RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD Follow us online! rblandmark.com
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Vol. 37, No. 3
@riversidebrookfieldlandmark @riversidebrookfield_landmark
January 19, 2022
D103 takes ‘adaptive pause’ as COVID cases surge PAGE 3
Also serving North Riverside
@RBLandmark
Riverside one step closer to cannabis dispensary deal PAGE 5
Brookfield eyes hurdle for new massage businesses Code change urged after parlor employees allegedly exchanged sex for cash By BOB UPHUES Editor
In the wake of a pair of sting operations last fall revealing that employees at an Ogden Avenue massage parlor allegedly exchanged sex acts for cash, Brookfield trustees on Jan. 10 directed the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission to consider amending the zoning code to make massage business owners go through a formal hearing before they can open. The zoning code as written includes massage therapy businesses alongside physicians and dentist office, allowing them to operate “by right” in all of the village’s commercial districts. Local officials appear to want the Planning and Zoning Commission to recommend a code amendment that would make any future massage therapy businesses owner obtain a special use permit. Special use applications are subject to a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission, during which commissioners can recommend approving such a use as well as conditions for obtaining that permission. Businesses already operating in the village See MASSAGE PARLOR on page 11
BOB UPHUES/Editor
People waiting to be tested for COVID-19 line up around the pop-up site at 2704 Harlem Ave. in Riverside just before Christmas last December. After multiple complaints about such sites all around the area, authorities are beginning to take a closer look at these operations.
Complaints put pop-up COVID testing sites under scrutiny Illinois Attorney General urges caution, investigations launched By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
With the rise of COVID-19, so too came the rise of the free pop-up testing site. Offering free tests with a quick turnaround for results, the testing sites have become increasingly ubiquitous. And despite us-
ing names that would imply otherwise, the testing sites are often run by people with limited, if any, medical experience or training. Worse yet, local and state health departments have effectively zero authority over the sites to ensure the operations run efficiently. Although the sites
consistently promise a quick turnaround of test results, some patients have waited weeks to receive theirs. Others are still waiting. “I still have never received the results and never received an explanation for See TESTING SITES on page 8
Best Wishes for a Happy & Healthy New Year! THE SHEILA GENTILE GROUP LIVE LOCAL • WORK LOCAL
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