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Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez worked hard for his community in 2017 to apply for, and receive, millions of dollars in grant money to keep a balanced budget and maintain city services. In 2018 he has his sights set on bringing business and manufacturing back into the South Suburb.
Chicago Heights Mayor Reflects On 2017 And Sets Big Goals For Next Year More Inside Community > PAGE 3
w Marty “Big Dog” Mercer will give a
free performance at the Lansing Library
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The future of healthcare If Trump wants nuclear war, virtually no one can stop him Holiday Dinner A Success: Holiday Dinner A Success: First Artifacts inTownship Place atThornton National Army Museum Thornton Gives Back Township Gives Back
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going to be very intimate because everybody is going to be sitting right in front of us.” For more information about Marty Mercer, visit bigdogmercer.com. For information about the performance at the Lansing Library visit lansingpl.org.
Chicago Heights Mayor Reflects On 2017 And Sets Big Goals For Next Year
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The Lansing Library will host a free performance by blues musician Marty Mercer on Jan. 5 at 6:30 p.m. Marty “Big Dog” Mercer has been sharing his heartfelt, southpaw blues with Chicago for nearly two decades. Mercer was recently inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame in 2016. Mercer has worked with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Billy Branch & the S.O.B's, L.V. Banks, and several other big names in the blues genre. As a resident of the South Suburbs, Mercer jumped at the chance to perform a free show close to home. “The first Friday of every month [the Lansing Library] offers a live music performance free to the public,” said Mercer. “When I found out about it, it’s really close to where I live so I decided I’d contact them.” Audience members can expect to see a full-scale performance from Big Dog Mercer. He will be playing with his full, five-piece, band. “I play guitar and I’m the lead singer, we’ve got bass, drums, and we’ll have trombone and trumpet with us as well,” said Mercer. The 6-foot-10-inch man owns every stage he walks on and his personality is as large as his stature. No matter where he plays and no matter how many people come to watch, Mercer always gives one hundred percent to his performances. “We give the same performance whether there are three people in an audience or three thousand Marty “Big Dog” Mercer will give a free perforpeople in an audience,” said Mercer. “It will be mance at the Lansing Library on Jan. 5. Photo much quieter, obviously it’s in a library and it’s Credit: Provided by Marty Mercer
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By: Katherine Newman
“The challenges we face are probably the same challenges a lot of the communities face, not only in the South Suburbs but throughout the state of Illinois, it’s trying to deliver the same service with reduced funding,"
TRAVEL
A Doctor’s Tips to Stay Healthy While Traveling (StatePoint) Travel can sometimes feel more daunting than relaxing, between flight delays and bumper-to-bumper traffic. What’s more, it has potential health impacts, including leg swelling and increased risk for cold and flu. “Air travel, long drives, less sleep and added stress can weaken your immune system at a time when you’re around more people and susceptible to illness,” says nationally renowned natural health physician and best-selling author, Dr. Fred Pescatore. Dr. Pescatore is sharing a few tips to help boost health while traveling.
Feed Your Immune System Being around so many people in tight spaces means you may be more at risk of catching a bug. “Take precautions before boarding your flight -- wash your hands frequently, bring hand sanitizer with you and snack on antioxidant-packed vegetables like broccoli, carrots and sweet potatoes to keep your immune system strong,” says Dr. Pescatore.
Fend off Fatigue The American Sleep Association estimates that nearly 93 percent of travelers experience jet lag and it can be severe enough to interfere with vacation plans. “Sleep disturbances
make you feel tired, nauseous and irritable -- not a good combination with a packed travel itinerary,” says Dr. Pescatore. A peer-reviewed study shows that daily supplementation with the super-antioxidant, Pycnogenol (Pic-noj-en-all), reduces jet lag symptoms by nearly 50 percent. “Pycnogenol, a natural botanical extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, is a traveler’s best friend. You can spend
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Big Dog Marty Mercer Will Perform at Lansing Library By: Katherine Newman
January 3 2018
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less time feeling fatigued and more quality time enjoying your destination,” says Dr. Pescatore. Boost Circulation Long periods of immobility in a cramped space like a car or plane contribute to swelling and fluid accumulation throughout the legs. Known as edema, it can be uncomfortable and may feel worse after travel. Dr. Pescatore recommends taking shorts breaks to move around on road trips and to stand up and stretch during long flights to keep blood circulating and reduce swelling. “Pycnogenol is also shown to promote circulation and studies show its benefits for reducing swelling and discomfort during long-distance travel. Again, it’s a good supplement for travel,” he says. Pycnogenol is one of the most researched ingredients on the market with decades of studies showing its benefits for a variety of health applications. It’s available in more than 700 dietary supplements, multi-vitamins and health products worldwide. For more information, visit pycnogenol.com. “Drink plenty of water, use a supplement for a beneficial boost and remember to enjoy yourself. Yes, even the travel to and from your destination can be fun,” says Dr. Pescatore. On your next vacation, ensure better health by taking simple steps.
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avid Gonzalez was born and raised in Chicago Heights and in 2011 he was elected Mayor of the South Suburb. Over the last six years, he has used his knowledge as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to ensure that Chicago Heights maintains a reasonable budget without sacrificing city services. Mayor Gonzalez is a full-time CPA and Managing Partner of GW & Associates, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants. He has been handling municipal finance for the last twenty years. “I just felt that I could take the knowledge that I’ve accumulated over the last twenty years and bring it back to Chicago Heights and start looking at how we can do things differently in the South Suburbs,” said Mayor Gonzalez. “What can we do to get from point A to point B that's going to improve the quality of life for our residents? Knowing the situation that we all face here, with high unemployment and high tax rates.” As Mayor, his priority is serving the residents and businesses in Chicago Heights. “The challenges we face are probably the same challenges a lot of the communities face, not only in the South Suburbs but throughout the state of Illinois, it’s trying to deliver the same service with reduced funding,” said Mayor Gonzalez. In an effort to be proactive for the community, Mayor Gonzalez has been applying for grants to help finance city services and projects. In 2017 Chicago Heights was awarded a grant for a $249,000 reimbursement for the money spent on maintaining vacant homes in the area. This helped the community stay on budget, according to Mayor Gonzalez.
An even larger grant was awarded to Chicago Heights in 2017 that Mayor Gonzalez is very proud of. “The biggest award that we are pretty proud of is that we received $2.1 million grant from Cook County to look at, and fix our sanitary and storm sewers,” said Mayor Gonzalez. “That's going to help us alleviate the flooding in certain areas of the city and we were very fortunate to get that award this year.” The city has a current resident population of more than 30,000 and a long history as an industrial hub, and the completion of the city’s comprehensive plan during Mayor Gonzalez’s administration is leading to the expansion of new business and light industry. In 2018 Mayor Gonzalez plans to concentrate on bringing manufacturing back to Chicago Heights. This is something that he set his sights on nearly three years ago. He has been steadily acquiring, for the city, ownership of several delinquent properties on the east side of town, known to be the industrial side of Chicago Heights, in the hopes that the area can be redeveloped for new businesses to move in. “Those companies are crucial because they have such a high tax base and they create the jobs that we are looking for here in the south suburbs. so we’re in a good place right now because we own a lot of land now on the east side that we are going to be able to work with developers in turning that land over to developers and start bringing manufacturing back to the east side. That’s what we’re going to be concentrating on in 2018,” said Mayor Gonzalez. The Mayor will continue to work closely with all city departments to identify innovative programs to deliver services for residents.
Darrell Garth President / Publisher Janice Garth Sales Manager/ General Manager CST Weekly, published weekly on Wednesdays and distributed in the Township of Bloom, (publishing 52 issues annually). Written permission is required to reproduce contents in whole or part from the General manager or the publisher. CST Weekly does not assume the responsibility for nor are we able to return unsolicited marterials. Deadline for advertising is every Monday at noon. For information on subscriptions or advertising call us at (773) 783-1251. Our office is located at 8741 S. Greenwood Ave., Ste# 107, Chicago, Illinois 60619.
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POLITISCOPE
Child marriage is still legal in the US By Nicholas Syrett The recent outrage over Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore allegedly targeting teenage girls for sex Nicholas Syrett has elicited reports that some evangelical churches actually encourage teenage girls to date older men. It seems unlikely that Moore was ever interested in marrying any of the women who have thus far accused him of unwanted sexual attention and assault. However, Moore is married to a woman 14 years his junior whom he first met when she was 15 and he was 29.
These conversations about older men dating and marrying young girls have left many Americans surprised. The reality is that these practices are still around, as I learned in researching my recent book, “American Child Bride: A History of Minors and Marriage in the United States.” Minors and marriage Child marriage has a long and vibrant history in the United States. While activists have long urged legislators to raise the age of consent to marriage – and continue to do so – with parental consent it remains possible for minors to marry in every single state. Though some boys do marry, the vast majority of marrying minors are girls. This has been the pattern throughout U.S. history.
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The minimum marriageable age in Alabama today is 16, though for most of the state’s history girls could marry at 14 and boys at 17. Different minimum marriageable ages for girls and boys were common nationwide until the 1970s. While marriage as a minor is significantly less common today than it was in the early or mid-20th century – two periods with particularly high rates – it is certainly not a thing of the past. In the last 15 years, more than 207,000 minors have become legally wed in the United States, many marrying below the age of consent to sex in their states. Data from the U.S. Census show that the marriage of legal minors has always been more common in the South. This may be one reason – aside from liking his conservative CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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Hearty Food and Wine Ideas for Winter
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Child marriage is still legal in the US CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
politics – that voters in Alabama seem less disturbed by Roy Moore’s targeting of teenage girls. Leigh Corfman claims Moore initiated sexual contact with her when she was 14 in 1979. Nothing in the law would have prevented the two from marrying if they’d had her parents’ permission. Today southern states like Alabama, Kentucky and West Virginia have among the highest rates of minor marriage in the nation. They are also joined by Idaho and other rural states in the West. These states share high rates of poverty and are home to religious conservatives who often see marriage as the solution to teenage sex and premarital pregnancy. Some even condone marriage when it results from statutory rape. In many cases, district attorneys have been willing to waive prosecution if a girl’s statutory rapist agrees to
marry her and her parents are also supportive. Who are child brides? Child marriage has long been portrayed as an issue in the developing world – especially in India and various nations in Africa and the Middle East. Americans are often surprised by its persistence right here at home. Many assume that it was a practice brought to the United States by immigrant populations, or one used in isolationist religious sects. Neither belief is borne out by the numbers. Even at the height of immigration to the United States in the 1910s and 1920s, U.S.-born white children of U.S.-born parents were more likely to be married as minors than were immigrant girls of the first or second generation. U.S.-born black girls were about one-and-a-half times more likely to be married
than were white girls. In both cases, poor girls in rural states accounted for the numbers. Opposition to child marriage in the United States also has a long history, dating back to the middle of the 19th century. Women’s rights advocates like Elizabeth Oakes Smith and Elizabeth Cady Stanton called marrying as a minor “the great life-long mistake.” They argued it deprived girls of the opportunity to develop into womanhood and some semblance of independence before they yoked their lives to a husband and began to bear children. While the legal minimum marriageable age has gone up in almost all states since the 19th century, almost all states have exceptions built in that allow parents and/or judges to consent to the marriage of minors below the stated minimums, in some cases if they are
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• Preheat a large skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the lamb. Brown the lamb all over then remove from heat. • On a roasting tray, add carrot and onion. Then add 4 cups of hot chicken stock. • Place the lamb on top and then put in the oven to cook for 3 hours. • Remove lamb from the liquid, rest for 25 minutes. In the meantime, strain and skim the stock and reduce by 2/3rds. • For the salsa verde, blitz all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. • Slice the lamb and garnish with roasted baby carrots, salsa verde and some stock. Serve with a glass of Te Muna Road Pinot Noir.
Dan Credit:
For the Salsa Verde: • 1/2 cup Italian parsley • 1/2 cup mint • 1/4 cup cornichon pickles • 2 tbsp. capers • 1/2 cup olive oil • 2 lemons - juice and zest Brine Instructions: • 24 hours in advance: Add all the ingredients into a pot. Bring to a simmer at medium heat until all salt has dissolved. Allow brine to cool completely. Place the lamb in the cool brine, cover and leave for 24 hours. Drain the brine and pat dry. Instructions: • Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
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Ingredients: • 1 boned lamb shoulder, rolled and tied. • 1 lg. onion (quartered) • 1 carrot (quartered) • 4 cups chicken stock For the brine: • 8 cups of water • 1/2 cup salt • 2 tbsp. brown sugar • 3 bay leafs • 1/2 onion, sliced • 1/2 packet pickling spices
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(StatePoint) When cool weather makes you wish for rich hearty meals, let New Zealand be the source of your culinary inspiration. The country’s dishes make for delicious feasting. Think earthy meats like lamb and rich roasted vegetables, paired with juicy medium-bodied red wines. Thanks to the development of six major grape growing regions with breathtaking landscapes, New Zealand has become a top destination for food and wine enthusiasts. While a trip halfway around the world may not be in the cards for you this season, you can bring the classic flavors of New Zealand to your table by starting with a bottle from one of the country’s top wineries. Craggy Range Winery, a family-owned operation, creates New World wines with Old World style. The Te Muna Road Pinot Noir 2014 (SRP $44.99), a medium-bodied selection, is an enjoyable accompaniment at a winter gathering. Its rich red fruit, fine tannins and good acidity creates a savory, dry finish on the palate and pairs nicely with robust flavors. For an appetizing pairing, consider serving Pinot Noir alongside a classic recipe from the Terrôir Restaurant at Craggy Range Winery: Roast lamb shoulder with salsa verde and roasted carrots. The wine’s bright red fruit will bring out the lamb’s darker, earthier notes for a delicious meal.
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St. Ann’s School in Lansing Offers New Scholarship Program By: Katerine Newman
St. Ann’s Catholic School in Lansing recently held an open house for new families to meet the teachers, see classrooms, and learn about the new Illinois Invest in Kids Act scholarship program that can be used to help with tuition costs. “We were trying to grab some new families to [come to] St. Ann’s School and provide information on the Invest in Kids Act, which has been passed through the state of Illinois, offering eligible families a tax credit scholarship,” said Kelly Rojas, Principal of St. Ann’s School. This program offers a 75 percent income tax credit to individuals and businesses that contribute to qualified Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). The SGOs then provide scholarships for students whose families meet the income requirements to attend qualified, non-public schools in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of
Revenue website. “Right now corporations are actually putting money forward, that started on Dec. 1. So the money is starting to come in,” said Rojas. “There are 5 SGOs right now. Two of them are helping the Catholic Schools, the one that would actually affect St. Ann’s School is Empower Illinois.” Because the program is new the available information has been changing and growing almost daily, according to Rojas. The school is providing information to families as they receive it and encouraging them to utilize the internet as a way to keep up with the developing program. “We are feeding the information to our current families as it comes in. We sent out a flyer to our religious education program as well as people who had come to St. Ann’s last year but we didn't give them enough money to be able to afford it,” said Janice Summerise, School Business Manager at St. Ann’s. “We reached out to those people so those are
the persons that we had coming through [the open house].” The school is hoping through the Invest in Kids act they will be able to gradually increase enrollment, according to Summerrise. It is still unclear exactly how much money will be available or how many students will have access to scholarship funds, but Rojas is not concerned with there not being enough money to satisfy their needs. “As to how many people are going to get the scholarship, we really don't know,” said Summerrise. “We are encouraging all of our families who either got a scholarship this year or got financial aid from us to apply for this scholarship.” For more information on the SGO providing scholarships for St. Ann’s visit empowerillinois. org. For information on donating visit tax.illinois. gov/investinkids.
Invest in Dolton Initiative Aims to Decrease Abandoned Homes out and the Village of Dolton will continue to hold monthly meetings to address questions from the community. Proposed guidelines for the Invest in Dolton program currently say that to qualify, a candidate must show proof of access to funds at a minimum amount $40,000, by way of line of credit or cash or bank approval loan, to complete the necessary renovations. All qualified candidates will be allowed to participate in Invest in Dolton raffle or auction program based on a list of vacant residential properties owned by the Village of Dolton. Raffle or auction winners will receive an as-is conditional purchase offer, and the property cannot be occupied until the renovation has been completed and approved by the Village of Dolton. All properties will be sold with a deed restriction stating that the property must remain owner occupied for at least five years after the renovation completion. Failure to comply with the renovation agreement will result in forfeiture of the property, according to Trustee Pierson in a
By: Katherine Newman
Two meetings have been held over the last several weeks in the Village of Dolton to establish guidelines and address questions for the proposed Invest in Dolton program. This is a program designed to auction vacant homes owned by the Village of Dolton to be rehabilitated for owner occupancy. “This is an initiative to get the abandoned homes off of the abandoned lists. When we go door to door talking to our fellow residents of Dolton, one of the biggest complaints is, what are you going to do about these abandoned homes,” said Village of Dolton Trustee Duane Muhammad in a Special Meeting on Nov. 30. Guidelines for the Invest in Dolton program outline that Village owned vacant homes will be sold by raffle or auction for a cost of acquisition of $5,000 to financially qualified persons. The program will be managed by Janice Johnson, Village Administrator for the Village of Dolton. The Invest in Dolton program has yet to roll
Dolton Planning Committee Meeting on Dec. 9. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) established the 203(k) Rehab Mortgage Insurance which enables homebuyers and homeowners to finance the purchase of a house and the cost of its rehabilitation through a single mortgage, according to HUD. gov. The 203(K) renovation loan will allow home buyers to qualify for the Invest in Dolton auction and raffle by giving them a financing option that will include their renovation costs. “What the [Rehab Mortgage Insurance] does is allow the home buyer to actually finance the needed repairs into one loan,” said Robert Mangiaracina, a licensed HomeBridge Mortgage loan originator in Illinois who spoke at the Special Meeting on Nov. 30. “You could literally do just about anything with these programs. If it’s a gut rehab, if the people who left the property left it in very poor condition, the 203(k) can rehab just about anything.” For more information, visit vodolton.org.
Child marriage is still legal in the US CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
pregnant, in others if they are already emancipated minors. This means that with judicial or parental consent, children as young as 10, 11 and 12 have been married in the U.S. in the last couple of decades. When exceptions are taken into consideration, 25 states actually do not have an absolute minimum marriageable age. When activists have sought to eliminate those exceptions and ban marriage prior to age 18 outright,
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as they are attempting to do in about 10 states nationwide today, they have met with substantial pushback. Some religious conservatives worry that without access to marriage, pregnant girls might turn to abortion. Others simply place faith in the institution of marriage to establish a happy and financially secure household. This is despite the fact that studies have shown that marriage as a minor is much more likely to lead to divorce, to dropping out of high school,
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to spousal abuse and to mental and physical health problems. Only when Americans are able to have more honest conversations about what marriage really looks like – as opposed to some idealized image of marital perfection – are we likely to see the abolition of child marriage in the United States. Nicholas Syrett is a Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Kansas.
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NEWS
Is your online experience about to change? blocked certain services before. “There are documented cases from before net neutrality was the law of the land in which ISPs outright blocked certain services,” Terrasi said. “To cite just one instance, in 2012, AT&T was found to have blocked Apple’s FaceTime video chat over its cellular data service. Freedom of internet browsing could be even more dire for political dissenters,” he said adding, “the Justice Department recently tried to discover the IP addresses of over a million people who visited a peaceful anti-Trump protest site, so imagine what ISPs would be willing to do to reward the
the lack of net neutrality protections could hit startups especially hard as they are not In the middle of December in 2017, the able to absorb the cost of ISP fees as easily Federal Communications Commission as larger, established competitors,” he said. (FCC) made a dramatic move by voting to “ISPs could demand a fee for online apps repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules, a and services to be served at normal speeds. change that could have sweeping conseFor instance, while Netflix has enough capquences for anyone who uses the Internet. ital to pay all the ISPs a fee to be served at Since the time the Internet was created, normal speeds, a new app trying to compete consumers have traveled down the superwith Netflix doesn't have the same reserve highway freely, but for the protectors of of capital to draw from, so their users would net neutrality, Americans’ online experibe forced to accept service at slower speeds ence could change based on the FCC’s new than Netflix, making it significantly more policy. difficult to entice users away from Netflix.” Immediately after the FCC took its vote Anyone with a small personal website to repeal net neucould potentially also trality, proponents suffer the same fate, of the rules came out Terrasi added. “If ISPs swinging as 19 state decide to start charging attorneys general every website a fee to be lined up to fight the served at normal speeds, decision in court. that would have to come Net neutrality rests out of the site owner's on the principle that pocket or their visitors Internet service prowould simply receive infeviders (ISP’s) should rior service. On top of this, enable access to all there is also the chance content and applicathat an ISP could block the tions regardless of the site entirely if the owner source, and without uses it as a platform to favoring or blocking express ideas that the ISP particular products or disapproves of,” he said. websites. The decision is defiAt the moment, it’s nitely a windfall for the difficult to deterlarger ISPs, Terrasi added, mine how the FCC’s particularly those which decision will affect dominate regions with Internet users, but few or no competitors. Jonathan Terrasi, The ISP’s can, “now levy research assistant whatever fees they want, and communications and serve websites and coordinator for the services with whatever Chicago Committee priorities and services they to Defend the Bill of want,” he said. Jonathan Terrasi and Travis McDermott prepare to deliver a statement on the FCC net neutrality vote, with Chicago Rights “The big losers from Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights Treasurer Don Goldhamer observing in a show of support, as local news media said there’s a reason this is basically everyone cameramen set up. for consumers to be else,” he added. “Large concerned. companies like Google “Although there is obviously always the politicians who have now enabled them to and Facebook can absorb whatever fee ISPs chance that we will not see such extreme make immensely more money than they might hit them with, but everyone else faces outcomes as throttling or blocking conpreviously did.” the choice between inferior service or higher nections, the FCC decision now opens the Under the new policy, ISPs can begin prices to continue enjoying the service they door to that possibility where it once was including hidden fees in their service where already have,” he stated. closed,” said Terrasi. consumers are less likely to find them, “Political dissidents are the hardest hit, as “Whenever an entity, whether a govTerrasi said. they run the risk of the platforms they use to ernment or business, is empowered to do Still, another likely effect, at least at first, communicate getting shut down,” he said. something, it is usually only a matter of he added might be the, “proliferation of Whether the new policy becomes permatime until it exercises that power. It might ‘paid-prioritization,’ in which ISPs promise nent really depends on how Congress Acts not be today or tomorrow, but there will to impose statutory net neutrality requireto deliver all traffic at ‘normal’ speeds, but likely come a day in which an ISP deteroffer a premium subscription for consumers ments, and how the courts interpret the mines that it is in its interest to block a who want select services--generally corpo- arguments advanced by those challenging website, and we as consumers and citizens rate affiliates of partners of the ISP--to load the FCC decision, Terrasi said. will have no means of contesting that,” he faster or more smoothly,” he said. For consumers who oppose the FCC’s said. Although an FCC press release accented decision, Terrasi said the most importThe new rules won’t go into effect until the fact that the new policy would spur, ant thing people can do is to contact their sometime in February and although it’s “competition and innovation that benefits elected representatives in both houses of unpredictable what the ISPs will do to take consumers,” Terrasi predicts that for startCongress and tell them to adopt legislation advantage of this dramatic new deregulaups and others, the outcome could be dire. that makes net neutrality the law of the land tion, Terrasi pointed out that ISP’s have “Some technologists have suggested that and compel the FCC to enforce it.
By Lisette Gushiniere
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