Wednesday Journal 020123

of Oak Park and River Forest

Oak Park heading to electri cation to cut emissions

Part of village’s climate-change mitigation e orts

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Fresh

The Village of Oak Park is moving toward electrification for both existing buildings and future developments to reduce the village’s greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning away from natural gas usage is part of the village’s climate change mitigation ef fort and will help to satisfy the village board’s sustainability goals. Plans for these changes were laid out for the village board during a Jan. 23 meeting.

Commercial and residential buildings provide the greatest opportunity for the village to decrease its carbon footprint as they are the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in the Oak Park community. A village study found that commercial and residential buildings made up 70% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, while transportation, mostly gas-powered automobiles, accounted for just 29%.

The village has committed to decreasing communitywide greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 and to

Equity advocates, OPRF nd path on Project 2 equity study

‘Don’t reinvent the wheel. Improve the wheel,’ says equity group

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

For the past several months John Duf fy, a co-chair Committee for Equity and Excellence in Education (CEEE) has been a regular speaker during the public comment tion of meetings of the Oak Park and River Forest School Board of the Education and the OPRF Community Finance Committee (CFC). He has been demanding that school undertake a rigorous analysis of the equity implications of the proposed $99.5 million Project 2 improvements at the school. Duffy and CEEE have called upon OPRF what is called a Racial Equity Analysis Tool or REAT

Duffy had been increasingly frustrated with the lack sponse from the school administration. But that all changed last week after Duffy and four other leaders of CEEE with OPRF Superintendent Greg Johnson and OPRF Executive Director of Equity & Student Success LaTonya white on Jan 26.

“D200 heard what the community and equity allies asking for and they responded correctly, they pledged the REAT on Project 2,” Duffy told Wednesday Jour nal in a telephone interview. “They’re convening a committee of community representatives and school representatives, including the Director of Equity obviously, to do that process and to do it faithfully to the protocols that are established. So that’s a major, major commitment that we had asked for. We weren’t sure if they were hearing us or agreeing with us, but right now we’re all on the same page.”

Burcy Hines, the other co-chair of CEEE and a longtime member of African American Parents for Purposeful Leadership and Education (A.P.P.L.E.) participated in the meeting and was also pleased with the outcome.

“I’m pleased that they are willing to move forward,” Hines said. “We basically got what we want.”

Duffy said he was pleased after months of what he considered not getting an adequate re sponse from the school.

“This was a real tur naround, at least from the outside,” Duffy said. “When you get crickets for year about things, or over a year, about proposals you’re making to the Community Finance Committee, with individual board members, with the whole board itself, with the superintendent, with the last racial equity director When you get crickets and then all of sudden somebody says something and then they say it in a way that’s advancing our common goal that’s a real breakthrough.”

Johnson said he is committed to using the REAT but said the school had already used the equity tool and examined some of the equity implications of Project 2.

“We are going to sit down with them and use that tool to analyze Project 2,” Johnson said.

In September OPRF prepared a four page equity analysis

of Project 2 and gave it to CEEE in December but Duf fy and others did not consider it a full racial equity analysis. The re port was light on specifics of impacts on dif ferent racial groups.

“They have done things that are really valid, that doesn’t mean they’ve done the full range of inquiry that they should be doing,” Duf fy said.

Duf fy says a full analysis would look at some of the opportunity costs of doing Project 2, meaning looking at alter native ways of spending the money that would be spent on Project 2 and all possible options.

“Before proceeding further, the district must follow its own policy including an equity assessment of all possible options for addressing the swimming pool problem,” Duf fy said in his public comment to the CFC on Nov. 9. “This assessment should include the shared development with the Park District of the Ridgeland pool complex.”

Duf fy and other members of CEEE, are also concer ned that any tax increase necessary to pay for Project 2 would make Oak Park and River Forest even less af fordable to low income people, people of color and retired people. In his public comment at the Jan. 17 CFC meeting

Duf fy noted that the percentage of Black OPRF students has declined from 28 percent in 2010 to 18 percent in 2020.

The meeting last week came a little more than a month after CEEE sent a letter to Johnson saying that the REAT the school conducted last year did not involve the community and failed to follow the district’s policy and procedures

CEEE would like OPRF to bring in an exper t in racial equity analysis to help facilitate the further equity analysis

“We would like it to be someone of national stature,”

fy said.

ts analysis done last year the OPRF document states improvements in the physical education wing of the school, along with some improvements for students in the ming arts, will benefit all students but particularly enefit some groups of students who may be marginalized.

“Project 2 will not only improve accessibility for students disabilities, but it will provide non-binary bathrooms ell as bring the locker rooms up to code, provide addilockers, and increase locker room space,” the docustates “More students will be able to participate in lubs and activities.”

he document also notes the physical education spaces in the school are places where all OPRF students interact.

“More than any other classrooms, our Physical Education facilities are where all students rdless of academic ability, , etc.,” the document states ohnson and OPRF administrators oup which has proposed multi-phase capital projects cused on equity from the star

“Both the original work with Imagine process and the wo had done earlier this year relied our Racial Equity Analysis T because this is a significant a significant capital investment, because there are questions some ways we have applied worth sitting down and having other conversation again,” J said.

Duffy and Hines said they ministration not to repeat wo the need to keep the timeline of “We don’t want to reinvent the w the wheel,” Hines said. “We felt that it should not be an overall do over. If we did that it would prolong the process and it appears that the community wouldn’t be happy about that.”

CEEE realizes the school board will likely decide how to fund Project 2 before a thorough equity analysis can be completed. But since work will likely not be started on Project 2 until the summer of 2024 that leaves plenty of time to do a detailed equity analysis and to incorporate its findings.

“There’s over a year before the final offering of bonds or the borrowing of money would take place so there’s no reason for us to rush through this,” Duffy said. “We want to do it right; it’s going to take time to do it right. It’s a sea change in how we’ve gone about decision making in the past.”

CEEE does not have a position for or against Project 2.

“We don’t have a horse in the race as an organization. We want to make sure that the race is run according to the rules that have been agreed upon and pledged to, that’s the racial equity impact assessment,” Duffy said.

GREG JOHNSON

BURC Y HINES

SCREENSHOT

John Du y speaking at a OPRF school board meeting

BIG WEEK

Februar y 1-8

Compiled by James Porter

Groundhog Day Celebration

Thursday, Feb. 2, 1:30 p.m., Trailside Museum of Natural History

Listen to a story, do special ac tivities and make your own groundhog weather predic tor. Free for ages 3-7 with an adult. Registration required. 708-366-6530 or trailside.museum@cookcountyil.gov. 738 Thatcher Ave., River Forest.

Webb Wilder & the Beatnecks

Saturday, Feb. 4, 8:30 p.m., FitzGerald’s He looks like a private eye from a 1940s serial, but he sounds like a witty roots-rocker with a booming baritone. $20 - $180, 6615 Roosevelt Road, Ber w yn.

Indigenous Futurism

Monday, Feb. 6, 1:15-2:15 p.m., Nineteenth Centur y Charitable Association

Monica Ricker t-Bolter, co-founder of the Center for Native Futures, looks at a growing ar t movement known as Indigenous Futurism, which is something of a breakaway from traditional Native ar t. Ricker t-Bolter will discuss her own unconventional career, the connection to her BIPOC background, and how this new movement relates to the future of Chicago’s Native ar tistic community. Free, but a voluntar y suggested donation of $15 for non-members is appreciated. 178 Forest Park, Oak Park.

Latinx Author Book Cafe: ‘Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices From the Latinx Diaspora’

Monday, Feb. 6, 6-7 p.m., Oak Park Public Librar y

Each month, works by Latinx authors will be discussed. In Februar y, the topic will be Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices From the Latinx Diaspora, featuring an all-star cast of Latinx bestselling and award-winning authors as well as up -and- coming voices interrogating the di erent myths and stereotypes about the Latinx diaspora. Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Suppor ted Stor ytime

Monday, Feb. 6, 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.;

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 4-4:30 p.m., Oak Park Public Librar y

This half-hour of stor ytelling is designed for children with disabilities, from ages 3+ with caregiver suppor t. Classes are struc tured with visual schedules and include fun pic ture books and songs, with ne and gross motor movement ac tivities. Sensor y suppor ts like lap weights and dget toys are available to help children be successful. Siblings welcome. This event will run through Februar y 13 (on Mondays) and March 21 (on Tuesdays). Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park

WDCB Bluesday Tuesday with Matthew Skoller & Chicago Wind with Demetria Taylor

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m., FitzGerald’s Matthew Skoller is not only a vocalist and harmonica player, but a perceptive songwriter, as well. He’s joined by Demetria Taylor, a vocalist who is the daughter of the late blues guitarist Eddie Taylor The evening is emceed by WDCB deejay Tom Marker. $10 ($15 day of show), 6615 Roosevelt Road, Ber w yn.

Lawrence Peters Out t

Sunday, Feb. 5, 1:30 p.m., FitzGerald’s Chicago’s favorite country-singing drummer is back for this special afternoon show. 6615 Roosevelt Road, Ber w yn.

Listing your event

OPRF Japan Fest

Saturday, Feb. 4, 12 - 4 p.m., Oak Park and River Forest High School

The theme of this celebration is “Holidays & Festivals.” Various ac tivities, crafts, games and per formances will be held. 201 N. Scoville, Oak Park

Wednesday Jour nal welcomes notices about events that Oak Park and River Forest groups and businesses are planning. We’ ll work to get the word out if you let us know what’s happening by noon Wednesday a week before your news needs to be in the newspaper

■ Send details to Wednesday Jour nal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, 60302

■ Email calendar@wjinc.com

Concordia men’s basketball coach no longer with university

Following the hospitalization of players

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Concordia University Chicago has officially parted ways with head men’s basketball coach Steve Kollar, following a temporary removal from duties after several players were hospitalized related to an intense practice session Dec. 31.

It is unknown if Kollar left of his own accord. However, Concordia spokesperson Eric Matanyi confirmed that, as of Jan. 23, Kollar is no longer in the River Forest university’s employ. Wednesday Journal has reached out to the for mer coach for comment.

Athletic director Peter Gnan and Concordia athletics staf f were not available for interview.

Assistant basketball coach Rashaan Surles, who served in recent weeks as acting head coach in Kollar’s absence, has been named head coach.

Concordia previously put its support behind Kollar after an internal investigation found no evidence of hazing or intent to harm the players. Kollar resumed his off-court, administrative duties Jan. 13 and was expected to make a return to head coaching duties in the coming weeks.

“The university and athletic administration has full confidence in Coach Kollar and believes that he has the best interests of our student-athletes in mind,” Gnan wrote in a Jan. 12 letter to parents, students, coaches and training staf f.

Since then, Matanyi told Wednesday Journal that the university and athletic leadership have continued to gather information and receive feedback beyond the original inquiry.

“Significant new information has recently come to light,” said Matanyi. “As it relates to confidential employment records, the university is not able to provide additional details at this tim e.”

The six student-athletes were admitted into local Illinois hospitals during the week of Jan. 2, where they were diagnosed and treated for rhabdomyolysis, a potentially life-threatening condition that can be brought on by serious physical exertion.

The investigation found that the hospitalization was linked to a New Year’s Eve practice, which was a direct consequence of some players breaking curfew while on a team trip to California earlier that month.

“We believe the intensity of the practice contributed to the students’ illness when combined with other factors including, but not limited to, an immediate return to full activity after an extended break, crosscountry travel, rest, hydration and nutrition,” Gnan wrote in his Jan. 12 letter.

The players have all been released from care and the team doctor is working alongside professionals at Loyola University Medical Center to create care plans for them, according to the letter. Once it has been determined that they are fit to resume physical activity, the players will make a “gradual return.”

Brian Straw, one new face in race for OP village board

Equity, safety, climate, a ordability are is platform planks

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

The race for Oak Park village trustee is full of familiar faces, with three incumbents and one for mer running, but one candidate the name recognition counterparts. That litigator and family man Straw, is making a play after campaigning on past village board hopefuls

“The reason people should for me is because we need Oak Park who are read creatively, think outside box about what we can be doing to make Oak Park what it can be and what it needs to be for the next generation,” Straw told Wednesday Jour nal.

Straw currently sits on the Oak Park

Transportation Commission, hearing the community’s parking and traffic concer ns and making recommendations to the village board for improvement. If elected trustee, he plans to make issues of transportation a larger priority for the board.

“It is a microcosm of a lot of the important values we hold in Oak Park,” Straw said.

He defined those Oak Park values as commitments to equity, safety, sustainability and affordability. The village board, he believes needs to protect those Oak Park resilocal business alled small busi“backbone” of the vil-

utation of the focused on the eals and not algnizing the importance usinesses in our com-

to Oak Park in 2014 with his wife Shannon, who grew up in the village, and their young son, David, now eight years old. A supporter of public schools, David attends Horace Mann Elementary School, while their youngest, 3-year-old

daughter Maddie, goes to a Montessori preschool.

Understanding the considerable time commitment of village trustees, Straw said he and his wife had many conversations about the pros and cons of running for and serving in elected office. He also spent time trying to educate their children on the importance of engaging in gover nment. The opportunity to lead by example, while giving back to the community, was one of the deciding factors in announcing his candidacy.

“It’s really important to communicate to our children how we actually live our values,” he said.

In the last round of local elections, back in 2021, Straw volunteered on behalf of “Represent Oak Park,” an unofficial slate of Black village board candidates that included Trustee Chibuike Enyia and Village Clerk Christina Waters.

As an attor ney with Greenburg Traurig, Straw concentrates on commercial and business litigation, as well as consumer class action suits and financial services and securities litigation.

“My day job is resolving complicated dis-

putes between parties,” he said.

In his pro bono work, he focuses on issues of immigration, asylum, discrimination and constitutionality. For his efforts, he was named Greenburg Traurig’s “Chicago Outstanding Pro Bono Individual” in 2017. He also won the “Greenburg Traurig Team Pro Bono” award in 2019.

His community service isn’t restricted to the courtroom, however. He sits on the board of the non-profit organization Norther n Illinois Justice for Our Neighbors, which provides legal services to immigrants Straw also protested against President Donald Trump’s 2017 travel ban, traveling to airports and offering legal support to people facing difficulty getting through U.S. Customs. The ban prohibited travel and refugee resettlement from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – all predominantly Muslim countries.

Straw’s more recent pro bono work includes representing a group of transgender women challenging the Illinois name change statutes, so that people can have names reflective of their gender.

Spivy drops OPRF campaign, instead endorses three for board

day Jour nal about her decision to withdraw from the race. “I was initially not planning on running again just because eight years is a lot of time and I believe fir mly that the community should have fresh perspectives on all of its boards.”

By BOB SKOLNIK

Contributing

Sara Spivy has decided not to run for a third ter m on the Oak Park and River Forest School District 200 Board of Education after all. After initially deciding not to run, she filed to run for another ter m on the last day of petition filing. Her reasoning then was that she thought the race would be uncontested or not enough candidates would file to run to fill the three positions up in the April 4 election, Spivy found out that three other candidates also filed on the last day to run for the OPRF school board leaving five candidates running for three positions Last week Spivy withdrew from the race and her name will not be on the ballot.

“I guess it’s really a 360,” Spivy told Wednes-

Before deciding to withdraw from the race Spivy, who served as board president for two years, met with the other four candidates She has decided to endorse three of them: Graham Brisben, Tim Brandhorst, and Jonathan Livingston. The other candidate on the ballot is Brian Souders, who has been a critic of OPRF spending in general and the controversial $99.5 million Project 2 plan to renovate many of the physical education spaces in the building including building a new swimming pool. Sounders also has said that any decision about borrowing money to pay for Project 2 should be made by voters in a referendum.

“I met with each one of them individually, sort of talked to them about their platforms and what they cared about and what they thought they could bring to the board and

at the end of those conversations I had three people that I’m strongly supportive of and so I decided to step back and let them, hopefully, get elected and govern for the next four years,” Spivy said.

Brisben is a for mer member of the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 school board who ran unsuccessfully for the Oak Park Village Board in 2019 when he finished last in a field of 11 candidates

“I’ve known Graham for a long time and I find him to be very sensible and calm under pressure and very organized and meticulous,” Spivy said. “He’s also got a lot of experience in the community, both from the D97 board and from having a raised a family and having a child go through OPRF, two children if I’m not mistaken.”

Brandhorst, the only candidate who filed to run prior to the last day of filing, has been a vocal supporter of Project 2. He also ear ned Spivy’s support.

“Tim Brandhorst has deep roots in the community,” Spivy said. “I also think it’s important that we have River Forest represen-

tation on the board which we will not have once Ralph Martire steps down. So I think he brings geographic diversity which is really important. He’s also served on many, many committees for the high school so he has a lot of experience.”

Spivy was also impressed by newcomer Livingston who moved to Oak Park three years ago.

“Jonathan was brand new to me,” Spivy said. “After meeting with Jonathan, I found him to be a very sort of introspective and reflective person who I think will take the facts as they come and weigh them with the care and consideration that they deserve and ultimately make good decisions.”

Spivy was impressed by Livingston’s commitment to equity and his focus on expanding vocational training at OPRF She also liked that Livingston has a PhD in public administration which she said should be helpful on the school board.

“Public schools are just an arm of the state ultimately so I think he can bring some really interesting perspectives,” Spivy said.

BRIAN STRAW

Initially reluctant to seek third term, Spivy jumped in and now out

Reporter

Oak Park investigates another fatal shooting near Chicago Avenue

Incident took place early Saturday on Lombard Avenue

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old man from Chicago who was killed early Saturday mor ning on Lombard near Chicago Avenue. Police believe the victim was targeted by the assailant.

The victim, Rayshawn Hudgins of the 6400 block of South Seeley Avenue in Chicago, was pronounced dead at 4:45 a.m., Jan. 28, approximately one hour after police re-

sponded to re por ts of gunshots At the time of the attack, Hudgins had been out walking westbound on Chicago Avenue, where he was “confronted by a vehicle that fired multiple shots with an unknown handgun,” according to a news release from the village of Oak Park. The of fending vehicle fled westbound on Chicago Avenue.

David Schwartz, who lives about a block away from where the shooting took place, told Wednesday Jour nal he had been in that hazy state between awake and aslee p when the gunfire broke out.

“I heard, in very rapid succession, more than 10 shots, probably 15 to 20, over a period of like 10 seconds,” he recalled.

Schwartz looked at his phone and it was 3:43 a.m. By the noise, he believed the shooting to have occurred in very close

proximity to his home

“It was loud, unmistakable and did p ut a shive r in my spin e, ” Schwar tz said.

Hudgins was found on the ground with multiple g unshot wounds to his chest near the nor th side of a ga rage in the 400 block of Nor th L ombard Avenue. He was transpor ted to Loyola Medical C enter where he was pronounced dead.

T he death of Hudgins o ccu rred exactly

one month and a day after the death of 27-year- old Dennis Johnson, another Chicago resident who was fatally shot on Oak Pa rk soil.

Police responded to a call of shots fired at a pproximately 8:38 p. m ., Dec. 27, in the vicinity of 14 Chicago Ave. Li ke Hudgins, Johnson was found with multiple g unshot wounds and b eli eved to have b een targeted .

Mary Porterfield Ferguson Art Gallery Kretzmann Hall

by

A classic fairy tale, “The Three Billy Goats Gruff,” gets a hilarious modern-courtroomdrama retelling in this performance by the Artists of Concordia Theatre, written and directed by Andrew Pederson.

Menstrual health matters. Period.

One Oak Park teenager is making it her mission to bring period education into school bathrooms

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Trinity High School sophomore and Girl Scout Naiya

Baskin-Stewart has embarked on a mission to ensure menstruation education is available to every young person with a uterus With the help of her Girl Scout troop and her school’s Women Supporting Women org anization, of which she is an executive board member, Baskin-Stewart is gathering funding and supplies to bring period products and infor mational materials to local middle schools.

“I don’t think that it’s something to be embar rassed about,” Baskin-Stewar t said of periods.

Menstruation has been widely stigmatized throughout history Periods have been labeled unclean, impure, re pulsive These patently false beliefs have been compounded by marketing which long used clinical blue liquid, rather than something more reminiscent of blood, to demonstrate the ef fectiveness of menstrual products

Whether intentional or not, these de pictions still an inter nalized shame in adolescent als, who are alread through confusing comfortable bodily

All of this mak fortable for many struating people tions about their cycles.

“Most parents explain what a what it’s for,” Stewart. “They explain the baseline have a period, have a baby.”

Her own mother Stewart, had a perience when first period. She getting essentially zero explanation for what was happening.

“I got a pad and was told to go to the bathroom and manage it,” Stewar t said. “I had no conversation.”

Not everyone has consistent periods each month, especially when individuals are highly active as a lot of adolescents are. Baskin-Stewart acknowledged that ir re gularity may add to the confusion and even cause fear

As par t of her menstruave, Baskinwants to approach a less for mal watching a video class. Her idea is something more lines of an older wing younger ropes. Infor mawill be put in school bathrooms, school coordinatlocal Oak Park Forest middle w this.

more peer-to-peer versus a parrsation,” she said. the posters, also ensure that bathroom is stocked with pads and tampons, as well as instructions explaining how to use them

and when to change them. There will also be a variety of dif ferent products so that whoever needs them can find the one best suited for the needs of their bodies.

She told Wednesday Jour nal she was awarded a $100 grant to fund the project through the Village of Oak Park’s Community Relations Commission. That, however, won’t cover the costs entirely All budg eted out, Baskin-Stewart needs $6,000 to keep the bathrooms stocked. Donations can be made to her mother’s PayPal account: @terezbaskin. Tax information will be provided.

Once the funds are raised, the products purchased and the posters made, Baskin-Stewart and other student volunteers will make trips to the local middle schools, putting their period kits in the bathrooms She made it clear to the volunteers that this was not just an excuse to get out of school early

“I explained to them that if they think that this oppor tunity is just for them to miss school, then they will not be par ticipating,” Baskin-Stewart said.

Menstruation education and access to products is impor tant to Baskin-Stewart, especially considering the high cost of tampons and pads A pack of 36 tampons costs about $8 without tax. That may sound not that expensive, but tampons should be changed every four to eight hours and periods could last anywhere from three days to a full calendar week. Getting all this information out in the open can help to destigmatize periods and improve re productive health.

“It’s impor tant for everyone to just speak up or be open with the infor mation that they have, and hopefully that can help someone who’s in need,” she said.

SARA JANZ

Naiya Stewart-Baskin (center) and Girl S couts receive inst ructions for an order dur ing their cookie sale in Austin Town Hall

SARA JANZ

Naiya Stewart-Baskin helping ll an oder of cookies during a cookie sale in Austin Town Hall.

Stacy Seuamsothabandith (above and right) gathers pre-soaked rice into a bamboo rice steamer, and makes Jeow Som dipping sauce, a mix of sweet, sour and savory avors.

Discover the food of Laos

Laos to Your House, a new West Side-based kitchen featuring Lao cuisine, is now of fering pickup and delivery within a five-mile radius of its base at The Hatchery Chicago, 135 N. Kedzie Ave. Stacey Seuamsothabandith, an owner, says this is a family-owned kitchen with roots in an immigrant experience as family left Laos in the 1970s amid war and political unrest. Eventually settling in America the family worked to gather a Lao community around them while connecting with American neighbors While language was a bar rier the family found connection

by sharing Lao culture and especially Lao cuisine

Deter mined that Lao dishes should not be the “forgotten Asian” cuisine, the family has moved to share its recipes and culture with a growing and devoted following.

The mission of the family-owned kitchen is to share the story, culture and cuisine of Laos The dishes feature fresh herbs and the natural spices of chilis. They also recommend “a nice shot of co gnac” with their meals

Find out more and place an order at laostoyourhouse.com

Melissa Elsmo, longtime editor of our Eats food and restaurant re porting project, has chosen to leave Growing Community Media. In the past year, Melissa also played a key role in our development ef forts.

Especially during the hardest two years of the COVID pandemic, Melissa

did exceptional re porting on the local restaurant industry and on food supply challenges.

We wish her the best going forward.

Dan Haley Editor and Publisher Growing Community Media

Owners of Laos to your House, Stacy Seuamsothabandith and Byron Gully, prepare online orders on Jan. 13.

Henr y Amore, sous chef, cooks Seen Savanh which is their beef jerky

Melissa Elsmo leaves GCM

PHOTO S BY SHANEL ROMAIN/Sta

New Festival eatre artistic director brings youth, diversity

Andersen promises fresh looks at classic plays

By KELLY POLLACK Contributing Reporter

Growing up in Milwaukee, Peter G. Andersen knew from young age that he wanted to work in theater. After graduating from Emerson Colle ge in Boston, he spent time work in the Chicagoland theater community including at St penwolf Theatre Company as the multicultural fellow at Writers Theatre in Glencoe as the education manage December, he ear ned his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Carnegie Mellon University and has now retur ned to cago as Oak Park Festival Theatre’s new artistic director

Founded in 1975, Oak Park Festival Theatre is one of the oldest theater companies in the area. It currently has a two-play season: a Shakespeare production in the summer in Austin Gardens and a classical play in the fall that is an immersive piece typically perfor med throughout either the park district’s Cheney Mansion or Pleasant Home.

“When I lived in Chicago previously, I had heard amazing things about Festival Theatre from friends. The festival combines the best of both worlds. You get the summer stock experience, but you don’t have to live in actor housing,” said Andersen. He had always planned to retur n to Chicago after graduate school, so when he saw the job posting for artistic director, it felt like a rare oppor tunity

“I’m really interested in the history of Oak Park and in how inte grated it is, which is unique not just to Chicago but to the country as a whole It gives us an opportunity to create a diverse and integrated audience. I’m excited to lead a company that is striving for that diversity while telling classical stories, especially because that’s my background. I spent most of my twenties working with Shakespeare festivals. This job is the perfect match between my background and a desire for a more diverse experience. It was really serendipitous.”

Barbara Cimaglio, president of the Festival’s board of directors, said, “One of our goals in hiring a new artistic director was to broaden our scope and seek a person who could lead us in becoming a more diverse organization. Peter’s

background with several area theater groups, as well as his connections with the national theater community through his education at Carnegie Mellon and his East Coast experience, made him the ideal candidate to help us move into the next phase of our theater’s development.”

Tom Arvetis, who became Festival Theatre’s managing director in January 2022, echoed Andersen’s and Cimaglio’s desire to create a more diverse experience. “We can only expect our community and our audience to grow in [diversity, equity, and inclusion] if we are doing that work ourselves. It’s intentional work that doesn’t just happen because we say we want it to happen. … It’s a ter rific challenge and one that I’m very excited to work with Peter and our board of directors to undertake.”

Another challenge that Andersen and Arvetis are working to embrace is finding ways to include more young people in the theater experience. They both come from arts education backgrounds and have some new ideas to engage a younger audience including a teen event night for a perfor mance, matinees for school groups, and an education program that includes summer camps. Arvetis said, “We are fulfilling a social role in encouraging young people to be courageous, to build their confidence, and to reco gnize

that most accomplishments are a group ef fort The arts have a role to play in developing a sense of civic life. We want to be seen as an important resource to our community in this re gard.”

In the short ter m, however, as they head into the upcoming season, Andersen is excited about working with designers he knows from the East Coast. “I’ ll be bringing in designers whose resumes are stacked. They do incredible work in scenery, costumes, light and media, and sound. It’s going to be a really strong team. So in addition to seeing fresh faces on the stage, the stage itself will feel fresh.”

Revisiting Shakespeare with an eye toward moder n sensibilities is a theme that Andersen continually retur ns to. “The thing I love about Shakespeare is that the plays are set outside of our cultural and political climate. It allows for really diverse casting. You can invite all sor ts of folks into the plays in a way that contemporary plays don’t allow,” he said. “I hope we can continue to find new and interesting ways to tell these classic stories — to continually try to crack them open and reexamine them.”

Oak Park Festival Theatre will be releasing information about its annual summer and fall productions soon. Visit www.oakparkfestival.com for details of the 2023 season.

SARA JANZ

Oak Park Festival eatre director Peter Andersen.

City plans gateway arch to mark ‘Soul City Corridor’

Chicago ed to be completed in the fall of 2024

By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter

The city is ready to make a bold declaration of the “Soul City Cor ridor” on Chicago Avenue. It is choosing ar tists who will design a gateway arch and other markers for the commercial cor ridor stretching from Austin Blvd. to Cicero Avenue As it unfolds, it will mark success for local business activists who have long pushed the conce pt.

The Chicago De par tment of Cultural Af fairs and Special Events (DCASE) plan calls for a gateway arch at the west end of the cor ridor at 5946 W. Chicago Ave., near the Chicago/Oak Park border Smaller signs will be mounted on light poles near the east end of the cor ridor, near the intersection of Chicago and Cicero avenues. This is something Malcolm Crawford, head of the Austin African American Business Networking Association (AAABNA) has long advocated as part of a broader vision of revitalizing Chicago Avenue as the “Soul City Cor ridor,” the commercial and cultural hub of Austin’s Black community

On Jan. 20, DCASE and AAABNA held a vir tual meeting where the community was introduced to the three ar tists who’ve been selected as the finalists for the project. During the meeting, which was attended by 50-60 people, the ar tists shared their designs and asked attendees to share their perspectives on what Austin is like and what they would like to see in the cor ridor. DCASE is expected to select the finalist in late February. After that, the city will hold community meetings to fine-tune the finalist’s design, with the goal of having the design in place

by May and finishing up construction by Se ptember 2024.

Soul City Cor ridor has been Crawford’s vision for many years. He sees it as a commercial and cultural hub, a destination for Austinites and West Siders in general. In previous interviews with Austin Weekly News, Crawford compared it to areas such as Chinatown’s Wentwor th Avenue, 26th Street in Little Village and the section of Devon Avenue that runs through the majority Indian/Pakistani portions of West Ridge.

In recent years, Westside Health Authority and Austi Chamber of Commerce have also embraced the Soul City Corrido concept. The Invest South/W initiative, which works to brin investment to historically under invested parts of the South and West Sides, set the revitalization of the entire Chicago Avenue corridor, including the Austi portion, as a major priority.

DCASE is working with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) and Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) to build the arches

There are currently three finalists vying for the design contract. Sonja Henderson,

of Pilsen, served as an artist-in residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s North Lawndale campus and conducted mindfulness workshops in the community

“My work always has a socia justice or a social healing [aspect],” she said.

Henderson said community engagement is an important part of all of her public arts projects hen she designed a memorial Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, at Argo High School, a southwest suburban ummit school where Mobley was one of the first Black stuents, she convened discussion oups involving local residents, members of Till’s family and Till’s friends.

Painter and sculptor Ber nard lliams, of Chicago, created public art all over Chicago and several cities in Indiana. He said he likes crafting pieces that speak to the history of the location and utilize a combination of words, symbols and imagery. Williams is also conscious of the kind of shadows his pieces create

“In some sculptures, there might be a word, or some symbols that you literally pass through,” he said. “I like the idea that you’re walking through the shadows of history that’s illustrated in the artwork.”

Sculptor Wesley Clark lives in Hyattsville, Md., a suburb of ashington D.C , ut he said he has a Chicago connection his wife grew up in the South Side’s Beverly neighborhood. Clark summed up the theme of his art as “really diving into the African Amerian experience and ushing us forward,” applying the lessons of the past toward future solutions He used a sculpture he designed for Washington D.C.’s Calvin Coolidge High School as an example At a casual glance, it is simply a statue of a young man racing forward with a book in the outstretched hand, but a closer look reveals that the book is the Autobiography of Malcolm X – which imbues the statue with deeper meaning

“[This book] is one of the best examples of written accounts of just a man changing,” he said. During the course of the Jan 20 meeting, all three artists asked attendees what the Austin community is like, what they would like to see on the Chicago Avenue corridor and what the Soul City Corridor concept means to the community. They all said that, if selected, they would do community engagement workshops.

Activist Aisha Oliver urged the artists to reach out to local youth.

“Make an effort to connect with the untapped potential of youth that are not connected to orgs, parks, schools or churches,” she said. “They deserve to be heard as well.”

Crawford said the tur nout at the Jan. 20 meeting bodes well for the project.

“Just the number of people on this call shows how important this is to our community,” he said. “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

SCREENSHOT

SONJA HENDERSON

BERNARD WILLIAMS

WESLE Y CL ARK

“Make an e ort to connec t with the untapped potential of youth that are not connec ted to orgs, parks, schools or churches. They deser ve to be heard as well.”

AISHA OLIVER

Ac tivist

ELECTRIFIC ATION

Cutting emissions

from page 1

reach net-zero community greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Addressing building emissions will involve the adoption and adaption of new and old energy policies, respectively, requiring the cooperation of the village’s building and sustainability departments

At the village board’s Jan. 23 meeting, Oak Park Sustainability Coordinator Marcella Bondie Keenan presented the five foundations of zero-carbon buildings policies: energy efficiency, renewable energy use, g rid inte gration and storage, life cycle impacts and electrification. Electrification involves the removal of natural gas units in existing buildings to make electricity their sole energy source.

Village staf f are in the process of developing an electrification benchmark ordinance to measure and improve building performance. The ordinance would apply to buildings over 10,000 square feet in size and would require the collection of whole-

building energy and water use data to be disclosed to the village annuall y, be ginning in 2024. Staf f are collaborating with the village’s Energy and Environment Commission and Building Code Advisory Commission, as well as local landlords and the Oak Park Business Association Council, according to Bondie Keenan. Once the benchmarking ordinance is enacted and building data collected, the village will begin devel-

oping building perfor mance standards.

For future developments and restoration projects, village staf f is working on a new construction and renovation policy, which would in part require all-electric construction and enhanced energy efficiency. The policy would also require on-site charging stations for electric vehicles and solar readiness. involve greater community engagement and education. The policy will also

include resources for implementation and compliance plans. Still in the development stage, staf f will solicit input from the community and develop educational materials The village board will ultimately vote on both re gulatory measures, so local landlords need not toss those gas stoves just yet. Nor will tenants have to wor ry about shifting from gas-powered heating in the very near future.

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On-site management includes 24/7 emergency maintenance service and a senior services coordinator who is available during business hours to assist residents in accessing service

agencies and programs designed speci cally for seniors. e Oaks is owned and operated by the Oak Park Residence Corporation and is funded by the US Department of Housing and Ur-ban Development through the 202/ Section 8 Program. Monthly rent is based on the resident’s income, with individuals paying approximately 30% of their monthly income toward rent.

For more information, please visit us at www.oakparkrc.com or contact us at 708-386-5862.

Local Catholics plan Center for Learning and Faith

Aiming to begin this summer

By TOM HOLMES

Contributing Reporter

Thirty Oak Park Catholics braved the cold, wind and snow last Thursday evening to participate in a townhall discussion about designing a Center for Lifelong Lear ning and Faith to become active in the summer of 2023.

Marci Madary, director of Lifelong For mation at the newly combined parish of St. Catherine/St. Lucy and St. Giles, began the meeting with a poem by John O’Donohue: In our out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This be ginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready to emerge Madary talked about how the concept of such a center has evolved:

“Two years ago, religious education leaders in the four then existing parishes in Oak Park started to discuss how to combine religious education programs across their parishes.”

When the archdiocese “married” St. Catherine/St. Lucy and St. Giles into one parish and Ascension and St. Edmund into another, the work of creating a Center began in ear nest, and a committee composed of representatives from both new parishes created a tentative vision for how the center might be structured.

“A Catholic center for lifelong lear ning and faith formation for Oak Park and the surrounding communities is being created,” they said. “This is being done to call people , re gardless of age, into a life of discipleship … to meet people where they are in their faith jour ney, and to share resources for the benefit of all.”

The committee invited lay members of both parishes to participate in two ways. One was Thursday evening’s townhall, which included small-group discussions in which participants were asked to share “their ideas, hopes, dreams and needs for what this center can be.”

The small-group facilitators asked the participants four questions:

■ What is something faith-related that you would invite your neighbor to?

■ Have you had a significant experience that made your faith come alive?

■ After hearing the introduction [on the vision for a center] what do you feel?

■ What do you see as the potential for this center?

Laura Kelley reported that in the group she

facilitated some of the responses to the first question were an African Mass, Taize, Day of the Dead festival, contemplative prayer, plus “coffee and …”

Responses to the second question included centering prayer, “having people walk with me,” “this community which helps me get through,” and going to Mass.

On the new center’s potential, Kelley reported that one person said it could build bridges between members of the four constituent parishes while another said it could function as a liaison, and one said it could promote evangelization.

Bob Gor man, a registered member of St Giles, seemed to be speaking for most of the attendees when he said he was “impressed by the depth of the living faith exhibited by the participants, awake and alive to a community about which they care deeply.”

The townhall ended with another verse from O’Donohue’s poem:

Awaken your spirit to adventure; Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; Soon you will be home in a new rhythm, For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

A second option for input from lay members takes the form of a survey that can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YGBS68M. Included in the 12 questions were questions such as:

■ What are you looking for in your spiritual community?

■ If there is one thing the church could offer you, what would that be?

■ If you don’t currently regularly participate in parish life, what are the reasons?

After participating in the townhall and having already completed the survey Gor man said both seemed part of “a genuine attempt to be a bottom-up, lay-inclusive process.”

When asked if this was something new in the Catholic Church, he said, “Yes and no Vatican Council II of the 1960s said that now is the age of the laity. A hundred years is a day in the life of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis and the synodal process will accelerate the process of laity involvement in the Church. There is resistance on the part of some who loathe giving up authority and control.

“I have been part of a number of experiments [at inclusion] since the ’60s If a bishop does not like them, he will squelch. Some will support. Big question. No easy answer.”

S LIP S LIDING A WAY

On Jan. 28, winter nally returned with a passable snow storm that brought families out to the sledding hill at Keystone Park in River Forest

PHOTO S BY SARA JANZ

RIDING SEASON BEGINS

CRIME

Package the s continue

It’s well after Christmas and Hannukah, but packages are still being re por ted stolen from front porches in Oak Park. A security camera recorded someone riding a red mountain bicycle swiping a FedEx package from a front porch on the 900 block of Hayes Avenue at 12:11 p.m., Jan. 24. The package, wor th $50, contained a re placement par t for a drum kit.

Packages containing baby clothes and bibs were nabbed from a front porch in the 500 block of South Clarence Avenue between 1:45 p.m. and 1:54 p.m., Jan. 26. Another package, this time from Amazon, was taken at about 1:03 p.m., Jan. 29, from a front porch in the 100 block of South Taylor Avenue. That package contained a light puf fer jacket, wor th $30.

Burglar y

Numerous tools were removed from the basement and first floor of a home under construction in the 200 block of Nor th Elmwood Avenue between 12 p.m., Jan. 21, and 7:45 a.m., Jan. 23.

Motor vehicle theft

■ A 2017 Kia Sportage was taken from the first block of Iowa Street between 8 p.m. and 11:20 p.m., Jan. 28.

■ A 2015 Hyundai Sonata was removed from the 300 block of Nor th Kenilwor th Avenue between 4:03 p.m. and 4:25 p.m., Jan. 27.

■ Someone removed a running 2008 Dodge Caliber, using the key left in the vehicle’s ignition, between 8 p.m. and 8:05 p.m., Jan. 24, from the first block of Harrison Street.

■ A 2016 Hyundai Tucson parked in the 100 block of South Clinton Avenue was removed between noon and 3 p.m., Jan. 24. Chicago police recovered the vehicle in the 300 block of South Leamington Avenue, Chicago, at 11:11 p.m., Jan. 24.

■ A 2015 Kia Optima parked in the 200 block of South Oak Park Avenue was taken between 11 p.m., Jan. 22, and 11 p.m., Jan. 23.

■ A 2017 Hyundai Tucson was removed between 10 p.m., Jan. 23, and 8 a.m., Jan. 24, from the 100 block of Home Avenue Chicago police recovered the vehicle in the 400 block of Nor th Claremont Avenue, Chicago, at 10:57 p.m., Jan. 24.

Attempted motor vehicle theft

■ Someone broke the rear passenger’s side window of a 2019 Dodge Charger then peeled the vehicle’s steering column between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., Jan. 23, in the 1000 block of South Lyman Avenue.

■ Someone broke the rear passenger’s side window of a 2019 Hyundai Elantra and peeled the vehicle’s steering wheel column between 12 p.m., Jan. 23, and 7 a.m., Jan. 24, in the 300 block of Washington Boulevard.

■ Someone broke the rear passenger’s side window of a 2020 Kia Sportage then pulled the vehicle’s ignition between 8:15 a.m. and 3 p.m., Jan. 24, in the 700 block of South Grove Avenue

Theft

■ The catalytic conver ter was cut from a 2017 Ford E350 between 4:30 a.m., Jan. 20, and 6 a.m., Jan. 23, in the 400 block of South Humphrey Avenue

■ Two silver HP EliteBook laptops were removed from the recovery room on the fourth floor of West Suburban Medical Center, 3 Erie Ct., between 8:38 a.m. and 9:07 a.m., Jan. 21.

Criminal proper ty damage

Someone threw a brick at a transport van, shattering the vehicle’s passenger’s side window, between 5 p.m., Jan. 25, and 7 a.m., Jan. 26, in the first block of Madison Street.

Someone broke the rear passenger’s side window of a 2017 Ford Fusion parked in the 200 block of South Oak Park Avenue between 4:15 p.m., Jan. 23, and 7 a.m., Jan. 24.

A Dodge Durango was scratched and all four of its tires slashed between 10 p.m., Jan. 23, and 4 p.m., Jan. 24, in the 800 block of South Maple Avenue

These items were obtained from Oak Park Police Department reports, Jan. 24-30, 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 Stacey Sheridan

Road trip to Sheboygan for mounds & brats

DAVID HAMMOND Oak Park Eats Blogger

Wisconsin has more Native American burial and effigy mounds than any other state in the Union. Burial mounds are, as the name implies, resting places for the dead; effigy mounds are earthworks, just mud and dirt, usually shaped to resemble animals, real and mythological.

In the backyards of a Sheboygan neighborhood, stretching into the woods, up and down gently rolling hillocks, is Sheboygan Indian Mounds Park. A few feet from backyard swing sets and slides, the public can stroll and survey the hand-shaped earthen images

Sheboygan mounds — built between 500 and 750 A.D. — are somewhat unusual in that they function as both burial mounds and effigy mounds.

Animals represented in effigy include rabbits, deer and what’s called a panther, but with an extremely long tail. This seems not to be your regular panther but rather Mishipeshu, an Underwater Panther, mentioned in the fireside tales of Ojibwe, Cree and others, portrayed in effigies and rock art all over the Midwest … always with a very long, serpentine tail. Native American folklore relates that a battle between Underwater Panther and Thunderbird created Devil’s Lake

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Bakery, known for fleishbrok, a bread roll containing cabbage and meat, much like the runzas of Nebraska (available Wednesdays!)

Schwarz Fish Market, by EPA regulations, is one of the last places in this part of the world that smoke their fish onsite; two other local fish-smoking operations are Calumet Fisheries on 95th and Hagen’s Fish Market on Montrose (where my family has been buying fish since the Eisenhower years). From Schwarz, we grabbed a box of fried smelt, once so abundant along the Chicago shores of Lake Michigan, now sourced from Lake Superior.

City Bakery in Sheboygan, Wisconsin

While you’re in Sheboygan (a name hard to pronounce without breaking into a Jerry Lewis screech), you eat brats. Now surely, the brats served in Sheboygan aren’t a lot different than what you might find in a grocery store, but calls to local Whole Foods, Carnival Grocery, and Jewel revealed that Sheboygan brats have vanished from shelves; the guy at Jewel said, “Oh, yeah, I remember Sheboygan brats. They were great. We haven’t carried them for like four years.”

When in Sheboygan for brats, we go to Gosse’s at the Northwester n House, a restaurant in an old hotel from the early 1900s. It’s a quaint, white-frame structure, a neighborhood place, full of regulars, with an original old-timey bar, for which I am always a great sucker.

Another excellent Sheboygan stop is City

Charcoal Inn, a legendary Sheboygan diner, closed permanently during the pandemic. Years ago, having lunch surrounded by classic diner waitresses (“More coffee, hon?”), enjoying simple hand-held fare like burgers and brats, was like stepping back to a time before national fast-food chains put small diners out of business.

If no buyer is found, Charcoal Inn may well crumble into dust, becoming yet another piece of Sheboygan’s archaeological record

Sheboygan is about 150 miles from Oak Park. We recommend going in springtime when the mounds are easily discernible Moder n America ignores Native America: the remarkable Sheboygan mounds are not even mentioned on the Sheboygan website. Sigh.

David Hammond, a corporate communications consultant and food journalist living in Oak Park, is a founder and moderator of LTHForum.com, the 8,500 member Chicagobased culinary chat site.

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A fresh take on ‘historic

New home wins Oak Park Historic Preser vation recognition

By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

When his clients first approached Mark Meagher about building them a new home, he knew they were looking for something of a unicorn in Oak Park. They had seen some of the newconstruction homes built by his compan Maher Development, in the south side of the village and wanted something similar in a different location.

Homes

e o ers of 318 S. H vey Ave. tore dow n the original home on the lot (at le ) and eagher build a new home (above) that is both contemporar y h the American Foursquare homes lining the block

couple, who are both professors combining their two families, wanted lots of space, a large lot location in an historic

lot because we gara big dog. And two still in the house,” one of the

Meagher knew that it would be hard to find a lot to suit their needs in Oak Park

lot, and I found this house on Harvey [Avenue in Oak ],” Meagher said. “It was a bit of an anomaly to find something in a historic orming.”

Because the house was not contributing to the historic district and was ripe for

renovation, Meagher was able to tear down the existing house to build the house of his clients’ dreams.

From the street, the wood frame house looks much like a typical Oak Park foursquare home but a bit taller and a bit wider than an older home.

Meagher is known for his fresh take on new home building. He takes elements of historic homes’ exteriors to blend in with the neighborhood but builds houses that are typically bigger and more modern on the inside than older homes.

“I tried to use the details of older homes, like the big overhangs and other details that you might see on a Gunderson or E.E. Roberts home,” Meagher said. “They’re sort of transitional and not too ornate.”

The front porch of the new home has a

stained-wood ceiling and traditional columns, and the house is a dark color that reads black or navy, a shade that Meagher says could be seen as historic or modern.

While the exterior fits right in on a block filled with early 20th-century homes, the inside was carefully crafted to live a more modern life. There are five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. The primary suite includes his and hers closets.

The couple wanted lots ofwindows, and Meagher accommodated them at the rear ofthe house. He created a wall ofwindows to form the mudroom, allowing them to view their yard.

“I tried to make the mudroom look like an addition,” Meagher said. “They wanted a lot of windows, and I was on board with that.

“It looks like a lantern when it’s all lit up at night.”

Building a home from scratch during the pandemic was not without its challenges

“It was our first time building a house,” the homeowner said. “There was a big learning curve.”

Meagher admits that it was stressful on

him, too, especially because it was a strug gle to get labor and materials during the pandemic.

In the end, Meagher seems to have met hi goal of building something that met his clients’ needs while blending the home into the neighborhood. He recently learned that the house won the Residential New Construction Award for 2022 in the village’s annual Historic Preservation Awards.

Susie Trexler, urban planner with the village, summed up the committee’s opinion of the house:

“The awards panel was pleased to see a new house that took account ofthe surrounding historic neighborhood. The design of318 S. Harvey Ave. draws on the American Foursquare, a house form characteristic of Oak Park’s historic districts and rooted in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style.

“The house also takes note ofthe w ide front porches with nar row b aluster spacing that are c ommon in Oak Pa rk . T hese references help it fit nicely i nto the historic street wh i le still being a moder n home.”

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Meagher’s design, contemporar y inside, incor porates traditional exterior elements such as an open front porch, clapboard siding and w ide eaves.

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Oak Park native an NFL All-Rookie selection

Undrafted free agent Dallis Flowers excelled as kick returner for Colts

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

Dallis Flowers had a circuitous route to the NFL, but once he got his opportunity he made the most of it.

A native of Oak Park and 2015 graduate of Oak Park River Forest High School, Flowers, 25, was selected as a kick retur ner on the Pro Football Writers 2022 All-Rookie Team.

Flowers, a cor nerback and kick retur ner for the Indianapolis Colts, led the NFL in average yards per kickoff retur n (31.5 yards) this season despite not becoming the Colts full-time kick returner until the 12th week of the season.

His biggest moment was an 89-yard retur n to open second half on Nov. 28 in a nation-

ally televised Monday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The retur n set up a touchdown in a game the Colts lost 24-17. Flowers also had retur ns of 48 and 49 yards

According to published reports, Flowers became the first player since 2019 and only the 17th player in NFL history to average more than 31 yards per kickoff retur n when having 20 or more retur ns in a season. For the season, Flowers retur ned 23 kickoffs for 715 yards.

The recognition was especially sweet for Flowers because he made the Colts as an undrafted free agent who played his college football at small, unheralded schools such as Robert Morris University, Tiffin, Grand View University and Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas

“Wow, my name is stamped in the record book Forever,” Flowers said in a tweet on Jan 10. “Led the NFL yards per kick retur n. Thank you God. Not to (sic) bad for a NAIA guy.”

Dallis Flowers is rst player since 2019 and the 17th player in NFL histor y to average 31+ yards per kicko return w ith 20 or more retur ns in a season.

Flowers never lost faith that he could make in the NFL even if others may have doubted him.

“Told ya’ll,” he tweeted on Jan 29.

In addition to retur ning kicks for the Colts, Flowers saw significant time at cor nerback

in the team’s last four games and started at cor nerback in the season finale for the Colts For the season Flowers had 14 tackles, 10 unassisted. The Colts finished the season 4-12-1, but Flowers proved he could make an impact in the NFL.

OPRF swimmers splash to title at LT Invitational

Individual champs Pedraza and Rauch also par t of 3 winning relays

By MELVIN TATE

Contributing

Reporter

T he Oak Pa rk and Rive r Fo rest High School boys sw i mming and diving team won the Lyons Township Invitational on Jan. 28 with 251.5 points, seven points ahead of runner-up Mar mion Academy.

Adan Pe draza took the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.27.

T he 200 medley relay of Pablo Pareja, Pe draza, E mmett Har mon and Rauch won in 1:37.60. T he 200 freestyle relay of Rauch, Har mon, Wi ll Ke yes and Pe draza was victorious in 1:28.69, wh i le the 400 freestyle relay of Ke ye s, Har mon, Pedraza and Rauch finished with a winning time of 3:13.78.

100 backstroke (4th, 55.10) and 100 butterfly (55.03), and I an Glossa in the 50 freestyle (5th, 23.37).

T he Huskies will c ompete in the West Suburban C onference Sil ve r Division meet Fe b. 3 at Hinsdale Central.

Girls bowling

ce ive all-conference honor s. S he p osted a 195 average for her six g ames.

T he F riars finished 9th in the team standings with a total of 3,609 pin s. Alyssa Pucillo (37th, 629 pins), Elinor Arat o (40th, 612), and Katlyn Halfpenny (42nd , 599) rounded out the lineup

SPORTS ROUNDUP

Adan Pe draza and Lars Rauch had impressive days for the Huskies with each winning an individual event and c ompeting in all three winning relays Rauch won the 100- ya rd freestyle in 48.74 seconds wh il e

Ke yes p laced second in the 50 freestyle (22.61) and third in the 200 freestyle (1:49.60) wh i le Har mon was second in the 100 butterfly (53.43).

Other notable individual perfor mances for OPRF we re tur ned in by Pareja in the

Fenwick High School sophomore Olivia C ameron c ontinued her solid season fo r the girls bowling team during the Gi rl s Catholic A thletic C onference championship Jan. 28 at Arena Lanes in Oak Lawn.

C ameron had a series total of 1,169 pin s to finish first among individuals and re -

T rinity High School c ame in 10th with 3,579 pin s. Maisy Ke i th p osted the Blazers’ highest score with a series total of 638 pins (106 average).

Abby Justak (44th, 590), Hailey Walsh (46th, 557), Arabella Car rion (52nd, 401), Julia C asillas (64th, 229), and Jasia Smit h (65th, 210) also competed for Trinit y.

CREDIT: INDIANAPOLIS CO LTS

Young Huskies learn hard lessons in tough WSC-Silver

OPRF boys fall to Downers North, Glenbard West

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

With three schools ranked in the Chicago Sun-Times Top 25 boys basketball poll, the West Suburban Conference’s Silver Division may be the best it’s ever been this season.

That’s a problem for young, developing teams like Oak Park and River Forest High School. The Huskies got a tough reminder of the league’s strength in a 78-46 home loss to Downers Grove North on Jan. 27.

“They’ve been playing together for a couple of years. They’ve got good chemistry,” said OPRF coach Phil Gary.

The Trojans (20-3, 5-2) put the Huskies (8-12, 2-4) in an early hole, scoring the game’s first 11 points

“We spotted them 11 points right out the gate but then regrouped,” Gary said. “Being down [39-28] at halftime was OK, but had a couple of more possessions gone our way, it could’ve been closer.”

DGN pulled away in the second half primarily thanks to hot shooting by Maxwell Haack, who scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in the third quarter Haack finished with seven 3-pointers.

“They got hot,” Gary We were keyed in on that, somebody else game.”

Stanton finished with added 14 for the Tr evening

On a bright note, nior guard Max Johnson, weeks due to injury half-court buzzer-beating night with a team-high 15 points

“It was good to ha Another positive sophomore Alex Gossett, three 3-pointers.

“We’re a young team, young guys continue to “Alex is one of them.

Unfortunately, wh backcourt mate, Christian Marshall, is no “Christian is going and hopefully we c Gary said.

On Jan. 28, the Huskies were better at Glenbard West. Johnson scored 15 points, Justin Bowen 11 and Mehki Austin 10. Still, their efforts weren’t enough as the defending state champion Hilltoppers prevailed 64-52.

C AROL DUNNING/Contributor Oak Park and River Forest’s Alex Gossett goes in for a layup against Downers Grove North Jan. 27. Gossett scored 14 points in the Huskies’ 78-46 loss.

A er solid WSC nish, OPRF gymnasts eye postseason

IHSA regional meet at Leyden kicks o state series on Feb. 2

By BILL STONE

Contributing Reporter

Oak Park and River Forest High School senior girls gymnast Maya Lim had mixed emotions after her fourth varsity West Suburban Confe rence Sil ve r Division Meet on Jan. 28.

“It feels like this is my last time and it’s kind of bitter sweet, but I also j ust want to do my b est, too, and as a team,” Lim said. “I think I just did that here. ”

Lim finished as she star ted – with a top-f ive all-conference medal – by taking fifth on vault (9.0) and was joined by juniors Vi olet Ru ff and Jane Walker on the awards stand at Yo rk High School in Elmhurst.

Ru ff tied for third on vault (9.15) and Walker was four th in all-around (34.40) and uneven parallel bars (8.7) for thei r first all-conference honors.

T he Huskies (134.15) tied for third with Lyons Township j ust b ehind Hinsdale C entral (134.425). T hey share second in the overall standings with Hinsdale C entral by vir tue of their Jan. 11 d ual victor y.

Lim was sixth in all-around as a sophomore and j unior and sixth on vault in 2022. Lim’s all-around on Jan. 28 (11th, 33.675) actually was higher than her last all-conference medal for fifth as a freshman (33.525).

“[ To day overall] means a lot more, ” Li m said. “This is our team so it ’s a lot more impor tant than the other meets for me.”

Walker improved a point from tying for eighth in all-around last year (33.375).

Walker said. “Bars has always been my favorite event since I was really little,” Walker said. “I’m just glad I’m able to enjoy it again.”

Ruff landed her tuck Yurchenko vault to improve from 12th in 2002. Her all-around also improved to 32.90 from 32.20.

“I like the actual [vault] runway that’s here at York I feel like the vault gives me more of a block off the table,” Ruff said. “When I landed, I was really happy.”

Walker also was sixth on vault (8.95), Lim was eighth on uneven bars (8.2), Walker and Lim shared eighth on floor exercise (8.525), senior Caroline Raducha was 10th on vault (8.75) and Walker tied for 10th on beam

(8.225).

“The majority of them did really well,” OPRF coach Kris Wright said. “We had one or two overexcited girls. We gave away a fall on beam and two falls [off uneven bars]. They did really well on vault, on floor.”

The Huskies hope to qualify again as a team for the IHSA Lake Park Sectional on Feb. 6 with perfor mances at the IHSA Leyden Regional on Feb. 2.

Six teams advance. OPRF officially is seeded No. 6 based on scores up to Jan. 11 and is No. 7 including scores sinc e. Gymnasts also advance individually.

“I think we c an make it to sectionals if we all j ust do our b est and no mishaps happen,” Lim said. “ Either way, I think we ’re going to do well. ”

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M.

Call Viewpoints editor

Ken Trainor at 613-3310 ktrainor@wjinc.com

is is racially insensitive

I’m a trustee on the Oak Pa rk Village Board. As a local courtesy, we don’t typically comment on incidents that occur in different local governments. However, an incident occurred that was so egregious that I can’t stay silent. A class was created with a racially insensitive title and description. The wording used was so obviously insensitive that many thought the screenshots were fake. No one expected this from an Oak Park rnment.

The title of the class is “The Transatlantic Slave Trade.” The description reads in part “Your camper will cook and investigate the history and flavors the Transatlantic Slave Trade. chniques this week will include African swallow foods, food evolution, working with seafood.”

I re peat: “the history and flavors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.”

Reducing the pain, suffering, starvation, inhumanity, mass enslavement, and death of the slave trade to “seafood” and “African swallow food” is thoughtless, insensitive, offensive, and traumatic.

That it happened in a villa ge as progressive as Oak Park serves as a stark reminder that re presentation matters. That even here, racial equity is often absent without the presence of Black voices and leadership.

So I use my voice to express the justified outrage of those who feel silenced, isolated, and further marginalized in a country, and now a village, that disrespects our experience, history, and very existence. We are worthy of more than callous disre gard and racially insensitive narrative.

As Dr. King said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single gar ment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

So I express the outrage of those silenced, alongside a desire to find a productive path forward:

A path that includes an apology for the har m caused, that is inclusive of Black voices, and committed to working toward a racially-equitable future.

A path that looks beyond intention and focuses on the impact and trauma created to a community that shares this village but is now feeling unwelcome, disrespected, and invisible.

In the spirit of Oak Park, and the values that this village embodies, we will walk this path with you in an effort to transfor m this moment of pain into a moment of progress, but you will have to take the first ste p.

Cory Wesle y is an Oak Park villa ge trustee.

VIEWPOINTS

On the snowy afternoon of Jan. 22, a group of Russians and Russianspeakers gathered at the Pioneer Court Plaza, in the shadow of the Tribune Tower, to call for the release of all political prisoners, the end of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and a free Russia in general. Standing among them, holding up a protest sign, was a woman I’ll call Olga.

Out of an abundance of caution, I will just say that she and her friends mounted a protest action in their city. It didn’t end well — those who weren’t arrested fled the country, ending up at the Mexican border seeking asylum in the United States.

They fled with little more than the clothes on their backs. But even in her first weeks in U.S., Olga asked me if I knew about other opposition activists in Chicago, and if she could get involved

I didn’t have a good answer for her until a few weeks ago, when I heard about exiled activists all over the world organizing rallies to mark the second anniversary of the detention of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the crackdown on the protests that

followed. In the past two years, the Russian gover nment has become even more repressive, arresting people for calling the war in Ukraine a “war” (the gover nment’s preferred ver nacular is “special military operation”), and relaying information about what was happening on the ground. Now one of the rallies was being organized in Chicago.

Naturally, Olga wanted in I tried my best to spread the word, even putting up flyers, but wasn’t too optimistic. Opposition rallies in Chicago don’t usually get much participation. My pessimism deepened as I saw snow in the Sunday forecast. I called Olga just to check if she was still going, but there was no hesitation — she bundled up, but she was going. As we headed to Pioneer Court, I mentioned the flyers.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were putting up flyers?” she asked. “I could’ve helped.”

I pointed out that she was busy running around, taking on menial jobs just to make ends meet.

IGOR STUDENKOV/Sta

Protest in Pioneer Cour t Plaza on Jan. 22 in dow ntow n Chicago.

Until Russia is free

OUR VIEWS

West Sub’s leader speaks

Last week, in his first interview since taking on ownership of West Suburban Medical Center through the newly minted Resilience Healthcare, Manoj Prasad was both frank and hopeful about the future of this vital institution.

In an hour’s conversation with Wednesday Jour nal’s Stacey Sheridan, he acknowledged that the future of West Sub and its sister hospital, Weiss Memorial in the city, was at risk, absent the purchase he negotiated with the now-bankrupt previous owner, Pipeline Health. He said his newly for med health-care company paid $92 million for the two hospitals and has taken on more than $80 million in debt as well.

The Resilience purchase makes the sixth ownership change at West Sub in two decades. There is a price for such instability, especially in an era of such constant upheaval in the nation’s health care.

This, though, is a new model. Prasad has moved his family from Michigan to River Forest. He is effectively the CEO of West Sub and spends his days at either West Sub or Weiss. He says he is actively eng aged with staf f members at both hospitals. Also, that he is working to unify some operations between the two institutions, something not done previously.

“These two hospitals, they will flourish,” he told the Jour nal. As a safety-net hospital serving the West Side and Oak Park and River Forest, there is not a more important bet on our shared future than to work for the success of West Sub.

Soul City Corridor rises

While Oak Pa rkers should be active ly concer ned at the third murder in a year along the po rt i on of Chicago Avenue from Austin Boulevard to Har ve y, we ’d call your attention to something hopeful and ambitious that is underway on Chicago Avenue in Austin.

After years of urging and urgency, business leaders in Austin, led by Malcolm Crawford of the Austin African American Business Networking Association have gotten the city of Chicago’s attention and commitment to invest in the stretch of Chicago Avenue from Austin to Cicero Avenue. In a city that has active ly, maliciously disinvested in the West Side (and the South Side) for decade s, we give credit to Mayo r Lori Lightfoot for the intentional ef for ts to bring city funding to notable projects in Austin.

T he Jour nal tod ay has cove rage from our sister paper, Austi n Weekly News, about imminent plans to declare the stretch of Chicago Avenue the “Soul City Cor rido r. ” This is Crawford’s brainchild — creating a commercial and cultural hub focused on A frican American life in one of Chicago’s great Black neighborhood s.

Wi th wh at seems le gitimate community input, the city will soon choose a design for a cross-street arch near Chicago and Austin proclaiming the cor rido r. This is just the most visible aspect of ongoing wo rk to nur ture this vision. But a bold declaration is a ke y pa rt of new thinking for Chicago Avenue Oak Pa rk would do well to do some new thinking about its stretch of Chicago Avenue wh ich has vir tues but also challenges.

Getting reacquainted with the white stu

The last two years, winter didn’t arri ve in force till late January, early February, but when it arri ved, it brought plenty of snow. And this year it looks to be happening again. Which reminded me of a rare snowappreciation column I wrote in early February, 2013:

Never dreamed we’d reach a point where I would stop taking snow for g ranted. Chalk up another unintended consequence to climate change. Snow, which hadn’t settled on us for the better par t of a year, once again feels enchanting. Waking to unexpected snow this past weekend waltzed me back to the wonder of childhood

KEN TRAINOR

Snow is that soft idealizer, godlike in its perfection, descending upon the world, momentarily obscuring the world’s imperfections, which all too soon g ain the upper hand, tur ning this perfect precipitation into a sloppy swamp of slush.

Over the years, I gradually stopped marveling at snow’s unadulterated whiteness, its ability to profoundly transfor m the sur rounding landscape, the way it accommodates itself to surfaces, chameleon-like in its confor mity, miming and lining the graceful swirl of tree branches and accentuating the re gularity of cl ay tile roofs.

Snowing has always been preferable to having snowed. Looking out from my windows, I am soothed by the peaceful aimless descent of flakes, the sudden sideways minuets, choreographed by capricious winds. But I came to dislike living with snow. With each step we sully the stuf f, subjecting it to the original sins of our man-made ar tificiality, tur ning it gray with soot, debris, polluting ef fluence. We tromp it down, compressing and conver ting it to tricky, treacherous, uneven ice.

In the country, whole fields and forests remain un-fouled by boot soles and rubber tire s. There snow creates an alter nate reality, not easily found in citified environs — with one exception this year: Scoville Park, fenced of f for renovation, was rebor n this past weekend as an unblemished snow reserve. No do gs pranced through this comfortable coverlet with puppy-like rejuvenation. No child sledded pathways down its gently sloping ridge. Squir rels may lightly jostle the unmottled mantel, but it suf fers no mammals more disruptive. Like some promised land, it tantalizes with the luster of mid-day, just beyond reach be-

hind the awkward, hastily assembled, chain-link fence that contains and protects it

Inside the cof fee house across the street, a babbling toddler stands on the adjacent stool, pointing to the park, then tur ning to me, as if instructing. I understand perfectly. We’re seeing with the same eyes. Her dad says, “That’s the library, isn’t it?” But I know it’s not what she’s focused on. Books come later. Right now she is absorbed by the wintry wonder of snow. She has lived a lifetime without snow. Until recently, I didn’t miss it one bit. Like an ex-lover, I am well acquai nted with how dif ficult it can be.

But wh i le it is falling, all is forg iven. Utterly disinterested in where it settles, snow is gr avity’s greatest admirer. Eve ry good snowfall surrenders to Ear th’s ir resistible magnetism.

E skimos, I’ve been told, have names for 40 different kinds of snow, and so should we. There is lazy snow, snow that snarls traf fic, picture-postcard snow, snow that completely shuts us down, snow that cove rs the gr ass but melts on pavement, snowman snow, good-packing snow, snow that sticks, snow that piles, snow that drifts, snow that stubborn ly resists melting, snow that hangs around for weeks and obliterates all memory of the ground beneath, over night snow that gives plows a head star t on the mor ning c ommute, snow that for ms large crystallized c onglomerates as it descends, small-bore snow driven li ke a blitzkrie g by an ang ry wind, snow that binds and snow that blinds

Indiscriminat e, snow pl ay s no favo rites, shuns no one and nothing. Sn ow is the ultimate disciple of democra cy, proof that all men and women are coated equal.

I do n’ t miss the lo gistical complications of snow, but I do miss the kind of seve re winter that magnifies the ecstatic euphoria come s pring. If climate change de prives us of that hard-ear ned payo ff, I will miss even the slo g that precedes it.

I savo red the snow that visited last weekend — just de ep enough, cove ring wh at should be cove red, leaving clear wh at needs to be clear, light enough for easy brushing and shoveling , the kind that glistens in the sunlight. Snow that alights and delights

T he kind of snow you just ca n’ t take fo r gr anted

SHRUB TO WN by Marc Stopeck

ere is no place for this

A statement from Oak Park Chief of lice Shatonya Johnson:

There is no place in our world senseless acts of violence like those that claimed the life of a young African American man, Tyre Nichols, in Memphis, T nessee No life should ever be taken in this way, but especially at the hands of those who are swor n to serve and protect.

The Oak Park Police De par tment has pledged to incor porate the NAACP’s Shared Principles The first principle states: We value the life of every person and consider life to be the highest value

The second principle guides us too: Tr with dignity and respect.

SHATONYA JOHNSON Oak Park police chief

As a de par tment, we unequivocally and discrimination in all its forms. The men and women who serve our community as swor n of ficers believe in building trust and strong relationships with our citizens and endorse the values of community policing.

My hear t goes out to the family and friends of Mr Nichols and to law enforcement professionals everywhere. We all will suf fer after this tragedy.

Oak Park has strategically invested in its police of ficers to ensure that they have the best training and right tools to treat everyone in all cases with dignity and respect. This investment in people is about both the quality and content of training to ensure knowledge and understanding of civil rights, human rights, de-escalation, use of force, of ficer wellness, crisis intervention, mental health, and extending compassion those in need of immediate life-saving measures

We continue to pledge our unwavering commitment to working every day in suprsity, equity and inclusion. With the parthe community, we are confident in a success that will allow Oak Park to grow stronger together.

Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of young Tyre Nichols, the entire Memphis community, law enforcement professionals and those who are affected by the tragic images and loss.”

Shatonya Johnson Oak Park police chief

WEDNESD AY

JOURNAL

of Oak Park and River Forest

Editor and Publisher Dan Haley

Senior Editor Bob Uphues

Digital Manager Stac y Coleman

Staff Repor ters Stacey Sheridan, Shanel Romain

Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor

Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora

Big Week Editor James Porter

Columnists Marc Bleso , Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, Harriet Hausman, Mary Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger

Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead

Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea

Designer Susan McKelvey

Marketing Representatives Marc Stopeck, Lourdes Nicholls, Kamil Brady

Business & Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan

Circulation Manager Jill Wagner E-MAIL jill@oakpark.com

Special Projects Manager Susan Walker

Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chair Judy Gre n Treasurer Nile Wendor f Deb Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Steve Edwards Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer

About Viewpoints

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, re 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 ling.

Please understand our veri cation 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 veri cation, 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 con rm a detail, we may not print the letter or essay.

If you have questions, email Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com.

LET TER TO THE EDITOR

■ 250-word limit

■ Must include rst and last names, municipality in which you live, phone number (for veri cation only)

‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY

■ 500-word limit

■ One-sentence footnote about yourself, your connec tion to the topic

■ Signature details as at lef t

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

HOW TO REA CH

141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 ■ PHONE 708-524-8300 EMAIL Dan@OakPark.com ■ ONLINE www.OakPark.com

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The newspaper is available on newsstands for $2.00.

A one -year subscription costs $48 within Cook County and $60 outside of Cook County Adver tising rates may be obtained by calling our o ce. Periodical rate postage paid at Oak Park, IL (USPS 10138). Postmaster, send address correc tions to Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302. © 2023 Growing Community Media, NFP.

Michael Romain deserves better

I was initially just shocked to hear that Michael Romain would no longer be writing for your paper. I was also disappointed that the paper put out such a shor t comment, and suspected there was more to the story. I would have thought his contributions would have meant a more celebratory goodbye and enthusiastic thank you.

I assumed that he was leaving of his own accord, and although I was sad, because his column has been the most interesting thing in the paper for some time, I cer tainly didn’t want to be grudge him whatever ste ps he was taking in his career.

But now that I know he did not leave of his own accord, I am pretty outraged. I realize I might not be able to know all the reasons, but it sounds like even he doesn’t know the reasons, and he and this community deserve better

Ruth Lazarus Oak Park

Bring back Michael Romain!

I was profoundly disappointed to lear n last week that Michael Romain is no longer with Wednesday Jour nal. His column was always the first thing I read. He wrote about impor tant, often uncomfortable subjects, and his columns were enlightening and thought-provoking. Bring him back!

Ellen Edward s Oak Park

Missing Michael Romain

I was very disappointed to read that Michael Romain is no longer part of Growing Community Media. His page 3 essays were always stimulating, dee ply serious, and with both national and local resonance. I thought Wednesday Jour nal was lucky to have a voice that would not have been out of place in the pages of the Atlantic. I thank him and wish him all the best.

Rober t K arrow Oak Park

anks to all who gave to the Gi Basket program

A special thank-you to all involved in the 2022 Holiday Food and Gift Basket (HFGB) program. HFGB had another successful season serving those community members in need. This year, HFGB served 790 families which was nearly 2,300 household members. We had a total of 90 new sponsors and 20 new donors during this cycle of HFGB.

We were nearing the week of gift drop-off and hundreds of families were still not matched. After the ar ticle Wednesday Jour nal ran before Thanksgiving, we were able to match all families requesting gifts. HFGB is grateful to Wednesday Jour nal for its continued support

The HFGB program gives local community members, businesses and religious cong re gations a chance to help their neighbors in need. A hear tfelt thank-you to our nearly 280 sponsors; your generosity brightened the holiday season for so many

A multitude of volunteer hours goes into making the HFGB a success A special thank-you to Mary Jane Welter, Valerie Woods and Kathy de la Cruz who dedicated so many hours in the of fice and beyond. HFGB had a dedicated group of new and experienced volunteers during gift drop-off and delivery week at the church; their org anization and guidance made for a smooth delivery day.

Finally, we are grateful to United Lutheran Church in Oak Park for allowing HFGB to use their space for the week of gift drop-off, as well as River Forest Township for giving us of fice space to use for the administrative tasks of the program.

The HFGB is highly visible during the fall through the holidays, but we are quietly working all year long behind the scenes. Fundraising for the following year continues shor tly after the prior season concludes.

Here is the link, if you are inclined to donate: https://www. communityofcong re gations.org/give/ Wishing you a wonderful 2023!

Angie Seder HFGB coordinator

Oak Park or Oak Poop?

Sometimes I think I live in Oak Poop rather than Oak Park. I live in downtown Oak Park and walk around downtown and the village every day. I can’t believe how many times I have to dodge poop on the sidewalks. Yes, the sidewalks! I love do gs, but their two-le gged friends aren’t doing their job.

It has to be hard not to know your do g just pooped on the sidewalk. Austin Gardens has signs up saying, “If your do g poops while nobody sees, you still have to pick it up.” Well, maybe we need those signs everywhere.

You should not own a do g if you don’t scoop the poop!

Rick Klaus Oak Park dog lover

IGOV candidate workshop is this Saturday

Are you running for a public of fice this year? Or maybe considering an oppor tunity to become an elected of ficial? If either of these is the case, or even if you’ re simply curious about elected of ficials’ roles, then IGOV has a workshop for you.

This Saturday, Feb. 4, IGOV will be hosting its Third Biannual Candidate Workshop. It will take place via Zoom be ginning at 1:30 p.m. Topics include Gover nment 101, which is led by our own Village President Vicki Scaman, as well as Your Role as an Elected Of ficial and Relationship with the Staf f of the Agency You Would Re present. There will also be time for general questions and answers.

This is not a campaign event, but rather a meeting to provide information to those who would find it useful to have a better understanding of an elected of ficial’s role. The workshop is open to all.

If you are interested in attending, please contact David Wick at david.wick@pdop.org and he will send a link to the Zoom meeting. Also feel free to reach out to David if you have any questions

Hope to see you on Saturday.

David Wick IGOV

Taking a stand against yard signs

As a candidate for the District 90 school board, I have decided not to utilize yard signs for this election. For years, as a resident I have thought yard signs to be “ungreen” and to have little efficacy. It’s time for me to walk the talk.

Much has been written about the ef fect of the corrugated materials in landfills — not good. Additionally, in 2015 a group of universities studied the value of yard signs in national, state, and local political races across the country. They found them to be 98% useless

Some have told me that not using these signs will be political suicide Perhaps they are correct. But I’m hoping that in our little hamlet we can make this upcoming election more thoughtful, less divisive and a lot more green.

Maybe we will demonstrate that there are more ef fective ways to reach our audience while simultaneously becoming the thoughtful citizens we all aspire to be

Kris Mackey Ri v er Forest

e cheapest nancing option is the quickest

I’ ll keep this brief. As a village we have been debating improvements to the physical education wing for over a decade

I think we can ag ree that there is consensus that it needs improvement. Construction costs escalate annually, sometime at a stee p rate as we recently have seen. Pragmatism is expensi ve

The cheapest financing option is the option that gets us to construction quickest. I humbly ask the District 200 school board to remember your duty to the school in this re gard.

We know that there is an anti-pool, anti-tax, proreferendum group that will lobby heavily against the project and any associated referendum. They have no shame in cherry-picking facts, making false equivalencies, inventing conspiracies, or dragging up obsolete plans to delay, obstruct, and derail any improvement plan.

Unfortunately this, in my opinion, makes a referendum untenable. Unless of course we are willing to risk another decade of delay and associated cost inflation. It’s not an “end around” to not have a referendum, you are just avoiding an unnecessary mudslinging fight in the town square. Ultimately, you know the work is needed

Please select the financing option that expedites this long-overdue improvement. We are a progressive community and if we follow our values it is clear that we should invest in our schools.

The sooner the better — 3,383 kids are counting on you!

Tom Powers Oak Park

We need cost/ bene t analysis on the OPRF pool

It is true the proposed new pool will serve all students, but is it necessary? My question is this: what is the dollar amount dif ference between a standard pool serving all students and the oversize pool? Cost/benefit analysis is the tool to use when dealing with finite resources

Shelly Uslenghi Oak Park

Opponents of OPRF’s Project 2 are not anti-pool

I thank Wednesday Jour nal for Bob Skolnik’s excellent coverage of OPRF High School’s Project 2. His reporting is refreshingly balanced. He does more than report what people say. He checks things out. This kind of reporting is much needed, and I hope he continues to cover the high school.

I also want to thank WJ for last week’s op-ed [OPRF and a referendum, Our Views, Viewpoints, Jan. 25] supporting a referendum on at least part of Project 2’s $105 million cost and a genuine evaluation of the project through an equity lens.

The op-ed says a positive referendum vote on Project 2 is possible. That may be. But a positive vote is probable if the high school re-imagines Project 2 with a pool of standard high school competition size

Many Project 2 supporters would have you think its opponents don’t want the high school to have a new pool. This is simply not the case We recognize that a new pool is needed. What we oppose is the size of the ginor mous proposed pool.

As the op-ed acknowledges, we Project 2 opponents have our points to make. These will be elaborated in future letters. For now, it’s enough to say we oppose the ginor mous proposed pool because we believe it will be:

■ Unnecessarily large, and therefore

■ Unnecessarily expensive

■ Inequitable

We elected the D200 board to decide this

For many years, our community has discussed that the physical education spaces (Project 2) at OPRF must be replaced. The work must be done. There is consensus that the work needs to be done District 200 has presented a detailed, thoughtful schematic/ plan to re place the current structure and ensure this amazing school will stand for another 100 years.

District 200 has also laid out five dif ferent funding scenarios for this project. The lowest price financing option is the option that gets us to construction as soon as possible.

This plan provides for the D200 board to act now and vote to move forward with the Project 2 plan as it is proposed, as well as with the funding scenario carefully laid out by Elizabeth Hennessy, a managing director of public finance for Raymond James Financial and an advisor to several school districts in the Chicago area.

As Ms Hennessy laid out in her presentation, our district has done a terrific job at saving money for this project. Approximately $45 million is already ear marked for this project. Our community has even established a foundation for those of our neighbors who wish to support Project 2 with more personal funds, contributions that would eliminate further taxpayer impact. With construction costs further escalating annually, what are we waiting for?

What is the point of spending extra money and adding a year of delay when we all know the work is needed? We elected our board. Why the need for cost, delay, and referendum voting? For some exercise in perceived democracy?

Democracy has been exercised here. We, the voters, have elected the District 200 board to make this decision. They are even charged with this task.

■

• Undemocratically financed, unless the full amount comes from referendum bonds or from the still-enor mous and infamous D200 cash reserve.

Judith Alexander Oak Park

It is time for our elected leaders to re present our interests and proceed with Project 2 and the funding scenario that gets us to construction as soon as possible with the lowest estimated cost. That is most responsible.

Laura Minnis

Aquatic schematic design, aka the new pool.

A note to snowbirds

Ilove winter, even though the fun of building snowmen, having snowball fights, and making snow angels is long past me Perhaps my memory fails, but I seem to recall there being more winter days with sunshine in the past. That said, even with these cloudier days of late, I still enjoy this season. Mother Nature covers the dirt and grime with her beautiful snowflakes, and she paints our trees with icy silver stripes. This handsome display glistens en on the gloomiest of

bird friends lorida or rizona for the winter, ey and cold , remainest is my

Iwas in the sixth g January of 1951 w first heavy sno season blank

It was the perfect snow for making sno and snowmen.

At the after noon recess on the day of the sno of the guys (including myself scooped snow into piles and rolled the snow into huge balls that left uncovered paths on the ground

DOOPER ’S MEMORIES

e day of the snowman

ether in a large a gigantic

As soon as this was done, the taller and stronmed a line and passed the giant snow boulders hand-to-hand upward re plopped each other vy thud and then smoothed and patted into

It wasn’t long before almost every boy began rolling snow and competing with other boys to see who could roll the largest snowballs.

with our tired and sweaty faces — looking back at him. Our principal was very strict and was usually an unsmiling man, so we figured he would tell us to take down the snowman.

Much to our surprise, though, our principal was grinning from ear to ear, and he said that since it appeared we were having such a great time, he would dismiss classes for the last hour of the school day and then told us to continue working on the snowman.

We all retur ned to the task of completing the snowman, and because school had been dismissed, some of the teachers — including my teacher — came out to help.

HAUSMAN

I actually have a really lovely time when inclement weather forces me indoors. With humility, I must confess that I am spoiled by my comfortable lifestyle. On the ugliest days, I take refuge in a comfy chair next to my wood-burning fireplace. The crackling sound of splintered logs and their pine-like scent add to the war mth of my home.

There I sit, cuddled up in an unglamorous robe and fuzzy slippers. My sweet, ever-present dog, Patty Girl, is at my feet, and an interesting book is in my hands. What joy I take in this simple, quiet time of reflection. In my view, the experience of being a snowbird in your moder n air-conditioned rooms does not compare to the indoor winter pleasure I experience right here at home

There is a precious serenity to my life here in River Forest that I believe cannot be matched elsewhere. Yes, I know I’m favorably biased about living here, but this town deserves my praise. I could write volumes about its year-round natural beauty; the services our village gover nment provides; the rapid response by our police and fire departments; and, of course, the caring folks who live here. All of this makes for an ideal home site

So, my dear snowbirds, enjoy your war m weather and swaying palm trees as I continue to appreciate wintering here. Lastly, let’s humbly remember how fortunate so many of us are to have the freedom to choose how and where we live.

Harriet Hausman, 98 years young, writes a regular column about her hometown, River Forest, and the rest of the world.

The idea of rolling snowballs to throw at girls to hear them scream was out of the question, because if a guy was caught throwing a snowball, he was sent to the principal, and he would receive a threeday suspension and would have to be brought back to school by his parents,

He would also receive F grades in all work missed during his absence.

Since snowballs were out, someone suggested that all of the snowballs should

en the 6-foot-5 school custodian came out and helped for a few minutes. With his height and muscle, the lifting process was expedited. Unfortunately, we were not able to finish the job because the school bell rang, which signified the end of recess. There were many sounds of protest because it meant that we would have to retur n to our books and receive assignments from our teacher We felt all the hard work we put into making the snowman was now wasted.

As we moped, our principal came out of the building and stared at the unfinished snowman. Then he looked at us —

Strangely enough, even though school was over for the day, nobody went home until the snowman’s head was crowned with a knit cap, donated by my pal George, and coal for the eyes and a stick for its nose donated by our custodian. It is a day I will never forget, first of all because it was so much fun helping to build the snowman, and secondly, because we missed the last hour of school, our teacher was not able to give us homework assignments

It will always be Virginia Moe’s Trailside

After 52 years as curator of Trailside Museum of Natural History, Virginia Moe and Trailside are almost synonymous If a name is to be applied to Trailside it should be hers. Hal Tyrell may have been a fine person, but he has nothing to do with Trail-

STUDENKOV

from page 21

“I could have put them up on the way to work!” she responded.

As we reached Pioneer Court, any concern that we’d be the only ones vanished. Ten minutes before the start of the rally, there were already 30 people, and the crowds just kept growing. The general consensus was that at least 100 people attended.

We called for the release of the political prisoners. We called for the end of the

side Did he ever even set foot in it? At any rate, although the place now is not for the rehabilitation of wild creatures as it was when Virginia Moe was curator, at least it is still in the business of educating people about wildlife and the woods as she did. It

war in Ukraine We called Putin Russia’s shame and chanted that Russia will be free. In retrospect, we probably could have used more English-language chants, but after watching photos and videos of protesters getting tasered and beaten, feeling helpless, it was, I admit, cathartic.

The rally wrapped up about 10 minutes later than planned. As some protesters went to the nearby Apple store to get war m, I heard Olga quietly repeating one of the chants.

“Russia will be free, Russia will be free, Russia will be free,” she said again and again, like an affir mation, like a mantra.

seems only fair that her 52 years of dedicated work there should result in her name being given to the plac e.

K aaren Klingel Pinckne y, Michigan Formerly from Maywood

Then she looked up and smiled. “This will be ringing in my head all day.”

“You know,” Olga told me later. “When I was back in Russia, I remember seeing photos of the protests abroad. ... Just knowing that we weren’t alone, that people who left haven’t forgotten us. ... It meant a lot.”

The activists are planning another rally on Feb. 24, to mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. The location and other details are still to be deter mined. But Olga and other activists like her will be there, and they will keep showing up — until Russia is free

OBITUARIES

Bill Southwick, 84 Minister, civil rights ac tivist

Rev. William (Bill) Wilbur Southwick, a longtime Oak Park resident, died on Jan. 14, 2023 in Berkeley Califor nia. Bor n on July 27, 1938 in Peoria to Lenore and Walter Southwick, where they owned two variety stores by the name of Southwick’s, he attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and seminary in Edinburgh, Scotland where he perfor med a service attended by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip

Upon retur ning to the states, he graduated from McCormick Theolo gical Seminary in Chicago and met Judith Southwick who had also grown up in Peoria. They were mar ried on Oct. 19, 1963. Their son Daniel Walter Southwick was born on May 27, 1966 and their daughter Laura Susan Southwick followed on Se pt. 14, 1968.

He managed a church-related coffeehouse and bookstore by the name of The Door, which aimed to bring youth ministry to non-church-affiliated young people

From 1975-1999, he served in a variety of leadership roles, including executive director, at Nor thwest Youth Outreach. He was reco gnized for his leadership of the org anization with the “Le gacy of Leadership” award. He devoted his life to service and activism and was heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement and youth drug prevention programs.

Following his retirement, he continued perfor ming occasional religious services and was an active member of the Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ in Chicago His granddaughter, Isabella, was bor n on Jan. 14, 1999 in San Francisco He and Judy enjoyed spending their time traveling, with a particular af finity for France.

Bill Southwick is survived by his son, Dan (Tif fany), and his granddaughter, Isabella. He is preceded in death by his wife Judy who died in 2012 after a long battle with cancer and his daughter Laura who died in 2002 while on a business trip to China.

A memorial service will be held later this year (once planned, details will be shared

with close friends and family).

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Laura Southwick Foundation (a fund of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation) in the link below. Please indicate “in memory to Bill Southwick”

https://oprf.iphiview.com/oprf/Donate/ AccountInfor mation/tabid/495/dispatch/accountselection_id$26696_hash$41ba67b8c793f 6cfdf2b2384b8609a34573305f4/Default.aspx

Glenn Brooker, 94 Great stor yteller, comedian

Glenn T. “Red ” Brooker of Westchester, for merly Oak Pa rk , died on Jan. 20, 2023.

Bor n on Au g. 6, 1928, he was well known for his ability to make p eople laugh, as a great storyteller, and a master of many dialects A gr aduate of Fenwick High School and Loyola Unive rsit y, he was a longtime parishioner of Ascension and love d to spend time with f amily and friends tr aveling, fishing, hunting and g olfing. Hi s greatest love was his w ife Marianne, hi s children, gr andchildren, great-gr andchildren and the time he spent with them. Glenn was the husband of Marianne (nee Reeb) for over 70 years; the father of Bill, A nn (Dan) Fischer, Tom (Tra cy ), Mary (Jack) Wa g ner, Katie (Jack) Zachar y, Beth (JR) McCracken, N ancy (Rich ) Graham and Jack (Sarah); the gr andfather of 26 and great-gr andfather of 12; brother of the late Dick (the late Dolores), brother-in-law of the late Bill Reeb, the late Jim Reeb, the late Jeanne (the late Jack) McGuire, the late Au drey (hi s b est friend, the late Jack) Walsh, the late Jackie, (the late Jim) McGill; the uncle of many nieces and ne phews; son of the late C harlie and Mar tha (nee Simpson) Brooker and son-in-l aw of the late Ca rl and An n (nee Aher n).

Vi sitation was held on Jan. 24, followe d by Mass at Ascension C hurch in Oak Pa rk , followe d by i nter ment at Queen of Heaven Cemeter y.

In lieu of flower s, d onations to Ascension School or Ju venile Diabetes Research

Foundation are appreciated. Ar r angements we re handled by Peterson-Bassi Chapels, Bob Gamboney, f uneral director

Marvin Marshall, 96 CPS teacher and principal

Marvin Marshall, 96, longtime resi dent of Oak Pa and husband of Er ika Marshall, die peacefully at home on Jan. 28, 2023. Bor n in Chicago 1926, he was a chil the Depression. Raised by his mother after his father died when he was young, he hustled pool and worked coat-check in clubs for money growing up in Albany Park.

Drafted when he graduated Von Steuben High School upon tur ning 18, he served in intelligence in occupied Japan, supporting the American-Japanese translator corps. He went to Roosevelt University on the GI Bill and became a high school history teacher. He met Erika (nee Kunzl) at Circle Pines, a progressive youth camp in central Michigan, where they were both summer counselors. They married in 1957, moved to Oak Park in 1964, and were a very happy couple for over 50 years.

Marvin became a principal in Chicago Public Schools, for many years at Brown Elementary, across the street from the Chicago Stadium, and then as a high school principal, retiring from Cregier Vocational, for merly McKinley High School, where he had first

worked as a history teacher. He and Erika were active in the Chicago Teachers Union, believers in the Civil Rights Movement and progressive causes, and were active in Oak Park affairs They were longtime members of the Oak Park Tennis Club. On retirement they moved to a condo at the for mer Oak Park Club so they could close the door and travel, which they did extensively, until Erika passed away suddenly from leukemia in 2011.

Marvin is survived by his sister, Esther Zabin (age 102); his son Eric and daughter Lisa (Derezinski); his grandchildren, Mason and Duncan Marshall, and Eme and Becca Derezinski; and his great-grandchildren, lex and Matthew Marshall (age 1 week).

Nicholas Perrino, 62 Co-owner of Perrino Bros. Construc tion

Nicholas Emanuel Perrino, 62, of Elmwood Park, for merly of Oak Park, died on Jan. 14, 2023. Bor n on June 6, 1960, he did much of his carpentry business, Perrino Bros Construction in Oak Park and River Forest.

He was the husband of Lauren Perrino; the father of Kelly (Ryan) and Ryan Perrino; son of the late Marie and Emanuel; brother of Shelley (Joe) Halzel, Tony (Cindy) Perrino, Pete (Sandy) Perrino, Laura (Dave) DeNale, Rose (Dale) Dunlap, Jennifer Riley, and the late Michael (Tami) Perrino; son-in-law of Lynn Hock; brother-in-law of Andy (Heather) Hock and the late Melinda (Joe) Triner; uncle of Christopher, Lana, Sierra, Alex, Nick, Olivia, Patrick, Michael, Brian, Katie, and Ashley; and the friend of many.

Celebration of Life services to be determined at a later date

Please contact Ken Trainor by e-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com, before Monday at noon. Please include a photo if possible.

Growing Community Media

Shipping Manager

Manufacturing

No weekends, no evening hours, great pay and benefits. $20-$25 per hour

Class specifications are intended to present a descriptive list of the range of duties performed by employees in the class.

Specifications are not intended to reflect all duties performed within the job.

DEFINITION

To perform various network/system administration, computer support, and operational activities for the Village including computer system setup, configuration, and testing.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED

Reports directly to the Information Technology Services Director.

EXAMPLE OF DUTIES:

Essential and other important duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Essential duties and responsibilities

1. Ensure that best in class customer service is provided to both internal and external customers and also embrace, support, and promote the Village’s core values, beliefs and culture.

2. Configure, test, and deploy network systems, such as, firewalls, routers, switches, wireless equipment, network servers and storage arrays.

3. Configure, test, and deploy system servers, such as, file, print, Internet, e-mail, database, and application servers.

4. Configure, test, and monitor server and end-user systems for security, such as, user accounts, login scripts, file access privileges, and group policy management.

5. Configure, test, and deploy end-user systems, such as, workstations, laptops, mobile devices, printers, and software.

6. Test, configure, deploy, and support security systems, such as, facility access system, video & audio system.

7. Monitor and auditing of networks, systems, and user activities to ensure security and efficiency of systems. Create scripts and reports of detail activities for regular review.

8. Perform and participate in disaster recovery activities, such as, backup procedures, data recovery, and system recovery planning.

9. Assist end-users with computer problems or queries. Troubleshoot systems as needed and meet with users to analyze specific system needs.

10. Ensure the uniformity, reliability and security of system resources including network, hardware,

HELP WANTED

software and other forms of systems and data.

11. Prepare, create and update user/technical procedure documentations and provide computer training.

12. Assemble, test, and install network, telecommunication and data equipment and cabling.

13. Participate in research and recommendation of technology solutions.

Other important responsibilities and duties

1. Train users in the area of existing, new or modified computer systems and procedures.

2. Participate in the preparation of various activity reports.

3. Travel and support remote facilities and partner agencies.

4. Operate, administer and manage the Village and Public Safety computer systems, including E-911 center, in-vehicle computer systems.

5. Prepare clear and logical reports and program documentation of procedures, processes, and configurations.

6. Complete projects on a timely and efficient manner.

7. Communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

8. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

9. Perform related duties and responsibilities as required.

QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge of:

Principals and procedures of computer systems, such as, data communication, hierarchical structure, backups, testing and critical analysis.

Hardware and software configuration of. computers, servers and mobile devices, including computing environment of Windows Server and Desktop OS and applications, Unix/Linux OS, VMware, iOS/Android.

Network protocols, security, configuration and administration, including firewalls, routers, switches and wireless technology. Cabling and wiring, including CAT5/6, fiber network, telephone, serial communication, termination, and punch-down.

Telecommunications theory and technology, including VoiP, serial communication, wireless protocols, PBX, analog, fax, voicemail and auto-attendant.

Principles and methods of computer programming, coding and testing, including power shell, command scripting, macros, and

VB scripts. Modern office procedures, methods and computer equipment. Technical writing, office productivity tools and database packages.

Ability to:

Maintain physical condition appropriate to the performance of assigned duties and responsibilities, which may include the following:

- Walking, standing or sitting for extended periods of time

- Operating assigned equipment

- Lift 50 pounds of equipment, supplies, and materials without assistance

- Working in and around computer equipped vehicles

Maintain effective audio-visual discrimination and perception needed for:

- Making observations

- Communicating with others

- Reading and writing

- Operating assigned equipment and vehicles

Maintain mental capacity allowing for effective interaction and communication with others. Maintain reasonable and predictable attendance. Work overtime as operations require.

Experience and Training

Guidelines

Experience: Three years of network/system administration in the public or private sector, maintaining a minimum of 75 Client Workstation computers. AND Training: Possession of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in computer science or a related field. Certifications in Microsoft Server Administration, Networking, Applications and Cisco Networking.

Possession of a valid Illinois Driver License is required at the time of appointment. Vaccination against COVID-19 strongly preferred.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Work in a computer environment; sustained posture in a seated position for prolonged periods of time; continuous exposure to computer screens; work in and around computerized vehicles outdoor and garage facility; lifting heavy equipment, communication cabling and wiring into walls and ceilings.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Administrative Assistant in the Public Health Department. This position provides a variety of responsible administrative and analytical functions; records and monitors department budget and fiscal requirements of grant-funded programs; oversight of Accounts Payable process; prepares reports and serves as a resource for computerized office applications. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www.oak-park.us/ jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

PARKING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Parking Enforcement Officer in the Police Department Field Services Division. This position will perform a variety of duties and responsibilities involved in the enforcement of Village parking regulations; and to provide general information and assistance to the public. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park.us/. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

IT OPERATIONS SPECIALIST

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of IT Operations Specialist. The ideal candidate is responsible for the effective operation of information technology services and support across the organization. The IT Operations Specialist serves as a technical expert for the implementation, maintenance and support of systems and networks. The IT Operations Specialist plans and carries out various complex assignments and develops new methods and approaches in a wide variety of IT specialties. Evaluates new and enhanced approaches to deliver IT services; test and optimize the functionality of systems, networks, and data; and define technical requirements. The IT Operations Specialist is responsible for providing various forms of computer-related technical assistance and improving the efficiency of the work of the staff through the use of technology. Interested and qualified applicants can visit our website at http://www.oakpark.us/ for more details.

Top rated firm Alpina Manufacturing LLC founded in 1992, locally owned beautiful campus in Galewood, near Mars candy, 3 blocks north of Oak Park. We build and sell display framing systems to customers nationwide including Wal-Mart, Verizon, Circle K, Hospitals, CTA Apply in person M-F 8am to 4pm • Alpina • 6460 W Cortland St Chicago, IL 60707 www.fastchangeframes.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE II

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Customer Service Representative II in the Development Customer Services Department. This position provides customer service to the public by providing a variety of responsible and difficult customer service and receptionist work including high volume telephone traffic; and to perform the more difficult and complex customer service duties depending on the department including but not limited to service requests, permits, parking passes, block party permits, accounts payable processing and vehicle stickers. This position is crosstrained with the other Customer Service Representative IIs in the Village.

Applicants are encouraged to apply online at https://secure.entertimeonline.com/ta/6141780.careers?ApplyToJob=537079168 or visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www. oak-park.us/jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application. First review of applications January 20, 2023.

Director of Internal Audit sought by Pangea Transfer Company, LLC in Chicago, IL to own intrnl audit of cntrls to mtgte rsk to cmpny. Apply @ jobpostingtoday.com #28950.

Airfield Civil Engineer III (Chicago, IL) F/T - Lead the dsgn & dvlpmt of multi-million-dollar projects utilizing complex civil engg principles to dsgn, rehabilitate & upgrade airport runways, taxiways, aprons, bituminous & concrete pavement, stormwater & utility infrastructure, drainage, landsides & other airport projects in compliance w/ agencies’ reqmts. Collaborate & represent the company w/ Federal Aviation Administration. Use in-depth knowl of FAA & other federal airport regs & operations. Evaluate engg reports & specification criteria for a variety of complex projects. Achieve engg dsgn & facility dvlpmt, dsgn detailing, code analysis, construction document production, construction administration, coord’n w/ project team, & client communication. Lead the application of engg principles to dvlp the dsgn & layout of runway edge lighting infrastructure to plan details & compilation of project docs & to dvlp technical specs, engineer’s report(s), cost estimates, quantity takeoffs & coord’n w/ consultants. Reqmts are Bach deg (or foreign educational equiv) in Civil Engg or closely rltd field + 12 mos of work exp as Airfield Civil Engineer I, Airfield Civil Engineer, or closely rltd. Also reqd is Professional Engineer (P.E.) license in the State of Illinois or ability to obtain w/in 6 mos of hire. Email resume to RS&H, Inc., Attn: Kristin Behrens, HR at: careers@ rsandh.com w/ job ref code ACEIII.

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION

Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation is looking for a full-time Director of Finance & Administration, who will manage the administrative and financial matters of the congregation in collaboration with church leadership and board officers. This person will participate on and advise the Executive Team and advise governing board on a wide range of financial matters at both the strategic and operational levels including the operational budget and stewardship planning. They will also oversee and adjust processes and operations as necessary to ensure efficient and effective implementation and creation of policies and procedures, as well as supervise some other staff members.

Core Competencies:

● Organization and Planning: Organize and oversee people, funding, materials, and support to accomplish multiple, concurrent goals and activities. Project management and excellent organizational skills

● Vision and Purpose: Commitment to and knowledge of Unitarian Universalist Principles, values, history and worship.

● Trust and Integrity: Is widely trusted to keep confidences, admit errors, and adhere to a transparent set of personal and professional values that are congruent with the ministry of the congregation

● Conflict Management: Recognize and resolve conflicts effectively, applying principles of active listening, collaboration, and equity for both congregants and staff

● Proficiencies: Working knowledge of business and church related software (Google Drive. Constant Contact and Realm or other church database software). Must have excellent project management and professional communication skills. Working knowledge of HR and accounting practices.

You can find out more information about the position at https://unitytemple.org/job-postings/. To apply, send a cover letter and resume to jobs@ unitytemple.org indicating “Director of Finance & Administration” in the subject line.

PARALEGAL

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Paralegal. The ideal candidate will perform a variety of responsible duties in support of the Law Department, including research, document preparation, administrative support to Law Department staff and other related duties. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www.oak-park.us/jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application. This position is open until filled.

Oak Park Residence Corporation is hiring and inviting candidates to apply for:

• Case Manager – HCV Program

• Accounting Clerk (PT)

• Assistant Property Manager – The Oaks and The FarrellyMuriello Apartments

• Property Assistant/Cleaner –Mills Park Tower

We offer benefits such as 401(k) with employer contribution, Health, Dental, Vision, Life, and Short-term and Long-Term Disability Insurance, EAP, FSA, Professional Development Assistance as well as these added Benefits:

- PTO, Paid Sick Leave, Paid Vacation, and Paid Holidays

- Tuition Reimbursement

- A Collaborative, Supportive, and Fun Work Environment

For a complete job description please go to our website: Work for OPRC –OPRC (oakparkrc.com) or to apply send cover letter and resume to bswaggerty@oakparkrc.com.

OPRC strives to provide a positive and meaningful work experience, where you can make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Oak Park Residence Corporation is a community-based, non-profit organization. For over 46 years, we have led the way in promoting Oak Park’s housing diversity and economic balance by offering quality apartments at affordable prices.

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICES

Request of Lindsey Ann Brewer Case Number 2022CONC001598

There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: Lindsey Ann Brewer to the new name of: Lynzy Ann Bailey

The court date will be held: On February 3, 2023 at 9:30am at 50 W Washington, Chicago, IL, Cook County in Courtroom #1730

processing protested applications may be found at 12 C.F.R. 262.25. To obtain a copy of the Federal Reserve Board’s procedures, or if you need more information about how to submit your comments on the application, contact Jeremiah Boyle, Assistant Vice President for Community and Economic Development at (312) 322-6023; to request a copy of an application, contact Colette A. Fried at (312) 322-6846. The Federal Reserve will consider your comments and any request for a public meeting or formal hearing on the application if they are received in writing by the Reserve Bank on or before the last day of the comment period.

Published in RB Landmark

February 1, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICE

ANNUAL APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE PUBLIC HEARING

documents must be approved by the Village prior to obtaining bidding documents. A non-refundable fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00) will be required to obtain bidding documents. Proposals will only be accepted from bidders that have obtained bidding documents from the Edwin Hancock Engineering Company.

All bid proposals offered must be accompanied by a bid bond, cashier’s check or certified check in an amount not less than Five Percent (5%) of the total amount of the bid, as a guarantee that if the bid proposal is accepted, a contract will be entered into and the performance of the contract properly secured. Checks shall be made payable to the Order of the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Brookfield. No bid proposal shall be considered unless accompanied by such bid bond or check.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Tuesday 21 February 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Village Hall, 517 Desplaines Avenue, Forest Park, Illinois, the Planning and Zoning Commission will conduct a public hearing to consider a request for conditional use approval to open an adult use cannabis dispensary at the following described property.

CIRCLE PLAZA II

LEGAL DESCRIPTION

LOTS 1, 2, 3, 4, AND 5 IN BLOCK 1 IN RAILROAD ADDITION TO HARLEM IN THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 12, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 12, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLIONOIS

Commonly known as 7200-7212 Circle Avenue & 25 South Harlem Ave Forest Park il. 6010

LEGAL NOTICE

The Village of Oak Park will receive bids from qualified electrical contractors for the Police Dept. Prisoner Area Heat Improvements Project. Bids will be accepted at the Public Works Service Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, until 11:00 a.m. local time on Friday, February 17th, 2023.

Request for Bids

Village of Oak Park Police Department Prisoner Area

Heat Improvements

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION

FIFTH THIRD BANK NA; Plaintiff, vs. CITIZENS BANK NA FORMERLY KNOWN AS RBS CITIZENS NA SUCCESSOR BY MERGER TO CHARTER ONE BNAK NA; JOEL A. VERHOFF; RAELIN M. VERHOFF; RANDOLPH CROSSING CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION; UNKNONW OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 22 CH 6637

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIV-

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

Plaintiff, -v.MELANIE MARTIN, 300 CHICAGO CONDOMINIUM, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS, UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF HAZEL J. ANTHONY, GERALD NORDGREN, AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR HAZEL J. ANTHONY (DECEASED) Defendants

2022 CH 04036

300 CHICAGO AVE 4N OAK PARK, IL 60302

NOTICE OF SALE

In re the marriage of Deborah C. Amaro, Petitioner and DiRefugio Carlos Acosta, Respondent, Case No. 2022DN000698.

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 Will 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 February 24, 2023, 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.

ANDREA LYNN CHASTEEN, Clerk.

Published in Wednesday Journal January 25, February 1, 8, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR FORMATION OF A BANK HOLDING COMPANY

Brookfield Bancshares, Inc., 9136 Washington Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois 60513, has applied to the Federal Reserve Board for permission to form a bank holding company and acquire control of First National Bank of Brookfield, located at 9136 Washington Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois 60513. The Federal Reserve considers a number of factors in deciding whether to approve the application, including the record of performance of banks we own in helping to meet local credit needs.

You are invited to submit comments in writing on this application to Colette A. Fried, Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60604. The comment period will not end before March 3, 2023 and may be somewhat longer. The Board’s procedures for processing applications may be found at 12 C.F.R. Part 262. Procedures for

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Brookfield will hold a public hearing at 6:30 P.M. on February 13, 2023 at the Village Board Room in the Municipal Building of the Village of Brookfield, 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois 60513 on the Village’s proposed appropriation ordinance, which will serve as the basis for the Village’s 2023 Annual Appropriation Ordinance.

The proposed appropriation ordinance will be on file in the Village Clerk’s Office for at least ten (10) days prior to February 13, 2023, and copies thereof will be conveniently available for public examination and copying.

Brigid Weber, Village Clerk

Published in RB Landmark February 1, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Notice is hereby given by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Brookfield, Illinois that bid proposals will be received for the following project:

Any bidder in doubt as to the true meaning of any part of the bidding documents may request an interpretation thereof from the Village. The bidder requesting the interpretation shall be responsible for its prompt delivery. At the request of the bidder, or in the event that the Village deems the interpretation to be substantive, the interpretation will be made by written addendum issued by the Village.

In the event that a written addendum is issued, either as a result of a request for interpretation or the result of a change in the bidding documents issued by the Village, a copy of such addendum will be mailed to all prospective bidders. The Village will not assume responsibility for receipt of such addendum. In all cases it will be the bidders’ responsibility to obtain all addenda issued.

The Contractor and Subcontractor shall comply with all regulations issued pursuant to Prevailing Wage Act (820 ILCS 130), and other applicable Federal Laws and regulations pertaining to labor standards.

PINs:. 15-12-405-019, 15-12-405002,15-12-405-021, 15-12-405-006, 15-12-405-020, 15-12-405-003, 1512-405-004, 15-12-405-022

The applicant for this petition is Emerald Coast LLC. The owner of the property is Bern Builders of Il. LLC Circle Plaza LLC.

Signed: Marsha East Planning and Zoning Commission Chairperson

Published in Forest Park Review February 1, 2023

Bid Number: 23-111

Issuance Date: 2/1/23

There will be a pre-bid meeting in the lower level of Village Hall in the Police Dept. lobby located at 123 Madison St., Oak Park, IL on Wednesday, February 8th, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Bid forms may be obtained by calling 708-3585714 or by e-mailing fgutierrez@ oak-park.us between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. M-F.

The Village of Oak Park reserves the right to issue proposal documents and specifications only to those contractors deemed qualified. No proposal documents will be issued after 4:00 p.m. on the working day preceding the date of proposal opening.

THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK

Published in Wednesday Journal February 1, 2023

EN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 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. 16-07-408-026-1012.

Commonly known as 612 RANDOLPH STREET, UNIT #2, OAK PARK, IL 60302.

The mortgaged real estate is improved with a condominium residence. The purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by subdivisions (g)(1) and (g)

(4) of Section 9 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.

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on January 17, 2023, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on March 1, 2023, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate:

Commonly known as 300 CHICAGO AVE 4N, OAK PARK, IL 60302

Property Index No. 16-05-321-0341007

The real estate is improved with a condo/townhouse.

LINING

24” SEWER AT VETERAN’S CIRCLE VILLAGE OF BROOKFIELD, ILLINOIS

This project will consist of work necessary to improve and rehabilitate portions of the combination sewer system on Grand Boulevard using inversion lining and all other appurtenant work to properly complete this project in accordance with the specifications and bidding documents.

Sealed bids will be received up to the hour of 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, the 15th day of February, 2023, in the office of the Village Manager in the Village Hall located at 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois. All sealed bids received will be publicly opened and read at 11:00 A.M. on the same day, Wednesday, the 15th day of February, 2023, at the Village Hall.

Electronic copies of bidding documents, consisting of the bid proposal, project specifications, and sewer tapes are available from the Edwin Hancock Engineering Co., 9933 Roosevelt Road, Westchester, Illinois 60154. Bidding documents can be requested by emailing info@ehancock.com. No bidding documents will be issued after 4:30 P.M. on Friday, the 10th day of February, 2023.

All bidders wishing to obtain bidding

The Village of Brookfield reserves the rights to determine the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder, to waive irregularities, and to reject any or all bid proposals.

BY ORDER

THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES VILLAGE OF BROOKFIELD, ILLINOIS

Published in RB Landmark February 1, 2023

For information call The Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Diaz Anselmo & Associates, P.A., 1771 West Diehl Road, Naperville, Illinois 60563. (630) 453-6925. 6722185734

INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com

I3211098

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 the 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

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE REAL ESTATE FOR SALE REAL ESTATE FOR SALE REAL ESTATE FOR SALE REAL ESTATE FOR SALE REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

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 (driv-

er’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, CODILIS & ASSOCIATES,

P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL, 60527 (630)

794-9876

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.

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. 14-22-03237

Attorney ARDC No. 00468002

Attorney Code. 21762

Case Number: 2022 CH 04036

TJSC#: 43-258

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.

Case # 2022 CH 04036

I3212613

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHAN-

CERY DIVISION

WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.

Plaintiff, -v.-

MORRIS SMITH, HUMPHREYWASHINGTON CONDOMINIUMS, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, UNKNOWN OCCUPANTS

Defendants

22 CH 4119

341 S HUMPHREY AVE UNIT 3N OAK PARK, IL 60302

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIV-

EN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on November 30, 2022, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on March 3, 2023, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate:

Commonly known as 341 S HUMPHREY AVE UNIT 3N , OAK PARK, IL 60302

Property Index No. 16-08-316-0301015

The real estate is improved with a condominium.

The judgment amount was $125,375.04.

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 the 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 foreclo-

sure 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 The sales clerk, LOGS Legal Group LLP Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301, Bannockburn, IL, 60015 (847) 291-1717 For information call between the hours of 1pm - 3pm.. Please refer to file number 22-096166.

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. LOGS Legal Group LLP 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301 Bannockburn IL, 60015 847-291-1717

E-Mail: ILNotices@logs.com

Attorney File No. 22-096166

Attorney Code. 42168

Case Number: 22 CH 4119

TJSC#: 42-4789

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.

Case # 22 CH 4119 I3212084

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.

e Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law. is newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.

To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-669-9777.