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ForestParkReview.com
Vol. 103, No. 13
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F O R E S T PA R K
REVIEW MARCH 25, 2020
New paramedic medic service for village PAGE 8
Businesses donate supplies @FP_Review @ForestParkReview
Forest Park declares state of emergency Executive powers granted to mayor By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter
In the midst of the COVID-19 public health emergency, Forest Park has officially declared a state of emergency. Mayor Rory Hoskins signed the declaration after he was given authority to do so at the March 23 village council meeting during which commissioners voted unanimously to grant the mayor temporary executive powers. Doing this allows Hoskins to make decisions quickly, decisions that might require faster action than assembling enough commissioners to vote would allow. The meeting was attended in person by Hoskins, Village Administrator Tim Gillian, Clerk Vanessa Moritz and Commissioner Dan Novak. Commissioners Joe Byrnes, Ryan Nero and Jessica Voogd conferenced in from home. Department heads were discouraged from coming due to social distancing, but Bob McDermott was in the audience with the only other audience member, the Forest Park Review. Proper social distancing was maintained. According to the ordinance granting executive power to the mayor, standards for determining whether a state of emergency exists include two factors. First, there must be federal, state or county disaster proclamations, executive orders, See EMERGENCY on page 12
ALEX ROGALS Staff Photographer
CONNECTING THROUGH ART Residents around town are staying connected through a neighborhood-wide initiative to decorate windows and sidewalks. Read more on page 9.
PMSA teacher provides humor and hope to students Engaging YouTube videos complement at-home learning By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter
Last spring, Proviso Math and Science Academy (PMSA) English teacher Neal Rutstein was called for grand jury duty. Out of the classroom for the last five weeks of school, he felt bad for his students, some of whom he’d taught for three straight years. They had a substitute teacher, but it troubled him not to be able to see them through the end of their high school educations.
Rutstein said he thought of using technology to communicate with them. Weebly and Remind were platforms he used to stay in touch, but he found them a little impersonal. So he thought bigger. “Ultimately, it occurred to me that I could conduct video lessons on whatever books we were reading over YouTube,” said Rutstein. “In the evenings, after I returned from jury duty, I started posting short lessons on chapters of Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man’ that the substitute could play for the students in
IN Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 THIS Big Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 ISSUE Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
class the next day.” It occurred to him that sitting in a chair talking might “lose its novelty.” “But everyone loves puppets,” said Rutstein, “and we had tons from when our kids were younger.” So he used puppets to act out scenes. Rutstein’s doing the same thing now for his students who are on extended learningfrom-home while schools are shut down See VIDEOS on page 4
D91 students home until at least April 8
Village makes temporary service changes
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