14 minute read
Crime
CRIME Domestic violence incident escalates into hostage situation
Police surrounded a house on the 300 block of Marengo Avenue and evacuated one ofthe residents after her boyfriend allegedly threatened her with a gun.
On the morning of Sept. 26, police got a call from Task Inc., a company working under contract to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, saying that one oftheir clients texted them to say that her boyfriend physically hurt her and wouldn’t let her leave. She also wrote that her boyfriend had a gun. Task Inc. employees contacted the boyfriend, a 46-year-old Forest Park man, who told them that everything was fine.
Treating the incident as a potential hostage situation, Forest Park and Oak Park police units took positions around the house. With police help, the victim was able to leave. After she was escorted to a safe location, the officers called the boyfriend, asking him to exit the building. He refused, originally only agreeing to leave the victim’s belongings at the rear ofthe building and heading back inside. After some further back and forth, he agreed to exit the house, and surrendered to the officers without incident. He told them that the gun was in his bedroom dresser.
After checking the building for other potential hostages, the officers retrieved the gun, as well as the bullet magazines and the holster.
The alleged offender was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm.
Stolen cars
Two vehicles were stolen on Sept. 26 – one overnight and one around noon.
A woman reported that her gray 2022 Infinity, which she parked in front ofa house on the 600 block ofHannah Avenue, was stolen. The victim believed she might have accidently left her key fob inside. Using the LoJack stolen vehicle recovery system installed in her car, she tracked it to 4673 W. Madison St., in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. The police contacted LoJack, which tracked the vehicle to an address further east.
The victim’s car subsequently struck a Chicago police officer’s vehicle. Forest Park police shared the Infinity’s tracking information with CPD, but they weren’t able to track the vehicle at the time of the report.
Later, at around noon, a man stole his exgirlfriend’s red 2014 Ford Focus from the One Time Auto Financing lot at 7304 Roosevelt Rd. The victim said she returned the vehicle, which she previously bought from the company, after her transmission failed. One Time Auto agreed to auction the car off and let her use the proceeds to buy another car. But before the deal was complete, the ex-boyfriend came the dealership, “caused a disturbance” and drove off with the car. The victim believes that her ex may have copied the keys without permission.
Burglary from vehicle
A beer delivery driver had his money bag stolen while making a delivery to the convenience store at the Forest Park Blue Line CTA terminal.
The driver working for the Brewsmart Beverage company made the delivery on Sept. 27, between 2:10 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. After finishing the delivery, he went to put the bag containing cash and check payments and realized that it was stolen. The bag contained $1,500 in cash and around $500 to $600 in checks.
Police officers were waiting to get security footage from the CTA at the time ofthe report.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Sept 26-29, and represent a portion ofthe 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.
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Emanuel “Chris” Welch Speaker of the House 7th District State Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch Speaker of the House 7th District State Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch Speaker of the House 7th District State Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch Speaker of the House 7th District State Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch Speaker of the House 7th District State Representative
Proviso Mathematics & Science Academy 8601 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park Saturday, October 22, 2022 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Resource Fair SENIOR & VETERAN Emanuel “Chris” Welch Speaker of the House 7th District State RepresentativeEmanuel “Chris” Welch Speaker of the House 7th District State Representative
Proviso Mathematics & Science Academy 8601 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park Saturday, October 22, 2022 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. 10 A.M. to Noon Visit with vendors and service providers for free health screenings and resources for seniors and veterans, including free help with drafting wills and estate plansProviso Mathematics & Science Academy Saturday, October 22, 2022 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Proviso Mathematics & Science Academy Saturday, October 22, 2022 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Proviso Mathematics & Science Academy Saturday, October 22, 2022 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Saturday, October 22, 2022
10 A.M. to Noon Visit with vendors and service providers for free health screenings and resources for seniors and veterans, including free help with drafting wills and estate plans Noon to 2 P.M. Lunch, bingo and prizes Emanuel “Chris” WELCH SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 7th District STATE REPRESENTATIVE www.emanuelchriswelch.com Covid 19 Vaccinations and Flu Shots will be available. Noon to 2 P.M. Lunch, bingo and prizes For more information, please contact Rep. Welch’s constituent service office Emanuel “Chris” WELCH SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 7th District STATE REPRESENTATIVE www.emanuelchriswelch.com Covid 19 Vaccinations and Flu Shots will be available. 10 A.M. to Noon Visit with vendors and service providers for free health screenings and resources for seniors and veterans, including free help with drafting wills and estate plans Noon to 2 P.M. Lunch, bingo and prizes 8601 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park Emanuel “Chris” WELCH SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 7th District STATE REPRESENTATIVE Covid 19 Vaccinations and Flu Shots will be available. 10 A.M. to Noon Visit with vendors and service providers for free health screenings and resources for seniors and veterans, including free help with drafting wills and estate plans Noon to 2 P.M. Lunch, bingo and prizes 8601 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park Emanuel “Chris” WELCH SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 7th District Covid 19 Vaccinations and Flu Shots will be available. 10 A.M. to Noon Visit with vendors and service providers for free health screenings and resources for seniors and veterans, including free help with drafting wills and estate plans Noon to 2 P.M. Lunch, bingo and prizes 8601 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park Emanuel “Chris” WELCH SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 7th District STATE REPRESENTATIVE Covid 19 Vaccinations and Flu Shots will be available. 10 A.M. to Noon Visit with vendors and service providers for free health screenings and resources for seniors and veterans, including free help with drafting wills and estate plans Noon to 2 P.M. Lunch, bingo and prizes Proviso Mathematics & Science Academy 8601 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Emanuel “Chris” WELCH SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 7th District STATE REPRESENTATIVE www.emanuelchriswelch.com Covid 19 Vaccinations and Flu Shots will be available. For more information, please contact Rep. Welch’s constituent service office at 708-450-1000 or RepWelch@EmanuelChrisWelch.com www.emanuelchriswelch.com STATE REPRESENTATIVE www.emanuelchriswelch.comFor more information, please contact Rep. Welch’s constituent service office at 708-450-1000 or RepWelch@EmanuelChrisWelch.com at 708-450-1000 or RepWelch@EmanuelChrisWelch.comwww.emanuelchriswelch.com
Proviso Mathematics & Science AcademySaturday, October 22, 2022 8601 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. 10 A.M. to Noon Visit with vendors and service providers for free health Proviso Mathematics & Science Academy 8601 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park screenings and resources for seniors and veterans, including free help with drafting wills and estate plans 10 A.M. to Noon Visit with vendors and service providers for free health screenings and resources for seniors and veterans, including Noon to 2 P.M.free help with drafting wills and estate plans Noon to 2 P.M. Lunch, bingo and prizes Lunch, bingo and prizes Covid 19
Covid 19 Vaccinations and Flu Shots will be available. Vaccinations and Flu Shots will be available. Emanuel “Chris” WELCH SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 7th District STATE REPRESENTATIVE Emanuel “Chris” WELCH SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 7th District STATE REPRESENTATIVE www.emanuelchriswelch.comwww.emanuelchriswelch.com
For more information, please contact Rep. Welch’s constituent service office at 708-450-1000 or RepWelch@EmanuelChrisWelch.com For more information, please contact Rep. Welch’s constituent service office at 708-450-1000 or RepWelch@EmanuelChrisWelch.com
Bailando celebrates Latino culture this Saturday
Dancing in the street, or at least Constitution Court
By TOM HOLMES
Contributing Reporter
Forest Park residents and visitors will have a chance to dance to salsa, merengue and machete music in Constitution Court on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at an event celebrating Latino culture.
Solskin Gomez-Krogh, a Forest Park resident and member of the Bailando En Las Calles event planning team, said, “We will be celebrating Hispanic culture in various family-friendly activities and through music and dance. We will have a balloon artist for the little ones. We will have DJ music by DJ Budha, dance lessons from Extreme Latin Dance AniaMK, and live music by Grupo Bachateame.
Forest Park’s District 91 elementary schools will have activities including coloring a map of Latin America, and the library will have a booth with information.
Joana Fischer, owner of Twisted Cookie, will be at the celebration selling “a red, white and green sprinkle cookie along with some of our other popular flavors.” Connie Brown reported that Brown Cow will be “featuring our craft made super premium Avocado, Horchata & Mexican hot chocolate ice cream. We will also have a non-dairy piña colada ice cream and mango sorbet available.”
The event closes at 5 p.m. with the hope that participants will patronize a restaurant in town.
Gomez-Krogh said the primary purpose of Bailando is to celebrate Latino culture, but that the event will also be good for the village’s main business street.
Posters promoting Bailando refer to it as Volume II, because in 2019 Mayor Rory Hoskins had approached Hispanic leaders in Forest Park with the idea of having an Hispanic Pride event. The result was Bailando Vol. I which ran from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The event went on hiatus for two years because of COVID 19 and is continuing in a shortened version this year because the virus still is active although not as dangerous as it was during the height of the pandemic.
Gomez-Krogh, who is in her late forties, has an interesting bio. She was born in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico to a Mexican father and Danish mother. The family moved to the U.S. when she was nine, and she became a Forest Parker seven years ago. She has one daughter and her husband, who was born in Chicago, also identifies as Hispanic. “I love my Latino culture and how it is celebrated in Chicago,” she said when asked what motivated her to invest her time and energy into planning Bailando. She acknowledged that although Latin American cultures are certainly not monolithic, they have many things in common like the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil and Spanish spoken in the rest of Central and South America, both of which come from the Iberian Peninsula and trace their origins back to the European colonizers who came from that area and to the indigenous people already living in the Americas.
Bailando Vol. II seems to seal Hoskins’
legacy as a promoter of cultural diversity in Forest Park, because along with this Hispanic event, he initiated the Juneteenth parade and pool party as well as the gay pride event featuring seven drag queens held in Constitution Court three months ago. Mayor Hoskins said the Juneteenth Parade was a joint effort by the villages of River Forest, Maywood and Forest Park as a symbol of unity and cross community cooperation. RORY HOSKINS “We celebrate Juneteenth, Hispanic Heritage Month, St. Patrick’s Day and Pride Mayor Month because these are important American traditions,” said Hoskins. He said another reason to initiate these celebrations is because Forest Park has large Latin, Black and LGBTQ populations. “Representation matters,” he said. The committee planning the event is composed of, in addition to Gomez-Krogh, Sarah Moloney who works with the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, Joel Ortiz, Maria Maxham a Forest Park commissioner, Nurys Ucenta-Ramos who works at D91 and Rachell Entler, the mayor’s executive secretary. Looking for a taco or enchiladas a er Bailando? Mexican Republic Kitchen & Cantina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7404 Madison St. Cactus Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Harlem Ave. Tacabron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7330 Harrison St. Macho’s Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7300 Roosevelt Rd. Chirrion Mexican Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7510 Madison St. New Rebozo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7403 Madison St.
On Saturday, Oct. 15: McAdam Pumpkin-Palooza
Over the years, the McAdam PumpkinPalooza has become an annual autumn staple of fun (and free) family activities. This year is no exception, with a pumpkin patch, hayrides, ghost stories, sweet Scott McAdam Jr. treats, and pumpkin painting all in store for Saturday, October 15th at our Nursery & Garden Center, 2001 Des Plaines Ave. in Forest Park. The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and every child who comes will receive a free pumpkin. We also encourage everyone— kids and adults alike—to wear costumes. During this special occasion, we will offer huge fall discounts on all trees, shrubs, and perennials that are in stock. And for those looking to know what they can still plant, professionals will be on hand to give tips on how to winterize your garden. Particularly with plants that have been growing in the same containers all year long, this is a good time to landscape. Before next summer’s heat comes around, it’s very benefi cial to give new plantings upwards of six to eight months to get established. A half-mile south of Roosevelt Road, the McAdam Nursery & Garden Center is open until mid-November. Whether you have a question about PumpkinPalooza or anything else, we’re always just a phone call away at 708-771-2299.
2001 Des Plaines Ave. Forest Park • 708-771-2299 www.mcadamlandscape.com
