Village Free Press_021721

Vol. V No. 7

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

To channel Fred, Daniel Kaluuya visits Maywood, PAGE 8

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Maywood to pass ordinance mandating face coverings The village board was poised to vote on the ordinance, which includes minimum $100 fines for those in violation, on Feb. 16

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

The village of Maywood’s Board of Trustees is likely to pass an ordinance requiring that people wear face coverings in public or face a fine of at least $100 whenever they violate the mandate.

The board was likely to approve the measure at its next regular meeting on Feb. 16, which was scheduled to take place after this publication’s print deadline.

Maywood Mayor Edwenna Perkins introduced the proposal at a regular meeting on Feb. 2, roughly a week after Village Free Press reported on a COVID-19 outbreak inside of the Maywood Police

Choose an account you can rely on.

BACK AT IT: High school boys varsity basketball returned to Proviso Township for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic struck last March.

The Pirates played the Panthers on Feb. 12 in a cross-town showdown. See the score on page 8.

Shanel Romain

Bellwood Police commander arrested for child porn resigns John Trevarthen, who was arrested earlier this month, resigned Feb. 11, Chief Allen said

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

The Bellwood Police Commander who

See MASK MANDATE on page 5

Yolunda Cooper’s domestic abuse survival story, PAGE 2

was charged last week with three counts of possession of child pornography has resigned, Bellwood Police Chief Jiminez Allen said on Feb. 15.

Chief Allen said Bellwood Commander John Trevarthen resigned from the department on Feb. 11. He did not comment further on the incident, beyond an earlier statement the village released and referred questions to the Lombard Police Department, which is conducting the investigation into Trevarthen.

Trevarthen, who lives in Lombard, was arrested earlier this month following a tip Lombard police received that prompted a nearly month-long investigation.

“In mid-January, a Lombard Police detective who is a member of the Illinois Attorney General Crimes Against Children Taskforce received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding suspected child pornography videos and photographs that were allegedly uploaded on a smart phone file-sharing See COMMANDER on page 3

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Proviso Community Bank is a branch of Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, N.A. 1. Total Access Checking Bonus Information. This Total Access Checking account bonus offer is valid for new accounts opened January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. This Total Access Checking account bonus offer is not available to existing or closed checking account customers of WTFC and its subsidiaries or its active employees. Limit 1 bonus payment per customer, regardless of the number of accounts opened. If you qualify for this Total Access Checking account bonus offer, you are ineligible to receive this Total Access Checking account bonus offer from any other Wintrust Financial Corporation (‘WTFC’) location. If you qualify for any other WTFC savings offer it may be combined with this Total Access Checking account bonus offer. Your new account must be open, in the same product, and have a balance greater than zero to receive the bonus payment. Balance is determined as of the end of each Business Day as the funds currently in your account including deposits and withdrawals made in the Business Day. The $300.00 bonus payment is subject to IRS 1099-INT reporting and may be considered income for tax purposes for the tax year in which the bonus was paid. 2. Total Access Checking Bonus Qualifications. (i) Open a new Total Access Checking account; (ii) tell us you are aware of this Total Access Checking account bonus offer at account opening; (iii) have at least monthly occurring direct deposits totaling $500.00 or more each month made to your new account for 2 consecutive calendar months after the calendar month your new account was opened (‘Qualification Period’). For example, if you open your new account in January, you would need to have “Direct Deposits” made to your new account in February totaling $500 or more and in March totaling $500 or more; and (iv) enroll in online banking and activate e-statements within the Qualification Period.

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Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

the village free press Editor & Publisher Michael Romain

VILLAGE people Yolunda Renee Cooper, 49, survived domestic abuse and is now a thriving social entrepreneur

By SHANEL ROMAIN Community Correspondent

Senior Sales & Strategic Consultant Kamil Brady Editorial Designer Andrew Mead Advertising Design Support Debbie Becker, Mark Moroney HOW TO REACH US Village Free Press c/o Wednesday Journal 141 S. Oak Park Ave. Oak Park, IL 60302 PHONE: 773-626-6332 FAX: (708) 467-9066 vfpress.news Twitter: @village_free Facebook: @maywoodnews The Village Free Press is published weekly

by Michael Romain. It is distributed free of charge at locations throughout Maywood. © 2021 Village Free Press We’re proud to partner with Growing Community Media, NFP. Publisher Dan Haley

“To learn to be human is to develop through the give and take of communication an effective sense of being an individually distinctive member of a community.”

—John Dewey

Yolunda Renee Cooper, 49, of Bellwood, founded the nonprofit 4 My Voice Matters in 2015. The number four represents the number of times she was shot in her back, said Cooper, who survived domestic abuse.

She spoke with Village Free Press about why started her nonprofit and how she’s been able to help others overcome domestic abuse.

What made you start your nonprofit?

I survived 15 years of domestic abuse. I was also gunned down in front of my home here in Bellwood on Dec. 28, 2008. They never found my shooter. We believe my abuser had something to do with it, but they were never able to connect the dots.

After surviving that, a lot of people didn’t know my story, so once people found out, they started inviting me to speak about my story. I was shot four times in my lower back and left for dead. I was paralyzed for two-and-a-half days. I was walking by the fifth day, out of the hospital by the eighth day and back to work in four months. God truly performed a miracle.

What services does your nonprofit provide Starting out, I was looking to bring awareness and what that meant for me was having gatherings, fundraisers and intimate conversations on this taboo subject that most people don’t want to talk about.

I would charge $10 to $15 for people to come in. There would be a panel of individuals, such as survivors, social workers, penal institution workers who deal with perpetrators, etc.

My thing is also about the abuser. While we’re helping the abused, we also need to help the abuser, because you can’t just help one-half of the spectrum and not the other half. The abuse will never stop that way. If I only help the victim and I never get to the perpetrator, then that victim is a survivor, moves on and is thriving, but the abuser will eventually find someone else and abuse again.

What are some of the signs of abuse?

Most abusers are charming, charismatic, manipulative, and attractive in some shape, form or fashion. They prey on weaknesses and look for individuals they can control and isolate from family members.

I lost a lot of fair-weather friends while with my abuser.

It’s nothing against them, because it was me who made the decisions. I thought I was spending more time with my “boo,” because he only wanted to spend time with me. You know, that was a trick to get me away from my family.

Abusers make it seem like you’re their world and you’re the only person they want to be with.

You have to watch it, because a lot of abusers don’t really have many friends. When you have friends, you want to go out with friends. You need space from your significant other.

I tell people all the time, it wasn’t a Farrah Fawcett “The Burning Bed” type of thing. The first incident was a backhanded slap. It took me aback and I told him to leave. I said I was done.

The next day I started receiving pager messages that pleaded for forgiveness and that he needed to talk to me. He came by and I wouldn’t let him inside. Eventually, I began getting flowers from him, which is where the abuse starts. There’s a cycle: the calm phase, then it starts to build up, then the abuse happens, after that is the honeymoon stage and it starts all over again.

Get connected with Yolunda For more information on Cooper’s story, you can purchase her book, “Assassination Avoided, Destiny Defined.” If you’d like to donate to her 501(c)3 4 My Voice Matters go to https://www.yrenacooper.com/donations.html#/.

And if you’re shopping on Amazon, you can shop through smile.amazon. com and choose 4 My Voice Matters NFP as the charity of your choice. This way, 5 percent of whatever you purchase from Amazon goes to Cooper’s nonprofit.

Because I was already smitten with him, I forgave him.

The next incident didn’t happen for another six or seven months, but by this time I was brainwashed and had alienated my friends and I didn’t want anyone to know I was being abused.

Why didn’t you tell anyone you were being abused?

For fear of being rejected. Especially when you don’t leave the abuser, people get upset and feel like, “I can’t keep dealing with [you refusing to leave], so I’m gonna leave you alone.”

Furthermore, if I tell someone about the abuse and they confront him, then I’m gonna get jumped on.

What is advice for friends and family who see the abuse?

It takes a victim about seven times before they actually leave an abuser. It’s going to be up to the victim to make up their own mind to leave, and hopefully, it won’t be too late. I tell people to be a support system. Don’t judge, give the resources if they ask for them, give suggestions if they ask for them and be a listening ear. If you keep trying to force them to do something, you’re going to push them further into the abuse.

How did you escape?

I prayed and my exodus came by way of him throwing me out of our house on Oct. 26, 2008.

I filed a police report against him for the first time in 15 years that day. Even though I feel like restraining orders are just a piece of paper and they don’t do anything, it’s still a paper trail that we need.

Tell me about the day you were shot.

The short story of it is that I was coming home from church on December 28, 2008. I got out of my car and walked across my grass and the guy called out my name and told me not to move. I turned around, he shot me four times and walked off. The bullet hit every vital organ except for my heart.

They never found my shooter, but I believe that my abuser had something to do with it. I believe my husband drove the perpetrator to my house to show him where I lived. But unfortunately, they were never able to connect the dots.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

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Area police address rise in carjacking

Possible task force on carjacking among solutions offered

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

Police in Proviso Township are searching for answers as instances of carjacking and armed robberies increase in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.

In Maywood, for instance, carjacking doubled from 2019 to 2020, said Maywood Police Lt. Dennis Diaz during a village board meeting on Feb. 2. Diaz said in 2019, the department reported 13 carjacking incidents. By the end of 2020, the number of carjacking incidents was at 25.

“The trend is not new to Maywood,” Diaz said. “It’s something that’s been going on in the city and surrounding suburbs.”

Chicago Police have reported that carjacking incidents in 2020 skyrocketed 135 percent from the year before. According to ABC 7 News, there were 218 carjackings in the city in January of this year, a 283 percent increase over January 2020, when there were only 77 carjacking incidents in the city. Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park experienced smaller increases in carjackings throughout 2020.

Many of the alleged perpetrators are teenagers, leading the city of Chicago to organize a series of community listening sessions throughout February that are geared toward youth.

“This is truly an all-hands-on-deck situation,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said.

Hillside Police Chief Joe Lukaszek said

COMMANDER

Leaves after charges from page 1 application with an email address that registered to a home in Lombard,” the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office explained in a statement released on Feb. 6.

“Following the tip, the Lombard Police Department immediately began an investigation into the matter,” the state’s attorney added. “On February 5, 2021, a traffic stop was executed on the defendant at which time his personal iPhone was seized.

Additionally, a search warrant was executed at the defendant’s home resulting in the seizure of his iPad. “Both devices were sent to the DuPage County Sheriff ’s Office’s Digital Forensic Unit for analysis. Following an investigation into the matter, it is alleged that Trevarthen used a personal IP address as well as an IP address owned by the Village of Bellwood to view child pornography through the file-

Video footage of a carjacking in progress in Chicago’s Loop last month. Law enforcement authorities in Proviso Township worry that the city’s carjacking problems have spread to the suburbs.

Screenshot/NBC 5 Chicago

organized a meeting with regional mayors and police chiefs to address the issue. The same day, Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel, who said he wasn’t notified about the meeting, called for a city-suburban task force designed to create strategies for preventing carjacking on a larger scale.

Weitzel said he wants the proposed task force to include representatives from Chicago and suburban departments, as well as the FBI, ATF, Cook County Sheriff ’s Police, the Cook County State’s Attorney and federal prosecutors.

“Maywood would certainly be down to join this if it comes to fruition,” Diaz said of Weitzel’s proposed task force. “[The problem of carjacking] is not something we can handle on our own.”

Diaz told residents on Feb. 2 that in the meantime, they should take precautions to avoid falling victim to carjacking.

Those precautions include always being alert to their surroundings, walking to their cars with purpose and immediate driving off, making sure that they aren’t being followed and, if arriving home late at night, driving around the block before pulling into their driveways.

“If you feel unsafe, call the police,” Diaz said, before warning residents of a particularly bold tactic that some thieves are taking.

“Some carjackers are bumping vehicles from behind to pretend that it’s an accident and when you get out to assess the damage, they’ll confront you and take your vehicle,” Diaz said. “The main thing to avoid any type of conflict is to give up your possessions.

The best thing you can do to help police is become the best witness possible. Don’t try fighting anyone off.”

he’s been worried that, if Chicago cracks down on carjacking, the problem will spread to the suburbs.

Northlake Police Chief Norman Nissen said he believes the stolen cars are implicated in other crimes.

“We believe that the armed robberies [we’re seeing] are occurring when [the alleged perpetrators] had a carjacked vehicle,” Nissen said.

“We’re getting robberies of the cell phone stores, convenience stores and we just had our first robbery of a person in their driveway, in the first week of February,” Nissen said, adding that another robbery that took place in Northlake last month involved a suspect driving a vehicle that was carjacked in Maywood.

Bellwood Police Chief Jiminez Allen said that most car thefts in Bellwood have not been by carjacking; rather, thieves have

taken cars unlocked cars at gas stations or at in residential driveways. Most thefts have happened near the intersection of 25th Avenue and I-290, he said. The Thortons gas station at 1125 25th Ave., in particular, is a hot spot, he said.]

Allen said that there were 27 stolen vehicles reported in Bellwood in 2019.

Four of them were U-Haul vehicles that were never returned and only two were carjacking incidents. In 2020, there were 31 stolen vehicles reported in Bellwood, including three un-returned U-Hauls and five carjacking incidents. The chief said that most of the carjacking incidents happened toward the end of last year. He said that last month, there were two vehicle thefts and one carjacking. So far this month, there has been one carjacking in Bellwood, which took place Thortons on Feb. 8.

On Jan. 29, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot

sharing application ‘Kik.’” Last week, Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey said that the village had been notified of Trevarthen’s arrest by the Lombard Police Department. Harvey added that the commander had been immediately placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

The incident with Trevarthen comes amid a heated election season, with Harvey facing a challenger who has made law enforcement reform the most important part of his campaign.

John Wicks, who heads up the Bellwood Peoples Choice slate, issued a barrage of questions following Trevarthen’s arrest.

“How long has John Trevarthen been a police officer and when was he hired/ promoted to Commander within the Village of Bellwood Police Department (VBPD)?”

Wicks asked on Facebook and in a statement provided to Village Free Press.

Wicks also questioned the police department’s policy regarding employees’ personal use of computer equipment,

whether or not the village’s IT ARRESTED: Former Bellwood contractor “monitor or restrict Police commander John access to pornographic websites” Trevarthen resigned on Feb. and whether there has been any 11, Bellwood Police Chief previous disciplinary actions Jiminez Allen said. taken in the past “against any Village of Bellwood employee COURTESY DUPAGE COUNTY STATE’S for misuse of equipment or ATTORNEY’S OFFICE violating a computer use policy (if it exists)?”

Trevarthen’s next court appearance is Chief Allen said on Feb. 15 that he spoke scheduled for March 8, 2021, for arraignment to the Bellwood Police Department’s IT in front of Judge Jeffrey MacKay, the state’s contractor. Allen said the contractor assured attorney’s office said. him that the department has firewalls in “Members of the public are reminded that place that keeps anyone from using village this complaint contains only charges and is computers and other equipment to view not proof of the defendant’s guilt,” the office child pornography. added.

At the time of Trevarthen’s arrest, Mayor “A defendant is presumed innocent and Harvey said, “In no uncertain terms, we do is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the not tolerate or accept illegal behavior by any government’s burden to prove his or her village employee. The police department guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” remains committed to providing the highest Igor Studenkov contributed to this level of service and protection to each reporting. resident and business owner in the village of Bellwood.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

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Chef has ideas for livening up Westchester Food Pantry items Chef Peg Checchi’s Menu Monday videos offer creative, healthy recipes for Westchester Food Pantry food

By SHANEL ROMAIN Community Correspondent

When Amanda Grant, the executive director of the Westchester Food Pantry learned that some of her clients didn’t really know how to incorporate the food that they received from the pantry into their cooking, she called on former chef Peg Checchi, 54, to create a series of online cooking videos called Menu Monday.

Checchi, a Westchester resident, has extensive culinary arts experience, including working as executive chef for the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, Ga. Despite her lauded professional background, Checchi keeps the recipes very simple and inexpensive. Her goal is to teach people something new about cooking and to give them background information on the techniques and methods her recipes call for, so that they know why they are doing what they’re doing. That way, she said, they can

many people have about cooking,” she said.

“They say, ‘Oh, I can’t cook.’ The fact of the matter is everybody can cook.

Cooking isn’t hard. It’s not rocket science.

It’s just that you need to know what you’re doing.

And you need to know the techniques and why this tastes better than that.”

She is INSPIRED RECIPES: Chef Peg Checchi’s Menu Monday videos are also budgetdesigned to show Westchester Food Pantry clients some good, conscious wholesome things to do with the food they get from the pantry. and uses less Provided e x p e n s i v e ingredients while stressing the use of unprocessed, raw apply them to other recipes. and inexpensive foods that are packed with “My goal is to break down the fear that nutrients.

“The idea is to make things that are accessible to people knowing that they don’t have a lot of extra money and they can’t go out and buy stuff at the grocery store, so I try to use what a normal pantry might have,” Checchi said.

“And if they do use something that’s not in a normal pantry, I try and give alternatives. If you don’t have this pepper, use that pepper,” she said. “I try to stay very conscious that I am doing this for the food pantry. People need help. They don’t need to go out and spend money at the grocery store on specialty ingredients.”

The pork, for example, comes in a very generic can at the food pantry, causing most people who get it to put it back on the shelves. So, Chef Peg can be seen making pork stir fry with rice. A few other videos show how to make black bean soup and split pea soup with ham.

All of the recipes are kept simple and incorporated into Checchi’s family dinners, as well, so that it’s very practical and something that others would actually want to eat.Anyone can find the Menu Monday video on Westchester Food Pantry’s Facebook page.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

MASK MANDATE Penalties coming from page 1 Department, which is located at 125 S. 5th Ave., directly above the mayor’s office.

“The Mayor’s office has been receiving calls periodically about businesses not requiring customers and staff to wear [masks],” according to an email memo sent Jan. 25, on the mayor’s behalf to village attorney Michael Jurusik.

“After the news broke on Friday about several cases in the village’s police station, the Mayor’s office was fogged with disinfectant for the protection of staff,” the memo continued.

“Calls have now come in again asking if Maywood can legally mandate all people to wear [masks] in town? I’m aware that anyone on village property is supposed to, but it is now obvious that they have not been in the [police] department [sic].”

In an emailed response, Jurusik indicated that the village does have home rule authority, which means that the board “can adopt a local code amendment ordinance requiring that masks be worn in public.”

Jurusik added that the mayor “can sign a local executive order requiring that masks be worn in public to impose and enforce a mask mandate while in public that carries as a penalty for violation of the mask mandate a local ordinance fine, the dollar amount of which can be set by the Village Board.”

A list provided by Jurusik of other suburbs that have implemented various local mask mandates includes Cicero, La Grange Park and North Riverside. Stone Park issued a similar executive order mandating masks last year. Residents of that suburb who violate the order are fined $100 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense and $500 for each subsequent offense.

During the meeting on Feb. 2, the village board voted unanimously to have Jurusik produce a draft ordinance creating the executive order that requires face coverings be worn in the village. According to the draft proposal, appropriate face coverings include “non-medical grade masks, homemade face coverings, scarves, bandanas or handkerchiefs […] The intent of this Executive Order is to quickly and temporarily increase the usage of face coverings by persons in public to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

The executive order explains that, once the measure becomes a local ordinance, those in violation of the order may be subject to a fine “of not less than $100 and not more than $750.”

The face covering requirement won’t apply to people while they’re inside of their homes, while riding in a personal vehicle, and while engaging in an outdoor activity, such as jogging or walking.

The exemption also applies to individuals under the age of 2 years old, anyone “unable to medically tolerate the wearing of a mask,” and when wearing a face covering “poses a greater health, safety or security risk to the

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TOUGH STANCE: A sign telling visitors to wear masks outside of Maywood Village Hall, 40 Madison St. The village is considering imposing fines for those who don’t wear face coverings in public.

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person or to the public.”

Much of the ordinance is consistent with regulations that have already been applied at the county, state and federal levels.

For instance, business owners can already refuse admission into their establishments or refuse to serve anyone who isn’t wearing a face covering.

Maywood’s ordinance is really geared toward ensuring that local businesses comply with mask-wearing recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and that village employees, particularly those in the police department, wear masks while on village property.

During the Feb. 2 meeting, Maywood Trustee Nathaniel George Booker said he’s witnessed people inside of local business establishments without masks on and multiple village employees have complained about the lack of mask-wearing within the police department.

Last month’s outbreak in the department — where the positive COVID-19 case count ranged from a 5 to 14, depending on the source (the village did not have an official count) — prompted Maywood Village Manager Willie Norfleet Jr. to muse about looking for alternative public safety arrangements in the event that the police department was forced to close down.

Maywood Police Chief Valdimir Talley has explained in emails obtained by Village Free Press that he does not require department employees to wear masks, because doing so might violate their constitutional rights.

At the time, Norfleet said that, while all employees who work at Village Hall, 40 Madison St., are required to wear masks, the mask mandate did not apply to the police and fire departments.

During the Feb. 2 meeting, Maywood Human Resources Coordinator LaSondra Banks told board members that “wearing a mask is required in all public buildings operated by Maywood,” including the police station, all fire stations, Village Hall and the Multipurpose Building, among properties owned and operated by the village.

“All employees should always have on a mask when interacting with the general public,” Banks said, adding that “employees who don’t adhere to this mandate will be sent home and disciplined.”

Banks said that the village has also implemented other COVID-19 mitigation strategies, including installing plexiglass dividers inside of village properties, encouraging frequent hand-washing and paying for a third-party vendor to conduct regular cleanings of village-owned properties.

Although the village does not require

employees to be vaccinated, Banks said that those who do get vaccinated will help stop the spread of the virus, which by now has mutated into more virulent and more contagious forms.

The village’s positivity rate has been trending downward since peaking back in November, according to data that’s been made publicly available by the Cook County Department of Public Health.

For the two weeks preceding Feb. 6, the percentage of confirmed cases in Maywood

dropped by 21 percent compared with the two weeks before that period, county data shows. There have been 2,142 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Maywood, since March 14.

According to data provided by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, 33 of those positive cases have been fatal. So far this year, there have been five COVID-19 deaths in the village.

CONTACT: info@fpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

Maywood man’s nonprofit has Black History Month impact Edward Redd’s YEMBA Inc., helped Hasani Cannon secure exhibition at Forest Park National Bank, Black History Month coffee bag design

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Up-and-coming Oak Park artist Hasani Cannon is making his creative presence felt in the community during Black History Month, thanks to Maywood native Edward Redd’s nonprofit, which serves young people in the area.

Cannon is a former participant in Redd’s YEMBA Inc., which helped hone the young man’s artistic passion. Cannon’s work is currently on display inside Forest Park National Bank, 7348 Madison St. in Forest Park. He also designed a special edition Black History Month coffee bag for Dark Matter Coffee. The special edition bag was developed in partnership with YEMBA, which will get the proceeds from the sale of the coffee.

BLAST OF COLOR: Hasani Cole’s Afrocentric artwork is currently on display inside of the lobby at Forest Park National Bank, thanks, in part, to connections he garnered through Maywood resident Edward Redd.

Alex Rogals

Cannon, 20, graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 2019 and participated in YEMBA as a middle school student.

“Hasani was always very visual, inquisitive and thoughtful,” Redd explained.

“Every time I saw him in the class, he was always drawing something. At the end of our season, we always have a commencement ceremony. I gave each kid a gift that represented them and at the time I gave him some color pencils and a pad because I knew he was very talented and art was something he was very passionate about.”

Cannon, who currently attends the University of Illinois Springfield, said he

honed his skills at OPRF, evolving from an aspiring comic book artist and superhero fan to a more serious and astute fine artist.

The exhibition in Forest Park and the Dark Matter Coffee bag feature Cannon’s evolving perspective, one grounded in African representation. The essential theme of the work, he said, is rooted in Afrocentrism, a perspective he gained through studying the history of Western art and what it leaves out.

“I often see that African art really isn’t represented as I’d like it to be, and oftentimes the Western perspective of art is usually taken as the quintessential perspective,” he said.

“I wanted my art to reflect the past and my experiences growing up. I was surrounded by a lot of African culture, African masks.

My mother is an African dancer and I do African drumming,” he explained. “So the culture has always been prevalent in my life.”

While standing in the lobby on earlier this month, Donald Offerman, the senior vice president at Forest Park National Bank, raved about the color Cannon’s work brings to the facility, especially on an overcast winter day.

“We’re delighted to have the art on display here,” Offerman said. “It’s consistent with our values and with the celebration of Black History Month.”

You can view Cannon’s artwork during Forest Park National Bank’s lobby hours: Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesday, 1 to 5 p.m.; and Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The exhibition will run through the months of February and March.

To pre-order the YEMBA/Dark Coffee special edition Black History Month coffee bag featuring Cannon’s work, visit yembainc.org.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

Maywood nonprofit tackles ‘starving artist’ narrative Jasmine and Jeremy Lopez founded The Firehouse Dream to persuade Black and Brown youth that good careers in creative arts actually exist

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

A Maywood nonprofit is hoping to show area young people the diversity and breadth of career opportunities in the creative arts.

Jeremy, 36, and Jasmine Lopez, 37, officially established The Firehouse Dream as a tax-exempt nonprofit in 2019. The organization’s mission is to “connect young adults with a safe space to discover creative skill sets, be equipped with the tools needed in order to thrive in every area of their lives,” according to its website.

The nonprofit’s name was inspired by the historic Maywood Fire Department building located at 511 St. Charles Rd. The Dutch Revival building, the first fire department in the village, was constructed in 1904 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

“We’ve in Maywood for four years, but have been in the Proviso Township area

for more than eight years,” Jasmine said.

“We sold our house in Maywood in order to purchase the firehouse and have been living there for around two-and-a-half years now.”

Jasmine said she and her husband both work in the creative industry. She said she’s been a professional photographer for more than 10 years while her husband works in photography, graphic design and brand identification.

“We’re able to make an income off of this, but the narrative in Black and Brown communities is always that of the starving artist,” Jasmine said. “We want young people to know that this is an industry they can thrive in even without a college degree.”

Jasmine said the nonprofit holds free workshops for young people and young adults, ages 14 to 24, and will soon be piloting a three-month paid internship program. She said the programming is typically molded by what young people in the community say they want.

“We believe in the power of co-creating and shared power, so as a creative and someone who lives in the community, I don’t approach kids and say, ‘Here’s a workshop we’re teaching and we want you to learn it.’

We ask the youth, ‘What are you dreaming of and how can we partner with you to make that dream a reality?”

Jasmine said one participant wanted to learn more about peace circles — a process

the nonprofit facilitated.

Another young person was interested in pottery, so they took a field trip to a nearby studio to do some pottery.

“We want to make sure our programming is based on things our participants are interested in,” she said. “It’s about their feedback.”

SHOWING THE WAY: Jasmine and Jeremy Lopez co-foundJasmine said although the ed The Firehouse Dream, which is a nonprofit designed nonprofit is named after the to get area young people interested in the creative arts building the couple purchased and to help them develop their potential. and where they currently live, Courtesy The Firehouse Dream they don’t operate all of their programming in the historic participating in a career pathway program building.

She said they often partner with area into the creative arts, Jasmine said, perhaps businesses and organizations, such as the narrative of the starving Black and the pottery studio, and encourage their Brown artist can be disrupted — at least participants to learn various skills — from among some community members.

She said that in addition to building those photography, graphic design and video to podcasting — and acquire different creative skills, the nonprofit will also help young people build their financial literacy experiences within a range of locations. in key areas like budgeting and developing She said after the COVID-19 pandemic a business plan. hit last March, the nonprofit had to pivot to The Firehouse Dream hosted a commuvirtual programming. They also partnered with local organizations, such as the nity meeting on Feb. 15. If you want notes nonprofit Best of Proviso, on food giveaways. from the meeting, email your request to: In the future, Jasmine said, she hopes the connect@thefirehousedream.org. For more nonprofit can create more paid internship information on the nonprofit, visit the website at: www.thefirehousedream.org/. opportunities among area young people. If CONTACT: info@vfpress.news their parents can see them getting paid for

vfpress.news

Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

7

Three D209 administrators exit amid supt. reorganization Nicole Howard, Paul StarckKing and Tracy Miller leave ahead of Supt. Henderson’s plans to present a proposed staff realignment to school board

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Three top administrators at Proviso Township High School District 209 are heading for the exits amid an anticipated central office restructuring that Supt. James Henderson said he plans to outline to the board later this month.

Nicole Howard, the associate superintendent for Academic and Family Services, is leaving the district to take a job in Indian Prairie, Henderson said.

Tracy Miller, the district’s director of accounting, resigned on Feb. 15. Henderson said she took a job closer to her home, which is nearly three hours from the district’s administrative offices.

Paul Starck-King, the assistant superintendent for finance, is retiring.

that are scheduled to take place on Feb. 18 and Feb. 25.

At a regular b o a r d meeting on Feb. 9, Henderson praised Howard Nicole Howard, Paul Starck-King for being Provided “a trooper” and the “voice of Stark-King and Howard will both stay reason” during his six months at the helm. in their jobs until June 30.

Starck-King said Miller “has done During a phone interview on Feb. 15, tremendous work for us” and that she’ll be Henderson said that the administrators “difficult to replace. We’ll do our best, but are leaving as he works on implementing a she has worked very, very hard for the couple larger central office realignment. of years she’s been here. We’ve caught up on “I will be bringing to the board a a lot of things. The board has seen some old recommendation to reconstitute the district invoices that have come through that we’ve and that is what’s happening,” Henderson finally gotten paid … So, she’s done yeoman’s said, adding that “some positions will stay work with a high degree of excellence.” the same and some will be different.”

“I want to thank you as well,” D209 board He said he anticipates presenting the member Della Patterson told Stark-King. “I proposed realignment to the board after wish you well.” he hosts his upcoming town hall meetings

“My family and I would like to thank the board for the support they’ve given us,” Stark-King said.

Henderson’s anticipated realignment will be D209’s second major central office restructuring in roughly three years. The realignments are often a courtesy school boards grant superintendents and typically happen with new administrations, but they’re not always without controversy.

Former superintendent Jesse Rodriguez’s proposed realignment prompted heated debate between board members in 2018 about “administrative salaries and the process for hiring and promoting administrators,” according to previous Village Free Press reporting.

At the time, Rodriguez said his staff restructuring was cost-neutral, and designed to “transform” the district and challenge the status quo.

Henderson said his staff restructuring would realize some significant cost savings, improve the district’s organizational structure and processes, and put the district in the position to “spend funds more strategically.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

D209 makes big progress on health, life and safety fixes Some issues, dating back to the 1980s, finally corrected

By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

Giometti stressed that all urgent items have been resolved and required items will be fixed during the next phase of construction.

Board member Amanda Grant, who has

and safety issues to make sure our school buildings are up to code.”

Some of these items, according to Henderson, include: § Adding horns and strobe lights to

served on the finance and facilities commit-

emergency fire panel evacuation

In January, D209 administration an-

tee, pointed out how important these items

controls at Proviso East and West

nounced that the district had fixed hundreds

are and how long some of them have been

to ensure that individuals who are

of health and life safety (HLS) issues in the

outstanding issues.

visually and hearing impaired can

three high school buildings, some dating

“All the urgent items of HLS from all

back to the 1980s, including all urgent items

schools are complete,” Grant said during

and most of the recommended fixes.

the meeting. “These HLS items have been

be properly alerted when a fire alarm has sounded. § Replacing doors in classrooms

Carl Giometti, project architect from Per-

with us for decades. Some have been pushed

and hallways that had reached the

kins & Will, talked about life safety issues

off and pushed off and pushed off since the

end of their useful life.

during the January board meeting.

1980s. These are really important changes

§ Installing new fire doors in the

we’re making to our schools to make them

stairwells at Proviso Math and

safer for our students and staff.”

Science Academy to ensure

At Proviso Math and Science Academy, there were 85 items on the original survey, all of which will be completed in the next sequence of master facilities updates.

At East, there were 605 issues originally

Grant added that waiting until phase 3 of

individuals can get out of the

construction to finish the outstanding items

building safely, in the event of an

will be a money-saver for the district.

emergency.

on the survey, and only 178 will be remain-

In an email, Superintendent James Hen-

ing after the next round of upgrades, largely

derson said, “We’re proud to be delivering

items that will be corrected in subsequent

on a promise to make our facilities safer for

fixes, particularly during electrical system

our students and staff. In the first sequence

upgrades and heating and ventilation work,

of phase 1 work of our Facilities Master

Giometti said.

Plan, we tackled more than 800 health, life

§ Upgrading parking lots and eliminating potholes at all three schools, decreasing danger and opportunity for injury.

Upcoming community town halls District 209 Supt. James Henderson is planning to host two community meetings, which he’s calling Northbound Train to Greatness Town halls.

During a recent interview, Henderson said that the town halls are designed for him to provide community members with feedback from his conversations with various stakeholders in Proviso Township.

He said he went on a listening tour just after getting hired last year and had conversations with “mayors, ministers, business leaders, state legislators, and a cadre of teachers, principals, students and other administrators.”

The superintendent said he’ll be “speaking on themes such as trust. I heard trust a lot in my conversations. We also talked about equity and transparency.”

The town halls will take place on Zoom on Thursday, Feb. 18 and Thursday, Feb. 25. Both will start at 6:30 p.m.

The link to join the Feb. 18 town hall is: http://bit.ly/TownhallFeb18.

The link to join the Feb. 25 town hall is: http://bit.ly/TownhallFeb25.

Physical attendance during the town halls is limited. Those who want to attend in-person should contact Nicole Wilson, the district’s communications director, at: nwilson@pths209.org, in order to reserve a seat. Face masks and face shields will be provided to all in-person participants.

8

vfpress.news

Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

OUT and ABOUT

HAPPENINGS: Top left to right (clockwise), the Pirates beat the Panthers 52-39 last Friday; Fred Hampton Jr., far left, and Maywood resident Jesse FX Ingram met with actors Daniel Kaluuya and Dominique Fishback, who star in the film, “Judas and the Black Messiah” on HBO Max; Artwork by Aaron Canino and Anisha S. Durr on display at Hillside’s Village Hall throughout Black History Month.

It’s tax season!

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vfpress.news

Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

9

VILLAGES perspectives

Thank you, Illinois Legislative Black Caucus

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Commentary

In 1969, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm — the first Black congresswoman in the country’s history and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination — spoke at Delta Sigma Theta’s founders day luncheon in Brooklyn. Susan Brownmiller, a reporter for the New York Times, was present to write an article that was published in the paper that year.

“You have no idea what those people in Washington with their hands on the power have been plotting and planning for us,” she said in her West Indian accent. “Let me tell you. Do not be complacent. The Man says he knows we ain’t never gonna come together.”

Chisholm then facetiously described the “good advice” she’d been receiving from her counterparts since ascending to Congress.

“They tell me, ‘Shirley, you’re just a freshman and you have to keep quiet as a freshman.’ … I listen sweetly to them and then I say, ‘Gentlemen, thank you for your advice. I understand what you’re saying.

But when I get up there on the floor of Congress, I’m sure you’ll understand that I am speaking with the pent-up emotions of the community’.”

I thought of Chisholm after I interviewed Illinois State Senator Kimberly Lightford last week about the unprecedented package of legislation she’s been able to steer through the General Assembly as Senate Majority Leader and head of the Illinois Legislative

Black Caucus.

The senator, who represents parts of Oak Park and River Forest, explained passionately what the caucus has called its “Four Pillars.”

Pillar one covers criminal justice, violence reduction and police reform. Pillar two covers education and workforce development.

Pillar three covers economic access, opportunity and equity. Pillar four covers health care and human services.

In less than a year, the Black Caucus has managed to push out seven bills addressing those Four Pillars, which are in the position of likely becoming laws that will provide tangible changes in the lives of many Black and Brown people — changes like ending the cash bail system.

I don’t have time or space to go over the details in all of the bills, but I encourage you to research them for yourself at ilga.gov.

They include: HB 3653, HB 2170, SB 1980, SB 1480, SB 1608, SB 1792 and HB 3840.

I know on the surface that this all reads like a numerical and alphabet soup of abstraction, but beyond the nomenclature is a reality that too many of us, Black men in particular, know painfully in our bones, in our being.

Nearly 40 years after Shirley Chisholm

gave that speech in Brooklyn, Kalief Browder, a Bronx teenager, was arrested for walking in his neighborhood. At the time, he didn’t know what he had done and did not have the stolen item police claimed to have stopped, searched and arrested him for.

Browder was, quite simply, trapped in the Kafkaesque plot that Shirley Chisholm was talking about — the plot in front of our eyes but that too many white people in America are less inclined to believe than QAnon, despite the overwhelming evidence proving the former.

Kalief Browder died by suicide two tormented years after he was released from Riker’s Island, where he was tortured for three years — by solitary confinement, by grown men assaulting him, by guards who were not guardians — without the state having provided a lick of evidence tying him to a stolen backpack. His bail was $3,000, but his family couldn’t afford to pay it, so he was forced to stay at Riker’s until his trial.

As Lightford read through the long list of reforms included in the caucus’ legislation last week, her pained countenance burdened with the “pent-up emotions of ” her community, she would often pause from the policy speak and talk about the people

MICHAEL ROMAIN

who may be affected by the Four Pillars legislation.

The unemployed young people she passes on the streets. Hard-working students struggling to pay college tuition. Generations of jailed and jobless and just-getting-by breeding more generations of jailed and jobless and just-getting-by. Several times over the last 12 months, at press conferences and in interviews, I’ve seen the state senator break down in tears. The pain is real.

Lightford explained how her caucus, in the wake of George Floyd’s death, unified and collectively resolved to try to bring about tangible racial and economic equity after decades of Springfield fortifying a rigged system — a system that always and forever delays justice and equality and equity for Black and Brown and poor and powerless people.

In order to try ending cash bail, for instance, caucus members had to work in stealth and in tandem, Lightford said, beneath the prying eyes of the police unions and the Downstate Republicans and the other forces Shirley Chisholm channeled in 1969 (the “Man says he knows we ain’t never gonna come together”).

This time, it appears, “we” did. And we have the Black Caucus — whose members worked with grassroots activists and advocates, held hundreds of hours of hearings, combed through research and whipped up the votes — to thank.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

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Village Free Press | February 17 , 2021

11

PUBLIC REAL ESTATE NOTICES FOR SALE

PUBLIC REAL ESTATE NOTICES FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE PUBLIC FOR SALE NOTICES

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A REDEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF REAL PROPERTY AND CONSTRUCTION OF A MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT TO BE LOCATED IN THE MADISON STREET/FIFTH AVENUE TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT, AND AN INVITATION TO SUBMIT ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT SITE AT 1002 S. 6TH AVENUE, MAYWOOD, ILLINOIS

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the public’s access to this Public Hearing shall be as follows: Physical attendance at the Public Hearing is limited to 25 individuals or 25% room capacity, whichever is less, with priority given to Village officials, Village staff and consultants, subject to social distancing guidelines.

The public is encouraged to stay at home and watch and listen to the Public Hearing via electronic means.

Public comments and any responses will be read into the Public Hearing record.

Please submit public comments via email in advance of the Public Hearing to: vmims@maywood-il. org, cthompkins@maywood-il.org or tpavlik@maywood-il.org and/or faxing to (708) 681-8818. Written comments can also be mailed or delivered in advance of the Public Hearing to the attention of the Maywood Village Clerk, 40 East Madison Street, Maywood, Illinois 60153.

Options to watch and listen to the Public Hearing: Live Stream at the Village Website Home Page: Go to www.maywood-il.org and Click “Video On Demand”.

The public may listen to and participate in the Public Hearing by joining through Zoom (https://zoom.us). The Zoom Meeting ID and Access Code will be available on the Village website in advance of the Public Hearing start time.

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: Y21005824 on January 28, 2021 Under the Assumed Business Name of TRAVELING WITH D 365 with the business located at: 7938 S MAPLEWOOD, CHICAGO, IL 60652.

The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: DONNA PRINCE 7938 S MAPLEWOOD, CHICAGO, IL 60652 USA

The judgment amount was $200,322.00.

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, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, 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.

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, The sales clerk, LOGS Legal Group LLP Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301, Bannockburn, IL, 60015 (847) 291-1717 For information call between the hours of 1pm 3pm.. Please refer to file number 20-093438.

THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.

LOGS Legal Group LLP 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301 Bannockburn IL, 60015 847-291-1717 E-Mail: ILNotices@logs.com Attorney File No. 20-093438 Attorney Code. 42168

Case Number: 20 CH 6011 TJSC#: 41-144 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.

Case # 20 CH 6011 I3163905

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, CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL, 60527 (630) 794-9876 THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE 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. 14-18-05254 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 18CH06920 TJSC#: 41-155 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.

Case # 18CH06920 I3164021

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.

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, CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL, 60527 (630) 794-9876 THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE 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. 14-17-05268 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 2018CH05854 TJSC#: 41-33 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.

Case # 2018CH05854 I3164121

Notice is given that a public hearing will be held on March 2, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. in the Village of Maywood Council Chambers, 125 South Fifth Avenue, Second Floor, Maywood, Illinois (the “Public Hearing”), on a proposed Redevelopment Agreement relating to the purchase of real property and construction of a mixeduse development on real property located within the Madison Street/ Fifth Avenue Tax Increment Financing District, pursuant to the provisions of the “Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act,” 65 ILCS 5/11-74.4-1 et seq., as amended (the “TIF Act”). The proposed purchaser is Access Health and Housing, LLC, and the proposed mixed use development consists of a building with at least two (2) ground-floor commercial units on the corner of 6th Avenue and Madison Street and construction of two (2) multi-family residential housing buildings with four (4) units each on the lots to the south of the corner, with a focus on veterans and residents with disabilities. Copies of the proposed Redevelopment Agreement will be available as of Wednesday, February 17, 2021, for public examination in the Village Clerk’s Office at 40 East Madison Street, Maywood, Illinois, on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The real property to be redeveloped under the proposed Redevelopment Agreement is legally described as follows: LOTS 16 THROUGH 20, BOTH INCLUSIVE, AND THE EAST ½ OF THE VACATED ALLEY WEST AND ADJOINING SAID LOTS IN BLOCK 129 IN MAYWOOD, A SUBDIVISION IN SECTIONS 2, 11 AND 14, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 12, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS; PINs: 15-14-102-009-0000; 15-14102-010-0000; 15-14-102-011-0000; 15-14-102-012-0000; 15-14-102013-0000 COMMONLY KNOWN AS: 1002 S. 6th Avenue, Maywood, Illinois (a/k/a 600 Madison).

The above Public Hearing restrictions are authorized by the Open Meetings Act, the CDC directive (social distancing guidelines) and Illinois Governor Disaster Proclamation dated January 8, 2021 (Restore Illinois Plan), and Executive Order 2021-1 extending the Governor’s prior Executive Orders relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and his implementation of the “Restore Illinois” Plan (COVID-19 E.O. No. 71), as amended.

The Village invites alternative redevelopment proposals for the above real property. Such proposals should be submitted to the Village Clerk’s Office by 4:00 p.m. on the day prior to the Public Hearing.

Published by order of the Corporate Authorities of the Village of Maywood, Cook County, Illinois, Viola Mims, Village Clerk Published in Village Free Press 2/17/2021

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.

The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.

To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-669-9777.

Village Free Press

Published in Village Free Press 2/10, 2/17, 2/24/2021

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: Y21005886 on February 3, 2021 Under the Assumed Business Name of TIFFANY ROSS BOOKKEEPING AND TAX SERVICE with the business located at: 1124 EASTERN AVE, BELLWOOD, IL 60104. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: TIFFANY ROSS 1124 EASTERN AVE, BELLWOOD, IL 60104, USA. Published in Village Free Press 2/10, 2/17, 2/24/2021

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION MIDFIRST BANK Plaintiff, -v.ALFREDO S. LOPEZ A/K/A ALFREDO LOPEZ, MICHELLE CHRETIEN-LOPEZ A/K/A MICHELLE R. CHRETIENLOPEZ A/K/A MICHELLE RENEE CHRETIEN, VILLAGE OF MAYWOOD, AN ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, STATE OF ILLINOIS Defendants 20 CH 6011 1447 SOUTH 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 January 27, 2021, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on March 9, 2021, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1447 SOUTH 17TH AVENUE, MAYWOOD, IL 60153 Property Index No. 15-15-218-0150000 The real estate is improved with a single family residence.

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FKA THE BANK OF NEW YORK TRUST COMPANY, N.A. AS SUCCESSOR TO JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS TRUSTEE FOR RESIDENTIAL ASSET MORTGAGE PRODUCTS, INC., MORTGAGE ASSET-BACKED PASSTHROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES 2006-RZ2 Plaintiff, -v.JINKY G. BARREDO A/K/A JINKY BARREDO, ALBERTO VELASCO Defendants 18CH06920 1441 SOUTH WOLF ROAD HILLSIDE, IL 60162 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on January 17, 2020, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on March 18, 2021, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1441 SOUTH WOLF ROAD, HILLSIDE, IL 60162 Property Index No. 15-20-112-0450000 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, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, 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.

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

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION NEWREZ LLC D/B/A SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING Plaintiff, -v.JUANITA J. EDWARDS Defendants 2018CH05854 301 48TH 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 February 3, 2020, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on March 11, 2021, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 301 48TH AVENUE, BELLWOOD, IL 60104 Property Index No. 15-08-229-0010000 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, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No

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Village Free Press | February 17, 2021

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