Vol. IV No. 48 Broadview Park Disct. cuts ribbon on courts, PAGE 7
Maywood companies get tax breaks
Board greenlights incentives for Aetna Plywood and Seaway Supply Co., both threatened by rising taxes By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
The Maywood Board of Trustees has approved at least two requests for tax incentives from companies in the village in the last two months. During a regular meeting on Oct. 6, the board voted unanimously in favor of renewing a Class 6(b) property tax break for Seaway Supply Company, 15 N. 9th Ave. in Maywood. According to previous Village Free Press reporting, the Class 6(b) property tax break allows companies’ properties to be assessed at 10 percent of market value — instead of the local 25 percent tax rate — for the first 10 years; 15 percent in the 11th year; and 20 percent in the 12th year. The See TAX BREAKS on page 6
NOVEMBER 25, 2020
theVillageFreePress.org
A Maywood artist debuts at MCA, PAGE 4
A GIVING HEART: Dr. Edmond Kelly, a Maywood native and assistant principal at Walther Christian Academy, handing out PPE, clothes and other items to those in need at the Melrose Park school on Nov. 22.
Shanel Romain
Couple transitions from street to own apartment Kim and Anthony transitioned to home ahead of Thanksgiving with help from Maywood nonprofit Housing Forward By TOM HOLMES Forest Park Review
Kim and Anthony, two former Forest Park residents, will feel especially grateful this Thanksgiving Day because a year ago they
were sleeping in a tent in a secluded part of the village and panhandling for money on the ramps where Harlem crosses I-290. Two weeks ago, they moved into an apartment. How they got off the street and into their own home is a variation on the adage, “It takes a village” to do more than raise a child. “Kim and I got lucky,” Anthony explained, “and met some angels.” One of those angels was a Forest Parker named Melanie who on a hot, muggy day in July 2019 felt compassion for the panhandlers sweating in the hot sun. She responded by
buying some bottled water at Thornton’s and walking up to the ramps. “I had no clue what I was doing,” she recalled. “I knew nothing about homelessness. I just saw that they were very exposed out on the ramps, and I heard a direct message — I believe from a power higher than me — to get off my butt and do what I could.” One of panhandlers she met was named Kim who not only accepted the gift of water but engaged in a conversation. And that was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted till this day and also the beginning See TRANSITION on page 7