Vol. V No. 50
DECEMBER 15, 2021
vfpress.news
Application portal opens for new round of rental assistance Residents can apply for Illinois Rental Payment Program funding through Jan. 9 By JERRY NOWICKI
Law enforcement officials are investigating a threat made against Proviso East High School last week. Read more on page 4.
Michael Romain
Proviso’s newspaper slows down as we plan ahead Amid future planning, Village Free Press pauses production of content
Capitol News Illinois
The application portal is now open for another $297 million of rental assistance for Illinoisans who lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Illinois Rental Payment Program, or ILRPP, money comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in March. It will be administered by the Illinois Housing DevelSee RENTAL ASSISTANCE on page 3
By MICHAEL ROMAIN Publisher
If you’ve visited our website, vfpress. news, over the last few weeks, you may have noticed that content isn’t being uploaded as regularly as it has been in the past. The slowdown is deliberate and predetermined. We’re currently in the process of envisioning how we want Village Free Press to be structured in the future and that takes some pretty conscious planning.
We’re a small operation (essentially a one-man newsroom comprised of, well, me), but strategic planning requires a lot of mental and emotional time and energy. I’ve concluded that we can’t do day-to-day news production and deep, strategic thinking and planning at the same time. So, we’re emphasizing the latter for the time being (meaning for the month of December). I should note that, while we’ll be slowing down our coverage of the news in Proviso and surrounding areas, we won’t stop our coverage completely. We’ll still be uploading to our website and providing some news in our print newspaper, but it won’t be as robust as in the past. Again, I believe this temporary, short-term slowdown is neces-
sary if we’re to build the kind of momentum necessary to make us an institution that will be fit for long-term. Hopefully, by the time we conclude this strategic planning period, we’ll have safely put Village Free Press on much firmer ground. In the meantime, I’d like to hear and/ or read your feedback about these preliminary plans I’ve just shared. Feel free to email your input to info@vfpress.news or call me at (708) 359-9148. You’ll be hearing more about our plans for VFP’s future at a later date.
CONTACT: info@vfpress.news
It’s never too early to start saving. Help your kids build smart habits, and they’ll earn interest on every dollar.
Get $10 when you open an account! 1
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Proviso Community Bank is a branch of Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, N.A. Junior Savers Club. Membership is for those under the age of 22 with a customer relationship. See a personal banker for more details. 1. Junior Savers Account Bonus Information. This Junior Savers account bonus offer is valid for new accounts opened January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. This Junior Savers account bonus offer is not available to active employees of Wintrust Financial Corporation (‘WTFC’) and its subsidiaries. Multiple Junior Savers accounts opened and titled in the same name, will only qualify for 1 bonus payment. 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 $10.00 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. Junior Savers Account. At account opening, child(ren) must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and present a valid Social Security number(s). BANKER INSTRUCTIONS: Enter offer code WFC00DMJS010 during account opening. A listing of WTFC locations can be found here: https://www.wintrust.com/locations.html.
1759 N. Mannheim Rd., Stone Park | 1111 Madison St., Maywood 708-483-0030 | www.provisobank.com