W E D N E S D A Y
May 10, 2017 Vol. 35, No. 38 ONE DOLLAR
@oakpark @wednesdayjournalinc
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
W i ht Pl Wright Plus Home Walk
Homes, page B1
Man killed in Oak Park carjacking Victim clung to driver’s side window until being thrown off By THOMAS VOGEL Contributing Reporter
tree, even when patriotically protected from Emerald Ash Borer. Critically endangered species. American Ash 36 yo.” The cryptic message is the work of Elmwood Park resident Scott Carlini, who has traveled the village by bicycle and foot for roughly six years, voicing his
A carjacking in the parking lot of an Oak Park grocery store on Roosevelt Road on May 7 resulted in the death of a Westchester man, 24-year-old Christopher Daniel Florez, according to Oak Park police. Oak Park Police are still investigating the incident and are holding a “person of interest” for questioning. Florez, police said, left a car running as a he, a friend and her daughter stood a few feet away at a DVD rental kiosk outside Jewel, 7036 Roosevelt Road, around 6:40 p.m. A man, described by witnesses as black male, about 30 to 40 years old with a thin build, short braids and wearing a dark sweater reportedly got into the car. Florez then ran to the car and reached inside the driver-side window, but the man drove off “at a high rate of speed,” police said. Still hanging onto the car as it traveled northbound on Harlem Avenue, Florez eventually was thrown from the moving vehicle. The Cook County medical Examiner’s Office confirmed on May 8 that Florez had died from injuries suffered by
See TREES on page 18
See CARJACKING on page 15
WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer
WHO WILL SPEAK FOR THE TREES? Scott Carlini, who goes by the name Scottie AshTree Seed, leaves a message on an ash tree stump in Oak Park. He argues that trees infested by Emerald Ash Borer beetles can be saved. Village Forester Rob Sproule disagrees.
‘Scottie AshTree Seed’: Trees don’t have to die Activist sends message to village by writing on stumps By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
Oak Park residents strolling through their neighborhoods have noticed the messages written on tree stumps through the village for years. The shaky handwriting on stumps of
trees removed from public parkways can at times be difficult to read. The messages usually state the species and estimated age of the tree and criticize its removal. The message on one stump near the corner of Pleasant Street and South Kenilworth Avenue states: “? Who culls a perfectly healthy and structurally safe
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