Health
& Fitness InsIde
R EPORTER Reporter
THE The 3 SECTIONS 36 PAGES
Serving Chicago Ridge, Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Oak Lawn, Palos Hills and Worth
Volume LIV No. 30
THE Chicago Christian and other area 2 SECTIONS football teams 22 PAGES pounce on opportunities Volume XLVII No. 50 for victories See Sports
Yard waste becoming an issue in Hickory Hills Kelly White reports, page 3
Retro Reporter makes its debut Page 4
Hundreds camp out to win food at Chicago Ridge Chick-fil-A Bob Rakow reports, page 9
Why on earth is Dee Woods writing about horse urine? Find out on page 12 index Police News.....................2 Our Neighborhood..........4 Sudoku...........................4 Commentary...................6 School...........................7 Death Notices..................8 Crossword......................8 Consumer....................9 Calendar........................11
columnists Jeff Vorva........................3 Dee Woods....................12 Wine Guy......................12
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Thursday, October 3, 2013
Hickory Hills’ tribute moves daughter to tears
R EPORTER By Kelly White Correspondent
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nal illnesses,” McAvoy said. In order to support her family, during her 40s and 50s, Arlene City of Hickory Hills officials graduated from Moraine Valley passed a unique ordinance last Community College and founded Thursday with a resolution for her own company, Specific Sersympathy and gratitude for long- vices. It was a was successful time resident, Arlene Spiros, who venture for the architectural and died June 1. engineering specification services Along with the resolution, it supplied to both private and daughters, public sectorMarch clients. 1, 2007 Serving Chicago Ridge, Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Oak Lawn, Palos Arlene’s Hills and WorthLaurie Anne Thursday, Kus and Luanne Spiros, were “While always active in commupresented with a check in the nity, charitable and civic projects amount of $250 from a non-tax- and programs, Arlene, in her later payers discretionary fund. years and almost until she left “Thank you for all of your us, ramped up her involvement leadership and thank you for and contributions to her commuyour sacrifice,” Luanne, told the nity in the form of volunteerism council in tears upon receiving with the institutions benefiting the award for her mother. “My from her energetic participation mother loved it here in Hickory including: Friends of Green Hills Hills.” Library, St. Patricia’s Parish, the “The City of Hickory Hills lost Hickory Hills Senior Club, the an amazing and extraordinarily Hickory Hills Park District, and generous and giving person with the Local Community Organizathe passing of Arlene Frances tions’ Street Fair Bingo Tent,” Spiros,” Alderman Tom McA- McAvoy added. voy said. Arlene performed hundreds Arlene was born Arlene Rychet- of hours of work in support of sky on March 13, 1940 in Chicago, non-partisan civic and commuattended elementary school there nity programs and projects and and later graduated from Kelly also served with distinction as a High School in 1957, which was precinct election judge. the start of her life-long pursuit “Her attention to detail and of formal and other sources of organizing skills helped create orknowledge and learning. She mar- der out of chaos on many election ried Louis Spiros in November, nights,” McAvoy stated. 1960 and the couple raised two In August, 2012, she helped daughters and chose to raise establish the Arlene Spiros Acathem within the city by becom- demic Foundation Scholarship ing Hickory Hills homeowners at Moraine Valley Community in the early 1960s. College. The criteria for these “Throughout her 30s, 40s and scholarships reflected values she 50 years of age, in addition to cherished — hard work, perseverbeing a loving mother, she also as- ance, family and a respect for sumed the roles of caregiver to her the sciences. mother, father and father-in-law The recipients must be single and eventually, her husband Louis mothers, 30 years of age or older during their extended and termi- in good academic standing at Moraine Valley. The first recipient received a stipend of $1,500 for the 2013-2014 school year. The scholarship will continue at Moraine Valley for the future school years. “While we mourn her passing and extend Photo by Jeff Vorva our sympathy and conLinda Russell enjoys a light moment while describing what happened during a power surge that she dolences to her family said damaged some of her appliances and electronics. Most of her dealings with Commonwealth and legion of friends, Edison, however, haven’t made her smile. we also celebrate her amazing life, her many accomplishments and her generous, giving spirit which will live on in the Arlene Spiros Academic Foundation Scholarships of the future,” McAvoy said, Photo by Kelly White Luanne Spiros, who was moved to tears, “We thank her family thanks the Hickory Hills City Council for for sharing Arlene Spihonoring her mother, Arlene, last Thursday ros with us for these many years.” night.
High tension OL residents, ComEd still at odds By Bob Rakow Staff Reporter Linda Russell has called Oak Lawn home for many years, but her ongoing battle with ComEd has led to put her house up for sale. “I’m fed up,” Russell said. “What else can I do? I can’t protect myself in any other way.” Many Oak Lawn residents have coped with the power outages and surges that have long plagued sections of the village, but Russell said she has been affected more than most. “My coffee pot exploded,” Russell said, referring to a March electrical surge that caused approximately $4,400 worth of damage in her home. ComEd contends that a raccoon on a power line behind Freshline Foods, 5355 W. 95th St., was responsible for the surge. The Sproat Avenue resident said she lost a refrigerator, two computers and monitors, a coffee maker and most of her entertainment equipment. A consulting firm initially recommended that Russell receive $1,052 from ComEd for her loss, but she said the utility ultimately offered only $526. “It was insulting,” Russell said of ComEd’s offer.
A ComEd spokesman said the surge claims were appropriately denied because the utility is not responsible for incidents caused by wildlife. “However, because of the unusual nature of this particular incident and because we want to forge a partnership with the village, we have been working individually with residents to resolve their issues and put this behind us and move forward,” said Elizabeth Keating, communications manager for ComEd. Russell and Oak Lawn Trustee Alex Olejniczak doubt that a raccoon was responsible for the surge. “I still have not seen proof that there was wildlife,” Olejniczak said. “There is no raccoon. There is no documentation. There is no photo,” Russell agreed. Keating said ComEd’s first responders reported “finding a charred raccoon at the base of the pole upon their arrival.” “There is no photograph of the raccoon carcass; however, photographing deceased wildlife isn’t part of ComEd’s process to restore power. The role of the ComEd crews is to restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” she said. But the monetary loss isn’t
the only factor that has sparked Russell’s angst. She also is concerned about there liability of the electrical wiring inside her house. A hotspot scan, which would identify troublesome areas, would cost several thousand dollars, she said. Olejniczak, an outspoken critic of ComEd, was chastised the settlement offered to residents affected by the surge. “It’s not fair and equitable,” Olejniczak said. Olejniczak said the surge is just one service interruption many residents have had to deal with over the years. He said there have been two surges and 14 outages during the past five years and ComEd’s response is typically poor. “No one from ComEd hits our streets,” Olejniczak said. For instance, when a severe storm on June 24 left some residents without electricity for more than two days, Olejniczak said ComEd trucks were not on the streets until nearly 12 hours after the outage. He added that he has repeatedly asked ComEd for reports that detail service after an outage, but the company has never complied. (Continued on page 2)
Photo by Jeff Vorva
Pregame meal Charlie Dunneback has a picnic near the south end zone at Richards before the start of Friday night’s showdown between Evergreen Park and Richards in a battle of unbeatens. Dunneback’s father, Jason, works at Evergreeen Park and his mother, Meg, works at Richards. The game was a classic with Evergreen Park pulling off a 35-34 victory over the hosts. For more photos and details on the game, see sports.