Crime

CRIME Over 21 vehicles issued citations in rowdy funeral processions

On June 4 at 2:22 p.m., police were called about a funeral procession traveling westbound on Roosevelt Road. A vehicle was observed driving in both lanes of traffic and had passengers hanging out of the car windows. The owner of the vehicle was issued a local ordinance citation for reckless driving, which was sent via certified mail.

The registered owners of 21 vehicles in a rowdy funeral procession at 900 Desplaines Ave. on June 9 around 3:10 p.m. were sent citations. According to the police report, units had been alerted that the funeral procession was heading into Forest Park, and they positioned themselves along Roosevelt Road. Many cars in the large procession were driving into oncoming traffic head on, unnecessarily blocking traffic by cutting off other cars and taking up multiple lanes, and had people sitting on windowsills and hanging out of car windows, “yelling and throwing their arms in the air,” according to the police report.

Those receiving tickets have a court date on July 14 at 5 p.m. in the lower level of village hall.

Woman believes man pointed gun at her

A woman leaving work on the 7800 block of Industrial Drive on June 8 at 5:15 p.m. called police after she observed a small black pickup truck with red stripes reverse toward her at a high rate of speed as she was walking to her vehicle. She said the driver, a male wearing a black ski mask, yelled at her and pointed an object at her. She believes the object was a gun, but she couldn’t describe it because she told police she was too scared to look back at it a second time. When another employee exited the building, the suspect quickly drove away, according to the woman. She was very upset, and police told her if she feels unsafe again, she can call the department to request an escort to her vehicle.

Fire department forces entry to get to injured man

Police were called to the 7700 block of Harvard Street on June 8 at 3:58 a.m. to assist the fire department at an apartment where a man had fallen and possibly broken his foot. The fire department was able to gain access to the apartment using a deadbolt spreader. They temporarily re-secured the door, and the man was transported to the hospital.

Woman steals hundreds of dollars of memory supplements

A man at Walmart, 1300 Desplaines Ave., put $399 of bottled Prevagen pills into his girlfriend’s purse while they walked through the store on June 8 at 2:52 p.m. She then exited past the last point of purchase without paying for them. She was taken to the loss prevention office, then placed into custody by police who issued her a local ordinance citation for retail theft. She has a July 14 court date.

Thief, employee fight over liquor and candy

An employee of CVS, 7216 Circle Ave., was hit by an alleged thief on June 8 at 8:13 p.m. The suspect had entered the store carrying a backpack and went into the alcohol section, briefly out of view of the employee, who heard what he thought was the sound of alcohol bottles being concealed in the backpack.

The employee said he approached the alleged thief, told him he’d seen him stealing alcohol, and grabbed the backpack. The suspect allegedly smacked the employee’s arm with such force that it caused the backpack strap to break. The suspect fell to the floor, then got up and headed toward the exit. On his way out, though, the suspect allegedly grabbed a box of Reese’s candy bars.

The employee approached the suspect again, this time smacking the Reese’s box out of the suspect’s hands, causing the candy bars to scatter over the floor. The employee allegedly bent down to begin picking up the candy bars when the suspect hit him in the back of the head with his backpack before exiting the store. He was last seen walking southbound on Harlem Avenue and was not located by the police.

Garage fi re most likely caused by cigarettes, cigars

Forest Park police and fire units were called to the 600 block of Harlem Avenue on June 7 around 8:46 a.m. for a fire on the side of a garage. Upon arrival, an officer discovered smoke coming from the side of a detached garage. It appeared to be coming from the mulch and looked like heat from a fire had melted the siding near the ground. The property is under construction, according to the police report, and currently vacant. The fire department forced entry since no doors were unlocked and put out the fire inside.

The man who’d called in the fire lives next door. He said he saw small flames in the morning and put them out with water from bottles in his car. Later, he saw bigger flames “climbing the outside of the north wall of the garage.” He poured a bucket of water on the fire and called 9-1-1. He related there had been a party the night before, and some of the attendees had been smoking.

Firefighters “discovered numerous smoking materials,” such as cigarettes and cigars, and believe they were the likely cause of the fire, which they think was accidental.

Man urinates in front of Christian bookstore

A man in full view with his penis exposed was caught urinating in front of the Christian Book Store at 7610 Roosevelt Rd. on June 4 at 11:42 a.m. Even when police approached with emergency lights on, he continued to urinate, according to the police report. He also smelled like liquor. He refused to comply with verbal direction, so he was handcuffed. He was issued a local ordinance citation for public urination and has a July 14 court date. He was released from the scene.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, June 4-9, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.

Compiled by Maria Maxham

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Urban planning career program seeks participants

Proviso Township students invited to apply

By MICHAEL ROMAIN

Contributing Reporter

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) is trying to recruit students who attend Proviso Township High School District 209 to attend its Future Leaders in Planning (FLIP) summer program this year.

The FLIP program is “a free leadership development program for students to learn about the issues that shape our region and gain an interest in urban planning,” according to CMAP’s website.

“This is really about exposing students to this field of urban and regional planning, and we would love to have students from your communities and specifically from the Proviso high schools,” Jane Grover, CMAP’s public engagement principal, told attendees during the Proviso Township Ministerial Alliance Network’s monthly breakfast on June 12. The event was held virtually.

The deadline to apply for the program is Friday, June 18. The program consists of four 90-minute online sessions on July 9, July 16, July 23 and July 30.

CMAP is seeking 40 participants this year. Eligible participants must be enrolled in high school or college; live or study in one of the state’s seven northeastern Illinois counties, including Cook County; and “possess a desire to learn more about the region and our communities,” according to CMAP’s website.

Students receive a certificate once they complete the program, along with an optional letter of recommendation and the chance the build their resumes, CMAP officials explained.

“There’s an application process, but it’s not a very competitive application process,” Grover said.

For more information, visit cmap.illinois. gov/about/involvement/flip.

Screenshot of CMAP video BIG PLANS: Students participate in CMAP’s FLIP summer program, which is recruiting students to apply this year.

Leadership Lab o ers professional development

Program taking applications through June 30

By MICHAEL ROMAIN

Contributing Reporter

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation’s Leadership Lab is now accepting applications for its 2021-22 program, but this most recent cohort will be a lot different from the past, the Lab’s organizers said.

“We’ve really wanted to expand the experience,” said Jenny Yang, Leadership Lab coordinator.

This year, Yang explained, the program is looking to recruit fellows from beyond Oak Park and River Forest, including communities on Chicago’s West Side and in suburbs located throughout western Cook County.

During the program, participants meet once a month over 10 months for personal and professional coaching and skills development. This year, the sessions will be offered both virtually and in-person.

The deadline to apply is June 30 or until spots are filled. Tuition is $2,000, but scholarships are available based on need.

“One of our key objectives is to expand our reach,” Yang said. “We want to talk to fellows, give them leadership experience and provide them with a personal journal and help them curate that journey.

“You don’t have to be a mayor or in some high position in a company to be a leader. We know anyone can be a leader and we want to make sure we meet them where they are because the skills we’ll offer are applicable wherever they want to serve.”

Yang said the program has evolved since its inception, adding that the Lab is “much more approachable, more actionable and more flexible” than in the past, when participants were largely drawn from Oak Park and River Forest.

“When this was started, it was really designed between the Community Foundation and Dominican University to be a leadership program that helped people become defined as community leaders and it was focused on the Oak Park and River Forest area,” said Cathy Yen, a longtime nonprofit executive and a Leadership Lab facilitator who has also completed the program herself.

“The program has come a long way since then,” Yen said, adding that the program is focused on “a bunch of C’s,” including competencies, coaching, context and COVID.

Yen said, for those looking to apply, “your demonstrated commitment to the greater good is more important than your resume.” She said the program typically attracts midcareer professionals looking to strengthen their core competencies and sharpen their core values.

DeRondal Bevly, a Leadership Lab mentor, said the program is particularly necessary in today’s fraught political climate.

“If you look at the energy that was kicked up as a result of the 2020 election, people were looking for an outlet to do something but just didn’t have the skills, the toolkit and the networks to be agents of change,” Bevly said. “This program really fits the times to help those people who know they’re leaders and have the potential, but don’t quite know how to pull it out themselves.”

Yang said Leadership Lab fellows who complete the program get access to a resource library that’s available to all Lab participants and alumni. They also get to tap into a network of more than 200 Lab alumni.

Yen said Leadership Lab’s desire to expand its reach beyond two suburbs is consistent with an expanding definition of community, one rooted less in one particular municipal boundary than in a much larger geographic region.

That regionalism is also consistent with the Community Foundation’s evolving mission, said Antonio Martinez Jr., the Foundation’s president and CEO.

“The big thing is that we realize the interconnectedness that we share with our surrounding neighbors and communities,” he said. “We know that what affects us affects others and vice versa, so it’s important for us, when we take a look at this leadership program, to look at west Cook County, the city of Chicago, and, in particular, Austin, and do our part to help people in those communities increase their leadership capacity.”

For more information on Leadership Lab and/or to apply, visit: oprfcf.org/leadershiplab.

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Honoring All Dads this Father’s Day

As this Father’s Day weekend approaches, I want to give some appreciation to all my fellow dads. It is an honor to carry the title of ‘Dad’ because, as Hall of Fame baseball player Wade Boggs put it, “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.” Scott McAdam Jr. It may not always be easy, but it is infi nitely rewarding. In our kids’ eyes, we are viewed as superheroes; they give life new purpose and meaning. We scare away the monsters in their room, we give a helping hand, and we make terribly dry, pun-fi lled jokes. We also admire our lawns more than any person should, click our grilling tongs three times every time we touch them, and say things like “who let this guy in here?” So, to all those dads getting eye rolls and sighs from their kids (and wives, too) for yet another bad dad joke—I appreciate you! Keep being the same, rad guys that you are. At this moment, your kids may not appreciate everything you do to enrich their lives. But I guarantee that when they refl ect on their childhood, their best memories will include all those times they spent with you. Happy Father’s Day!

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Gilbane awards internships to two D209 students

Students will get handson experience in district

By MARIA MAXHAM

Editor

Dulce Rivera from Proviso Math and Science Academy (PMSA) and Mark Robinson from Proviso East were awarded paid summer internships at Gilbane, the construction management company overseeing the facilities upgrades at Proviso Township High School District 209 schools.

Earlier in the school year, Gilbane invited D209 students to apply for the internship positions by submitting an application and an introductory video.

At the June 9 board meeting, Gilbane project executive Michelle McClendon said over 20 applications had been submitted by students, and she announced the two students who had been awarded the internships.

“I look forward to growing professionally and personally with this team and seeing the needs of our district come to fruition,” Rivera said at the meeting. She thanked her family for their support and Gilbane for the internship. “I am so excited to see how this opportunity will help me to grow,” Rivera said.

Robinson said he plans to go into the field of architecture, so the opportunity at Gilbane will provide him with invaluable experience.

“I really thank God for allowing me to get this, and I thank Gilbane for the opportunity,” Robinson said. He also gave a shout-out to his principal, Dr. Patrick Hardy, for pushing him to pursue the internship.

Each student will be assigned to a school this summer, Rivera at East and Robinson at West. Both were handed safety vests during the board meeting, and they will also be provided with hard hats and work boots. The students will be paid $15 per hour.

Photo provided Front row, from le : Board vice-president eresa Kelly, Proviso East student Mark Robinson, PMSA student Dulce Rivera. Back row, from le : Board member Sam Valtierrez, Gilbane project executive Michelle McClendon, board secretary Amanda Grant, board president Rodney Alexander, Proviso East Principal Patrick Hardy, board member Ned Wagner, Superintendent James Henderson

JUNETEENTH

A welcomed event

from page 1 #3 which General Gordon Granger read to the former slaves and slave owners in the Galveston, Texas area on June 19, 1865, informing them that the war had effectively ended two months earlier.

To show how far the concept of Juneteenth has come in those 13 years, SB1965, passed by both legislative branches in Springfield, is sitting on Gov. Pritzker’s desk. If he signs it, each year the third Saturday of June will be observed in Illinois as Juneteenth National Freedom Day.

In addition, a coalition, including Forest Park Against Racism (FPAR), the Midwest Juneteenth Committee, the Forest Park Public Library and the Forest Park Historical Society, is sponsoring a project they are calling Ribbons in the Sky “in Celebration of Juneteenth.”

Marjorie Adam, a co-founder of FPAR, described Ribbons in the Sky as “a community interactive art project” in which Forest Park residents obtain a ribbon and an Accountability Pledge at the Park District of Forest Park or the Forest Park Library and sign it. Then they tie it to the park district’s fence on the southeast side of The Park as a sign of commitment to anti-racism.

A Synopsis of the Accountability Pledge:

I pledge to work toward eliminating the injustices, inequities, and misconceptions that come from the systemic racism rooted in our society. I personally will work toward positive and transformational change through education, active listening, stepping up and speaking out against racist remarks, and acknowledging that I have privilege and power that can be used toward building a more just and equitable community where we can all hold each other accountable.

In a 2017 interview with the Review, Mayor Hoskins observed that most people in this country avoid talking about unpleasant topics like slavery and race, but “I think our country is evolving now to a point where we can have discussions about slavery and the symbols that are associated with slavery.”

“Our purpose,” he said, “is to teach children and families about the Juneteenth tradition and its origins. Since our committee began hosting the annual pool party, a generation of kids in Forest Park and neighboring communities have learned about the tradition.

“The event has consistently been welcomed by important institutions in Forest Park, including village government, the park district board and management staff, and most importantly District 91 [Forest Park’s public school district]. I’m thankful to D91’s excellent team of principals for helping us to teach our kids about the Juneteeth tradition.”

Hoskins grew up in Galveston and was therefore familiar with the history of Juneteenth. He explained that because most slaves had not been taught to read or write standard English, instead of saying June 19th, they called it “Juneteenth,” so since 1866 it’s been celebrated as a day of freedom. The freed slaves had no connection with the North so the Fourth of July was meaningless to them.

As a child he was fascinated with slavery, how slavery in the U.S. differed from slavery in other parts of the world, and how a big war was fought over it. “In the South,” Hoskins recalled, “they taught us that the Civil War was about states’ rights. That always mixed me up as a kid.”

Luckily for Hoskins, he grew up with educated parents who helped him not swallow the false narrative he heard in school. His mother had a master’s degree from Iowa State and taught sociology and anthropology at a college in Galveston.

On a field trip with his class to a museum, he saw some souvenir Confederate money for sale. When he got home, he told his mother that he wanted to buy some. He recalled, “She didn’t like that too much.”

Earlier this month, on June 7, Hoskins held a Juneteenth flag- raising ceremony outdoors at village hall.

D209 selects Black history curriculum

District partners with Dominican University for dual-credit course

By MARIA MAXHAM

Editor

The Proviso Township High School District 209 board voted to adopt a Black history textbook and curriculum at the June 8 meeting. The recommendation to contract with Black History 365 (BH 365) for a total cost of $303,780 for textbooks and digital licenses was presented by Dr. Nicole Howard, assistant superintendent of academics and student services.

An advisory council formed in February 2021, comprised of board members, community representation, administrators and teachers, was charged with “making program, curriculum, and policy recommendations to address issues of inequity,” according to an action item on the meeting agenda.

The advisory council came up with a list of what they wanted to see in a textbook.

“They want our students to understand that there is a huge impact with Black people, civilization and culture over time,” said Howard during the meeting. “It’s not just about slavery. We want to reframe that discourse. And we want to make sure they understand that Black history did not start here.”

Understanding the structural impact of bias and discrimination and a thorough history from multiple perspectives with real stories were other aspects of Black history that the council listed as important.

The council also wanted a “variety of thought and perspective, including research and evidence-based information,” a sensitive and modern collection of photos, and questions to provoke and encourage independent thinking to promote “appropriate and meaningful social action.”

According to Howard’s presentation during the meeting, BH 365’s documentation of Black history begins in ancient Africa and continues to modern events and movements.

Not only does BH 365 come with a textbook, but the company also provides an eBook/app and has exclusive access to thousands of documents and artifacts from the Freeman Institute Black History collection, with pieces dating back to 1553, according to Howard.

Another feature Howard said the council liked is BH 365’s “Elephant Experience,” a chance for students to stop on important topics and get more deeply engaged.

“This is what as an educator really excited me,” Howard said. “With the Elephant Experience, the students have these places in the curriculum where they stop, they really think about what they just learned and how they can apply that to their lives. It sets up the engagement process … And d that’s what’s really going to get t all of our students, whether they’re Black or Brown or white, really involved in the conversation.”

The council took student engagement even farther, securing a dual-credit partnership through Dominican University. Seeking advice from experts in the field led them to Dr. Nkuzi Nnam, director of Black World Studies at Domin-

hello summer

i ican University.

Nnam has offered D209 students the opportunity s for f a dual credit Black history course called Africa and to

African American Thought A through Dominican Univeth rsity. Six teachers,ty. said Howard, will be training with Nnam, wi and groups of students are slat-an ed to take the dual-credit course ed in the fall and spring. in t

Opportunities O for students don’t don end there. BH 365 itself has a student advisory committee, and according to Howard offered the chance for Proviso students to serve on that committee.

“[BH 365] includes an advisory board of prominent African Americans who contribute to the content of the courses, and they have a student advisory board, and they contribute to the ongoing updates to it. And they said that we can have a couple of spots for our Proviso students on their board as well,” Howard said during the meeting.

Visit blackhistory365education.com for more on the new textbook and pths209.org for district news and information.

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Park district entering ‘Phase Fun’

As Illinois enters Phase 5, pool and Roos relax rules

By MARIA MAXHAM

Editor

With Illinois moving into Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois plan, COVID-19 restrictions are more relaxed throughout the state. The Park District of Forest Park has announced that as a result, many restrictions at the aquatic center, the park’s administration building, and Roos Recreation Center have been lifted.

For starters, vaccinated individuals don’t have to wear a mask inside the administration building at 7501 Harrison St. or inside other park district facilities. Unvaccinated people should continue to wear a mask indoors.

At the pool, normal operations will resume, which means that the staggered twohour open swim blocks are no longer being implemented. Daily open swim now runs from noon to 5 p.m. and from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Adult swim is from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m.

Pool capacity has increased to 1,000 people.

Masks are not required anywhere at the pool for vaccinated individuals; unvaccinated people should wear a face covering when in the locker room.

Similar guidelines apply at the Roos Recreation Center, 7329 Harrison St., where masks are no longer required for vaccinated members. Unvaccinated members are asked to continue wearing masks.

The locker rooms at the Roos are now fully reopened, including showers, and lockers are once more available.

“This move into Phase 5 leaves us extremely hopeful for what’s to come,” wrote the Park District in a communication to residents and facility users. “While we’re certainly not out of the woods yet, we’re as close as we’ve been in a year and a half … We may have just entered Phase 5, but we’re ready for the next phase … Phase Fun this summer of 2021!”

For more information, visit pdofp.org

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Twenty years of music education in Forest Park

Gasse School of Music celebrates two decades of teaching

By MARIA MAXHAM

Editor

On June 1, Forest Park’s Gasse School of Music celebrated its 20th anniversary. The school, named after founders Daniel and Sarah Gasse, has run out of the same location on Polk Street the entire time, and has learned to adapt over the years, adjusting to changes in the economy and the pandemic. But one thing has stayed the same: Daniel and Sarah’s belief in the importance of music, not just for the sake of music itself, but the impact it has on the quality of life of people who play and perform.

“When you start learning music young enough, it creates a whole different world,” Daniel Gasse said. “It provides skills, yes, but also leadership and stage presence, teamwork and confidence.” The brain labor necessary to read music while at the same time transmitting signals to the body to play the notes is above what it takes to simply read a book, Gasse said. He referenced studies that show that kids who play a musical instrument tend to do better in school and even in sports.

“Music should be mandatory, like math or language,” said Gasse.

When the school opened in 2001. Daniel and Sarah were living in an apartment in downtown Forest Park, and they started looking for houses. They found their current home, though at that time it had no upstairs, and the basement, which now houses lesson and practice rooms, was just a concrete floor and two pillars.

But Daniel saw the potential immediately. “This is our school,” he said. Six months later, the school was built, and Sarah and Daniel, who had both been performing and teaching at other institutions, started taking on students. First, they taught one day a week. Then they slowly added days. A year later, they were up to full capacity.

Now, they have about 80 students, ranging in age from three to an 84-year-old cello student.

“I say we teach students from age three to 93,” Daniel joked. “If you’re 94, you’re out of luck.”

Daniel teaches cello and chamber music, and Sarah instructs students in the violin and viola. Early on, they hired piano and guitar teachers.

But both Sarah’s and Daniel’s love for music started long before they opened the school. Daniel, who’s from Argentina, earned his diploma in cello there in 1968. The following year, he began to play in the symphony orchestra, working his way from last to first cello over the next 15 years. But he hit the ceiling there, he said. He wanted to learn more.

At a summer camp in Brazil, he met the head of the string department at Yale University, who took Daniel under his wing. Yale was too expensive for Daniel to attend, but he got names and references of other professors and programs in the United States, and he sent handwritten notes to all of them.

He was awarded a full scholarship from the University of Illinois in Urbana.

He borrowed money from his father for a plane ticket to the United States, and with $200 in his pocket, one suitcase and two cellos, he landed in Miami. He was supposed to board another plane to fly to Urbana, but the airport wanted him to check both his cellos, including one in a soft case, and he knew it would get broken, so he got on a Greyhound bus and traveled from Florida to the Midwest.

“I was the oldest student in my classes,” Gasse said. Two years later, he’d finished his master’s degree. He was 33 years old.

Gasse moved to Chicago, where he performed, playing chamber music, and taught at different schools, eventually moving to Oak Park.

Daniel and Sarah’s own two sons, who will be a junior and a freshman in high school in the fall, grew up playing music, and Daniel reiterated the importance of music in the lives of children, including those with learning disabilities.

“When we communicate with them, and when we have high expectations for them, they feel respected. They can do it. It changes the tide,” Daniel said. He told a story of teaching in a Suzuki school years ago where there was a student who was disruptive. He’d break things and wouldn’t listen to the teachers. Daniel said he figured out how to communicate with that student on his level, and he let the student know he believed in him. He set expectations. And after a while, one day something changed.

“It clicked for him. And when he clicked on the cello, he clicked at school too,” Daniel said. It was a moment where the goal setting and practice and confidence all came together, not just when it came to music, but when it came to life.

At the next recital, the director of the school was sitting behind Daniel in the audience while the boy played. Astounded by the change, she whispered to a friend, “Nothing but a miracle.”

That was one of his proudest moments, Daniel said, and one of the things that drives him is helping students learn and grow.

Moving forward, Daniel said he’s hoping to take some time to visit family in Argentina and England and may use technology learned during COVID-10 to achieve that goal. If teaching remotely worked during a pandemic, it can work other times too. Hiring more teachers is something else he’s considering. He also wants to continue to collaborate with groups in the community. Recently, he and Sarah and their son Antonio played music outdoors during the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce and Forest Park Arts Alliance art stroll.

Daniel is 70 and had hip replacement five years ago and then again last year, which has made it more difficult physically for him to play the cello for long periods of time. It’s also impacted the way he teaches – less playing, more singing, he said.

He referenced Jacqueline Mary du Pre, regarded by many as one of the greatest cellists ever. Born in 1945, she died in 1987 at the age of 42, suffering from multiple sclerosis which ended her performing career at the age of 28. But even after she couldn’t perform, she was widely sought after as a teacher.

“I have to be like her,” Gasse said. “I will keep playing and teaching until I die.”

After 20 years teaching, Daniel and Sarah have some second-generation students, kids whose parents took lessons from them. They have previous students who have gone on to become performers and music teachers too. There are teachers who taught for the Gasse’s and now own their own schools.

“It’s much more of a legacy than just music,” said Gasse. “I’m sad they’re not with us, but I’m happy they are successful and spreading music.”

Photo provided TEAMWORK: Daniel Gasse (le ) and Sarah Gasse celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Gasse School of Music on June 1. ey have been teaching students for over two decades in their Forest Park school.

Police raise money and awareness for Special Olympics

Torch Run ends in Constitution Court

By MARIA MAXHAM

Editor

The local leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run was held on June 13, beginning at the Westchester Police Department and ending at Constitution Court on Madison Street in Forest Park.

The run is a fundraiser that benefits Special Olympics Illinois, with the goals of raising money for the event and spreading awareness of the athletes who participate in Special Olympics.

An intrastate relay, the run covers 1,500 miles through thousands of Illinois’ communities via 23 different legs or routes, according to the Torch Run website. The final destination is the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics Illinois Summer Games in Normal.

Locally, participating police departments included Forest Park, North Riverside, Broadview, Maywood, Bellwood and Westchester.

Forest Park Police Officer Mike O’Connor coordinated the event, and Forest Park runners were Police Chief Tom Aftanas, Deputy Police Chief Ken Gross, Officer Daysi Riglos and desk clerk Maria Jimenez.

Along the route, fire trucks sprayed runners with water during the 4.5-mile course.

The run finished at Doc Ryan’s on Madison Street, where owner Matt Sullivan hosted runners, athletes and their families, which he’s been doing since 2017, said Aftanas. Sullivan donated pizza, beer and soda to the runners and their families.

Photo by Jason Maxham

SHANEL ROMAIN/Contributor A GREAT TRACK RECORD: (Clockwise from top le ) Law enforcement runners from Forest Park and surrounding areas make their way east on Madison Street to Constitution Court. (Le ot right)Deputy Police Chief Ken Gross, clerk Maria Jimenez, O cer Daysi Riglos, Police Chief Tom A anas. Eddie Sitzman (right) runs with the torch down Madison Street. Runners cool o in spray from a re engine on Roosevelt Road during the Law Enforcement Torch Run on June 13.

HARRISON

Negotiating a resolution

from page 4 him to integrate affordable units while still keeping the development economically feasible.

“We are not against affordable housing; we are all for it,” Loucopoulos said. “But we took down the unit count, [and] the project has to make sense financially … I’m going to say it would be very difficult to put affordable housing in this project as it stands now, without a higher unit count. Typically, the way you do that is you increase your unit count, and then you add affordable housing. But we went the other way, we’re reducing the unit count to basically where we think we can still make this project work.”

Forest Park, however, does not have a problem with affordability of housing stock. State law under the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act requires that cities in Illinois with at least 1,000 residents and less than 10 percent affordable housing submit a plan to the state on how they will increase affordable properties within their boundaries. According to the Illinois Housing Development Authority, 49.1 percent of Forest Park’s housing stock is considered affordable by the standard definition, said Kashima.

What constitutes “affordable?” According to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), given an area’s median income, people don’t need to spend more than 30 percent of their income for housing.

Timing and construction

If approved, Loucopoulos said he doesn’t think they would break ground this year, because financing still needs to be put into place, and materials are difficult to obtain right now. Another project, he said, is on hold because they can’t find appliances for the units. “Next year, we think the tightening of the supplies will have dissipated,” he said.

In terms of staging of the work, he said he’s worked on a lot of lot-line to lot-line projects, and he anticipates beginning work in the back, where staging and storage will happen. The site will be fenced off, and he said he doesn’t anticipate needing to block off the sidewalk.

Size and density

Overwhelmingly, plan commissioners and residents still felt that the proposed building is too big and would add too many residents to the block.

“I think everybody’s loathe to say it, but I’ll go ahead and say it,” said Brown. “I still believe it’s far too dense.” She added that she understood that economic feasibility of a project is based on the unit count. “And so I understand you’re trying to maximize the space, but I think that’s part of the problem. So I would like to see less density,” Brown said.