Village Free Press_063021

JUNE 30, 2021

Vol. V No. 26 Torrential downpours impact Proviso, PAGE 9

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‘I’m the first, but I don’t want to be the last,’ Welch says

Local and state elected officials break ground on the new Maywood Supportive Living facility in Maywood on June 23.

State’s first Black House Speaker says his position allows young Black kids to see themselves in the role, lauds his first legislative session at the helm

Courtesy Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch/Facebook

Maywood’s Baptist Retirement Home resurrected

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Sworn into office in January, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who lives in Hillside, said life has changed markedly since ascending to his new position.

Welch said during an interview on June 28, that he had to fend off 3,000 text messages that began as soon as people realized he was the front-runner for the position. Once sworn in, the calls came.

See WELCH on page 7

Choose an account you can rely on.

Broadview to rename Indian Joe Drive, PAGE 3

After $54M renovation, building will once again be supportive living for seniors

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

After 15 years sitting vacant, the former Baptist Retirement Home, 316 Randolph St. in Maywood, is finally poised for redevelopment. Local elected officials and other community members gathered in front of the historic facility on June 23 for a groundbreaking ceremony.

The six-story building, which has been vacant since 2005, will be turned into a supportive living facility for low-income senior citizens called Maywood Supportive Living.

When construction is complete, the development will offer 83 studio units and 17 one-bedroom apartments for senior citizens who earn no more than 60 percent of the area median income, or approximately $39,180 for individuals and $44,760 for couples, according to officials with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration.

The facility, which is being developed by Chicago-based Celadon Partners, received $29.7 million in construction loan financing from the Illinois Housing Development Au-

thority’s conduit bond program and a $24.9 million permanent loan from IHDA’s RiskShare bond program, state officials said.

They added that Centrust Bank donated the property, which generated $3.5 million in Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credits.

U.S. Bank purchased the tax credits “and the equity from the sale will be put back into the project to finance construction and help keep rents affordable.” The facility will also receive a state operating subsidy.

“A truly strong society is one that delivers peace, safety, security and care to our elders –and it’s with that vision in mind that this administration is deeply proud to help fund the Maywood Supportive Living project,” See SUPPORTIVE LIVING on page 5

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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 | June 30, 2021

OUT & ABOUT the village free press Editor & Publisher Michael Romain Senior Sales & Strategic Consultant Kamil Brady Editorial Designer Andrew Mead Advertising Design Support Mark Moroney, Javier Govea HOW TO REACH US

Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey, Jaimee E.M. Hixson-Austin, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Sandra JosephHixson during a breakfast organized by the village and Bellwood Chamber of Commerce on June 28. Top right, the Westchester Food Pantry held a grand opening for its new space on June 27.

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

Janel Moreland’s Pink Divas and Gents organization held its annual walk for breast cancer awareness on June 26 in Bellwood. Among the dozens of attendees were Bellwood District 88 board members (middle left) and Moreland herself (picture in the white t-shirt in the middle right photo).

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

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Paid parking coming to Roosevelt Rd. in Broadview

Village to renovate four municipal parking lots this summer; board greenlights alley and street improvements in June

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Broadview officials are seeking to spruce up a group of municipal parking lots along Roosevelt Road and to introduce paid parking in the area.

The Broadview Board of Trustees discussed and voted on a design and engineering agreement necessary for the parking lot improvements this month. The improvements come amid a slate of other infrastructure-related improvements that the board

green-lit in June.

During a regular meeting on June 7, the board voted unanimously to authorize and approve an agreement with Hancock Engineering to provide $86,500 in design and engineering services required before the village issues a request for proposals related to the improvement of four municipal parking lots on Roosevelt Road.

The lots include the one located on the southwest corner of 18th and Roosevelt, the lot at the southeast corner of 16th and Roosevelt, the lot at the northwest corner of 15th and Roosevelt, and the one at the southeast corner of 14th and Roosevelt, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson said during the meeting.

“The municipal parking lots along Roosevelt Road will be brought online because we are in need of overnight and offsite parking,” said Broadview Public Works Director Matthew Ames during the June 7 meeting.

“At some point we plan to mark those

parking lots, make sure they are well-lit and also they will be revenue-generating, but the first goal is to bring the parking lots online,” he said.

Ames said that the village anticipates having the parking lot improvements done by the summer, adding that the village is also working to draft legislation necessary for the paid parking lots to have the appropriate enforcement mechanisms in place.

“A big piece of this will be the enforcement piece,” Ames said. “You can have meters out there all day long, but if they’re not being enforced you just have pretty meters out there.”

Alley and street improvements During the June 7 meeting, the board also unanimously voted to approve a resolution authorizing and approving an agreement with Hancock for roughly $81,000 in engineering services for street improvements in the village’s Gold Coast area.

The street improvements will take place

along York Street, from Beach Street to the East Dead End; and 19th through 22nd avenues, from Roosevelt Road to Harvard Street.

During a regular meeting on June 21, the board unanimously approved $130,200 worth of alley improvements along Roosevelt Road. The total cost includes designs and construction fees.

The nine alleys slated for improvements include those north of Roosevelt Road — 17th to 16th, 16th to 15th, 15th to 14th, and 14th to 13th; and south of Roosevelt Road — 23rd to 22nd, 22nd to 21st, 21st to 20th, 20th to 19th and 19th to 18th.

“These alleys … are in dire need of resurfacing,” said Ames, adding that the money to pay for the alleys will come out of the village’s capital fund.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

Broadview plans to change name of Indian Joe Drive Mayor says street named after village’s former corrupt police chief doesn’t reflect ‘who we are’

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Joseph “Indian Joe” Huszar, was a Broadview motorcycle policeman before being appointed the village’s second police chief in 1918. He was also the village’s health officer, according to the Franzosenbusch Heritage Project, an online resource that summarizes numerous sources of local history.

Huszar may have gotten his nickname because of the brand of his motorized Indian Motorcycle, a “speedy and powerful cycle in its day,” which Huszar rode to track down speeders.

But Indian Joe Huszar was more than just a police chief with a penchant for speed.

In 1926, the village’s second police chief was charged with operating an automobile speed trap. A Chicago Tribune article from Aug. 5, 1926 puts the charges in graphic terms.

Indian Joe allegedly “[lodged] innocent motorists in his jail and [used] a gun to force the last penny in arbitrary bonds from them.”

In 1927, Huszar was sentenced to serve one to 14 years in state prison “after being found

guilty on a charge of assault with intent to kill,” according to a May 6, 1927 article in the Times, a newspaper in Streator, Ill. “The charge was brought by John Screefer, who said he was assaulted while Huszar was attempting to intimidate him following an arrest,” the article explained.

The village fired Huszar in 1926. The former police chief died in prison in 1933.

Nonetheless, there’s a street in Broadview named after the disgraced former police chief — Indian Joe Drive, which runs parallel to the Eisenhower Expressway, between Beach Street and Gardner Road. It isn’t clear when the village named the street after Huszar or under what circumstances.

Earlier this month, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson, the village’s first Black woman to serve in the position, recommended changing the name of the street.

“Indian Joe Drive is actually a name we need to change in Broadview,” Thompson said during a regular meeting on June 7.

“I think it’s important for us to change the name, because that is not who we are today,” the mayor said. “It’s time for us to move the clock forward.”

Thompson said she didn’t know what the village should rename the street. Most members of the board said the name change should only happen after residents are allowed to weigh in on the process.

“We need to have a collaborative discussion outside of what was presented to us,” said Broadview Trustee Judy Miller, who

GETTING BOOKED: A Sept. 12, 1926 Chicago Tribune newspaper article showing Huszar, left, appearing in court in Maywood.

Chicago Tribune archives/Newspapers.com

recommended that the village also reach out to Huszar’s family.

“I get the negative impact he may have had, but everybody deserves a second chance,” Miller said. “Maybe we honor his family — whoever they may be.”

Miller also said she thinks the Broadview Police Department should have some input on the renaming and that the village should consider the potential impact the renaming

may have on how people in the area receive their mail.

“It will be a major change to our postal service for them to know [the address has been updated],” Miller said. “I’m all for a positive direction in moving us forward.”

Thompson assigned Miller with facilitating the community engagement around the name-changing process.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

Fitch upgrades Illinois’ credit outlook to ‘positive’

Agency says state’s income, sales taxes expected to grow as economy heats up

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – Fitch Ratings, one of three credit rating agencies that grade Illinois bonds, has upgraded its credit outlook for the state from “negative” to “positive.”

Although the state’s overall rating remains at near-junk status at BBB-, the agency said the state’s economic outlook coming out of the pandemic, combined with the recently-enacted budget, are moving the state in the right direction.

“The Outlook Revision to Positive from Negative, reflects Illinois’ preservation of fiscal resilience given the quick and sustained economic recovery since the start of the pandemic, coupled with the state’s unwinding of certain nonrecurring fiscal measures,” the agency said in a statement Wednesday. “Recent fiscal results and the enacted fiscal 2022 budget suggest further improvements in operating performance and structural balance in the near and medium-term that could support a return to the pre-pandemic rating or higher.”

The change in outlook is not the same as a change in the state’s immediate credit worthiness, but instead reflects the agency’s view of its credit trajectory, indicating the possibility of a credit upgrade in the future.

The continuing BBB- rating is the result of what Fitch called “a long record of structural imbalance and irresolute fiscal decision making” that has resulted in a credit position well below what the state’s broad, but slow-growing economy would otherwise suggest. It also reflects the state’s large, long-term liabilities such as pension obligations that will continue to put stress on the state’s finances.

But the agency also said that the state’s revenue base, primarily income and sales taxes, are expected to grow as the state’s economy grows, while recent improvements, such as paying down the state’s bill backlog and its plan to pay off its federal pandemic borrowing early, are signs of improved budget management.

The action by Fitch follows similar moves earlier this year by the state’s other two rating agencies, Moody’s and S&P, which revised their outlooks from “negative” to “stable.”

Democratic leaders in Illinois, including Gov. JB Pritzker, quickly seized on the news “Fitch’s improved outlook for Illinois is yet another sign of positive momentum for

our state’s fiscal condition, a testament to strong financial management and responsible actions by the General Assembly and my administration, and a product of the state’s economic resilience,” Pritzker said in a statement Wednesday. “The story of Illinois in 2021 is that in the face of a crisis, fiscal discipline and smart economic policy pays off.”

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, called the revised outlook “proof we can support families, invest in underserved communities, and be fiscally prudent at the same time,” while Comptroller Susana Mendoza said the move “vindicates” her office’s effort to pay down the state’s bill backlog “My administration has been committed and vocal about the need to show fiscal discipline and accountability,” Mendoza said in a statement. “Fitch notes the responsible approach we have taken with the General Assembly and the Governor’s office to target better-than-expected revenues to paying down debt.”

In its announcement, Fitch listed a number of things Illinois could do that might lead to a credit upgrade. Those include continuing to pay down the bill backlog, continuing the recent pattern of passing balanced budgets on time and narrowing what Fitch called a “structural budget gap”

by matching recurring revenues with recurring expenses, including funding its pension obligations at actuarially determined levels.

Recent budgets have included the pension payments required by statute that are otherwise short of the actuarially determined payments that would prevent the state’s unfunded liability from increasing. The state’s statutory pension payment, which it made in full for the upcoming fiscal year, was about $9.8 billion, or 23 percent of the state’s General Revenue Fund budget for the year.

However, the agency also noted factors that could lead to a credit downgrade, such as failing to follow through on plans for early retirement of federal pandemic loans and repayment of interfund borrowing, or using one-time federal aid for recurring expenses in the future.

Meanwhile, Fitch said, bonds issued as part of the Rebuild Illinois capital improvements plan continue to be rated BBB+, a slightly higher rating than the state’s general obligation bond rating, because the capital plan bonds are backed by dedicated sources of revenue.

Fitch said it believes those revenue sources, which include motor fuel tax revenue and license plate fees among others, would remain sufficient even in the event of an economic downturn.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

Northlake Police ramping up traffic enforcement, chief says Chief Nissen cites record increase in traffic fatalities as impetus to enhance street enforcement

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Drivers traveling through Northlake should be on alert. The city’s police department is going to start ramping up its traffic enforcement in order to get a handle on rising traffic fatalities, said Northlake Police Chief Norm Nissen.

“We haven’t experienced more than three traffic fatalities in any year going back to 2004,” Nissen said, citing crash data from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

“We had three in 2020 and we’ve already had four in 2021.”

Nissen said the number of accidents are also up, from 269 accidents from Jan. 1, 2020 through June 26, 2020, to 286 accidents so far this year.

“Our residents are going to see a lot more police cars stopping people,” the chief said.

“I thought it would be a good idea to alert them.”

Nissen said Northlake has had seven fatal-

months and driving activity slowed, motor vehicle fatalities increased by 7. 2 percent, the report showed.

Nissen said that six of the seven fatalities that have happened in Northlake within roughly the last 12 months have been on state highways, “but unprecedented increase in traffic fatalities has no known comparison in recent history for [Northlake].”

Nissen said he believes impaired YOU’VE BEEN WARNED: Motorists on North Avenue driving is a contributing factor in in Northlake in June. The city’s police department the increasing fatalities, but that is looking to clamp down on dangerous driving. he also thinks record low traffic enforcement is also a problem.

File Nissen pointed to a state law that ities in a span of roughly 12 months. took effect in 2015 that bans police depart“People are driving with phones and all ments from issuing traffic ticket quotas to kinds of stuff. We have to start slowing them officers and prohibits police from using the down and interacting with them,” he said. “I number of tickets an officer writes as a facjust can’t stand by and watch families with tor in raises and promotions. these loved ones dying.”

Supporters of the legislation, which was Crash fatalities involving motor vehicles signed into law in 2014 by former Gov. Pat are also up nationwide despite fewer drivers Quinn, said that ticket quotas only generate during the pandemic, according to a recent revenue and don’t improve safety outcomes. report from the U.S. Department of Trans“Policing should not be used as a revenue portation’s National Highway Traffic Safety enhancement strategy by municipalities,” Administration. said state Sen. Bill Cunningham, who filed In 2020, as pandemic mitigation measures the bill in the Senate. forced most people into their homes for “Nobody likes a quota, but I like to have

people accountable for what they’re getting paid to do for a living,” Nissen said. “Tickets are at historic lows.”

Nissen shared data showing that Northlake officers issued an average of 4,651 tickets a year from 2005 to 2014. From 2015, the year the new law banning quotas took effect, to 2020, officers issued an average of 2,583 tickets a year.

Nissen said that the increased traffic enforcement is designed not necessarily to increase tickets, but to increase interactions between officers and motorists who are putting the public at risk. He said he hopes the more vigilant traffic enforcement will be a strong deterrent to reckless driving.

Nissen said the police will focus their increased traffic vigilance on high-traffic corridors, including North Avenue and Mannheim Road. He said the department will post updates on its efforts to ramp up traffic enforcement to the city’s website each month starting in July.

“This is not about the pandemic anymore or any ticket quotas, this is about using progressive corrective contacts and getting dangerous driving behaviors changed to where they were before the pandemic hit and the no quota law went into effect.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

SUPPORTIVE LIVING Finally happening from page 5 said Deputy Governor Sol Flores.

“This is a public-private partnership at its best – state agencies working together with private funders, developers, and service providers to deliver a significant local economic investment, quality jobs, and stable housing that will benefit the community for years to come,” she said.

Calvin Holmes, the president of the Chicago Community Loan Fund, added that his organization was able to issue a $5 million loan to the project.

Kristin Faust, the IHDA’s executive director, said the redevelopment will return the building to its original purpose.

“When it was first built in the 1930s, it was at the cutting edge of senior care at that

time,” Faust said. “It’s going to be at the cutting-edge of senior care again.”

The Baptist Retirement Home was originally built “to provide modern and comfortable accommodations for elderly Baptists from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana,” a report by 97.9 XFM explains.

“Constructed in stages, the building’s original 1929-1930 section is a fine Tudor Revival-style institutional building,” the report notes. “Its later 1955 and 1965 portions, which exemplify the modernist architectural trends of the post-World War II era, are representative of important changes occurring in the long-term care of older people.”

The facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

Scott Henry, the CEO of Celadon Partners, said the company has a history of redeveloping historic buildings. He said once everything is said and done, roughly $54 million will have gone into redeveloping the build-

ing. He said construction should be completed within 12 months, adding that the redevelopment will preserve the building’s historic exterior, but that the interior will be brand new.

Residents at the facility will receive daily living assistance, including housekeeping, laundry services and medication management. There will even be a movie theater on site. He said 120 construction-related jobs and 80 permanent jobs will be created as a result of the redevelopment project.

Some Maywood residents, however, will need a little convincing, considering the number of false starts that have happened with the building since 2005, when the property was sold and the new owners petitioned the village and received approval to convert the structure into a supportive living facility.

But years went by and construction never started in earnest. Last year, Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford (4th) and Illi-

CHANGE AHEAD: The historic Baptist Retirement Home in Maywood, which will undergo a $54 million renovation.

Courtesy Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch/Facebook

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nois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (7th) ramped up an aggressive push to jumpstart the redevelopment.

In June 2020, Welch, who was not speaker at the time, sent a letter to Gov. Pritzker requesting his assistance. Welch wrote that he hoped the facility would reserve 30 beds for dementia patients.

In his letter, Welch added that the redevelopment of the old Baptist Retirement Home “will revitalize an area that has been an eyesore for the community, but will transform it to a supportive living facility that fits the needs of many low-income seniors who lack access to quality and affordable housing as they become older and require more care.”

During the June 23 groundbreaking ceremony, Speaker Welch quipped that, in the living facility — which will include a dining room, a beauty shop, a place to exercise, rooms for wellness visit and a movie theater — “I’ve found a place that I can move back to later in life.”

“Thank you Speaker for … making sure things happen so we can get something we’ve been discussing in Maywood for decades,” said Maywood Mayor Nathaniel George Booker.

Vicki Haas, an architectural historian and vice chairperson of the Maywood Historic Preservation Commission, commended Celadon for utilizing historic tax credits, adding that many developers leave the funding mechanisms on the table.

“I’m hoping Scott Henry and his Celadon crew will serve as an example and inspiration for future redevelopment of our many historic properties in town,” Haas said.

“This is green development — in that the greenest building is the one that’s already built,” she said. “Maywood has a rich history. Historic preservation is not just about fuzzy warm feelings in a community. Just as importantly, if not more, is that it leads to more economic development.”

Henry said that any Maywood resident who may not believe that construction on the historic facility is finally happening this time will be made into a believer once they see crews inundate the area starting Monday.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

Biden’s infrastructure push challenges state’s car-centric approach The president’s plan to cut pollution, promote public transit and address racial inequities would mark a sharp change for a transportation system built for the Eisenhower Era

By DANIEL C. VOCK Better Government Association

If President Joe Biden gets his infrastructure package through Congress, it could prompt Illinois and other states to reconsider how much of its transportation networks are built for cars and trucks.

Biden’s $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan is far from becoming law, and its details remain in flux. But much of the Democratic president’s vision runs counter to decades of transportation officials’ car-centric thinking by emphasizing public transit, cutting pollution and helping modernize existing neighborhoods over providing incentives for suburban sprawl.

“It’s been decades since President [Dwight] Eisenhower created the interstate highway system, so we have decades to overcome in terms of transit [spending] versus highway spending. That’s because we have a lot of catchup [to do],” said Jacky Grimshaw, the vice president for governmental affairs at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “But we [in Illinois] are on the road to doing that catchup.”

Still, the state’s focus remains overwhelmingly on preserving — and in some cases expanding — its road networks.

One telling example is the $45 billion public works bill Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed three years ago. Some activists praised the Rebuild Illinois capital plan because it provides more reliable state funding for public transit and sets aside funds for bicycles and walking routes. But more than half of the plan’s spending is for roads and highways.

Roads get $25.3 billion under the state plan compared to, for example, $4.7 billion for mass transit.

Rebuild Illinois depends on $9 billion in federal transportation funding that regularly flows to the states from the U.S. government. Biden’s American Jobs Plan would come on top of that.

But the federal government and the state of Illinois need each other to make major changes in transportation policy. The federal government supplies most of the money for big highway projects, but state governments determine how that money is spent. Both are instrumental in other facets of transportation, too, whether it’s paying for new “L” lines in Chicago, building bike paths in the suburbs or adding Amtrak ser-

vices downstate.

Even if Biden gets a bill through Congress, its success will rest with states such as Illinois. The Illinois Department of Transportation, after all, controls 16,000 miles of state highways. IDOT and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority together control nearly 2,000 miles of interstates, the third biggest interstate network of any state in the country.

“This is the beginning of the discussion of fundamentally rethinking what we invest in,” said Kevin Brubaker, the deputy director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “Biden is suggesting that the era of just building more highways is over. It’s time to establish societal goals — mobility, fairness, addressing climate change — and then have our investments follow those goals. [We can’t] just throw more money at highways.”

Cars and trucks are now the biggest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the United States. They produce even more of the harmful gases than the electric power industry, which has been at the center of debates in Springfield this year over its carbon dioxide emissions.

Christian Mitchell, Pritzker’s deputy governor who oversees public safety, infrastructure, energy and the environment, said the Rebuild Illinois program helped shift Illinois’ infrastructure spending. It raised the state’s gas taxes for the first time since 1990 to pay for improving roads, improving transit services and building more bike lanes and assets for pedestrians. The Pritzker administration also has encouraged people to buy and drive electric vehicles, especially those made in Illinois.

“We got a head start on a bunch of this stuff,” Mitchell said. “Frankly, the American Jobs Plan would accelerate that work and expand it to additional opportunities.”

But some advocates in Illinois still see a disconnect between the president’s goals and the state’s transportation priorities.

“From our perspective, IDOT has not yet shown they’re genuinely interested in prioritizing climate and racial equity in their build-out of the transportation network across the state,” said Kyle Whitehead, a

CAR-CENTRIC: Construction work continues for the Jane Byrne Interchange, a project that has been ongoing since 2013. President Joe Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan runs counter to decades of transportation officials’ car-centric thinking.

BGA photo by Madison Hopkins

spokesperson for the Active Transportation Alliance, a Chicago-based advocacy group for pedestrians and cyclists.

Whitehead has a long list of frustrations, both large and small, with IDOT and other large transportation agencies in the state. Sometimes it’s outrage over a new highway project. But there also are plenty of irritations over the difficulty of installing sidewalks, bus routes or bike lanes on state-owned roads.

“One of the benefits of the federal package prioritizing equity and climate is it could help bring IDOT along, and the region along, in terms of how we’re looking at transportation and the impacts that it has on society at large,” Whitehead said.

What’s more, Brubaker said, it is hard to determine how well IDOT is prepared to meet the goals of the Biden infrastructure push because the state agency’s criteria for choosing projects are a “black box.”

IDOT’s six-year plan states it uses a “data-driven” approach to measure how projects further its goals of improving the economy, livability, mobility, resiliency and stewardship. But it doesn’t reveal what data it uses to judge those projects, Brubaker said.

“Whether the state is well prepared to pivot to transportation investments that address climate change, racial equity and other goals of the Biden administration is an unknown,” he said.

That could change soon, though. The legislature just passed a bill this spring that would require IDOT and transit officials in the Chicago area to evaluate new projects on performance metrics starting next year.

The bill still needs Pritzker’s signature.

Paul Wappel, a spokesperson for IDOT, said the agency “looks forward to working

with the Illinois delegation and other stakeholders on a federal infrastructure plan that advances long-term, sustained investment while simultaneously supporting users across all modes and diverse populations, building equity, respecting the environment and encouraging innovation.”

Last month, IDOT officials said the agency planned to spend $2.58 billion on roadway expansions over the next six years, which is one-sixth of its overall spending. Among the projects are rebuilding Interstate 190 near O’Hare International Airport, replacing the Interstate 270 bridge over the Mississippi River near St. Louis and widening Interstate 57 in southern Illinois.

Two-thirds of IDOT’s planned spending would be used for maintaining existing roads and bridges. Another 8% would go toward “safety and modernization,” and the remaining 9% would pay for support.

“Even in a pandemic — especially in a pandemic — our transportation systems connect the lives of our residents and our communities,” Pritzker said while unveiling plans to improve more than 3,300 miles of road last July. “Our roads and bridges deliver Illinoisans to work and home again, to school, to the pharmacy, to the doctor’s office.”

Kate Lowe, a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said she hasn’t seen major changes in how the state designs transportation projects, despite all the talk at the state and federal level about traffic safety, racial equity and non-automobile forms of transportation.

“We [in Illinois] still have projects in the pipeline that don’t center those goals and still prioritize automobile speed,” she said.

Lowe pointed to the seemingly endless reconstruction of the Jane Byrne Interchange in Chicago, where the Eisenhower Expressway meets with the Kennedy and Dan Ryan See INFRASTRUCTURE on page 10

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

WELCH

A fresh face from page 1 “I’ve gotten calls from Gov. Pritzker and Willie Brown, the first Black speaker of the California General Assembly and former mayor of San Francisco,” Welch said. “Nancy Pelosi called me out of the blue. I didn’t answer her call, because it was an unrecognized number.”

Welch said he didn’t imagine that on Jan. 8, while driving down to Springfield, he would be the new speaker less than a week later. His mind was set on helping re-elect Mike Madigan, the longest-serving leader of a state or federal legislative body in U.S. history.

But things began to snowball quickly when even Madigan himself realized that he wouldn’t get the required 60 votes to keep his job.

Welch said he was going through security at the Bank of Springfield Center, where the General Assembly had been meeting during the pandemic, and he saw another unrecognized number.

“I normally wouldn’t answer, but I did and it’s Speaker Madigan,” Welch said. “I asked him to hold for a second so I could put my bags down. He says, ‘I’m calling to let you know I’m suspending my campaign for speaker. I think it’s time to allow some-

one else an opportunity to get the 60 votes.’

And then he says, ‘Chris, do you want to be speaker?’”

Welch said Madigan gave him some advice. Secure the backing of the Illinois House Black Caucus and the Latino Caucus.

“And he goes, ‘I should’ve started here — call your wife,’” Welch recalled, adding that the moment was so overwhelming he could barely compose himself while on the phone with his better half.

“By the time I called ShawnTe, I was a mess,” he said.

What was the moment that really prompted him to realize the significance of what had happened?

“The time that it sunk in was on Martin Luther King Day,” Welch said. “I’m at home. I hadn’t slept in a week, so I finally got some sleep and I’m having breakfast with ShawnTe and the kids and my son Tyler says out of the blue, just out of the blue, ‘Daddy, when was Illinois founded?’ I said, ‘1818.’

“And I can see his face doing the calculation. He said, ‘That was over 200 years ago and you’re the first Black person to have your job?’ I said, ‘Yeah, son,’ and that’s what King was fighting for. For us to have those opportunities. I wish I had a photo of his face or a video at that point, because his face was what really hit me. He realized what a big moment it was for our family, for me, for the state. That’s what got me.”

Life’s changed for Welch personally, he said. In the hours and days following the

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MR. SPEAKER: Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch in front of his district offices in Westchester. He’s expanded his offi ce complex since becoming house speaker.

File

Jan. 6 Insurrection in Washington, D.C., there was security assigned to protect his home 24/7.

“Here was my Black face on every newspaper cover in the state,” Welch said, explaining the heightened risk he and government officials around the country faced during

that time.

But there’s a positive flip side to the exposure, he said.

“I’m the first Black speaker, but I definitely don’t want to be the last,” Welch said.

See WELCH on page 8

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

WELCH

A new path from page 7 “Now, Black kids across the state can say, ‘I can be that, because I can see that.’”

Within the last two years, west suburban Cook County, and Proviso Township in particular, has become ground zero for state government. Along with Welch, Oak Park Senator Don Harmon is senate president while Maywood Senator Kimberly Lightford is Senate Majority Leader.

“All roads lead to the west suburbs,” Welch said. He explained that having that kind of representation affords elected officials and mayors in Proviso Township and nearby suburbs significant leverage.

“When we were protesting last summer as a result of George Floyd’s murder, we were going around to communities saying we need to invest at least $1 billion in Black communities, now here I am Speaker of the House and in charge of the budget process in the House,” Welch said.

“I was proud of the budget the governor signed last week. In that $42 billion budget, there wasn’t $1 billion to black communities, but $4.9 billion to black communities,” he said.

Welch said he’s proud of the accomplishments that have happened during his first

session as speaker, before naming what he said represented “just a small snippet” of wins.

“We got a balanced budget that led, for the first time in decades, not one, not two but three credit rating increases last week,” Welch said.

“Fitch moved us from negative to positive. S&P and Moody’s moved us from negative to stable. Those are huge goals,” he added. “To navigate us through a redistricting process that experts say is a model for true diversity, I’m proud of that. We got ethics reform done — that was a big thing, we’re going to try to rebuild trust in the legislature.”

Welch also lauded the passage of a state elections bill amid a time of national political turmoil.

“While Republicans across this country are passing laws to suppress voter participation we led the way for a law that expands voter participation,” he said.

And Welch said he’s also working to distinguish himself from his powerful predecessor in how he helps get House Democrats elected, offering a more robust apparatus of campaign and fundraising services.

On June 28, Welch was preparing to host the grand opening of the new headquarters for Democrats for the Illinois House, which is adjacent to his district office in Westchester. Welch said his government and political offices are deliberately separated to avoid

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any confusion.

“As speaker, I’m the leader of our Democratic Caucus and I wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for our Democratic Caucus,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure Democrats get elected and re-elected to the Illinois House.”

Thanks to the office expansion, he’ll have space where his Democratic colleagues can make fundraising phone calls and calls for support, with Welch offering tips and advice along the way.

On the way out the door, he picked up a rubber wristband etched with what may be a working mantra.

“Better,” it said.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

SWEARING-IN: Welch getting sworn-in as the new Illinois house speaker in January, as his friend and fellow lawmaker, Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, holds the Bible.

Capitol News Illinois

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

NEWS briefs Maywood Police investigating murder-suicide Maywood Police are investigating a murder-suicide that happened on June 24, according to Maywood Police Chief Valdimir Talley.

Talley said the shooting happened at approximately 8:30 p.m. He said a man fatally shot his wife before fatally shooting himself.

“The wife was in critical condition and transported to Loyola University Medical Center, where she later died,” Talley said.

According to the medical examiner, the woman was 22-year-old Charity Riddle, of the 2100 block of S. 2nd Ave. in Maywood, which is where the shooting happened.

Riddle was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds at 8:55 p.m., the medical examiner said.

The man has not been identified yet. He died of a gunshot wound to the head. Talley said he was dead at the scene.

More details as this develops.

Torrential downpours impact Proviso Township On June 26, as thunderstorms and heavy rain pounded the Chicago area, residents across Proviso Township were impacted.

The Westchester Police Department shared photos on its Facebook page of side streets in the village that looked like wading pools.

A pool of water near Des Plaines Avenue in Forest Park gathered under a bridge on the Eisenhower Expressway, causing severe traffic on state roads like 1st Avenue.

Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins announced that public works crews were out clearing roads and drains on village streets

while I-290 was closed in both directions from Harlem to 1st Avenue.

In Stone Park, a massive tree fell in the middle of the street near the corner of Le Moyne and 36th. One resident posted a photo of the tree to the Neighbors app.

And the Broadview Public Library announced that it’s newly renovated facility “suffered a total electrical failure early” on June 26.

“That failure, combined with the extremely heavy rains, led to the flooding of the lower level of the library,” resulting in the library’s closure. Library officials said at the time that they had “no solid idea” of when the library would reopen.

As more rainy days lie ahead, residents may want to be aware of the Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s overflow action alert.

“Please reduce your water use during these rainy days. Wait to run the dishwater, shower or do the laundry. We are working around the clock to manage all of the excess water at our seven water reclamation plants.”

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

INFRASTRUCTURE

Talking about priorities from page 6 expressways. The work started in 2013 and is still ongoing, and the result will be that “it will save cars a few seconds,” Lowe said.

Similarly, Lowe said plans by IDOT and the Chicago Department of Transportation to rebuild North Lake Shore Drive are focused too much on catering to rush hour drivers who are already well served by infrastructure in the Chicago region.

The average commute time each way for Chicago-area drivers is 29 minutes, while it is 43 minutes for “L” riders and 44 minutes for those taking buses.

“Illinois is losing population, so I don’t think we have much of a case for expanding automobile infrastructure of any type,” Lowe said. “And we know more lanes attract more cars, and you end up with congestion.”

Wappel, the IDOT spokesperson, said road construction projects improve safety and reduce air pollution from stalled traffic. They don’t just improve travel times.

The Jane Byrne Interchange, for example, is considered one of the biggest freight bottlenecks in the nation, he said. It was built six decades ago, and sections still had ramps with single lanes with no shoulders. Wappel also said the North Lake Shore Drive project is still in the planning phase, and all options

have a transit component.

Erin Aleman, executive director for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, said communities in the Chicago area are running out of room to keep expanding their roadways.

“There are some strategic needs to enhance the roadway system for safety reasons,” said Aleman, whose agency coordinates federal transportation spending in the region. “But we’re landlocked.”

Still, she said she’s seen authorities come up with clever ways to use existing infrastructure.

Pace, the suburban bus agency, now runs buses on the shoulders of interstate highways when the roads are congested, she noted. Future projects could include improving suburban rail crossings so trains don’t delay traffic and add to local air pollution or enacting congestion pricing on Chicago-area toll roads to encourage drivers to travel outside rush hour, Aleman said.

The Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees transit operators in the Chicago area, is shifting its focus from finding state money to pay for overdue repairs to bigger societal goals, said Leanne Redden, the agency’s executive director.

There are many reasons for the shift, including the inequities that were highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic and new state funding. But Biden’s infrastructure plan played a role, too.

“The environment, equity and accessibil-

ity were always on our minds, but now it’s coming to the forefront,” Redden said. “It’s encouraging and exciting to see the federal government is now also talking about those as a formal part of their agenda. The benefits and the impact of transit systems fit squarely in that, and we want to be ready to use as many of those dollars as we can.”

The pandemic forced some area transit agencies to quickly change how they worked. Metra ran fewer trains, and Pace began running fewer buses to Metra stations and more buses to UPS and Amazon facilities to ferry people to their jobs there.

The Chicago Transit Authority, though, was one of the only transit agencies in the nation that did not reduce bus or train services during the pandemic.

If there’s one project advocates hold up as a model for how Biden’s infrastructure proposal could change lives in Illinois, it’s the effort to extend the CTA’s Red Line on the far South Side of Chicago.

The Red Line now ends at 95th Street, at the southern end of the Dan Ryan and 4 miles from the city’s southern border. The 95th Street stop is at the edge of Roseland, a Chicago neighborhood that is 96% Black and often referred to by urban planners as a transit desert.

For Andrea D. Reed, the executive director of the Greater Roseland Chamber of Commerce, the situation limits residents’ options for jobs in other parts of the city and makes it harder for Roseland to attract

businesses.

Residents who live in Altgeld Gardens at the very southern edge of the city, for instance, must travel an hour and take three buses to shop at a nearby Walmart. By car, it takes less than 10 minutes. A Red Line extension could solve that problem — and many more.

In December, the federal government gave the CTA the go-ahead to plan the Red Line extension, which is expected to cost $2.3 billion. The federal government could provide up to half of the funding, but the CTA will have to find local money to match. Chicago officials hope Biden’s infrastructure bill, if it passes, could make it easier to pay for the Red Line extension.

The project could be a boon not only for residents’ transportation needs but also for any construction jobs, Reed said.

“We need the Red Line to be done,” she said. “It’s not just about the train. It’s about how it can improve the quality of life for residents in the area.”

This story was produced by the Better Government Association, a nonprofit news organization based in Chicago, and distributed by Capitol News Illinois, a nonprofit news organization covering state government and funded by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

CONTACT: info@vfpress.news

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION BANK OF AMERICA Plaintiff, -v.KENNETH DENNIS A/K/A KENNETH L. DENNIS, ANJENETTE L. DENNIS, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 14 CH 13689 900 S. 9TH 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 May 3, 2021, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on August 4, 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 900 S. 9TH AVENUE, MAYWOOD, IL 60153 Property Index No. 15-10-440-0080000 The real estate is improved with a single family residence.

The judgment amount was $375,305.82.

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, Alexander Potestivo, POTESTIVO & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 223 WEST JACKSON BLVD, STE 610, Chicago, IL, 60606 (312) 263-0003.

Please refer to file number 112825.

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

POTESTIVO & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 223 WEST JACKSON BLVD, STE 610 Chicago IL, 60606 312-263-0003 E-Mail: ilpleadings@potestivolaw. com Attorney File No. 112825 Attorney Code. 43932 Case Number: 14 CH 13689 TJSC#: 41-883 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 # 14 CH 13689 I3171175

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

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

g n Ha in e r e th d o o w y a M We are here for you!

Get local news and stay in touch at www.vfpress.news thevillagefreepress.org Twitter: @village_free Facebook: @maywoodnews

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Village Free Press | June 30, 2021

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