Improving a ordability, diversifying housing stock and promoting integration are key goals
By LUZANE DRAUGHON Staff Reporter
Oak Park trustees have begun taking steps to add more af fordable, “missing middle” housing options to the village.
“Missing middle” housing is defined as “a range of house-scale buildings with multiple units – compatible in scale and form with detached single-family homes –located in a walkable neighborhood.”
“Affordable housing,” according to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, is housing in which the occupant is paying no more than 30% of their gross income for housing costs, including utilities. In Oak Park, the area median income is $103,264, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but that’s mostly homeowners. Renters would need to make $61,958 each year to af ford a monthly $1,548 rent.
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The move comes amid the board’s efforts to create vibrant, diverse and connected neighborhoods, according to village officials. Part of achieving that goal includes evaluating single-family zoning in Oak Park, missing middle housing and other housing types for the village The first step is to amend residential zoning restrictions, which trustees discussed July 23.
At the village board meeting July 23, village staf f presented four key options to potentially reconfigure residential zoning districts in Oak Park. But trustees did not seem in ag reement about which direction to take, and instead asked for deeper analysis first.
The overarching goals, according to Emily Egan, the village’s development services director, are to increase af fordability, include more housing options, diversify housing stock, and promote racial, age and socioeconomic inte gration.
cording to village officials.
“Missing middle housing is not intended to be more high rise, more dense, multifamily,” Egan said. “Missing middle really focuses on that house scale, and that walkable residential neighborhood.”
Some disadvantages to this recommendation, according to village officials, are potential impacts to village services such as water, sewer, fire, police, schools, parks, parking and taxes, as well as potential pushback from neighbors. This option, however, would be the least disruptive to the residents, said Craig Failor, the village planner.
“I think that this is a place where I’m interested in being more disruptive,” Trustee Brian Straw said.
“We have a zoning code that we know is racist, unambiguously. If we do nothing but change the label, it ’s still going to be racist.”
CO RY WESLE Y Oak Park trustee
“[Missing middle housing] is not going to be the one action and one strateg y that achieves the goal of affordability and inte gration in the community,” Egan said. “Missing middle is working in tandem and related to the other nine strategies [in the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus housing study].”
Four options before the board
Village staf f recommended eliminating single-family nomenclature in its zoning codes and adding more housing options to the for merly single-family districts. Under this recommendation, five of the eight residential zoning districts would have changes, but the district boundaries would not change.
This option would eliminate zoning districts where only single-family units are allowed and rename districts based on density. Single-unit homeowners would be able to add a second unit if desired, after obtaining a permit and inspection. Other restrictions would remain, including setback, height and density requirements, ac-
Certain demog raphics, such as those who can’t af ford a home in Oak Park, are still excluded, Wesley said, while others who have been prioritized continue to be. Artificial housing scarcity, he pointed out, can lead to homelessness and racial discrimination.
“Housing is a capitalist market but the only way that you get prices down in capitalism is to increase supply or decrease the desirability,” he said. But no one wants to create a worse village, he pointed out.
“We have a zoning code that we know is racist, unambiguously,” he said. “If we do nothing but change the label, it’s still going to be racist. I’m not going to vote for that. I’d rather labor under the racism of my ancestors than create some for my kids.”
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Editor Erika Hobbs
Digital Manager Stacy Coleman
Digital Media Coordinator Brooke Duncan
Sta Reporters Amaris E. Rodriguez, Luzane Draughon
Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor
Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora
Contributing Editor Donna Greene
Columnists Marc Bleso , Jack Crowe, Mary Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger
Shrubtown Cartoonist Marc Stopeck
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The second option is to take no action and maintain the current zoning requirements. No trustees appeared interested in maintaining the status quo.
The third option is to reduce residential zoning from eight to four districts. This would increase housing types in for merly singlefamily zoning districts and could also add more af fordable housing units. Egan said shrinking the number of districts would simplify the zoning codes and be more transparent for developers and property owners. The same negative impacts could apply.
The fourth option is to implement landuse type housing. This would create only one residential zoning district, meaning any type of housing would be allowed anywhere in the single residential zone. The same disadvantages are possible.
Failor explained village staf f were seeking input on which option to flesh out and pursue. But trustees said they felt they need more infor mation first.
“The underlying development of missing middle housing would be consistent throughout the village re gardless of what the zoning is,” Failor said. “It’s just how you organize it, describe it and promote it.”
Inclusive, a ordable options?
Trustee Cory Wesley, however, said he wasn’t sure about any of the options presented July 23. He said he was disappointed race wasn’t initially mentioned in the village staf f’s presentation, because housing and zoning both impact racial inte gration.
He said he’d like to see more options
“When you really are building for an inclusive, af fordable, diverse community, you’re breaking down systems of oppression,” Village President Vicki Scaman said. “We really have our work cut out for us to match our intentions with what actually is doable.”
“I want to be a leader in this area the way we were in 1968,” Scaman also said, referring to the village’s 1968 fair housing ordinance. “If that’s going to mean extra work, then so be it.”
Trustee Straw suggested a hybrid of options three and four, possibly implementing only two residential zoning districts. Straw, like Wesley, pointed out that certain restrictions might need to change alongside the restructuring of residential zones. Parking was one Straw mentioned.
Trustee Lucia Robinson, who said Tuesday she was leaning toward option one, also said she’d like to understand how changes to zoning could affect the inclusionary zoning ordinance and historic preservation. She said she doesn’t want to inadvertently make areas more exclusive
Trustee Ravi Parakkat agreed he was comfortable with the village staff’s recommendation but wants more information about how to increase affordability while still protecting home values, how living conditions might change and the impact on historic preservation. The board needs to understand the number of new residents or units Oak Park can support based on school sizes and other village services, he said.
Trustee Chibuike Enyia also said he wants to understand more about how zoning changes might impact residents. Trustee Susan Buchanan said she was open to option one or three.
More information is expected to come back to the board at a later date
Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea
Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza
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Wendorf Deb Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Steve Edwards Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer
Free Concerts on the Quad
Wednesday, August 7, 7 p.m., Dominican University Quad Featuing Dennis Stroughmatt et L’Esprit Creole. A vibrant blend of Celtic, Canadian and Old Time sounds, this music bridges the gap between contemporar y Canadian and Louisiana Cajun styles. 7900 W Division St., River Forest
Tablet Time
Thursday, August 1, 4-5 p.m.,
Oak Park Public Library – Storytime Room Explore apps for drawing, music, video creation, puzzles, games, coding, and more! For kids in grades PK-5. Register at https://tinyurl.com/mrxpn5z7, 834 Lake St., Oak Park
Older Adults Co ee Hour
Friday, August 2, 9:30-11 a.m., Oak Park Public Library - Lobby Community Space
Stop into the library for a cup of co ee and friendly conversation. Register at https://tinyurl.com/3 4338r, 834 Lake St., Oak Park
Co ee Monday
Monday, August 5, 9-10 a.m.,
River Forest Public Library - Barbara Hall Meeting Room
Come to the librar y on the rst Monday morning of ever y month for co ee and conversation about local matters. It’s a great way to get to know your neighbors and learn about things going on in the community. This month’s speaker is Mary Anne Ojeda from Oak Park & River Forest Township, discussing Township services and programming. 735 Lathrop Ave., River Forest
BIG WEEK
July 31-August 7
River Forest ’s Forgotten Place: The History of Edgewater Park
Saturday, August 3, 2-3 p.m., River Forest Public LibraryBarbara Hall Meeting Room
OPRF Historical Society volunteer Frank FioRito presents his research on a forgotten piece of River Forest histor y. er the story of a quirky subdivision that once existed in what is now the Thatcher Woods Forest Pre, how it came to be, and why it no longer exists. 735 Lathrop Ave., River Forest
appetizers, entrees, and desserts on the TNO menu. Tables and chairs are set up outside for patrons to enjoy dining al fresco. Live music acts play at the end of Marion Street by Nor th Blvd. Get to know di erent local non-pro t groups each week at their tents and tables throughout the event area. On Marion St. between Lake St. and Nor th Blvd.
Be Our Neighbor
Tuesday, August 6, 4-5 p.m., Oak Park Public Library – Storytime Room
Join us for an episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, ed by struc tured discussions and ac tivities to help kids gain social-emotional skills. Designed for ages 3 and older with their caregivers. Register at https:// tinyurl.com/mr4xrjtd, 834 Lake St., Oak Park
Author Visit: Arionne Nettles
Wednesday, August 7, 7-8 p.m., Oak Park Public Library
Join us for an evening with “We Are the Culture: Black In uence on Everything” author Arionne Nettles. Books will be available for sale from The Book Table, and the author will sign books after the program. Register at //oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park
Concert in the Park -
Compiled by Brooke Duncan
Listing your event in the calendar
Wednesday Jour nal welcomes notices about events that Oak Park and River Forest community 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.
■ Email details to calendar@wjinc.com
Otter Petter
Sunday, Aug. 4, 6 - 7:30 p.m., Scoville Park
Join in for some free, family-friendly entertainment in Scoville Park. 800 Lake St., Oak Park
hires new director of campus safety
Devitt will be the 4th
director in less than two years
By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter
Oak Park and River Forest High School has a new director of campus safety. This will be the fourth person to hold the post in just the past two years.
Kristen Devitt was hired by the District 200 school board at a special board meeting earlier this month.
Devitt, who could not be reached for comment before deadline, works as director of security at Kaiser Per manente, a hospital in Honolulu. According to her LinkedIn profile, she has held that post for the past two years.
She holds a Bachelor of Science de gree in sociology from Illinois State University, as well as a master’s in adult and continuing education and teaching from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
Devitt will begin at OPRF on Aug. 1. Her annual salary will be $130,000, but was pro-rated to $118,544 to reflect her start date. Her hiring was approved by the school board during a closed session portion of a meeting on July 11. She will be the district’s fourth director of campus security in two years. Devitt will be replacing Traccye Love who resigned from the position in April.
Previously, the role has b McLeod, who resigned in served for less than five months ber 2023, and Love, who left the district after fi
The need for a new director was ackno Greg Johnson, who told We school needed “stability.”
In an earlier interview with son expressed how the position can be a “challenging role,” and requires someone who not only has strong safety experience but also knows how to districts and school boards.
Before her move to Hawaii, Devitt ser of office and school safety of Justice, an instructor for School Resource Officers, and a lieutenant of patrol the City of Beloit police department.
Devitt comes to the district with 25 years of professional experience in threat assessment, emergency management, interdisciplinary project adult education with a specialty in pr violence, emergency operations sponse and recovery.
Let New Rose cook for you, with free delivery! Every week, we make 2 soups (serves 2) and 2 entrees (serves 2, 4, or 6). Free delivery to Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park. Dietary restrictions welcome.
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Aug 3 •
e Emerson sold for more than $60M
Oak Park received $482,000 in real estate transfer tax
By LUZANE DRAUGHON Staff Reporter
The Emerson Apartments building, located at 1135 Westgate St., sold for $60,250,000 on July 1.
TEACHERS
VA8 Emerson, LLC of Irvine, California, purchased the 20-story building from LMC Oak Park Holdings, LLC. The real estate transfer tax, or how much money the Village of Oak Park receives from the sale, is $482,000. The seller fronts that bill, according to Oak Park’s finance department. In Oak Park, the transfer tax is $8 per $1,000 of the sale price.
VA8 Emerson, LLC bought the building with a loan of $44,064,000 provided by the Federal Home Loan Corporation. LMC Oak Park Holdings, LLC is the original developer of The Emerson, which opened in 2017.
The building contains 270 apar tment units, including studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apar tments with various floor plans. The Emerson also has an indoor parking garage, commercial units and is silver leadership in energy and environmental design certified, according to for efficient and cost-saving tal, social and governance benefits.” Silver is the third highest certification. Other amenities at T he E merson include a sw i mming p ool, a fitness c enter, stainless steel appliances and close proximity to the Metra train station and a Green Line CTA stop
FFC Oak Park won the Health & Fitness Association’s Community Service Award — in 2020. The pandemic, of course, shut down the ceremony like it did so many other things. But, with restrictions lifted, the fitness center finally was able to claim the prize. The award is given to a single group each year that displays unwavering dedication to supporting and building a strong local community. Four years later, the staf f celebrated its achievement after the award was sent to them!
e Emerson Apartments building.
Culinary incubator Hub Kitchen aims to launch food enterprises
It takes over La Parrillita’s former site
By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Contributing Reporter
Hub Kitchen opened for business in July, but you probably didn’t notice.
T he location at 7225 W. North Ave. in River Forest (formerly La Par rillita Mexican Grill and, for you real old-timers, Gossage Grill) is a rental commercial kitchen and culinary incubator. As such it operates behind the scenes to nur ture future food enter prises.
Owners Misty and Dan Olson saw a gap in the market after River Forest Kitchen, which housed Schoolhouse Kitchen and other clients, changed over to housing a single tenant. That kitchen launched several now well-known local businesses, such as The Daly Bagel.
The Olsons were also tenants at River Forest Kitchen with their son, Alec, who runs Spoke Cafe, a mobile coffee cart. They all needed somewhere to go.
“We felt there was a big need for this in the community,” Misty Olson said. “We are not chefs, but we love start-ups with entrepreneurial endeavors.”
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The Olsons wanted to open their new kitchen in River Forest because, like them, most of the other tenants already had River Forest business licenses. It was a challenge, they said, as River Forest isn’t a hotbed of commercial space and certainly not available kitchen space.
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Hub Kitchen-tenant Su Jang from New Rose Catering.
Co lin F ane, A gent
Being in a shared space is beneficial not only to keep costs down, but there are also other advantages to being in a community with other chefs. For example, if Jang runs out of an ingredient, she can call a fellow tenant and ask to bor row it, with the promise that she’ ll promptly replace it.
Here’s
Other current tenants include: Something’s Cooking Catering, Celebrations By Us – catering, Jilly’s Jerky, Good Omen Gyoza, Sweet d’Lush – crepe station catering and, of course, Spoke Cafe.
Monday & Friday 9am-5pm
Now, after months of construction and inspections, things are cooking.
Tue s/Wed/Thurs 9am-7pm Saturday 9am-12pm
One tenant of Hub Kitchen is Su Jang and her business New Rose Catering, which prepares weekly dinner delivery to households and caters events for up to 200 people. The process of building out the new kitchen has been collaborative with the Olsons
“We talked with them a lot. They really listened to us,” Jang said.
As the doors unlocked, that spirit of partnership continued.
“Saturday was our very first time in and they said let us know how the day went.” Jang had a few suggestions and needs. “And by Sunday morning, they had done most of it and that is almost unheard of,” Jang said.
In addition to being landlords, Misty and Dan Olson offer their tenants business consulting services.
“We don’t know a lot about cooking, but we know a lot about starting a business and running a business,” Misty Olson said.
“What’s great about this model is that if we help them grow, they will grow out of the space,” co-owner Dan Olson said.
Colin Fane, Agent
Colin Fane, Agent
212 S Marion Street Fl G
212 S Marion Street Fl G
Oak Park, IL 60302
Oak Park, IL 60302
Bus: 708-383-3163
Bus: 708-383-3163
The Olsons are considering opening up another, larger kitchen to serve tenants that grow to a new level. In the meantime, they are dreaming about what other experiences they can of fer at Hub
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Piedmont wines from Italy uncorked at Autre Monde special wine-tasting event
Club members get special wine and food pairings, visit from winery
with pours from a single, family-owned Italian winery and a visit from a family member of the winery.
family member
By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Contributing Reporter
Each month John Aranza, a partner and sommelier at Autre Monde in Berwyn selects bottles of wine for the restaurant’s “vin du monde” wine club. In July, there
Usually on the third Saturday of each month, club members trek to the restaurant at 6727 Roosevelt Road to pick up their subscription of either three or six bottles. But July 25’s event was unlike the others.
For $125, a five-course tasting menu featured wines from the Famiglia Rivetti winery. Participants also got to hear directly from the winery’s Davide Rivetti, who introduced the wines and explained what
“Our grapes are grown organically and certified as such by the European Union,” Rivetti said. “My great-grandfather planted many of the vines more than 75 years ago.”
Historically, the family sold their grapes to other wineries, which are grown in the Piedmont re gion of Italy on the border between Switzerland and France. At the turn of the millennia, the Rivetti family decided to start producing wine of their own, with the first vintage bottled in 2001.
At Autre Monde, four varieties of wine were paired with dishes that reflected the foodways of the Piedmont re gion. A white Langhe Arneis was served with sliced veal and tuna sauce; a red Langhe Nebbiolo was joined with handmade rabbit-filled pasta and mushrooms; a red Barbaresco was paired with duck breast and browned-butter potatoes; and a red barolo completed the savory portion of the meal with prime rib and marrow bone.
he wine club ’s focus is on a monthly ottle subscription. T he “Debut” level at buys three b ottles and “Grand Cru” $98 buys six. Throughout the year, the lub also of fers events to member s. Some are free tasting s. A few are lowe r-cost bite pairings
A couple of times per year, Chefs Dan Pancake and Beth Patridge, who are also partners in the restaurant, bring the whole fireworks of the Autre Monde kitchen into play for a full meal.
Autre Monde, which means “another d” in French, opened in 2011 to bring foods of the Mediterranean coast and fine dining to the area.
“We never wanted to be pretentious,” Christine Tully, partner and managing director, said. “All of the partners have experience working for some of the b est restaurants in the city. Here, we want to be a neighborhood place that feeds our community.”
To that end, Autre Monde’s team works to source ing redients locally from small far mers. When that isn’t possible, they make sure that what they put on the menu has been raised and harvested responsibly Chef Pancake calls the menu “seasonally functional,” meaning that flavors hit the notes created by what is in abundance during each part of the year. “It’s always a work in progress,” he said.
Familia Rivetti offerings are available for all diners to enjoy on the Autre Monde wine list.
For his part, Davide Rivetti was thrilled to showcase his family’s wines at the suburban restaurant. This was one stop on his trip to the U.S., which included three days in Washington, D.C. and Virginia and two days here.
“The Chicago area is a wonderful market for Italian wine,” he said. “Autre Monde’s club members are interested in exploration. That is a perfect combination to share Piedmont wines and the care that my family puts into ours.”
Vitello Tonnato, veal and tuna
AUTRE MONDE
Rivetti wines
An Oak Park connection to the 2024 election? Sheila Nix
By LUZ ANE DRAUGHON Staff Reporter
Oak Park locals and lovers may or may not be aware: There’s a connection here to Vice President Kamala Harris: Sheila Nix, who has served as her vice-presidential campaign chief of staff, lived in Oak Park before joining President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021.
It ’s not yet clear if Nix will now be the presidential c ampaign chie f of staf f for Har ris.
“I am really excited about the new position because it’s so important to get the word out about the impactful changes for families across the U.S. that the Biden/Harris administration has made through its Invest in America agenda,” Nix told Wednesday Journal last summer. “This election is also so important in the fight for our freedoms and to protect our democracy.”
Nix moved to Oak Park in 2003. Before
assuming her role last summer as the campaign chief of staff for Harris, who Biden selected as his running mate in August 2020, Nix served as chief of staff to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
Harris announced July 21 that she’s seeking the Democratic nomination for president to replace Biden, after he announced he was ending his campaign
“On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country,” Harris wrote in a post on X. “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to ear n and win this nomination.”
Many Democrats have endorsed Harris to be their nominee, following suit with Biden, who announced his endorsement Sunday Re p. Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
are are among the top leaders to do so Nix was also the campaign for Biden when he was the vice president during for mer President Barack Obama’ 2012 reelection campaign, Chicago Sun-Times. S
Jill Biden’s chief of staf paign chief of staff for named Biden’s running mate in 2020.
“Sheila Nix is a battle-tested leader and dedicated public grateful she has ag reed to join our 2024 campaign,” Harris said last summer in statement. “Sheila’s ability to navig ate challenges made her an invaluable advisor to me on our 2020 g eneral election team.
Nix has a law degree from the Uni of Chicago and an under from Creighton Universit Palatine. As of summer 2023, Nix and her husband, Jim Coughlan, still in Oak Park.
SHEILA NIX
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Beyond Hunger to host bene t concert in November
he band CAKE will headline the event
ZANE DRAUGHON Reporter
Beyond Hunger is hosting a fundraising concert this fall to support its hungerrelief initiatives in communities like Oak rest.
oncert will kick off at he Salt Shed in Chicago. lston Ave., will feature ia-based rock band.
Beyond Hunger is a local hunger relief y that services communities across Chicago and some of its suburbs. The organization’s hunger-relief ams provide food and resources, according to a news release, to about 62,000 individuals and families annually. Proceeds will support that work.
elease, this is Beyond undraising event of the he proceeds from last year’s concert, ccording to the elease, helped provide about 600,000 meals. Beyond Hunger expects
about 3,300 attendees to the fall concert. CAKE, the headliner for the event, writes, arranges, produces and performs their own original music. The members taught themselves to create their recordings in a solarpowered studio in Sacramento.
The band’s most recent album, “Showroom of Compassion” debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart, according to the release. CAKE has multiple genres and influences and are working on their ninth album to be released in 2025. A limited edition “Live from Folsom” album is also expected to be released in fall 2024.
“Originally for med as a somewhat antagonistic answer to grunge, CAKE’s democratic processes, defiant self-reliance, and lucid yet ever-inventive music has made them a nation-state unto themselves, with no evident peers in sound or perspective,” the release states
General admission, or standing, tickets are $78, while grandstand, or seated, tickets are $178. Tickets went on sale Friday.
COURTESY OF BEYOND HUNGER CAKE
OP trustees hire rm to create economic vitality plan
The plan is intended to strengthen the local econom
By LUZANE DRAUGHON Staff Reporter
Oak Park is working to bolster its economy and ensure both short- and long-term vitality by hiring Camoin Associates, Inc. to create a comprehensive plan.
It will take about seven months to create the plan, beginning in July 2024. The consultants plan to visit Oak Park at least three times in that period to conduct focus groups, a community open house and interviews, and to tour local sites.
The village board is tentatively expected to for mally adopt the plan in February 2025.
Village officials said that the board can expect an economic vitality conditions analysis, detailed market analysis, community survey and findings report, and situational assessment presentation to come out of the process, as well as the final implementation plan. Camoin Associates, Inc. is an economic development and lead generation firm, and one of three firms that responded to the village’s request for proposals. Camoin had the lowest cost of $125,000. Some of that is budgeted, but the village will be pulling $47,500 from its 2024 savings to cover the total cost, according to village officials.
It is important, trustees emphasized July 23, to ensure the plan takes into consideration the diversity of the town and implements inclusion in its practices.
What the plan will do
According to Brandon Crawford, the village’s deputy director of development services, there are seven goals associated with this project:
■ To deliver a data-driven assessment of baseline economic vitality metrics
■ To understand the village’s economy within re gional, state and national ones
■ To identify redevelopment sites and corridors
■ To gather community input
■ To develop a “Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats” analysis and a “Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results” analysis
■ To analyze staff and resource allocatio
■ To create an implementation playbook over a two-year period
Lindsay Johnson, the senior project manager from Camoin, said the firm has an untraditional and more holistic approach to economic development. Camoin looks at all the aspects of what makes a community thrive, including workforce, small businesses and entrepreneurship, she said.
With that approach, Johnson said the Camoin team can work to bolster the village board’s goals of af fordability, health and safety, racial equity, vibrant, diverse and connected neighborhoods, sustainability and economic vitality.
“We really care about the quality of control and transparency involved in our process,” Johnson said.
Crawford said this p lan will be the b aseline for initiatives moving forward. It will eventually become outdated as times change but can be modified as needed fo r now.
“The economy is always changing, but we are who we are,” he said.
Having a plan like this, which also might include incentives for businesses or property owners, is more efficient than working on an “ad hoc” basis, Village Manager Kevin Jackson pointed out. And it helps the village use public resources most ef ficiently.
Trustees’ thoughts
Trustee Cory Wesley asked about the racial makeup of the all-white Camoin team assigned to work with Oak Park, given the racial diversity in Oak Park and on the village board table itself
Dan Gundersen, the senior vice president of Camoin, said their team works to respect diversity in every community they work with by ensuring all segments of a community have their voices heard.
“We have a very, very good re putation in the field for being successful in inte grating different voices,” Gundersen said.
He also described racial disparity assessments Camoin has conducted and ways they’ve helped under re presented communities and businesses thrive.
“We could not do that if we didn’t first reach out in a trusting way in an environment of respect,” Gundersen said.
Trustee Chibuike Enyia said he wanted to know what other towns Camoin has worked with that have smaller geographical borders but large populations, like Oak Park. Gundersen said one similar community their team worked with was Powell, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.
“They did not want to be a suburb without character, and it was very clear that they weren’ t,” Gundersen said. “[Oak Park] is very special. It’s unique, and so, too, is every community.”
Powell, according to Gundersen, followed through on all the recommendations Camoin set out. When that happens, Gundersen said they know they’ve helped the community work toward their goals.
“When we make recommendations, we have to be thinking about what could conceivably happen and what might the village be able to do to ensure that these actions and the intentions, the recommendations, are going to have a longer life so that they can be implemented and adapted over time,” Gundersen said.
Trustee Ravi Parakkat said while the final recommendations are expected before the board in February, he would like to accelerate progress on economic development now. The village is trying to ensure that happens, Jackson said.
Cost is a factor, too. How expensive these economic development moves and vitality initiatives are depends on the village’s priorities, whether that be acquiring and developing new spaces or retrofitting old ones. And there’s only roughly 4.7 square miles to work with.
Wesley also said he wants to ensure natural economic gro wth in Oak Pa rk through p oli cy making and decisions rather than relying solely on outside gr ants or fund s.
“It’s important that we all get alignment on what, actually, our goals are and what projects we want to prioritize because that will greatly influence cost,” Crawford said. “A lot of this is going to take a coordinated ef fort on redevelopment, which is obviously more expensive.”
Lake St reet in downtown Oak Park
ART BEAT
Oak Park’s Dara Cameron and Michael Mahler are coupled on stage and o
Their new play, ‘The Last Wide Open’ is now open at American Blues Theatre in Chicago
By JACK HELBIG Contributing Reporter
In many ways Dara Cameron and Michael Mahler are a typical Oak Park couple They have a nice, old house (a bungalow) near a nice park (Taylor Park), and a nice school (Hatch) that they will send their little boy to when he is old enough for kindergarten.
That may be why these two have played so many couples in their acting career: in Little Shop of Hor rors. In Song. In Dir ty Rotten Scoundrels In It’s a Wonderful Life
Cameron said. Mahler was already a member of the singing group At c allbacks, he and other members of Pur p le Haze sang a song to show the auditioners their singing style
“He sang the solo in Elevation by U2, an all-acapella version. And I remember thinking, oh my god, he’s so talented and cute And I think I had a crush on him my whole freshman year.”
At first, they were just friends, but that started to change when Pur ple Haze went to Rome, Italy, during Cameron’s Freshman year
“We perfor med at American amhome,” said. ambassador Nor thwestaduate.” also sang students at schools in
Now, they are appearing in the Chicago premiere of a new two-person musical (as a couple) titled “The Last Wide Open” and playing at the American Blues Theatre in Chicago There is just something very couple-ish about Cameron and Mahler And they know how to transfer that to their work on stage
The two met in colle ge 20 years ago, when they both were students at Nor thwester n University.
“I was a freshman,” Cameron recalled, “and Mike was a junior.” T hey were both singers in a campus acapella group, Purple Haz e.
“I literally met him at the callback,”
“Nothing romantic happened between us in Rome,” Cameron said, adding, “by the end of the trip I think he finally realized that I was, maybe a …” Cameron paused. “A catch?”
“No,” Mahler inter rupted. “Just, like, an option.” He flashed a Cheshire grin.
Cameron continued. “I think we really, like, knew we were going to spend the rest of our lives together before I graduated from colle ge I mean, I think it was very obvious that we were…”
“In it to win it,” Mahler inter rupted again, g rinning. Again.
Both Cameron and Mahler are active members of Chicago’s theater scene They have perfor med, together and apar t, at most of the bigger theaters in town: Mar riott, Chicago Shakespeare Company, Drury Lane Theatre, Paramount Theatre. In addi-
Mahler said he came from “a family of theater folks.”
“Some of my earliest memories are of sitting in on rehearsals for my mom and dad in community theater productions of Man of La Mancha and Music Man,” he said. “We had a very musical household. My parents are both singers and my dad plays guitar, my mom plays guitar and piano. We used to do a lot of singing as a family in our church growing up. We were kind of the Von Mahler singers.”
feel
then, you know, I decided, I always said to myself that I wanted to try theater as a profession because if I didn’t, I would always look back and say, ‘what if,’ you know could I have made it?” ****
Life is a whirlwind for these two, performing in shows, and sharing the responsibility for raising their son. The two moved to Oak Park in 2011 after looking for a home near to both Chicago, where most
JOHNNY KNIGHT PHOTO
Dara Cameron and Michael Mahler
DARA CAMERON MICHAEL MAHLER
New memoir tells teenaged stories from Oak Park
Author Stephanie Kuehnert recounts grappling with abuse and addiction and then healing
By KATHERINE FRA ZER Contributing Reporter
When Stephanie Kuehnert move Park as a third-g rader, she dreamed of having stories to tell. Whether it was a story she was the main character in or a fictional tale she could invent, she spent her young years in School District 200 imagining what was to come
Recently Kuehnert returned to her native Chicagoland with plenty of stories to tell about her time in Oak Park, recounted in her new memoir “Pieces of a Girl” released this spring. In July, the author made two appearances at area book stores: The Pile Bookstore in Berwyn and at The Book Cellar in Chicago, where she shared her stories of the Western suburbs she grew up in and how they shaped her into the person she is now.
Stephanie Kuenert
pression and community pulled her out of what felt like an inevitable spiral and made her into a powerful and resilient young woman.
“This memoir covers from childhood, from the time that I moved to Oak Park when I was eight years old, in third grade, through my time in colle ge at Columbia Colle ge Chicago,” Kuehnert said. “There was a bit of time spent away from Oak Park and the Chicago area, but not much. It really is largely centered in my experience growing up in Oak Park.”
Fashioned in the style of the zines she made as a teenager and young writer, “Pieces of a Girl” tells Kuehnert’s stories as a young girl in the ‘90s who faced abuse and addiction. Feeling like she was always an outsider, she shares that finding ex-
of their acting jobs were, and Naperville, where Cameron’s mom lived.
“When we first moved here, most of our friends were still living in the city, you know, like in Lincoln Square,” Mahler said.
“We wanted a house with a yard,” Cameron added, “so we bought a bungalow by Taylor Park.”
The two had trouble getting a mortgage at first, because they were both working actors, and the realities of the acting life made banks nervous.
Mahler said he tried to prove they had a steady source of income by showing the bank all of the 1099s from the various shows they had been in over the past year.
“We were like, this means we get hired to so many acting jobs,” Mahler said, “and
“It’s about the things that I grappled with in my teen years: depression, emotional and sexual abuse in a relationship, substance abuse,” Kuehnert said. “And really at the center, it’s about how I survived through creativity, storytelling and finding community.”
Told as a narrative story, Kuehnert f ashioned pages taken from her old journals with new writings, poems and photos to capture her feelings and experiences. Accompanied with illustrations from Suzy Exposito, the memoir tells the linear story of Kuehnert surviving abuse and finding herself
they’re like, ‘why do you keep getting fired from these jobs?’”
Ultimately, Cameron’s mother co-signed the mortgage Thirteen years later, Cameron and Mahler are quite settled in.
Cameron calls it a gift when they are cast in the same show.
“We get to spend more time together,” Cameron said.
In the new show, “it’s a two-hander,” Cameron explained. Set in a restaurant, the play features only two characters on stage: a waitress and a dishwasher.
“It’s a heavy lift.” Cameron said, “so we’re taking every minute we can, including our commute to and from the theater,
“I think it’s just a different experience and I think it also really sets you in the time of the ‘90s,” Kuehnert said of the zinestyle. “It’s really meant to feel like these bits of my past have sor t of been Xeroxed and have been collected.” Kuehnert, who also authored “Battles of Suburbia” and “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone,” said that it took 10 years from the book’s proposal to its publication. Kuehnert, who left Oak Park over a decade ago,
to run lines and make sure we know what we’re doing.”
The Last Wide Open premiered at the Cincinnati Playhouse in 2019. In bringing the show to Chicago, the American Blues Theater asked the artists responsible for the show, playwright Audry Cefaly (play and lyrics) and composer Matthew Nielson (music) to make a few changes. In the original, the dishwasher is an Italian immigrant. They wanted to make him Polish.
“Chicago has this very vibrant Polish community,” Mahler said, adding that they were hoping to create a show that would capture the challenges of Polish immigrants while appealing to the Polish community
“I mean, it’s still the same story, but infusing it with this Polish language and
spent her time crafting the book from her home in Seattle.
“It’s b een f unny because I’ve b een wo rk ing on the memoir wh i le I’ve not b een really back in Oak Pa rk or the Chicago area at all,” Kuehnert said. “I’ve b een w riting it all from home in Seattle now, so going back i nto it was i nteresting and it was a process.”
Writing about her past and challenging memories was cathartic for Kuehnert, who said talking about challenges is the key to processing things and healing without shame. Although she was not in Oak Park when writing, diving back into her time as a young adult in the area helped her to understand herself better.
“Through writing it, I realized healing really was an iterative process, and still is an iterative process,” Kuehnert said. “This is just so true, especially when abuse and addiction are involved.”
Kuehnert hopes that young readers who pick up this book will be inspired to tell their own stories. The need to have her voice heard as a teenager led her towards a career in writing, and she said that she hopes readers feel inspired to use theirs.
“Every person has a story and so many folks are silenced; either because of their identities or because they’re young, because they’re trauma survivors,” Kuehnert said. “Your voice matters, and however you want to get it out there creatively, there are so many paths now. I just encourage folks to do that.”
the rest, it all takes place in a restaurant,” Cameron adds, “and the restaurant is this really warm, beautiful Polish restaurant.” They play with time in a kind of Groundhog Day like way. They pl ay the same characters in three phases of time.
“There’s one version where my character has just been in America for two days,” Mahler said. “There’s one version where I’ve been here for two years. And then there’s one version where I’ve been here for 25 years.”
The theater space. With 35 seats, has been reconfigured to make the audience feel like they are in an authentic restaurant.
“So, the action is very immersive,” Cameron said. “The patrons are going to be a part of the show.”
CREDIT: DUT TON BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
CREDIT: EMILY OLSON
Oak Park home sells for $1.1 million
The following property transfers were re ported by the Cook County Clerk from March 2024. Where addresses appear incomplete, for instance where a unit number appears missing, that information was not provided by the clerk.
Bmw Props Llc Grays Breyanna 1182 S Kenilworth Ave
Prime Holding 96 Llc Lenz David C 706 N Oak Park Ave $474,000 Chicago Title Land Trust Co Kawahara Harsha Royyuru Tr 8002390860 815 S Maple Ave $475,000 Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr 7535 Issa Yazan M 1225 N Taylor Ave $460,000 Adams Macaire Kent Christopher David 934 N Humphrey Ave $460,000 Ptacek Thomas Mallory Sean M 923 N Lombard Ave $450,000 Pourkhalili
FOREST P ARK
CRIME
Fake pizza delivery driver steals Amazon packages
On July 25, man police said was pretending to be a pizza delivery driver got into a locked apartment building on the 100 block of Harrison Street. The man was stopped carrying a bag with multiple Amazon packages. He fled on foot and was last seen heading north from the 800 block of Lyman Avenue. One of the packages was identified and returned.
Robbery
On July 23, a man entered a business on the 7000 block of West Roosevelt Road and stole items from the shelf, displaying pepper spray to the employee as he left. The estimated loss is $66.98.
Attempted motor vehicle theft
it was parked on the 1100 block of Highland Avenue. The person stole a Vivax Metrotech receiver and a Vivax Metrotech transmitter. The estimated loss is $10,000.
Motor vehicle theft
■ Someone stole a Chicago resident’s white 2011 Hyundai Sonata on July 22 while it was parked on the first block of Erie Court. The estimated loss is $10,000.
■ Someone stole a Chicago resident’s silver 2001 Buick Regal between July 20 and 22 while it was parked on the 400 block of Madison Street. The estimated loss is $3,500.
Arrests
On July 21, someone damaged the door handle and locking mechanism to the front driver’s side door of an Oak Park resident’s gray 2014 Hyundai Accent while it was parked on the 100 block of Randolph Street. The person also shattered the rear passenger side window to get inside the car, and then damaged the steering column and ignition switch. The estimated damage is $2,500.
Criminal damage to vehicle
Someone damaged an Oak Park Police Department squad car between July 19 and 22 while it was parked on the 100 block of Madison Street. The estimated loss or damage is unknown.
Burglary
■ Someone broke into a white 2014 Ford van July 22 while it was parked on the 100 block of South Cuyler Avenue. The person stole various tools resulting in an estimated loss of $1,431.
■ Someone shattered the rear passenger window of a Westchester resident’s 2018 Ford work van July 23 while it was parked on the 100 block of South Austin Boulevard. The person stole various tools resulting in an estimated loss of $4,150.
■ Someone got into a Lombard resident’s silver 2023 Toyota Tacoma on July 25 while
■ A 60-year-old Oak Park man was arrested July 22 on the 1100 block of Highland Avenue for domestic battery to another Oak Park resident. He was held for bond hearings.
■ A 29-year-old man was arrested July 25 on the 900 block of South Boulevard for possession of a firearm and ammunition without a firearm owners identification card. He was given a citation and released.
■ A boy from Chicago was arrested July 25 on the 400 block of North Harvey Avenue for aggravated unlawful use of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm. He was transported to a juvenile detention center.
■ A 48-year-old Oak Park man was arrested July 25 on the 300 block of South Taylor Avenue for driving under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of an accident and damage to village property. The man was given a citation and released.
These items were obtained from Oak Park Police Department re ports dated July 22 – 26 and re present a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these re ports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We re port 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 Luzane Draughon
SENIOR
living Summer
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CONNECT & LEARN
LUNCH & ENTERTAINMENT
Kehrein Center for the Arts | 5628 Washington Boulevard
August 9 | 11:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
CULTURAL & CREATIVE ARTS
National Museum of Mexican Art | 1852 W. 19th Street
July 25 | 1:00–3:00 p.m. To register, email angela@museumofmexicanart.org.
WALKING & WELLNESS CLUB
Salvation Army Freedom Center | 825 N. Christiana Avenue
Meets every Friday from 8:30–10:00 a.m. To register, email programs@mather.com or text (847) 316.1365.
Registration appreciated! Anyone 55+ is welcome at these FREE programs.
THE Y, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
The West Cook YMCA offers in-person, on-demand, and live-streaming programs that fit your needs and your schedule. All complimentary for members to help you reach your fitness goals, reduce your risk for chronic diseases, provide a safe and welcoming space, and so much more.
AQUATICS
Learn to swim with lessons, participate in a water fitness class, swim laps or join your friends in open swim. .
LEARN MORE
FEELING GOOD NEVER GROWS OLD
MEMBERSHIP FOR YOU
TAKE A TOUR TODAY.
Stop in for a tour and we will show you all that the Y has to offer to meet your needs. Tour guides are available by reservation. Make your reservation today at westcookymca.org/tour.
JOIN ONLINE TODAY.
Receive $0 Joiner Fee and 50% off your first month when you join online at westcookymca.org/ join-online.
PROGRAMS FOR YOU
GROUP FTINESS
Offering a wide range of group fitness classes from cardio, strength, water fitness, cycling, yoga, and classes designed specifically for older adults.
LEARN MORE
PICKLEBALL
Indoor Pickleball lessons for Beginners and Intermediate and above and Open Court Play.
LEARN MORE
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Renew Active™ helps you stay fit, stay focused and stay you at no additional cost with select UnitedHealthcare® Medicare plans.
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YMCA360
Join a live-stream or ondemand class through our Y360 platform and mobile app. Classes include fitness, wellness, and enrichment.
LEARN MORE
WELLNESS FOR OLDER ADULTS
COMMUNITY HEALTH FOR YOU
In partnership with the Village of Oak Park, all community health programs at the West Cook YMCA are complimentary and include a membership to the West Cook YMCA for the duration of the program.
BLOOD PRESSURE
SELF-MONITORING PROGRAM
Personalized one-on-one support for developing a blood pressure self-monitoring routine, tips for maintaining a healthy heart, and nutrition education seminars.
ELIGIBILITY:
• At least 18 years old, and
• Diagnosed with hypertension or currently taking antihypertensive medication
• Not have experienced a recent cardiac event
• Not have atrial fibrillation or other arrhythmias
• Not be at risk for lymphedema
DIABETES PREVENTION PROGRAM
Help those at high risk adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles and reduce their chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Fully recognized by the CDC and proven to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes by 58%.
ELIGIBILITY:
• At least 18 years old
• Overweight (BMI ≥25) AND
• Diagnosed with prediabetes via one of three blood tests or previous diagnosis of gestational diabetes
• Not diagnosed with T1 or T2 diabetes
• Not pregnant
If blood test not available, can qualify based on risk factors.
WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM
Designed to help people seeking a healthier weight achieve their goals by making small, modest changes to their daily behaviors and forming sustainable healthy habits.
ELIGIBILITY:
• Must be at least 18 years old, and
• Desire a healthier weight
Not intended for individuals with specialized needs due to chronic disease or onset of a chronic disease.
LEARN MORE
LEARN MORE
LEARN MORE
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Walser House in Austin: looking for a new lease on lif e
By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter
The J.J. Walser House at 42 N. Central Ave. in Austin is in need of a savior. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1903, the home is an early example of Wright’s Prairie Style. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is working with members of the Austin community to save the house and ensure its survival.
Designed for printing company executive Jospeh Jacob Walser, the home is one of only five existing Wright-designed Prairie structures in Chicago. It is the only Wright-designed single-family home on the West Side Decades ago, the home was the focus of preservation efforts. The most recent owners, Anne and Hurly Teague, purchased the house in 1970, and Hurley, a contractor, worked to stabilize the home. Prior to the purchase, the art glass windows were removed and sold, a rear addition was completed in the 1950’s and sometime prior to that, porches flanking the front room were enclosed
The home was named a Chicago Landmark in 1984, a designation that prohibits demolition and requires approval for exterior changes. In 2013, the home was listed on the National Re gister of Historic Places.
According to John Waters, Preservation Programs Manager at the Conservancy, the home has been on the Conservancy’s radar for quite a while. In 2017, the Conservancy visited the home to meet with then-widowed Anne Teague and brought in Wiss, Janney, Elstner to prepare a pro-bono detailed condition assessment of the home. In 2018, they shared this report with Teague, and in 2019, the Conservancy visited the home with contractors to assess a leaking roof.
Waters praised the Teagues’ stewardship of the home.
“The house would not be there today if the Teague family hadn’t owned it for 50 years,” he said.
He added that it is not infrequent to encounter preservation obstacles when elderly owners are living in private homes.
See WALSER HOUSE on pa ge 25
e J.J. Walser House at 42 N. Central Ave. in Austin
It is estimated that foundational work alone will cost $500,000.
WALSER HOUSE
Diamond in the rough
from page 23
“There are very limited funding sources for private homes,” he said.
Most Wright homes are privately owned, and while the state offers a tax freeze program for preservation efforts, Waters pointed out that this program is most useful in areas such as Oak Park and Lake Forest, where property taxes are high
Waters said that after Anne Teague died in 2019 conservation efforts hit a few roadblocks, one of which was Covid-19.
“The house was always on our minds,” he said. “We were very wor ried about it.”
Post-pandemic, the Conservancy learned that Austin Coming Together was working with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning on reinvigorating ef for ts for the Austin corridor.
These ef for ts reignited interest in the house, which is one of the few residences left to document the early 1900s era on Central Avenue.
A reverse mortg age on the home, combined with foreclosure proceedings, are complicating ef for ts to preserve and make necessary improvements to the house. The tangled financial issues and bank ownership make it challenging to address deterioration accelerated by five years of vacancy.
A recent Crain’s Chicago Business article on the house has bought more interest to the preservation ef forts, and Waters said that the Conservancy is working closely with ACT to unravel the legal and financial situation and determine how to preserve the home.
He stressed that the home is very significant in the Wright canon. It’s a smaller version of some Prairie de-
signs that Wright would go on to build elsewhere. The coaxial design allowed for flow of light and air.
“It’s a small house with lots of room in it, something Wright was so good at,” he said.
Waters, who has been in the house many times, described its state.
“Much of the original fabric is there. There is stuf f to restore. But there’s basically a hole in the roof. Our goal is to get access to the house, so to speak, so we could get that temporarily covered.”
He estimated that shoring up the home and getting it stabilized would cost approximately $500,000 and said that rough estimate doesn’t cover the costs of restoration of the entire home.
Waters said that the Walser House is on the agenda for the Conservancy’s annual conference in Detroit in the fall, during which they will discuss three Wright homes and
consider how their environments and surroundings play into preservation ef forts. The other two homes are in areas such as Atherton, California, where development has come to meet the communities, making the land worth more than the house itself.
“This project [the Walser House] is the opposite,” he said.
“Advocacy people always bring up moving a house,” Waters added, “but this house is a part of Austin. It’s just a mile from Unity Temple, but it’s a different world.”
The involvement of ACT is a great boon to the preservation ef forts, he added.
While there are a lot of moving parts to saving the house, Waters said he is optimistic that it will be done and thinks that preservation will be aided by interest from the Austin community itself.
“I think this is a house that really captures people’s imaginations, in part because of where it is.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DOUGLAS M. STEINER/THE WRIGHT LIBRARY
e J.J. Walser House 1904.
FLW B UILDING CONSERVANC Y
ktrainor@wjinc.com
A GING DISGRA CEFULL Y
Mother Superior wears stilettos and sneakers
Kamala Harris is the real deal and she comes with a bonus: it’s impossible to frown if she’s smiling. She’s an AllAmerican woman, wearing power suits and stiletto heels for work and sneakers for play. She is a Baptist married to a Jew. She knows the work of Martin Luther King and the Black Church in the U.S., as well as the religion of her mother’s native India. She is the first Asian-American and first AfricanAmerican vice president.
MARY KAY O’GRADY
She is the right woman for our time and she simply rocks.
Her nemesis, Donald Trump, who sells Bibles he’s never read and, along with his deputy crackpots, harangues about “Christian values,” does not go to church. Apparently he acknowledges the Divine by looking in the mirror.
His wacky running mate spends a lot of time talking about what’s wrong with women, recently focusing on single women who have cats but don’t have children. Why would he possibly care? Could the common, but not universal, human desire to have a loving partner become a requirement for public office? Should you pay a penalty tax if you’re single? Should you lose the right to run for office if you’re d ivorced? Think about it. So far it’s only conservative Re publican presidents who have been divorced, although Democrats don’t want to be reminded of Bill Clinton’s extramarital episodes …)
Hilary Clinton was clearly unpre pared for Trump’s crude behavior in their pre-election debate when he cruised the stage and harassed her with junior-high-school pranks. I would love to see him try that with Kamala. In fact, I can hardly wait! If he does debate her, Trump will never know what hit him. In the words of Muhammed Ali, “I pity the fool!”
In the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York became the first woman to be listed as a presidential candidate in every primary and caucus nationwide. Despite losing the nomination in a close race against Barack Obama, Clinton won more votes in 2008 than any female primary candidate in American history. So why have primaries?
She was finally nominated at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, became the first woman to participate in a presidential debate, and later the first to carry a state in a general election. But despite losing the election, she became the first
VIEWPOINTS
In a moment, everything can change. We lear n this lesson again and again in life. A new job we didn’t think we would ear n. Dramatic news about our health o utc omes — good or bad. Th e p assing of a belove d family member or friend. These events, understandably, hit us differently because of thei r pe rceived positive or negative impact on our lives. But what is true about all of them is that they knock us off our axis — they remind us that, in an instant, everything can be different.
For me, the moment that Joe Biden announced he was leaving the race for President was such a moment. This political season had grown stagnant. We were left in a contest between two historically aged candidates. That was the least of my concer ns, even though it was the concern that ultimately proved electorally fatal to Biden. More important, we were left with two candidates who had made their unflinching support for Israel crystal-clear. We were left with Biden tacking to the right on immigration, implementing restrictions on asylum-seekers that Trump has favored. We were left with Biden approving more permits for fossil fuel
drilling on public lands than did Trump
As a progressive, I of course could never support Donald Trump, and many of Biden’s policies were preferable. But our goal should never be to reach for the lowest common denominator. I don’t know if I ever could have supported Biden in his re-election bid if he hadn’t at least changed course on Gaza.
But now history has shifted. What else is possible in this moment? Will the nominee be Harris, as seems likely in the immediate after math of Biden’s departure? Will someone step up to challenge her? Whoever takes the mantle, might they be more agile than Biden and adopt more progressive policies, if for no other reason than to win this election with the support they need from people of color and young people? It would be easy to look at this moment and judge it as more of the same. New Democratic nominee, same as the old nominee. Harris seems to be locking up the nomination, and why would she deviate from the policies of the administration in which she was VP?
President Joe Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris
Oak Park’s economy
Oak Park is working on a reset of its efforts around economic development. Entirely predictable. Useful? Time will tell. Let’s start with the current state of the local economy. It’s pretty good. There are a handful of chronic retail vacancies, which speak more to ownership issues than the wider market. Restaurants and fitness places appear to be going strong Office spaces are well leased. The housing market is tight, just like most places.
There are high spots. Take the tall buildings in downtown Oak Park. The 20-story Emerson apar tment house on Lake Street –think Target – just sold for $60 million. It is a sure sign that build high strategy of Anan Abu-Taleb, the for mer village president, was solid. Adding nearly 2,000 housing units at the core of the village has bolstered tax revenues and customers for nearby shops and restaurants.
The final in-fill projects from the tail end of Abu-Taleb’s era are just now wrapping up. There’s the handsome Porter apartment project at Pleasant and Marion and the Maeve, across from the library
Pete’s Market and the still moribund corner of Oak Park and Madison make everyone want to scream. But even as the village contemplates a further building extension on that project, Pete’s has finally submitted required paperwork for construction permits. This will get built.
Over the past three years of the pandemic, inflated construction costs and steep interest rates, there is a new village president, a new village manager, new development staff at village hall and the precipitous shuttering of the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation.
The new team needs to get its grounding and not surprisingly they are turning to a consulting firm to offer perspective. Camoin Associates out of tony Saratoga Springs in upstate New York has been hired. We’ve typically supported the efficacy of consultants to bring fresh eyes and different expertise to challenges
This time feels different as the slate feels too clean with little direction coming from Village President Vicki Scaman and trustees the village staff about just what their vision of economic development ought to be. Point the consultants in a general direction and let them react to that, gather data around that, make a set of recommendations that is responsive to some level of vision.
Is the era of new tall buildings declared over? How tall can a developer build at a site like Ridgeland and Chicago? Will the focus ever turn to Roosevelt Road and North Avenue? Are we done demanding that any new construction near a commercial strip must have retail that no one wants? Who is pushing right now to get the hideous Mohr Concrete site redeveloped? Are we sure tha there is enough entrepreneurial oomph on the staff in development within village hall? Is Oak Park still open to creative ways to build affordable housing in every part of the village? Does thi consultant have the chops to work in an actively diverse, older, inner ring suburb?
Answer those questions and the village may get back a more helpful report from Camoin Associates
Praising summer
It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know that this indeed was the first real time of freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer.
Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine
The following column ran in 2021 and is included in the “Summer” chapter of my book, “Our Town Oak Park – Walk with Me in Search of True Community,” (available at The Book Table):
TKEN
TRAINOR
he much-maligned season of summer has been with us since Memorial Day, when we finally bid the 40s a not-so-fond farewell. We can complain only about the heat now. I complain only about the cold because it dominates two-thirds of the year. Heat can be withering, but it will depart too soon.
I complain about weather most of the year, but in summer I’m in full praise mode. It’s all about warmth. In winter, I praise relative warmth (even the 40s get their due). In spring, I praise grudging warmth (the sun is trying, it really is, as it creeps north, inch by inch, measured along the western horizon). Or, as my g randson Tyler said, when I noted that the sun was trying to break through the clouds, “The sun is always trying to break
through.” Good point, and a good way to look at life
In autumn, I praise lingerin g war mth as the feckless sun plots the annual escape to its other love r, the S outher n hemisphere.
In summer, though, warmth rules — and can be forgiven, in my opinion, if occasionally the heat index gets carried away. You never hear anyone say, “Gotta savor winter because you only get so many in a lifetime.” People do say that about summer. I do, anyway.
I love lukewarm summer mornings, bordering on cool, rousing the birds at 4 a.m. to their morning psalms, sweetening the soft air with song in the grey pre-dawn. Summer offers a largesse of daylight hours — so jealously guarded until just recently by winter’s austere, dark dominion. Early morning is now a viable option, inviting emergence from the cocoon of our bedding, giving us reason to rise, if only to sample and savor the awakening world, runners and walkers and their dogs, and workers setting about their daily commerce.
No price is exacted for getting out of bed on a summer mor ning, no chill tempts us back under cove rs for a few more comfor ting moments, forcing a daily battle of will vs. chill. In winter, g etting out of bed is an act of moral courag e. In summer, it is ef for tless
Summer’s early mor ning light steals into the room, coaxing sleepers awake well before the alar m clock sounds. Opening blinds reveals low-angled sunlight, illuminating every crack and crevice in our paved paradise, bathing the world in beauty, transing our eyes into visionaries. The more you see, the better you’ll like it, the sun seems to say. Why let an hour lapse? If you can’t get out, an open window and watch the ow past.
the evening warmth as well, but more than that, the light.
In June, “night” is a relative term. The day’s afterglow lingers past 9 m., extending boldly east along the northern horizon. Daylight lasts from 5 a.m. till 9 p.m., 16 hours at its solstice peak. Balmy nights feel luxuriously perfumed by ers. Walking at night is to conduct an olfactory tree inventory. The leafy extravagance merges into an undifferentiated mass in high summer is categorical during the June blossoming: catalpas to lindens
HISTORIC HOMES REALTY
209 S. Grove Ave., Oak Park
SHRUB TO WN by
Marc Stopeck
to black locusts and horse chestnuts. With the arrival of fireflies, it’s tempting to wish we could do without streetlights altogether.
Summer afternoons, admittedly, are an acquired taste, but the sun overhead bleaches cumulus clouds and thunderheads, adrift in the blue vault. The midday heat can be an ordeal, but that’s why trees invented shade and why people invented front porches. The for merly frigid dead zones of winter are transformed into leafy oases that sway in the breeze and let in just enough dappled sunlight to make even sidewalks dance with fancy finery. In summer, interior living spaces too often become air-conditioned fortresses, but when temps are tolerable, opening the windows that run the width of my living room draws the outdoors in, reminiscent of summers spent reading on an enclosed porch, growing painfully up, socially awkward, turning inward — into books, but also into summer itself. Instead of fretting about how many books haven’t been read, better in summer to content ourselves with the Book of Nature.
A summer afternoon’s deep stillness is worth the walk — dodging the lawn care services that compete to outdecibel the cicadas with their infernal noisemakers. In the evening, the ethereal balm of crickets arrive to soothe assaulted ears.
Handling the afternoon heat requires cultivating a com-
fort level with the fine sheen of sweat, our breeze-activated cooling mechanism (more efficient than the dangling tongues of dogs). At a certain point each summer, who can recall the last time a jacket or coat was necessary or what it feels like to brave an icy wind?
Summer is stingier with rain, more generous with sunshine. The grass browns, but the lawns are white with clover flowers, and native prairie plants with deep roots grow tall, where allowed. All feels full and right with the natural world.
After dreaming of this so often during the long 7-8 months of late autumn/midwinter/early spring here in the upper Midwest, we are gifted with four months of non-chilly, non-overcast, sun-basted weather to savor — five if we’re lucky. Sans smartphones, unmediated by windshields and A/C, summer is a lovely space and time that should never be taken for granted.
Let the water sprinklers strafe your legs as you pass, contemplate caterpillars dangling over the sidewalk by a silky thread from the tree above. Learn the names of roadside wildflowers — purple chicory, Queen Anne’s lace, black-eyed Susans, bee balm, purple coneflowers.
Sample summer’s buffet. Inhale its bouquet.
It’s summer. We get just so many in a lifetim e.
See you on the porch
WEDNESD AY
of Oak Park and River Forest
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e goal of the Viewpoints section is to foster and facilitate a community conversation and respectful dialogue. Responsible community voices are vital to community journalism and we welcome them. Space is at a premium and readers’ attention is also limited, so we ask that Viewpoints submissions be brief. Our limit for letters to the editor is 350 words. For One View essays, the limit is 500 words. Shorter is better. If and when we have su cient space, we print longer submissions, but when space is limited — as it o en is — we may ask you to submit a shorter version or hold the piece until space allows us to print it.
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anks, Kathy, for your courage
My son was enrolled in the Early Childhood Program at Whittier School in 1986. This was the dark ages of autism, and his diagnosis was something new for the team there. I could see that he wasn’t making progress, but district administrators asserted that “his needs were being met.”
After that meeting, one employee approached me. She told me that she had told her colleagues, “We lied to that family.” That conversation led me to contact
the Illinois State Board of Education to arrange for mediation between my family and District 97.
Today I read that employee’s obituary in Wednesday Journal [Viewpoints, July 24]. Kathy Henry, occupational therapist, had courage and cared about her students and families. I thanked her then, and I can thank her publicly now.
Peggy Vicars Oak Park
Treasuring Harriette Robinet
My first memory of Harriette Gillem Robinet was at Maze Branch library as I looked for a book to read for a school book report, and I found Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule. I was intrigued to learn she lived in Oak Park. I was immediately attracted to her writing because of my growing interest in history.
The next year, she was at the Young Authors Conference. It was great to hear her speak about her process of writing. I then stood in line for 40 minutes to get her autograph on some of her books I owned. She then made an appearance at the Magic Tree Bookstore where I got to hear more from her personally about her writing, es-
pecially regarding her latest book Twelve Travelers, Twenty Horses
In sixth grade, I had an assignment to read three books by a single author and reflect on them. I chose Ms. Robinet. My language arts teacher connected me with her daughter, Linda [who taught in District 97], and I had the chance to speak with her over the phone for my assignment.
I am grateful for the ways Harriette Robinet inspired me to engage with history and also in my writing pursuits. I will treasure these memories of her and those books she wrote and autographed for me.
Paul Rubio Oak Park
Dysfunctional political duopoly
Clearly, Wednesday Journal strongly supports the local and national Democratic Party. Based on the recent number of letters from its readers voicing the importance of Kamala Harris being named as the new Democratic candidate for President, the written or unwritten point is how important it is she defeat that other guy. And much praise for Joe doing the right thing, and being a longstanding part of the party. Blah, blah.
As someone who, as the post-debate debacle polls clearly indicated, found the choice between Biden and Trump a testament to a dysfunctional political duopoly, I find the non-primary-tested Harris as essentially more of the same. She is marinated in corporate money and special interests as much as virtually all of Congress (do a quick factcheck on it, please. It’s public record). So we the people were given no voice in a replacement. Not that the Democratic National Committee would ever allow a Rashida
Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, or the like to inject something even remotely “progressive” at the top of the ticket.
As if there aren’t millions upon millions who, as with Bernie Sanders in 2016, year n for a non-corporate candidate. Do you any longer need to print letters that decry the hideous convicted felon and wannabe dictator? That’s stating the obvious. The urgent issue is allowing the voices of other candidates some space in your newspaper — like Independent Sanders who took those noncorporate, $26 donations and scared the hell out of the Democratic National Committee Isn’t the idea that the more choice the better, writ large or small? Disappointingly, as with the major media outlets, even the Journal seems to ignore such other choices, implicitly regurgitating the Big Lie that voting for anyone but a Donkey or an Elephant is a wasted vote, which is a disgusting, perpetual, negative, self-fulfilling prophecy.
Joe Harrington, Oak Park
ere needs to be a plan before reparations
Recently, Wednesday Journal featured an article outlining the village of Oak Park’s re parations ef fort going forward [Oak Park poised to offer re parations to Black residents, News, July 24]. There are some troubling issues with this plan.
First, there does not appear to be an actual plan, but rather a goal. The article rehashes the case for reparations based on past injustices, particularly those related to past housing discrimination in Oak Park The assumption is that financial remuneration to the aggrieved will somehow make things right. But a goal is not a plan. How much and for what? Paid for by whom? Transparency is needed here.
Second, there is the issue of how to identify current residents of Oak Park who have actually suffered discrimination in the past. Oak Park has a history of being a community that has encouraged people of all races and ethnicities to become residents. When other towns in the area were hostile toward nonwhites, Oak Park was welcoming. No doubt there have been isolated instances where this ideal was not followed. However, the anecdotal story of, for example, a Black Oak Park church having “mysteriously” bur ned
to the ground a hundred years ago doesn’t qualify as evidence of pervasive racial discrimination. Claimants to reparations should have a high burden of proof in order to qualify — evidence in writing or substantially documented in some form Word-of-mouth or anecdotal accounts are not enough and would certainly lead to many fraudulent claims.
In the summer of 2022, Dominican University conducted an online survey on the topic of re parations, aimed at informing the village board of Oak Park about the sentiments of Oak Parkers on this issue. T he results of that survey are relevant to the re parations ef fort, and should be made available for all to see. Given that any reparations will be paid for (one way or another) by the residents of Oak Park, it makes sense that taxpaying Oak Parkers should have input. Once the details of the reparations plan are in place, Oak Parkers should have the opportunity to weigh in via a ballot referendum.
Taxpayers should know what they are signing up for before the fact.
Mark Knickelbein Oak Park
Plastic Free July leads to Plastic ‘Freer’ always
Here we are again, toward the end of Plastic Free July. Go Plastic Free has been at Far mers Market this month updating you on all the ways you can be plastic “freer” all the time, not just in July. Meanwhile, here are some ways of freeing your Far mers Market trips from more plastic:
Start by bringing your non-disposable tote bags for purchases to avoid taking away new plastic bags. Reuse single-use plastic you do accumulate, such as grocery and bread bags. Reusing just once (yes, it’s true), can make a difference in the amount of plastic we throw away
For crushable fruits and vegetables, such as berries and tomatoes, re-use clamshell containers from your grocers to bring vulnerable produce home and then transfer to glass. (Public Service Announcement: The re-use of plastic containers for cooked, hot, and acidic foods is now discouraged as the plastic degrades into microplastics.) Return
vendors’ containers on your next market visit so they can be reused; this also helps cut vendors’ costs. At the market, sort your recycling, composting, and trash into the appropriate containers, and aim to divert as much landfill-bound stuff as possible.
Finally, ask the Far mers Market Commission to encourage, and eventually to require, vendors to use sustainable packaging. Let vendors know you care about this. And thank and support those who’ve made the switch from single-use plastic to compostable containers and bags
For the plastic bags and bread bags you have, bring to the Pilgrim Trex plastic bin (on Scoville Avenue) — and to other locations in our communities — and help us get free plastic-bag benches for our villages. Come to our table and learn all about it!
Phyllis Rubin River Forest Co-lead, Go Plastic Free
Speak up on historic district changes
Iam writing to draw public a ttention to radical plans that have been proposed and are being active ly contemplated by poli cy maker s, wh ich have the potential to transfor m Oak Pa rk itself : our streetscapes, historic districts, and neighborhood s.
ADRIAN MARQUEZ
One View
On July 23, the Oak Park Village Board heard a presentation by Craig Failor, village planner, and Emily Egan, development services director, with several proposals for eliminating historically zoned single-family-only residential districts in order to allow two-family, three-family, and in some cases four-family dwellings to be built in residential neighborhoods. T hese multifamily dwellings could take the form of townhouses, duplexes, and triplexes.
Trustee Cory Wesley expressed a desire to change Oak Park’s bulk standards (which are re gulations that govern what can be built on property lots based on zoning districts and which include minimum lot area, lot width, setbacks, maximum building height, maximum building coverage, maximum impervious surface) in order to permit larger and taller structures to be built in residential neighborhoods than are currently allowed.
Additionally, Trustee Brian Straw expressed a belief that Oak Park’s historic districts should be reduced in size because, in his view, their current boundaries are unjustifiably far from buildings of real historic interest. He did not opine with confidence about where the new boundaries of the historic districts should be and speculated that perhaps boundaries set a quarter mile from buildings of real historic interest could be adequate.
The meeting resulted in the village staf f being tasked with incorporating board feedback into their proposals, which I assume will result in another presentation
to the board at some point in the future.
Were the proposed zoning changes to be implemented, Oak Park homeowners — some of whom already are at risk for a neighboring proper ty being torn down and re placed with a very large house dwarfing their own — would be at additional risk of having instead a multifamily building or buildings built instead on that same property, dramatically changing the nature of their immediate sur roundings.
Unlike the chronolo gy of events involving the village board’s decision about leaf removal — wherein most Oak Park homeowners didn’t even know that the village board had been contemplating changes to the practice of fall leaf removal until after the board had already voted to implement them — the village board has not yet voted on the zoning changes proposed by Oak Park’s staf f and may not yet have forged a general ag reement about which changes they will pursue and which they won’ t.
And there appeared to be no concurrence by other members of the board, at least in public, to the proposals put forth by trustees Wesley and Straw.
In shor t, the village board’s deliberations still appear to be fluid, so if you have an opinion or concer n about any of the proposed zoning changes, bulk standards changes, or changes to the boundaries of Oak Park’s historic districts, now is the time to speak if you want your voice heard while there is still time for you to make a difference.
An organized and aggressive lobby has been advocating for these proposed changes, and their shrill, strident voices may be the only ones that the village board has been hearing.
Adrian Marquez is a resident of Oak Park.
Move on from Pete’s Market
The rusty fencing and overgrown weeds do give the impression of an abandoned lot. Construction has stalled and developers continue stringing the community along. Pete’s could be delivering to Oak Park a Stankus Hole redux. Longtime residents remember that a planned project at Forest and Lake produced nothing more than big hole in the ground. For years there were
promises of progress that weren’ t met and we got stuck with just an empty eyesore. Would Mariano’s or Woodman’s be interested in building a grocery store on Madison Street? Pete’s ownership has proven they cannot be trusted and won’t honor contracts. Time to move on!
Jim Coughlin Oak Park
Help us prevent suicide
We can all help prevent suicide. This month marks two years since our nation launched 988, the easy-to-remember, nationwide mental health crisis helpline. Since launch, 988 has received over 8 million calls from people in distress seeking support when they need it most. It is confidential, effective and available to everyone via phone, text or chat. America has a lifeline Spread the word: Help is available.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA):
■ 988 callers connect quickly with trained crisis counselors.
■ Crises are typically de-escalated. Less than 2% of 988 calls require response from emergency services. Many callers re port that their call prevented them from taking their life.
■ People feel better after calling. Numerous studies of 988 calls have shown that the majority of callers were significantly more likely to feel less depressed and more hopeful after speaking with a crisis counselor.
MARY KAY O’GRADY
■ 34% of 988 calls are about mental health concerns other than suicide.
■ Don’t wait. We are listening.
■ If someone you know is struggling emotionally or having a hard time, you can be the difference in getting them the help they need by calling 988 or seeking help at a licensed behavioral health facility. As a behavioral health-care provider in Forest Park, our team at Riveredge Hospital is dedicated to supporting individuals in a manner that promotes hope, resiliency, connectedness and recovery. We are proud to partner with the local 988 network and are a resource for individuals needing help.
■ If you or someone you love is having trouble with their mental health, we are here for you and offer no-cost assessments 24/7. Learn more by visiting riveredgehospital.com or calling our Assessment and Referral Depar tment at 708-209-4181 Allison M. Davenport CEO, Ri veredge Hospital
*Source: https://988lifeline.org/
woman to win the popular vote, receiving nearly 66 million votes to Donald Trump’s 63 million. But she was robbed by the Electoral Colle ge. Clearly our nonsensical Electoral Colle ge must end. It’s simply un-American.
Eighteen women have run for President of the United States, including Democrats Geraldine Ferraro and Hilary Clinton, and Re publican Margaret Chase Smith. In 1972, Shirley Chisholm, a hero
from page 29 JIM SCHWARTZ
from page 29
But I can’t think that way right now. That is not the recipe with which chang e is made. For things to be different, we must believe that they can be different. Not naively, looking up at the stars and hoping one will grant us a wish. But doing the work to make them different. Joining with a group trying to influence the outcome Speaking out about these issues with those
of mine, became the first black and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s nomination. I shared a long cab ride with Ms. Chisholm once. I picked her up at the air port when she was a speaker at a convention of my husband’s company. I wanted to talk about politics, but she talked about re gretting that she had not had children.
I do not see Kamala Harris losing. But I do worry about her walking down stairs in her trademark pantsuits with flared legs, wearing those stiletto heels. By the way, stiletto heels are named after a knife
you know and those you don’t. Exerting the influence that you have for a better world — one where Palestinians and all people are free to live their lives, where we support those displaced from their countries by our government’s own policies, where we are actively addressing the climate crisis rather than enabling fossil fuel companies.
We see again and again that change is possible. Is it likely? As likely as Joe Biden was to drop out of the race. Which is to say, maybe just likely enough.
Jim Schwartz is an Oak Park resident, an educator, and a blogger at Entwining.org.
Jake Kernan, 72 Welder, master woodworker
John “Jake” Kernan, 72, of Villa rk, for merly of Oak Park, died July 23, 2024 following a short autoimmune illness. Born on June 11, 1952, he attended St. Catherine of Siena Grade School and St. Patrick High School. He was a welder trade, a woodworker by passion, and had a cannon of an arm at shortstop playing softball.
“He had a generous and big heart, and a wonderful smile that lit up the room,” said his sister, Kathy, “a good man.” Jake was the husband of Gay Kernan (nee Krafft); the father of Kelly (Damien) Chin, Kari (Johnny) Meredith, and Kim (Tim) Ronowski; the son of John (Jack) Kernan and the late Patricia (nee O’Neil); the grandfather of Cooper, Carter, and Brooke Bartels, Alison, Carter, Landen, and Olivia Chin, Hailey Johnson, and Mason Ronowski; the brother of Kathy Kernan and Milton Dudley, Michael Kernan, and the late Bridget Hubbard; and the uncle of many nieces and ne phews.
Visitation was held on July 28 at Steuerle, 350 S. Ardmore Ave., in Villa Park. The funeral was held at the funeral home on
Ken Mo att, 82
Sheryl Mo att, 80
Served the underser ved
Kenneth Edwin Mof fatt, 82, and S heryl Jane (Noreen) Mof fatt, 80, of Gainesville, F lorida died on Ju ly 12, 2024, from injuries sustained in a car a ccident on F lorida Hwy 301, north of Wald o, F lorida .
Ken was bo rn in Chicago to Donald and Hazel (Kr oss) Mof fatt. Sheryl was born in Ro ckford to Ca rroll and Doris (N ygren) Noreen.
Ken was a Vi etnam veteran. He gr aduated from C alumet High School on Chicago’s S outh Side and earned a de gree in Economics from North Pa rk Unive rsity in
Chicago, where he pl ayed varsity football. He was c ommissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the U. S. Ar my and ser ve d one tour in Vi etnam. Upon returning home, he earned his master ’s de gree in School C ounseling from Northeastern I llinois Unive rsit y. A dedicated educator, he ser ve d for 36 years at the same school, Frederick Doug lass Academy, in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.
He ser ve d as an elder at F irst Presby terian C hurch in Rive r Fo rest, and went on multiple mission t rips to Mexico with men from the church. He was active at Faith Presby terian in Gainesville, in their Empty N esters group, teaching VBS, men’s bible study, and more. He was quiet and reser ve d except on stage for c ommunity musicals, church VBS, f amily skits, and bible dramas. In his retirement, he enjoyed reading, pa rt icularly spy and war stories and he love d following sports of all kind s. He attended every spor ting event and school production for his gr andchildren and helped with homeschooling every Mond ay for the past seve r al year s.
S heryl gr aduated from E ast High School in Ro ckford and started c olle ge at North Pa rk Unive rsit y, where the c ouple met, before c ompleting her de gree in E lementar y Education from Northeastern I llinois Unive rsit y. Sh e also earned her master ’s de gree in Social Wo rk from the Unive rsity of Illinois Chicago.
S he be g an her wo rk ing career as an elementar y school teacher, then in b oth hospitals and schools as a social wo rker. S he helped p eople who we re v ulnerable or underser ve d, including volunteering weekly at Sira Gainesville, a Christian Crisis Preg nancy Center.
S he sang in many choirs, including F irst Presby teria n C hurch in Rive r Fo rest and in the Gainesville C oncer t C horus. Hundreds, if not thousand s, of p eople c all her “ friend” through her Facebook page and her annual Christmas card and letter. S he enjoyed making Swe dis h Christmas c ookies, especially when her gr andkids we re old enough to help. S he was also active in Faith Presby terian C hurch, in the Empty N esters group, church VBS, the Women’s group, and Gainesville’s Precep ts Bible Study.
Ken and Sheryl we re mar ried on Se pt. 26, 1964 at First Covenant C hurch in Ro ckford and we re j ust months aw ay from c elebrating their 60th we dding annive r sary. T hey live d for 40 years in Oak Pa rk and 10 years in Gainesville, c ommitted to their c ommunities. T hey tr aveled often including trips to their family’s homelands in Sweden, Scotland, and Nova Scotia.
Ken is survive d by his brother, Donald Mof fatt; hi s children Scott Mof fatt (spouse Katrina) and B ritt (Moffatt) Boerigter (husband Doug); his seven gr andchildren, A lexia, Scott Jr., Carolina, Cecilia, Sophia, Serena, and Abigail; numerous nieces, ne phew s, and many dear friend s.
S heryl is survive d by her mother, Doris Noreen; her sister, Beve rly (Noreen) Blumenshine, and the children and gr andchildren listed ab ove.
A c elebration of their lives will be held on Saturday, Au g. 3, at 1 p. m. for visitation and 2 p. m. service at Faith Presby terian Church in Gainesville
In lieu of fl ower s, c onsider making a d onation in thei r names to Sira Gainesville Crisis Preg nancy C enter, www.sira ga i nesville.com.
Hugh Muir, 80 Man of many talents and interests
Hugh Robert Muir, 80, of Oak Park, died on July 24, 2024. Born on May 26, 1944, he loved the outdoors, was a record-setting swimmer at Proviso East High School, and attended Ohio State University. He later lived in California on a sailboat. A man of many talents, he worked for CompuServe in its early days, programmed computers for much of the rest of his career, and loved to fly both airplanes and gliders, but his greatest joys were cooking and reading. He had a soft spot for both parrots and Smart Cars
Hugh was the son of the late Henry and Bessie Muir (nee Heise). He is survived by many cousins and friends.
Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1, followed by the funeral service at 11 at Peterson-Bassi Chapel, 6938 W. North Ave. in Chicago.
Sister Mar y Hopkins, 83 Teacher and counselor
Sister Mary Hopkins, OP, 83, died on July 20, 2024, at Sinsinawa Mound, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. Born on May 13, 1941, to John and Mary (McCormick) Hopkins in Milwaukee, she professed vows with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa in 1961 and received the religious name of Sister Mary Goretti She graduated from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, with a degree in elementary education and received an M.S. in pastoral counseling from Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore.
Her ministry was dedicated to teaching, counseling, spiritual direction, and retreat preaching. In Illinois, she taught at St. Basil School and Immaculate Conception School and was a counselor and spiritual director at St. William Parish, all in Chicago. She served as a pastoral associate at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in River Forest. In Montana, she taught at St. Peter in Anaconda and ministered as the coordinator of a city-wide religious education program, working as pastoral associate at Cathedral of St. Helena Parish, and as diocesan director of religious education for the Diocese of Helena, Montana. In Colorado, she taught at St. Dominic School in Denver and ministered as a consultant and retreat preacher for congregations of religious women and men as well as for dioceses throughout the country.
Sister Mary was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Philip and Joseph; and a sister, Therese Hopkins She is survived by a brother, John (Mary Lou) Hopkins; sisters Susan Hopkins (Frank Melzl), Frances (Pat) Quinn, and Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa Maggie Hopkins, OP; her nieces and nephews; and her Dominican Sisters.
Her wake and funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 1 at St. Joseph Church, Sinsinawa. Casey-McNett Funeral Home handled arrangements
Memorials may be made to the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, 585 County Road Z, Sinsinawa, WI 53824, or online at www.sinsinawa.org/donate
KEN MOFFAT T AND SHERYL MOFFAT T
SPORTS
Full fall ahead for Curry
Recent OPRF grad to both play and coach football at the same time
By MELVIN TATE
Contributing Reporter
This fall, Justin Curry will have a lot of football on his plate as he prepares to accomplish a feat that seldom happens: playing collegiately while at the same time serving as an assistant coach on the high school level.
Curry, a defensive lineman who graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in May, will start practice with the Roosevelt University football team Aug. 12. But he is also planning to be an assistant line coach for the OPRF freshman team.
Curry said. “One day, I just had an idea; I had nothing to do, so why not give back and help out? I emailed my for mer freshman coach Joe Conway and asked if he needed an y help. He said, ‘o f c ourse.’”
Curry said he likes the Huskies’ freshman group of linemen, saying it’s “one of the most experienced I’ve ever seen.”
And he of fered a compliment that’s sure to be encouraging for OPRF football fans.
“I’ve always loved football and really fell in love with the game in high school,”
“If these guys stick together the next four years, there’s no doubt in my mind that OPRF will be once again on top of the West Suburban Silver,” he said. “These kids aren’t just great football players; they’re great people, and I’m honored to coach them.”
PROVIDED BY JUSTIN CURRY
Oak Park and River Forest High School defensive lineman Justin Cu rr y (#97) waits for action to resume during a football game last fall. Cu rr y, who graduated from OPRF in May, w ill play collegiately at Roosevelt University this fall while at the same time ser ve as an assistant coach for the Huskies’ freshman team .
Curry, who will major in rketing, admits that it hallenge to balance his playing and coaching duties along with school. But he’s also optimistic that the OPRF linemen he’s coached ared, and that he t be needed as often.
days, [OPRF] is ll be helping out and shaping these young men oaches did me,”
recr uiting picked up last season, when he bevarsity starter on the Huskies’ defensive line. He schools were interested in his services, but he opted for Roosevelt because of the comfort level he developed with the coaching staf f, among other factors.
“I built a strong bond with my coaches,” Curry said. “Also, the players I had con-
Justin Cu rr y (#97), who graduated from Oak Park-River Forest in May, with OPRF assistant football coach Max Sakellaris. Curr y w ill play this fall at Roosevelt University while helping coach the Huskies’ freshman team at the same time
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference], it was a no-brainer. Location also played a huge factor; being close to my home was an easy choice. T he last factor that played a part was my grandmother. She was a Roosevelt graduate who recently passed, and when I officially got of fered, I knew then that Roosevelt was my calling.”
Curry said he enjoyed playing for OPRF and head coach John Hoerster, whom he said taught him a valuable lesson.
“Coach Hoerster is a great coach and taught me many things,” he said. “Especially something that I still live by: early is on time and on time is late
While he’ll be busy this fall, Curry – who hopes to make coaching a career – will keep an eye on the OPRF varsity. He’s optimistic about a tur naround for the Huskies, who went 1-8 last season.
“Hopefully, we have a strong season, get over that hump of beating that team down the road (Fenwick), and get back to playing Huskie football,” he said. “The Oak Park community is something you won’t find anywhere else; the diversity, huge emphasis on sports, and community pride is really what I love about my town.”
“If you have a community without culture, you have nothing, and Oak Park does a great job of kee ping culture strong,” Curry added. “Another huge lesson I’ve elationoaches; it also helps in the classroom because if you listen, you will know more than you could ever know. I tell all my players that they have to be coachable and that actions have consequences.”
PROVIDED BY JUSTIN CURRY
JUSTIN CURRY
OPRF Alum grapples in Summer Olympics
2015 grad Kamal Bey is scheduled to compete in Greco-Roman wrestling in Paris
By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter
For mer Oak Park and River Forest High School student Kamal Bey will compete next week in the 77-kilo gram class of the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. It’s the first time that Bey has qualified for the Olympics.
Bey spent three years at OPRF from 2012 through 2015. He played football and wrestled, and helped the Huskies win
decided to focus on Greco-Roman wrestling and moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to train at the United States Olympic Training Center.
Bey competed in the Junior World Championships between 2016 and 2018, winning the 74-kilogram title in 2017. He also won gold medals at the 2018 and 2019 U.S. Open championships in Las Ve gas, the 2019 U.S. national championship in Fort Worth, Texas, the 2023 Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile –all at 77 kilo grams.
Bey initially had fallen short in his bid to qualify for this year’s U.S. Olympic team at the World Olympic Games Qualifier, May 10, in Istanbul, Turkey. He lost his opening match, but rallied to win the next three matches. Bey lost in a qualification playof f match to Zoltan Levai of Hungary 3-0, becoming the first alternate.
When United World Wrestling, the
PROVIDED BY PHIL GARY
A camper practices a drill at the rst Junior Huskies Basketball Feeder program clinic held July 24 at Oak Park-River Forest High School. e program, open to boys and girls from grades 3 through 8, starts its fall league August 17.
sport’s governing body, vacated berths from Individual Neutral Athletes from Belarus and Russia, it opened up a spot on the U.S. team for Bey.
OPRF alum Ellis Coleman, Class of 2009, also made the Olympic team. However, he
will not compete because his weight class of 67 kilograms didn’t qualify for Olympic participation.
The Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling tournament takes place August 6-7.
Junior Huskies hold rst basketball clinic
‘We’ve been getting really good feedback … and the kids that came to the clinic on the rst day enjoyed it,’ one coach says
By MELVIN TATE Contributing
Reporter
On July 24 and 25, the Junior Huskies basketball feeder program conducted its first-ever clinics at OPRF. The girls took part on the 24th, with the boys going the next day.
“It was great,” said OPRF boys’ head coach Phil Gary. “We had 70-75 boys from grades three through eight, which was amazing. There were 23 girls, so of course we’re pushing to get more. But it’s better than nothing.”
The program’s website is now accessible at jrhuskiesbball.com, and Gary said there’s been plenty of traffic on the site.
“We’re getting way more interest, questions, and emails just because of it,” he said. “It has information on camps and clinics, and we have someone there to answer all questions.”
The program’s next events are a league evaluation day, Aug. 10, followed by fall league play from Aug. 17 through Oct. 19. Games will be held every Saturday at OPRF, and teams will have one practice and one game each week.
“We’ve been getting really good feedback from parents, and the kids that came to the clinic on the first day enjoyed it,” Gary said. “We’ve gotten so many calls and texts from people trying to help coach [in the league].”
Gary also provided a recruiting update on two rising seniors – Alex Gossett and Alex Vincent. Gossett, a 6’6” forward, is getting interest from a pair of Ivy League schools – Brown and Yale, while Vincent, a 6’9” center, has drawn interest from American, Holy Cross, Indiana-Purdue at Indianapolis, Lehigh, Miami of Ohio, Tulane, WisconsinGreen Bay, and the U.S. Naval Academy.
“They’ve been getting some attention,” Gary said. “They’re really great kids and students, and hopefully they’ll get more offers, especially since I think we’ll have a big year this season. [Gossett and Vincent] will be our leaders; they’ve had great summers and I think they’ll have big seasons. They’re all about the team; I’m going to miss those two when they graduate, so I’m going to enjoy them while they’re here.”
For more information visit jrhuskiesbball.com
PHOTO BY JONNA BORGDORFF
In this le photo, Kamal Bey takes control in a 5-0 win over Jakada Hull.
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION
CITIZENS BANK, N.A. F/K/A RBS
NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL, 60527 (630) 794-9876
THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION
CITIZENS, N.A.
Plaintiff,
-v.-
CLOVER L. MATTHEWS
Defendants 2023 CH 10280 119 47TH AVENUE
BELLWOOD, IL 60104
NOTICE OF SALE
PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on April 17, 2024, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 A.M. on August 14, 2024, 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:
LOT 29 IN BLOCK 25 IN HULBERT’S ST. CHARLES ROAD SUBDIVISION, BEING A SUBDIVISION IN THE NORTH HALF OF SECTION 8, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 12, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Commonly known as 119 47TH AVENUE, BELLWOOD, IL 60104
Property Index No. 15-08-213-0070000
The real estate is improved with a residence.
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, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court.
Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.
If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1).
IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW.
You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, examine the court file, CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 15W030
One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE
You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.
CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE IL, 60527 630-794-5300
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 # 2023 CH 10280
I3248183
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION
U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE ON BEHALF FOR CITIGROUP MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2021-RP4, Plaintiff(s), vs. SCOTT SCHEMMEL, SVETLANA KAPLIN A/K/A SVETLAN KAPLINA, VILLAGE OF OAK PARK, TUDOR ROSE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, STATE OF ILLINOIS, U.S. BANK, N.A. SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO REGENCY SAVINGS BANK, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, Defendant(s), 22 CH 1440 CALENDAR 60 NOTICE OF SALE
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on September 9, 2024, at the hour 11:00 a.m., Intercounty’s office, 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, IL 60602, sell to the highest bidder for cash, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-07-323-052-1003 AND 1607-323-052-1007. Commonly known as 424 S. WISCONSIN STREET, UNIT 3N, OAK PARK, IL 60302. The real estate is: 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: At sale, the bidder must have 10% down by certified funds, balance within 24 hours, by certified funds. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Law Offices of Ira T. Nevel, 175 North Franklin Street, Suite 201, Chicago, Illinois 60606. (312) 357-1125. 22-00544 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3249069
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is currently engaged in engineering and environmental studies for the improvement of Washington Boulevard from 1st Avenue to Thatcher Avenue in Cook County. The scope of work for the improvement consists of improved safety and mobility of Washington Boulevard by removing and replacing the structure over the Des Plaines River due to the poor condition of the structure. The roadway improvement consists of a road diet to avoid/minimize impacts on both sides of Washington Boulevard which matches the roadway west of 1st Avenue and east of Thatcher Avenue. Pedestrian and bicyclist improvements consist of a 6’ sidewalk on the south side and 5.5’ on-street bike lanes on both sides of the roadway. IDOT is seeking public comments on impacts the Washington Boulevard will have on G.A.R. Woods, Quercus Woods Family Picnic Area, and Thomas Jefferson Woods owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC).
G.A.R. Woods, Quercus Woods Family Picnic Area, and Thomas Jefferson Woods are protected under federal regulations originally enacted as Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966, which protect public parks, recreation areas, and wildlife and waterfowl refuges, as well as public or private historical sites. IDOT anticipates a de minimis impact finding for G.A.R. Woods, Quercus Woods Family Picnic Area, and Thomas Jefferson Woods, based on the determination that the project will not adversely affect the features, attributes, or activities qualifying the property for protection under Section 4(f).
The project will impact 0.060 acres of Quercus Woods Family Picnic Area, 0.239 acres of Thomas Jefferson Woods, and 0.070 acres of G.A.R. Woods Area of FPDCC for demolition, reconstruction, and access to maintain the proposed structure, connecting proposed drainage improvements, and removal of existing guardrail terminals. Documentation of this proposed action and its impacts, including avoidance, minimization, mitigation, or enhancement measures, will be available at the following locations:
DATE: 7/24/2024 to 8/14/2024
TIME: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Monday thru Friday
PLACE: Illinois Department of Transportation Bureau of Programming – 4th Floor 201 West Center Court Schaumburg, IL 60196
7/24/2024 to 8/14/2024
9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Monday thru Friday Forest Preserve District of Cook County 536 North Harlem Avenue River Forest, IL 60305
An electronic version of this documentation is available on the IDOT website at: https://idot.illinois.gov/ transportation-system/environment/
section-4f-documents.html. Written comments can be submitted at the IDOT office, mailed to the IDOT office, or sent electronically to the above referenced website. Comments received by 8/14/20224 will become part of the public record.
This comment period will be accessible to people with disabilities. Anyone needing special assistance including Spanish interpretation should contact Corey Smith, P.E. at (847) 705-4103. Persons planning to attend who will need a sign language interpreter or other similar accommodations should notify the Department’s TTY/TTD (866) 2733681 at least five (5) days prior to the meeting.
All correspondence regarding this project should be sent to:
Illinois Department of Transportation 201 W. Center Court Schaumburg, IL 60196-1096
Attn: Bureau of Programming Corey Smith, P.E. (Corey.Smith@ illinois.gov)
Published in Wednesday Journal July 24, 31, 2024
Advertisement to Solicit Bids
Notice is hereby given by the Executive Director of Housing Forward, 1851 South 9th Avenue, Maywood, Illinois, that bids will be received for the following improvements at The Write Inn located at 211 North Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60302: Roof membrane replacement, Roof insulation and Masonry Tuckpointing
Bids will be received until 5:00PM, Central Standard Time on August 30, 2024, and emailed to RFP@iff. org. Please direct all bid proposals to Ann Panopio.
The bidding forms and documents will be available to request here (https://iff.org/rfps/). The owner, and owner’s representative have been authorized to refuse to issue plans, specifications and proposals to any person, form or corporation that they consider to be unqualified. Proposal must be submitted on the forms provided.
The bidder is specifically advised that Housing Forward is a Subrecipient of the Village of Oak Park of a grant pursuant to the Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, pursuant to an agreement entered between the Village of Oak Park and Housing Forward. Further, the work must adhere to federal labor compliance requirements (Davis Bacon). Housing Forward and Village of Oak Park have a preference to qualifying Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises. Contractors are expected to make their best effort in maximizing participation.
NOTE: No contracts will be awarded unless the contractor is actively registered with the “System for Award Management (SAM)” and permitted
Summary of Work – The project includes all work described in the Bid Documents including but not limited to all required site prep, scaffolding, temporary shoring, demolition, removal and appropriate disposal of waste materials, replacement, or repair of existing materials to remain, cleaning, and confirmation of water-tight enclosure for all areas of work. This work should be coordinated with Owner to minimize impact to Owner’s operations.
Published in Wednesday Journal July 31, August 7, 14, 21, 28, 2024
OAK PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT 97 NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AUGUST 13, 2024 AT 7:00 PM
The Board of Education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 will hold a Public Hearing on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at 7:00 pm. The purpose of said hearing will be: To receive public comment on a proposed waiver application to allow District 97 to limit physical education with a licensed physical education teacher to 60 minutes per week for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Published in Wednesday Journal July 31, 2024
PUBLIC NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
e-Learning Program
The Board of Education of Oak Park School District 97 will hold a Public Hearing on August 13, 2024, at 7:00 PM, in-person during the regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting.
The purpose of said hearing will be to receive public comment on the proposed e-Learning Program renewal which, if approved, will permit students’ instruction to be received electronically while students are not physically present in lieu of the district’s scheduled emergency days. This program is allowed under Section 10-20.56 of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/10-20.56]. Notification of this hearing is provided to families and is posted in the newspaper more than 10 days prior to the scheduled Public Hearing.
If approved, the e-Learning Program renewal will be implemented for a three year term.
BOARD OF EDUCATION, Oak Park School District 97
Published in Wednesday Journal July 31, 2024
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Board of Education of School District No. 91, in the County of Cook, State of Illinois, the tentative budget for said School District for the Fiscal Year 2025 will be available for public inspection at the District Office, 424 DesPlaines Avenue, Forest Park, Illinois, after 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. Notice is hereby given that a public hearing on said budget will be held at 6:30 p.m. on the 12th day of September, 2024, at Grant-White School, 147 Circle Avenue, Forest Park, in this School District No. 91.
Dated this 31st day of July, 2024
Board of Education School District No. 91 County of Cook State of Illinois
