Village Free Press_021021

Vol. V No. 6

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Community members remember Gladys Wallace, PAGE 6

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New school building coming to Berkeley

SEAT AT THE TABLE: Dante Hall, inside of Donnie’s Bar & Grill in Melrose Park, is one of two Proviso Township businesses participating in Chicago Black Restaurant Week.

Read more on page 10.

Berkeley School District 87 officials said they plan to break ground on the roughly $72M building in May

Shanel Romain

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

Berkeley School District 87 officials are putting the finishing touches on plans for a new school building that will house both Sunnyside Intermediate School, 5412 St. Charles Rd., and MacArthur Middle School, 1310 N. Wolf Rd. The project is part of the district’s Facilities Long-Range Plan, which also includes additions and renovations at Northlake Middle School, 202 S. Lakewood Ave. in Northlake, and Riley Intermediate School, 123 S. Wolf Rd. in Northlake.

In March 17, 2020, district voters approved a referendum that allowed the district to issue $105 million in bonds that fund most of the costs of the plan, as well See NEW SCHOOL on page 6

Choose an account you can rely on.

Bellwood cop charged, PAGE 4

Racist tirade rocks Melrose Park Mike Cozzi, who recorded Melrose Park Mayor Ron Serpico’s tirade, got at least $14K in tickets in less than a year

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

An audio recording of Melrose Park Mayor Ron Serpico shouting profanity and a racial slur at a resident has garnered nearly thousands of views on YouTube since it was posted on Feb. 4. In addition, several local TV media outlets have broadcast the recording.

That resident, 43-year-old Mike Cozzi,

said he recorded Serpico without the mayor’s knowledge before a local electoral board hearing on Jan. 28.

Cozzi said he was at the hearing to support three trustee candidates running against the mayor’s slate of candidates and whose nominating papers are being challenged.

Cozzi said he also wanted to speak to the mayor about the dozens of citations that he’s received since August 2020.

Cozzi sent Village Free Press images of what appeared to be around 30 $500

citations for “creating a nuisance” and “cluttering” that were issued between August 2020 and early February 2021, with most issued in December and January.

According to a rough count, the tickets total at least $14,500.

In the audio, Serpico can be heard telling Cozzi that “you’re really reaching me. So do me a f— favor and sit down and shut the f— up. How’s that, you little f— prick?

Go on, shake your f— head, you’re nothing See SERPICO on page 3

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Stop by our two Proviso Township branches, or make an appointment with a banker today at 708-483-0030.

1759 N. Mannheim Rd. | Stone Park 1111 W. Madison St. | Maywood 708-483-0030 | provisobank.com

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.

A direct deposit is defined as any payment made by a government agency, employer, or other third-party organization that is made via an electronic deposit. A direct deposit does not include teller/ATM/mobile or remote deposits, wire transfers, online banking/telephone transfers between accounts at WTFC, external transfers from other accounts at other financial institutions or ATM/debit card transfers and deposits. After you have completed all the above bonus qualifications, we will deposit the bonus payment into your new account within 30 calendar days after the Qualification Period. BANKER INSTRUCTIONS: Enter offer code WFC00DMAP300 during account opening.

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

Local Black History

the village free press

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor & Publisher Michael Romain Senior Sales & Strategic Consultant Kamil Brady Editorial Designer Andrew Mead Advertising Design Support Debbie Becker, Mark Moroney

Editor

Every day since Feb. 1, the start of Black History Month, we’ve been sharing some interesting historical tidbits on our Facebook page that localizes Black history in some of the communities that we cover throughout Proviso Township.

Below, we’ll share some of those tidbits in our print paper, as well, throughout Black History Month.

Bellwood’s connection to Emmett Till

HOW TO REACH US

Hillside because the westbound trains had to go uphill at this point.”

The Illinois Central Railroad was a main artery of the Great Migration - the movement of 6 million African Americans out of the rural South to the urban Northeast, Midwest and West that occurred between 1916 and 1970.

The Great Migration was fueled by Black Pullman Porters, the men who served on the trains that ran on rail lines like the Illinois Central and who helped lure Blacks in the South to the opportunities in the North.

Pictured below, a Pullman porter makes an upper berth on a train in 1945. Photo by Jack Delano/Creative Commons.

(Sources: Chicago Tribune, History.com via Wikipedia and Encylopedia of Chicago).

The Melrose Park church where Fred Hampton spoke out against poverty, and where he was funeral zed two months later

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.

We’re proud to partner with Growing Community Media, NFP.

Bellwood has a connection to the infamous 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a tragedy many consider to be the catalyst of the Modern Civil Rights movement.

Till’s cousin, Simeon Wright (pictured below), who witnessed the abduction of his cousin that fateful night in Mississippi, lived in Bellwood for two decades before moving to Countryside.

Wright was born in Mississippi and started picking cotton at the age of eight. A retired pipe-fitter, he died in 2017.

(Source: Village Free Press interviewed Wright in 2016, a year before his death).

Publisher Dan Haley

Incorporated in 1905, the village of Hillside, Ill. adopted its name from the Illinois Central Railroad stop, “which was called

© 2021 Village Free Press

Hillside and the Great Migration

“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

In October 1969, Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton met with a group of about “35 or 40” people inside of First Baptist Church in Melrose Park to discuss “problems of black people in the suburbs,” according to Proviso Herald reporter Paul Sassone. “We’ve had too many wars on poverty,” Hampton told the crowd, “let’s have some wars on the rich.”

Two months later, First Baptist would be the site of Hampton’s funeral, which attracted “black and white mourners exceeding 5,000,” along with civil rights figures like Jesse Jackson and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, the Herald reported. On Dec. 4, 1969, Hampton was assassinated by law enforcement officials while asleep in his Chicago apartment.

(Source: Proviso Herald).

See BLACK HISTORY on page 10

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

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Dominican University deepens ties to Maywood

The River Forest college wants to develop spring immersion program in Maywood

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Administrators at Dominican University in River Forest announced last month that they’re hoping to develop a spring immersion program in Maywood. The announcement was made at a National Day of Racial Healing virtual ceremony on Jan. 19.

“Ordinarily, the university offers students the opportunity to travel somewhere during spring break to do some service work and build relationships,” said Amy Omi, a university minister of liturgy and the arts at Dominican during the Jan. 19 event.

“This year, due to COVID, but also because we’re hoping to continue to do the work of bridge-building in Maywood, we’re staying closer to home,” she said.

John DeConstanza, the director of university ministry at Dominican, said the immersion experiences “are grounded in mutuality,” adding that students will be receiving more information on the program soon. He also welcomed any Maywood residents who might want to participate and/or offer ideas to contact the university.

The burgeoning immersion program is an extension of Dominican’s larger commitment to racial reconciliation, said Dominican President Donna Carroll during an interview on Feb. 2. That commitment, she said, has only hardened in the wake of recent events, particularly the murder of George Floyd last May and the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6.

SERPICO

Tickets & a tirade from page 1 but a f— punk.

“Why?” Cozzi says.

“Because, you’re a j— off … You look like a f— shine on 15th, because you’re doing it to bust f— balls.”

Shine is slang for Black person that’s often used disparagingly, although the term is not common nowadays.

Serpico issued a public apology through a spokesperson earlier this month.

“I regret making these comments,” Serpico said. “This resident has repeatedly harassed me and the village board of trustees and in this instance my frustration got the better of me. I apologize for my comments and pledge

FORGING TIES: Dominican students, like the ones pictured above who participated in a demonstration on the River Forest college’s campus last year, could be coming to Maywood as part of a new immersion program in the spring.

File

Since Floyd’s death, River Forest’s village board has passed two resolutions — one “affirming” the village’s “principles regarding the relationship between the community and law enforcement” and the other “supporting a community partnership with Dominican University to fight racial and social injustice using the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation framework,” according to language in those respective resolutions.

The village board also passed a Twin Villages Covenant, which is designed to forge a closer relationship with Maywood, last summer.

“Entering into the partnership with Dominican University was an important and historic step toward building a positive culture and promoting and fostering healing

in our community,” River Forest President Cathy Adduci said in a statement.

President Carroll said the resolutions “put some teeth” into the university and the village’s commitment to improving the experiences of Black and Brown students, and to promoting more racial awareness and understanding among residents in the village.

Sheila Radford-Hill, Dominican’s recently retired chief diversity officer, said on Feb. 3 that Dominican is one of about three dozen campuses across the country that the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) have designated Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Centers.

Radford-Hill said that along with possible financial support, the AACU also offers participating institutions a range of

to do better in the future.”

Cozzi, meanwhile, says he doesn’t accept the mayor’s apology and demands that he resign. Cozzi added that he also feels harassed by the mayor and Melrose Park Police, referencing the number of tickets he’s gotten to prove his point.

“It’s been ongoing, targeted harassment,” Cozzi said on Feb. 5. “They started writing $500 tickets over the summer for my lawn chairs.

“Then they started writing $500 tickets on Dec. 1. Everybody’s got Christmas decorations on their front lawns in December, so I thought that was very rare.

Out of all the months to complain about clutter, they’re doing it in December, when everybody’s Christmas decorations are out?”

Cozzi, who acknowledged that he has an extensive criminal background, said that he’s had multiple run-ins with Melrose

Park Police. He claims that the police and the mayor are doing the bidding of his estranged brother, with whom he has a very contentious relationship.

“As soon as this guy became mayor, I started getting arrested,” Cozzi said. “Ever since I was 19 years old. And from 30 years old to 38 years old, I’ve been on probation, going to court or getting arrested.”

When reached for comment on Friday evening, a Melrose Park Police officer said that he would refer questions to a spokesperson and Serpico was not immediately available for comment. This article will be updated if they respond.

When the audio was shared to various Facebook groups, such as Melrose Parkers, residents responded differently. Some were supportive of Mayor Serpico and believed that Cozzi set the mayor up while others condemned the mayor’s language and

professional development opportunities, among other resources.

“The people and institutions involved in the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation work convene regularly all over the country,” Radford-Hill said.

“We share ideas; there are trainings and speakers. Dr. Gail Christopher, the founder of racial healing circles, makes regular appearances and helps us understand how to actually do the work of a racial healing circle. This is difficult work.”

Within the last year, the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation process has resulted in a variety of initiatives on and off campus. In addition to the National Day of Racial Healing, during which administrators honored student-activists and conducted racial healing circles based on the principles of the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation program, the university has also sponsored book discussions in Oak Park centered on “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You,” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. The book is a version of Kendi’s “Stamped from the Beginning,” but adapted for young readers.

Carroll said the university is also exploring the possibility of partnering with River Forest to develop internship opportunities in the village “to really give students on-theground community organizing experience.”

On a higher level, Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation is “more than a program; it’s a movement,” said RadfordHill, adding that the university’s partnership with the AACU has been critical since the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

Maywood residents who interested in participating in the immersion program can contact Omi, who is the interim coordinator of the university’s Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation initiative, at: aomi@ dom.edu.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

treatment of Cozzi. Still others condemned both men, with some observing that they found the whole incident “embarrassing” for the village.

When asked why he recorded Serpico without the mayor’s knowledge, Cozzi said he feels the need to record everywhere he goes. On his various social media accounts, he’s posted videos of him driving around the village and around various facilities, such as the municipal center at 1000 25th Ave. “I feel the need to record everywhere I go in Melrose Park,” Cozzi said. “I feel harassed. My windows have been busted.

So, yeah, I’m keeping the recording on and that was a public hearing, anyway. He’s got officers doing his dirty work and everything, so I walked with the recording on and that happened.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

Bellwood Police commander faces child porn charges Commander John Trevarthen, charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, placed on administrative leave

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

A Bellwood Police commander has been charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, according to a statement released on Feb. 6, by the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. A judge set bond for John Trevarthen, 45, at $150,000, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said. Trevarthen lives in Lombard.

“In

mid-January,

a

Lombard

Police

ON LEAVE: Bellwood Police Commander John Trevarthen has been placed on administrative leave, Bellwood’s mayor said.

Courtesy DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office

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 application with an email address that registered to a home in Lombard,” the state’s attorney statement reads.

“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-sharing application ‘Kik.’” On Saturday, Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey said that the village has been notified of Trevarthen’s arrest by the Lombard Police Department. Harvey added that the commander has been immediately placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation “As the legal process continues, we will maintain open communication with Lombard Police and other agencies,” Harvey said. “In no uncertain terms, we do not tolerate or accept illegal behavior by any

village employee. The police department remains committed to providing the highest level of service and protection to each resident and business owner in the village of Bellwood.”

“The allegations against Mr. Trevarthen are disturbing,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin. “I would like to thank the Lombard Police Department as well as the DuPage County Sheriff ’s Office for their outstanding work on this case. I would also like to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Lee Roupas for his efforts in protecting the innocent victims of child pornography.”

Trevarthen’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 8, 2021, for arraignment in front of Judge Jeffrey MacKay, the state’s attorney’s office said.

“Members of the public are reminded that this complaint contains only charges and is not proof of the defendant’s guilt,” the office added. “A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

5

Mourners remember beloved funeral home owner

Gladys Edwards Wallace, 84, helped her husband Vernon build Wallace Broadview Funeral Home into a community institution

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Gladys Edwards Wallace, the owner of Wallace Broadview Funeral Home, 2020 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Broadview, died on Jan. 22. She was 84 years old.

Wallace owned Wallace Broadview Funeral Home along with her late husband of 48 years, Vernon L. Wallace, who founded the funeral home. He died in 2012.

The couple built the business through a partnership forged in mutual respect, trust and loyalty, mourners recalled in the days since Gladys Wallace’s death and during her funeral, held Feb. 6, at Freedom Baptist Church, 4541 Harrison St. in Hillside.

During an interview with Sharon McDonald, which was played during a Facebook livestream of her memorial, Gladys recalled her and her husband’s path to launching their wellrespected business.

Born in Alberta, Ala., Gladys moved to Chicago’s West Side with her family, when she was 7 years old.

“My father and I came to Chicago on the train, and my mother and brother came two months later,” she told McDonald. “I came [first] because my father and mother wanted me to get into school in September, and my brother was only 4 years old, so he came later.”

Gladys recalled a tight-knit, religious family woven in what at the time was the strong community fabric of the West Side. They attended Friendship Baptist Church, where Gladys’ father, Rev. John W. Edwards, was an assistant pastor.

Both Gladys and Vernon attended Marshall Metropolitan High School in East Garfield Park. They were both proud alumni. They met in the early 1960s, introduced through a mutual friend, William Carothers, who would go on to become a powerful Chicago alderman.

“Bill Carothers was my husband’s best friend, and we were like family — Bill and his wife, Roberta,” Gladys recalled.

Gladys and Vernon married on June 28, 1964, at St. Joseph Baptist Church, Gladys recalled.

She worked for the U.S. Postal Service in the human resources department while Vernon worked at the prominent House of Branch Funeral Home.

“They had three funeral homes [at the time],” Gladys recalled. “They offered us an apartment, rent-free, over [one of the funeral homes], but at that time I wasn’t involved [in

the funeral home business] and I said I’d rather not.”

The couple met Danny K. Davis, the future congressman, in the late 1960s, Davis said at Gladys’ funeral on Saturday.

“I first met and got to know Gladys and Vernon, or Vernon and Gladys, when we were all part of the House of Branch Funeral Home.

Vernon was running the House of Branch and, of course, Gladys and I both worked at the post office,” Congressman Davis said. “The Branches were leading civic and community, as well as business leaders in North Lawndale, where I lived.”

Davis said the reason he referred to the couple as “Vernon and Gladys or Gladys and Vernon” is because, “generally, whenever I saw one, I saw both.”

As funeral director at the House of Branch, Vernon was known for his disciplined handling of funeral proceedings — he kept them “punctual, smooth and, above all, dignified,” Maureen O’Donnell wrote in Vernon’s Chicago Sun-Times obituary.

Vernon, O’Donnell wrote, was a pioneer in the business, opening his own parlor to mortuary school graduates, providing probono services for crime and fire victims, and burying “thousands of people, including many Chicago VIPs, in his 61-year career.”

One of those VIPs was Mahalia Jackson, whose funeral was attended by some 6,000 mourners at McCormick Place. The mourners included “Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr. and King’s widow, Coretta Scott King.”

“It was just a huge, tremendous crowd,” Gladys told O’Donnell, adding that Vernon “was an artist at this, and excellent. Everything had to be correct for the family.”

In 1986, Gladys told McDonald, her husband went into partnership with West End Funeral Home and six years later, in 1992, they purchased what was at the time Broadview Funeral Home at 2020 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Broadview, their current location, renaming it Wallace Broadview Funeral Home.

“The reason [Vernon] did that was because he wanted to invest and save, so that it wouldn’t be any overhead,” Gladys told McDonald. “He was such an amazing person. We purchased that funeral home debt-free. We stayed up practically all night counting our money, so we were able to purchase it. I was so happy for him and he was overjoyed also.”

The same year when she and Vernon purchased the funeral home in Broadview, Gladys took a buyout from the U.S. Postal Service, with an eye on traveling the world and being a housewife.

“We got a half-year salary and all of our sick leave,” Gladys recalled. “I was a supervisor of benefits and I processed a lot of retirements. I had 30 years of service at the time, so I decided I would retire, too. I thought I was going to just be a housewife — a lady of leisure — and travel.

ALWAYS TOGETHER: Gladys and Vernon Wallace, the founders of Wallace Broadview Funeral Home, are pictured on the company’s website. Gladys was instrumental in cultivating her husband’s business after his death in 2012.

Courtesy Wallace Broadview Funeral Home

“But one of my mentors, a lady who lived across the hall from me, when [Vernon and I] first got married […] told my husband, ‘You should teach Gladys everything you know about the business,’ and she told me, ‘Gladys, you better learn everything about the business, because you don’t know what might happen in life.’ So, I decided to learn more about the business and my husband taught me everything I know about the business. He invested in me.”

The investment would pay off, with Gladys leveraging the education she obtained at Wilbur Wright Junior College, among other institutions of learning, to help her husband build one of the few Black-owned funeral homes in the west suburbs.

Rev. Marvin E. Wiley, the pastor of Rock of Ages Baptist Church in Maywood and the man who eulogized both Gladys and Vernon, said on Saturday that Wallace Funeral Home is “one of the most respected, not only funeral homes, but businesses in the community and in Illinois.”

Jamye Jeter Cameron, the 64th national president of the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association — the nation’s oldest and largest trade group of Blacks in the funeral industry — said on Saturday that Gladys was like a matriarch in the business.

“Our association is more like family than we are just association members,” Cameron said.

“Mama Wallace, as I called her, called me one of her goddaughters.”

Cameron added that Gladys had many “goddaughters” and young women she mentored and molded less through words than actions, which were contoured by her distinct style.

“She was known to be a sharp dresser — always put together,” Cameron said.

After Vernon died in 2012, Gladys focused on securing his legacy by supporting her nephew, Rory Momon, the funeral home’s current director, whose own mortuary school

education was funded by his uncle, according to the Sun-Times. Gladys also became even more comfortable in her role as the establishment’s matriarch.

“In Broadview, my husband and I had living quarters in the building and that made me more involved in the funeral business,” Gladys said. “I would be at the house many times by myself and would walk over the funeral home and the preparation room, where the bodies are laid up and viewed and buried, so I feel very good and comfortable.”

Gladys received numerous acknowledgments and distinctions for her long business career.

She was former national president of the Ladies Auxiliary of the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, a recipient of the Business and Community Service Award and the M. Athalia Range Trailblazer Award — both given to her by the 100 Black Women of Funeral Service, Inc. She was an honorary life board member of the group, according to her obituary.

“I thought I’d be traveling and going all over the world, but I’m very content where I am and I want the business to go on and carry on the legacy that my husband left,” Gladys told McDonald. “When I pass on, the legend will still go on. I want to pass the torch to the next generation.”

In lieu of flowers, the family requested that mourners send scholarship donations to: 100 Black Women of Funeral Service, Inc. — Vernon & Gladys Wallace Scholarship, c/o Mrs. Elleanor Starks, P.O. Box 916404, Longwood, FL 32791.

Mourners can also send donations to: National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association Ladies Auxiliary, c/o Ms. Cynthia Betts (Treasurer), 124 W. Quailridge Rd., Oxford, NC 27565.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

NEW SCHOOL Breaking ground from page 1 some smaller improvements to Jefferson and Whittier primary schools — located at 225 46th Ave. in Bellwood and 338 E. Whitehall Ave. in Northlake, respectively. The district estimated that the new school building that will house both Sunnyside and MacArthur will cost around $72 million.

The plan calls for the district to tear down the existing Sunnyside and MacArthur buildings, and to construct a brand new building on the site of what are now baseball fields and a vacant land north of the current buildings. Each school would have its own wing of the new building, but the two schools will also share common areas.

Since the referendum passed, District 87’s Core Planning Team, which consists of community residents, and district staff members and officials, has been working with Wold Architects and Engineers, of Palatine, to develop and refine the designs.

District 87 Supt. Terri Bresnahan said that administrators and the board hope to break ground on the new school in May, with the goal of having the building completed by the end of 2022.

Sunnyside Intermediate School and MacArthur Middle School serve all or parts of Berkeley, Hillside and Bellwood.

WHAT’S TO COME: Architectural renderings of the new school’s exterior, far left. For top: the McDermott Road approach, middle, the main entry, and bottom, the parking lot approach. Above right, interior renderings of the school’s cafeterias, classrooms and common space.

Courtesy Gilbane

The intermediate school enrolls students in grades third through fifth, while the middle school enrolls students in grades sixth through eighth. The two schools are already located next to each other and

Sunnyside students go to MacArthur after they complete the fifth grade.

The district’s referendum website said that the buildings “need significant life safety and security improvements to ensure the safety of our students” and that they “face overcrowding and inadequate spaces.”

Throughout the fall of 2019, the district considered three separate options, ultimately choosing to build a new joint facility, because it would address the life safety issues and allow for smaller class sizes. The building would also feature much-needed learning and accessibility improvements.

On Oct. 28, the district held a community webinar to give residents a chance to offer feedback on the proposed school design.

According to the survey taken during the webinar, five parents/guardians and 24 district staff members tuned in.

According to the renderings shared during the meeting, the new school would be located north of the two buildings, closer to the southwest corner of Wolf Road and McDermott Drive. The parking strip along Wolf Road will be partially converted to a new school bus drop-off area, and a new one-way parent vehicle drop-off area will be built on what is now the west side of the lot. Although the students getting off the bus would use the same door to enter the building, the area for cars would have separate doors for each school.

The existing district administrative building at 1200 N. Wolf Road will remain.

Once the current school buildings are demolished, they will be replaced with a new baseball field, a football/soccer field, a playground and new parking lot.

Jessalyn Kelly, the project architect, explained that they envisioned the building as both a learning space and an after-school community space. Based on the community feedback, they wanted to keep the two schools’ identities distinct.

The north MacArthur wing and the south Sunnyside wing would have district color schemes and design elements that take

the ages of their respective students into account. The common areas in the middle — the cafeteria and the gyms — will be shared between the two schools. The cafeterias can be either separated or combined into one space, and they can also be used to host performances and assemblies. Both schools will also have common areas in the hallways.

She explained that the common areas would be available for community events outside school hours, which is why the design makes it easy to keep the classroom spaces completely separate by locking a few doors.

The building would have a subway map theme, with painted lines guiding students and visitors toward the common areas in the middle and the two wings on the sides.

“We want students to be excited about coming to school, so that lobby should [create] that sense of excitement,” Kelly said, adding that the new school building will feature expanded classroom spaces, more group activity tables in the MacArthur wing, more mature and softer seating in the Sunnyside wing, and classrooms in both wings that get lots of daylight.

In a recent interview, Bresnahan said that the district has kept the community informed about the construction plans through district newsletters. The core planning team is currently meeting to finalize the design and prepare the construction bids, which will most likely go out this April.

“We’re planning on breaking ground in May,” Bresnahan said. “Once we finish our bid process, we’ll do another update to the community.”

She said that, as of Feb. 1, the district spent about $2.3 million on the project to cover the design and architecture fees.

According to the timeline shared during the webinar, demolition of the existing schools will only start once the move to the new building is complete. The demolition and the construction of the new fields and parking lot is expected to be completed by May 1, 2023.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

7

NEWS briefs Triton College selected to serve as mass vaccination site Triton College, 2000 S. 5th Ave. in River Grove, was recently selected to be a Point of Distribution site for COVID-19 vaccinations, college officials announced on Feb. 1. Cook County Health (CCH) was scheduled to start administering vaccinations on Feb. 3, Monday through Saturday, by appointment only, officials explained.

Triton worked with Cook County and identified approximately 8,000 square feet of space on the south end of the T Building on Triton’s East Campus to use for administering vaccines.

Appointments can be made at vaccine. cookcountyil.gov.

Individuals without internet access or who need assistance scheduling can call (833) 308-1988 (from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday).

Federal officials warn of COVID-19 vaccine scam Federal authorities are warning people to be aware of COVID-19 vaccine scams that range “calls phishing for personal information, to phony messages claiming you need to pay to guarantee your dose,” according to a statement released by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

“If you are eligible to receive the vaccine, be sure to double check any messages before sharing personal information,” BBB officials explained in a statement last month.

Broadview appoints acting police chief The Broadview Board of Trustees recently appointed Broadview Deputy Police Chief Kevin Wagner as Acting Police Chief.

Wagner will temporarily replace Broadview Police Chief Kevin Eugling, who retired on Feb. 2, after serving 27 years with the department.

“Chief Eugling exemplified the highest levels of dedication and professionalism during his career, and is well-respected throughout the Broadview community,” according to a statement released by Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson on Feb. 5.

During his first board briefing as Acting Chief, at a regular meeting on Feb. 4, Wagner read a letter, dated Dec. 13, 2020, from La Grange Park Police Chief Tim Contois thanking Broadview Police Officers Ken Klamer and his canine partner, K9 Jax, for their assistance in La Grange on Nov. 13, 2020.

“They had an armed home invasion that occurred and three offenders fled the residence, they called for assistance from surrounding towns, including us and Ofc. Klamer,” who arrived at the scene, set up a perimeter and assisted in the apprehension of at least one offenders, Wagner said.

Wagner also acknowledged the retirement of Sergeant Dan Conforti, who retired the day after Chief Eugling retired.

“Dan served 24 years with the police department,” Wagner said. “Anybody who knows him knows he had a passion for the town and a passion for the job. He received the most honorable mentions of any officer we’ve ever had. He’s had 73 honorable mentions throughout his career. Ten

PROMOTED: Broadview’s new Acting Police Chief Kevin Wagner was appointed earlier this month. divisional commendations. He’s had at least two or three Supervisor of the Year Awards.”

Broadview Police assist with apprehending suspected carjacker

difficult to extinguish, and caused water issues in the motel,” WGN reported. “Fire departments from four different suburbs responded.

“As many as 100 people may have been inside the motel when the fire started. The entire second floor has been destroyed, which is where long-term residents lived.”

CBS 2 reported that the victim was a woman whose hair was on fire.

“So I went in and got a blanket, and I put her out,” Alvin Willis told a CBS reporter.

“But she was trying to get back in there to get her cat. I kept telling her go downstairs, but she wouldn’t move. But then I had to get my mother out because I was concerned about my mother.”

WGN reported that officials have worked to put victims into other motels in the area. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, WGN reported.

By around 10 a.m. this morning, when a Village Free Press reporter was able to get into the area to take photos, the motel was reduced to rubble. An official with the Melrose Park Fire Department could not be reached immediately for comment on Monday afternoon.

[Broadview Police Department]: “On 02/03/2021, at approximately 10:15pm, Broadview Officers assisted the Chicago Police Department who were in pursuit of a vehicle wanted in a vehicular hijacking.

The vehicle exited the I-290 expressway and entered Broadview at 17th Avenue. The driver of the vehicle exited and fled on foot.

He was apprehended by Broadview Officers and turned over to CPD.”

NEW BUSINESS: Big 10 Tires LLC is looking to move into 2600 S. 25th Ave. in Broadview.

Broadview board approves slate of new businesses RAZED: The O’Hare Kitchenette Motel in Melrose Park late Monday morning, hours after an early morning fire destroyed the building.

Shanel Romain

Feb. 8 fire destroys Melrose Park motel, injures at least one person According to a WGN 9 report, at least one person was injured in a fire that started at around 2 a.m. on Feb. 8, at the O’Hare Kitchenette Motel, 2301 Mannheim Rd, officials told a WGN reporter.

“Frigid conditions made the fire extremely

During a regular meeting on Feb. 4, the Broadview Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve business licenses for four different companies seeking to operate in the village.

One of the businesses, Luxury Auto Mall Corp., will be located at 1410 W. Roosevelt Rd., in Broadview.

Broadview Building Commissioner David Upshaw said on Feb. 4 that the company “is an online auto sales business.” The company’s administrative offices will be located in Broadview, but the cars will be stored “at an off-site location — not in Broadview.” All inspections have been completed and approved, he said.

Big 10 Tires LLC is looking to move to 2600

S. 25th Ave. in Broadview. Upshaw said the company will be receiving and shipping auto parts and auto accessories to auto part stores, such as Pep Boys, O’Reilly Auto Parts and AutoZone. All inspections have been completed and approved, he said.

The board also approved the business license application of 4 U Smoke Shop, which will be located at 104 Broadview Village Square.

Trustees Judy Abraham, Andrea Senior and John Tierney voted in favor of the applications. Trustees Verina Horne, Judy Miller and Sherman Jones were absent.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

8

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

Westchester furrier shows off $10K fur for dogs on GQ show Christos Taltsidis impressed ‘Most Expensivist’ host, rapper 2 Chainz, with glam canine gear last year

By SHANEL ROMAIN Community Correspondent

One day late last year, Westchester furrier Christos Taltsidis sat at one of the many sewing machines inside of Christos Furs & Leathers, the furrier he’s operated at 10411 W Cermak Rd. in Westchester for the last 15 years.

Taltsidis was showing the detail that goes into creating a mink coat from scratch.

He cuts each piece into long, thin strips and meticulously sews them together for a seamless finish. There are about 7,000 stitches for every fur coat, he said.

Whatever you do, don’t call Taltsidis a fur dealer.

“If you as an owner don’t know how to make a mink coat from scratch, don’t insult the furriers with buying and selling,” Taltsidis said. “Anybody can just buy and sell. Today every furrier is a fur dealer

from overseas. They are not furriers. True furriers make their own fur coats.”

The passion Taltsidis has for his craft was on full display last year, when the Westchester businessman participated in an episode of “Most Expensivest,” the program produced by GQ and Vice, and hosted by rapper 2 Chainz.

Taltsidis showed 2 Chainz (who, naturally, allowed his dog Trappy to co-host on this

most expensive dog coat in the world. Taltisidis made the coat and flew to Las Vegas.

“The coat that was on the show was for publicity,” Taltsidis said. “I have the original coat, but I did make another fur for Trappy and a matching fur tie for 2 Chainz.”

Still buzzing from that publicity, Taltsidis is now turning his attention to the deep future. He wants to open a JUST FUR DOGS: Westchester furrier Christos Taltsidis furrier school at some point, in shows off the fur coat for dogs that he exhibited on “Most order to share his philosophy Expensivist,” with rapper 2 Chainz (far right) last year. with others.

“Fur, leather, cashmere, Shanel Romain/YouTube wool, silk and cotton are biodegradable materials,” episode), a $10,000 chinchilla fur coat for he said. “Keep America clean. Keep the dogs, featuring an inner lining of 100 environment clean. Don’t wear plastic. It percent perforated leather and crystal goes into the water system and into our food zippers. chain. Fur, leather, cashmere, wool, silk and “One day, the idea came, ‘Let’s make a fur cotton — God gave us plenty of it.” coat for your dogs, so you match.’” Taltsidis You can watch Christos with 2 Chainz told the rapper. at: youtube.com/watch?v=SIAmVf67aFQ. Taltsidis said 2 Chainz found out about For more information on Christos Furs & him after watching him on “Windy City Leathers, visit: christosfurs.com.

Live,” the local TV show based in Chicago.

The rapper was so impressed that he decided to host an episode around the

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

9

First-time jobless claims drop sharply Numbers still remain at historically high levels

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois

First-time unemployment claims in Illinois dropped sharply in the last week of January as most regions in the state slowly began reopening following the latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported on Feb. 4, that 40,008 workers filed initial claims for regular unemployment benefits during the week that ended Jan. 30. That was a 58 percent drop from the previous week when 95,481 people filed claims.

Still, that number was more than four times higher than the same week a year ago, before the pandemic took hold in Illinois.

The four-week rolling average number of new claims also dropped 2 percent, to 81,476.

But that was still seven times higher than the comparable period in 2020.

The Illinois job market also outperformed the U.S. labor market during the week.

Nationwide, according to U.S. Department

this month. In December, that rate climbed seven-tenths of a point, to 7.6 percent, which was more than double what it had been a year earlier.

Also in December, Congress passed the Continued Assistance Act, or CAA, which renewed two federally-funded unemployment programs that were set to expire at the end of that month. The act also provides an additional $300 per week in benefits, half the amount of supplemental benefits that had been included DECLINE: The graph shows the initial unemployment in the original Coronavirus claims filed in Illinois over the previous two weeks.

Aide, Relief and Economic Courtesy Illinois Department of Employment Security Security, or CARES Act. Those supplemental benefits had expired the week of July 25. of Labor numbers, first-time jobless claims The additional $300 provided under CAA fell 2.8 percent, to 816,247. applies between the week ending Jan. 2 For the week that ended Jan. 23, the and the week ending March 13. IDES began number of Illinois workers receiving paying the additional $300 beginning Jan. 4. continuing unemployment benefits fell less Another program the act renewed is the than 2 percent, to 322,670. Nationwide, that Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or number fell 2.4 percent, to just over 5 million. PUA program, which provides benefits to The state’s overall unemployment rate independent contractors, self-employed for January won’t be released until later

individuals and others not covered by traditional state unemployment insurance.

But state officials throughout the country, including Illinois, had complained that the initial program was fraught with fraud because it did not require applicants to verify their previous employment.

IDES announced Wednesday that it was implementing several required changes that program, including a requirement for applicants to verify their previous employment or self-employment.

In addition, IDES said, people who had exhausted their benefits under that program before Dec. 26 may remain eligible under the extension and will be notified of the additional weeks added to their claim.

The CAA also renewed Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC, which provides an additional 11 weeks of benefits for workers who have exhausted their regular benefits. However, IDES said, the way people transition to that program will vary based on how and when they exhausted their other benefits. The agency said transitions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

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VILLAGES perspectives

By MICHAEL ROMAIN

Emmett Till was Louis Till’s son

Publisher

Emmett Louis Till was born on July 25, 1941, at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

His mother, Mamie, recalled that her baby boy’s “neck, right knee, and left wrist had been constricted by the umbilical cord,” and that he could have chocked to death. “His wrist was swollen and his knee was swollen even more. It was as big as an apple.”

The doctors blamed the breeched birth on Mamie, who also blamed herself. She was a teenager, newly married to a tall, dark, “dashing, good-looking” man named Louis Till, who worked at the Corn Products Refining Company in Argo, Illinois.

The young married couple had just gotten a new apartment and Mamie wanted the place looking nice for when her baby came to it the first time. She was proud of the apartment and a perfectionist.

“I was hanging curtains and I was cleaning cobwebs high up on the windows,” she recalled. “And somebody came by and saw me and told me I shouldn’t reach overhead like that.”

So, Mamie wrote, it was her fault that her baby — born with near-white skin and blue eyes — was clinging to life just after coming out of the womb, “all because I wanted a nice, clean place for the baby to live and play. Now in the delivery room, I was being punished for it, but I didn’t want my baby

to have to suffer for my mistake.”

Mamie named her baby after her favorite uncle, Emmett, and her husband, Louis, who along with being a factory worker was an amateur boxer who beat Mamie, once chocking her until she passed out.

Louis was not around much, not even during his son’s birth. So Mamie, who described herself as sheltered and a bit naive (Louis was the only man she had ever been with when they got married), took parenting help where she could get it.

One day, a striking, glamorous “woman from the neighborhood,” an acquaintance of Mamie’s, “wanted to come by and bring her baby to visit my baby.”

Soon after the woman got inside, Mamie recalled, Emmett — whose skin had by now browned, his eyes having changed from blue to hazel, his mother having christened him with the nickname, BoBo — started to cry.

“I had noticed that whenever I finished feeding my baby, he seemed to start crying,” Mamie wrote. The woman asked Mamie if she could feed Emmett. Mamie, after

insisting that the woman wash her breasts first, reluctantly agreed.

Soon after the woman nursed Emmett, he was asleep. Taking the woman’s advice, Mamie took her baby to the local health center, where he was put on a diet of “formula, yellow cornmeal, and Carnation milk with Karo syrup.

“Now, Emmett was just a baby,” Mamie wrote. “I didn’t think he even should have been eating solid food yet. But he ate a whole bowl. That woman had been like an angel to me and Emmett.”

Later, however, Mamie would learn that the woman “had quite a reputation around Argo” and it was not for “helping new mothers, but for helping their husbands. Not only had she suckled my baby, but I found out she also had serviced my man.”

That episode should provide some context for Mamie’s seemingly bitter recollection about the telegram she received on July 13, 1945, several years after Louis left home to fight in World War II and just a few weeks before Emmett turned 4.

“Louis Till was dead, killed in Italy,” Mamie wrote. “There wasn’t much of an

MICHAEL ROMAIN

explanation. In fact, the telegram raised more questions than it answered. Like the words ‘willful misconduct.’ It was all too much. I collapsed when I read the news.”

Sometime after the news, Mamie recalled, she would think on the phrase ‘willful misconduct.’

“What a fitting epitaph, it seemed,” considering the man she had known. The matter of Louis Till would have ended there, for Mamie and for the country, had it not been for “a special gift, a remembrance.”

After the army returned some of her late husband’s belongings, Mamie discovered “a plain silver ring” that Louis had bought in Casablanca and had engraved “with his initials, LT, and the date MAY 25 1943.”

She would have to find “just the right moment” to share it with Emmett. In the meantime, the ring allowed her to realize a truth about Louis that he may not have known, at least consciously, himself.

“I realized that Emmett was the one thing that gave meaning to Louis’ life,” she said.

“He hadn’t been a good husband, hadn’t been a good father, and seemed to do his best to show the world that he wasn’t a good person.

But Emmett was his singular achievement, his one accomplishment, and in the end, perhaps his only reason for being.”

This column was originally published in 2018.

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Village Free Press | February 10, 2021

Chicago Black Restaurant Week includes Proviso area eateries Surf’s Up in Maywood and Donnie’s Bar & Grill in Melrose Park to participate in food celebration, which runs Feb. 7 through Feb. 21

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

The sixth annual Chicago Black Restaurant Week runs from Feb. 7 through Feb. 21 and this year residents in Proviso Township can support two restaurants of their own during the annual food celebration.

Surf ’s Up Maywood, 714 Roosevelt Rd. In Maywood, and Donnie’s Bar & Grill, 117 N. Broadway in Melrose Park, are among the nearly 70 Chicago Black Restaurant Week participants this year.

Surf ’s Up is known for its well-seasoned seafood — from the Fried Lobster Po’Boy to the Catfish Sliders — and poultry, such as the Henney and Jerk wings.

Dante Hall, the owner of Donnie’s Bar & Grill in Melrose Park, said that this is his restaurant’s first year participating in Chicago Black Restaurant Week. He’s been

BLACK HISTORY Made by you from page 2

When Isiah Thomas’ smile lit up Westchester’s St. Joes From the Chicago Tribune (March 20,1979): “Isiah sauntered through the doors of the high school he made famous, wearing his everyday, what’s-all-the-fuss-about smile.

A few strides behind him strolled Joey Meyer, wearing his everyday won’t-youplease’come-to-De Paul smile.”

Joey’s smile didn’t last too long. Thomas, perhaps the most famous alum of St. Joe’s

JOINING THE FEAST: Surf ’s Up in Maywood and Donnie’s Bar & Grill in Melrose Park will be among nearly 70 Chicago Black Restaurant Week participants this year.

File

open at his current location for nearly two years, he said.

“I’ve been hearing about Black Restaurant Week since it started,” he said. “I thought it was great that there was a Black version of Restaurant Week, because most of the restaurants I go to, I love when they’re Black-owned.”

Donnie’s features a range of items, including chicken wings, catfish, turkey, spaghetti and pork chops. Of course, Hall doesn’t forget the homemade desserts his mother bakes, particularly the pound cake,

peach cobbler and banana pudding.

Hall said he migrated into the restaurant business by way of a career in real estate and music (he’s a well-known musician, as well). He and his band would often play the location where his business is currently at on Fridays.

The owners of the building eventually approached him to ask if he wanted to purchase the facility. They even walked him through Melrose Park’s liquor license process. Now open, Hall said he understands the rarity of his presence in the village.

“There aren’t a lot of Black-owned businesses in Melrose Park,” he said. “It’s kind of one-in-a-million that I became a restauranteur after being in real estate and music.”

Donnie’s is also an event space and entertainment hub, where patrons can enjoy Fish Fry Fridays and Valentine’s Day dinners. They can even rent the space out if they’re looking to take advantage of its professional sound system and backdrop while conducting Zoom sessions.

But since the pandemic, Hall said, his business has relied mostly on the restaurant as a source of revenue. He said he hopes his participation in Chicago Black Restaurant Week gives his business more exposure.

Chicago Black Restaurant Week was founded in 2015 by Lauren Smith, a digital marketing specialist and newspaper columnist.

Smith said she wanted to create a platform for Black-owned eateries in Chicago and the suburbs “to be recognized and further patronized,” according to Chicago Black Restaurant Week’s website.

For more information on Chicago Black Restaurant Week, visit: chiblackrestaurantweek.com/.

Shanel Romain contributed to this story.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

in Westchester, would eventually play for Bobby Knight at Indiana before lighting up the NBA. (Source: Chicago Tribune).

How Bellwood helped change national housing laws In 1975 the village of Bellwood filed a lawsuit accusing a local real-estate firm of steering prospective Black home buyers toward an integrated area of Bellwood approximately 12 by 13 blocks in dimension and away from other, predominately white areas.

Four years later, a landmark ruling by the United States Supreme Court (Gladstone, Realtors vs. Village of Bellwood) granted

municipalities the legal right to use testers and to sue when discrimination occurred.

Bellwood’s Black population grew from 1.1 percent in 1970 to 35 percent in 1980 and to 70 percent in 1990. (Sources: U.S. Supreme Court/Encyclopedia of Chicago).

That time when Muhammad Ali raced at Maywood Park In 1979, Muhammad Ali won a sevenfurlong exhibition race at the nowdemolished Maywood Park Racetrack in what was then unincorporated Cook County (it’s now Melrose Park). The race was a fundraising event to benefit Provident Hospital of Chicago, at that time the oldest and largest African-American-managed hospital in Illinois. (Source: Harness Link/ Chicago Tribune).

Maywood’s role in the Underground Railroad “Before the Civil War, the ‘10 Mile House’ on Lake Street at the edge of the Des Plaines River was a stagecoach rest stop that secretly and dangerously functioned as an Underground Railroad ‘stop’ - a hiding place for runaway slaves. Even in northern Illinois, slave catchers scoured the region, motivated by rewards for returning runaways to their owners. The inn was 10 miles, or a day’s ride, from Chicago.” (Doug Deuchler, “Maywood”).

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

Village Free Press | February 10 , 2021

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

11

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL PUBLIC ESTATE FOR NOTICES 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.

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

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 151701(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) 7949876 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

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: Y21005727 on January 21, 2021 Under the Assumed Business Name of FILOCALI with the business located at: 510 N 2ND AVE, MAYWOOD, IL 60153. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: MARICELA ARECHIGA 510 N 2ND AVE, MAYWOOD, IL 60153, USA.

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

Published in Village Free Press 01/27, 2/3, 2/10/2020 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 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

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 | February 10, 2021

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