15-01-403-0471003. The real estate is improved with a condo/townhouse. Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, including the Judicial sale fee for Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/ 9(g) (1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF

POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, examine the court file or contact Plaintiff’s attorney: CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-15-08163. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-15-08163 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 15 CH 008268 TJSC#: 36-14645 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. I711460

15 CH 10122 1020 Washington Blvd. Unit 1D Oak Park, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on August 19, 2016, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on February 14, 2017, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive–24th Floor, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1020 Washington Blvd. Unit 1D, Oak Park, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-07-316-054-1004. The real estate is improved with a residential condominium. The judgment amount was $160,967.07. Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, including the Judicial sale fee for Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a

condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g) (1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, contact Plaintiff’s attorney: HEAVNER, BEYERS & MIHLAR, LLC, 111 East Main Street, DECATUR, IL 62523, (217) 422-1719 If the sale is not confirmed for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the purchase price paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. HEAVNER, BEYERS & MIHLAR, LLC 111 East Main Street DECATUR, IL 62523 (217) 422-1719 Fax #: (217) 4221754 CookPleadings@hsbattys. com Attorney Code. 40387 Case Number: 15 CH 10122 TJSC#: 3614173 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. I710654

I710283 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Plaintiff, -v.MILDRED L. ERAMES, PRIORY POINTE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, BENEFICIAL FINANCIAL 1 INC., MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC., UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 15 CH 008268 7221 W. DIVISION STREET UNIT #3 RIVER FOREST, IL 60305 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on January 22, 2016, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 26, 2017, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive–24th Floor, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 7221 W. DIVISION STREET UNIT #3, RIVER FOREST, IL 60305

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT–CHANCERY DIVISION BAYVIEW LOAN SERVICES, LLC Plaintiff, -v.BEVERLY D. BELLAMY AKA BEVERLY BELLAMY AKA BEVERLY D. HADDEN AKA BEVERLY HADDEN AKA BEVERLY D. PALMER AKA BEVERLY PALMER AKA BEVERLY D. WALLACE AKA BEVERLY WALLACE, CHARLES E. BELLAMY AKA CHARLES EDWARD BELLAMY AKA CHARLES BELLAMY, EASY STREET CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION Defendants

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

OPRF benefits from Pontiac tourney Annual trip offers players bonding time, games against elite competition By MARTY FARMER

69-59 loss. Sophomore guard Dashon Enoch scored 17 points, while teammates Gross (10 points, 6 rebounds) and Isaiah Fuller (8 points, 4 assists) also contributed for OPRF.

Sports Editor

With the exception of a loss against Fenwick, the Oak Park and River Forest High School boys basketball team entered the 86th Pontiac Holiday Tournament with an unblemished record. Three days later, the Huskies (10-3) lost more games (two) at Pontiac than they had the first month of the season (one). Of course, losing games at Pontiac is not that uncommon considering the loaded field of teams including Simeon, Curie, Joliet West, Benet and Bloomington among others. OPRF coach Matt Maloney views the Huskies’ annual visit to Pontiac as an opportunity for his players to bond on a fun road trip while facing superb competition. “The town treats the players and coaches like royalty,” Maloney said. “The hospitality is second none as is the competition and the atmosphere. “We definitely grew closer together as a team. Moreover, we are now more prepared to compete in the toughest sectional in the state.” The Huskies started off Pontiac well with a 55-48 win against St. Charles North Dec. 28. Senior forward Cameron Gross led the way with 18 points. Senior forward Jared Scott (16 points, 11 rebounds) and senior center Malachi Ross (9 points, 11 rebounds) also played well along the frontline. In the quarterfinals, Simeon defeated OPRF 65-47. Scott scored 15 points and hauled down seven rebounds. On the final day of play, Joliet West dealt the Huskies a

OPRF girls hoops split four games at Montini Like Pontiac for boys basketball, the 8th Annual Montini Catholic Christmas Tournament is as tough as it gets on the girls side of holiday hoops events. Factoring in the strength of competition, OPRF (9-10, 1-3 West Suburban Silver) fared well by winning two of four games in Lombard. “The exposure players get (at Montini) is incredible,” OPRF coach J.P. Coughlin said. “There were 30 college coaches at some games and huge crowds. We were competitive at times against elite teams. We will build on that for the second half of the season.” In their tourney opener, the Huskies were blown out by Geneva 81-46 Dec. 27. In the consolation bracket, Marist also cruised past OPRF 71-46. In between those lopsided losses, however, the Huskies earned a 53-45 victory against Batavia. Senior Blair Ripley led the way with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Juniors Olivia Glass (8 points, 8 rebounds) and Amaya Coleman (8 points, 6 rebounds) provided support for Ripley. The Huskies closed out 2016 in style with a 56-46 win over St. Joseph in the consolation third-place game. Ripley (15 points, 14 rebounds) and Darse Sanchez (11 points,

Photo by Marie Lillig

Junior guard Isaiah Fuller is one of many Huskies who gained valuable experience at the 86th Pontiac Holiday Tournament. 10 rebounds) each recorded a double-double. Cullinane (12 points), Ahsha Spencer (10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) and Coleman (8 points, 9 rebounds) also played well. “It was our best game of the tournament,” Coughlin said. “St. Joe’s is pretty good, but we wore them down with our press, created some turnovers and finished inside.”

Lighten up runners and cyclists

you (barely) see some jerk in unners, cyclists should be dark clothes running, or on a visible after dark. bike with no lights, no reflecBack in early Novemtors, and sometimes even riding ber when early morning on the wrong side of the street? runs were in complete I usually drop a few four-letter darkness, OWies member Sarah words and shake my head at the Buerger showed up one mornsheer foolishness of this pracing with a lighted running vest tice. Of course the people who that was so bright that it would need to heed this advice probeven attract notice on the Vegas ably won’t be reading this. strip. The thing had a full panel In my bicycle group we mostly of red lights on the back and ride during daylight hours, but white lights on the front. And some times of the year at 7:00 boy, was it visible! Most of the rest of us wear ream lights and high visibility Running Columnist flective vests as protection in the are essential. I have a bright, dark, but Sarah’s was in a whole flashing taillight, and a flashing different category. We gave her headlight. That headlight isn’t some ribbing about being the River Forest for me to see where I’m going, it’s for others flasher, among other compliments about the to see where I’m going. new gadget, but the fact remained that her Not only the OWies, but the Oak Park Runvest was the ultimate in runner visibility. ners Club have tried to stress night-time A month later, fellow OWie Greg Padgett visibility to their members. Garments with bought one of them, and now Don Offer- reflective strips are good, but you shouldn’t mann has one, too. assume that a few tiny reflective accents As I said, most members of our group wear will provide full protection. The more the reflective vests, and some add little blinking better. There are lots of flashing lights that lights, but the whole issue of night-time vis- clip to your clothing, but many are pretty inibility needs frequent reinforcement. There visible from, say, a half block away. Would an are still too many out there in dark clothing approaching car be able to see you in time? who are courting disaster. I used to hang a new running jacket on a How often have you been driving when door knob in a dark room and see how well it

PAUL

OPPENHEIM

showed up in the beam of a flashlight. Some that had “reflective accents” were pretty disappointing, so I wouldn’t wear them in the dark. And unless the streets are snowy, white is still a pretty effective color after dark. Again, the example of the person on a bike in dark clothes: if that person had been wearing even a white t-shirt, there would have been much better visibility. So while running or cycling, be visible after dark. Wear light colors, reflective materials, blinking lights, or all of the above. And for the full Star Wars effect, get a vest like Sarah Buerger’s. However, there’s always the chance that planes headed to O’Hare International Airport could mistake you for the runway.

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Friars finish sixth at Dundee-Crown

At 12-5, Fenwick is winning with room for improvement By MATT LE CREN

weren’t as high last year.” The Friars (12-5) opened the tournament by beating Barrington 60-40, but then were elly Carpenter and Kate Moore were upset in the quarterfinals by Hampshire. more than a little disappointed af- Fenwick scored 12 points in the first half of that game and roared back ter leading the Fenwick to send the game into overtime High School girls basketbefore losing 54-50. ball team to sixth place “Most of our games go that at the Dundee-Crown Charger way,” Moore said. “We have to Classic last week. come out stronger in the first That’s actually a good thing. half. In a sign of how far the “I don’t know why but we just Friars have come in a short pehave to get ourselves to come out riod of time, they posted a 2-2 with more energy because we alrecord and finished 10 places ways seem to dig ourselves a hole. higher than they did a year Sometimes we’re lucky enough ago, when they finished last in that we can come back and win, the 16-team field. KATE MOORE but these two games that we lost “Honestly, even though Fenwick forward in this tournament we couldn’t.” we were 16th last year and Indeed, after knocking off sixth this year, I feel like our Hononegah on Dec. 28, the Friars team is a lot more upset this came out flat against a beatable year,” Moore said. “Because opponent, New Trier, the following day in I feel like most of the teams we lost to we the fifth place game and fell 57-50. probably could have beaten. Expectations

Contributing Reporter

“Across the board everyone is scoring. We’re playing really good team basketball.”

File photo

Fenwick forward Kate Moore, a terrific all-court player, played a key role in powering the Friars to a sxith-place finish at Dundee-Crown.

FRIARS Top 4

from page 40 close game Dec. 29, 57-52 to Whitney Young. Keller led Fenwick with 17 points, three rebounds and three steals. Nixon scored 13 points and pulled down a teambest eight rebounds. After a close first half, the Dolphins outscored Fenwick 19-10 in the third quarter en route to victory. “We just did some things that were uncharacteristic of ourselves in the last two games of the tournament,” Malnati said. “This is a great group. We’ll practice more and keep getting better.” Whitney Young defeated Morgan Park 80-71 in the championship game as tournament MVP Lucas Williamson scored 27 points for the victors. The Dolphins have won the Proviso West Holiday Tournament five times (2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2016). Fenwick (10-3, 3-0 Chicago Catholic League North), which finished second at the prestigious tournament last year, won its first two games this season at Proviso West in comfortable fashion. Fenwick routed Providence-St. Mel 6031 as Keller had 11 points and four steals and AJ Nixon added 10 points and four boards.

MAX HERMAN/Contributor

Fenwick guard Jamal Nixon attempts a layup in the fourth quarter against Whitney Young during the 2016 Proviso West Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29, 2016. In their best performance at the tournament, the Friars rocked Bogan 77-46 in the second round Dec. 28. Junior guard Billy Bruce (14 points), Steward (12 points), Keller (5 points, 10 assists, 3 steals) and Jamal Nixon (6 rebounds) powered a balanced attack. Fenwick shot 54 percent from the field and scored 32 points in the paint. “Overall, we did well at this tourna-

ment. There are twelve other teams from the tournament that would want to be in our position and take fourth place,” Malnati said. “We had a chance to do better, however, and you don’t get opportunities like that all the time.” The Friars host a pair of games this weekend, Friday vs. Montini (Jan. 6) and Saturday vs. Proviso East (Jan. 7). Tip-off is 7 p.m. for both games.

New Trier (9-7) jumped out to a 31-21 halftime lead and never relinquished the lead despite a solid comeback effort by the Friars. Moore, a junior forward, knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, while senior center Kelly Carpenter shined inside, recording 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds. “Across the board everyone is scoring,” Moore said. “ We’re playing really good team basketball.” Carpenter didn’t miss a shot against New Trier, sinking all seven attempts from the floor and going 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. But the Friars didn’t get her the ball enough. “It was a rough game,” Carpenter said. “There were some things we could have done better. A lot of it was just listening to our coaches. We need to get better at that, but overall we’ve had a great tournament.” New Trier led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter before Moore fed Carpenter for a basket in the lane. That triggered an 11-2 to run that saw Moore sink four free throws, including a pair that cut the gap to 39-35. But the Trevians sank back-to-back 3-pointers to end the third quarter while the Friars missed a pair from beyond the stripe. Fenwick never got closer than five points after that. “I think we need to just pass the ball better and not stare down our passes,” Carpenter said. “Our coach (Dave Power) says we need to not telegraph the passes.” The Friars’ McKenzie Blaze and Carpenter earned all-tournament honors at Dundee-Crown.

Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

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Wednesday Journal, January 4, 2017

Fenwick girls hoops sixth at Dundee-Crown 38

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SPORTS

OPRF benefits from Pontiac 37

Fenwick finishes fourth at Proviso West Steward, Keller, Bruce and Nixons play well as Friars focus on rest of season

By LAUREN RECCHIA

MAX HERMAN/Contributor

Fenwick guard AJ Nixon attempts a jump shot in the first quarter against Whitney Young during the 2016 Proviso West Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29, 2016. The Dolphins defeated the Friars 57-52 en route to winning the tournament.

Contributing Reporter

efore freshman DJ Steward arrived at Fenwick this fall, local basketball fans may have already heard about the highly touted guard. His name is certainly more well-known after a stellar performance in the third place game of the 56th Annual Proviso West Holiday Tournament. Although the Friars lost to Uplift 69-65 Dec. 30, Steward sparked a late rally with clutch long-range shooting. Trailing 56-47 with just under four minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Friars went on a 12-0 run capped off by Steward’s 3-pointer to seize a 59-56 lead with 2:47 remaining. Uplift responded with a 12-3 spurt to regain the lead at 68-62 before Steward drained another trey to draw Fenwick within three at 68-65. A free throw by Markeese Jacobs sealed the Titan’s 69-65 victory. “DJ had a really good game,” Fenwick coach Rick Malnati said. “He did a lot of nice things and earned himself an opportunity to potentially start.” Senior swingman Jamal Nixon had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists and junior guard AJ Nixon finished with 14 points for Fenwick. Jacob Keller (5 points, 3 steals, 3 blocks) and Sam Daniels (5 points) also contributed. Keller earned second-team, all-tournament honors. In the semifinals, the Friars lost another See FRIARS on page 38

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