Finally, commissioners discuss Altenheim land use options
At special meeting, commissioners nix bike path, split on building water reservoirs at Altenheim or CTA parking lot
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
The state of the water reservoir under the Howard Mohr Community Center has been a hot topic of conversation among village commissioners and staff for over a year now. As the vessel that holds the village’s drinking water is deteriorating and needs to be replaced, officials are looking at locations for new reservoirs and are choosing between the village-owned CTA Blue Line parking lot and the Altenheim. Following a presentation by the village’s engineering firm, Christopher B. Burke Engineering, at a council meeting last month to show renderings of what the reservoirs would look like on both lots, commissioners voiced their frustration with a lack of discussion about
See ALTENHEIM on pa ge 4
By HOPE BAKER ontributing Reporter
our newly elected members of the seven-perest Park’s District 91 eleorn in on May 8. The four members include incumbents Steven Rummel ell as newcomers Andrea er. Unusually, both Lyons on the election as official write-in pril 1 school board electhered nominating petition signatures ook County Clerk’s Office lection Commissioners 18, 2024.
ccording to Nurys Uceta-Ramos, director of D91, not enough candidates were unning to fill four open seats as of January 2025.
“Once we, as a district, saw that we did not have
See District 91 on pa ge 6
TODD BANNOR Village Administrator Rachell Entler points to a map of the Altenheim property during a special village council meeting last week .
Your News. Your Community.
Council unanimously approves safety and tra c commission’s work plan
Follows a stonewalled discussion at a previous meeting about the commission’s role
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Forest Park may soon be getting a new pe rmit parking program, reduced speed limits and town halls about traffic and safety in Forest Park – all per the traffic and safety commission’s recently approved work plan for this year
At April’s final village council meeting, Commissioner Maria Maxham told Mayor Rory Hoskins she was “frustrated” he stonewalled discussion following a presentation from the safety and traffic commission pitching their work plan for the year. Following the presentation, Maxham asked other commissioners if they thought some of the commission’s suggestions overstepped its purview – and whether the commission’s jurisdiction should be adjusted
Hoskins answered, asking commissioners to only ask questions about the presentation, limiting each to one comment.
Commissioners unanimously approved the safety and traffic commission’s 2025 work plan at the May 12 council meeting. After Hoskins presented the plan for a vote, there was no immediate discussion from the council, until Commissioner Ryan Nero spoke.
“There was a lot of back-and-forth on this work plan that happened behind the scenes, and a lot of colorful discussion that I thought was healthy among the commissioners and Village Administrator [Rachell] Entler,” Nero said. “I don’t really know where all that landed or if everyone was happy or satisfied with the way that came out.”
Next, Commissioner Michelle MelinRogovin said she talked to Maxham, Entler and Commissioner Jessica Voogd about this year’s safety and traffic plan and the ordinance the village council passed last fall. That ordinance added pedestrian and bike safety under the commission’s jurisdiction and made it possible for the commission to advise village council members and staff proactively, rather than only when requested
by the village
“The purpose of the new ordinance and the plan itself is to align the work of citizen unteer commissions with the work of village staff so that village staff aren’t surprised or overwhelmed by requests or activities from citizen commissions,” Melin-Rogovin said.
She added that the safety and traffic c mission is working with Entler on their plan for this year, and that any policy changes or engagement efforts recommended by the commission will still need to be approved by the village council – like the commission’s suggestion to reduce the speed limit around the village
throughout the village
■ Reviewing off-street parking policies and the village’s permit parking program
Maxham said that, though she met with Melin-Rogovin to ask questions, some of her concerns are still outstanding, specifically “about what is the best way to go about determining if there needs to be a speed limit change?” She said public input will be a necessary element in the process, but that she better understands the scope of the commission’s work after speaking with MelinRogovin
“Any decision about changing a speed limit would come to us down the road, so I feel comfortable with the plan,” Maxham said at the May 12 meeting.
Melin-Rogovin said the safety and traffic commission will send out a survey to Forest Park residents about their thoughts on local speed limits, “simply soliciting citizen feedback as part of saying, ‘Is this something that the village should consider?’”
This year’s work plan
The safety and traffic commission’s 2025 work plan contains several policy and engagement recommendations, and responsive processes that they hope the village council will approve this year.
Policy guidance includes:
■ Launching a survey to explore whether residents want to reduce speed limits
Collaborating with the village’s environmental control commission on a bike path and in creating an ordinance that would manage the large number of shopping carts at the Forest Park Blue Line CTA station and surrounding areas
Public engagement recommendations are:
■ Continuing the bike safety fair, which is May 31
■ Hosting a town hall to educate residents about local guardrails, plus safety and traffic issues in the village
■ Focusing local messaging around Pedestrian Safety Month in October
The safety and traffic commission is also looking to standardize the way the village intakes and executes requests from residents, like how to get signs or crosswalks installed around town.
ALTENHEIM
Options
discussed from page 1
future development of the Altenheim property – a conversation that would influence where to build new reservoirs
Commissioners gathered for a special, workshop-style meeting on May 23 to talk all things village-owned Altenheim property, including whether to build a bike path, future use of the Grove open space north of the Altenheim building and where to put the water reservoirs. Though recommendations from commissioners were split on the latter, Village Administrator Rachell Entler later told the Review that she was given direction to work towards putting a submerged water reservoir and pump station at the villageowned Altenheim property
Commissioners seemed to agree to stop pursuing a new bike path on the east side of the Altenheim property after acknowledging that the village can’t afford to spend nearly $500,000 on it right now.
The village received a $250,000 Invest in Cook grant for the bike path in 2020. After an extension, the grant will expire on Dec 1 of this year. Officials said they don’t think they’ll be ready to build by then, since they would have to enter an easement agreement with ComEd in order for them to bury the power poles where the bike path would go. Jim Amelio, group lead at Christopher Burke Engineering, said at the May 22 meeting that he thinks it will be hard to get that
agreements with the Altenheim retirement home, which owns a small portion of the land the bike path would traverse. Entler said a buyback agreement with the Altenheim has yet to be resolved.
“I love the idea of a bike path,” Commissioner Ryan Nero said during the meeting. “I just don’t think the time is right for Forest Park. I think we have other priorities, quite frankly.”
“I agree with Commissioner Nero. If we’re on the hook for two, three, $400,000 that we don’t have earmarked somewhere, it might be time to pump the breaks,” said Commissioner Jessica Voogd.
“This is not the time for us to be looking at extras in the village when we simply can’t afford it,” said Commissioner Maria Maxham. She added that the village is projected to end the year with a $1.9 million deficit in its general fund, plus $1.2 million the village owes itself after borrowing from its TIF fund. “It’s a no-go right now,” she said of the bike path.
Entler said an official vote on the bike path would likely come before the village council within the next month. Mayor Rory Hoskins asked Entler to contact the county to see if the village could extend its grant again.
While plans for a bike path remain stalled for now, Entler said the Grove area on the north side of the Altenheim property has been approved for use by Opportunity Knocks’ farm and garden. The group is approved to use the property through August, and the village council will vote on a long-term ag reement with them at a future meeting.
Water reservoirs on the Altenheim
At the May 23 meeting on the Altenheim, rkers gave public comment. red the CTA parking lot, one preltenheim, and three said they village council is having good conespect the effort they’re putting in and want the reservoirs underground. ommissioners voiced their preferenchere to design the water reservoirs, and Maxham want to build at the CTA while Melin-Rogovin, Voogd and Hoskins are leaning toward the Altenheim. cated for water reservoirs at wned CTA parking lot, since it’s een underutilized for the last decade.
“When I first moved into the neighborry [parking] spot was taken,” he the lot. “That’s not the case now.” building the reservoirs above ve money. Nero added that installing the reservoirs on over an acre of land at the Altenheim would have substan-
tial impact on the future of development there.
“An underutilized parking lot is a far better use than eating up marketable real estate for a developer,” Nero said. “I think it would be slightly irresponsible to select the Altenheim because the marketable value of that land would decrease by 1.5 acres.”
Maxham agreed: “My gut says put it on the parking lot because we’ve been sitting on the Altenheim for a long time … and we have a parking lot that we’re not using,” she said.
Maxham also asked, if the village designed the reservoirs underground, then didn’t get anticipated funding, how difficult would it be to pivot to installing the reservoirs at another location. Amelio answered that only a small portion of the cost would be impacted by changing the reservoirs’ design from above ground to below or vice versa.
Voogd said she thinks the water reservoirs would be better buried and incorporated into the open space at the Altenheim, as construction at the CTA lot would decrease the amount of parking spaces there – impacting potential revenue the village could get. She added that building at the Altenheim would also be cheaper.
Constructing the reservoirs above ground would cost $10 million at the Altenheim, compared to $11 million at the CTA lot, while partial burial would respectively cost $11 million versus $13 million, and full underground burial would cost $13 million instead
of $15 million.
“If we’re going to spend that extra million, maybe we should bury it [at the Altenheim] and create a park where people can actually be utilizing it,” Voogd said.
Entler said that, in order for Forest Park to receive up to $15 million in funding from the United States Ar my Corp of Engineers’ Water Resources Development Act, the village needs to propose a design-ready project. Entler said officials have met with both the Ar my Corp. and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis’s office about how to access that funding. She added that all steps of that project would come before the village council for a vote, from approving money from the WRDA to an engineering proposal.
Melin-Rogovin said she also wants to pursue burying the water reservoirs at the Altenheim.
“It would improve the quality of life for residents,” she said, as opposed to building them above ground and af fecting the view of those who live at the Altenheim and the Grove condominiums and townhomes next door. “The design would impact the enjoyment of the space.”
Hoskins also proposed submerging the reservoirs at the Altenheim.
“I’ve seen how recreational space is maintained over water storage, and I’m not comfortable digging up a perfectly good parking lot,” Hoskins said.
TODD BANNOR
Gene Armstrong, president of residents group near Altenheim, advocates for bur ying water reser voirs.
TODD BANNOR
Rendering of above ground water reser voirs in the Blue Line parking lot.
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DISTRIC T 91 New board with 2 wr
from page 1
enough official candidates running and that there would still be two vacancies, we really pushed the write-ins,” Uceta-Ramos said.
The last day to file a declaration of i candidate with the county gover nment was Jan. 20, 2025.
“We put it out there to everyone in the Lyons and Mr. Brewer both happened to submit their official write-in candidacy
According to the Illinois State Board of didate’s Guide, a write-in candidate must rece number of votes equal to or greater than the natures required on a nominating petition the number of candidates whose names solidated primary ballot is less than the the party is entitled to nominate or elect to that office consolidated primary election.
Given that there was nobody else on the the two write-ins, Uceta-Ramos said Ly both able to secure positions on the board.
Uceta-Ramos said the two vacancies on the ballot ma been a result of the community’s satisfaction with the cu rent state of District 91.
“We are blessed to be in a situation like the direction of the district and where things are at right
valuable peras a school oard member, encourhim to run as a andidate once evident that ould be two vaancies on the ballot.
“My sense was that they needed someone on the school board ’t have kids in the district but still eally cares about the schools and the community,” he said. “I’m er in the imporservice. I think ou are able to eal considergoing to do something an about Diser said one thing he plans to focus on as a board I think any eople as possible are going on. It’s imust financially but also of bridging
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JED BREWER
As Zurakowski leaves Beyond Hunger, 65,000
people are fed
‘We can solve hunger any time we want … with political will’
By JESSICA MACKINNON Contributing Reporter
Michele Zurakowski, chief executive officer of Beyond Hunger, has overseen the nonprofit’s significant growth during the past 17 years. She is retiring at the end of next month, leaving the nonprofit in a stronger position after weathering the Great Recession and COVID.
Zurakowski joined what was then known as the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry in 2008 as a part-time co-chair. The role was originally intended to be voluntary, but she insisted that it be a paid position.
“It was the kind of work that we often expect women to do for free,” said Zurakowski. “But only women of a certain economic class have the freedom to do that. Pay equity and healthcare are important. I’ve strived to provide both for my staf f.”
Banking on Zurakowski was obviously a good investment. During her first year, the food pantry’s budget jumped from $40,000 to $70,000 and the number of people served almost tripled. In 2019, the Food Pantry changed its name to Beyond Hunger to reflect its expanding reach into 13 zip codes and initiated new programs to meet the needs of a growing number of people experiencing food insecurity. In 2024, Beyond Hunger’s budget was $4.5 million and it now serves more than 65,000 people.
During COVID, the organization was forced to pivot from a market model to a drive-thru model of distributing boxes of food in First United Church’s parking lot just off Lake Street.
“Food insecurity [in the country] lessened dramatically during COVID because the gover nment committed significantly more resources. We ended hunger for four million children. It really showed that we, as a society, can solve hunger any time we want with resources and logistics and political will,”
Zurakowski said.
One of the programs of which Zurakowski is most proud is Summer Meals for Kids, which was launched in 2014, in collaboration with West Cook YMCA, at St. John Lutheran Church in Forest Park. Zurakowski wanted to expand the summer program into Oak Park schools but federal guidelines stipulated that in order to receive funding 25 percent of a participating school’s student population had to qualify for free and reduced lunches. None of Oak Park’s schools qualified.
“But that still meant that 25 percent of our kids were going hungry in the summer. I knew we had to do something for those kids,” she said.
Zurakowski worked every angle with Oak Park and River Forest High School but the administration balked at offering a summer lunch program. She finally got a meeting with the superintendent.
“I told him that he needed to understand that my spirit animal is the cocklebur and that I was going to be just like a cocklebur on the inside of his pant leg until we could make something happen,” Zurakowski said, laughing.
Eventually, she and the high school worked out an agreement whereby Beyond Hunger would provide meals for “8 to 9 Connections,” a summer program designed to help struggling eighth grade students prepare for high school. Federal funds were used to cover the cost of meals for students who qualified for free and reduced lunches, and Beyond Hunger and the high school split the cost for the other students. The program was so successful that it was expanded to District 97.
“It was important to me that all of the kids got the meals so no one would know who was getting the free meals,” Zurakowski said.
The program had special resonance for Zurakowski. Growing up with intermittent poverty, she was the recipient of free and reduced lunches. Kids like her had lunch cards that were a different color than other kids’ cards. It was a source of shame that she was deter mined not to replicate.
The youngest of five children in a strongly
Retiring Beyond Hunger Chief Executive O
hunger for 17 years.
religious family, Zurakowski moved frequently — by the time she graduated from high school in Warsaw, Indiana, she had lived in 17 different places. Her parents were very involved in their church and regularly tithed, even as they struggled financially and refused charity. As a teenager, Zurakowski was expected to tithe a percentage of the money she earned as a babysitter
A stellar student in the top 10 of her class, Zurakowski went to Finland as a Rotary Youth Exchange student during her junior year. Away from home for the first time, she struggled to learn the language. It was her first experience with failure but it also sparked a sense of wanderlust.
Zurakowski attended Manchester College, a small, religiously affiliated institution in northern Indiana. She met her husband John the first weekend of school. They married soon after graduating and went to Poland for two years as part of the Brethren Volunteer Service. Arriving shortly after Poland’s Solidarity movement had been crushed and marital law had been instituted, they relied on ration coupons for staples such as flour, sugar and meat.
After returning to the U.S., they found jobs with an outfitting company that John’s sister and brother-in-law owned in Durango, Colorado. Using llamas as pack animals, they worked as camp cooks and day laborers in the summer and in retail during the winter
Needless to say, Zurakowski’s adventur-
ous spirit was different than most of the people with whom she grew up. This didn’t go unnoticed by some folks back home.
“But my mother was very proud of me I remember her telling one of her friends, who had asked when John and I were going to settle down, that we were living the lives they all wished they could,” Zurakowski said.
The Zurakowskis next landed in Minneapolis where Michele pursued graduate studies in rhetorical criticism at the University of Minnesota. They moved to Oak Park when John got his dream job as the head squash pro at the University Club of Chicago. As a stay-at-home mom with her first son, Zurakowski was very active in Oak Park’s Parenthesis Parent Child Center — she still refers to the friends she made then as her “posse.” She was also active in the Lincoln School PTO.
While Zurakowski maintains that she didn’t come to Beyond Hunger with much organizational experience or business acumen, she has drawn on her strengths for galvanizing people around a common vision and for creating community. She has relied on a local network of strong women leaders for support — and the occasional venting “Through Beyond Hunger, I’ve learned how important community is. This community now feeds 65,000 people a year. We decided, as a community, that this is a worthwhile endeavor and we are willing to make the sacrifices to make it happen.”
TODD BANNOR
cer Michele Zurakowski has been battling
Cantata celebrates a century of adult care services in Brook eld
Innovative care options he seniors stay in their home
By SUSAN MONTGOMERY Contributing Reporter
Cantata Adult Life Services in Brookfield is of f its centennial celebration with a calendar of special events throughout 2025.
The yearlong centennial celebration will include:
■ A booth at the Brookfield Far mers’ Market throughout the season, featuring scones, other baked goods, prizes, and giveaways.
■ A Midsummer Garden Party on June 21, hosted Cantata and the Daughters of the British Empir
■ A Brookfield Community Festival on Sept. 13, a daylong event featuring games, food, and entertainment for the community and surrounding area.
Founded in 1925 by the Daughters of the British Empir the British Home, as it was long called, comprised one building housing a long-term care facility on a donated by Chicago industrialist Samuel Insull. The initial building housed 36 residents.
Over the decades, Cantata has adapted to meet changing needs and now provides a wider range of care cluding independent living, assisted living, skilled reha long-term care, memory support, and respite larger campus with multiple buildings. Its clients older. All of its services and providers are licensed.
“If you rolled back 25 years, the average length of stay for our clients was 5 to 10 years on campus,” says John La son, CEO, who has worked at Cantata for 32 year is one and a half to two years. The average age of residents living on campus is now 88 years. More people are staying in their homes longer.”
One of the reasons people are staying in their homes longer is the expense of moving into a long-term care, independent living, or assisted living facility. Canata’s market is primarily a middle-income audience. Yet this demographic group, often refe rred to as the “forgotten middl e,” has the challenge of being able to af ford living in a longterm care or assisted living facility.
“Middle income seniors often have too much income and assets to af ford Medicaid. Yet they do not have sufficient financial resources to af ford a private assisted living facility,” says Larson, adding that Cantata does not accept Medicaid.
More than a decade ago, Larson and Kevin Heraty, Cantata’s development director, envisioned this situation as it would only become more challenging as more and more baby boomers began to retire and a workforce shor tage would ensue.
“We knew we had enough care givers, yet we could see that there were not going to be enough when the baby boomers hit retirement age. So we reevaluated our existing model,” said Heraty.
In 2011, the Illinois Human Service Commission (HSC)
received a directive from then Gov. Pat Quinn to identify strategies that “significantly expand community options” for individuals with special needs to live in community settings.
A year later, Cantata’s board of directors embraced a new strategic direction which included expanding services to include home- and community-based services. Along with that came the name change to Cantata to reflect the organization’s expanded service.
In 2013, Cantata reached another milestone by serving more clients of f campus than those living on campus. With the board of directors’ support, Cantata developed a new model of private duty care. “We have care givers who see clients in neighborhoods,” said Heraty. “So that could be a cluster of clients living in an area. The care givers might see an individual client anywhere from two to five times a day for 15 minutes or so, to help them get dressed in the morning and have breakfast, then come back at lunchtime and later in the day. That is far less time (and expense) than a typical private duty care giver who would
spend four hours a day with a client.”
This new model helps save clients’ money, while allowing them to live independently in their homes. Cantata is on the vanguard of offering this model of service. Larson and Heraty have been invited to talk about this model at national conferences and through consulting with local governments across the nation.
Meanwhile, Cantata staf f continue to provide excellent care in a warm, friendly environment to their residents on its sprawling campus, located just north of the Brookfield Zoo.
During the kickoff celebration for the centennial, Cantata held an indoor barbeque (on a rainy day) in a large community room that was full of smiling seniors. Carol, an independent living resident, said, “I have a fabulous corner apar tment on the ground floor. I get to see everyone coming and going and I have a beautiful view from my windows. I have everything I need!”
To learn more about Cantata, visit https://cantata.org/.
ERICA BENSON
Cantata Adult Life Services reside nt Nanc y at tends the 100th anniversar y BBQ and celebrat ion May 21.
JILL WAGNER
TALES OF THE TOMBSTONES: Forest Park middle-schoolers take a guided tour of Forest Home Cemetery led by Amy Binns Calvey, of the Historical Society of Forest Park. e tour touched on native people in the area, Hay market and labor history, the Eastland, pandemics before vaccines and pandemics of today.
River Forest Memorial Day Parade
Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins hands out candy
e Prov iso East High School Marching Band (above and below) Candy, candy, ever ywhere!
Photos by TODD BANNOR
Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts carr y a giant American Flag
Touch a Truck
Children get acquainted with the Holy Grail of kiddom — Trucks! — at Forest Park Public Works’ Touch a Truck event on May 24.
Photos by TODD BANNOR
Davis’ proposed amendments on H.R. 1
Testimony of Cong ressman Danny K. Davis in suppo rt of his amendments to reimburse wo rk ing parents up to $8,000 for child care , help cost-burdened renters earning up to $100,000, ensure that foundations fund charitable givin g rather than tax cuts for the wealthy, and give tax cuts to wo rkers who are single, noncustodial parents, age 19 and older, senior s, foster youth, or homeless (Committee on Rules Meeting on H.R. 1 – May 21, 2025):
T he Good Book teaches us to care fo r the least among us. My four amendments do just that.
Fo r parents, child care is the wo rkrelated expense. My amendment would reimburse wo rk ing parents up to $8,000 in child-care costs. The meage r, cu rrent maximum of $1,200 was set at the turn of this centur y. Now, the cost of center-based care for two children is more than the average annual rent in all 50 states. Yet the Re publican bil l fails to directly help struggling parents with the crushing burden of chil d care. Instead, the bill gifts $731 million to businesses and ignores the tens of millions of wo rk ing parents whose employers will neve r of fer child care. An d the small, temporary $500 bump in the Child Tax Credit excludes the poorest parents and is dwarfed by the $8,000 in relief of fered by my amendment. If Republicans want parents to wo rk , then you should acce pt my amendment.
My second amendment would provide life-changing help to hardworking, rent-burdened Americans ear ning up to $100,000. Rent unaf fordability is at an all-time high with about half of all renters being cost-burdened, especially extremely low-income household s, senior s, and rural Americans. My amendment would create a new tax credit for low- and middle-income renters that would cove r a percentage of the gap between 30 percent of their adjusted gross income and thei r actual rent. Fo r renters earning less than $25,000, the credit would cove r the entire 30-percent-income-to-rent gap and then phase out. The Re publican bill offers nothing to help strugglin g renter s. Suppo rt ing my amendment would provide financial relief to tens of millions of Americans so they ca n
thr ive without fear of eviction.
My third amendment would provide a tax cut to tens of millions of lowincome wo rkers by enhancing the Ear ned Income Tax Credit. The EITC is a powe rful tool to reduce po ve rt y.
A lthough the Re publican bill gives an increased EITC for some pu rp le-hear t recipients, it ignores the vast majority of individual wo rker s. Wo rkers age 65 and older re present one of the fastestgrow ing groups in our labor forc e. Millions of people younger than 24 ser ve in the labor forc e. My amendment gives permanent tax relief to senior s and younger wo rkers by removing the EITC age cap and lowe ring the eligibility age to 19, wh i le also enhancing the credit for all childless wo rker s. Further, my amendment includes impo rtant flexibilities for foster and homeless youth. If the GOP bill can spend $211 billion on tax breaks for wealthy heirs, surely it can help vulnerable wo rkers who are young, old, single, homeless, or foster youth.
My final amendment would strike the permanent tax hi ke on foundations that would rip $15.8 billion in charitable aid from our communities — a id that supports food banks, houses of faith, veterans, disaster relief, rural health care, emergency assistance during economic downturns, and other critical needs. Policies that hurt foundations reduce grantmaking to charitable nonprofits across the country. Forefront, the association of grantmakers for the state of Illinois, estimates that the proposed tax increase on private foundations would result in $168 million less in grants made to Illinois nonprofits each year. Charitable giving re presents the best of American generosity. At the exact time when charitable giving and philanthropy are needed the most to of fset the cuts in federal investment, Cong ress must strike this charity-reducing provision.
Gove r nment should help people, not har m them. My amendments would help lift the burdens of tens of millions of fam ilies and workers as well as promote charitable service. I hope you will support them.
Danny K. Davis
BL OT TER
Police chase 3 men in stolen car, later found abandoned
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Just before 7 p.m. on May 26, police responded to the intersection of Washington and Maple in Oak Park after a caller reported that an unknown male broke his Dodge Challenger’s window. Upon arrival, police saw a man standing near the rear of the damaged vehicle before walking toward a parked car on Maple and driving away with two passengers. Police found that the registration of the parked car matched that of a semi-truck and pursued the driver because they believed the vehicle was stolen. As the car drove away at high speed, police followed, watching as the car nearly hit vehicles at two different intersections. The car approached the intersection of Harlem Avenue and I-290 but was blocked by another car. The offending car reversed into the police car, then fled eastbound on I-290. Police lost the car as it drove north on Sacramento, but it was later discovered in Chicago. Police confirmed it was stolen out of Oak Brook and towed the car.
Missing person
On May 24, a woman came to the Forest Park Police Department to report her daughter as missing. According to the police report, the woman told officers that, at the end of April, her daughter was evicted from her residence on Adams Street and admitted to UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks for her mental health. The woman said her daughter was discharged from the hospital, though she doesn’t know where she is now. She said that her daughter has a history of homelessness and she would come to pick her up if she’s located Police were dispatched to Thomas Avenue on May 26 after someone reported a woman calling “please come get me.” According to the police report, officers had previously visited the address to look for two missing female juveniles out of Elmhurst. Upon arrival, police reported that they saw two young women matching the description of those who were missing run into the residence. Police followed them inside, due to a potential kidnapping. They handcuffed the two females, since
they were combative and screaming at police Also inside the residence, were a man and his mother. At the police station, the two females told police they met the man on a dating app and denied any kind of abuse The two girls were released to their mothers, and Elmhurst police were contacted
Assist police
While on patrol May 24, police got a hit for a stolen vehicle out of Naperville that was travelling west down I-290. Police followed the car to Thornton’s gas station in Bellwood, where Forest Park, Bellwood and Maywood police boxed in the stolen vehicle with their cars. Forest Park police handcuffed the driver and two passengers. The driver told police he was on the way to return the car to the mother of his kids, and she allowed him to use the vehicle. Police contacted the woman, who owns the car and said she and the driver argued the day before, and he left in her car. She reported her car stolen but refused to sign complaints against him. The two passengers were released without incident and the driver was
transported to the Naperville police station for processing
Village ordinance violation
Police were dispatched to McDonald’s at the corner of Des Plaines Avenue and Madison Street for a bicycle theft on May 25. The caller told police that, while he was inside McDonald’s picking up a DoorDash order, a young man stole his bike, estimated to cost nearly $2,000. On security camera footage, police saw two men riding Divvy bikes, one of whom then got on the stolen bike and rode off. Police found the young man in the alley of the 500 block of Beloit, where his guardian met them. The young man said he abandoned the bike and didn’t know where it was, but his cousin told police its location, and they recovered it. The young man was cited with a village ordinance violation.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated May 24 through May 26 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded.
OUR VIEW
No
more shadow conversations
Let’s start by saying that we’re enthused by the ambitious and focused work plan for the safety and traf fic commission that Forest Park’s village council adopted unanimously on May 12.
As the commission sets its efforts, it will study a new permit parking system and consider whether speed limits in the village should be lowered, all while holding town halls with citizens to hear residents’ thoughts about how all for ms of traffic ought to be handled going forward.
Commissioner Michelle Melin-Rogovin gets credit as the council’s liaison to the commission for helping craft this work plan. And Village Administrator Rachell Entler, as usual, is smack dab in the middle of the discussions as she should be.
We look forward to reporting on the work of the commission and want to see thoughtful input from both citizens and experts on consequential topics such as lowering local speed limits. Many communities have already dropped speed limits in an effort to slow traffic and make the roads safer for pedestrians and those on all for ms of one- and two-wheeled devices
Let’s look at the evidence of how such actions elsewhere have been drafted and implemented. That will lead eventually to this commission’s recommendations to the full village council. And it will be an example of how commissions should operate within the council form of gover nment.
Next though we need to revisit how the council itself is operating. Not well in our view.
Again on this important gover nance issue, progress was made only when Mayor Rory Hoskins abdicated his leadership role after a council meeting in April and told the commissioners to talk amongst themselves outside the public forum.
So they did.
“There was a lot of back-and-forth on this work plan that happened behind the scenes,” said Commissioner Ryan Nero.
That is not how local gover nment is supposed to work. Discussion of public issues should happen in public. This is not complicated. In the past we’ve criticized Hoskins for telling elected officials to have these private discussions. And we’ll continue to criticize these directives.
Now though we have different advice, and it is for the four elected village commissioners. Use your power to force every one of these discussions into a public forum.
It worked on Altenheim, where after years of inaction the council demanded a public discussion of the future of this publiclyowned land. That meeting took place last week, and it seems like the council is moving forward with putting water reservoirs at the Altenheim. It appears more meetings on that topic will follow.
So the next time — and it seems inevitable there will be a next time — that the mayor tells commissioners to talk on the sidelines, they must refuse. No more public business done in the shadows. Commissioners should tell the mayor they want these items on the village council agenda and they expect thoughtful, action-focused discussions.
Which is also what their constituents expect.
OPINION
When old-fashioned is current and relevant
This is the second part of Tom Holmes’ interview with Mike Mohr. Part I ran last week:
Michael “Mike” Mohr describes himself as old-fashioned, old-school.
Nowadays, old fashioned often means stuck in your ways, atavistic, oldfangled, quaint, antique, retro, behind the times, antiquated, outdated, obsolete, outmoded
But that’s not what Mike means by oldfashioned. At the risk of putting words in his mouth, I looked up the Boy Scout Oath and Law, and I think he would say “amen” to both.
HOLMES
Scout Oath: On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
Scout Law: A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.
The Scout Oath and Law are all about values, about treating others the way you would have them treat you. And the owner of Mohr Oil, the offices of which are located on Harrison Street right across the street from the Roos Center, would also agree that being old-fashioned doesn’t necessarily mean being stuck in your ways.
Mohr Oil was founded by Mike’s father, Howard Mohr, in 1950, the year Mike was born. At first his dad worked in sales for Pure Oil, located at 47th and Harlem.
“He was taking orders on the phone,” Mike recalled, “and said to himself, ‘I can do this.’ He borrowed $1,500 from my grandfather, hired two men, and Mohr Oil was born.
“He’d put on a suit in the morning, drive around town and wherever he would see a coal chute he’d stop and knock on the door and ask, ‘How’d you like to convert from coal to heating oil?’ He would come home for lunch, change into work clothes and do installations of fuel tanks and oil bur ners in the afternoon. It was hard work, partly because he had to clean out the coal bins, which were really dirty.”
After World War II, the big shift in home heating was from coal to oil and Mike’s father got into the business just as that market was opening up. At one point the business had 3,200 heating oil accounts, but just as home energy moved from coal to healing oil, homeowners began switching from oil to natural gas in the late ’50s Today there are only 10-12 homeowners that Mike’s business sells heating oil to
Like his dad, Mike is an agile businessman. He shifted
the focus of Mohr Oil from heating oil to diesel fuel, which he sells mainly to construction companies. Many of the contractors he sells to are road builders, sewer companies, contractors who put in driveways, bus companies and trucking companies
Every night, Mike’s drivers fill up to 40 vehicles and construction equipment.
One way Mohr Oil has remained competitive is by investing in specialized equipment.
“Our company has changed so much, based on our customers’ needs. For instance, we have one truck with a super-long hose to get into difficult places — like one of the sightseeing boats down at Navy Pier.
“We used to buy trucks for $40-50,000,” Mike said. “My last two were $320,000 each.”
Old-fashioned values certainly have not impeded Mike’s business acumen.
In 2021, Bill Kristol, a neo-conservative, made comments about Democrat Joe Biden that could also apply to Mike Mohr.
“[His] speech to a joint session of Congress tonight was old-fashioned and pretty uncomplicated. [He said] ‘In another era when our democracy was tested, Franklin Roosevelt reminded us, in America: We do our part.’ That sentiment, in fact, is kind of old-fashioned. The speech was old-fashioned but it was also present-oriented
“[His] desire for national unity, his respect for most of his fellow citizens, his wariness of flights of fancy, his suspicions of leftist utopianism — and, to be fair, his commitment to liberty and decency — can provide at least some resistance to woke hectoring.”
Pope Francis’ values were old-fashioned in the sense that they went all the way back to Jesus, which also made them radical. They were fashioned over the 2,000year history of the Catholic Church. Commentators I have heard tend to focus on how DEI Francis was. Maybe they should also focus on his old-fashioned, 2000-year-old values as well.
One of Mike Mohr’s old-fashioned values is generosity. According to Laurie Kokenes, executive director of the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce, “Mike continues to generously support our chamber because of his commitment to the community and his belief that the chamber’s work contributes to the long-term success of the business community and Forest Park. He signs up for the highest level of membership each year and although Mohr Oil doesn’t get foot traffic from events like the parade and holiday walk, Mike sponsors each one and shows up whenever he can. Bias aside, he’s just a great guy.”
Ode to Concordia Cemetery
Cemeteries are not only for sorrow, happiness is not forbidden
A park, a studio, a labyrinth — a perfect place to wander, observe, and think.
Graves peek from snow drifts
Icicles hang from crypts, frozen in time
Frozen ground resists digging
Discarded headstones languish behind bushes, spirits split between homes
Unauthorized cenotaphs are hidden away
Squirrels jump from tombstones, their tiny paw prints encased in ice
Snow deafens and brings serenity
Blizzards unsettle this ordered place
Rainstorms deluge, the dead turn aquatic
Lichgates keep briers dry
Puddles form and swallow roads
Bricks are exposed under asphalt, all on top of earth
Displaced dirt piled high, a mound for the dead Trees blossom, birds fly
Grass grows over fresh graves
New growth brings life to the dead’s home
Light re places darkness, a place for the dead no more
Stained glass in mausoleums sends reflections
People gossip and dogs walk
Children frolic and play during funerals
Television crews film, where all storylines end
Cicadas sing to the dead
Holes in fences let ghosts in and out
Dew evaporates from gravestones, spirits rise
Colorful leaves blanket graves
Branches torn by wind lie on headstones
Deer wander among the dead, spirit animals choosing Gaggles of geese parade, no quiet now
Processions of cars begin and end
Urns, bolsters, slabs, obelisks, tombs — death personified
All things must die, even memories of the dead
Fresh flowers let us remember, rotten flowers show we forget
When life’s chaos becomes too much
A cemetery is a place where minds come to rest.
Boston Forest Park er, 2020-24
A
The Harlem Post was a local weekly newspaper printed in German for the local German population. Its first edition was published on Sept. 12, 1895. The paper’s May 4, 1899 edition contained the following news about the annual meeting of the Harlem Library Board:
On Friday evening, the members of the Harlem Library Board held their annual meeting at the library. The re ports of the various of ficials revealed that the Harlem Library has made tremendous progress since last year, especially in the number of books checked out. Most recently, up to 500 books have been checked out each month by Harlem residents. And Ernst Miklisch, an agent for “Andree” and “Rambler” bicycles with a shop located in the River Forest Waterworks, advertised new and secondhand bicycles at reasonable prices as well as the prompt handling of all re pairs.
Translated by Uli Leib
Interim
Executive Director Max Reinsdorf
Sta Repor ter Jessica Mordacq
Digital Manager Stacy Coleman
Digital Media Coordinator Brooke Duncan
Contributing Editor Donna Greene
Contributing Reporters Tom Holmes, Robert J. Li a
Columnists Alan Brouilette, Jill Wagner, Tom Holmes
Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead
Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea
Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza
Senior Media Strategist Lourdes Nicholls
Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan
Circulation Manager Jill Wagner
Operations Associate Susan Babin
Special Projec ts Manager Susan Walker
Senior Advisor Dan Haley
Board of Directors
Chair Eric Weinheimer
Treasurer Nile Wendorf
Deb Abrahamson, Mary Cahillane Steve Edwards, Judy Gre n, Horacio Mendez, Charles Meyerson, Darnell Shields, Audra Wilson
TO REACH US
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Adam Winchell
LEGAL NOTICE
The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed bids from qualified contractors at the Public Works Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. local time until 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 for the following:
Village of Oak Park
Water Utility Customer Portal
Bid Number: 25-120
Bid documents may be obtained from the Village’s website at http://www.oakpark.us/bid. For questions, please call Public Works at (708) 358-5700 during the above hours.
Published in Wednesday Journal May 28, 2025
EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.
The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.
This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.
Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.
To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-669-9777.
GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA
NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICES
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Monday 16 June 2025, at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Village Hall, 517 Des Plaines Avenue, Forest Park, Illinois, the Planning and Zoning Commission will conduct a public hearing to consider a conditional use permit and site plan review to allow the construction of a self-serve vacuum facility in the B-2 Community Shopping District on the following described properties(s):
Parcel 1:
Lot 15 (except that part described as follows: beginning at the Southeast corner of said Lot; thence South 89 Degrees 11 Minutes 56 Seconds West (assumed) 5.00 feet along the Southerly line of said Lot; thence North 44 Degrees 11 Minutes 47 Seconds East 7.07 feet to the Easterly line of said Lot, said Easterly line being also the Westerly right of way of Harlem Avenue; thence South 00 Degrees 48 Minutes 23 Seconds East 5.00 Feet along said right of way to the point of beginning) in Block 1 in South Addition to Harlem, being a Subdivision of the East 1/2 of the West 1/2 of the South East 1/4 of Section 13, Township 39 North, Range 12 East of the Third Principal Meridian, in Cook County, Illinois.
Parcel 2:
Lot 16 in Block 1 in South Addition to Harlem in Section 13, Township 39 North, Range 12 East of the Third Principal Meridian, in Cook County, Illinois.
Commonly known as 7201 Lexington Street, Forest Park, IL PINs: 15-13-407-026-0000, 1513-407-034-0000
The applicant is Lex 7201, LLC dba Crystal Car Wash
Signed: Marsha
East, Chair
Planning and Zoning Commission
Published in Forest Park Review May 28, 2025
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Notice is hereby given by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of River Forest, Cook County, Illinois, that sealed Proposals will be accepted for:
2025 Village Hall Permeable Paver Parking Lot Design Engineering Services
PUBLIC HEARING
VILLAGE OF NORTH RIVERSIDE
NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF THE PROPOSED APPROPRIATION FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION AND OF HOLDING A PUBLIC HEARING THEREIN
Notice is hereby given that copies of the Proposed Appropriation for the Village of North Riverside for the Fiscal Year commencing May 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026, are available for public inspection during normal business hours at the Village Commons, 2401 South Des Plaines Avenue, North Riverside, Illinois or on the Village’s website at: www.northriverside-il. org
Notice is hereby given that a Public Appropriation Hearing shall be held by the Mayor and the Board of Trustees for the Village of North Riverside:
Date: Monday, June 16, 2025 Time: 6:00 PM Place: Village Commons 2401 South Des Plaines Avenue North Riverside, Illinois
All interested persons may attend the meeting and shall have the right to present oral and written comments and suggestions regarding the proposed appropriation. After the public hearing and before final action is taken on the proposed annual appropriation ordinance, the Mayor and Board of Trustees may revise, alter, increase, or decrease any line item contained in the proposed annual appropriation ordinance.
Final action on the proposed annual appropriation ordinance will occur on July 14, 2025.
SANDRA LID VILLAGE CLERK NORTH RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS
Published in RB Landmark May 28, 2025
PUBLIC NOTICE
OAK PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT
97 NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING JUNE 10, 2025 AT 7:00 PM
The Board of Education of Oak Park Elementary School District
97 will hold a Public Hearing on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at 7:00 pm. The purpose of said hearing will be: To receive public comment on a proposed waiver application to allow District 97 to limit physical education with a licensed physical education teacher to 50 minutes every other day for students in sixth through eighth grades.
Published in Wednesday Journal May 28, 2025
The Village of River Forest is requesting proposals for professional engineering consultant services (“Consultant Services”) which include, but are not limited to, the completion of required hydrologic & hydraulic (H & H) analysis, pre-final & final design, preparation of construction drawings & specifications, construction cost estimates, identification & procurement of all required permits, license agreements & grants. The Village has been awarded Green Infrastructure Partnership Grant Funding from MWRD. Respondents must be able to demonstrate previous experience with similar projects described herein. Submittals should include the firm’s qualifications, project team, resumes, project approach, and recently completed related engineering work (high value will be placed on experience assisting municipalities with design engineering for improvements similar in scope).
The RFP is available for download starting Friday, May 16, 2025, at: www.vrf.us/bids
Proposals must be submitted by Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. to:
Village of River Forest Attention: Jack Bielak P.E., CFM Director of Public Works & Engineering 400 Park Avenue River Forest, IL 60305
Proposals will be considered based on the criteria set forth in the RFP.
No Proposal shall be withdrawn after the opening of the Proposals without the consent of the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of River Forest for a period of thirty (30) days after the scheduled deadline.
The Village of River Forest reserves the right in receiving these Proposals to waive technicalities and reject any or all Proposals.
Published in Wednesday Journal May 28, 2025
PUBLIC NOTICE
The River Forest Park District has placed its 2025-2026 Combined Budget and Appropriation Ordinance on file for public inspection. Said Ordinance may be examined on the River Forest Park District website. A public hearing on said Ordinance will be held at 7:00pm on Monday, June 16, 2024, at the Depot, 401 Thatcher Avenue, River Forest, Illinois.
Michael J. Sletten, Secretary River Forest Park District
Published in Wednesday Journal May 28, 2025
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