GROWING COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY JOURNAL, INC.
ForestParkReview.com
Vol. 103, No. 9
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F O R E S T PA R K
REVIEW
Village votes on infrastructure projects PAGE 6
Olympian gets new heart PAGE 13
FEBRUARY 26, 2020
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Paid parking hours scaled back Rates now in effect until 8 p.m., not midnight By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter
The village council Monday voted to scale back the hours during which parking meters on the streets and in municipal lots must be paid, designating 8 p.m. as the cut-off time rather than midnight as previously decided at the Jan. 13 meeting. Commissioner Dan Novak made a motion to table the discussion until a later date, stating that with less than 30 days of data available there wasn’t enough information on return on investment to make the decision. “My fellow colleagues on the dais,” said Novak, “[I’m] just trying to grasp the reaction to changing these hours.” From a financial standpoint, he said, he did not feel there was enough time or data to decide on making a change. But with no second to his motion to table, the discussion took place. Mayor Rory Hoskins said Novak’s concerns were “very valid,” but that after receiving feedback from community members and neighbors, he thought the conversation and vote needed to take place. “This move was in response to feedback the village has received,” said Hoskins. “We’ve heard from the chamber, we’ve heard from businesses, we’ve received emails from residents. Some felt that going to midnight was a little extreme.” See METERS on page 7
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
INTELLIGENT AND SOCIAL: Forest Park residents David and Sarah Swygart, owners of Best Brains Rodentry, focus on health and temperament in breeding rats.
Humans and rats: ‘A match made in heaven’ Local breeders strive for friendly, healthy rats By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter
“Humans and rats are pretty much a match made in heaven,” said David Swygart, hobby rat breeder and owner of Forest Park’s Best Brains Rodentry. He
was holding Lacy, a brown rat with cute black eyes who’s currently being bred with a curly-haired male named Bilboa. Swygart was talking about the relationship between humans and rats. He put Lacy back into the cage and gave her a piece of bread, which she took with her two front feet, using them like tiny hands. She ate the bread, then looked at him expectantly for more. “Rats are so different from us but at
the same time so similar,” said Swygart. “They’re intelligent. They have flexible diets. They seek out comfort. They exist at the same temperatures as we do. That’s why wherever humans go, rats follow.” Antarctica, he adds, might be the only place that humans exist where rats don’t. “The Norway rat,” said Swygart, “is second only to humans among all animals in how widely distributed they are.” See RATS on page 13
Black Celebrating History Month 2020