W E D N E S D A Y
2017 in Homes Page 21
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
December 27, 2017 Vol. 35, No. 19 ONE DOLLAR
@oakpark @wednesdayjournal
D97 board 2017 approves levy amid pushback YEAR IN REVIEW
Officials say the levy actually would be lower overall By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
During a Dec. 19 regular meeting, the Oak Park Elementary Schools District 97 Board of Education voted unanimously to approve a 2017 property tax levy of $71.1 million that is 3 percent, or around $2 million, more than last year’s levy. The vote was opposed by a group of residents, including a current and a former Oak Park trustee, who were concerned that the measure would lead to higher property tax bills. Dr. Alicia Evans, the district’s soon-todepart assistant superintendent of business and operations, said that the levy is only an estimate. The final amount could change based on a variety of factors, such as the taxable value of new property constructed in the village. Evans said that a 2.1 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index accounts for most of the levy increase. In a related matter, the district still plans on using the unanticipated $2.6 million it reSee LEVY on page 9
File photo
PROTEST, THEN A POLICY CHANGE: Protesters march on Scoville Park last February during what was billed as a “Rally for Sanctuary in Oak Park,” an event organized by the Democratic Party of Oak Park and Suburban Unity Alliance, among other groups. More photos on page 12.
So long, 2017. It’s been … well, whatever Resisting Trump, more high-rises and carjackings galore defined the year By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
No doubt 2017 will go down in the history books as one of our nation’s most raucous years, marked by protests following the
election of Donald Trump, the rise of the #MeToo movement and demonstrations concerning immigration, police brutality and a number of other issues. Presidential politics aside, real estate development continued to dominate the head-
lines locally in 2017, with new large-scale, mixed-use buildings, largely in the downtown area, advancing — with the promise of hundreds of new residents in the village. See YEAR IN REVIEW on page 14
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I N S I D E
R E P O R T
Most checked out books, DVDs at the River Forest library this year
River Forest residents borrowed exactly 233,356 items from the River Forest Public Library this year. What burning items singed their library cards? Read below for the top 10 most checked out books and DVDs for 2017:
4. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
5. The Whistler, by John Grisham
DVDs
1. Game of Thrones 2. Doc Martin
6. Hillbilly Elegy: A memoir of a family and culture in crisis, by J.D. Vance
3. Manchester by the Sea
7. The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
6. The Girl on the Train
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney
8. Roller Girl, by Victoria Jamieson
8. La La Land
2. A Man called Ove, by Frederik Backman
9. Naruto, a Japanese manga novel
3. Camino Island, by John Grisham
10. Pawsome puppy adventures!
Books
4) Hidden Figures 5. Homeland 7. Jackie 9. Midsomer Murders 10. Sully
Visionary
Nona Tepper
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Maddie Cheronis, left, 9, and Sasha Giannotti Guralnick, 9, both of River Forest, get dressed up for the photo booth during the annual 9/11 Lemon-Aid Charity Stand in River Forest. More photos on page 12.
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Courageious Bakery opened in the old Red Hen site.
Restaurants on the rise
It was a big year for foodies in Oak Park with more than a dozen new restaurants opening or in the works. Oak Parkers, however, were adamantly opposed to one new restaurant in the village — a Taco Bell drive-thru planned for the corner of Madison Street and Lyman Avenue. That plan got scrapped and a handful of notable restaurants closed their doors this year, but overall, IN eateries flourished in 2017. Just opened: ■ Altiro (Latin Fusion) 107 N. Oak Park Ave. ■ Lea French Street (French cuisine) 106 N. Marion St. ■ Two Brothers Social Tap (American cuisine, beer and coffee) 100 S. Marion St.
■ LIVE! Cafe (Lunch and coffee) 163 S.
Oak Park Ave. ■ Wild Onion Tied House (American cuisine, brewpub) 1111 South Blvd. ■ Scratch on Lake (Burgers and beer) 733 Lake St. ■ Cooper’s Hawk Winery (Large wine selection, upscale menu) 950 Lake St. ■ Courageous Bakery & Café (Sandwiches, breakfast, coffee) 736 Lake St. ■ Happy Apple Pie Shop (Pies and coffee) 226 Harrison St. ■ Firecakes Donuts (Donuts, chicken and coffee) 104 N. Maple St. ■ Amerikas (Latin inspired dishes) 734 Lake St. ■ Obsessed Kitchen and Bar (Comfort food, full bar) 800 S. Oak Park Ave.
2017 YEAR REVIEW
Top 10 films at The Lake
■ Rosati’s Pizza, 1013 Madison St. ■ Rustico, 722 Lake St.
In memoriam: ■ Felony Franks (Hot dogs and burgers) 6427 W. North Ave. ■ Novo (American cuisine, cocktails) 734 Lake St. ■ Kinderhook Tap (Gastropub) 800 S. Oak Park Ave. ■ Erik’s Deli (Salads and sandwiches) 107 N. Oak Park Ave. ■ Connelly’s Public House (Irish cuisine) 1109 South Blvd. ■ Taste of Brasil (Brazilian cuisine) 906 S. Oak Park Ave. ■ Live Fresko (Yogurt, juice bar, coffee) 136 N. Oak Park Ave.
Mark Mazrimas, marketing manager at Classic Cinemas, sent along the top grossing films of 2017, which is always a little distorted because of the late-year releases (aka Star Wars):
1
Wonder Woman
2. Hidden Figures 3. Beauty & The Beast 4.
Get Out
5. Spiderman: Homecoming 6. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 7. Despicable Me 3
Coming soon: ■ Brewpub yet to be named, 1 Lake St.
8.
Thor: Ragnarok
■ Bricks Wood-Fired Pizza Café, 129 N.
9.
It
Lake St. ■ District Kitchen and Tap (Pizza, nachos, beer) 200 block of Harrison St.
Tim Inklebarger
10. (Tie) Lego Batman and Star Wars - The Last Jedi (released Dec. 14) Ken Trainor
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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“Loving Vincent”
Ring in the New Year
Tuesday, Jan. 2, 10 a.m., noon and 7 p.m. Lake Theatre: The First Tuesday Film Club presents a story about post-impressionist Vincent Van Gogh depicted in oil-painted animation. A man comes to the hometown of the painter to deliver the artist’s final letter and investigates his Mondays through Fridays, 6 to 7 a.m., final days. $6, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6 to 6:45 p.m., Sunmatinee/senior; days, 9 to 10 a.m., Zen Life & Meditation Center: $8.50, evening. Join free meditation sessions when it fits your schedMore: classicule. Sunday’s session is followed by a dharma talk cinemas.com. 1022 and discussion. All welcome. Info: zlmc.org. 38 Lake St., Oak Park. Lake St., Oak Park.
Countdown to New Year’s Eve Friday, Dec. 29, 5 to 5:45 p.m., Veterans Room, Main Library: Say goodbye to 2017 with catchy upbeat music by Wendy and DB. Free; all ages. Questions: 708-4523420, childrens@oppl.org. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.
Drop in Meditation
Family New Year’s Eve Party Sunday, Dec. 31, Noon to 5 p.m. Wonder Works: This children’s museum New Year’s Eve Celebration will be bigger and better than ever with special games, crafts, noisemakers, parades, singing, food and more. $3, members; $10, non-members. Info: wonder-works.org. 6445 W. North Ave., Oak Park.
Dec. 27- Jan. 3
BIG WEEK Hamiltunes: An American Sing-Along
CALENDAR EVENTS ■ As you’ve likely noticed, our
Calendar has changed to Big Week. Fewer items, higher profile. If you would like your event to be featured fe here, please send a photo and details by noon of the shed. We can’t Wednesday before it needs to be published. publish everything, but we’ll do our best est to feature the week’s highlights. Email calendar@wjinc.com.
More Than a Mic ic Wednesday, Dec. 27, 5 to 7 p.m., Veterans Room, Main Library: Speak your mind at this Spoken Word freestyle open mic, part of the library’s More Than a Month series. For teens and adults. Meets monthly. Info: oppl.org/more. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.
Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 30 and 31, 2 to 4 p.m., Veterans Room, Main Library: For all the Hamilton lovers, join in on a family-friendly sing-along, costumes encouraged. Act One on Saturday, Act Two on Sunday. Come to one or both. Questions: 708-452-3420, childrens@oppl.org. More: oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.
Wintry Crafts and More Thursday, Dec. 28, 1 to 4 p.m., River Forest Public Library: Dro Drop in and visit the Children’s Room to learn how to make a snow snowflake. Supplies provided. Ages 3 to 10 with caregiver. Questions: 708-366-5205. 735 Lathrop Ave., River Forest. Questi Friday, Dec. 29, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Meeting Room, Dole Library: Join in on a winter-themed story time with songs and a craft for ages 3 to 5. Questions: 708-386-9032. 255 Augusta, Oak Park.
Seniors - Connect with Tech Wednesday, Jan. 3, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Meeting Room, River Forest Public Library: Get more out of your smartphone, eReader, tablet and computer; connect electronically with family; learn about internet safety concerns and more. Area senior are invited to drop in to this small, intimate group setting anytime during the session. Bring a device or use a laptop on site. Inquire: 708-366-5205. 735 Lathrop Ave., River Forest.
Adult Improv Workshop Tuesday, Jan. 2, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Meeting Room, Maze Library: Let your inner comedian run free and improve your quick-thinking skills during this night of spontaneous comedy. All skill levels welcome. 845 Gunderson Ave., Oak Park.
Tributosaurus as Tom Petty Saturday, Dec. 30, and Sunday, y, Dec. 31, 9 p.m., Wire: Celebrate the New Year while listening to the local band that morphs into a classic rocker for the holiday. Doors open at 8 p.m. 21+. $35, Saturday. $45, Sunday; $100 VIP Sunday. Tickets: wireismusic.com. 6815 W. Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn.
Dec. 31 = 2 Shows Sunday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m., FitzGerald’s: FitzGerald’s Nightclub rings in 2018 with Chicago blues artist Ronnie Baker Brooks and his band. In the SideBar, hear Expo ’76 and the Total Pro Horns featuring Robert Cornelius. Doors open at 8 p.m. Party supplies and a champagne toast at midnight. $40, club show; $30, SideBar music room show. Tickets: fitzgeraldsnightclub.com. 6615 W. Roosevelt, Berwyn.
A New Year of Compassion Sunday, Dec. 31, 6 to 9 p.m., Kadampa Meditation Center Chicago: The Buddhist Center hosts a New Year’s Eve celebration to ring in the new year with compassion and beneficial intentions. All are welcome to learn about the Buddha of Compassion and eat a vegetarian sit-down dinner. $15. Register: meditateinchicago. org/special-events/op-a-new-year-of-compassion/. 13 Harrison, Oak Park.
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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OPRF senior and TEAM student Jenna Rick (second from left) sings with the Concert Choir at the Prisms of Winter concert.
ART BEAT
Photo by Bill Kosik
A lot of eyes on this TEAM By MICHELLE DYBAL
F
Contributing Reporter
ew things in life are simple, but talk to any one of the students with intellectual or developmental disabilities in choir classes at Oak Park and River Forest High School and it simply comes down to this: “I like to sing.” When asked why they enjoy being in Chorale or Bass Ensemble, students from the Transitional Education with Access to the Mainstream program (TEAM) also cite how it makes them feel — happy. Jenna Ricks, a senior who has autism, participates in musical theater at OPRF, appearing in productions such as Mary Poppins and The Addams Family. She is also in Chorale and performed with the Concert Choir at the sold-out Prisms of Winter show on Dec. 14. “I look forward to choir,” she said. “I like to sing because I have a beautiful voice.” While rehearsing Sibelius’ Finlandia for the finale to the Prisms concert, Choir Director Meredith McGuire put on music in the choir room so the singers could hear the orchestral part to emulate when all choral, band and orchestra participants perform together in the auditorium. Jenna, knowing she has sound sensitivity, requested headphones to make herself more comfortable. Another Chorale TEAM student, senior Allison Wenzloff, sings every chance she gets — in the hallway, the cafeteria and even the bathroom. She has cerebral palsy and spends much of her time in a wheelchair. However, two days a week she uses a “stander” so she can be upright, which has also changed her singing ability. “In the stander, she sings loudly and proudly,” said Kisha Williamson, Allison’s aide. “She is literally one of the girls.” The Chorale class of 30 students includes five TEAM members. Sophomore Mila Medina, who has performed in Legally Blonde and Mary Poppins at OPRF and has Down Syndrome, likes it when everyone performs together. Sophomore Katlyn Montgomery is in Chorale and already knew Mila as well as
some of the other TEAM students from her involvement in musical theater. “I love it that they are in class,” she said. “TEAM kids are like regular kids. We talk with them and then understand how to act around them.” Journey Manuel, another sophomore in the class, likes the sense of community that is part of Chorale. “I’ve met a bunch of people who I’ve become friends with,” she said. “And it’s made me more humble and helped me work on qualities of selflessness and patience.” McGuire believes having TEAM students in choir benefits everybody. “I think most kids don’t walk into a situation where there are students with severe or profound special needs,” she said. “Peer relationships are really important. As the year progresses, they volunteer more, interact more, and they get to know these kids and see they are teenagers just like everyone else.” Gianna Perez, a sophomore, said working with different students makes the class more enjoyable and since the TEAM students seem so happy to be there, the mood is contagious. “They would come up to me and be really nice,” explained Gianna, who noted she feels socially awkward at times. “I’ve learned to open up more. And everyone treats each other with respect.” Aparecido “AP” Bohlander, TEAM student and a sophomore in the Bass Ensemble class, performed for the first time with the Mixed Chorus in the Prisms of Winter show. He auditioned for Hairspray and will sing and dance in the musical, for which McGuire is the musical director. Another opportunity for TEAM students is Therapeutic Music, created by McGuire and offered for the first time this past January. The class is solely for TEAM students and makes music available to those with a range of disabilities, such as those who are blind or non-verbal or have cerebral palsy. It includes singing, playing instruments and musical concepts such as pitch and rhythm. McGuire seeing the students grow during the semester, found the experience, just like the choir classes, rewarding for all.
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Trinity students cheer during the centennial celebration at the corner of Lathrop Avenue & Division Street in River Forest.
National impact felt with welcoming ordinance By NONA TEPPER Staff Reporter
From historic preservation to new hires and retires, there was plenty going on in River Forest in 2017. Trinity High School started the year with a bang, celebrating its centennial with a series of events, fundraisers and an announcement by its longtime president, Sister Michelle Germanson, that she planned to step down. She will stay on as president emeritus and direct alumni relations for the school. ■ Police Chief Gregory Weiss and Fire Chief Jim Eggert joined the Trinity prez in announcing their retirements. Chief Weiss served in the department for 30 years; Chief Eggert for 13 years. IN ■ Speaking of first-responders, River Forest police stayed busy. In March, Elpidio Flores died in a house fire in the 500 block of Park Avenue. He died of smoke inhalation, according to a spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner. In early December, Steven Ward of Chicago was killed in a “gang assassination” at the intersection of North and Harlem Avenues. Later that month, River Forest police played host to law enforcement officers from a number of other municipalities — including Oak Park, Forest Park and Chicago — to tackle the area’s growing number
JIM EGGERT Fire Chief
GREGORY WEISS Police Chief
of car thefts and carjacking incidents. ■ Along Harlem, between North Avenue and Cermak Road, law enforcement has been particularly stringent. Between January 2014 and October 2016, Wednesday Journal found more than $26.5 million in red-light camera citations were issued to motorists along this path. Based on those numbers, that stretch might be the most lucrative four-mile length of road in the entire state. The two red-light cameras on Harlem Avenue in River Forest — at North Avenue and Lake Street — have issued more than $5.2 million in citations since the start of 2014. The North Avenue camera is the village’s real moneymaker, issuing almost $3.8 million in citations since the start of 2014. The money has been earmarked for capital improvements in the village, said Village Administrator Eric Palm. River Forest pocketed at least $2.6 million from those cameras since 2014; the rest went to vendor SafeSpeed, a politically-connected business that has received relatively little public
2017 YEAR REVIEW
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM scrutiny despite its work in about to outperform the state, a dozen suburban municipalities low-income and stuand despite records that indicate dents of color continue the company’s cameras produce to perform behind their citations at startlingly high rates. white counterparts. The Palm defended SafeSpeed’s district has introduced work, saying the installation of a number of efforts to such stringent red-light cameras achieve equity for these were necessary to control instudents, including its creased pedestrian and vehicle upcoming “One Book, traffic along Harlem. One District” community reading initiative. ■ On a lighter note, Dominican University broke into the top 20 ■ In April, Lynn Libera on the U.S. News & World Report and Cheryl Cargie were college rankings list. Dominican sworn in as new park was ranked 19th overall, and was district commissioners. named the fifth in Best Value Later in the year, they Schools for the Midwest. Concorjoined other commisALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer dia University placed 75th over- Paola Montenegro, a sophomore at Dominican University studying sioners in agreeing to all on the magazine’s prestigious halt talks about a probusiness and Spanish, is one of the hundreds of thousands of students list. spective community qualifying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which is recreational center that ■ Dominican also re-affirmed would have been shared its support for undocumented slated to end in March. by residents in River students, after Attorney General coming resolution in August. Forest and Oak Park. Jeff Sessions announced Presi■ In other education news, River Forest Michael Sletten, River Forest Park District’s dent Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, District 90 school students continued to executive director, told Wednesday Journal program. The university also re-affirmed outperform the state average in the annual that the park district wasn’t ruling out the its sanctuary status, vowing to withhold ac- test of students’ English Language Arts and community center — they just plan to concess to any student information — includ- math abilities, with 68 percent of D90 stu- tinue talks later. ing immigration status — by officials unless dents either meeting or exceeding standards ■ Patty Henek and Respicio Vazquez were set by the Illinois State Board of Education, elected as new trustees to the River Forest they show documentation. compared to a state average of about 34 per- Village Board, after a heated election in ■ The village of River Forest joined the university in adopting an ordinance to pro- cent. The state-mandated PARCC exam is which many residents voted for two new tect undocumented individuals, with trust- administered in March at all public schools trustees but left their third option blank. ees voting almost unanimously to add a wel- in Illinois. Although the district continues This strategy knocked former trustee Tom
Dwyer off the board. Incumbent trustee Tom Cargie also won his second term. ■ Board officials were busy this year, hearing from a number of developers about plans for the town. Sedgwick properties unveiled plans for a five-story, condo-retail development at the corner of Lake and Lathrop before the board in November. This is the third time Sedgwick has come to the board with plans for this site. ■ Also in November, trustees voted to spend $1 million to buy the old Lutheran Child and Family Services building on Madison Street, in the hope that redevelopment can generate additional property tax revenue for the village. Officials will loan money from the village’s general fund cash reserves to the Madison Street Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, which, so far, has not generated enough incremental tax revenue to buy the building. ■ The limits of the Historic Preservation Ordinance were tested earlier this year, with the Historic Preservation Commission delaying a developer’s plans to knock down a home on the 700 block of William Street, a historic block which represents the first Prairie School planned development in the state. The commission voted to block the demolition six months, unless the developer, Mayborn Development, complies with conditions about design and structure of the new home. CONTACT: ntepper@wjinc.com
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District 90 invites village to read One Book, One District title is ‘Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’
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River Forest District 90 schools recently launched their One Book, One District initiative, in an effort to get residents to read together and drive greater equity within the village. District 90 is encouraging parents, staff, residents — anyone with a tie to River Forest or a connection to its schools — to join students and educators in reading author Carol Dweck’s “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” a book that analyzes how an individual’s mindset can impact their future. “Mindset” divides people into two groups: Those with a fixed mindset, who believe they are born with a certain skill set they cannot change, and those with a growth mindset, who believe their skills can and must be refined on an ongoing basis. “This book has real appeal for students who are trying to elevate their learning, parents trying, faculty trying to elevate their learning,” Superintendent Ed Condon said. “They can see that not succeeding in something, even failing at something, for those with a growth mindset [they] see it as an opportunity to learn something greater and, at a deeper level, propel them to try to accomplish that task, feat or learn that concept.” This is the first time District 91 has embarked on a community reading initiative. District 91 received book suggestions for One Book, One District from its inclusiveness advisory board, board of education, staff and more. But administrators chose “Mindset” because they believe its theme can appeal to those in and out of the classroom. It offers “really great advice on how individuals discern theirs and others own areas
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of strength and weakness, and work on that to find opportunities to be more growth-oriented,” Condon said. He also believes “Mindset” aligns well with District 90’s equity initiatives. “If it’s true, as a school district, that we value the idea that we should be supporting all students’ ability to learn and excel to their greatest ability, can’t the way in which we view ourselves or others accelerate our equity goals?” Condon said. School and local librarians can suggest books with similar themes for young readers. The district has so far distributed about 300 copies of Dweck’s book to community members. The West Cook YMCA, River Forest Public Library, District 90 school library, parent-teacher and educational organizations, village administrators and trustees are also working to provide copies of the book and let residents know about the community reading initiative. “It’s a chance for our village to learn together,” Condon said. The district has organized a number of reading meet-ups for “Mindset.” ■ On Jan. 11, Dr. Ann Batenburg of Mindset Works will lead a session for faculty and staff about incorporating growth mindset principles in the classroom. Later that same evening, Batenburg will lead a session for families on supporting the growth mindset philosophy with their children. The session will start at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School, 511 Park Ave. ■ On Feb. 3, the district is sponsoring a village-wide event with Batenburg about how the “Mindset” approach can advance audience members’ work and community efforts, relationships, as well as their students’ classroom efforts. Breakout sessions will follow Batenburg’s keynote presentation. The session will start at 11:30 a.m. at Roosevelt Middle School, 7560 Oak Ave. ■ Later in February, date to be determined, the district will play host an interactive webinar on the “Mindset” approach that will later be posted to the district website.
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9
A blunt talking year on race in education
Local schools took on complex issues of equity By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
This year, Oak Park’s education landscape may have been a bit drier after talks of replacing the two pools at Oak Park and River Forest High School — which dominated 2016 — receded. The tone of pool-related conversation has become much milder and more disciplined since the OPRF Imagine committee kicked into high gear earlier this year, with the committee shifting the discussion to a deep, comprehensive analysis of facilities. The source of tension this year revolved around race, the rough edges of which were often out in the open. When some OPRF football players and band members took a knee in September, the catalyst was set for what turned out to be the most significant and multilayered story of the year. In October, a 17-year-old OPRF senior posted a photo showing himself in blackface to his Snapchat account on a Sunday. Minutes, if not seconds later, the groundswell began. A popular OPRF teacher, activist and Congressional candidate, Anthony Clark, was IN suspended for his role in the contentious debate, leading to a march along Lake Street and at least a week of heated debate, most of it on social media. The story touched on so many aspects of the modern condition — from the appropriateness of outrage to the limits of empathy
to the consequences that technology has had on people’s ability to relate to each other. The series of events reached a climax during a meeting on race held in November at the high school, which featured mediators from the Justice Department and Dr. David Stovall, an associate professor of educational policy studies and African-American studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “When you talk about equity, you have to think about a word that becomes fearful to districts and leadership — redistribution,” he said. “If we are talking about equity, we can no longer talk about who is getting what under what terms. You have to be clear about who has been denied historically. I don’t talk about an education gap. What has been owed to students who have been historically disenfranchised? Something has been taken.” The year 2017 in Oak Park might well be remembered for the rawness that was brought to the town’s grappling with race. CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com
Photos by Paul Goyettetle
OUT IN THE OPEN: Audience members wait to speak during a Nov. 14 meeting on race at OPRF. Below left, Dr. David Stovall speaks to at least 300 people during the November meeting. Stovall pulled no punches.
2017 YEAR REVIEW
LEVY
Sparks concern from page 1 ceived — on top of $13.3 million it took in as a result of two successful referenda voters approved earlier this year — to pay down debt. That’s in addition to the district taking steps in July to abate referendum bonds that were issued to build the middle schools and upgrade the elementary schools. District officials said the two measures will lead to a reduction of the overall 2017 levy by around $3.3 million. In a statement released on Dec. 21, the district explained that “overarching result” of the measures “is that the percentage of those bills that is attributed to District 97 is expected to be lower than it was last year.” The district also decided to postpone the sale of $10 million in capital bonds that it
had planned for this month until next year while also reducing the total amount of bonds it plans to sell from $10 million to $7.5 million. The move, coupled with the July abatement, will result in the district paying approximately $5 million less in bond payments for 2017 than what officials had projected before the April referenda. Officials said that it would also generate savings in interest payments of between $100,000 and $200,000. But some residents weren’t satisfied with the district’s measures. During the Dec. 19 meeting, Dan Moroney, an Oak Park village trustee, said that, instead of servicing its debt with the extra $2.6 million in unanticipated revenue it collected, the district should apply the money to its operating levy. “This simple move is straightforward and will put the future operating levy at the level that voters approved in April,” Moroney said, adding that, if the district doesn’t act on his recommendation, the extra $2.6 mil-
lion it captured would be included in future levies, resulting in $30 million in extra revenue over 10 years, assuming 3 percent inflation. District 97 board President Holly Spurlock said that the board would utilize a variety of tools at its disposal, such as vote on resolutions and enact levy reductions, that won’t make the $2.6 million increase permanent. “We want to assure people that our decision regarding this year’s levy does not represent a permanent increase,” the district’s statement explained. “Our goal from a financial standpoint has been and will continue to be finding ways to meet the needs of our more than 6,000 students, while also working with the administration, [our financial oversight and review committee], our fellow governing bodies and the community as a whole to reduce the tax burden here in Oak Park.” Greg Marsey, a former Oak Park village trustee, said that he strongly supports Moroney’s recommendation before pointing
out the struggles that many current residents experienced with paying property taxes. “I don’t know if you fully appreciate just how at risk the diversity of this town has fully become,” Marsey said. “If this continual uptick in taxes isn’t stemmed soon, you’ll only be as diverse as the people who can come here and afford the six-figure cost of entry.” Marsey recommended that the district work with other taxing bodies through organizations such as the InterGovernmental (IGOV) Assembly on ways to stem the increase. “If you don’t get serious about your participation in IGOV about this tax burden and about tackling this collectively then it is only going to continue and it’s not going to be too long until Oak Park looks like every lily-white suburb on the North Shore,” he said. CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
D200 keeps tax levy flat
Citing tax burden, board opted not to collect inflationadjusted revenue By MICHAEL ROMAIN
2018
Y E S D A W E D N
L A N R U O J of Oak Park
Forest and River
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The school board at OPRF overrode a staff recommendation and voted Dec. 21 to take a lower hike in its 2017 property tax levy. The levy on existing property was left flat with last year while an increase was approved that will capture tax revenue from new construction in the villages. The Oak Park and River Forest High School board voted 6 to 1 to keep its 2017 levy for existing property at $66.1 million. An additional 0.8 percent will be levied for tax revenue raised from new construction. With Thursday’s vote, the school board decided against raising additional revenue by claiming an increase based on a 2.1 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index, or around $1.4 million. District staff had recommended claiming the full 2.91 percent levy increase possible under law. The lost revenue, board members said, is worth the relief it would bring to taxpayers faced with an ever-increasing property tax burden. During Thursday’s meeting, board member Tom Cofsky, who introduced the levy proposal, referenced the district’s financial condition, along with new state and federal measures that could hit taxpayers hard. Cofsky said that he sat on the Finance Advisory Committee, launched in 2013 to right-size the district’s bloated $100 million-plus fund balance. “Since then we have followed key recommendations, including two $10 million tax reductions, four years of consecutive tax abatement approaching somewhere near $10 million, as well as forgoing annual CPI increases on the levy,” he said. Cofsky said that the district’s overall expenses have increased by 23 percent in four years, with the district’s costs per student jumping from $17,000 to just shy of $22,000 — driven largely, he said, by the district’s flat enrollment.
“Average daily attendance has been flat while our enrollment is up slightly,” Cofsky said. “Whereas long-term enrollment projections of FAC called for 3,900 students, now it’s aiming more toward 3,600 students. So there’s been a big adjustment.” Cofsky also referenced the recent increase in the state income tax and a looming federal tax law that would limit to $10,000 the amount of state and local income and/or property taxes that taxpayers can deduct. “There’s going to be a higher tax burden for our residents related to [these measures],” he said. “I cannot support a tax to the max approach … We need to cap our levy at last year’s level, plus growth and we need to focus on ways to contain our costs, holding flat or reducing per student cost while making sure we don’t [negatively impact] our students.” Tod Altenburg, D200’s chief school business official, said that the board’s decision to forgo the 2.91 percent levy increase recommended by staff could mean that the district would have to go out for a referendum a year sooner than officials had projected. “In fiscal year 2023, we would be receiving local revenues, which aren’t all property tax revenues, of around $81.2 million,” he said. “If we [don’t do a 2.91 percent increase], we’re at $79 million by 2023, which would push the potential for an operating referendum up a year.” Board member Matt Baron, who provided the only vote against the levy proposal, said that the measure doesn’t go far enough. He had introduced an amendment that would have called for a 0 percent increase in the levy, without capturing new tax growth. “This is a golden opportunity to dig even deeper,” Baron said. Board members voted 6 to 1 against his amendment before voting in favor of the proposal that Cofsky put forth. Board President Jackie Moore said that capturing the new growth gives the district “a little wiggle room,” considering the amount of uncertainty currently surrounding issues of taxation and school funding. The district won’t know until sometime in the spring how much tax revenue it will realize from new construction. CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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I N
11
M E M O R I A M
Among the many who made us who we are By KEN TRAINOR Staff Writer
2017
In the past 12 months, we said goodbye to many who contributed to the tapestry IN that is Oak Park and River Forest. Here is a small sample of those we miss:
YEAR REVIEW
Wendell Rayburn Sr., 87, president of two colleges and vice president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (1996-2006).
Rose Joseph, 73, co-founder of Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park, grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Ward Fisher, 91, World War II veteran, attorney, District 97 school board member, helped negotiate the merger that created First United Church of Oak Park in the 1970s.
Rev. Robert Cross, 90, pastor emeritus of Ascension Parish in Oak Park.
Robert Canapary, 90, founding member of Alcuin Montessori School in Oak Park.
Birda King, 79, gifted storyteller, provided child care to many in Oak Park.
Phillippe Verpil Sr., 70, bell captain at the Holiday Inn, Chicago Mart Plaza, for 40 years.
April 12,
L A N R U JO st ver Fore rk and Ri of Oak Pa
2017
34 Vol. 35, No. AR ONE DOLL inc
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Wednesday Journal, April 19, 2017
@OakPark @O
A street paved
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$26.5 million camera tickets in red-light Harlem Avenu issued along e since 2014
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January 11, 2017 Vol. 35, No. 21 ONE DOLLAR
with gold
The trouble w ith leaves
Warm fall result s in piles of leaves in Oak Par k in January By TIMOTHY
fall just after Thanksg they stub bornly clun iving, but this year g on. She said in of 2017, “I’m an interview in the first week and seeing looking out the back some tree window s that still thei r leav An unusual haven’t lost es.” The coup Parkers scra ly war m fall has le dutifully some tching thei raked the of leaves r heads over Oak into the street to leaves out that still be pick piles collectors line the stre neighbor in Decembe ed up by garbage hoods. ets of thei r, but the r covered by Many have pile was the first snow of and shoved do with the been left wonderi the season back onto ng wha rotting piles are usually , weeks after t to plows, leaving a brow the parkway by snow scooped up n pile of they Undaunted, lic works by the villa Belinda and icy muck. departme ge’s pub- rake nt and its d the leav er Waste garbage hau Managem es out onto William again ent. l- the piles had the street, The large thaw once maple tree ed, but late – leaf of Belinda in front of removal seas by then it was too the home Lutz-Ham on had ende Lutz-Ham el and her William Ham el said she’ d. husband, in othe el, in the s seen lefto Scoville 1000 bloc r parts of ver piles Avenue, k of Sout the village. drop “I welcome h this year you to driv than in the ped its leaves later lage e around past. ; the streets Lutz-Ham the villook unkemp el, who has Predictin for the last t,” she said lived in the g the perf 22 years, . ect leaf rem home said the leav oval sche es usually dSee LATE LEAVES on page 14
INKLEBARGER
Staff Repor ter
Photo by Mak Wright
BEAMING: The 1893 William Douglass House on Kenilworth has been modernized, but the hearth and overhead beams connect it to its 19th-century past.
One day, 10 kitchens F And 32 years of supporting young mothers By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter
James McClure, 97, attorney, scoutmaster, village president of Oak Park, 1973-81.
or over 30 years, Parenthesis has been raising funds to support young mothers through its annual Kitchen Walk. A favorite of homeowners, architects, designers and curious neighbors, the walk draws crowds of the kitchen-curious on the last Saturday of April every year. In the fall of 2016, Parenthesis became a part of Austin-based New Moms, an organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of pov-
erty and changing the future for young moms who are experiencing poverty and homelessness in Chicago and the neighboring area. Laure Zumdahl, New Moms CEO and president, is excited to have Parenthesis complement New Moms in Oak Park and River Forest, and welcomes joining the Kitchen Walk tradition.
FINE TIME: M Motorists ts m making illeg centt of all rred- oris al right WILLIAM CAMAR GO/Staff Photog and Cermak light ccamera tickets issu turns on red accounted rapher ed along Har for more than Road from f Jan. 1, 2014 lem to Oct. 31, 201 Avenue between Nor 90 perth Avenue 6.
See KITCHENS on page 21
WHO DO YOU TRUST? Insuring Local Historic Homes for 60 Years 708.383.9000 • forestagency.com
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Road. Base d on thos e numbers part of a , com Wednesday Jour nal anal piled as stretch of Harlem may ysis, that four-mile be the mos length t lucrative The two red- of road in the enti By BOB UPH re state. UES and BRET enue in Rive light cameras on Senior Edito T McNEIL Harlem Avr Forest -r and Contr Lake Stre at North ibuting Repor Avenue and et -- have ter issu mill ed Harlem Aven ion in citat more than ions since ue is a busy $5.2 knows that And at the the start road. Ever . But of 2014. intersection yone and recently beco thanks to all that of Harl Cermak Road traffic, it’s me somethi , North Rive em Avenue wyn have A gold min ng else: rsid combined e. to issue mor e and Bermillion in Between e red-light January camera tick than $20.7 2014 and more than A pair of cam October 2016 ets. $26.5 mill eras oper ion in red, Roosevelt citations light cam and Harlem ated by Forest Park were issu era $550,000 at ed to mot has contribu lem betw orists to the Harl ted another een North em Avenue Avenue and on Harcitation total Cermak s. See RED-LIG HT CAMERA on page 10
Homes
oakpark.com/real-estate editor Ken Trainor at 613-3310 ktrainor@wjinc.com
Albert “Sunny” George, 75, River Forest village prosecutor, avid River Forest volunteer.
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Staff Repo se – the rict Hou place the ding Dist do buil ment taking schedule ry con elop – is on er The luxu ed-use dev er, Ran Euclid mix develop ing iits e and ts 28-unit Dog at Lak but its is sett next ty t year, of Tas n early nex already its Group, District for to be ope elopment s Art k Dev riquist Oak Par with Har on the . tnership a four-unit sights d k project ed a par to Oak Par t has form not only buil n but quis s to Harriso rapher leas g Ran ture Photog ff g and t alon ng et Ven etin keti CAMARGO/Sta elopmen for mark son Stre WILLIAM long held two egy tial dev tegy perties that the residen r a new stra erci al pro mercial e. learning omm long com help stee il 4 after rd members alik of them the y troubled Apr s. the on man omo s– ing Park during ming boa is Kleron six building et in Oak district by Chr nt and inco n’s Ribs the arts rison Stre mos lost in mbe inso ono Har ure Kler clos of Rob for incu formed erties but has -- to fore , the newly tes inside s was a relief prop vacant g celebra ol of the g them since. n in n. In 2015 ontr e new trol ng recessio gained con e Readlin successful. Th ketin positio dum, s marketi IEF: Cat be ority been ess in referen Venture THEN REL ld likely ns a min ch has not ted succ capital g building FIRST JOY, referenda wou had limi omos maintai of whi n-makin 5 million d various jects, 97 The $57. er to fun e decisio Harrison Kleron ies – the size hav ion pro ha District to ord ans not in pert nt, ent s . k’s web and exp ts, 60 perc issued the pro – and doe redevelopme in late 2015 nty Cler ance d poin y said their mainten nearly 20 Cook Cou disclose Na itsk y in by on the both a Nav ed that authorit cipal Mon counted ory for elm- passed ent. 4. estimat ayers pag pa e 16 prin April of vict s have rwh perc CT on Street site on cost taxp official e, 40 margins ly ove S DISTRI TS L ROMAIN age hom dum will District And the were relativeds referendum See ART s t referen 00 of an aver By MICHAEReporter fun g rate firs sure ng itin the $1,0 mea Staff operati ent lim every a proe 13 n the outing. The ed for a 1 percto generate nue $74 for M on pag call er — whe est High er NDU reve ch ord emb nal whi in REFERE nsion last Nov and River For , which additio gin, 54 See D97 Unlike tax exte 3 million in dum Park oint mar $13. referen took weeks of Oak rly 10-p jected come lities by a nea two votes, s faci School’ less than 40 omes of the be- passed to 46 percent. by ent even the outc e clear ev failed e perc wer lize — incts wer renda to fina 37 prec 97 refe rk ave District votes from all s oak pa fore the | 144
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Tom Broderick, 65, printer, democratic socialist, passionate social justice advocate.
mes
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os onomos’ District Ho rand Kleron on to reb pertitieess pro RGER
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William “Bill” Martin, 80, author, attorney who prosecuted mass murderer Richard Speck.
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Mel Wilson, 74, architect, founding member of Oak Park Area Gay and Lesbian Association.
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Donald Schmalz, 80, taught music in D97, Symphony of OP-RF concertmaster for 53 years.
Joan Sorber, 91, co-founded the Austin Community Table soup kitchen, nurse who reduced surgical errors by writing “wrong knee,” etc. on the “other” body part.
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
S I G N S
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
O F
T H E
T I M E S — P H O T O S
1
F R O M
2 0 1 7
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4 Photos by ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
5 1. A candlelight vigil to end gun violence, outside First United Church of Oak Park on Lake Street in December. 2. Animal Care League’s Mutt Strut costume contest at Maple Park in September. 3. Kids stop playing in Euclid Square Park, mesmerized by a dove that landed nearby. 4. Thousands marched through downtown Chicago during the Jan. 21 Women’s March in response to the inauguration of Donald Trump. Hundreds from Oak Park and River Forest took part.
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5. Molly Healey, a senior from Oak Park, unveils the “Trinity High School Way” honorary street sign as part of the centennial celebration at Lathrop and Division. 6. Oak Parker Marisa Munoz and her son, Nathan, 3, stay cool at the Ridgeland Common Pool.
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
13
C R I M E
Missing girl found in Michigan hotel
A 6-year-old girl who police say was abducted by her mother in Oak Park on Dec. 16 has been found safe in a hotel in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Police reported that members of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force located the mother, Wendy E. Jarvis, 41, and her daughter at about 6 p.m. on Dec. 18. Oak Park spokesman David Powers said in an email that Jarvis, who lives in the 1100 block of South Boulevard in Oak Park, is being held in the Oakland County Jail pending extradition back to Illinois. Police reported that Jarvis took her daughter during a supervised visit on Dec. 16 at a restaurant near her home. She allegedly told the court-appointed supervisor that she was taking her daughter to the bathroom and then left the restaurant with her.
Possession of stolen motor vehicle arrest Two Chicago juveniles were arrested in the 1200 block of North Rossell Avenue, Oak Park, at 3:58 p.m. on Dec. 17. They were charged with burglary and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. One of the juveniles was additionally charged with resisting a police officer.
Home invasion Jeffrey Swanigan, 33, of the 100 block of North Rosewood in Kankakee, was arrested and charged with home invasion after allegedly entering a residence in the 500 block of North Humphrey Avenue at 2:42 p.m. on Dec. 15. Swanigan allegedly was found in the basement by the resident. The resident reportedly witnessed him removing property, and Swanigan allegedly raised a pair of garden shears and made threats to the victim. No additional information was given.
Deceptive practice An Oak Park resident was the victim of deception at 9:55 a.m. on Dec. 11 in the 1000 block of Lake Street. The victim was approached by a man in his 30s, who said he had recently been released from prison and needed money to get home. He said he could not cash his check since he did not have an account at Chase and asked the victim to cash the check for him. The victim agreed but later learned that the check had been cancelled. The total loss was $986.43. The man was described as black, 6-foot-2, with a muscular build, light beard and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.
estimated loss is $370.08. He was described as black, 155 to 175 pounds, 6 feet tall and wearing a black baseball cap, a red scarf, an olive green jacket with a hood, a black T-shirt and dark blue jeans with holes.
Burglary A residence in the 100 block of Madison Street was burglarized at about 9 p.m. on Dec. 15. Two men allegedly attempted to enter the residence by cutting the porch screen door and pulling the door open, splintering the wood frame. They then ransacked the interior of the porch but did not take anything. They were last seen exiting the porch and fleeing northbound towards the alley. The estimated loss is $50.
Wendy E. Jarvis
Robbery ■ A Cicero man was robbed at gunpoint in the 700 block of South Austin Boulevard at 7:25 p.m. on Dec. 14. A man, approximately 19 years old, approached the victim and asked if he could use his cell phone. He then reportedly displayed a semiautomatic handgun, possibly a Glock, and ordered the victim to hand over his belongings. The victim pushed the gun away and turned away from the gunman, who fled westbound up the nearby CTA ramp. No loss was reported. The gunman was described as black, 5-foot-9, 140 pounds and wearing a gray hoodie, black backpack and a black scarf or mask that covered the lower part of his face. ■ An Oak Park woman was robbed in the 800 block of Harrison Street at 6:35 a.m. on Dec. 18. A man approached her from behind, grabbed her arms and told her to drop her things. The victim complied and the offender picked up her iPhone 6, white earbuds and blue backpack containing miscellaneous items, which included a Vera Bradley wristlet wallet containing miscellaneous cards, identification and cash. The offender then fled in an unknown direction. The earbuds and backpack were later recovered nearby. The estimated loss is $460. The man was described as black, 5-foot11, 160 to 180 pounds, with black hair scruffy facial hair and wearing a dark blue puffy coat with a hood, light-colored blue jeans and white shoes. ■ An Oak Park woman was robbed in the 800 block of Ontario Street at 4:45 p.m. on Dec. 18. A man between the ages of 20 and 25 approached the victim and forcibly removed from her shoulder a Croc Lion purse, which contained credit cards and cash. He then fled southbound on Oak Park Avenue. The
Theft A pizza delivery driver was the victim of theft in the 100 block of LeMoyne Parkway at 6:24 p.m. on Dec. 17. The delivery driver met a woman at the above location and handed over the pizza, but the woman did not pay and began to walk away southbound on Austin Boulevard.
The victim began to follow her but was then approached by three young men wearing all black and white masks. The victim then got back in his vehicle and called police. The offenders then fled eastbound. The estimated loss is $114.
Compiled by Timothy Inklebarger
Join the conversation Please send Letters to the Editor to ■ ktrainor@wjinc.com or ■ Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 Include name, address and daytime phone number for verification.
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
YEAR IN REVIEW
Development reigns supreme from page 1 An increase in major crimes, including a wave of carjackings throughout the village, also captured the headlines this year, culminating in a standing-room-only meeting at Oak Park Village Hall in late November to discuss the issue.
The age of Trump Oak Parkers played their role in the nationwide resistance movement, kicking off the year with hundreds of locals joining the women’s marches in Chicago and Washington D.C., following Trump’s inauguration. Oak Park Village Hall followed suit, passing a “welcoming village” ordinance declaring the village a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants. The measure prevents village employees from cooperating with federal immigration officials “in the investigation of the citizenship or immigration status of any person” without a court order. Immigration rights advocates called it among the strongest in the nation. The results of the presidential election, which took many by surprise, prompted locals to display rainbow flags and yard signs of solidarity reading, “Hate has no home here” and “Immigrants welcome.” The Trump election also spawned a flood of candidates in local elections, with new IN names on the ballot for everything from the Oak Park Board of Trustees to the Library Board, a race that saw 10 candidates run for four open seats. The Board of Trustees election also defied history, marking the first time ever the local Village Manager Association — which vets and slates candidates for local public office — did not get a single candidate elected. Instead, three trustee candidates — Deno Andrews, Dan Moroney and Simone Boutet — all of whom ran without VMA endorsement, swept into office, ousting incumbent trustees Peter Barber and Glenn Brewer. Trustee Colette Lueck chose not to run for a third term on the board.
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM includes 265 apartment units and groundlevel retail, will begin in 2018. Simone Boutet was the only trustee to vote against the proposal. Albion was not the only development news for Oak Park in 2017. The board also approved construction of an 11-story, mixeduse apartment building near the intersection of South Boulevard and Harlem Avenue by Lincoln Property Company, which broke ground on the project in August. That building will include 263 residential units and ground-level retail. Downtown Oak Park also got a 270-unit apartment building near the corner of Lake Street and Harlem Avenue, now known as the Emerson Apartments. The ground level retail space might be the most notable aspect of the Emerson development, with Target opening a smaller-format department store (22,000 square feet) in October. The Emerson development also made headlines in August when a construction crew working on the project struck a gas line with a backhoe, causing a major leak in downtown Oak Park. The gas leak prompted the evacuation of businesses and residents along Marion and Lake streets. No one was injured as a result of the incident. Another large-scale, mixed-use development by Jupiter Realty, which would stretch between Oak Park and Wesley avenues along Madison Street, appeared to be in limbo as of early November, when Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb told Wednesday Journal that the developer still is working to secure an anchor retail tenant for the project. Abu-Taleb noted that both Mariano’s and Jewel grocery stores showed interest in the project, but ultimately took a pass. Abu-Taleb said he’s not giving up hope on the project, stating: “The bases are loaded and we have two outs (Mariano’s and Jewel), but we could have a home run next week.”
2017 YEAR REVIEW
Rise of the towers That election upset, many believe, hinged on a controversial proposal by Albion Development to build an 18-story luxury apartment building at the corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue. The proposal faced fierce opposition from residents who argued that the building would negatively impact Austin Gardens, a public park just north of the building site. The new crop of candidates vowed not to vote for the project, but Moroney and Andrews flipped their vote at the 11th hour, paving the way for the development. “It appears as if I’m flipping my vote. I don’t blame you for being angry, and I apologize,” Andrews told the public before voting yes. Construction of that development, which
Photo provided by Lisa Files, Green Community Connections and One Earth Film Festival
Sally Stovall, of Green Community Connections, attended an Oak Park Board of Trustees meeting in May. Stovall did not speak, but others told the board to adopt a mandatory fee on single-use plastic bags.
Village hall Development was only part of the story out of Oak Park Village Hall in 2017. The year started off with the departure of Trustee Adam Salzman in February for a new job as executive director of the Chicago Legal Clinic. The board chose trustee candidate, and former Oak Park Township trustee, Jim Taglia as his replacement. Trustees also gave themselves a pay raise in 2017. The raise was approved in 2016 but did not go into effect until after the April election this year. The mayor’s pay increased from $10,800 to $25,200 while trustee pay also more than doubled from $7,200 to $15,000. In February, the board approved a $10,000 raise for Village Manager Cara Pavlicek, increasing her salary to $187,000. The board, following an 11th hour meeting at village hall, also decided to allow a pay raise imposed by the county for those making minimum wage. Residents turned out in a big way at village hall, largely in support of the minimum wage increase from $8.25 to $10 an hour and increasing a dollar each additional year until it reaches $13. Trustees made headlines this year ap-
Rendering provided by New World Design Ltd.
Oak Park resident Jeffrey Roberts and his firm, New World Design Ltd., proposed an art installation that would obscure the 20-foot “TRUMP” sign on the side of Trump Tower in downtown Chicago. The giant, golden pigs are based on the one flown over Battersea Park Power Station during a 1976 photoshoot for cover art on the album ‘Animals’ by British rock band Pink Floyd. Sarah Sugimoto in front of the LGBTQ flag at her house. She encouraged her whole neighborhood to be in solidarity with the LGBTQ community during these times.
File photo
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
levard and Chicago Avenue. In September, police arrested an employee of the store and charged him with 17 counts of heroin sales and possession. The village pulled Austin Pantry’s business license.
proving a $146 million budget that increases the tax levy by 5.7 percent, following recent levy increases of 9 and 13 percent. Trustee Dan Moroney said reducing the tax levy was among his top priorities upon taking office. The lowered figure was achieved through a variety of cuts to various projects, but one expensive program — the Divvy bicyclerental program — was held harmless in next year’s budget. Trustees revealed that the program, which launched in Oak Park in 2016, could cost the village approximately $200,000 this year. Low participation in the program is the culprit, they said. According to one trustee, the village pays approximately $17 every time someone gets on a Divvy bike. The board plans to further review the program next year.
On the environment
Crime in the village Crime stories took center stage this year, in large part due to the increase in carjackings throughout the village. The trend is not limited to Oak Park — police have seen an uptick across Chicagoland. Several attempted carjackings in late November and early December prompted Oak Park police to hold a town hall meeting at village hall. “We border the third largest metropolitan area in the country, and violent crime is up nationally this year, and certainly we have our challenges, but we’re prepared to address the challenges,” Oak Park Police Chief Anthony Ambrose told residents at the packed meeting. Police also have been on the lookout for
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File photo
Supporters hold signs opposing a last-minute meeting questioning the minimum wage ordinance, which took effect July 1. those firing BB guns in and around the village. The shootings have become a common occurrence, with vandals causing thousands of dollars in property damage. Those shootings have not been limited solely to property. On Halloween night a Chicago man was shot in the left cheek by a BB gun in the 900 block of Mapleton Avenue.
Crime news made headlines this year when police busted three massage parlors in the village, two for prostitution and one for operating without a license. Those businesses were permanently closed. Police also conducted a sting on an employee of the corner convenience store Austin Pantry at the corner of Austin Bou-
The village made some headway on environmental initiatives this year, approving a plastic bag ordinance that charges a 10-cent fee for both paper and plastic bags at businesses with storefronts of over 5,000 square feet. That change goes into effect on Jan. 1. They also approved a measure to increase participation in the village’s composting program. Residents can get the first three months free under the promotion, which is a value of about $45. Solar power made inroads this year through the Park District of Oak Park’s installation of a new system on the roof of Ridgeland Common and Longfellow Center. The panels are projected to produce more than 125,000 kilowatt hours of energy a year for an annual savings of approximately $7,000. And after an almost four-year hiatus, the village filled the position of sustainability coordinator, hiring Oak Park resident Marynda “Mindy” Agnew. That position had been left vacant after the departure of K.C. Doyle in 2014. Agnew will begin the year by implementing the single-bag fee ordinance and also be in charge of the community choice electricity aggregation program. CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com
The good, the bad and the bizarre in Oak Park
Flying pigs, world-record dribbling, and squirrel segregation among the more peculiar stories
though, so expect to hear more on this in 2018.
One for the books
By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
While downtown development, Trump and crime dominated the headlines in 2017, we can’t help but look back with fondness for the more offbeat stories that sparked the imagination — or at least gave us a chuckle.
Ashes to ashes
File photo
Scott Carlini writes a message on a tree stump in Oak Park in May.
The story of a lone-wolf protector of the trees, who goes by the name “Scottie Ash Tree Seed,” reminded us why we love this village. Although Scott Carlini does not live in the vilWhen pigs fly lage — he’s an Elmwood Park resident — he visits Oak Park An Oak Park resident captured the attention of the naon a regular basis to leave hand-written messages on tree tion, following the election of Donald Trump, by announcstumps to inform residents about the tree that was removed. ing his design firm’s plan to temporarily float Carlini message also criticize the removal, oversized inflatable gold pigs in front of the arguing that many ash trees — which are being Trump sign on the reality-star-turned-presiremoved by Oak Park Public Works because of dent’s downtown tower. the devastating emerald ash borer, an invasive That art installation by Oak Parker Jeffrey Asian beetle that feeds on ash trees — can be Roberts’ firm, New World Design Ltd., was put IN saved by applying annual doses of pesticides. on hold in July after the Chicago transportaVillage Forester Doug Sproule said the village tion office denied a docking permit for the ship is sometimes “accused of removing trees that are healthy” in the river that would anchor the pigs. but argued that infested trees can be hazardous due to dead Roberts said at the time that New World isn’t giving up branches falling and injuring people.
2017 YEAR REVIEW
An Oak Parker made history, of sorts, this year when he challenged himself to do something no one had ever tried before — you can be the judge on why. In October, Oak Parker Nolan Adams set the Guinness World Record for running a mile while dribbling a basketball. He completed the mile in 6 minutes and 22 seconds. He is the only person to ever go for the record. No doubt he won’t be the last. Adams admitted that he trained for the record attempt in the early morning “when there are fewer people around,” adding that running through the park dribbling a basketball “does get some side-eye.”
Wrong side of the acorn It takes a lot to surprise us at Wednesday Journal headquarters these days, but we all got a kick out of a story published in March that noted the different species’ of squirrels between Oak Park and the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. “Austin is almost all fox squirrels, right up to the border in Oak Park, which mostly has gray squirrels,” according to Dan Protess, who produced the 16-webisode digital series “Urban Nature” for WTTW. Protess found that “in wealthier neighborhoods, there are more likely to be gray squirrels and in more affordable neighborhoods, there are more likely to be fox squirrels.” That’s due in part to the two kinds of squirrels having different preferences in trees and spatial densities, he concluded. CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
County assessor race heats up
Berrios runs attack ad and challenges petition, Kaegi fires back By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
The Democratic primary race for Cook County assessor is in full swing with television attack ads from the campaign of embattled incumbent Joe Berrios, which attempt to position Oak Park challenger Fritz Kaegi as an “investment banker” who invested in private prisons. But Kaegi has come out counterpunching against his rival, telling Wednesday Journal that the ads are “an attempt to distract people from the record about what a failure Joe Berrios has been as an assessor and the damage that it’s caused, and the corruption that’s come with it.” Berrios could not be reached for comment. Although identified in the ad as an “investment banker,” Kaegi was, in fact, an asset manager for mutual funds, one of which, known as the Acorn Fund, invests in smaller companies. After Kaegi left the fund in March to run for assessor, the remaining managers invested about $29 million in CoreCivic, a
private-prison company formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America. “During the whole time I managed the Acorn Fund, which was from 2015 to March 13, 2017, we never invested in companies in that industry, and the reason why is, I always blocked investments in that industry.” Kaegi said, adding that he is not only morally opposed to private prisons but also finds them to be a risky investment. “I thought they were bad companies doing bad things, but I also thought they are in a bad business because the whole trend toward mass incarceration was changing,” he said. His bear-ish position on private prisons was inspired by reading the book The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, which explores trends in mass incarceration. Kaegi said Berrios is desperate because of widespread criticism of his management of the Assessor’s Office, which was explored in a detailed expose this summer by the Chicago Tribune. That and subsequent reports from the Tribune revealed how the Assessor’s Office has maintained a system that allows the wealthy to, in many cases, reduce their property taxes, while lower-income property owners are subjected to tax increases. The system benefits the wealthy and the politically connected elite who run law
firms that represent them, according to the report and according to Kaegi. “I think it’s no coincidence that they started talking about this at the same time the Tribune had this bombshell expose on how billions and billions and billions of dollars of abatement benefits were given to the clients of Joe Berrios’ ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer campaign donors,” Kaegi said. “And that is sort of the bookend ELECTION: Fritz Kaegi, Cook County assessor candito the expose the Tribune did ear- date, talks about the endorsements he has at George’s lier this summer showing exten- Family Restaurant in Oak Park. sive overassessment of black and brown communities, including on challenge, his campaign has similarly chalthe West Side and the western suburbs.” lenged the nominating petition of a third — Berrios also has challenged Kaegi’s nomi- and largely ignored by major media outlets nating petition in an effort to get him kicked — candidate, Andrea Raila. off the ballot, a standard tactic used by inRaila’s nominating petition also has been cumbent politicians to block challengers. challenged by the Berrios campaign. Raila “It’s harassment and it’s going to back- is a tax attorney who has served on the fire on the Berrios people because all these board of review that determines whether people [who signed the petition] are fighting tax assessments can be reduced. She is also mad,” Kaegi said, comparing the tactic to a tax attorney who has represented clients “Putin’s Russia.” aiming to get their property taxes reduced. “Oak Parkers are telling all their friends Raila claims in a press release that the about this. It’s one thing to read about Joe Kaegi and Berrios campaigns are “working Berrios; it’s another thing to experience the together” against her “constitutional right harassment yourself.” to have her name on the ballot.” Despite Kaegi’s indignity over the ballot CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com
Amerikas brings culinary creations to Lake Street
Chef aims to bring ‘flavors from all around the world’ By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
Another new restaurant has opened its doors on Lake Street, bringing new dishes inspired by what Chef Armando Gonzales calls “a new American cuisine.” Just don’t call it Latin fusion, Gonzales said during a recent tour of the restaurant. He’s trying to capture the “melting pot” nature of cuisine in the U.S. and create new dishes drawing from “flavors from all around the world.” It’s a homecoming of sorts for Gonzales, who opened Amerikas, 734 Lake St., with his business partner Louis Castellano in early December. “Latin fusion is pretty much the same food with a different presentation,” Castellano said. “Armando’s food, and what I liked about it and the concept, is you can’t really categorize it as being of a certain place. That’s why the name of Amerikas, because it’s a mixture of all of the countries that are here in the Americas. “It’s got Latin roots, but it’s not anything that he’s bringing from any part of the world and then just twist it a little bit. They are his own creations”
Gonzales said he worked in Oak Park about nine years ago and “fell in love” with the village. “I said to myself, ‘I want to open a restaurant in Oak Park someday,’” he recalled. Six years ago, Gonzales launched the Skokie-based restaurant Libertad, which, like Amerikas, offers Latin American-inspired small-plate dishes. Gonzales said Amerikas will offer cocktail creations in the same imaginative vein as the food menu. He noted that the menu will change out three or four times a year, but currently Amerikas is serving a wide variety of dishes, featuring Spanish octopus, Australian bass, French-cut pork chops and anchobraised duck, among others. “The asada skirt steak is popular right now,” he said, describing the dish that features tomatoes, chipotle goat cheese, yucca frites and chimichurri. The Barramundi, an Australian bass that includes farro, Brussels sprouts, shallots and banana pepper sauce, and the Veneras, a creation that incorporates scallops, black rice, chayote and butter yuzu habanero sauce, are also in demand at Amerikas, Gonzales said. The restaurant has a cozy atmosphere, seating 50 inside and 12 outside during the warmer months. Gonzales noted that the restaurant is cur-
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
MELTING POT: Customers drink wine and look through the dinner menu at the new Amerikas restaurant on Lake Street in Oak Park rently open for dinner — Monday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 5 to 11 p.m., and Sunday, 3 to 8 p.m. — but he plans to begin serving lunch sometime in the next few weeks. “You’re not going to find the same food here in Oak Park,” Castellano said. “Unique
food, that’s what we like to serve.” The restaurant takes the place of Novo, which closed earlier this year. The landlord in the lease transaction was represented by David J. King, president of David King & Associates. CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
May Joy and Peace be your special companions this holiday season...
State Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch and family, ShawnTe, Tyler and Marley
...and a very happy new year!
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Oak Parker enters the BBQ fray Roosevelt Road eatery features ribs, pulled pork, hot links and more By TOM HOLMES Contributing Reporter
Obidise Smith never intended to become a barbecue chef, much less a restaurant owner. Even after opening Pit Zone BBQ restaurant on 7247 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park in late October, he kept his day job: He still works 9 to 5 supervising a window manufacturing company. “Right now on weekdays I’m getting three, four hours of sleep each night,” he said. Smith, 49, is hoping all these sleepless nights pay off. The Oak Park resident dreams Pit Zone will eventually become the go-to place for ribs in not just Forest Park, but the whole region. What’s he banking it all on? “If you elevate, if you spend a little more money and give the customer a quality product, you’ll get better results,” he said. Pit Zone has been a family affair from the start. Years ago, Smith asked his brother to barbecue for him, and hated the results. Smith said his brother kept on burning the meat. So he started “dibbling and dabbling”
at barbecuing himself, and shared his creations with friends and family. They liked what they tasted. He and his wife, Lucretia, started experimenting with creative recipes and eventually entered competitive events, their first being the Forest Park Ribfest. At these professional events, Smith netmers. Many worked with customers. acebook friended him on Facebook as a way to figure out ng where he’d be grilling next. In the process,, 5,000 people have friended Smith on Facebook. The day before opening Pit Zone, Smith posted on Facebook, “Come one, come all, too morrow it’s going to happen.” More than 100 t. The people liked his post. next day, a customer travelled h new from Springfield to try the place. Unlike many restaurants, customers won’t find the soft-spoken Smith greeting them at the door or serving drinks from behind the bar. Smith’s is too busy cook-
ing up the recipes created by him and his wife—ribs, hot links, pulled pork and more. Smith also makes homemade jalapeno corn muffins, mac and cheese, baked beans and collard greens. Smith runs the kitchen while Lucretia and his four daughters cover the front. Not only has the couple created all of the recipes used bu they also did all of the at Pit Zone, but d interior design and rehabbing. Whe Pit Zone gets its liWhen quor license — hopefully aro around Super Bowl Sunda Smith said — he also day, plans to feature Blues p bands every Saturday b night. n Smith said he located in i Forest Park because they “do things and th get ge things done,” and because everyone, from bec the mayor to village staff to m neighbors neighbor have been very supportive. He acknowledged, though, that many people compare Roosevelt Road unfavorably to Forest Park’s popular “downtown” thoroughfare, Madison Street. “I’ve heard about Roosevelt Road not being super nice at one time,” he said. “We’re here to make a change. I want to give the
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
RAISING THE BBQ BAR: Kalena Green, kitchen manager and chef, makes a pulled chicken sandwich at the new Pit Zone BBQ restaurant on Roosevelt Road in Forest Park. (Right) The sandwich with sauce and coleslaw and a side of fries. community something totally different.” Pit Zone is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. except for Tuesday when it is closed.
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W
Why we like not-so-great food
hen our three daughters were growing up, we’d get a panettone every holiday season; we’d eat it on Christmas Day. The panettone came in a box; it was not expensive nor was it very good; this store-bought panettone was probably made by a machine in some baking factory. Filled with preservatives, it could last for weeks unopened. My children loved it. It was squishy and sweet. Last Thanksgiving, friend Ava brought to our house a panettone that she baked at home. It was probably the best panettone I’d ever had: firm, flavorful, and not-toosweet, made of good quality ingredients with care and attention. My children were lukewarm to it, I believe, because it wasn’t what they were used to: it wasn’t the usual, traditional, relatively mediocre version of this Italian classic. Sometimes we prefer — even “like” — mediocre, not-sogreat food. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is a good example of this. Several people have confessed to me that it’s their favorite. Friend Susan told me she prefers this packaged version to “better” versions, which I totally get. If you grew up with Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, as we all Local Dining did, you may have & Food Blogger a certain softness for it, and you may actually prefer this version with powdered “cheese” to homemade versions with four good cheeses and a finer grade of pasta. Sometimes, food we’ve had in hard times becomes food we like. Genmaicha tea, green tea “extended” with toasted rice, was consumed by the Japanese during World War II when tea was rationed. It was a sad time, and the food identified with that time is now fondly consumed. Fry bread, a beloved snack at pow-wows across the country, was a product of reservation culture when Native Americans were forced into concentration camps and given non-traditional ingredients like white flour and cooking oil. The interred indigenous people improvised and came up with fry bread; this simple snack is now perhaps the most popular food of native peoples, recalling perhaps the saddest period in their histories. White Castle sliders, a grotesque food when considered objectively, are fondly remembered by those who perhaps enjoyed
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it in their youth, either with their family or after a night of boozing with college buddies. No person with a healthy palate and without previous experience with this “food,” would crave anything like it, were it not for the fond memories it evokes. I’m writing this after waking up from a dream that involved eating my mom’s spare ribs, the kind she made maybe once per month in the ’50s and ’60s. My mom was an OK cook. Her ribs were dipped in Open Pit sauce and routinely overcooked in the oven until they were hard and leathery. I have had a lot of good ribs in my life, but I guess I prefer my mom’s, which were good in ways that rise above flavor.
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
Homes
NEED TO REACH US?
oakpark.com/real-estate email: buphues@wjinc.com
Looking Back: 2017 in Homes
By LACEY SIKORA
Contributing Reporter
M
aybe you’re not the kind of house enthusiast who turns up at realtors’ open houses just to take a tour when you have no intention of moving, and maybe you’ve never stolen a look in your neighbors’ windows from your perch on the sidewalk on an evening’s walk,
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Y E A R
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but for the vast majority of us living in this rarefied neighborhood, homes are a bit of an obsession. Surrounded as we are by architectural significance, interesting remodels and plenty of creative neighbors, there is always something worth looking at. Here at WJ Homes, we try to provide a weekly peak into the world of local real estate, and 2017 provided a year’s worth of material.
January We took a look at a Gunderson remodel in South Oak Park. The residence, 1031 Home Ave., Adrian and Jeff Fisher’s long-time family home, won a Historic Preservation Award for the historically sympathetic exterior remodel, helmed by neighbor and architect Chris Goode. They replaced asphalt siding with yellow clapboard and removed a non-original sleeping porch while recreating a front porch that resembles what the house would have sported when first built.
Provided
March We invited ourselves and most of the village along for a sneak peek into E.E. Roberts’
We toured several kitchens in anticipation of the New Moms (formerly Parenthesis) annual Kitchen Walk. From Oak Park homes featuring kitchen fireplaces and 10-
trict, the home boasts six bedrooms, a bowling alley, a conservatory and masses of hydrangeas that bloom every summer.
Provided
February April
stunning Queen Anne style home at 417 N. Kenilworth Ave. Set on almost an acre in the heart of Oak Park’s Frank Lloyd Wright Historic Dis-
foot long islands, to a River Forest kitchen inspired by a French l’orangerie, the kitchen walk helps countless homeowners plan their own kitchen remodels, or at least fantasize for a day about cooking in one of these beautifully designed kitchens.
Provided
A focus on 1228 North Austin Blvd. revealed an upswing in vintage apartment rentals in the village. The 1920s-era building is representative of much of the housing stock on Austin Boulevard and is one of the many vintage buildings rehabilitated by Oak Park Apartments that feed a booming rental market in Oak Park.
Frank Lloyd Wright Trust/James Caulfield
May We hit the streets walking with the annual Wright Plus housewalk. On this, the pinnacle of all housewalks, the 2017 lineup included a walkable tour of homes on Kenilworth, Forest Avenue, Chicago Avenue and Elizabeth Court. New to the walk, the George Mayo House on Elizabeth Court drew long lines to get a glimpse of one of Oak Park’s oldest brick homes. See YEAR IN HOMES on page 21
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
YEAR IN HOMES from page 21
June The congregation of Unity Temple and Frank Lloyd Wright aficionados celebrated the reopening of Wright’s Unity Tempe after an extensive rehabilitation project. The two-year process was comprehensive, touching the building’s exterior, mechanical systems and interior finishes, while returning the building to its original glory.
July New construction in River Forest is nothing new, but 924 Ashland Ave. represented a new construction milestone of sorts for the village. One of two newly-built homes constructed on the lot that once housed the Mars Mansion, 924 Ashland Ave. hit the market asking $3.685 million for over 8,200 square feet of living space with all the bells and whistles of large bathrooms, open floor plans and walk-in closets not offered by estate homes of earlier eras. The house is still on the market.
FILE 2017
Provided
Courtesy of Gagliardo Realty Associates
Courtesy of PlanOmatic
August
September
In River Forest, an estate representing the flipside of the coin -- historic preservation -- hit the market. The home at 344 Keystone Ave. was built in 1883 for William Blocki, a pharmacist in Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel. Current owners Maureen and John Heakin took on a labor of love in restoring the home and creating a carriage house out of an exterior building that formerly house an indoor pool. The house is listed for $1.65 million.
In September, we toured 202 S. Euclid Ave. in Oak Park, a home built in 1902 by architect James Fyfe. After years of remodeling that created period appropriate bathrooms and a designer kitchen, the home hit the market for $1,475,000, complete with dog washing station in the basement and original prohibition-era security measures in place in the two story garage.
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Courtesy of © VHT STUDIOS
October During October, we toured a newly built home at 837 N. Taylor Ave. in Oak Park. The first Oak Park flip by Riverside couple Caren and Nicholas Isopo, the house replaced an older bungalow that had seen better
days. The couple worked to capture the best of old house architecture, with an open front porch and clapboard siding, alongside the best of new design, with a kitchen that opens to a family room and plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms for a family to spread out.
NEW PRICE REDUCTION
NEW PRICE REDUCTION
1142 FRANKLIN AVE, RIVER FOREST $1,395,000 :: 4 bed :: 4.5 bath
420 N EUCLID AVE, OAK PARK $1,385,000 :: 8 bed :: 4 full & 2 half baths
Custom modern 6000 sq. ft. home. Dramatic design and unique detailing throughout.
Magnificent estate in the historic district of Oak Park. Recently renovated – Beautiful!
NEW PRICE REDUCTION
UNDER CONTRACT
FOR RENT
312 S KENILWORTH, OAK PARK $500,000 :: 6 bed :: 2 bath
1011 FRANKLIN, RIVER FOREST $599,000 :: 3 bed :: 3.5 bath
534 BONNIE BRAE PL, RIVER FOREST $5750/mo :: 6 bed :: 3 bath
Classic mid-century tri-level. Awesome location.
Walk to everything!
Brick 2-flat located in central Oak Park Three bedrooms per unit. Great location walk to all transportation.
KATHY & TONY IWERSEN 708.772.8040 708.772.8041 tonyiwersen@atproperties.com
peace. Courtesy of © VHT STUDIOS
November In November, shades of Downtown Abbey in Oak Park hit the market with 420 N. Euclid Ave. The Tudor style home designed by architect Charles White sits
eace
on one third of a block. Its leadedglass windows, original woodwork and gracious architecture identified the large home as an estate home in the early 1900s and remain today to welcome another family.
December Local architect Tom Bassett-Dilley took us along for the ride with a tour of his and Oak Park’s first modular home. Constructed largely offsite in Indiana, the home at 624 N. Taylor Ave. is composed of six modular units, which under the supervision of Bassett-Dilley, were constructed to provide a lesscostly, but still green alternative to passive house building techniques.
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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In The Village, Realtors® Mike Becker
189 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 (708) 386-1400 HomesintheVillage.com
THIS WEEK’S FEATURED PROPERTIES
Roz Byrne
Joelle Venzera
Oak Park • $759,000 4BR, 2.1BA Call Elissa x192
Oak Park • $625,000 5BR, 3.1BA Call Steve x121
Oak Park • $575,000 Multi unit Call Roz x112
Forest Park • $439,000 3BR, 2.1BA Call Kerry x139 Kris Sagan
Tom Byrne
Laurie Christofano
Forest Park • $439,000 3BR, 2.1BA Call Kerry x139
Oak Park • $ 399,0008 3BR, 1BA Call Roz x112
Oak Park • $179,900 2BR, 1BA Call Steve x121
Forest Park • $137,500 1BR, 1.1BA Call Laurie x186
Marion Digre
Ed Goodwin
Stickney • $309,000 5BR, 3BA Call Kerry x139
Oak Park • $319,000 3BR, 1BA Call Elissa x192
Happy New Year!
Kerry Delaney
Morgan Digre
Harry Walsh, Managing Broker
Oak Park • $134,500 1BR, 1BA Call Joe x117
Joe Langley
Oak Park • $115,900 2BR, 1BA Call Marion x111
Dan Linzing
Jane McClelland
May you soar into a new year filled with health and happiness!
Haydee Rosa
Linda Rooney
Kyra Pych
…and maybe even a new home -don’t forget the spring market is just around the corner. Elissa Palermo
Keri Meacham
Alisha Mowbray
Steve Nasralla
Karin Newburger
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
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COLDWELL BANKER OAK PARK | $1,149,000 Must see changes in this huge Victorian with coach house. Bath added on 2nd floor & kitchen redone!
OAK PARK | $525,000 This beauty awaits you finishing touches, all the rest has been done. 4BRs, 2BAs. 3BRs on 2nd flr. MBR ste on 3rd. Htd garage. OAK PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $365,000 Contemporary 2 BR, 2 BA condo in the heart of Oak Park. Great building, lovely unit & unbeatable location.
Call for a FREE Market Analysis! OAK PARK | $945,000 Stunning 5 bedroom, 3.1 bath Victorian centrally located near Green line & Farmer’s Market on a wide lot with a 2-car garage. OAK PARK | $639,900 Stop & take a look at this stunning 4 BR, 2.1 BA, new kitchen w/granite & SS applncs, DR, LR, family room, finished basement, deck & patio. OAK PARK | $599,000 Great home! Charming & updated 4 BR, 2½ BA, 2-story on a lovely block! Hdwd flrs, family/ sun rm. Frplc. C/A. Fenced yd. 2-car garage. OAK PARK | $478,000 Sunny, spacious open concept home, gas log frplc, 4 BRs, 2 & half BAs, finished basement, & many new updates. Close to everything. OAK PARK | $449,900 Awesome townhouse alternative. Open plan living spaces & dining room with gourmet kitchen. 3 BRS, 2 updated BAs. MORE! OAK PARK | $345,000 Delightful 3BR, 1½BA, American 4-Square, winning mix of modern improvements & classic details. Stylish kitchen & BAs, recrm, fenced landscaped yd.
RIVER FOREST | $1,240,000 Tallmadge & Watson beauty sits on a lush 80x218 lot. 4BRs, 3.1 BAs. 1st flr family rm. New refinished floors. MBR ste w/ custom closet. More! BIG ROCK | $350,000 Mid-Century Modern home with 2.9 acres. 3BRs, 2.1BAs. Large rms, lots of closet space & lots of potential. OTHER AREA HOMES HILLSIDE | $369,000 Modern open flr plan, hdwd flrs & hi-ceilings. 4 BRs, 3.1 BAs. Family rm w/WBFP. Awesome chef’s kitchen. Lots more! OAK PARK INCOME | $875,000 Not your average 2-flat! Spacious 1st flr unit - 3BRs, 1BA. 2nd unit - 4BRs, 2BAs master ste duplexed up. Great buy for extended family living or investment.
OAK PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $319,000 Unbeatable location! 2BR, 2BA light-filled condo in an elevator bldg. In-unit lndry, 2 pkg spcs, close to Green Line, shopping, downtown OP. OAK PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $145,000 Ideal Oak Park Living! Open 1BR, 1BA vintage condo with den. You’ll find central air & in-unit washer & dryer.
OAK PARK. | $455,000 American 4-Square with an open front porch on a large lot! 4 BRs, 2 BAs. Remodeled kitchen. Recreation rm. C/A. Great house! OAK PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $134,500 Spacious vintage condo in pristine condition. 2BRs, in-unit laundry, den/office, storage, pets OK. EZ permit parking in front. OAK PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $130,000 Great 1 bedroom condo in the ‘Heart of Oak Park’ with owned parking. Building has indoor pool & beautiful deck w/view of the city. OAK PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES REDUCED! | $121,900 Located in the heart of OP, 1BR, 1BA condominium has location & style galore! New flrs, new applncs, new BA & freshly painted!
OAK PARK | JUST REDUCED! | $499,000 Fall in love with this bright, spacious Bungalow with 3 levels, 4BRs, 2BAs & newer mechanicals. Move right in!
FOREST PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $78,000 Close to everything! 1 bedroom, 1 bath vintage condo. Great deal! ELMWOOD PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $134,000 Gorgeous, sunny & completely updated 2 bedroom, 1 bath condo with parking. Storage. LAKE FOREST CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $459,000 Low maintenance life of luxury in this spacious townhouse. 3BRs, 2.1BAs. Hardwood flrs. Patio. WESTERN SPRINGS CONDOS/TOWNHOUSES REDUCED! | $575,000 Rare end unit ranch townhouse. Open floor plan. Gas fireplace. Large eat-in kitchen w/SS & granite counters. 3BRs, 3BAs. Lower level recreation rm.
OAK PARK | RENTAL $1,675/mo Spacious vintage 3 BR, 1.1 BA condo with formal dining rm, fully upgraded. Newer kitchen & BA. W/D hook-up. Hdwd flrs, trim. Nice bldg. Parking. FOREST PARK | RENTAL $2,600/mo Ready to be occupied. 3 large bedrooms, 2.1 baths. Living/ dining rm combo. Great kitchen. 2-car garage. Close to transportation. RIVER FOREST RENTAL | $2,200/mo Three bedroom, 2 bath - 1st floor unit of stunning Victorian offers porch, yard, parking and fantastic location.
Wishing you a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year!
OAK PARK INCOME | $620,000 Value pricing on jumbo 2-flat! Heart of OP - sunny corner lot - each unit 3 BRs, 2 BAs! Fireplaces. 2 garages. Close to OPRF, pool, ice rink, Green line. OAK PARK CONDOS/ TOWNHOUSES | $699,000 One-of-a-kind! Largest 3BR, 2.1BA unit. Newer kitchen adjoins family rm. Private patio. MBR ste w/walk-in closet. 2 garage pkg spcs.
COLDWELLBANKERHOMES.COM OAK PARK OFFICE 708.524.1100 | 114 N OAK PARK AVE The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage are independent contractor agents and are not employees of the Company. ©2017 Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Owned by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. 223854CHI_11/17
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Apartment living with congregate services
114 South Humphrey Oak Park, IL 60302
T
his property with its architecturally award-winning atrium, provides seniors and persons with disabilities with parking, library, laundry room, wellness center and other conveniences. A service coordinator is on staff to assist tenants who may need additional services. The units are studio and one bedroom, each with electric appliances, tile bath, and wall to wall carpeting. Modern fire and safety systems are installed in each apartment and common areas of the building. There are 8 accessible one bedroom units for the mobility impaired. The Oaks is owned and operated by the Oak Park Residence Corporation and is funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through the 202/section 8 Program. Residents pay approximately 30% of their monthly income for rent. For additional information, please visit our web site at www.oakparkha.org or contact us at 708-386-5812.
There when things go wrong. Here to help life go right. We are a small family business dedicated to treating our customer and our community as an extension of our family. On your worst day, would you rather call me or a call center? Let me help life go right!
Specializing in Life, Auto, Home, Health Insurance, Full Service Banking
177 S Oak Park Ave Oak Park, IL 60302 T: 708.665.3921 • F: 708.434.5260 • C: 309.335.7425 adam.doe.eyvs@statefarm.com www.oakparkinsuranceagent.com
Season’s Greetings
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
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SPONSORED CONTENT
Getting Down To Business
with the Oak Park - River Forest Chamber of Commerce December 22nd, 2017
Performance Reviews, Our Team and Fruitcake
Y
By CATHY YEN, Executive Director
ear-end brings with it holiday cheer, family, warm feelings and an easy friendliness. But those who run businesses know that year-end also means closing the financial books, preparing next year’s budget, sizing up unsold inventory and the dreaded annual employee performance reviews. Announcing to the team that it is time to schedule individual meetings for performance appraisals is received about as well as the proverbial Christmas fruitcake. Nice in theory, but if not done right, it can be a dense, sticky, spicy mess that no one really wants to sink their teeth into. Best if we put it aside and hope everyone forgets about it. There is no shortage of academic
literature or leadership workshops on how to do performance reviews well. About how important they are. About how to make them not only painless, but productive. Turns out all that advice from management gurus isn’t necessary when your employees are awesome. In fact, performance reviews at the Chamber were a breeze this year. A joy. A series of great conversations about where we were, where we are going and how we can get there. Honestly, talking to these professionals was a privilege, not a chore. We had a great year at the Chamber, and that is entirely due to the team in the office. Growth in membership, an increase in revenue and generous funding from the Village of Oak Park allowed me to invite incredibly talented people to join our team. They have done nothing but build positive momentum and support small business since they started in April. We faced challenges and transitions but did so
together, successfully. With gratitude and pride, I want to publicly thank Deputy Director Liz Holt, Communications Manager Ronnie Marlin, Special Event Manager Janice Moskoff, Program Manager Mark Walden, Business District Liaison Jenny Yang and Business Managers Carolyn Henning and Maria Murzyn. Shout-out to Julie Thompson who does our books. While all but Liz and myself are part-time, this team makes a fulltime impact. By the way, my mother-in-law makes an amazing fruitcake. When you have the right recipe and the best ingredients, people actually look forward to that fruitcake. Happy Holidays, all.
Congratulations to Midwest Microblading on their first anniversary! 1006 North Blvd, Oak Park * (815) 791-0032 * midwestmicroblading.com Among those gathered to celebrate Midwest Microblading's first anniversary: Mary Ann Bender, Dr. Mary Ann Bender Podiatry; Kevin Nickel; Stephanie Nickel; Bob Stelletello, Right At Home Oak Park / Chicago; Katie Liberatore, Midwest Microblading; Andrew Liberatore; Rita Liberatore; Gwen Nickel; Quinn Nickel; Landon Nickel; Collin Nickel; Kelly Liberatore; Drew Liberatore; Lea Tischler; Richard Tischler; Dexter Cura, Escape Factor; Jonathan Biag, Escape Factor. Not pictured: Geraldine Healy, David King & Associates; Cathy Yen and Mark Walden, OPRF Chamber.
For your own ribbon cutting contact us on oprfchamber.org
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OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Religion Guide Methodist
Check First.
First United Methodist Church of Oak Park
First Congregational Church of Maywood
And at the Altenheim, you’ll be able to protect it with rent that is reasonable. But the Altenheim is so much more… it is surrounded with beautiful grounds and wildlife, seniors who look out for one another and apartment selections and activities to suit your lifestyle.
Call Today To Receive Information About Our Arborwood Studio and 1 Bedroom Apartments
400 N. Fifth Avenue (1 block north of Lake St.) Come join us for Sunday Morning Worship at 11 am Pastor Elliot Wimbush will be preaching the message. Refreshments and fellowship follow the service. 708-344-6150 firstchurchofmaywood.org When you're looking for a place to worship the Lord, Check First.
You’re Invited to A Church for All Nations A Church Without Walls SERVICE LOCATION Forest Park Plaza 7600 W. Roosevelt Road Forest Park, IL 60130
William S. Winston Pastor 7824 West Madison Street | Forest Park 708.366.2206 www.thealtenheim.com
(708) 697-5000 Sunday Service 7AM, 9AM & 11:15AM
LIVE Webcast - 11:15AM Service Believer’s Walk of Faith Broadcast Schedule (Times in Central Standard Time) Television
How to Keep in Touch with Us in 3 Steps
1
Sign up for Twitter!
Follow us on Twitter
2
twitter.com/OakPark
3
Get your daily dose of your local news straight from home!
DAYSTAR (M-F)
3:30-4:00pm
Nationwide
WJYS-TV (M-F)
6:30-7:00am
Chicago, IL.
WCIU-TV (Sun.)
10:30-11:00am
Chicago, IL.
Word Network
10:30-11:00am
Nationwide
(M-F)
www.livingwd.org www.billwinston.org
“Here is where you belong!” Engage Christian Church Engaging God, His Family, and His Mission 1000 S. Elgin Ave. Forest Park, IL (In First United Church) To stay connected visit our website and join us on social media www.engagecc.org Facebook: @EngageCC Twitter: @engagecchurch Instagram: @engccchurch
West Suburban Temple Har Zion
1040 N. Harlem Avenue River Forest Meet our Rabbi, Adir Glick Pray, learn, and celebrate with our caring, progressive, egalitarian community. Interfaith families are welcome. Accredited Early Childhood Program Religious School for K thru 12 Daily Morning Minyan Weekly Shabbat Services Friday 6:30pm & Saturday 10:00am Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 708.366.9000 www.wsthz.org
324 N. Oak Park Avenue 708-383-4983 www.firstUMCoakpark.org Sunday School for all Ages, 9am Sunday Worship, 10am Children’s Chapel during Worship Rev. Katherine Thomas Paisley, Pastor Professionally Staffed Nursery Fellowship Time after Worship Presbyterian
Fair Oaks
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Lutheran—ELCA
744 Fair Oaks Ave. Oak Park 386-4920
United Lutheran Church
409 Greenfield Street (at Ridgeland Avenue) Oak Park Holy Communion with nursery care and children’s chapel each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. www.unitedlutheranchurch.org
708/386-1576
Lutheran-Independent
Grace Lutheran Church
7300 W. Division, River Forest David R. Lyle, Senior Pastor David W. Wegner, Assoc. Pastor Lauren Dow Wegner, Assoc. Pastor Sunday Worship, 8:30 & 11:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Ed. 9:45 a.m. Childcare Available
Sunday Schedule Christian Education for All Ages 9:00am Worship Service 10:00am
Child care available 9-11am
fairoakspres.org OAK PARK MEETING OF FRIENDS (Quakers) Meeting For Worship Sundays at 10:00 a.m. at Oak Park Art League 720 Chicago Ave., Oak Park Please call 708-445-8201 www.oakparkfriends.org
Roman Catholic
Ascension Catholic Church
Grace Lutheran School
Preschool - 8th Grade Bill Koehne, Principal 366-6900, graceriverforest.org Lutheran-Missouri Synod
Christ Lutheran Church
607 Harvard Street (at East Av.) Oak Park, Illinois Rev. Robert M. Niehus, Pastor Sunday Bible Class: 9:15 am Sunday School: 9:10 Sunday Worship Services: 8:00 and 10:30 am Church Office: 708/386-3306 www.christlutheranoakpark.org Lutheran-Missouri Synod
St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church
305 Circle Ave, Forest Park Sunday Worship 8:30am & 11:00am Adult Bible Class & Sunday School 10:00am Wheelchair Access to Sanctuary Leonard Payton, Pastor Roney Riley, Assistant Pastor 708-366-3226 www.stjohnforestpark.org
808 S. East Ave. 708/848-2703 www.ascensionoakpark.com Worship: Saturday Mass 5:00 pm Sunday Masses 7:30, 9:00, 11 am, 5:00 pm Sacrament of Reconciliation 4 pm Saturday Taize Prayer 7:30 pm First Fridays Feb.– Dec. & Jan. 1
Rev. James Hurlbert, Pastor
Roman Catholic
St. Edmund Catholic Church
188 South Oak Park Ave. Saturday Mass: 5:30 p.m. Sunday Masses: 9:00 & 11:00 a.m., 5:30 p.m. Weekday Mass: 8:30 a.m. M–F Holy Day Masses: As Announced Reconciliation: Saturday 4:15 p.m. Parish Office: 708-848-4417 Religious Ed Phone: 708-848-7220
Roman Catholic
St. Bernardine Catholic Church Harrison & Elgin, Forest Park
CELEBRATING OUR 107TH YEAR! Sat. Masses: 8:30am & 5:00pm SUNDAY MASSES: 8:00am & 10:30am 10:30 Mass-Daycare for all ages CCD Sun. 9am-10:15am Reconciliation: Sat. 9am & 4pm Weekday Masses: Monday–Friday 6:30am Church Office: 708-366-0839 CCD: 708-366-3553 www.stbern.com Pastor: Fr. Stanislaw Kuca
St. Giles Family Mass Community
We welcome all to attend Sunday Mass at 10 a.m. on the St. Giles Parish campus on the second floor of the school gym, the southernmost building in the school complex at 1034 North Linden Avenue. Established in 1970, we are a laybased community within St. Giles Roman Catholic Parish. Our Mass is family-friendly. We encourage liturgically active toddlers. Children from 3 to 13 and young adults play meaningful parts in each Sunday liturgy. Together with the parish, we offer Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori-based religious education program for children in grades K-8. For more information, go to http://www.stgilesparish.org/ family-mass-community or call Bob Wielgos at 708-288-2196.
Traditional Catholic
The Traditional Catholic Latin Mass
Our Lady Immaculate Church 410 Washington Blvd Oak Park. 708-524-2408 Mass Times: Sat. 8:00am Sun. 7:30 & 10:00am Operated by Society of St. Pius X. Confessions 1 hr. before each mass
Third Unitarian Church 10AM Sunday Forum 11AM Service Rev. Colleen Vahey thirdunitarianchurch.org (773) 626-9385 301 N. Mayfield, Chicago Committed to justice, not to a creed Unity
To place a listing in the Religion Guide, call Mary Ellen: 708/613-3342
UNITY CHURCH OF OAK PARK 405 North Euclid Ave.
We behold the Christ in you. Sunday Services 9 am & 11 am Youth Education 11 am 708-848-0960 — unityoakpark.org
Upcoming Religious Holidays
Dec
28 Holy Innocents
Christian
31 Watch Night
Christian
Holy Family Catholic Christian
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Wishing all our tenants, neighbors and friends a Wonderful and Peaceful New Year!
For over 32 years, Oak Park Apartments has been committed to breathing life into old buildings and making a home in Oak Park and the near western suburbs for our tenants. Oak Park Apartments currently manages almost 1,500 units in 57 buildings. In 2017, we welcomed over 500 new residents to the community.
F I N D
Y O U R
N E W
H O M E
T O D AY !
35 Chicago Ave. Oak Park, IL 60302 • (708) 386-7368 • OakParkApartments.com
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OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
$0 JOINER FEE
NO NEED TO WAIT OUR JANUARY SALE
STARTS NOW!
Join Today and Become Your Best Self! NEW Nationwide Membership gives access to thousands of Ys Conveniently schedule your training sessions at home All Group Exercise now complimentary except Yoga All new Cybex machine-based strength equipment
TRY THE WEST COOK YMCA FREE one-week trial for you and your family with complimentary fitness consultation.
THE MORE YOU BUY THE MORE YOU SAVE West Cook YMCA Personal Training Sale SAVE 5% for 12 sessions SAVE 10% for 24 sessions SAVE 15% for 36 sessions All offers expire 1/31/18
READY FOR THE BEST OF YOUR LIFE?
You invest your time—we’ll deliver the value! Youth & Adult Classes | Chronic Disease Management | Before- and After-School Programs Swimming Lessons and Teams | Personal Trainers | State-of-the-Art facilities | and much more!
Come in today and try us out for FREE! Scholarships Available. WEST COOK YMCA | 255 S. MARION ST., OAK PARK, IL 60302 | 708.383.5200 | WWW.WESTCOOKYMCA.ORG
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
OAK PARK-RIVER FOREST
Community Foundation Your GivinG Can Have BiG impaCt Since 2002, the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation has distributed over $26,000,000 to local, regional and national nonprofit organizations. Here are ways for you to get involved and be part of this impact. Create a fund: donor-advised - you recommend charitable beneficiaries locally or anywhere in the USA annually - you select charities that will receive annual contributions from your fund scholarship - you select a purpose and the Foundation connects with the recipients designated
add to an existinG fund: such as the Fund for Now, the Fund for Forever,
the Fund for.......visit www.oprfcf.org for the many funds that welcome your gift. Donate to the Fund for Now
Connect with
Kristin Carlson Vogen or Rhea Yap
Donate to the Fund for Forever
708-848-1560 kcvogen@oprfcf.org | ryap@oprfcf.org 1049 Lake Street, Suite 204, Oak Park or visit us at: www oprfcf.org facebook.com/OPRFCF
The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation has partially underwritten the Season of Giving in support of nonprofit organizations serving Oak Park and River Forest.
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OAK PARK-RIVER FOREST
Community Foundation
Community Giving Guide
ed by the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation
S
The Most Wonderful Guide of The Year!
eason of Giving is a campaign organized by Wednesday Journal and the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation to encourage local charitable giving during the holiday season. It has long
been recognized that when we shop local, our money recirculates through the local economy reaping dividends for the entire community. The same is true for charitable giving. When you donate to local nonprofits, your money goes to work in your own
neighborhood. Your donations feed local families, offer safety and learning to local children, and enrich the beauty and art that surrounds us all. Over the coming weeks, we hope that you will take a moment to look over the listings in this Giving Guide. Find
e connect giving to impact! Animal Care League
Animal Care League offers a safe haven for pets in need. Founded in 1973, Animal Care League takes a proactive approach to animal care and adoption as well as preventative measures to help reduce the number of homeless animals in our communities. With over 1000 pets coming to our doors each year, Animal Care League counts on supporters to ensure that we can provide what is needed from routine vaccinations to life saving surgery. Make a difference in the life of a homeless animal by visiting www.animalcareleague. org where you can sign up to volunteer, make a donation, view our adoptable pets, and learn about upcoming events.
Cantata Adult Life Services As a nonprofit since 1920, Cantata’s mission and vision is to help older adults age successfully, both on our campus and out in their communities. We help them live their best lives by offering a variety of services that meet each individual’s unique needs. This past year, we provided nearly 2,500 services to 1,200 seniors thanks to you and your generosity. Whether it’s the gift of your time or a donation, everything is greatly appreciated and contributes to the successful care and support for aging adults. To donate and make a difference in the lives of seniors in your community, please visit www.cantatahomeservices.org/donate or email george.columbus@cantata.org
Celebrating Seniors Founded in 2010 before launching its inaugural Celebrating Seniors Week in May 2011, Celebrating Seniors is dedicated to honoring, recognizing and serving seniors in Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park, Illinois. The organization concentrates on four main objectives:
• To facilitate cooperation between the business community, government agencies and non-profit organizations for the benefit of the senior population.
• To promote senior groups and organizations that serve persons 60 and older. • To raise public awareness of issues affecting seniors. • To generate funds to support at-risk and vulnerable elders. To volunteer to support our Celebrating Seniors Week or to contribute financially to our community mission, visit us at www. celebratingseniors.net.
Cluster Tutoring Program The Cluster Tutoring Program is a communitybased organization that provides free, one-to-one tutoring for youth in grades K through 12 from the Austin neighborhood. Our mission is to help students realize their potential through learning in an environment that strengthens the students, the tutors, and the community. The program’s emphasis is on reading as a means to academic success and the development of mentoring relationships between caring adults and youth. Tutors receive training and ongoing support. Tutoring space is donated by First United Church of Oak Park and Pine Avenue Church. To volunteer or to donate, please contact Kara Kalnitz at 773-378-5530 and visit www.clustertutoring.org.
Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation OAK PARK-RIVER FOREST
Community Foundation We connect donors to impact. Your gift to the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation can benefit one or many organizations locally, regionally or nationally. We accept all sizes of gifts -- gifts of cash, appreciated stock, real estate and through bequests. We work with you to match your philanthropic interests with needs. We manage scholarships for students and provide enrichment grants for young
people. We provide grants to local nonprofit organizations, present Impact Excellence seminars for them and manage many of their funds. We connect our community for collective impact. For more about what we do, please visit us at: www.oprfcf.org, on Facebook and Twitter: @oprfcf. 708-848-1560 1049 Lake Street, Suite 204 Oak Park, IL 60301 Donate online at: https://goo.gl/MeQaon
The Collaboration for Early Childhood The Collaboration for Early Childhood is your resource for early childhood information in Oak Park and River Forest. We provide the connections vital to every child’s opportunity for success in learning and in life. We work with more than 60 organizations so that parents and their children receive critical information and support services, children are screened for developmental delays, teachers in child care centers, preschools and family child care homes provide high quality programs and our most vulnerable children and their families experience a strong web of support. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit us at collab4kids. org or follow us on Facebook.
Concordia University Chicago Founded in 1864, Concordia University Chicago is a comprehensive liberal arts-based Christian university in the Lutheran tradition. Through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, and College of Graduate and Innovative Programs, Concordia-Chicago offers more than 100 areas of study in small classes taught by professors who are passionate about teaching and student success. Concordia-Chicago equips men and women to serve and lead with integrity, creativity, competence and compassion in
an organization that resonates with you. Check out their website. Consider making a donation or volunteering. Spread the word. Don’t just shop local—give Local.
a diverse, interconnected and increasingly urbanized church and world. More than 5,000 full-time undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled at Concordia-Chicago, located in River Forest.
Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory The Oak Park Conservatory is a gem in our community. The Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory (FOPCON) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that helps make the Conservatory a community destination. FOPCON has over 150 volunteers and 500 members. We offer guided tours, free children’s programming, and host Uncorked in the Summer. We are proud of our Discovery and Rubinstein Gardens and our partnership with the PDOP in supporting the Conservatory. Please visit fopcon.org to join or donate. 615 Garfield, Oak Park, 60304. Contact Beth Cheng, Executive Director at 708-725-2460.
Oak Park Festival Theatre Since 1975 Oak Park Festival Theatre, the Midwest’s oldest professional outdoor classical theatre, has brought the magic of dramatic masterpieces to generations of our neighbors. Whether performing under the stars in beautiful Austin Gardens as we do each summer or at any of the many local venues where we partner with local philanthropic agencies (such as Housing Forward, Oak Park Housing Authority or Nineteenth Century Charitable Association), Festival Theatre breaths fresh air into timeless texts for Oak Park and beyond. With ticket prices kept friendly for every budget and free admission for all under 13, we rely on the generosity of our audiences to continue our dynamic community dialogue. Donations can be made on-line at oakparkfestival.com or mailed to us: Oak Park Festival Theatre, P.O. Box 4114, Oak Park, IL 60303.
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Green Community Connections At Green Community Connections, we believe people are the answer to our serious environmental issues. We provide a deeper understanding of natural systems, build community, and inspire change. Through our largest program, the annual One Earth Film Festival, we raise awareness and inspire action. In 2017, 5,600 people attended our 10-day fest, viewing films, participating in discussion and engaging with community partners and advocacy groups to take immediate action on behalf of our planet.
Hephzibah
Hephzibah Children’s Association was founded in 1897. We serve more than 1,000 children and families each year through innovative, community-based programs. Hephzibah provides a Group Home for children who have been taken from their families due to profound abuse or neglect. Our skilled staff recruits and trains foster parents, and offers ongoing support to help all family members navigate challenges. Our after-school Day Care operates on a sliding scale to serve working parents in Oak Park, with programs based at each elementary school. To make a real difference in the lives of children and families, please donate today at hephzibahhome.org.
Housing Forward The mission of Housing Forward is to transition people from housing crisis to housing stability. By emphasizing prevention, supportive services, employment readiness and supportive housing, we are able to offer a comprehensive, long-term solution that moves clients into housing quickly and keeps them there. This housing-first approach to homelessness is more efficient, more fiscally responsible and less traumatic to clients who are typically facing extraordinary hardship. It is also beneficial to the communities being served who do not have to bear the costs of homelessness in the form of expanded social services, health care and public safety costs. We offer an attractive return on your investment — measured in terms of human lives and futures. To donate, please visit housingforward. org/give, or contact Janet Gow, Director of Development & Communications, at 708.338.1724 ext. 262.
L’Arche Chicago L’Arche Chicago is a community where people with and without intellectual disabilities share life together in homes, as family. In our group homes in the OPRF neighborhoods,
we strive to merge the highest quality of care and genuine friendship. We seek to create a world that welcomes difference and celebrates the unique gifts of all people, where each person has a genuine place of belonging. Support L’Arche Chicago and help us to create that kind of world right here in Oak Park River Forest. larchechicago.org/2017
New Moms New Moms offers services to support moms in the areas of homes, jobs, and family support. These tools empower moms to transform their lives and create strong families filled with stability, health and vision for a strong future. For more information or to donate, visit www. newmoms.org
Nineteenth Century Charitable Association The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association strengthens our community through learning, giving, and sharing our landmark building. We provide community outreach, scholarships, and public programming in five areas: music, art, literature, science, and social sciences. The NCCA is the owner of 178 Forest Avenue, commonly referred to as the Nineteenth Century Club. Our charitable and cultural activities are supported by our members, volunteers, donors, and by the events held at the Club. Programs are open to all and we welcome all ages to join. If you would like information about volunteering, joining or donating, please call us at 708-386-2729 email to info@ nineteenthcentury.org.
OPRFHS Scholarship Foundation Since 1924, community members, alumni and friends of Oak Park and River Forest High School have honored loved ones, cherished teachers, academic achievement, initiative and leadership through gifts to the OPRFHS Scholarship Foundation. These gifts have made possible the 60+ scholarships which the Foundation awards deserving seniors each year to help defray college tuition costs. With your support, we can help more of our graduating seniors receive critical financial assistance for college. We hope you will join us and make a tax-deductible donation by visiting www. scholarships4oprfhs.org. Please consider making a gift in any amount to fund existing need-based scholarships or visit our website to learn about endowed and annual named scholarship opportunities. Contact scholarshipsoprfhs@gmail.com for more information.
The Oak Park Education Foundation (OPEF) Strong schools are at the heart of a strong community. Established in 1989, OPEF is a privately funded, nonprofit organization that brings artists, architects, scientists, and technology experts into K-8th grade classrooms at every District 97 school. Our professional partners share their passion for learning while conducting free, hands-on residencies with more than 4,200 students annually. OPEF also runs BASE Camp, exceptional summer enrichment. Learn more, volunteer or donate at opef.org. 260 Madison St., Oak Park, IL 60302 Contact: Tracy Dell’Angela Barber, Executive Director tdellangelabarber@opef.org. 708-524-3023
Oak-Leyden Developmental Services In 2017, Oak-Leyden Developmental Services helped nearly 600 children and adults with developmental disabilities reach their highest potential. Our multi-disciplinary Early Intervention Program provides therapies to help prepare young children for their years ahead, as well as education that supports the entire family. Our enriching, adult day programs offer community activities, life skills coaching, and vocational training. In our 12 group homes, adults receive residential care, social and recreational opportunities, and access to healthcare providers. Please volunteer, donate items on our wish list, make a contribution, or become an OakLeyden Enrichment Partner at oak-leyden.org or call 708-524-1050 x102.
Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society/ IWS Children’s Clinic Heartfelt Healthcare is a home for the holidays. Everyone wants to be home for the holidays. Family, friends, food and laughter. Comforting, familiar and happy. The warm, welcoming embrace of the Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society’s Children’s Clinic is a home of a different kind. We care for children from families that could not find help anywhere else. Children who are living in poverty and have faced difficult circumstances. We provide medical, dental and behavioral services right here from our cozy building on Lake Street. We even help with nutrition, pet therapy, health education and literacy support. We call it Heartfelt Healthcare. Please give generously this Holiday – from your home to theirs. Please call (708)4068661 or visit www.oprfiws.org.
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Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry $1 = 3 meals, is an equation only you can make possible. With your help, Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry has been reducing local hunger for nearly 40 years. Your support means we are able to meet the needs of nearly 16,000 families struggling with hunger each year. It means we can provide over 50 pounds of nutritious food plus access to vital programs and services to help people stretch limited food budgets in healthy ways. It means that even a little goes a long way: every $1 donated can feed a neighbor for an entire day. To make a donation, visit oprffoodpantry. org or send checks payable to OPRF Food Pantry to Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry, 848 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60301.
Opportunity Knocks Opportunity Knocks is dedicated to providing opportunities and resources for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities so they may pursue their educational, occupational and social interests. Our approach to programming is person-centered, peer-led and community-based. Due to challenges in relying on the State of Illinois as a funding partner, we rely on our community for that partnership and support. We are nearly entirely privately funded. That fact makes your support that much more important. To learn more about Opportunity Knocks or to make a donation in support of the Warrior Mission, please visit us online at opportunityknocksnow.org.
PACTT Learning Center At PACTT Learning Center, we believe that the road to a higher quality of life is paved with a quality of opportunity. Providing our participants with access to employment and recreation in the community is critical to ensuring the success of the people we serve. Through person-centered programs that emphasize access, choice and the dignity of risk, PACTT provides a safe environment for participants to experience a personal freedom grounded in human rights. PACTT programs include a therapeutic day school, residential services for children & adults, a transition program for older teens and vocational training/job placement for adults. To learn more about PACTT or make a donation, go to www.pactt.org or call 773338-9102 ext. 2424
Pillars Pillars is the largest nonprofit provider of mental health and social services in the western and southwestern suburbs. The agency serves 10,000 people each year through direct client services, including
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Community Foundation
nated by the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation Mental Health, Addictions, Domestic & Sexual Violence, Child & Family Services, and Community Housing. Untreated mental illness and addiction can lead to hospitalization, encounters with law enforcement, violence, and even early death. Pillars’ programs empower people to break out of those cycles and lead healthy, productive, independent lives—which ultimately saves the community money. Stand together as Pillars, with us. Donate online or pledge a monthly gift today at www.pillarscommunity.org/donate.
We connect giving to impact!
Ping! PING! provides the opportunity to experience the many benefits of a music education to students in need in our community. Each year PING! loans musical instruments to students in need in Oak Park River Forest school districts 90, 97, and 200 so that they can participate in the band and orchestra programs at school. PING! also provides music enrichment through workshops for 4th and 5th graders; mentoring, scholarships for summer music camp, and field trips for middle schoolers; and private music lessons for high school students. PING! is a volunteer-run organization that depends on the community for donated instruments, volunteer help, and financial contributions to maintain our instrument inventory and programs. For more information or to make a donation, go to pingoprf.org. If you have an instrument to donate, send us an email at pingoprf@ gmail.com.
Pro Bono Network Access to justice should not depend upon one’s income. There are simply not enough lawyers to help people in dire need of legal aid. These include safety from an abuser, adequate housing, and the ability to get a job. Pro Bono Network, a locally-grown and new kind of organization, has brought over 250 attorneys to pro bono work by making legal representation practical. As a result over 1500 clients have received legal aid services which often encompass basic human rights. Learn more at pro-bono-network.org. Donating will make a difference! Be a part of bridging the justice gap!
The River Forest Library Foundation “A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people,” said Andrew Carnegie. That’s why he funded thousands of public libraries a century ago to help people help themselves through self-directed learning. Today, the River Forest Public Library (RFPL) carries on that core mission by providing not just books and
periodicals but also a wide array of digital resources (onsite and remotely), interactive programs, and other transformative learning opportunities. Honor a family member, a cherished teacher or mentor, a dear friend, or your own love of lifelong learning by giving to the RFPL Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, at 735 Lathrop Avenue, River Forest, IL 60305 or rfplfoundation.org/donate. Your gift will inspire others and transform the lives of so many in our community.
Sarah’s Inn
Since 1981, Sarah’s Inn has worked to improve the lives of those impacted by domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence for future generations. Our Intervention Program provides bi-lingual services for families affected by domestic violence in order to safely navigate crisis, effectively process trauma and ensure self-sufficiency. Our Training and Education Program creates a network of skilled bystanders to appropriately intervene as first responders and community advocates. Our Together Strong Project was created to prevent relationship violence by teaching youth about the impact of their choices, giving them the tools to lead healthy lives, and empowering them to make a difference in their community. To donate, visit donatenow.networkforgood. org/sarahsinn, or make a tax-deductible donation through postal mail by sending a check to: Sarah’s Inn, PO Box 1159, Oak Park, IL 60304
The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest
Each year The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest receives support from loyal patrons and generous friends. Ticket sales provide less than half the funds needed for the Symphony’s performances. Your gift keeps this award-winning orchestra going strong, allowing us to keep our ticket prices low and provide free tickets to students through college to our concerts held at Dominican University. This year we celebrate our 85th Anniversary and your help is needed to ensure our future. We will reward donations of $100 (or more!) with a a free CD. Make your end-of-year tax-deductible donation at symphonyoprf.com, or: P.O. Box 3564, Oak Park, IL 60303-3564.
Thrive Counseling Center Thrive Counseling Center (formerly Family Services of Oak Park) has provided community mental health services for 119 years. Located in the heart
of Oak Park, our mission is to build healthy minds, families and communities by empowering people to attain mental and emotional well-being. Hope, resilience and recovery form the heart of our programs and services. Last year we provided critical services to approximately 1,500 friends, neighbors and family members including… • counseling for youth and adults • psychiatric care & medication management • 24/7 crisis intervention • in-home counseling for older adults • case management and supportive housing • psycho-social recovery day program • stress reduction courses To learn more or donate, please visit www. thrivecc.org. or call 708-383-7500, ext. 316
UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago UCP Seguin believes that all people, regardless of ability, deserve to achieve their potential, advance their independence and act as full members of the community. So we stop at nothing to provide life skills training, assistive technology, meaningful employment and a place to call home for people with disabilities, as well as specialized foster care for children. Our goal: life without limits for people with disabilities. Make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. Donate online at ucpseguin. org or send gifts to UCP Seguin, 332 Harrison Street, Oak Park IL 60304
West Cook YMCA A life best lived includes helping others experience a better life. When you give to the West Cook YMCA, you give to our community. 100% of your tax-deductible donation goes directly to providing scholarships to children, adults, and seniors- your friends and neighbors- transforming their lives through access to health screenings, chronic disease prevention programs, after-school programs, swim lessons, life-skills training for residents, and Y memberships that can open the door to help each person become their best self. Make a difference right in your own community today with your support of the West Cook YMCA’s scholarship fund. To donate, visit WestCookYMCA.org/donate or send your check to West Cook YMCA, 255 S. Marion St., Oak Park, IL 60302. (708383-5200)
West Suburban Special Recreation Association (WSSRA) West Suburban Special Recreation Association (WSSRA) provides recreational programming for individuals with disabilities who reside in Oak Park, River Forest and eight other surrounding communities. Donations to WSSRA, help provide financial assistance to those participating in our yearround programs and summer day camp. To make a donation, please visit wssra.net.
Wonder Works Children’s Museum Creative and imaginative play are vital to a healthy child and Wonder Works Children’s Museum provides countless opportunities for both, giving children a safe space to explore. Wonder Works is committed to providing an environment where early learning flourishes through thoughtfully designed “experience zones” and educational programming. Rachel Rettberg CEO Wonder Works Children’s Museum 6445 W North Ave, Oak Park IL 60302 773.636.7971 rrettberg@wonder-works.org wonder-works.org www.facebook.com/ wonderworkschildrensmus YEMBA
YEMBA Founded in 2007, YEMBA is focused on educating and empowering youth thru life-skills mentoring. We provide free life-skill mentoring workshops to middle school youth. These workshops are designed to educate and empower them mentally, physically and spiritually. We employ life-long learning and service experiences through group mentorship that will equip them with knowledge and tools for leadership development and ultimately, success in life. Also, we provide training opportunities for high schoolers and adults to explore their philanthropic journey as mentors. We rely on the generosity and sponsorship of individuals like you to help continue this great mission! To help make a difference in the lives of our youth, please visit us at http://www.yembainc.org or follow us on Facebook @yembaInc em
Youth Outreach Services (YOS) Youth Outreach Services (YOS) is a non-profit organization that helps at-risk youth in the Chicago area reach their potential. For almost 60 years, we’ve focused on caring for teens that face challenges at home, in school and in the community. YOS believes all youth are capable of excellence. Our job is to provide the support they need to meet challenges head on, discover their strengths and make healthy choices. We provide comprehensive services from our four service areas depending on each client’s needs: Counseling, Prevention, Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice with programs in schools, client’s homes and our offices.
To make a donation, volunteer, or get more information, go to yos.org or call 773-7777112, x 7270.” To make a donation, volunteer, or get more information, go to yos.org or call 773-7777112x7270
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M.
Email Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor, ktrainor@wjinc.com
Living between resist and retreat
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began the year with the modest expectation and fervent hope that the damage from Calamity Trump would not be so bad. Alas, in short order my worst fears were realized. We did, indeed, elect a toxic combination of arrogance and ignorance to the highest office in the land. A survival strategy was essential. Options included resistance or retreat. It was too cold to march, and Oak Parkers had resistance covered without me. Yet curling up in the fetal position waiting for the buffoonery to stop was not appealing. I was lost, but then I was found. My way forward was there all the time: My grandchildren. I am blessed with five of them — Lily (9), Ava (6), Cole (3), Teddy (2) and Hazel (.25). They don’t know or care about Trump or Mueller. They are indifferent to the tax cut. They do not have experience with harassment or discrimination. They do not have strong opinions about global warming, abortion or the war on terror. Yet their lives are very rich and filled with lots of great experiences, which they share with me. On Tuesdays, we grandparent in Glen Ellyn. There Lily and I discuss her newfound joy in reading chapter books. I remember and share that joy with her. Ava shows me her weekly artwork, and I marvel that I have never seen the world as she sees it. We trampoline, engage in water warfare, hide-and-seek — all the things I loved to do as a kid and did with my sons. Now I get to do them again. Marsha accuses me of being like Peter Pan. Guilty as charged. Their younger brother Cole entertains all of us with his 3-year-old takes on life, his fearlessness and his joy in living, evidenced by jumping up and down in place for minutes at a time. He definitely lives in the present. He does not regret the past or worry about the future. We visit Teddy in Lakeview, where we grandparent on Mondays. We play hide-and-seek. His skills are evolving. He no longer hides in plain sight. We roam Wrigleyville in search of trucks. Garbage trucks are the equivalent of the ornithologist’s bald eagle. He is always glad to see me. He gladdens my heart. And then there is Hazel. Three months old. So little. So sweet. Yet so real. She reminds me that we all need the help and love of others to survive in this world. So I didn’t resist. I didn’t retreat. With the invaluable assistance of my grandchildren, I remembered what is truly important to me. I’m ready for 2018. Bring it on.
JOHN
HUBBUCH
See YEAR IN SHRUBTOWN on page 37
by Marc Stopeck
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Tax saturation is real
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s we look ahead to a new year in Oak Park and River Forest, the storylines seem certain to converge around issues of taxing and affordability in our villages. Start with the abomination of the Trump tax bill and its impact on the deductibility of your local property tax payments in our high-tax communities. With that deduction capped at $10,000, it leaves a very large percentage of local homeowners losing a portion of a singular middle-class tax benefit. It will make those semi-annual payments which total up to $13,000 or $17,000 or $20,000 or more even more painful. As 2017 closed, both Oak Park’s public elementary school and high school boards grappled with passing new property tax levies. In a single week, both boards met and saw friction in an annual governance exercise that has typically been routine. District 97 got lectured last week at its meeting by Dan Moroney, the recently elected village trustee. He raised questions related to flaws in last spring’s readily approved D97 tax referendum and how those issues, while acknowledged at the time by the district, could have residual impact on taxes collected by the elementary schools. (Agree or disagree with Moroney’s point, we’d note his very unusual and, to us, problematic, decision to upbraid another taxing body in a public setting. We’re not sticklers for protocol, but what goes around does come around. Moroney should focus on village affairs and work to build back channels to give feedback to other boards.) The high school board, Thursday night, had second thoughts on its own planned levy hike. With tens of millions currently stuffed in its vault, there was movement on the board to adopt a levy with zero increase as a nod to the rising tax burdens on taxpayers. The board eventually voted on a levy less than 1 percent. Good instinct. Oak Park’s village board, which will argue — correctly — that its tug on property taxes pales next to the local schools, is nonetheless back in the habit of hiking its property tax levy after long years when it worked to actively minimize property tax hikes. That said, the village regularly raises a raft of fees from garbage collection to cable franchise to parking permits, which gives it cash from taxpayers through means other than the property tax. At village hall, the rising demand for cash is driven by the underfunded pension crisis that plagues municipalities across the state. Eventually, it will menace school districts as the state offloads teacher pension obligations. Pensions, as long predicted, are coming to consume the spending of local government. Taxes will rise and services will be stunted. This is an albatross. Everything is not preordained, however. Voters could put the kibosh on the grand plans chatter for the two local park districts to build a $40 million-plus community recreation center. Especially if such a center were to be proposed on a piece of land that currently pays property taxes or could be developed to pay greater property taxes. Oak Park and River Forest need to continue active development of commercial and residential projects. Whether these are highrises in downtown Oak Park, mixed-use at Lake and Lathrop, remaking Madison Street and North Avenue to replace long obsolete small office buildings, or luring a new Target store, we say, yes, to all of the above. We can’t fall for the nonsensical debate suggesting development is unnecessary because it will never lower taxes. Development is no tax panacea, but it is a hedge against perpetually rising taxes. Finally, we’d note as 2018 arrives that both school districts are at the start of long-term teacher contract negotiations. Faculty costs are by far the greatest driver of costs — as well as education! — in our schools. We’re not looking for givebacks. We’re not looking for a wage freeze. We are looking for contracts that are realistic for this moment in terms of both wages and benefits. Modest raises. Rip up “steps and lanes” cash giveaways. Get creative in sharing costs on health. Tax saturation is here. Our diversity is at stake.
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@ @OakParkSports
Happiness interruptus
contentment. ne day this fall, I was sitting If you’re lucky enough to have small at a stop light on Thatcher in children in your life, such moments occur River Forest. To my right was with frequency. These avatars of un-selfthe non-descript, overgrown conscious being reinstruct us in delight. side yard of Trailside MuBut it also happens during meals seum near the Des Plaines River — at with friends or during long walks with least that’s how I used to think of it. someone you care deeply about. What Now I think of it as a happy place, Kurt Vonnegut called “the long walk to filled with warm memories of time spent with my two grandsons, who love forever.” Moments that you never want to the nature playground Trailside has end, that you feel you could spend the rest created there: logs to climb on, a teepee of your life living. They are simultanemade of tree branches, a graduated ously fleeting and our only true taste of water table that runs downhill like a eternity. cascading river. Psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, Most people probably don’t even the author of Flow, calls this the state of know about it, but after spending time “optimal experience.” there each of the last three seasons, it turned into To be sure, unhappiness stakes its claim on one of the bright spots in my year. memory as well — the more painful, the deeper the Which made me wonder how many of these places impression, which may feel more “significant” than we have in our lives, and how many we overlook — mere happiness. because the quiet happiness we experience there But if we pay attention, we begin to notice how is easily eclipsed by the busyness and uproar that often happiness sidles up to us, offering to overcharacterize the rest of our power our misery or self-pity lives. or resentment or worry or Many of these moments disappointment — our default are stored in memory, our negativity. mechanism for imprinting It’s easy to obsess about the snapshots from the past, bad stuff and spend all our which bob to the surface of time trying to avoid it. It’s awareness when we least harder to embrace the good expect it. They’re practistuff. It takes practice — and cally medicinal, which overcoming conditioning. makes me wonder if we Look around and you’ll see can’t access more of them the places happiness visited. more often. My hunch is that happiness is I’m talking about the always close at hand. quiet moments of contentIt may be as simple as sitting ment that add up to a life around together in a living worth living. I call it “the room following a holiday meal. good stuff,” which we’re Content. At ease. Small talk. Bryce and Tyler — contentment, captured. Comfort zone. You can’t live inclined to dismiss because it’s often so ordinary. Yet there the rest of your life. they are preserved in That’s not how life works. But memory, waiting to be recovered and reclaimed. such moments are a big part of what makes life so Woody Allen once asked, “Is a memory something good — and worth remembering. Might be a good you have or something you’ve lost?” starting point for your end-of-year life review. A line in a song I like asks: “Are your memories The holiday film “Family Man” captures this. like mine, or have they let you go?” “It’s a glimpse,” the main character is told. “A But they don’t let go. We don’t lose them. I suspect glimpse, by its very nature, is an impermanent we have within us an inexhaustible store. Close thing.” your eyes and a moment may spring to mind. With A glimpse of eternity — the good kind, optimal enough time, more will likely surface. Pass the place experience, the long walk to forever. where it happened and we are reminded (“re-mindThe kingdom of heaven. ed”). Usually we say memories “come back to us,” When people get married, I don’t think they but don’t we really come back to them? The places marry each other. I think all of us, at some point, where we experience happiness become sacred must marry life — for worse, but at least as often for ground. better. The good stuff, interrupted by the bad, until Why wait for the grand life review after we die to death parts us from “the country they call life,” as reveal that we had it better than we knew? The good Rilke called it. stuff in our one precious life is eager to flash before “We declare that life is worth living — and we our eyes. choose to live that life together.” Happiness may be a more frequent visitor than we We don’t get happily ever after. Life is not that realize, even when life is difficult, even when it’s awkind of deal. What we get is happiness interruptus. ful. How that happens is a mystery. Maybe somebody If you were offered a life with brief, tantalizing “up there” likes us. Maybe it’s just the way we’re glimpses of eternity — which cannot last but keep built. returning, possibly increasing if you stay open We may wonder why something, seemingly so enough — would you choose it? Not that you have a inconsequential, is preserved in our minds as an choice, but would you choose it wholeheartedly? “active” memory. Chances are it’s those moments of Life is that kind of deal.
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
W E D N E S D A Y
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
Editor and Publisher Dan Haley Senior Editor Bob Uphues Associate Publisher Dawn Ferencak Staff Reporters Michael Romain, Timothy Inklebarger, Nona Tepper Viewpoints Ken Trainor Sports/Staff reporter Marty Farmer Columnists Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, John Hubbuch, May Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger, Stan West, Michelle Mbekeani-Wiley, Cassandra West, Doris Davenport Staff Photographer Alexa Rogals Editorial Design Manager Claire Innes Editorial Designers Jacquinete Baldwin, Javier Govea Business Manager Joyce Minich IT Manager/Web Developer Mike Risher Director Social Media Strategy & Communications Jackie McGoey Advertising Production Manager Philip Soell Advertising Design Manager Andrew Mead Advertising Designers Debbie Becker, Mark Moroney Advertising Director Dawn Ferencak Advertising Sales Marc Stopeck, Joe Chomiczewski Inside Sales Representative Mary Ellen Nelligan Media Assistant Megan Dickel Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Distribution Coordinator Caleb Thusat Comptroller Edward Panschar Credit Manager Laurie Myers Front Desk Carolyn Henning, Maria Murzyn Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs
About Viewpoints Our mission is to lead educated conversation about the people, government, schools, businesses and culture of Oak Park and River Forest. As we share the consensus of Wednesday Journal’s editorial board on local matters, we hope our voice will help focus your thinking and, when need be, fire you to action. In a healthy conversation about community concerns, your voice is also vital. We welcome your views, on any topic of community interest, as essays and as letters to the editor. Noted here are our stipulations for filing. Please understand our verification process and circumstances that would lead us not to print a letter or essay. We will call to check that what we received with your signature is something you sent. If we can’t make that verification, we will not print what was sent. When, in addition to opinion, a letter or essay includes information presented as fact, we will check the reference. If we cannot confirm a detail, we may not print the letter or essay. If you have questions, call Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at 708-613-3310 or email him at ktrainor@wjinc.com.
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‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY ■ 500-word limit ■ One-sentence footnote about yourself, your connection to the topic ■ Signature details as at left
Email Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com or mail to Wednesday Journal, Viewpoints, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302
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V I E W P O I N T S
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
Walking a mile in someone else’s Converse All Stars
S
o, did the conversation at your family’s Christmas dinner turn to religion or politics? And if it did, how did it go? Here’s a story about my experience with conversations about religion and, to a lesser degree, with politics. Fifteen years ago I started writing for the Forest Park Review and the Wednesday Journal. In that time I’ve written around one hundred articles about religion—everything from an atheist to a pastor who was dying from ALS to a man who is a member of the Nation of Islam. In the hundred interviews I conducted, I did not agree completely with what any of the people with whom I was talking said. Sometimes what they said sounded outrageous to me. Often I wanted to argue with them and show them the right way to think/believe. The title of James Hoggan’s book—I’m Right and You’re an Idiot—comes to mind to describe how I felt. But here’s the thing. The job of a reporter is not to tell the person being interviewed what the reporter thinks. The job of a reporter is to listen so carefully to what the persons being interviewed are saying so carefully that when they read the article in the paper, they respond with, “He got me right. What he wrote might be a little embarrassing, but he painted a verbal portrait which was true to who I am.” What happened was that almost by accident, I discovered that when my primary intention was to understand where people were in their relationship with God, they frequently allowed themselves to become vulnerable and share very personal stories. When they came to believe that my sole purpose in the conversation was to understand where they were coming from, walls came down and bridges were built. They became less defensive and, perhaps counter intuitively, they sometimes asked me questions about what I believed. After trying to figure out what kept happening in these interviews, I came to the conclusion that how I frame a conversation about religion or politics makes a huge difference. When I approach a discussion about religion as a win/lose battle, I shift into what Jonathan Haidt calls a “combat mode.” Because my goal is to win an argument, while the other person is talking, I’m not really listening but mentally going through my talking points for the purpose of defeating my perceived opponent. But when I understand that how people feel—and that’s the key word, feel—about politics or religion is not irrational but a-rational, then I understand that trying to change them by using rational arguments is not only futile but disrespectful as well. Haidt wrote a book titled The Righteous Mind,
Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, in which he quotes, of all people, Henry Ford. “If there is any one secret of success,” Ford declared, “it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from their angle as well as your own.” First lesson learned. If you want to change someone’s mind, first empathize with how they feel. In my interviewing, I tried to understand the people I was talking to not because I was such an empathic person but simply because I wanted to do my job well. But in the process, I learned a valuable lesson—conversations about religion and politics can be wonderful IF YOUR GOAL IS NOT TO WIN AN ARGUMENT BUT TO BRIDGE DIFFERENCES. Second lesson learned. If I try hard to walk in the other person’s sneakers for a mile or two, I may discover that they have something to teach me. For example I have this fantasy that during the tax reform debate Nancy Pelosi is listening to Paul Ryan, and when it’s her turn to speak, she says, “You know Paul. I think you may be at least partly right about lowering corporate taxes so we are more competitive with China. How about we go out for a beer on the way home and help me better understand where you’re coming from?” And then according to this very optimistic scenario and after a couple beers, Paul would say to Nancy, “Hey Nance, off the record you understand, I get why you have to have a mandate to make health care for every American doable.” Third lesson learned. When I genuinely attempt to understand people who think differently than I do, they might become less defensive, stop thinking “if I give an inch, he’ll take a mile,” and begin to edge closer to seeing my point of view. “If you really want to change someone’s mind on a moral or political matter,” wrote Haidt, “you’ll need to see things from that person’s point of view as well as your own.” “Empathy,” he added, “is an antidote to righteousness, although it’s very hard to empathize across a moral divide.” Which brings me to the Christmas story. Whether you believe the story really happened or not, the story that takes place in Bethlehem is a timely example of what I learned in my interviewing. According to the story, God was not getting his point across to us intractable, obdurate, bullheaded, recalcitrant, stiffnecked, implacable humans so he made the ultimate empathic act and became human. Not that I see it from God’s point of view most of the time myself. But when I try to get into that story about God’s empathy for the human condition—for my condition—God has a better chance of getting through to me that where he’s coming from is really where I want to go.
TOM
HOLMES
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Time to find a different school-supply vendor I recently sent a request to the administrators of District 97 and District 200 to cease using Uline for the purchase of school supplies. Uline has a history of giving to alt-right candidates and has become a major donor to far-right causes (particularly after the SCOTUS ruling on
Citizens United). In fact, I saw a news article in the Chicago SunTimes, which stated that Richard Uline had given the single largest donation to the Judge Roy Moore Super-Pac! Time to find another vendor!
Mike Prendergast Oak Park
Chicago is more responsive than Oak Park
In a recent Chicago Tribune article it was reported that a Chicago alderman rejected and stopped further progress on a plan for three residential high-rises near Lake Michigan. The project would have created 1,400 condominiums and apartments. The alderman is quoted as saying, “The project is rejected and will not move forward in its current form.” The alderman wants the developer to meet with neighbors to resolve issues, such as more accessible green space, increasing signage, lighting, surveillance cameras and security, etc. The developer said, “With better listening on our part, we’ll be able to address the concerns the neighbors have and be able to move forward eventually.” Several years ago, based on neighborhood complaints, anoth-
er alderman stopped a proposed high-rise hotel condominium development across from Wrigley Field. Who thought Chicago would be so responsive to it citizens? When I chose to move to Oak Park many years ago, it was because Oak Park had a government that listened to its citizens and welcomed and supported citizen input. Chicago was a city where citizens had no voice and the “machine” ruled. It looks to me like things have changed and not for the better. We need a government that follows the intent of its own rules — whether zoning, planning or commission selection processes — and respects citizen and commission input and recommendations.
Robin Wienke Oak Park
We couldn’t do Ho Ho Ho without you
A heartfelt thank you to all the outstanding residents of Oak Park and River Forest. You went out of your way this Christmas season to bring pleasure to the tenants of The Oaks, Mills Tower, and the Ryan Farrelly Apartments. The tenants were moved by your generous spirit. Life today can be crazy and uncertain, but one thing is for sure: The people of Oak Park and River Forest are certainly givers. Please believe you will be remembered in our thoughts and prayer. We also want to recognize the women who organized this holi-
day gift-giving program. You are special people: Patty Henek, Val Woods and Mary Jane Welter. Without you there would be no Ho, Ho, Ho. Cheers to you and yours. And last, but not least, we’d like to express our sincere thanks to the Paoli Family and their friends. It would not be Christmas without you guys. Giving time is an act of love. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the folks at The Oaks, Mill Park Tower, and the Ryan Farrelly apartments.
Rosemary Kevil Serio Oak Park
V I E W P O I N T S
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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Political parties try to ‘pawn’ us off
ave both the Republican and Democratic parties lost their way? Neither party, it seems, has the will, a compelling message, or plan of action to attract new members. The American electorate breaks down into three groups: Conservative, Independent or Liberal. While they seem to be distinct and freestanding, there is a lot of overlap within and between the three groups. Few people consider themselves solidly conservative or staunchly liberal on every issue in American politics. Some independents have already opted out of the two-party option. Regardless of their political leanings, theirs are primarily “protest” votes, given to the Green Party or Libertarians. Yet the biggest protest is the staggering number of Americans who don’t vote. Typically, local and state elections draw many fewer eligible voters than national elections. In the most recent presidential election, a little more than half (58%) of eligible voters went to the polls. We don’t know the political leanings of the 42% who didn’t bother to vote. Are they conservative, independent, liberal, something else? The Republican Party claims to repre-
sent conservatives while the Democratic Party promotes a so-called progressive or liberal agenda. If asked to give a percentage breakdown for the three groups, one might suggest a 30-40-30 split among conservatives, independents, and liberals. Independents are the “swing voters,” who typically vote their interests — along economic, cultural and social lines. Both parties “preach to their respective choirs” of 30%, while trying to convince at least 20% of the Independents to support their platform. This simple algorithm is used to forge a “path to victory.” Unfortunately, both the Republicans and the Democrats have, essentially, over the years watered their campaign platform down to six words: “You want it. You got it.” Campaigning has become one big lie-fest. Nowadays, politicians lie about what they’re going to do for us and what their opponent has done to us. The new currency in politics is not truth or honesty. Instead, we suffer through somewhat duplicitous claims and counterclaims about their or their
opponent’s fitness for office. What they don’t deliver is, of course, caused by the other party’s obstructionism and posturing. The name-calling, fingerpointing, and excuse-making can get very intense between the two sides. In fact, currently, both parties are engaged in internecine battles within that threaten to destroy them. After years of internal debate, the Republican Party has firmly positioned itself as the party of states’ rights and the “forgotten white American.” Exploiting the seemingly intractable loyalty of African Americans and other minorities, the Democratic Party projects an empathy for “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” One party — Republican — seeks to aggressively speak to local and state issues with no coherent national strategy to bring Americans together. On the other hand, the Democrats articulate a robust national vision, with no effective plan to address the problems that the
KWAME SALTER
“tired and poor” face at the local and neighborhood levels. Sadly, We the People are left to be pawns in a game that resembles a bad reality TV show. The objective of today’s political parties is to maneuver us, during an election year, to tune into and buy their campaign messages. Big money is called in to drill contrived words into the hearts and minds of the low-information voter. The objective of both parties is to get their pawns to the voting booth with a head full of questionable facts and divisive messages. Even more sinister is the Republicans’ attempt to suppress the turnout of voters. Money, manipulations of news, and wedge issues rule the day. If our current two-party system is to survive, we need a new type of politician to emerge. Leaders of both parties must recognize that America is not a red or blue nation — it is a nation made up of diverse peoples with diverse interests. Any partisan leader must become a pragmatic leader willing to abide by the definition of politics as “the art of compromise.” As Bill Clinton reportedly once said, “We need fewer wedge issues that divide us and more web issues that connect us.”
NEW YEARS EVE SPECIAL MENU Starters (choice one)
Celebrate the holidays with family, friends & co-workers at Trattoria 225. We have some great dates available for holiday parties for groups of all sizes up to 150 people Contact Bill Quick at BillQ@trattoria225.com
Lobster Bisque Seared Crab Cakes with Dijon Remoulade Grilled Avocado Salad with Corn, Tomatoes, Romaine & Creamy Pesto Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Pecan-Fennel Vinaigrette Grilled Mozzarella & Prosciutto with Basil Pesto
Entrees (choice one)
Linguini with Mussels & Clams Chicken Saltimbocca with Sage, Peosciutto, Capers & Butter Grilled Fresh Water Trout with Caper Sauce, Arugula & Borlotti Beans Braised Lamb Shank with Wild Mushroom Risotto Lobster Ravioli with Grilled Prawns
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Chocolate Cheesecake Tiramisu Affogato Strawberry Mousse
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
O B I T U A R I E S
Patricia McNally, 90
Retired Hatch and Ascension teacher Patricia McNally (nee Ruane), 90, died on Dec. 17, 2017 in Oak Park. Born on April 18, 1927 in Chicago to James and Beatrice Ruane, she was a member of the 19th Century Club, the Oak Park-River Forest Infant Welfare Society, and a regular volunteer at the Oak Park Economy Shop. She taught for many years in Oak Park at Hatch Elementary School and Ascension Grade School. Patricia McNally was the wife of the late William R. McNally; the mother of Patricia, William PATRICIA MCNALLY (Mary Kissane), and James (Cathy Kaiser); grandmother of Erin McNally Livermore (Rob Livermore), Bill McNally (Jaci Kight), Brianne McNally Quaglia (Nathan Quaglia), Courtney Schlesser Mooney (Oliver Mooney), Colleen McNally, Lindsay Schlesser, Caroline McNally and Shannon McNally; and the great-grandmother of Robert, Cooper and Mary Kate Livermore, Emma and Billy McNally, Jack and Henry Quaglia and Rory Mooney. She was preceded in death by her parents, and one brother. Visitation was held on Dec. 21 at Drechsler, Brown, & Williams Funeral Home. A funeral
Mass was celebrated on Dec. 23 at Ascension Church, followed by interment at Queen of Heaven Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to Oak ParkRiver Forest Infant Welfare Society, 320 Lake St., Oak Park, 60302 are appreciated.
Sr. Mary Clemente Davlin, 88 Professor emerita, Dominican University
Dominican University lost a guiding light with the death of Sister Mary Clemente Davlin, OP on Dec. 19. Sr. Clemente died at the age of 88 at St. Dominic Villa in Hazel Green, Wisconsin. An alumna of Rosary College (precursor of Dominican University), she taught English at the university from 1970 to 2005, after which she served as professor emerita. She was also one of the longest-serving musicians with the Symphony of Oak Park-River Forest, for which she played the violin since 1970. Born on the South Side of Chicago in 1929, she graduated from Aquinas Dominican High School before attending Rosary and the University of Wisconsin Madison, where she received her master’s degree in English. She held a doctorate from the University of California Berkeley and wrote her dissertation on Piers Plowman, a 14thcentury allegorical narrative poem by William Langland.
At her 50th reunion in 2000, Sr. ClemMedieval literature was a lifelong passion and she published several works on ente received Dominican’s highest alumni Piers Plowman, including, most recently, honor, the Caritas Veritas Award. She was “A Journey into Love,” as well as articles the recipient of two Excellence in Teachon Dante and other medieval writers and ing Awards, in 1973 and 1997. Since the anartists. She was the recipient of a National nouncement of her death, the university’s Endowment for the Humanities fellow- social media platforms have been deluged ship as well as a Newberry Library-British with messages of condolence and reminisAcademy fellowship for her scholarly re- cences from the students and alumni she taught for almost 45 years. search. “Sr. Clemente was the embodiment of the Before joining Dominican, Sr. Clemente Dominican mission — charity taught at Edgewood College in and truth. A respected scholar, Wisconsin and Chicago high talented musician, beloved schools, including predomiteacher and mentor, she lived nantly black DuSable High life gracefully, and always in School on Chicago’s South the service of others,” said DoSide. At Dominican, she was minican University President particularly dedicated to unDonna Carroll. derrepresented students and She was a devoted friend organized a number of proand loving colleague to her grams to mentor them and fellow Sinsinawa Dominican support their success. The sisters, with whom she shared university’s annual diversity SR. MARY 61 years of religious life. Preleadership award is named in CLEMENTE DAVLIN ceded in death by her father, her honor. John Davlin, and mother, Mary “Sr. Clemente was forever kind and loving,” said Loretta Ragsdell, Margaret Ryan, Sr. Clemente is survived by a 1975 Dominican alumna. “She was my cousins, many friends, her Dominican sisfreshman English teacher and later my ters, and the hundreds of students she nurcolleague when I joined the faculty of the tured and with whom she shared her love university’s English Department and again of Chaucer and Shakespeare. The university will hold a memorial when she tutored at Malcolm X College, where I was teaching English. I was proud Mass for Sr. Clemente on Sunday, Jan. 21 to refer my students to my former — and fa- at 11 a.m. in Rosary Chapel. For more invorite — college English professor. My life formation, please contact the Office of has been greatly enriched because of the Alumnae/i Relations at 708-524-6286 or alumni@dom.edu. friendship she and I shared.”
W E D N E S D A Y
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
To run an obituary Please contact Ken Trainor by e-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com, before Monday at noon. Please include a photo if possible.
Send letters to the Editor Ken Trainor, Wednesday Journal 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 E-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com Please include name, address and daytime phone number for verification.
Growing Community.
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM New local ads this week
WEDNESDAY
CLASSIFIED
YOUR WEEKLY AD
REACHES SIX SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES: OAK PARK, RIVER FOREST, FOREST PARK, BROOKFIELD, RIVERSIDE, NORTH RIVERSIDE, AND PARTS OF CHICAGO
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HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI
Deadline is Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
Please Check Your Ad: The publisher will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion. Wednesday Journal Classified must be notified before the second insertion. The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement.
Place your ad online anytime at: www.OakPark.com/Classified/
BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 | BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 | BY E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@OAKPARK.COM | CLASSIFIEDS@RIVERFOREST.COM HELP WANTED AUTO PARTS PART-TIME DRIVER & INVENTORY NAPA Auto Parts Stores looking for dependable and dedicated employees for part-time Driver and Inventory Worker openings. Most important is a friendly demeanor, good attitude, and ability to work with people. Availability right now. If interested, call George or Jim at 708-447-4980. DRIVER PART TIME Local Company looking for part time parts driver/receiving clerk. Must be drug free & have valid DL. Must be able to lift 75lbs. hours 9am til 3pm. $12/hr .Email resume HR@sievertelectric.com. No phone calls ELECTRICIAN’S HELPER PART-TIME Part-time Electrician’s Helper. Must have own transportation and some tools. Call 708-738-3848. Wednesday Classified 3 Great Papers, 6 Communities
HELP WANTED •
SUBURBAN RENTALS
SUBURBAN RENTALS
FOREST PARK 3BR Vintage, large, sunny 3BR apartment available. Newly refinished hardwood floors. Central Air. Dishwasher. Laundry in bldg. Garage Parking available. 2 blks to Blue line, 3 blks to Madison St. downtown. $1600 plus util. Call 312-802-8291.
NO. RIVERSIDE–HOUSE
FOREST PARK/OAK PARK APT. Beautiful bright airy 1 bdrm, rehabbed, ready for you! Lovely large open floor plan. LR/DR combo, Kitchen, all appliances, 1/2 bath on 1st floor, 2nd floor loft w/private master suite w/vaulted ceilings skylight, ceiling fan, full bath, washer/ dryer, walk in closet. Parking included! Wood laminate floors, front patio, freshly painted, new carpet on stairs & wood blinds. Central A/C. Quiet safe neighborhood. 3 blks to Green line & Metra, walk to Lake/Harlem shopping. $1400 mo. 630-887-7229
HELP WANTED
DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR •
Wednesday Journal, Inc., is looking for an energetic self-starter for the parttime position of Distribution Coordinator. This person is responsible for data entry, coordinating drivers for pickup of both weekly and monthly publications, management of our warehouse space, fielding customer service calls and attending community events. This position requires: strong customer service and problem-solving skills, some college preferred, basic computer skills (Windows), a valid driver’s license, reliable and insured vehicle and the ability to lift 20-30 pound publication bundles. This position is 20-25 hours per week including Tuesday evenings. Paid vacation and holidays. Send resume to circulation@oakpark.com.
REAL ESTATE WANTED HAS YOUR HOME BECOME A BURDEN?
Repairs, Taxes?? At a need to sell, we buy houses to fix up for rental or resale, especially houses that need major work on them! “So, if your house has become a problem we might become the solution!” We Pay Cash, No Commissions
VICTORIAN GENERAL CONTRACTORS 708-484-8676
4 Bedroom, Newly Decorated
2330 SO. 10TH AVENUE
$1800.00 month. No Pets
DOLEJS REALTY 708-447-1000 OAK PARK FOREST PARK Studio, 1, and 2 BDRM. Heated. Dining room. Parking available. Walk to El. $625-$1250.
ROOMS FOR RENT AUSTIN CLEAN ROOM With fridge, micro. Nr Oak Park, Super Walmart, Food 4 Less, bus, & Metra. $116/wk and up. 773-637-5957
CITY RENTALS
Large Sunny Room with fridge & microwave. Near Green line, bus, Oak Park, 24 hour desk, parking lot. $101.00 week & up. New Mgmt. 773-378-8888
EAST GARFIELD 5RM APT Furnished apt for rent. Carpeted throughout. Alarm/security system. Must see it to appreciate it. Heat incl. Call 773-846-7495
ROOMMATE WANTED
www.oakrent.com
RIVERSIDE CONDO 88 PINE AVENUE
3 BR, spacious; Dining Room; Close to Riverside Elementary and High School, Burlington Train & Shopping. $1500 per month;
DOLEJS REALTY 708-447-1000
Happy New Year from
Wednesday Classified!
HOUSEMATE WANTED Seeking housemate in lovely Oak Park home. Must love dogs and be happy to walk dog daily, as well as doing a few errands each week. Looking for tidy, compassionate and fun-loving person as a companion. Any age, male or female. Would have your own bedroom and bathroom. Prefer person who does not drink alcohol, or drinks very little. Parking space available outside of garage. Starting February 21, 2018. References required. Call Pamela Tate 312-953-7930.
SUBURBAN RENTALS
M&M
property management, inc.
708-386-7355 • www.mmpropmgt.com 649 Madison Street, Oak Park Contact us for a complete list of available rentals throughout Oak Park and Forest Park.
Apartment listings updated daily at:
CHURCH FOR RENT OAK PARK CLASSIC CHURCH FOR RENT
Includes Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, Kitchen, Midweek Service/ Bible Study, Office Options. 708-8468-9776
SPACE FOR RENT 4807 SQ FT In beautiful neighborhood in Oak Park. Varied uses possible for any kind of not-for-profit. Offices, community center, school, day care, etc. Private Cell: 708-846-9776
OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT OAK PARK Office Suites 2 to 4 rooms
RIVER FOREST
2 Offices 220 to 1100 sq. ft. Store 1100 sq. ft.
Strand & Browne 708/488-0011
WANTED PARKING SPACE GARAGE SPACE WANTED Near Harlem Ave. Anywhere between North Ave. and Irving Park. Call 773-637-3847.
ITEMS FOR SALE GUITARS Martin D-15 Acoustic Steel Spring Guitar w/ case $400.00.
A&A ELECTRIC
Ceiling Fans Let an American Veteran do your work Installed We fix any electrical problem and do small jobs Home Re-wiring • New Plugs & Switches Added New circuit breaker boxes • Code violations corrected Service upgrades,100-200 amp • Garage & A/C lines installed Fast Emergency Service | Residential • Commercial • Industrial Free Home Evaluations | Lic. • Bonded • Ins. • Low Rates • Free Est.
708-409-0988 • 708-738-3848
Sr. Discounts • 30 Yrs. Exp | Servicing Oak Park and all surrounding suburbs
PETS
CLEANING
MIXED BREED SCHNOODLE PUPPIES 5 adorable, 3-month old, papertrained puppies. 3 males and 2 females. Mixed-breed Schnoodles at $300 each. Call Barbara 773-501- 9524.
Pam’s A+ Cleaning Service
While you’re away, your pets are okay . . . at home
cat calls
Oak Park’s Original Pet Care Service – Since 1986
Daily dog exercising Complete pet care in your home )PVTF TJUUJOH t 1MBOU DBSF Bonded References
524-1030
CARPENTRY
Grosso Carpentry &
Home Remodeling Custom Carpentry, Decks Kichens, Baths, Basements licensed / bonded / insured
708-363-8379
Callabero Spanish Classical Guitar $120.00
gabegrosso@sbcglobal.net
Call 708-383-0753 btwn 10am & 5pm
CHIMNEYS & FIREPLACES
WANTED TO BUY WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, flags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers-lead plastic-other misc. toys. Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400
LOST & FOUND Find your new apartment this Saturday from 10 am – 4pm at 35 Chicago Avenue. Or call us toll free at 1-888-328-8457 for an appointment.
ELECTRICAL
FOUND: Jeep Key Jeep key found 12/9 on 1100 block of Circle. Identify key ring with it. Call 708-420-3442 to claim.
You Have Jobs. We Have Readers! Find The Best Employees With Wednesday Classified! Call 708/613-3333
Oak Park Chimney and Fireplace Contractors Inspections by appt. Chimney Sweeping Dampers Serviced Gas Logs & Lighters Rain Caps & Screens Service & Repairs
(708) 383-6589 (708) 906-5027 oakparkchimney@gmail.com Serving Chicago’s Western Suburbs Safely Since 1983
deddeed
Fall is here! Time to make a change? Take a moment to preview our detailed cleaning. For a free esimate please call 708-937-9110
ELECTRICAL– LOW VOLTAGE KINETIC KONCEPTS A division of Kinetic Energy Inc, is a local, residential low voltage specialist in home networking, smart TV installation and programming, landscape and under-cabinet lighting. Call for free estimate.
(708) 639-5271
FLOORS KLIS FLOORING INC.
New hardwood flooring installation & pergo. Sanding, re-finishing, staining. Low prices, insured. Call: 773-671-4996 www.klisflooring.com
GARAGE/GARAGE DOOR Our 71st Year
Garage Doors &
Electric Door Openers
Sales & Service Free Estimates
(708) 652-9415 www.forestdoor.com
Attention!
Home improvement pros!
Don’t be caught short… reach the people making the decisions… Advertise your home improvement business in Wednesday Classified. Call 708/613-3342
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
CLASSIFIED HANDYMAN CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE Drywall Repair • Painting Fans Installed • Carpentry Trim Gutter Cleaning • Window Repair
FREE ESTIMATES Excellent References No Job Too Small
(708) 613-3333 • FAX: (708) 467-9066 • E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@OAKPARK.COM | CLASSIFIEDS@RIVERFOREST.COM
PAINTING & DECORATING
PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICE
ALEX
Chertkow and Chertkow (22019) Attorneys for Petitioner 1525 East 53rd Street Chicago, Illinois 60615
LEGAL NOTICE STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division. In re the marriage of Ramiro Restrepo, Petitioner and Mandelin Gonzalez, Respondent, Case No. 17 D 007297. The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 16, 2018, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.
PAINTING & DECORATING
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%,%#42)#!, (!.$9-!. 3%26)#%3
Exterior and Interior All Work Guaranteed 35 Years Experience Call 708-567-4680
!LL 4YPES OF (OME 2EPAIRS 2EPAIRS )NSTALLATIONS 0ROFESSIONAL 1UALITY 7ORK !T 2EASONABLE 0RICES 0ROMPT 3ERVICE 3MALL *OBS A 3PECIALTY
Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/Plaster Repair Low Cost
Mike’s Home Repair
PLASTERING– STUCCOING
CLASSIC PAINTING 708.749.0011
Drywall H Painting H Tile Plumbing H Electric H Floors Windows H Doors H Siding Ask Us What We Don’t Do
708-296-2060
McNulty Plastering & Stucco Co.
Small & big work. Free estimates. Complete Plaster, Stucco & Re-Coating Services
708/386-2951 t ANYTIME Work Guaranteed
HAULING
Licensed, Bonded, Insured, & EPA Certified Expert craftsmanship for over 50 years
BASEMENT CLEANING
WINDOWS
Appliances & Furniture Removal Pickup & Delivery. 708-848-9404
HEATING/ AIR CONDITIONING
BROKEN SASH CORDS?
HEATING AND APPLIANCE EXPERT Furnaces, Boilers and Space Heaters Refrigerators Ranges • Ovens Washer • Dryers Rodding Sewers Lic/Bonded 25 yrs experience
CALL THE WINDOW MAN! (708) 452-8929
Licensed
FREE SERVICE CALL WITH REPAIR AND SENIOR/VETERAN DISCOUNT.
STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division. In re the marriage of Marisol Contreras, Petitioner and Luis Contreras, Respondent, Case No. 2017D-005745.
STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division. In re the marriage of Felipa Ramirez, Petitioner and Angel Gonzalez, Respondent, Case No. 2017D-010693.
The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending.
The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending.
Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 16, 2018, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.
Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 29, 2018, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.
DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk.
DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk.
Published in Wednesday Journal 12/13, 12/20, 12/27/2017
Published in Wednesday Journal 12/27/2017, 1/3, 1/10/2018
LEGAL NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,� as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D17152952 on December 11, 2017. Under the Assumed Business Name of LIVELIHOOD with the business located at: 836 LATHROP AVENUE UNIT 1, FOREST PARK, IL 60130. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: MARLEE HONCOOP, 836 LATHROP AVENUE UNIT 1 FOREST PARK, IL 60130
Chertkow and Chertkow (22019) Attorneys for Petitioner 1525 East 53rd Street Chicago, Illinois 60615
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Chertkow and Chertkow (22019) Attorneys for Petitioner 1525 East 53rd Street Chicago, Illinois 60615
STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division. In re the marriage of Elisabeth Velasquez, Petitioner and Pedro Hernandez, Respondent, Case No. 2017D-010467. The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 22, 2018, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition. DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk. Published in Wednesday Journal 12/20, 12/27/2017, 1/3/2018
Published in Forest Park Review 12/20, 12/27/2017, 1/3/2018
PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,� as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D17152949 on December 11, 2017. Under the Assumed Business Name of IBERIA AND BEYOND with the business located at: 850 DES PLAINES AVENUE UNIT 506, FOREST PARK, IL 60130. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: IVAN R. MORENO 850 DES PLAINES AVENUE UNIT 506 FOREST PARK, IL 60130. Published in Forest Park Review 12/20, 12/27/2017, 1/3/2018
PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,� as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D17152924 on December 7, 2017. Under the Assumed Business Name of REALTY DIGIT with the business located at: 2431 HIGHLAND AVENUE, BERWYN, IL 60402. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: CARL GONZALEZ 2431 HIGHLAND AVENUE BERWYN, IL 60402
PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,� as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D17152975 on December 13, 2017. Under the Assumed Business Name of CHICAGO TAX CONSULTANT LEAGUE with the business located at: 111 W. JACKSON BLVD. SUITE #17092, CHICAGO, IL 60604. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: MELISSA DAVIS 207 GREEN ST. APT. #1 MAYWOOD, IL 60153.
Published in Wednesday Journal 12/13, 12/20, 12/27/2017
Published in Forest Park Review 12/20, 12/27/2017, 1/3/2018
DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk. Published in Wednesday Journal 12/20, 12/27/2017, 1/3/2018
LEGAL NOTICE STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division. In re the marriage of Glenda Rosales, Petitioner and Gerardo Rivas, Respondent, Case No. 2017 D 005796. The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 16, 2018, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition. DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk. Published in Wednesday Journal 12/20, 12/27/2017, 1/3/2018
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION CITIMORTGAGE, INC. Plaintiff, -v.TAISHA L. FOSTER, NEIGHBORHOOD ASSISTANCE CORPORATION OF AMERICA, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 17 CH 008084 611 N HUMPHREY AVE OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 18, 2017, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 26, 2018, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 611 N HUMPHREY AVE, OAK PARK, IL 60302
REAL ESTATE FORÂ SALE
REAL ESTATE FORÂ SALE
Property Index No. 16-05-319-0290000. 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 or contact Plaintiff’s attorney: CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-17-07208. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-17-07208 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 17 CH 008084 TJSC#: 37-9724 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. I3070374
OAK PARK, IL 60304 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on June 29, 2017, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on February 2, 2018, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1005 S. CUYLER AVENUE, OAK PARK, IL 60304 Property Index No. 16-17-308-0230000. 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. Where a sale of real estate is made to satisfy a lien prior to that of the United States, the United States shall have one year from the date of sale within which to redeem, except that with respect to a lien arising under the internal revenue laws the period shall be 120 days or the period allowable for redemption under State law, whichever is longer, and in any case in which, under the provisions of section 505 of the Housing Act of 1950, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1701k), and subsection (d) of section 3720 of title 38 of the United States Code, the right to redeem does not arise, there shall be no right of redemption. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/ 18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, examine the court file or contact Plaintiff’s attorney: CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-17-02460. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION CIT BANK, N.A. Plaintiff, -v.JOSEPH L. SCOTT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA– DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Defendants 17 CH 003425 1005 S. CUYLER AVENUE
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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In print • Online • Available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year OakPark.com | RiverForest.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
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You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-17-02460 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 17 CH 003425 TJSC#: 37-11026 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. I3071513
the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. Where a sale of real estate is made to satisfy a lien prior to that of the United States, the United States shall have one year from the date of sale within which to redeem, except that with respect to a lien arising under the internal revenue laws the period shall be 120 days or the period allowable for redemption under State law, whichever is longer, and in any case in which, under the provisions of section 505 of the Housing Act of 1950, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1701k), and subsection (d) of section 3720 of title 38 of the United States Code, the right to redeem does not arise, there shall be no right of redemption. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/ 18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, contact The sales clerk, SHAPIRO KREISMAN & ASSOCIATES, LLC, 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301, Bannockburn, IL 60015, (847) 2911717 For information call between the hours of 1pm–3pm. Please refer to file number 16-080428. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. SHAPIRO KREISMAN & ASSOCIATES, LLC 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301 Bannockburn, IL 60015 (847) 291-1717
E-Mail: ILNotices@logs.com Attorney File No. 16-080428 Attorney Code. 42168 Case Number: 16 CH 11369 TJSC#: 37-10808 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. I3070336
If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/ 18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, examine the court file or contact Plaintiff’s attorney: CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-16-13192. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-16-13192 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 16 CH 014054 TJSC#: 37-10777 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. I3070266
tion to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 12-35-101-026-0000, 12-35101-027-0000. Commonly known as 2344 Trumbull Avenue, River Grove, IL 60171. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection For information call the Sales Clerk at Plaintiff’s Attorney, The Wirbicki Law Group, 33 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603. (312) 3609455 WA17-0273. INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3070298
The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/ 18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, contact Plaintiff’s attorney: HEAVNER, BEYERS & MIHLAR, LLC, 111 East Main Street, DECATUR, IL 62523, (217) 4221719 Please refer to file number 2120-10995. If the sale is not confirmed for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the purchase price paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. HEAVNER, BEYERS & MIHLAR, LLC 111 East Main Street DECATUR, IL 62523 (217) 422-1719 Fax #: (217) 422-1754 CookPleadings@hsbattys.com Attorney File No. 2120-10995 Attorney Code. 40387 Case Number: 15 CH 12523 TJSC#: 37-9616 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. I3066341
OWNERS AND NON RECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 16 CH 9914 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Monday, January 15, 2018 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-15-205-016-0000. Commonly known as 1022 South 11th Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection For information call the Sales Clerk at Plaintiff’s Attorney, The Wirbicki Law Group, 33 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603. (312) 3609455 WA16-0511. INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3069798
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC Plaintiff, -v.VALERIA GRIFFIN A/K/A VALERIA E. HARRIS A/K/A VELERIA HARRIS A/K/A VALERIA E. GRIFFIN, LUCILLE CADE, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Defendants 16 CH 11369 235 49TH 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 January 18, 2017, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 9, 2018, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 235 49TH AVENUE, Bellwood, IL 60104 Property Index No. 15-08-220-0210000. The real estate is improved with a single family residence. The judgment amount was $147,797.86. 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
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC Plaintiff, -v.MIGUEL SANCHEZ, VILLAGE OF MAYWOOD, STATE OF ILLINOIS Defendants 16 CH 014054 407 S. 17TH AVENUE MAYWOOD, IL 60153 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on June 23, 2017, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 11, 2018, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 407 S. 17TH AVENUE, MAYWOOD, IL 60153 Property Index No. 15-10-410-0020000. 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).
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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR INDYMAC INDX MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2006-AR8, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES 2006AR8; Plaintiff, vs. BARBARA A. PODESZWA; DANIEL H. PODESZWA; MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES, LLC; UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF BARBARA A. PODESZWA, IF ANY; UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF DANIEL H. PODESZWA, IF ANY; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON RECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 17 CH 8206 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Friday, January 19, 2018 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auc-
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION LAKEVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC Plaintiff, -v.TRINETTA S. ROBERTSON AKA TRINETTA ROBERTSON AKA TRINETTA SMITH AKA TRINETTA STRICKLAND Defendants 15 CH 12523 1612 S. 16TH AVENUE MAYWOOD, IL 60153 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 20, 2017, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 23, 2018, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1612 S. 16TH AVENUE, MAYWOOD, IL 60153 Property Index No. 15-15-227-0220000. The real estate is improved with a single family residence. The judgment amount was $201,362.77. 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. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale.
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR FREMONT HOME LOAN TRUST 2006-E, MORTGAGE-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-E; Plaintiff, vs. ANGELA L. HUNTER; VILLAGE OF MAYWOOD; MIDLAND FUNDING LLC; UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF ANGELA L. HUNTER, IF ANY; UNKNOWN
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC D/ B/A CHAMPION MORTGAGE COMPANY Plaintiff, vs. UNKNOWN SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE OR TRUSTEES, OF THE DOROTHY D. VERGOLIAS TRUST DATED SEPTEMBER 10, 1992; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants, 17 CH 8827 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Monday, January 15, 2018 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-21-409-018-0000. Commonly known as 1853 NORFOLK AV E N U E , WESTCHESTER, IL 60154. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC, One
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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In print • Online • Available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year OakPark.com | RiverForest.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (614) 220-5611. 17-030552 F2 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3069804
NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 18, 2017, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 22, 2018, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 2312 SOUTH 21ST AVENUE, BROADVIEW, IL 60155 Property Index No. 15-22-111-0640000. 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 or contact Plaintiff’s attorney:
CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-17-06637. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-17-06637 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 17 CH 007554 TJSC#: 37-9716 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. I3070056
The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC, One East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (614) 220-5611. 17-017414 F2 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3070153
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION NEW PENN FINANCIAL LLC DBA SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING; Plaintiff, vs. HORRIS MACK; BMO HARRIS BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS SUCCESSOR BY MERGER TO M & I BANK FSB, FIRST BANK AS SUCCESSOR AND INTEREST TO MAYWOOD PROVISO STATE BANK; UNKNOWN OWNERS, GENERALLY AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 17 CH 2032 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause on June 5, 2017 Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-15-107-013-0000. Commonly known as 934 S. 22nd Avenue, Bellwood, IL 60104. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection For information call Mr. Anthony Porto at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Kluever & Platt, L.L.C., 65 East Wacker Place, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (312) 236-0077. INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3069866 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION NEW PENN FINANCIAL LLC D/B/A SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING Plaintiff, -v.KILA ENGLISH, ADVANTAGE ASSETS II, INC. Defendants 17 CH 007554 2312 SOUTH 21ST AVENUE BROADVIEW, IL 60155
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR GSR MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-OA1, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-OA1; Plaintiff, vs. JUAN M. FAVELA AKA JUAN FAVELA; MARIA FAVELA; MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC AS NOMINEE FOR COUNTRYWIDE BANK, N.A., ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS; Defendants, 17 CH 7658 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Thursday, January 18, 2018 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 12-28-319-035-0000. Commonly known as 2548 George Street, Franklin Park, IL 60131. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds.
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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION US BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION; Plaintiff, vs. JUAN C. ALBIZURES; JENNIFER C. ALBIZURES; ILLINOIS HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 14 CH 15739 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-04-206-080-0000. Commonly known as 1510 North 31st Avenue, Melrose Park, IL 60160. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC, One East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (614) 220-5611. 15-030019 F2 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3069871
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION J.P. MORGAN MORTGAGE ACQUISITION CORP. Plaintiff, vs. GLORIA HORNBAKER, CURRENT SPOUSE, IF ANY, OF GLORIA HORNBAKER, UNKNOWN OWNERS, GENERALLY, AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS. Defendants, 11 CH 4837 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause on October 24, 2017 Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Thursday, January 25, 2018 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 12-30-204-025-0000. Commonly known as 3048 Martin Ave, Melrose Park, IL 60164. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection For information call Mr. Anthony Porto at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Kluever & Platt, L.L.C., 65 East Wacker Place, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (312) 236-0077. INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3070910 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC Plaintiff, -v.MAURICE JOHNSON, SHEILA A. JOHNSON, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA–DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
Defendants 15 CH 009405 2304 S. 16TH AVENUE BROADVIEW, IL 60153 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 27, 2017, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 29, 2018, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 2304 S. 16TH AVENUE, BROADVIEW, IL 60153 Property Index No. 15-22-208-0210000. The real estate is improved with a single family 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. Where a sale of real estate is made to satisfy a lien prior to that of the United States, the United States shall have one year from the date of sale within which to redeem, except that with respect to a lien arising under the internal revenue laws the period shall be 120 days or the period allowable for redemption under State law, whichever is longer, and in any case in which, under the provisions of section 505 of the Housing Act of 1950, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1701k), and subsection (d) of section 3720 of title 38 of the United States Code, the right to redeem does not arise, there shall be no right of redemption. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.
If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/ 18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, examine the court file or contact Plaintiff’s attorney: CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-15-03674. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-15-03674 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 15 CH 009405 TJSC#: 37-10055 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. I3070416
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S P O R T S
2017 SPORTS YEAR IN REVIEW
Night of Champions On June 20, Wednesday Journal hosted its annual “Night of Champions” at Dominican University’s Lund Auditorium in River Forest. In its third year, the event functions as an opportunity to honor the accomplishments of elite high school teams, athletes and coaches from the Oak Park and River Forest communities. In addition to a pro sports memorabilia auction, refreshments and food, live music, and speakers from the world of pro sports, co-host Doris Davenport and myself proudly presented the following award winners:
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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2017 AWARD WINNERS Hall of Fame Award Winner: Dave Hogan, Fenwick baseball coach Coach of the Year (Male Team): Matt Maloney, OPRF boys basketball; Don August, OPRF boys volleyball Program of the Year: Fenwick boys and girls water polo Male Team of the Year: Fenwick basketball Female Team of the Year: OPRF softball Male Athlete of the Year: Jacob Keller, Fenwick football/basketball; Jason Renteria, OPRF wrestling Female Athlete of the Year: Chardonnay Harris, OPRF softball; Natalie Ungaretti, OPRF swimming Hall of Fame: Jim Strickland, pro boxing trainer Volunteer of the Year: Marie Lillig, Fenwick sports Excellence Award: Fenwick football Breakout Athlete of the Year: DJ Steward, Fenwick basketball
File photos
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Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
S P O R T S
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM 3A ended with a 29-26 loss to Montini in the quarterfinals. Seniors Jason Renteria (41-2), the 3A individual state champion at 132, Jaime Hernandez (19-3 at 138), Drew Matticks (33-8 at 170), Tariq Thurman (23-11 at 182) and Christopher Middlebrooks (27-4 at 285) notched wins against Montini (22-3). “We kind of hugged each other and cried,” said Renteria, who is wrestling at the University of Nebraska. “We knew that was going to be the last time we were going to be on a team together.” Prior to the team state tournament, OPRF had five individual all-staters — Renteria, state runner-up Tony Madrigal (39-3 at 126), third-place Matticks, and fifth-place Hernandez and senior Brian Holloway (3311 at 160) — among 10 qualifiers.
2017 SPORTS YEAR IN REVIEW
Friars’ pool dynasty intact
File photos
Fenwick guard DJ Steward (21) scored a game-high 26 points in the Class 3A championship game. (Right) OPRF senior forward Cameron Gross led the Huskies to 24 wins.
2017
Year to remember from page 48
Huskies’ Sweet Repeat! The OPRF girls softball team cemented its place in Illinois and Huskie lore by winning a second straight Class 4A state title. Catcher Mariah Scott hit a towering solo home run in the top of the seventh to power the Huskies to a 1-0 win over Lincoln-Way East in a riveting championship game. OPRF pitcher Chardonnay Harris, now a freshman on the Auburn University softball team, fanned 16 of the 21 outs she recorded in a complete game, one-hit effort. “I love high school. I know everyone says that, but I feel like I’ve just had a different experience,” Harris said after the final. “To go back-to-back, with these girls and the ones before, it’s just been a dream come true.” During their spectacular two-year run, the Huskies went 74-3. Elite players Maeve Nelson (.514 batting average, 12 HR, 61 RBI, .603 on-base percentage) and Fiona Girardot (.603 batting average, 6 HR, 59 RBI, 118 total bases), who have committed to Northwestern and Wisconsin, respectively, will lead the Huskies’ bid for a three-peat in the spring. Veteran coach Mel Kolbusz is as good as it gets in the dugout.
Fenwick hoops, second in 3A So close, yet so far. The Fenwick boys basketball team lost 69-67 in overtime to
Morgan Park in the Class 3A state final at the Peoria Civic Center. Fenwick’s freshman sensation DJ Steward shot a perfect game, going 10-for-10 from the field (including a pair of 3-pointers) and 2-for-2 at the free throw line to finish with a game-high 26 points. He also had seven rebounds and four steals in one of the best performances by a freshman in state finals history. “We’re very disappointed because we had a chance to win a state championship and we didn’t make plays down the stretch,” Fenwick coach Rick Malnati said. “We’re not disappointed in anything else. We had a tremendous season with a lot of great memories.”
Fenwick (30-5) turned in a historic campaign. Led by seniors Jacob Keller, Jamal Nixon and the precocious Steward, the Friars won a school-record 30 games, plus the John Malone tourney, Chicago Catholic League North Division, regional, sectional and supersectional championships.
OPRF wrestling dethroned The Huskies’ bid for a fourth straight IHSA State Dual Tournament title in Class
Jason Renteria
Fenwick finished third and fourth at the girls and boys water polo state tournament, respectively, upholding the best high school winning tradition in Oak Park. On the girls’ side, Fenwick lost its bid for a second straight state title with an 11-6 loss to Naperville Central. In their season finale, the Friars rebounded with an 8-5 win over Mother McAuley in the third-place game. Kelly Frumkin, now playing water polo at Santa Clara University, led Fenwick (26-7-1) with three goals against the Mighty Macs. “Losing Kelly will hurt, but only three seniors are graduating,” Fenwick coach Jack Wagner said. “This season has given a super young team like ours a ton of experience. We’ll be back with a vengeance next year.” Fenwick (25-10) started the boys state tournament well with a 10-9 victory against Barrington in the quarterfinals; however, the Friars lost 12-11 to New Trier in the semifinals and 11-6 to Naperville Central in the third-place game. “We’re obviously bummed about fourth [place],” Fenwick coach Kyle Perry said, “but we’ve come a long way — a lot of the guys on this team had never played polo before coming to Fenwick.”
Ungaretti makes another splash Regardless of what happens next season, OPRF junior Natalie Ungaretti has already established herself as one of the most decorated swimmers in program history. As a sophomore, Ungaretti won the 50-yard freestyle state title and placed second in the 100 freestyle in leading the Huskies to a fourth-place finish. Ungaretti recorded even faster times in both sprint races this season. She finished third in the 50 free with a time of 23.06 seconds (better than her 2016 state-title winning time of 23.31) and fourth in the 100-yard free at 50.34 (better than her 2016 state meet runner-up finish of 50.90). “Natalie and Alex [Gill] are so talented,” OPRF swimmer Sara Segal said about the Huskies’ leaders. “They always do an amazing job at state. I really enjoyed the good energy our entire team had all season.” The Huskies turned in a solid performance at the state meet, hosted by New Trier, finishing 16th with 28 points in the team standings.
S P O R T S
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
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pair of top-six showings at the track and field state finals. Loud finished fifth in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4 minutes, 17.10 seconds, and was sixth in the 3200 run at 9:14.22. He accounted for nine of the 10 points for OPRF, which tied with five other schools for 30th place in the state finals standings. Loud, a freshman on the University of Illinois track and field team, earned sixtime IHSA All-State honors (5 in track, 1 in cross-country) at OPRF.
Huskies tear up track
File photos
Fenwick water polo coach Kyle Perry advises his team. The Friars finished fourth in the state in 2017.
Huskies show spirit of ‘76 The OPRF boys basketball team fell one win shy of the program’s first sectional title since 1976. After an impressive win against 2016 Class 4A state champion Curie in the semifinals, the Huskies lost 73-55 to eventual state champion Whitney Young in the Proviso East Sectional final. The Huskies (24-7) had a banner season by winning the Riverside-Brookfield Thanksgiving Classic, West Suburban Conference Silver Division and Fenton Regional. “I’m very proud of these guys, and most importantly, of the seniors who played for the letters on the front of their jersey rather than the back,” OPRF coach Matt Maloney said. “The brotherhood that grew in the locker room from November to the end of the season was remarkable.”
Hogan joins 800 club Although the Fenwick baseball team closed the season with a lackluster, errorfilled 8-2 loss to New Trier in the Lane Sectional final, the Friars produced another winning season. Longtime head coach Dave Hogan reached the 800-win mark with a victory against De La Salle on May 4.
Anthony Cavalieri, Harrison Hayes, Mike Cerceo, Casey O’Laughlin, Jack Grace, and Alex Pup flourished in the Friars’ potent lineup, while pitchers Justin Sosa, Marty Stein, Ian Crowell, and K.J. Slepicka anchored the rotation. Under Hogan’s guidance, the Fenwick
baseball program has reached its zenith in recent years. Last season, the Friars advanced all the way to the Class 3A quarterfinals. In 2015, Fenwick won conference and regional championships. The Friars won a sectional title in 2014.
Blazers’ bragging rights The Trinity basketball team pulled off the challenge of beating rivals Fenwick and OPRF this winter. Off to a 7-3 start overall under head coach Mike Valente, Trinity topped the Friars 53-50 on Nov. 28 and OPRF 65-64 in overtime on Dec. 7. In the latter matchup, Alex Fanning led Trinity, recording a double-double of 28 points and 14 rebounds. University of California, Santa Barbara-bound Lauren Lee added 19 points and Kelcie Leyden had 11 points for the Blazers. “It’s fun because I have a lot of friends who go to OPRF,” said Lee, who lives in River Forest. “I had many of them here at this game and it was good to see everybody.”
Elite 8 for OPRF volleyball Employing a team-centric approach all season, the OPRF boys volleyball team won 25 matches and finished among the top eight teams in the state. Seniors Ben Hancock, Evan Beebe, Elijah Peppers, Mike Saleh and junior Jack Valenti led OPRF to the state quarterfinals, where Lake Park defeated the Huskies 27-25, 25-17. “We have a lot to be proud of this season,” OPRF coach Don August said. “This was a great group of guys who preached playing for something bigger than yourself, which was playing for the team. I think we’re going to be pretty good next year, too.”
A Loud legacy OPRF senior Irwin Loud closed out his accomplished high school career with a
The OPRF girls track and field team tied Whitney Young (17 points each) to place 15th at the Class 3A track and field state finals in May. Held at O’Brien Stadium on the Eastern Illinois campus in Charleston, senior Ella Rosa came in fifth in the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.90 seconds. Junior Destiny White recorded a time of 57.64 in the 400, good for sixth place. OPRF senior Lila Wine cleared 11 feet to place eighth in the pole vault. The Huskies’ highest finish came in the triple jump with sophomore Rachel Rowe finishing Lauren Lee fourth (38-08.25) and freshman Passion Worsham 11th (37-01).
File photos
OPRF state medalists Rachel Rowe and Destiny White at the track and field state tournament on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
EDGE DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY
Winter Soccer
Training Academy
Details and online registration available at chicagoedgesc.com or call 978-799-5840
January 14 thru March 18 at Longfellow School Edge Academy is a weekly soccer training program for players in Kindergarten through 5th grade. Chicago Edge professional coaches help players develop their skills in a camp-like atmosphere.
48
Wednesday Journal, December 27, 2017
@ @OakPark
SPORTS
Night of Champions 45
2017 Highlights 46-47
2017 YEAR IN REVIEW
Winning traditions define 2017 OPRF softball and wrestling, Fenwick water polo and basketball lead the highlight reel
By MARTY FARMER
T
Sports Editor
he Oak Park and River Forest High School softball team and Huskie wrestler Jason Renteria both celebrated state titles in 2017. Winning went well beyond champions, however, as several OPRF, Fenwick and Trinity teams tasted their share of success this year. Here’s a look back at another remarkable high school sports year in our town: See 2017 on page 46
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