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Wednesday • July 16, 2025
IWPA (Illinois Woman’s Press Association) Summer 2025 Writer’s Workshop Event The Illinois Woman’s Press Association (IWPA) will be hosting the Summer Writer’s Workshop on July 26th, between 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm in the community room located in the South Holland Public Library at 16250 Wausau Avenue, South Holland, IL. The live event will feature educational programming with four expert speakers on an array of professional topics, with Q & A following each session. The presentation will be followed by poetry, spoken word, and readings of published or in-progress work from attendees, in 5-minute increments. There will be mingling and discussions afterwards. The main speakers for the event are Tracy Aherns, poetry and book author, Poetry Writing; Mary Q Angel, Short Film Production 101; Victor Gulley, Host of WIIT 88.9 “A Taste of Theater”, How to Host a Radio Show; LD Barnes, Mystery Book Author, Basic Mystery Writing 101. If you would like to share your work by reading a selection, performing spoken word, or reading poetry, please contact Janice Newman at Janice.ywhynot@gmail.com.
The event is completely free and registration is not required. Attendees are invited to bring a copy of their published work if they want to share, display, or discuss during the mingling and discussion time. A table will be provided for attendees to display their books (but not for sale) or other professional collateral. Light snacks and beverages will be provided. Parking and entry to the library are located at the back of the building. This is the 140th anniversary for The Illinois Woman’s Press Association, which was founded in 1885 and is believed to be the oldest continuous woman’s organization in Chicago. It was created to provide communication and support between writers. The organization has open membership to every walk of life, as it’s not just for women. They focus on supporting writers with education, opportunities, encouragement, recognition, and unity in various aspects of writing. IWPA hosts an annual writing competition for a wide variety of categories from articles to television. www.iwpa.org
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Illinois Students Win National Championships, Top Places in Workforce Development Competition ATLANTA, GA – Illinois students have once again claimed national championships, earned bragging rights against the best skilled young competitors across the county and taken a major step forward in their career success. Nearly four-dozen students from SkillsUSA Illinois finished in the medalist top-three spots at the 2025 SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC), held June 23–27 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. Illinois students brought home 38 medals, including 11 gold, 15 silver, and 12 bronze. “These gold medalists are national champions in their craft, and they represent the future of our skilled workforce,” said SkillsUSA Illinois Executive Director Eric Hill. “We’re proud of every single competitor, and especially proud that Illinois continues to grow its presence on the national stage.” 2025 SkillsUSA Illinois National Champions – Gold Medalists • Aleah Sauder (Automotive Refinishing Technology) – Waubonsee Community College • Joshua Stover (Automotive Service Technology) – Waubonsee Community College • Benjamin Swanson (Collision Damage Appraisal) – Waubonsee Community College • Briana Harris, Sarah Pawlus, Kevin Bustamante Fontanel, Ennis Ballines (Entrepreneurship) – Waubonsee Community College • Samuel Drong, Gavin Leone, Stephen Reuter (Engineering Technology-Design) – Lockport Township High School • Diya Patel (Medical Assisting) – Bloom Trail High School • Liam Dilley (Related Technical Math) – Galesburg Area Vocational Center A complete list of all SkillsUSA Illinois top-three finishers by region is included below and available here.
More details on the NLSC—including livestreams of the awards ceremony, behind-the-scenes footage, and media resources—are available at www.nlsc.skillsusa.org. All of the SkillsUSA Illinois first competed at local and regional levels, then advanced to the State Championships in Peoria in late April. Illinois brought more than 300 students from the State Championships to Atlanta for the national competition. Like the State Championships, the national competition tests students’ skills and preparation as the culmination of a year of hands-on career and technical education (CTE). Industry partners, trade associations and labor organizations volunteer to judge competitions where students lay bricks, repair engines, practice hairdressing and much more against the clock and their counterparts from schools across Illinois, and ultimately across the country. SkillsUSA programming is supported by a state grant under the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship program awarded through the Youth Workforce Development Foundation, the managing arm of SkillsUSA Illinois. Gov. JB Pritzker again approved millions of dollars in the state budget that took effect in July for the program and related investments in career and technical education, and SkillsUSA Illinois expects to continue expanding its successful programming into new schools and communities starting this fall. For SkillsUSA Illinois’ leadership, the Atlanta visit is a chance to both celebrate students’ hard work and the exciting progress Illinois is making to invest in young people’s career success. “SkillsUSA is more than competition,” said Hill. “It’s about preparing students for careers, closing the skills gap, and giving young people a reason to believe in themselves—and in Illinois.”
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Assessor’s Office Releases South and West Suburban Reassessment Report
The Cook County Assessor’s Office published its report on the 2023 assessment cycle, detailing the reassessment of 17 south and west suburban townships in Cook County. The report includes extensive information about each of these townships, including new assessed values by major property type, exemption counts, appeal counts, and a comparison of the CCAO’s assessments to actual sales.
It also contains information about other accomplishments, duties and responsibilities of the Cook County Assessor’s Office: • How residential and commercial assessments work • How the CCAO’s assessments have become more accurate since 2018 • How reassessments affect tax rates and tax bills • Where the property tax burden shifted most as a
result of appeals • The impact of new legislation to auto-renew exemptions for homeowners • The success of the CCAO’s Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program • The report is available on the CCAO website at https://www.cookcountyassessor.com/annual-reports.