GROWING COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY JOURNAL, INC.
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Vol. 103, No. 8
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Four village ge grants activated
F O R E S T PA R K
REVIEW FEBRUARY 19, 2020
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Police dogg earns her keep PAGE 6
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Consequences follow East football controversy Asst. coach Michael Willis terminated Feb. 11, AD Brian Colbert to retire in unrelated personnel change, according to officials By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
AN ARTIST’S VISION: John Kubricht’s wholesale bead business, run out of a warehouse in Chicago, spans continents, colors and styles.
Tons of beads, millions of buttons Wholesaler travels the world to find the best By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter
In 1990 when Forest Park resident Jon Kubricht was 12 years old, he started making jewelry. It was the basis for a career, for decades of artistry and expertise that has taken him to the Czech Republic numerous times, to China and Thailand, and
all over the world, in search of the world’s most exquisite beads. In the past 20 years, he’s sold $100 million worth of beads. His warehouse is almost 10,000 square feet, and it’s filled with 140 tons of beads and over two million buttons. As a child, Kubricht lived in Oak Park. His parents were heavily involved in Futures for Children, an organization that provides educational assistance for Native American youth. Twice a year, Jon would travel to the southwest to attend events with his parents, spending time on Native
American reservations. He liked, and studied, the jewelry and stone carvings, the silverwork and bead loom work. “I was interested in and excited about that form of art,” said Kubricht. “And I said to my mother, ‘I could make this for you so you wouldn’t have to buy it.’” He did just that, creating a necklace and earrings for his mother and grandmother. When women at his mother’s church and organizations saw the jewelry, they want-
IN Big Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 THIS Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ISSUE Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Last October, the Proviso East High School football team was disqualified from the state playoffs due to allegations that the team fielded ineligible players. Roughly six months later, the implications of that controversy are gradually becoming apparent. During a regular meeting on Feb. 11, the District 209 Board of Education terminated an associate football coach at Proviso East and accepted the retirement of the high school’s athletic director/assistant principal. And in an interview on Feb. 14, D209 Supt. Jesse Rodriguez said that the school has also implemented more stringent residency checks across the district, as a result of the football controversy. Rodriguez confirmed that the termination of Michael Willis, the associate football coach and a lunchroom monitor in the district, was related
See BEADMAN on page 10
Police seek help identifying suspect PAGE 6
See PROVISO EAST on page 8
PMSA renovation plan begins PAGE 8
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