Village Free Press_092023

Cash Bail ends in Illinois Public defenders anticipate major workload increases

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois

On Sept. 18, Illinois became the first state to On Sept. 18, Illinois became the first state to fully abolish cash bail through an act of the legislature — a major criminal justice overhaul spurred by the advocacy of a progressive faction of the Democratic Party that’s grown increasingly powerful in recent years.

The reform goes into effect after nearly three years of brutal legislative and political fights over the SAFE-T Act, one of several massive pieces of equity-focused legislation pushed by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus in the wake of nationwide protests in 2020 over injustices faced by Black Americans and systemic racism more broadly.

Criminal justice reform advocates had been working toward Monday’s rollout for years, beginning with the premise that an arrestee’s ability to post bond does not equate with the danger he or she poses to the community. While some charged with violent crimes like domestic battery were able to buy their way out of jail under the old system, others were left sitting in jail for weeks or months because they couldn’t afford bail, sometimes for low-level offenses.

This cost some their jobs, homes or even parental rights in the process.

“As a defender, one of the hardest things I have to do is have conversations with mothers, sisters…how are they gonna pull together the money to get their person out of jail?” Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, who was heavily involved in crafting the law in his previous job at the Illinois Justice Project, said at a recent media briefing about the end of cash bail.

Former NFL player Sergio Brown missing, mother’s body found in Maywood

MyrtleSimmonsBrown’s death was ruled a homicide

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

When this article went to print on Sept.

17, a former NFL player and Proviso East High School football star was still missing and police were still investigating. His mother’s body was found in a creek behind her home on Sept. 16. Authorities have ruled her death a homicide.

The relatives of Sergio Brown, 35, and his mother, Myrtle Simmons-Brown, 73, told media outlets they informed the police on Sept. 16 that the two had been missing.

Myrtle’s body was discovered in Addison Creek behind her North Maywood home on Saturday. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office ruled her death a homicide and reported that she died from multiple injuries during an assault.

Sheila Simmons, the sister of Myrtle Simmons-Brown, told WGN News that she last spoke with her sister on Sept. 14.

See SERGIO BROWN on page 2

New grocery store opens in Melrose Park

Bellwood’s Kopy Kat Printing under new ownership

Michael Romain

Police officers search Addison Creek on Saturday afternoon after discovering the body of Maywood resident Myrtle SimmonsBrown, the mother of former NFL player and Proviso East football standout Sergio Brown..

SERGIO BROWN Missing

from page 1

Simmons-Brown had celebrated her birthday on Sept. 8.

Simmons said she got a call at 3 a.m. on Saturday informing her that her sister and nephew were missing, prompting her to go home. That’s when she noticed that “things at the house were out of the ordinary,” WGN reported.

“Simmons said she searched the creek behind the house with police and initially didn’t find anything, but later in the day, she and other family members went back to search and discovered Myrtle’s body in the creek,” WGN reported.

Relatives of Sergio Brown said they haven’t been able to reach him despite frequent phone calls.

In a Facebook post, Sergio’s older brother Nick Brown recalled his mother as “strong, caring, diligent, fancy [and] funny.”

Sergio played high school football at Proviso East and in college at Notre Dame. The New England Patriots signed Brown

as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He also played for the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills before retiring in 2016.

Sergio earned an MBA in marketing from the University of Miami and reportedly worked at Google after he retired. Last year, he hosted a football camp alongside his former high school football coach and current Proviso East head football coach Aaron Peppers, a Maywood trustee.

“We’ve always wanted to do something to give back to the kids,” Brown told Village Free Press at the time. “I’ve always wanted to have a camp. There are basketball camps and we wanted to give the football kids something to do as well.”

Myrtle Simmons-Brown was a staple in the Maywood community, well-known for her style and grace. The news of her death left community members stunned and grief-stricken.

“This is horrifying,” wrote Diane Lullo Hendricks, who said she was good friends with Myrtle. “May she rest in peace and [hopefully] a positive outcome for Sergio.”

Community members with information can report it to the Maywood Police Department’s anonymous tip line at (708) 450178 or the Maywood Police Investigations at (708) 368-4131.

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File Photo

Sergio Brown at a football camp he cohosted at Proviso East in Maywood in 2022.

Maywood man’s homegrown social media program gives listeners a blast from the past

Marcus “Moon” Hrobowski’s No Hundreds Podcast live streams Maywood and Pirate pride each week

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Marcus “Moon” Hrobowski’s No Hundred Podcast, which he records several times a week on his phone from his Maywood living room and live streams to Facebook, has a little bit of everything for the nostalgic.

The former Proviso East High School basketball player who is close with the likes of East hoops great and former NBA standout Michael Finley mixes gritty humor, local memories, Pirate Pride, Maywood history and music into episodes that can last multiple hours.

But he said the platform he’s grown is really a way to emphasize his main points of mental illness and self-defense and to highlight the work of the National Alliance for Mental Illness and Suicide Prevention (NAMI). Hrobowski said he also tries to support local businesses and community groups.

Broadview man receives Eastern’s highest alumni award

“I try to funnel traffic to small businesses,” he said. “I promote different companies that pay me. I also promote the Maywood Park District’s Senior Silvers program.”

Hrobowski said he started the No Hundred Podcast two years ago and has consistently posted material since then.

“I started during the pandemic,” he said. “I thought it was a way I could bring the news to people. I have a wide audience, from Maywood to Elgin and Aurora.”

On an episode streamed Sept. 13, Hrobowski reflected on memories of his youth growing up in Maywood and attending Proviso East. The remembrances were layered onto a background of soulful music — from Prince to Snoop Dogg. He wore sunglasses, a blue and white Maywood shirt and a gold chain, switching between a black and red fedora and Pirates ballcap.

At times, the stream sounded like Hrobowski was hosting a radio show. He dedicated songs to his listeners. He reminded his listeners of Proviso East’s homecoming at the end of the month. And reminisced some more.

Hrobowski’s style of delivery resonates with many Maywood residents and Proviso East alumni of a certain generation.

“I’m just here to speak for the people who don’t have a voice,” he said.

Byran Stewart, of Broadview, to receive the university’s Distinguished Alumna/us Award

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Broadview resident and Eastern Illinois University graduate Byran Stewart will receive the institution’s most prestigious award bestowed by its Alumni Association.

In a news release, the university explained that Eastern’s Distinguished Alumna/us Award was established in 1973 and is presented “to individuals who have distinguished themselves in either academic or literary fields, business, public service and/or service to the University and who, through their accomplishments and service, have brought prestige to their alma mater.”

According to his bio, Stewart, a 1980 graduate, spent 30 years in the finance in-

dustry and managed billions of public and private dollars. Stewart was the first Black treasurer of Maywood, the first Black director of appropriations for a former state senate president, and the first Black chief financial officer for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

In 2008, Stewart was appointed treasurer of the Finance Executive International (FEI) Chicago Chapter, the preeminent association for financial executives. Stewart is semi-retired as CEO of the Stewart Group, “which advises businesses, governments, nonprofits, conglomerates and investors on fiscal matters.”

Eastern University officials explained that alumni nominated for the prestigious award must have celebrated at least their sixth class reunion. Past recipients of the award “have included an Illinois Governor, Oscar-nominated actors, a nuclear physicist, educators at all levels, CEOs, athletes and many others.”

The award recipients will appear in Eastern’s homecoming parade, be recognized at halftime of the football game and be awarded at a dinner. All of the events will happen on Oct. 7. EIU’s homecoming runs from Oct. 2 through Oct. 8.

Michael Romain

Marcus “Moon” Hrobowski produces his No Hundred Podcast from his Maywood living room

Photo Provided Byran Stewart, the recipient of Eastern’s Distinguished Alumna/us Award

Garage sale season’s over but stories behind the trinkets up for sale live on

Sept. 16 was the last day for holding garage sales in Melrose Park

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Garage sale season officially ended in Melrose Park on Sept. 16 but the stories behind the trinkets sold linger.

One household in the village was selling a European-sized whirlpool for a bathroom remodel that never happened. The family’s winch – a device used for pulling a rowing dock out of the water – was also on the market.

The home’s owner, Laura (she preferred not to give her last name), pointed to a handmade bridal shower decoration.

“My mom and I made this when we were decorating for bridal showers,” she said. “We used to do a lot of events.”

A golden Buddha statue beamed in the sun in the garage of Melrose Park resident Eric Mendez. He said his grandparents collected many of the items that were on sale.

“My mom’s side is from Laos,” Mendez said. “That whole side of the family is Bud-

CASH BAIL Ending

from page 1

“Judges never had crystal balls and never will have crystal balls,” he said, adding that he believes the Pretrial Fairness Act – the bail reform portion of the wider-ranging SAFE-T Act – will help improve judges’ decision-making when considering whether to detain an arrestee.

But while the end of cash bail is supposed to create a more equal justice system, the months of preparation leading up to the

dhist and my dad is El Salvadoran and has a little Aztec blood in him so I believe that explains this stuff. A lot of these things were collected on trips or passed down.”

Many of the items residents decided to put up for sale were things they outgrew, such as a scooter from Mendez’s youth that was selling for anywhere from $50 to $70.

“A lot of the stuff I’m selling is stuff I used as a kid, like this drifting scooter,” he said. “It’s like a mini scooter except you use your hips to sway it. I don’t use it anymore. I think a lot of kids would use it. I see some kids running up and down the street. I think they’d love it.”

Melrose Park residents Alejandra Pintor and her mother Rosa were selling childhood things like toys and clothes.

“I have a little cousin who grew out of her stuff. She’s gotten big,” Alejandra said. “A lot of the clothes and things her mother hasn’t been able to return to the store. She’s six. She’s gotten so many things as gifts from relatives. It all adds up so we try to sell what we can and then give the rest to Goodwill.”

A wooden man wearing winter clothes and carrying wood greeted shoppers outside of Laura’s house. He’s named Winston after Winston Park, the Melrose Park subdivision that was built around 1956.

He’s not for sale.

SAFE-T Act’s full implementation have accentuated profound disparities between the court systems in each of Illinois’ 102 counties.

And no matter how the local officials feel about the end of cash bail and the state’s overhaul on pretrial procedures, they’re responsible for implementing the law with whatever resources they have – a reality even some of the law’s most ardent opponents have acknowledged.

Counties face disparate resource challeng-

es

New Melrose Park grocery store opens

Some bigger counties are better prepared than others for the changes required by the PFA. Cook County, for example, is one of a few counties that has for years been moving toward limiting the use of cash bail. Addi-

Cermak Fresh Market opened last week inside the old Meijer at 950 Winston Plaza

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Melrose Park has another major grocery store. Cermak Fresh Market opened last week at 950 Winston Plaza. The building used to house a Meijer grocery store until it closed in 2017.

California-based NewMark Merrill Companies sold the 90,000-square-foot space to Cermak Fresh Market last year for an undisclosed price.

tionally, the county’s criminal courthouse on Chicago’s near-south side has for years been holding bond court every day of the week – a practice shared by other larger county court systems in Illinois.

Beginning Monday, that courthouse will hold initial appearance hearings at midday, along with longer detention hearings every morning and afternoon. During a media briefing last week, Cook County Judge Mary Marubio, who presides over the county’s pretrial division, outlined how these hearings will be organized across multiple courtrooms in the criminal courthouse in Chicago.

“It’s not so different from how we release people now, it’s just that money will no longer be a condition of release,” Marubio said.

“We continue to look for ways to enhance the customer experience at Winston Plaza and all centers in our portfolio,” Sandy Sigal, NewMark’s CEO, told a commercial real estate trade publication in 2022.

“Cermak Fresh Market is a best-of-class operator in the Chicagoland area, provides an incredible shopping experience and knows how to connect with each community they have grocery stores in,” she said.

The massive store includes a full-service hot bar, an area where employees cook tortillas and tortilla chips on-site, a bakery and a deli, among other features. Melrose Park officials held a ribboncutting ceremony on Sept. 14 to mark the grocery store’s opening.

Mitchell has also been beefing up his staff at the public defender’s office since he was appointed in early 2021. A spokesperson for the office said increasing staffing was a priority for Mitchell regardless of the PFA’s requirements, and the office has hired “well over 100” new attorneys since 2021. Mitchell also created a Pretrial Division in anticipation of bail reform’s original Jan. 1 implementation date, and 21 attorneys have been assigned to that unit.

It’s an entirely different story in southeastern Illinois, where Nathan Rowland is the part-time public defender serving Gallatin County, which borders Indiana, and neighboring Hamilton County. Those counties have a combined population of nearly 13,000,

Inside Cermak Fresh Market in Melrose Park

Families can take home a free pumpkin (while supplies last) and enjoy crafts, a photo booth and games. There will be food and treats available for purchase.

Go to triton.edu/fallfest for more information or use the QR code provided.

triton.edu

The Botanical Gardens are located on the east side of the Triton College campus, directly behind the R Building.

Triton College Botanical Gardens (East Campus)

to sell stamps and postal boxes, and [receive mail dropoffs],” Hribal said.

Westchester Postmaster Shaunnon Jack son could not be immediately reached for comment on Sunday evening. Some residents said they received mailers from the Post Of fice stating that it would be moving from its location.

The Post Office housed village administra tive offices until the early 1990s when the vil lage moved Village Hall to its current loca tion across the street at 10300 Roosevelt Rd.

The potential move is part of the village’s larger plan to redevelop eight acres on the northeast corner of Roosevelt and Mannheim where Village Hall, the Post Office and the Fire Department sit.

In 2021, the Westchester Village Board vot

CASH BAIL Ending

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per 2020 U.S. Census data.

Rowland, who serves as president of the Illinois Council of Chief Defenders, is one of a handful of part-time public defenders in Illinois who contract with more than one county. But his status as a part-time public defender is much less rare; more than half of Illinois’ 102 counties don’t have full-time public defenders.

Per state law — which hasn’t been updated since 1949 — only counties with 35,000 or more residents are required to set up offices of public defender, and even then, they’re not required to be full-time. Counties with populations of less than 35,000 aren’t required to establish a public defender program, though in modern history even the smallest of counties have at least contracted part-time public defenders, while others have voluntarily hired full-time PDs.

Rowland does his public defender work out of his law office in McLeansboro in Hamilton County, appearing in court across the two counties as needed when he’s assigned clients who can’t afford an attorney — usually after defendants’ initial bond hearings. But after Monday, his presence will be required at every initial condition and pretrial detention hearing for newly arrested defendants. Rowland noted that this is a much greater challenge for judicial systems in rural areas of the state than it is in counties like Cook.

While supportive of bail reform, Rowland also predicts the first several months under the new pretrial system will be difficult, especially in places with judicial systems vastly different than places like Cook and the collar counties.

“They’re used to running court all day every day anyway,” he said of Cook County’s existing bond court schedule. “In other parts of the state, we’re doing something that we have never done before and have not been set up to do.”

Late last month, the Illinois Supreme Court issued an order allowing pretrial hearings to take place remotely for six months. Rowland said without the ability to use videoconference technology for the pretrial hearings, counties like his would be unable to comply with the PFA’s requirement that arrestees appear in front of a judge within 48 hours.

It’s not just Rowland’s limitations as a single part-time public defender serving two counties; he noted that getting all par-

ties together in one courtroom has always been difficult. Neither Gallatin nor Hamilton counties run their own jails, so arrangements must be made with the sheriff’s office from the White and Saline county jails to transport detainees.

Court reporters are also in short supply, and state’s attorneys offices in some counties are also one-person operations, Rowland said. Judges also travel from courthouse to courthouse in the 12 mostly rural counties of the state’s Second Judicial Circuit.

“In both of the counties that I practice in, after Thursday at noon, generally there’s no judge in the county until Monday at 9 (a.m.),” Rowland said. “We don’t have judges assigned to either of these counties on Fridays at all… Some counties only have a judge scheduled twice a week or three times a week.”

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the adoption of virtual hearings, Rowland said local court systems had started experimenting with remote court, and he predicted those lessons would help after Monday. But if he or another person whose presence is required for pretrial hearings gets sick or goes on vacation, Rowland said the cases would likely just have to be rescheduled.

Nearly 100 miles northwest of Rowland’s law office, St. Clair County Public Defender

Cathy MacElroy is gearing up for what she expects to be a rocky road for the next two years. In December, just weeks before cash bail was originally set to end in Illinois, MacElroy alerted the county’s chief judge that her office’s workload was so dire, the public defender could no longer accept any new cases.

At the time, the five full-time attorneys in the office were each handling more than 350 cases in 2022 — well above the American Bar Association’s recommended guideline of 150. Since then, MacElroy said things got better, but the reprieve didn’t last. County officials made the public defender job full-time in January, and MacElroy was able to increase the base pay for attorneys in her office and recruit two more defenders.

Attorneys in the public defender’s office have since lowered their caseloads to around 200 cases per year, but MacElroy expects that number to begin climbing again after Monday.

“We have a lot of violent crime in the county,” she said. “Each of my full-time lawyers has at least 10 murder (cases)…And this week in my county from Friday until now there have been five murders charged. I don’t know what happened in the last week, but that’s kind of like what we’re dealing with. We get rid of one (case) and five more appear.”

Additionally, in recent months, the public defender’s office has lost two full-time lawyers, including one who moved over to the state’s attorney’s office and is making roughly $10,000 more, MacElroy said.

She’s already hired a recent law school graduate who expects to be fully licensed in November and is hopeful to hire an eighth attorney. But the competition for public interest attorneys is fierce, MacElroy said, as “every state’s attorney and public defender’s office in the state basically is hiring right now” due to the demands of Illinois’ pretrial overhaul.

The state has appropriated $10 million for public defenders to help implement the Pretrial Fairness Act, with the state’s 101 counties outside of Cook each receiving between $77,000 and $147,555.

While MacElroy is grateful for that funding – and generally supportive of the concept of ending cash bail – she said St. Clair County’s portion of that appropriation isn’t as much as she’d hoped, especially if it’s funding that won’t be reallocated in future years.

Beginning next week, those already jailed can petition for hearings to be released under the PFA’s guidelines. They would be entitled to a detention hearing on a timeline set in law based on the seriousness of their alleged crime.

For Rowland’s area of the state, this is not a big number.

“In one county we’ve got two people in custody and we know we’re gonna have hearings on them on Monday,” Rowland said. “In another county, I’ve got three people in custody and I’m gonna be having hearings on them on Wednesday.”

In Cook County, current detainees numbered nearly 5,400 on Friday, according to the sheriff’s daily report. Mitchell said last week that petitions for pretrial release within the current jail population would be assessed on a “case-by-case basis.”

MacElroy predicts the group of 150 or so current St. Clair County Jail detainees she already filed petitions for could have their days in court and released within the next week. She added that the county’s state’s attorney’s office has also filed detention petitions for approximately 250 people currently in jail. As those cases all fall under the detainable crimes according to the law, MacElroy predicted they’ll be heard over the next few months.

Help from the state

Illinois is one of seven states without any oversight mechanism for monitoring how effectively counties’ court systems help defendants exercise their right to counsel for trial

via the public defender’s office, according to a 2021 study commissioned by the Illinois Supreme Court. The resulting report from the Boston-based Sixth Amendment Center warned that Illinois’ framework limits the independence of public defenders and makes for inadequate representation in counties where PDs are overworked.

More than half of states directly fund public defenders instead of leaving funding up to counties like Illinois does.

While the state isn’t any closer to creating a statewide public defender system, the Illinois Office of Statewide Pretrial Services represents a major step forward in providing resources to judicial systems across the state.

As of October 1, OSPS will partner with 71 counties. For months, it’s been offering services like compiling information about new arrestees. OSPS is also charged with helping connect those who are released from jail with services like drug treatment or anger management, whether voluntary or ordered by the court.

The agency has hired pretrial service officers embedded in 47 of the 71 OSPS-affiliated counties so far Those officers are responsible for quickly preparing reports on new arrestees’ criminal histories and professional backgrounds based on interviews with the defendant and associated fact-checking. The reports are then sent to public defenders, state’s attorneys and judges.

A few dozen counties in Illinois already had their own versions of pretrial service offices. But OSPS has lightened the load for some of them, like the court’s probation department in St. Clair County, which opted into OSPS.

But in counties that have never had any formalized pretrial service office, Rowland said OSPS’ work has proven extremely helpful to the entire judicial system, but particularly to his work as a public defender. Prior to last year, he said he’d walk into hearings totally blind, having never met his client and not knowing “anything about him.”

“Right before the hearing…I’d be standing over in the corner (saying), ‘This is what you’ve been charged with. Where you living? You got a job?’” Rowland said. “I (didn’t) know any of that.”

Pretrial service officers begin their days early in the morning, and Rowland said he’s been receiving reports on new arrestees oftentimes before 8 a.m.

In August, OSPS began oversight of electronic monitoring in participating counties, and began picking up the tab for those ordered to wear the GPS tracking devices – fees that would sometimes drive the poorest defendants into debt.

One of Bellwood’s oldest businesses lives on after owner dies

Jamali Kopy Kat Printing reopens under new ownership after Dawood Burhani, its owner for more than 20 years, died in August

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Despite setbacks, Jamali Kopy Kat Printing Inc., 2501 St. Charles Rd. in Bellwood, has been around for 50 years.

In 2022, a drunk driver took out a traffic pole in front of the building and damaged two support beams. The store was back open within weeks of the crash, the second time in six years that a drunk driver crashed into the store, Dawood Burhani, the store’s owner of 24 years, said at the time. Now, the store will go on without Burhani’s steadying hand. Burhani died suddenly in August, prompting close family friends Fatema Chandabhai, a teacher, and her husband, Shabbir, an architect, to acquire the venerable business. The couple lives in Elmhurst.

“Everything is staying exactly the same,” Fatema said on Sept. 15. She said the store reopened on Sept. 11 after it had been closed since Burhani’s death.

“We didn’t want to leave it closed,” she said. “We want the business to continue. We’re working it out with the family and decided we needed to open as soon as possible. We want to continue providing for the community.”

In 2019, Burhani, a longtime Bellwood Chamber of Commerce member, explained how the business has survived for a half-

century.

“We used to be an offset printing place and now we’re all digital,” Burhani told Village Free Press at the time. “Offset is great for higher quantities, whereas digital is good for lower quantities. More and more people are doing lower quantities.”

Burhani said perseverance is key to why Jamali Kopy Kat’s stayed around for so long.

“We fought through the 2008-09 collapse,” he said. “We lost a lot of business. A lot of our customers went out of business. That’s when we went from offset to digital. I did a lot of personal investing to keep the business afloat for a while and now I’ve recouped all that.”

Kopy Kat counts many local institutions and governments as customers. They include the village of Bellwood and Proviso Township High Schools District 209.

In 2019, Sean Deady, at the time a graphic artist with Jamali Kopy Kat, told Village Free Press that the business has three major competitive advantages.

“The custom service and design capabilities we have are what, I think, motivate people to keep coming back in for business,” Deady said. “Also, I don’t think there’s another place in the community where you can get office printing done while you wait.”

On Friday, Fatema Chandabhai said she and her husband plan to enhance those advantages while perhaps even adding some services.

“We want to grow the business and do more printing for other companies,” Fetama said. “One of [Burhani’s] long-time employees will be joining us. He knows more than us, so we’ll learn from him. As time goes on, we’ll provide more services if we can.”

Jamali Kopy Kat Printing is open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, visit https://www. facebook.com/JKKPrinting/

Theater company, Philly Cheesesteaks franchise new to Broadview

Magnified Gift Theater Company and Charley’s

are among the new businesses that recently moved

into Broadview

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

A theater company and a national cheesecake restaurant franchise are among a slate of new businesses that are either planning on locating to Broadview or have already opened in recent weeks.

At a meeting on Aug. 14, the Broadview village board unanimously approved a business license application from Magnified Gift Theater Company, a nonprofit that produces plays and provides youth arts programming. The nonprofit will occupy a storefront space at 1807 W. Roosevelt Rd.

Magnified Gift produced “Passin’ Where

the River Bends” in 2018. Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough wrote the play set in 1960s Maywood on the banks of the Des Plaines River. The show was performed at Madison Street Theatre in Oak Park.

“I’m happy that we’re bringing the arts back to the community,” said Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson at the Aug. 14 board meeting.

The board also approved a business license for a Charley’s Cheesesteak franchise to operate at 122 Broadview Village Square Suite A106. The store officially opened in July.

According to the restaurant chain’s website, Charley’s Cheesesteak has over 700 locations in 46 states and 17 countries. The restaurant franchise is known for Philly Cheesesteaks, frozen shakes and real-fruit lemonade. Select locations also serve boneless wings.

The village board also approved licenses for three other businesses, including Associated Services Insurance Agency at 1425 W. Roosevelt Rd., Sports and Ortho Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine at 210 W. Roosevelt Rd. Unit C, and Viola Chi, a cannabis dispensary, at 156 W. Roosevelt Rd.

Cheesesteak

Michael Romain

Jamali Kopy Kat is now owned by Fatema Chandabai, above, and her husband Shabbir.

Michael Romain

The exterior of the Broadview storefront where Magnified Gift Theater is located.