Village Free Press_012021

Vol. V No. 3 D209 board member honored, PAGE 8

Amazon coming to Broadview Crain’s Chicago Business first reported the e-commerce giant’s plans to move to 2800 S. 25th Ave. in Broadview

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Amazon is looking to build a last-mile delivery station at 2800 S. 25th Ave. in Broadview, according to a Jan. 12 report in Crain’s Chicago Business, which added that Amazon purchased the site from Bosch, the German industrial company that housed its automotive aftermarket division at the site. The company announced in 2019 that it was relocating the division to Oakbrook Terrace.

“Amazon plans to tear down the existing buildings on the Broadview property and construct a delivery station that ‘will create hundreds of full- and part-time jobs,’ an Amazon spokeswoman wrote in an email,” Crain’s reported. “Delivery stations are the penultimate stop for packages, the place where they’re loaded off trucks and packed into vans for shipment to customers’ homes.”

Crain’s reported that Amazon paid $11.6 See AMAZON on page 9

JANUARY 20, 2021

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What to read about MLK, PAGE 4

MR. SPEAKER: Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch accepts applause on Jan. 13, from his House colleagues after he is elected speaker at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield.

The Proviso West graduate is the first Black House speaker in Illinois history.

Justin L. Fowler/ State Journal-Register

Welch elected first Black House speaker in state history

Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch succeeds powerful Michael Madigan

By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – One of the most transformative six-day periods in the history of Illinois government came to an end on Jan. 13, with the election of Rep.

Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, as the state’s House speaker – the first Black man to hold the title.

Equally groundbreaking was the fact that Welch unseated Rep. Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, the nation’s longest-serving legislative leader who had been speaker for all but two years since 1983.

Welch sought a unifying tone in his first floor speech as speaker, telling his fellow lawmakers “today will be the last time I talk about us as Democrats or Republicans.”

“We will need to work together to make difficult decisions, folks,” he said, receiving applause from Republicans. “Let’s get ready.

Because we are going to have to make some difficult decisions to control spending while we protect our most vulnerable residents and while we ensure schools receive the funding that they need.”

After the floor speech, Welch said during a news conference he had not had time to digest the historic events that led to his speakership. The House adjourned See WELCH on page 2

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Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

WELCH

Succeeds Madigan from page 1

the village free press Editor & Publisher Michael Romain 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

its Tuesday session at 4:14 a.m. Wednesday morning and reconvened to pass a massive criminal justice reform bill and certify Welch as speaker just hours later.

The 22 members of the House Black Caucus urged him to run for speaker in a closed-door caucus Tuesday, Welch said, and he had no plans to do so before their urging.

All but one of those members – Rep. Maurice West of Rockford – had supported Madigan on the first closed-door ballot between Democrats over the weekend. In the end, they provided the backbone for Welch’s late push after Madigan suspended his campaign and Welch built a broader support coalition than three other challengers – Reps. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, and Kathleen Willis, D-Addison.

West rose to nominate Welch for speaker on the floor of the Bank of Springfield Center, which served as the House chamber this week amid COVID-19 concerns.

“We are walking in uncharted territories, with COVID-19 still running rampant through our communities, a major budget crisis, a (legislative) remap, all while immediately following the huge footsteps and monumental legacy of Speaker Madigan,” West said, later calling for a standing ovation for Madigan.

“But I firmly believe that Welch did not choose this moment.

This moment chose Welch because he has the wherewithal to convene the great minds within this caucus, so that we could tackle these issues together.”

But Welch’s election did not receive the backing of every Democratic member in the House. Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, and Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, voted present.

Cassidy later issued a statement saying diversification of leadership in Illinois should be celebrated, but she called for a “vigorous review” into allegations against Welch that were outlined in a Chicago Tribune article in the waning hours of his run for speaker.

The Tribune cited a 2002 police report from west suburban Hillside that accused Welch of slamming an ex-girlfriend’s head into a kitchen countertop numerous times after she called him “a loser.” The Tribune said the woman elected not to press charges after talking it over with Welch’s relative, according to the report.

Welch denied the allegations at the time, according to the Tribune report. He also issued a statement this week when confronted with the past allegation.

“This verbal argument occurred nearly two decades ago,” he said in the statement. “I will be honest that I have reconciled with the individual since that night. In fact, after our dispute we sought out the authorities ourselves. Their family lives in my district and are proud supporters of my public service and work.”

Cassidy said in her statement she respects Welch and considers him “a good man” but she reserved her vote “because, at the same time that we’re ending years of scandal over allegations of sexual harassment and corruption, we have also just been made aware of troubling allegations from Speaker Welch’s past.”

“He has denied each allegation, and we certainly have seen plenty of examples of Black men being wrongfully accused,” she said. “I feel strongly that I have been too outspoken on issues of sexual harassment and domestic violence to simply ignore these questions.”

Asked about the allegations on Jan. 13 in a news conference after his election, Welch said he did not see a need to go beyond the statement and he respected the privacy of the individuals involved.

“And I think my life’s work here in the legislature shows my respect for women,” he said.

As Cassidy referenced, Madigan’s decades-long vice grip on power as House speaker and Democratic Party of Illinois chairman was weakened in 2018 amid a sexual harassment scandal that led to the firing of several top aides from his

BIPARTISANSHIP: During his first floor speech as House speaker, Welch urged unity between Democrats and Republicans.

Justin L. Fowler/State Journal-Register

administration, including his longtime chief of staff.

Madigan was further weakened last year when he was named in a court document by utility giant Commonwealth Edison.

The company admitted to a yearslong bribery scheme aimed at influencing Madigan by providing jobs to his associates.

Welch and Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, both made statements Wednesday that they were willing to reach across the aisle, and they noted they live about five miles from one another.

But rifts in their relationship scratched the surface last Wednesday in their floor remarks and in news conferences following the vote.

Durkin, prior to Welch’s election, accused Welch of being an extension of Madigan, and he has been critical of Welch’s handling of a House Special Investigating Committee into Madigan’s ComEd ties. Republicans called that legislative committee after accusing Madigan of conduct unbecoming of a legislator. Welch chaired the committee, not requiring Madigan to testify and voting to end it after only three hearings in four months.

Durkin repeated again Wednesday that Welch, as chairman, “did a disservice to the body” and called the process “an embarrassment.”

While Welch thanked Madigan, Durkin, who is now the longest-serving legislative leader in Illinois, having served in the post since 2013, said he did not “have anything positive to say” about Madigan, calling government institutions “better off ” with him out of leadership.

Welch was more laudatory, although he later alluded to potential changes to the committee process and leadership from the previous practices of Madigan’s administration.

“While our state has many problems, our schools are better, more children have access to health care, and our working class families can more easily live the American dream thanks to the strong leadership of Speaker Madigan,” he said.

The new speaker and minority leader will also have to get past their disagreements with how the process played out over the previous six days in the General Assembly – Democrats frequently cut off floor debate in an effort to pass a sweeping Black Caucus agenda and other major reforms before the clock ran out and new lawmakers were seated.

“Speaker Madigan ran through a number of bills that were not well thought out,” Durkin said. “Despite the statements on the floor that these issues have been around for a long time, every one of these major bills that were passed have a cost tag to them … and many of them were dropped on us last night without any negotiation.”

Both suggested they are willing to move forward more collaboratively.

“I’m hopeful that he will see by my actions that today is a new day, a new opportunity to develop a new relationship in this space and we’ll go from there,” Welch said of his relationship with Durkin.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

3

Backers, former opponents enthused by Welch as Speaker ‘It sends a message,’ says Rep. Ford of Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s election as House speaker

By BOB SKOLNIK Riverside-Brookfield Landmark

When Emanuel “Chris” Welch was a student at Proviso West High School in the late 1980s his classmates liked him and were impressed by him. He was known as a good athlete, a smooth talker, and was class president all four years in high school.

Classmates expected him to go far.

“He was very friendly, but he was driven,” said Harlin Neal, a high school friend and classmate. Neal first got to know Welch at Roosevelt Junior High School in Bellwood and was a fellow member of the Proviso West Class of 1989.

“You knew that there was something about him,” Neal said. “You knew that in the future he was going to do well. In fact, he was voted Most Likely to Succeed in our class, but obviously none of us imagined that he would be replacing Mike Madigan, you know, as the Illinois Speaker of the House.”

On Jan.13, Welch, 49, did just that, succeeding Madigan who had been speaker for 36 of the last 38 years and was the longest serving leader of a legislative chamber in the nation.

Welch who represents the 7th House District — which includes Forest Park, River Forest, Maywood, Bellwood, Hillside and Westchester — is the first Black Speaker of the House in Illinois history.

“It sends a message,” said State Rep LaShawn Ford (D-8th District) who held the Bible for Welch last Wednesday, when Welch was sworn in at the Bank of Springfield Center on Wednesday.

“Chris Welch being the first Black speaker of the House from Illinois is a strong message for the nation. I mean it’s unbelievable,” Ford said.

State Rep. Michael Zalewski (D-23st) agreed that selecting Welch as speaker was transformational.

“It really was a global moment for either a Black or woman speaker,” Zalewski said. “It just was. I was in the room for four days and I know what was being expressed and there needed to be a clean break.”

Welch was selected as speaker after Madigan couldn’t get the required 60 votes when 19 members of the House Democratic caucus refused to support him. Welch, a Madigan loyalist, parlayed support from the Black Caucus and then received the endorsement of the Latinix Caucus to emerge victorious after multiple ballots and Madigan’s withdrawal from the race after

getting only 51 votes on Jan. 10, in the first round of voting among Democratic House members who met behind closed doors.

Zalewski, who had committed to vote for Madigan on the first round of voting, declined to say how he voted in subsequent rounds.

“We sort of committed to internal discussions being internal,” Zalewski said.

“I will say I voted for Speaker Welch on the final ballot and then I voted for him publicly

would pay off,” Ford said. “We picked the speaker of the House. People really didn’t understand what was happening in the caucus but we knew what was happening.

And you can’t talk about everything all the time, because you break the loyalty.”

Welch said in a televised interview that he didn’t seek the job.

“I didn’t sign up to be speaker,” Welch said. “I didn’t seek this job out. It kind of found me.”

POWER PLAYERS: Welch hugs Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White on Jan. 13, when he was elected the first Black House speaker in Illinois history. Some of Welch’s colleagues, such as Rep. La Shawn Ford, said Welch’s speakership “sends a message.”

Justin L. Fowler/State Journal-Register

on the House floor.”

Ford said Welch is the right person for the job and the times.

“He’s definitely by far the greatest choice,” Ford said. “I mean he’s super qualified. He definitely has a passion for this, I would say, way of life. Chris Welch, one, loves politics, he loves Illinois, he loves the government, and he understands it and he’s a hard worker and all of that is what it takes to be the Speaker of the House.”

Ford said that Madigan’s time had passed.

“The time changed and Madigan’s time had come and gone,” Ford said.

The House Black Caucus had backed Madigan until he suspended his campaign.

Then Welch and the Black Caucus made their move.

“Our loyalty to the work that Madigan has done over the years, the Black Caucus that is, it ultimately in the end, like we knew,

Welch was first elected to the House in 2012. In the 2012 Democratic primary he edged out Rory Hoskins, who is now the first Black mayor of Forest Park, by just 34 votes.

Despite the close and tough race Hoskins and Welch now have a good relationship.

“I was very happy to hear the news that the House has chosen our state representative, Chris Welch, to be the new speaker for the 102nd General Assembly,” Hoskins said.

“And on a personal level I’ve gotten to know Speaker Welch better over the years,” Hoskins added. “He was one of the first elected officials that I sat down and had breakfast with, after I had been elected mayor of Forest Park.

“Despite the fact that we once competed for the same position he’d always been great for the village. He returns calls very quickly, if he says he’s going to do something he does it. He’s certainly been helpful to the village

since I’ve become mayor, so we’re just jumping and doing cartwheels over here for Chris Welch.”

In 2006 the always ambitious Welch, then the president of the Proviso High School District 209 Board of Education, tried to unseat then state representative, now Cook County Clerk, Karen Yarbrough in the Democratic primary. Yarbrough beat Welch soundly, winning 73 percent of the vote.

“He realized that at that time that he had to make peace and allow for those who came before him to be who they were and take a step back and wait his turn,” Ford said.

Yesterday, Yarbrough issued a statement congratulating Welch.

But not everyone is praising Welch.

Michael Manzo, a Republican who is a village trustee in Oak Brook and who briefly served with, and clashed with, Welch on the District 209 school board, said that selecting Welch as speaker will not change Illinois politics.

“This isn’t a change, this is just Michael Madigan working through Chris Welch to control the state, so for anybody who thinks there was a change made they’re very naïve to Illinois politics,” said Manzo.

Welch served on the District 209 school board for 11 years, from 2001 until 2012, most of that time as president. During that time Welch was often a subject of controversy amid allegations of patronage hiring, staff turnover and lawsuits. For several years, a state financial oversight board was appointed to oversee the district’s finances.

But House members were not dissuaded by those issues or a Hillside police report from 2002, in which a former girlfriend accused Welch of trying to assault her. Welch was briefly taken into custody and read his Miranda rights, but ultimately the woman declined to press charges.

In a televised interview after becoming speaker, Welch said that he had matured since then and noted that he has a strong record on women’s issues. House Democrats were apparently unfazed by these issues, although one Democrat, Kelly Cassidy, voted present, because of concerns about the domestic violence allegations.

“You would expect that there always is going to be controversies when you are in the process of government, there’s always going to be a controversy, you’re going to make some people happy, you’re going to make some people sad and that’s human nature,” Ford said.

“The good thing is what you don’t want are criminal charges. Differences are always going to be (there), but what we know is there has been no criminal charges against him and therefore we would expect there would to be controversy with him as the speaker and that’s just the way it is.”

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Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

Let’s honor King by reading deeply about his life

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Monday was Martin Luther King Day, which means that the nation indulged in its customary forgetting and glossing over of the preacheractivist’s substantial legacy. But just because our crass commercial and consumerist culture reduces King to performative symbol doesn’t mean we have to do so in our individual lives.

Thankfully, there are many thoughtful, wellresearched books out there that will acquaint us with the Martin Luther King Jr. who actually lived and thought and fought — the radical, unpopular King who went against the status quo.

Here are some books that I either have read or want to read about the King that we, as a nation, would rather forget than remember. If you can, try purchasing them from Maywood’s AfriWare Books, 1701 S. 1st Ave. in Maywood (Suite 400), or online at afriwarebooks.com. § “Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life,” by Marshall Frady This elegiac biography is a great primer on King’s lives. At roughly 200 pages, you can easily gulp it down in one sitting. Frady’s prose is like consuming a rich bone broth, the linguistic version of Umami, the Japanese term for savory.

Published in 2002, the book is part of Penguin Random House’ Penguin Lives

Nixon. series. And Frady illustrates life, “In 1960, the civil rights bringing you into the past with movement was growing his prose. It helps that Frady increasingly inventive and was literally there — as a young energized while white politicians reporter covering the movement favored the corrosive tactics of for Newsweek—and that he isn’t silence and stalling,” the book’s afraid to humanize King, to jacket cover reads. “But an describe how King was perceived audacious team in the Kennedy by people, particularly reporters, campaign’s Civil Rights Section when he was alive. decided to act. In a contest in “‘I am a troubled soul,’ King admitted more than once. which Black voters seemed MICHAEL ROMAIN Indeed, long before Memphis, poised to split their votes he had come to dwell in a private between the candidates, the Gethsemane of guilt over not only the cost of leaders of the CRS […] convinced Kennedy to his mission on his people, but what he felt were agitate for King’s release [and] their actions his own personal betrayals of his high public would end up deciding one of the closes meaning. Always haunted by a reverence elections in American history.” for the austere and ascetic, he attempted to Ironically, the country’s deep racial quagmire maintain a modesty in his own circumstances, played out in Georgia, where King was jailed, confining himself to a meager salary, a small tipping the balance of federal power from one rented frame house in a humble neighborhood, party to another. Sounds familiar? an old car, plain dark suits. Yet those suits were § The America in the King Years trilogy by often silk, as were the pajamas …”

Taylor Branch, which includes: “Parting the § “Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther Waters,” “Pillar of Fire” and “At Canaan’s King Jr.’s Life and Win the 1960 Election,” by Edge.”

Stephen Kendrick and Paul Kendrick.

Taylor Branch’s three books on the civil This book, which I’m just getting into, rights era, which it traces from King’s rise explores King’s first night in jail — a historic to national prominence from 1954 to his event that would amount to “the ultimate assassination in 1968, is a classic, a masterpiece October surprise” before the 1960 presidential of history writing. Branch’s trilogy is a book election between John F. Kennedy and Richard about King told through the lives of the people

who made him, and who made the Civil Rights movement what it was.

We know how the King era ends, but Branch’s literary brilliance is such that he nonetheless keeps the reader in suspense. Yes, you may know about King’s Mountaintop Speech delivered the night before his assassination, but Branch grounds that speech in the rich soil of the Black preaching tradition from which King grew.

Branch opens the first book, “Parting the Waters,” with a chapter on Vernon Johns, the genius preacher, orator and scholar who King in 1954 succeeded as the lead minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. Dejected by the fact that liberal theologians didn’t publish any sermons by Negros in their annual book of best sermons, Johns “sat down and wrote out a sermon of his own, ‘Transfigured Moments,’ which in 1926 became the first work by a Negro published in Best Sermons. […] “‘It is good to be the possessor of some mountain-top experience,’ wrote Johns, in a long passage on the need to tie the inspiration of leaders to the experience of the common people. ‘It is a heart strangely un-Christian that cannot thrill with joy when the least of men begin to pull in the direction of the stars.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

5

Westchester draws line on video gambling licenses

Overwhelmed by requests, Village Board directs staff to develop standard criteria governing who gets video gambling licenses

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Exhausted by the increasing amount of requests for video gaming licenses, the Westchester Village Board decided during a Committee of the Whole meeting on Jan. 12 to draw a line in the sand.

“Everybody keeps coming for gaming,” said Trustee Angelo Calcagno. “It’s almost like every meeting now.”

The number of recent requests prompted board members on Tuesday to direct village staffers to develop a set of standard criteria that business would have to meet in order to receive a video gaming license from the board.

Those criteria may include operating in the village for at least a year or two and maintaining a certain amount of revenue that is unrelated to video gambling, among

PUSHING BACK: The Westchester Village Board wants to create standard criteria for who gets a gaming license and who doesn’t.

Wikimedia Commons

others. Westchester Village Manager Paul Nosek said other suburbs, including nearby Lombard, have implemented similar criteria and restrictions.

The idea, Calcagno said, is to prevent Westchester from being overwhelmed with establishments that are solely devoted to video gaming.

“You see some other communities that just went overboard with the gaming and it’s not attractive,” he said. “It’s not a place where people want to raise their kids.”

During the Jan. 12 meeting, the board was set to hear two more requests for video gaming licenses — one from the owner of a former Mobile gas station that’s been rebranded as a Shell at 1950 S. Mannheim Road and the other from Mike Manzo, the owner of Anna’s Place who is looking to develop a new location inside of the old Christopher’s Speakeasy at 1929 S. Mannheim Road, village official said.

The requests came a few months after the Village Board heard requests for video gaming licenses from two other business owners at a meeting on Nov. 24.

During the November meeting, the board heard a proposal to turn the old Le Petite Cafe, 1855 S. Mannheim Rd., into a coffee shop with limited video gaming — a proposal that ran into some opposition from board members.

Another company’s pitch called for installing video gambling machines inside of two BP gas stations in town at 11201 W. Cermak Rd. And 825 Mannheim Rd. That proposal was met with unanimous approval by board members, because it was coming from established businesses in town that

did not appear to rely too heavily on video gaming revenue.

During the Jan. 12 meeting, board members seemed more receptive toward the proposal from Manzo — a longtime businessman in town with an established track record. Board members said they nonetheless wanted to see revenue projections from Manzo to ensure that his proposed development for 1929 S. Mannheim Road “is really a restaurant and not just [a video gaming parlor] disguised as a restaurant.”

John Canham, the general manager of Prairie State Gaming — a video gaming terminal operator — spoke on behalf of the Shell gas station owner during the Jan. 12 meeting.

Canham said that the owner recently spent nearly $250,000 during the renovation and rebranding process, but that revenue has been down by 20 percent this year. Adding a video gaming terminal would be a way to offset the lost revenue, Canham said.

The board will consider the open requests for licenses at its next Committee of the Whole meeting on Jan. 26, when village officials are also expected to lay out the new criteria.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

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Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

7

Objections to Broadview trustee candidates dropped

But former mayor Sherman Jones still fighting for place on ballot

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

The objections to the nominating petitions of three people running for trustee seats and one person running for clerk against candidates aligned with current Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson have all been dropped, but a key objection to the candidacy of a former mayor of Broadview seeking a return to office is still moving forward.

During a local electoral board hearing held Jan. 12 on Zoom, attorney Luke Hazel, who represents Yara Buchanan, the woman who filed the objections, announced that Buchanan was dropping her objections to the nominating papers of trustee candidates Verina Horne, Vernon Terry, and Reginald Osborne, as well as clerk candidate Rudy Brown-Marino.

Buchanan had filed the objections earlier this month, arguing that the candidates’ nominating papers included the names of people who are not registered to vote at the addresses listed on the petitions, who don’t

FACE-OFF?: Trustee Sherman Jones, a former Broadview mayor, is fighting to appear on the ballot to face his successor, incumbent Mayor Katrina Thompson, in April.

Provided

reside in Broadview and whose addresses cannot be determined, among other claims arguing against the validity of the signatures.

“We are going to abandon those claims,” Hazel said. “We’re not going to ask the board to do a signatory review for them.”

Hazel said that Buchanan, who works for Broadview and is running for a seat on the local park district commission as part of Thompson’s Broadview Peoples Party, was also dropping her signatory objections to the nominating papers of former Broadview

Mayor Sherman Jones, who is running for mayor on the same ticket as the previously mentioned candidates. But the most notable objection to Jones’ candidacy still stands, Hazel said.

“Essentially, we want to proceed on the legal issue of whether or not the referendum passed [in 2016] bars the candidate from being on the ballot [in 2021],” Hazel said.

Jones was prohibited from running for a third term due to a referendum voters passed in 2016 that blocked mayors in the village from serving two consecutive terms.

At the time, Jones was at the end of two terms and said he would have run for a third term if not for the referendum. Instead, Jones ran successfully for a trustee seat in 2017, on the same slate as Thompson and Horne. Jones and Horne have since parted ways with Thompson.

Michael Dorf, the designated local electoral board chairman, said that the board has no legal standing to rule on a constitutional question, but the board can nonetheless hear arguments on the issue for the record before passing it along to the Cook County circuit court.

“The law is pretty clear that this board or any electoral board cannot rule on constitutional questions,” Dorf said. “We understand, however, that you’re going to be raising them.”

Peter Abbasi, an attorney for Jones, previewed his arguments on the issue at Tuesday’s hearing. Abbasi said that Broadview’s municipal code “says that referenda passed in November 2016 and beyond are only applicable retrospectively and as a result, Jones’ prior terms as mayor do not prevent him from running this time.”

A second hearing on the matter is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 22, 1 p.m., on Zoom.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

Melrose Park trustee candidates face objections Three candidates withdrew from the race before the Jan. 11 objection hearing

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Publisher’s note: Circumstances may have changed since this article went to print. An objection hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, a day after this article’s print deadline. For updates to the story, visit vfpress.news.

Melrose Park’s local electoral board held a hearing on Jan. 11 for objections filed against the nominating petitions of six trustee candidates who are seeking twoyear terms in the upcoming Consolidated Election on April 6.

The objections were filed by Kathy Klugger and Peggy Difazio, who were represented by attorney Matt Welch.

“These are legal issues that relate to the legality of the nominating petitions and it also relates to the basis on which the slate was constructed,” Welch said, when asked to describe the bases of the objections.

Three of the candidates fighting objections — Gloria Olivas, Olga Garcia and Donna Contraveos — withdrew from the race before the Jan. 11 hearing.

The three other candidates — Anthony

Airdo, Amber Principe and John Scatchell — were represented by attorney Frank Avila, who said he planned to file a motion to strike and dismiss the objections later in the week.

Welch said that he would request subpoenas, which the three-person electoral board, which includes longtime Melrose Park Mayor Ronald M. Serpico, and Trustees Arturo Mota, Anthony J. Prignano. All three men are up for reelection in April. They’ve all campaigned for their seats DECIDING FACTOR: Melrose Park’s local electoral board met on Jan. 11 to hear objections filed against the on the Melrose Vision Party nominating petitions of six trustee candidates. ticket. Village Free Press does not know about their seats for village president, trustee, clerk and unopposed for village trustee. plans for April yet.

Challenger Belia Nowak is running Another electoral board hearing on the library trustee will not be contested in the unopposed to succeed Village Clerk Maria objections was scheduled to take place on April 6 election.

Village President Robert E. Lee, Jr., along Rivera. Incumbent Berkeley Library Jan. 19, 4 p.m., at the courtroom inside of the with Trustees Lawrence Hammar and Trustees Ellen Conlin and Roger Thomas Melrose Park Police Station, 1 N. Broadway.

Herbert Washington are the incumbent are both running unopposed.

Village Board members running unopposed.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news According to Berkeley’s deputy clerk, the Challenger Jason Matthews is running

Berkeley village races unopposed

8

vfpress.news

Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

Local clergy reflect on King’s legacy, honor ‘unsung servant’ During Jan. 9 networking meeting, PTMAN reflect on King’s ‘beloved community,’ paid tribute to D209’s Theresa Kelly

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

The Proviso Township Ministerial Alliance Network — a faith-based social justice organization — honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during its monthly virtual networking meeting held via Zoom on Jan. 9.

Several people who spoke during the event reflected on King’s “beloved community” while the organization’s chairman, Bishop Reginald Saffo, presented Theresa Kelly, the longest serving school board member in District 209 history, with the organization’s Unsung Community Servant Award.”

Autumn Bonner, a local teenager, recited a 1966 essay King wrote, which outlined his goal for a beloved community.

“Dr. King said, ‘Our goal is to create a beloved community, and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives,’” Bonner said, before mentioning the many instances of “voter suppression” and “police brutality” that seem to chafe against King’s envisioned community.

“I’m not saying the work of Dr. King is in

half-century after King’s 1968 assassination, because “unfortunately I don’t think some people today would respect, or believe that they could even relate to, Dr. King.

And that is why we have to host a meeting like this — to keep him relevant.”

The event’s keynote speaker, Rev. Teddy Matthews, the pastor of Empowerment Church, which hosts its services and outreach initiatives online, implicitly referenced the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 during HONORING HER SERVICE: District 209 board member his remarks.

Theresa Kelly, the district’s longest-serving school board “We are nine days into member, received recognition from PTMAN on Jan. 9.

Provided 2021 and most of us would’ve said that 2021 couldn’t have anything happen that didn’t vain because, there is so much that has been happen in 2020,” Matthews said. “Well, we accomplished, yet there is so much more were all surprised and shocked six days in work to be done,” she said. …”

Bishop Thomas Clark, the pastor of World Matthews implored his listeners to model Deliverance Christian Center in Bellwood, King’s life, which was premised on a full said the virtual event was necessary a commitment and investment in the work of

building communities.

“If we’re going to really embrace this notion of living with diversity in the beloved community, we have to be committed to not just doing activities, we do great activities, but we have to remain committed to becoming the people God had in mind.

“We talk about [King’s] great speeches, movements and culture, but we miss the fact that he was a prolific preacher and pastor … Everywhere he went, he wanted to be known as a servant of the most high God. His commitment to social justice was an outbirth of his conviction about Jesus.”

“The church has to be an example,” said Saffo, who later announced that PTMAN was expanding its footprint to include more suburbs west of Proviso.

Saffo also presented Kelly with the Unsung Community Servant Award after Kelly appeared on screen to thank the organization for the award.

“You’ve made quality education a priority,” Saffo told Kelly. “You’ve been dogmatic and pugnacious about making sure that our children get what everybody else gets.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

9

NEWS briefs Hines offering Pfizer vaccine to veterans over 65 Hines VA Hospital, 5000 S. 5th Ave. in Hines, is now offering Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to veterans who are over 65 years old, hospital officials said in a statement on Jan. 14.

Within that larger group of eligible people, other sub-groups of eligible individuals include: Dialysis patients, chemotherapy patients, organ transplant veterans, Homeless Veteran Program participants, people at Hines employees, people at the Community Living Center, people at the Residential Care Facility and people at the Inpatient Spinal Chord Center.

“If Veterans are in one of the categories above and are interested in receiving the Pfizer vaccine (first and second dose), they should call to schedule an appointment,” hospital officials stated. “Appointments are currently only at the main Hines campus at 5000 5th Ave, Hines […] The facility is open 7 days per week for appointments. Veterans may call their provider, 708-202-2707, or 708202-7000 for scheduling.”

“Veterans need to be enrolled in health care at Hines or one of its six communitybased outpatient clinics (CBOCs) to be eligible for the vaccine. For enrollment information, visit www.va.gov/health-care/ how-to-apply/.

“Veterans may learn more about the

COVID-19 vaccine at www.va.gov/healthcare/covid-19-vaccine/.”

Maggallanes Tacos in Maywood closes permanently Roughly three years after opening, Magallanes Tacos, 620 S. 5th Ave. in Maywood, has closed. Fittingly, the restaurant’s last day was Jan. 19 — Taco Tuesday. One of the restaurant’s owners, Angel De Santiago, said on Jan. 8 that the restaurant would only serve tacos, fries and large drinks for $1 each.

De Santiago said the pandemic slowed business on a variety of fronts — from the state guidelines implemented for public health reasons that restricted when and how restaurants can operate to the cancellation of major events, such as the Taste of Bellwood and Maywood Fest, where the restaurant sold its popular food items.

The family-owned restaurant has strong roots in Proviso Township. Owner Miguel Magallanes lives in Bellwood and his son, Rafael, grew up in Maywood and graduated Proviso East High School.

What sets their food apart is its authenticity, Rafael said at the restaurant’s ribbon-cutting in 2018. Making tacos practically runs in the family. Miguel’s father and brother also make tacos. The Magallanes come from Zacatecas, Mexico — a state in the north-central part of the country.

Before the family opened a brick-andmortar establishment, they catered. De Santiago said, despite the closure of the physical location, they’ll still be available for catering. Anyone who wants to contact Magallanes Tacos about catering can contact De Santiago at (708) 265-7870 or email him at coponi83@gmail.com. You can also contact Miguel at (708) 244-8180.

Maywood waste hauler Roy Strom sold Roy Strom, the Maywood-based solid waste management company, has been sold to Lakeshore Recycling Systems LLC in Morton Grove, “the largest privately held waste services company in Illinois and Wisconsin,” according to the company’s LinkedIn description.

The investment firm Brown Gibbons Lang & Company, which served as the financial advisor to Roy Strom during the transaction, announced the acquisition in a statement released Jan. 5. Brown Gibbons officials stated that the “specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.”

Representatives with Roy Strom, which is located at 1201 Greenwood Ave., could not be reached for comment on Friday afternoon.

Founded in 1944, Roy Strom provides “is a leading solid waste management business in the greater Chicagoland area, serving residential and commercial customers across Cook and DuPage counties,” according to the statement.

AMAZON

Coming soon? from page 1 million for the property. When reached on Jan. 14, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson said that Amazon had not yet reached out to the village about the development, but received more information from the Crain’s report.

“I don’t have a lot of details about the real estate transaction, but I do know that we’ll be working with the Illinois Department of Transportation with the transportation and logistics, because we want to have consideration for our other corporate partners,” Thompson said. “This is excellent news for Broadview. I like that they’re looking to hire local and to give opportunities to the residents of Broadview, as well as to those within Proviso Township.

So, that’s good news for the township at large.”

This would be the second Amazon warehouse built within Proviso Township in two years. Last year, Amazon announced that it was building a last-mile distribution center in Melrose Park. That facility has since been built and is currently operational.

News of Amazon’s plans for Broadview come as roughly 6,000 Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are poised to vote “on forming the first union in the e-commerce giant’s history,” Business Insider reported,

NEW COMPANY IN TOWN: Amazon is looking to move to the site at 2800 S. 25th Ave. in Broadview, according to Crain’s. The site was once home to Bosch. referencing a new petition filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

“The employees will vote via mail, which Amazon fought against, pushing instead for an in-person vote held in a parking lot adjacent to the facility, the petition noted.

Amazon also wanted to use the company’s Distance Assistant and other companyowned equipment to conduct the election, which the petitioner said could cause a conflict of interest,” Business Insider reported.

Navistar to sell Melrose Park technical center to developer, lay off 250 Navistar International Corporation is looking to sell its Melrose Park technical center on North Avenue to a “a developer who has an actionable plan to redevelop the parcel into a state-of-the-art industrial business park,” according to a statement the company released on Jan. 13.

The company estimated that half of the facility’s current workforce will be

transferred to other facilities. According to a report in the trade publication Freight Waves, the company said it will lay off 250 workers before ceasing operations at the Melrose Park campus by November 2021.

“The property sale is part of Navistar’s continued adaptation to rapid changes in the industry, as well as its own operations.

Engine manufacturing is no longer present at the facility, and Navistar’s need for engine testing has significantly decreased due to reductions in the company’s manufacturing of engines and the trucking industry’s increasing interest in alternative fuel drivetrains,” Navistar officials stated.

“Given changes at Navistar and in the industry, it no longer makes sense to maintain a facility of that size,” said Phil Christman, president of operations for Navistar.

“Further investment in the Melrose Park property would divert substantial resources away from investments in new technologies and products. While this decision is difficult, it is necessary to best position Navistar for

“The company’s municipal solid waste and construction and demolition collection and hauling operations are supported by its strategically located transfer station as well as Single Stream and C&D recycling operations in Maywood,” the statement reads.

Broadview Police Chief to retire Broadview Police Chief Kevin Eugling will retire on Feb. 2, after 30 years in the department. Eugling announced his retirement in a letter sent to Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson this week.

“I have been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve the village I was born and grew up in. I have always served this community with honor, pride and the highest integrity. I served a variety of roles within the police department, beginning with Patrol Officer, Detective, Sergeant, Lieutenant/Commander and culminating as the Chief of Police,” Chief Eugling wrote.

The Broadview Police Department announced Eugling’s retirement in a post to its Facebook page on Jan. 14.

“His wisdom, kindness and strong leadership will be missed; yet we are excited to watch him begin his next chapter,” the department message stated. “Thank you Chief Eugling for leading this Department and for serving the great Village of Broadview.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news the future and to unlock economic growth for the Melrose Park community.”

In 2018, Navistar laid off roughly 200 employees at the Melrose Park plant after announcing that it would stop making engines at the facility.

“The company’s need for engine testing declined as it has reduced engine manufacturing amid the trucking industry’s transition to alternative fuel drivetrains,” according to the report in Freight News.

Navistar officials said they believe that the Melrose Park site’s “comprehensive redevelopment will more than double property tax revenue for local governments from current levels, and that the redeveloped site will lead to substantially more local jobs than Navistar’s current operations provide.”

“The hardest decision we can make is to part with dedicated colleagues at a property that has been integral to our company’s history,” said Persio Lisboa, Navistar president and CEO. “We’re confident the sale of the Melrose Park property will spur a sizeable reinvestment in the community, resulting in new jobs and economic opportunity.”

“The company will take an approximate $85 million charge as a result of the exit from the facility, including approximately $40 million of cash-related charges,” Navistar officials said, adding that they expect the “sale agreement and subsequent divesture of the Melrose Park property to be completed by the end of 2021.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

10

vfpress.news

Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

LETTERS The real reason the insurrection happened Let’s put the recent act of domestic violence by racist terrorists into perspective.

What I witnessed in the nation’s capital was an embarrassment to American values.

Washington, D.C was a city under siege. An infiltration took place at the U.S Capitol.

Here’s my take.

There is no question that if Black Lives Matter protesters came close to entering the U.S. Capitol building, every law enforcement agency from the D.C. region would be waiting on the lawn shooting tear gas into the crowd and have their guns meticulously drawn inside the building. There would be police cruisers ready to load up the protesters into the vehicles and counter-protesters shouting obscenities in the process.

Physical violence against Black and Brown protesters exists and this double standard is intolerable. The fact that these domestic terrorists successfully infiltrated the U.S. Capitol building, stormed into various offices and took photos shows a blatant disregard of federal law. Northwest Arkansas resident Richard Barnett stormed into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, placed his feet on her desk and proudly took a photo. Twenty-four hours after breaking the law, Barnett was still free.

What is omitted more than anything in news reports is the real reason why these domestic terrorists are enraged. It’s not only because of their false belief that the election was rigged.

It’s because these votes have a huge economic and political impact for Black and Brown communities.

Georgia, which is one of the most racist states in the United States, is now blue. Who would’ve thought a Black preacher and a Jewish man would represent Georgia as Senators. It is unthinkable to believe a Black woman would become the Vice-President of the United States of America. This was too much for those mobsters to handle. These successes are exactly what led to the end of Reconstruction in 1877. Those domestic terrorists, who were primarily white, are pissed because they are losing control of their way of life.

The 2020 election was a wakeup call for traditionally racist bigots. Now, there will be funding opportunities for low- to middleclass communities. There will be better job opportunities in Black and Brown communities. The thought of low-income families earning money above the poverty line just pissed those people off. They believed it was necessary to raid Washington, D.C., and raise hell.

In spite of the recent political success, I challenge Black and Brown America not to lose focus, because we still haven’t “arrived.”

We still have a lot of work to do. We must continue to vote and make a difference in our community. It’s going to take every ounce of energy to advance economically and politically.

On Jan. 20, President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States. He has a lot of cleaning up to

the vote to newly freed Black men, eliminating Black Codes, and disenfranchising exConfederates.

An official government report of findings, made to Ulysses S. Grant, noted that, “It was an absolute massacre by the police...

It was a murder which the Mayor and police of the city perpetrated without the shadow of necessity.” The August 1, edition of the Cleveland Daily Leader stated, “Remember that this work was done by the THIS IS US: Insurrectionists gathering outside the Capitol on constituted authorities of Jan. 6, when the U.S. Congress was interrupted while trying to the city of New Orleans, certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Creative Commons rebels in record and in heart, but placed in do from the mess that #45 left behind. America power over loyal men by should support President Biden during his the policy of a renegade President. Remember time of transition, but also hold him the that these scenes are but a prelude of what is to be...if [President] Johnson’s policy shall be promises he made to the American people.

As far as those pissed off domestic terrorists carried out.”

In 1898, a successful coup d’etat took place are concerned, they will have their days in court and soon return to their lives of misery in the majority Black commercial port city and strife. We must continue to pray for our of Wilming-ton, NC which had registered country and for those with hatred in their almost 126,000 Black voters. Supported by heart. I believe a new day is on the horizon for police, white suprema-cists “Red Shirts,” and the state militia, a well-orchestrated white all of us.

— Rev. Dr. Regi Ratliff mob, that had been organizing and plotting for several months, battered and murdered a still untold number of Blacks citizens. As part of their gruesome “white supremacy campaign,” for days they terrorized the city that had, by For a long time now, stakeholders in local prac-ticing “Fusion” coalition politics, elected school districts, including Proviso Township, an interracial local government. (Black have clam-ored for a course in “Black History.” and white Republi-cans and white farmer An Illinois law has been on the books for more Populists had fused into a powerful and potent than 20 years declaring that teaching Black voting bloc.)

History is mandatory. In fact, schools across One of the leaders of the coup, exthe country have set forth tepid solutions that Confederate soldier Alfred Waddell, who allow them to bypass a real understanding was installed as the new mayor after the of the history of this country — running violent attacks, had threatened to “choke the roughshod over the fact that this American current of the Cape Fear [River]” with Black superpower would not exist without the pres- “carcasses.” More than 100 Blacks were ence of Black people. forced out of public office; and the injury was If we were minimally familiar with the irreparable. The hopes and dreams of the history of this nation, the storming of the impressive members of the well-cultivated Capitol by dis-gruntled white people—from Black profes-sional and business class were all stripes of life—would not have surprised destroyed, as most of them were run out of anyone. This is just his-tory repeating itself, town—along with some white allies. No one because the angry white mob, incensed by has ever been prosecuted for this lawless Black progress, is a tradition in the United atrocity.

States. The fact that, on the same day the In September, 1974, as Black children were insurrectionists descended on the Capitol and being bused around town to desegregate var-ious state capitals, America had awakened public schools in Boston, many white folks to the news that a Black man from the Deep became apoplectic. In October, the Boston South, Rev. Raphael Warnock, had been elected Globe declared the city “out of control;” and to the US Senate, is in line with that tradition. the state police stayed there three years trying In July of 1866, just over a year after the to maintain order. In the face of a violent South surrendered at Appomattox, a frenzied, mob, the National Guard was federalized resentful white mob, led by the mayor, by President Dwight Eisenhower, when the murdered and wounded scores of Black people “Lit-tle Rock Nine” integrated Central High (including delegates and Union veterans) at School in Arkansas, President Kennedy sent the site where the Louisiana Constitutional in federal mar-shals and the military when Convention had reconvened. The interracial veteran James Meredith integrated the delegation was to meet to consider granting University of Mississippi, and Kennedy also

The lies America tells itself and why schools must teach

federalized the guard when Vivian Malone (former Attorney General Eric Holder’s late sister-in-law) and James Hood integrated the University of Alabama. One of the awful Boston racial incidents, wherein a white man assaulted an unsuspecting young Black lawyer with a flag on a pole, was photographed. The deeply troubling picture, called, The Soiling of Old Glory, won a Pulitzer Prize. So, yes, White mobs are “a thing” in America.

The brazenness of the Jan. 6 mob is not surprising either, because white mob members rarely pay a price for their participation in criminal behavior. At the many American lynchings—many of them thoroughly documented in all their grotesqueness— official government documents often noted that the barbarism took place “at the hands of persons unknown” despite pictures and even postcards from the events!

Lies and innuendo are Donald Trump’s stock in trade, but he’s just a more extreme version of many other white politicians who have preferred to lie about our history. Trump’s contempt for the brilliant 1619 history project conceived by MacArthur Foundation “genius” and New York Times writer Nikole HannahJones, is consistent with generations of white politicians who have sup-pressed the cruel and brutal responses to Black progress since the colonial days.

Much more content promulgating the thesis of “American exceptionalism,” this country has never been sincere about telling the comprehensive history of this country because much of it is truly ugly and inglorious. Lynchings, the wholesale rape of Black women and girls, the maiming and mur-dering of Black veterans, the economic exploitation of Black workers, the routine incarceration of Black people on trumped up charges, or no charge at all, the open terrorism of Black towns—from the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma to Rosewood, Florida and beyond—the humiliations and indignities— like redlining and racially restrictive covenants—are important aspects of United States history that have shaped the way this country was formed, socially, culturally, and economically.

So, watching that motley and dangerous gang of thugs defile the edifice for the legislative branch of government (which was built by enslaved people) in a city Benjamin Banneker, a Black man, helped lay out, while stunning, was not by any measure surprising.

When we fail to learn history, it just opens up a flank for the fomenting of domestic terrorism.

For four years, we have been told that Trump, and by extension, his people, are not for real.

Trust me, they are. An honest and more comprehensive depiction of history in our schools would make for a smarter electorate and for less of an appetite for reckless lies.

— Dr. Rhonda Sherrod ©

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

vfpress.news

Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

11

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

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 February 23, 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 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 I3162613

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION AMERIHOME MORTGAGE COMPANY, LLC Plaintiff, -v.SERGIO SALAZAR, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 2020CH02367 433 51ST AVE 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 December 16, 2020, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on February 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 433 51ST AVE, HILLSIDE, IL 60162 Property Index No. 15-08-329-0150000 The real estate is improved with a 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 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. 14-20-01586 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 2020CH02367 TJSC#: 40-2527 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 # 2020CH02367 I3162035

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC Plaintiff, -v.JAMES RANDALL, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF JAMES HOOD, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS, JOHN LYDON, AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR JAMES HOOD (DECEASED) Defendants 2019CH13161 424 ENGLEWOOD 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 November 5, 2020, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on February 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 424 ENGLEWOOD AVENUE, BELLWOOD, IL 60104 Property Index No. 15-08-406-0330000 The real estate is improved with a 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 confir-

mation 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.

Where a sale of real estate is made to satisfy a lien prior to that of the United States, the United States shall have one year from the date of sale within which to redeem, except that with respect to a lien arising under the internal revenue laws the period shall be 120 days or the period allowable for redemption under State law, whichever is longer, and in any case in which, under the provisions of section 505 of the Housing Act of 1950, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1701k), and subsection (d) of section 3720 of title 38 of the United States Code, the right to redeem does not arise, there shall be no right of redemption.

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. 14-19-09690 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 2019CH13161 TJSC#: 40-2394 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 # 2019CH13161 I3162086

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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

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Village Free Press | January 20, 2021

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