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Landmark’s Top 10
Vol. 40, No. 51
Page 3
Case for Brookfield Riverside Trustee Aberdeen Marsh-Ozga is Lions’ Person of the Year dispensary heads ‘It’s easy to be inspired to village board by your surroundings Zoning commissioners voted 4-3 to approve it at a Dec. 18 meeting with nearly 40 attendees
and your neighbors in a community like Riverside,’ she says By STELLA BROWN Staff Reporter
Aberdeen Marsh-Ozga, a Riverside village trustee, described her 17 years of involvement with the village as a natural consequence of her family’s relocation. “I think people become involved in Riverside organically when they arrive here. My husband and I bought a historic home in 2001, and because it was a landmark, I had, on a couple of occasions, needed to go before the vilSee PERSON on page 14
By STELLA BROWN Staff Reporter
ERICA BENSON
Riverside trustees Alex Gallegos and Aberdeen Marsh-Ozga say a few words and introduce Village President Douglas Pollock during the 150th anniversary celebration, Jan 15.
Plans for a proposed cannabis dispensary at the corner of 31st Street and Park Avenue will go before the village board in January after planning and zoning commissioners were split on approving the application on Dec. 18. The advisory group voted 4-3 to approve a special use permit for the business at 9046 31st St., advancing the case to village trustees at their Jan. 12 See DISPENSARY on page 16
HappyHolidays!
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
Happy Holidays! 2 1 E . B U R L I N GTO N R OA D, R I V E R S I D E | 70 8 . 4 47.72 07
EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
The Landmark, December 24, 2025
Your favorite Landmark stories from 2025 This year’s highlights included multiple updates from the zoo and of course, police blotter
IN THIS ISSUE Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Interim Executive Director Max Reinsdorf
By STELLA BROWN
Staff Reporter Stella Brown
Staff Reporter
Senior Audience Manager Stacy Coleman
As 2025 draws to a close, it’s natural to reflect on the year behind us: the highs, the lows, the in-betweens. The Landmark’s newsroom is no exception. Before we get lost in the local news that will sweep Brookfield and Riverside into 2026, let’s look back on the news that our readers appreciated the most this year for a third time. According to our digital analytics, the Landmark’s website got a combined 1.25 million page views this year. Thanks to each of you for helping us reach that impressive figure.
Contributing Editor Donna Greene Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza Senior Media Strategist Lourdes Nicholls Marketing & Advertising Associate Emma Cullnan Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner EMAIL jill@oakpark.com Operations Associate Susan Babin Social Media and Digital Coordinator Maribel Barrera Special Projects Manager Susan Walker Senior Advisor Dan Haley
1. Brookfield Zoo drops second annual summer concert lineup (26,902 views) While the big names of Tonic, Third Eye Blind, Better Than Ezra and +LIVE+ may have done some of the heavy lifting with this story’s popularity, the zoo’s concert lineup announcement was the most read story of 2025. We at the Landmark hope those who attended the shows
had a great time!
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BROOKFIELD ZOO CHICAGO
This aerial shot shows the size of the crowd at a sold-out concert last year.
The Landmark is taking a week off Dear readers, A heads up that the Riverside Brookfield Landmark will not publish on Dec. 31. Yes, we are taking the final week of the year off, sending our dedicated colleagues home for the holidays, and getting recharged for all that is ahead in 2026.
If major news breaks we will be there online. Meanwhile, our deep thanks for reading and supporting our work. Hope your holidays are wonderful.
2. Retired Riverside Brookfield High School teacher faces lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of student (18,694 views) An anonymous RB grad filed a lawsuit in June against Gary Prokes, the former head of RBTV, alleging he had an illicit, sexual relationship with her while she See TOP TEN on page 10
Chair Eric Weinheimer Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson, Mary Cahillane, Steve Edwards, Judy Greffin, Horacio Mendez, Charles Meyerson, Darnell Shields, Audra Wilson
HOW TO REACH US PO Box 6670, River Forest, IL 60305 PHONE: (708) 442-6739 E-MAIL: dhaley@wjinc.com ONLINE: www.RBLandmark.com The Landmark is published digitally and in print by Growing Community Media NFP. The newspaper is available on newsstands for $1.00. A one-year subscription costs $57 within Cook County and $95 outside the county. Advertising rates may be obtained by calling our office. Periodical rate postage paid at Oak Park, IL (USPS 0019-585). Postmaster send address corrections to Landmark, PO Box 6670, River Forest, IL 60305. © 2025 Growing Community Media NFP.
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
Brookfield talks revamping parking The board heard results from a parking study conducted in April and considered changes to commuter parking By STELLA BROWN Staff Reporter
Brookfield officials are considering changing the fees, durations and rules for commuter parking after hearing the results of a parking study conducted in April. Trustees are expected to discuss the issue again on Jan. 12 before making final decisions. Noah Rife, the village’s management analyst, presented staff ’s recommended increases to the costs for commuter parking at the three Metra train stations in town on Dec. 8 at the village board’s committee of the whole meeting.
FILE
Daily parking rates would increase from $1.50 to $3 in the lot behind village hall and from $2 to $3.50 along Brookfield Avenue. Near the Congress Park station, daily rates
would go from $2.50 to $3.50 on Burlington Avenue east of Madison Avenue and to $4 on Burlington west of Madison and on the 4000 block of DuBois Boulevard.
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
Local school districts wary of delayed property tax distribution Technological issue at Cook County caused problems; schools need the funds now By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter
When will Cook County make its property tax distribution? That’s the burning question on the minds of superintendents and finance directors at Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208, Riverside School District 96 and Brookfield-La Grange Park School District 95. “We are now in a liquidity crisis,” said District 95 Superintendent Ryan Evans. “Now we have to decide to liquidate our long-term investments, which hurts us and [forces us to] take penalties on those to pay our bills. That’s a huge problem. “On top of that, we could take tax anticipation warrants, but we take interest on that and can’t recoup.” Over at District 208, Superintendent Dr. Kevin Skinkis said it has about six months of operating reserve, “but some districts are not as fortunate. “This is definitely a concern,” he said. “In November, we did an interfund loan, [from] our working cash fund to our operating funds, and that should get us through January. If we don’t have tax distribution at the end of January, we’re going to have to look into a tax anticipation warrant.” An Illinois Tax Anticipation Warrant, or TAW, bridges the time between tax levy and tax collection, allowing public entities like school districts to pay imminent expenses. Dr. Mark Kuzniewski, interim finance director for District 96, said that after December, his district “will need to look hard at where we’re at financially in January. “The hard part is the district would be
poised to make it through the month of February without needing any additional loans or tax anticipation warrants,” he said. “However, there is a process for tax anticipation warrants, [to] engage in a process to make sure we had funds on hand if the county didn’t come through.” According to Jim Thompson, director of property assessment and tax policy for the Cook County Office of the President, tax bills that were supposed to be distributed in July were delayed to November due to a technology issue involving iasWorld software from Tyler Technologies that is replacing a 1970s-era mainframe computer. Thus, “the technology implementation is the reason for the tax bill delay,” he said. “Phase II of the project is launching in late 2025, for tax administration functions,” Thompson said. “The county clerk’s office used iasWorld for their tax extension process and the treasurer’s office used it to generate and collect second-installment property tax bills.” Thompson is confident tax distribution will happen shortly, possibly before the end of the year. “The treasurer and the vendor are currently in the final stages of the project to distribute property taxes,” he said. “The disbursement should be going out in the coming days.” But if it does not, that will create more headaches for entities like District 96, Kuzniewski said. “We’re using our reserves, we’re not accruing the other interest that would be coming into the district, we’re not going to be made whole because of the loss of interest,” he said. “Most districts kind of swallow that as the cost of doing business, but when it comes to tax anticipation warrants, there are costs to doing that.” Evans said that as of last week, District 95 should have about 50% of its tax revenue; currently it has 14.9%. “Either way, I can’t operate on a sliver,” he said. The three local districts are part of the
Proviso Township School Treasurer’s Office, which provides consolidated financial services to many area districts, in order to maximize interest earnings through pooled funds investing. Evans said the office “is saying things will be fine through January. But after that, we will have to make choices.” Skinkis said he’s “optimistic this will get resolved sooner than later. “Those tax bills that recently went out, anybody who had their property taxes in escrow, those will start getting paid faster,” he said. “We’ll start getting a little bit of that coming.” Kuzniewski agreed. “There is a lot of property tax money held in escrow, many are escrowing their taxes,” he said. “If it gets resolved tomorrow or any specific day, it’s not going to take long for districts to see money coming into coffers.” Still, he said, “you lose the interest.” Nevertheless, there is a growing coalition of school districts particularly concentrated in the north shore that are banding together to place pressure on the county to release the funds. Dr. Ben Collins, superintendent of Park Ridge School District 64, addressed the county board in the public comment portion of its meeting Dec. 17. He said it’s not only the absence of property tax funds and loss of interest that is perplexing, but also a county bridge loan program that many districts, including his own, don’t qualify for because their credit rating is higher than the program requirement. “In the future, how can we work better together as a county?” Collins said. “All of our superintendents are at the whim of a vendor not doing what they are supposed to do. This is a situation that none of the districts created.” He added the solution is for districts like District 208, 96 and 95 to consider joining the coalition. “We need to stand shoulder to shoulder to get these dollars to the best of our ability,” he said.
YOUR
BEST
LIFE
withLisaCapone Holiday Warmth Wishes As the holiday season arrives, Cantata is filled with the spirit of togetherness as residents craft decorations, sing carols, and enjoy festive meals. Winter brings its charm, but it’s also a time to focus on safety and well-being. Seniors should dress warmly in layers, wear shoes with good traction, and keep walkways clear to prevent falls. Staying hydrated and checking on friends and neighbors helps everyone stay well throughout the season. For families traveling this holiday season, Cantata offers respite stays —a perfect solution to ensure loved ones are cared for while you’re away. These short-term stays provide professional support, nutritious meals, and opportunities for holiday activities in a welcoming environment. The holidays are about connection, joy, and peace of mind, and Cantata invites you to embrace the season safely while creating special memories. Happy Holidays! For more info, visit Cantata.org or call (708) 387-1030
Independent Living • Assisted Living • Memory Support Short-Term Rehab • Long-Term Care • Home Care
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
Brookfield picks 3 vendors to add to Shops in 2026
A Checklist for Planning Your Next Project Planning and implementing an upgrade to your outdoor space is a lot like planning and hosting a holiday party. You start the planning process well in advance: picking Scott your theme, shopping McAdam Jr. for items, preparing your food, decorating, and then the party arrives. Here’s a checklist for planning your upcoming project: Planning your project: - Create your wish list - Establish your budget - Schedule an initial meeting to discuss your design Decision time: - Review the design, and revise, if needed - Pick your plants/hardscape products - Execute a contract - Obtain the necessary permits (with help from your contractor, if you have one) Implementation: - The easiest step for a homeowner— this is where you get to sit back and watch your ideas come to life, while our experts do what they do best. And finally, the last and most important step: Enjoy your new outdoor space!
3 vendors will return and be open through December 2026 By STELLA BROWN Staff Reporter
Brookfield has chosen the six stores that will comprise the 2026 Brookfield Shops roster, including three returning vendors and three new ones. New Book Joy, Four Star Coffee Company and the Shop Salon & Style House will return for 2026, said Libby Popovic, Brookfield’s community development director. The Vulgar Vegan, 34Designed and Down to Earth Herbal Infusions will be new vendors for 2026. Down to Earth and 34Designed will open in May at the introductory level, Popovic said, while the three returning vendors and the Vulgar Vegan will operate at the graduate level and open in January. She said she expects a grand opening to be held in the first week of May. “What we’re looking for is operational capacity for them to open up a brick-and-mortar [location]. Think about it like high school and college,” she said of the graduate level. “We’re looking at their financials more. We’re looking at what are their sales tax revenues. We’re going more into profit and loss statements, in terms of actually scaling up to where they can logistically and realistically get a loan or a brick-and-mortar.” Organic Jewelry, Frost with Us and Rites of Wellness, the 2025 vendors who are not returning, will continue to operate on the week-
TODD BANNOR
The Brookfield Shops at Progress Park on Friday. June 6, 2025. The retail incubator is one of Brookfield’s existing economic incentive programs. ends through Dec. 31, she said. A graduation ceremony for the 2025 vendors is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2026, at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Three runners-up — vendors called Aficionadough, Makrame Green and House of Nairobi — will be given pop-up spots at Brookfield’s new French Market at Eight Corners next year, she added. “Unlike a farmers market, it’s more artisanal,” Popovic said. “They have more arts and crafts, plants. It’s a little more bougie.” She said the selection process for this year’s cohort was difficult due to the high quality of the vendors who applied.
C O R R E C T I O N A story titled “Brookfield Zoo is the backdrop to a Christmas romance movie” that ran in print on Dec. 17, 2025, misnamed the character played by Brittany Underwood. She plays Alicia, while Arti Ishak plays a character named Dana. The Landmark regrets the error.
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“We had a great, great selection this year. We had 22 [applicants], and we had to narrow it down to 12,” she said. “I was like, ‘Why don’t we have five more sheds?’” Popovic said she found the village’s first go at the retail incubator program was successful, though it wasn’t without its challenges. “Now that it’s winter, we’ve had some issues with the heating. That’s been unexpected. We might have to change the actual mechanical stuff” for next year, she said. “But it’s been great seeing the vendors. So far, they’ve done $200,000 in sales, which is great, and we don’t even have all of December in.”
Every January, the Olmsted Society hosts a free Annual Meeting for its members and the Riverside community. A brief recap of the year’s activities are presented, and the election of new Directors is held. Immediately following is an educational presentation. Please mark your calendar for Friday, January 16, 2026, 7:00 pm, at the Riverside Village Hall. Our Presenter will be David Oppenheimer, owner of Oppenheimer Gallery, who will present, “From Catesby to Audubon: Natural History Art and Olmsted’s Legacy of Nature.” Refreshments will be served. For your convenience, there will be a Membership table where you can renew your membership or join if you have not yet done so online. Please join us! Stewards of the land and Olmsted’s Plan
WE WISH YOU A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND BEST WISHES IN THE NEW YEAR!
olmstedsociety.org |
OlmstedSociety |
Olmstedsociety
The Landmark, December 24, 2025
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
Dear Landmark Readers, When our kids were young and throughout their high school years, we turned to the Landmark’s sister publication, the Wednesday Journal, and its sports section to catch up on and to celebrate the achievements of our community sports programs and teams. We will never forget one story in particular, from February 2009. Our son John was an avid basketball player, and despite various injuries and setbacks, he persevered. In a crucial matchup against Lyons Township in his junior year at OPRF, John played the game of his life. According to the Wednesday Journal, “along with a clutch three-pointer and a free throw, Weinheimer made the play of the game on a critical three-point play inside to put the Huskies up.” The excitement of that game was unforgettable. The following week, the Wednesday Journal’s lead sports story was titled “Weinheimer Who?” That headline didn’t just celebrate a game -- it celebrated resilience and community, and it highlighted the power of local journalism. Friends and neighbors reached out with congratulations, and that recognition gave John a much-needed boost of confidence. The article still hangs framed in his childhood bedroom -- a reminder of what one can achieve with perseverance and community support. This is what community journalism does. It doesn’t just report facts -- it connects us. It shines a light on the stories, big and small, that are important to the community, and it reminds us that we are important members of that community. This kind of journalism only exists because of people like you, our community. Your support of Growing Community Media ensures these stories continue to be told -- stories that inspire, unite, make us proud, and strengthen the bonds that make this community truly ours. As GCM’s Board Chair, I am excited to share that between now and the end of the year, the Board of Directors is matching all donations up to $10,000 and challenging our community to meet that match. Your gift today will go twice as far in sustaining the kind of community journalism that shows up for our kids, our neighbors, and our shared moments. Any amount helps keep these stories being told -- stories that reflect who we are, celebrate what we accomplish together, and strengthen the ties that bind this community. Thank you, Eric Weinheimer Board Chair Growing Community Media
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2025 was a year for the books
ay in and day out, Growing Community Media and its four community news titles showed up for our readers, telling the stories that mattered most and helping our villages stay informed and connected. Our small but mighty newsroom produced more than 2,000 original articles over the course of this busy year, covering everything from ICE activity and No Kings protests to local elections, our school boards and everyday life that binds our communities together. We also printed more than 400,000 newspapers across our four flags, representing 11 million pages, and delivered them directly to you or to a business nearby. For subscribers, that comes out to roughly a dollar per issue. Laid end to end, those pages would stretch over 1,000 miles, enough to cover every single street in the communities we serve. That feels fitting. Every page is hand designed by our staff, with every story placement and advertisement thoughtfully considered. But this work is not just about volume. It is about quality. This year, our publications earned dozens of honors from the Illinois Press Association. Our Forest Park Review was awarded the Kramer Trophy for best small newspaper in Illinois, one of the highest recognitions in our field. These awards reflect the care, rigor, and integrity our team brings to its work every day. Our impact extends beyond the page. Our dedicated sales team helped spotlight nearly 700 local businesses this year, connecting readers with the people and services that make our neighborhoods thrive. And just this week, as we rolled out a new digital strategy, our combined newsletter subscriptions surpassed 20,000 readers, representing a 40 percent increase over last year.
FILE
Growing Community Media staff and supporters at a community event. We do this work because we believe in it. We live in these communities. We shop at these businesses. Our kids attend these schools. Local news is not a particularly lucrative business these days, and the challenges facing nonprofit publishers continue to grow. Still, we show up. For you. For our neighbors. For our communities. As we head toward the end of the year, we are asking you, our reader, to show up for us. If you have never given before, now is the time. If you supported us in the past but have not in a while, we need you now.
And if you have already contributed, thank you. Your generosity matters more than ever. These community institutions are not guaranteed to last forever. They survive only when the people who value them step forward to sustain them. Right now, your support is essential. To make this moment even more meaningful, a generous gift from our Board of Directors will match all donations now through the end of the year, doubling your impact on every dollar raised. All dollars raised up to $10,000 dollars
will be matched, doubling the impact of your gift and helping sustain this work into the year ahead. From all of us here at GCM, happy holidays. Thank you for reading, for caring about your community, and for supporting local news. If you would like to see this work continue, we hope you will consider making a contribution today. With gratitude, Max Reinsdorf Interim Executive Director
Support your community newsroom by scanning the QR code Donate at: GrowingCommunityMedia.org/donate
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
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TOP TEN
Bill’s Place returns from page 3 was his student. “Jane Doe” also sued RBHS, claiming the school failed to protect her from Prokes and to properly investigate him.
3. Brookfield Zoo will debut 3-acre primate habitat (17,136 views) The first of two well-performing zoo stories covered Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s announcement of the Bramsen Tropical Forests, an outdoor habitat for its primate that opened in July. Plans for the expansion were first unveiled in 2023.
4. Bill’s Place is coming back to Brookfield (11,846 views) The Landmark got the scoop on plans for Bill’s Place Express to open along Ogden Avenue in Brookfield, representing a return to town for the beloved eatery that opened in Brookfield in 1984 before moving to its current location in LaGrange Park in 1995. The Express location opened in September.
5. Minor found dead in Riverside’s Turtle Park (11,245 views) Police shared information about a juvenile who was found dead by apparent suicide in February in Riverside’s Turtle Park. TOP TEN continued on page 11
The Landmark, December 24, 2025
10. ‘Dripping black substance’ caused by construction errors leads Brookfield’s library to seek $1.3 million fix (5,013 views)
TOP TEN from page 10
6. Anti-Trump ‘human chain’ protest will cut through Brookfield (10,467 views) On May 18, protestors speaking out against what they called the United States’ shift toward authoritarianism took to Ogden Avenue as part of the Hands Across Chicagoland protest. While they didn’t literally link arms, protestors lined sidewalks for 30 miles from Aurora to Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, breaking the so-called human chain only where they could not stand safely.
7. Metra train kills 2nd person in Brookfield (5,659 views) Continuing with the theme that readers are drawn to crime coverage, many of you read this story from August after a Metra train killed a male pedestrian at the Prairie Avenue crossing. He was the second person to be killed in 2025 after a 75-year-old was struck at the Maple Avenue crossing in April. The Cook County medical examiner’s office called the 75-year-old man’s death a suicide.
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Demonstrators approach Maple Avenue as they march down Ogden Avenue in Brookfield on June 11, 2020.
8. Orland Park man charged in 9. Brookfield boy, 8, shot fatally Brookfield shooting (5,328 views) in Wisconsin (5,289 views) In January, we first covered what police called a “domestic-related” shooting before updating the story after the person responsible for injuring a man turned himself into the Brookfield Police Department.
This brief story recounted the death of an eight-year-old Brookfield boy, Michael Meagher, according to news and police reports. The Landmark wrote a more in-depth story about Michael the next month after speaking with his family.
The Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library sought reimbursement out of court for an estimated $1.3 million worth of repairs that are necessary after a “black substance” had been dripping from the library’s exterior since its construction in July 2021. The substance was found to be a result of the products used to seal the library’s walls, which liquefied after coming into contact with each other at high temperatures. Thanks for checking out this roundup and for reading the Landmark all year long. If any of these stories are piquing your curiosity as we head into 2026 — or if you have another story you think the Landmark ought to cover — don’t hesitate to reach out with suggestions, tips or just to say hello at stella@rblandmark.com.
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
PARKING STUDY
Fewer commuter spaces from page 4 per month to different rates for residents and non-residents. At the downtown Brookfield station, residents would pay $45 per month while non-residents would pay $55. At the Hollywood and Congress Park stations, those numbers would jump to $55 for residents and $65 for non-residents. And for quarterly permits spanning three months, the cost would increase from $90 to $130 for residents and $160 for nonresidents at the Brookfield station and to $160 for residents and $190 for non-residents at Hollywood and Congress Park. Rife said there is an incentive for commuters to opt for monthly permits over daily under the current fee structure, but the new costs would create a greater incentive to purchase quarterly permits and save money compared to the monthly rates. He presented multiple proposals for rezoning various parking areas around Brookfield’s commuter stations, includ-
ing unifying the hours across all three stations where parking spots are reserved for commuters. On Burlington Avenue, where commuter spots are reserved from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Brookfield Avenue, where they’re reserved from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., the spots would instead be reserved from 5:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. “[This] allows the majority of commuters to claim their space and get to work while also benefiting our downtown and other commercial districts across the train tracks. People not waiting until 2 p.m. or 7 p.m. to park in the spaces, it allows us to better utilize the vast parking we have,” Rife said. “Most commuters are there by 11, so there’s no reason to be reserving these spots for commuters that aren’t going to come, that aren’t coming right now,” added Village Manager Tim Wiberg. “Open them up at 11 o’clock, so businesses can [benefit].” Due to the length of the combined, regular and committee of the whole meetings, which started at 6:30 p.m., ended around 10 p.m. and were followed by a private executive session, trustees agreed to push finding a group consensus on the litany of proposed changes
until their first meeting in January.
Downtown parking study The presentation on proposed commuter parking changes came after trustees heard results of a parking study of downtown Brookfield that was completed in April. Javier Millan, a principal at KLOA, Inc., the firm that conducted the study, said Brookfield has about 827 parking spaces downtown, about two-thirds of which comprise street parking while the remainder are spaces in private parking lots. On Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12, KLOA recorded the number of occupied parking spaces each hour from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. He said at peak times, usually around 8 or 9 p.m., only 45% to 50% of on-street parking spots were occupied. “It appears that there is plenty of parking. Notwithstanding this, we actually found there were a few segments of on-street parking that had a parking utilization of 95% or 100%, meaning that it was fully occupied,” he said. Millan said KLOA recommended increasing the visibility and accessibility of street parking, including additional
wayfinding signage, along Brookfield Avenue to alleviate the perception of a lack of parking around downtown, where Grand Boulevard has the highest demand. He also recommended amending the exclusivity of certain spaces along Brookfield Avenue to commuters, instead allowing anyone to park there at most times. “The majority of these parking spaces are assigned for commuter permit parking from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; however, the commuter parking demand does not warrant the need for those spaces. As such, it is our recommendation to reassign approximately 71 of those spaces and assign them as four-hour from 8 [a.m.] to 6 p.m.,” he said. He said staff from other villages that KLOA reached out to reported four-hour parking to be better than three- or twohour parking, as it gives people more flexibility and allows them to patronize multiple businesses without feeling pressured to move their car or leave. “Give them the chance to actually explore your downtown area,” he said. “I think this would be an ideal place to provide that four-hour [parking].”
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
PERSON
Marsh-Ozga honored from page 1 lage’s preservation commission to get various projects that impacted the exterior vetted and approved,” she told the Landmark. “After doing this a few times, I thought, ‘I could really lend some expertise at this point,’ after having been through a few projects.” Joining the preservation group around 2008 — and staying a member “in excess of 13 years,” she said — caused a butterfly effect that led to her being named the Lions Club’s Person of the Year for 2025. Marsh-Ozga graduated from the preservation commission and became a village trustee in 2021. “Having built up a level of expertise in a variety of fields, ranging from preservation to tourism and a general familiarity with how infrastructure projects in the village worked through my experience on the preservation commission, all of those things together, and having
done them for so many years, made it a natural fit,” she said. “I’ve always been very engaged with community. I really look forward to every opportunity I have to sit down and talk to people.” For the past couple of years, she’s been a co-chair of Riverside’s ad-hoc sesquicentennial planning commission alongside Trustee Alex Gallegos, leading the charge to plan the village’s celebrations for its 150th anniversary this year. “I think Riverside is incredibly special. It was designed by Olmsted. It’s a National Historic Landmark. It is filled with amazing architecture and natural resources and wonderful people, and it, in my mind, had not been celebrated nearly enough,” she said. “It’s truly uniquely special, and I felt like 150 years of not just surviving but thriving is really worth celebrating, and it’s worth celebrating widely and as long as possible.” Together with a temporary assembly of volunteers, Marsh-Ozga and Gallegos planned a range of events and activities, including the sale of old street signs, an opening ceremony in January and a Homecoming Weekend in August. A closing ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 20,
2026, she said. The year’s celebrations included the creation of two original musical compositions by staff at Riverside School District 96 and the Bends in the River one-act play festival. There was also the burial of a time capsule this month that is scheduled to be opened 75 years from now in 2100. “Everyone who submitted content for the time capsule is going to receive a certificate that they can keep with their family mementos throughout the years, just so that they can remember that, in 2100, you might want to come to Riverside when they open the time capsule,” she said. “I am nothing if not a longterm planner.” At the celebratory dinner in September where she was recognized, MarshOzga said she was touched by the presence of multiple past winners, speeches made by Gallegos and her friend Jen Pacourek, and the unexpected attendance of former Village President Joe Ballerine, who resigned from his position in September 2023 to move out of state. “He walked in, and you could have knocked me over with a feather,” she
said. “It was incredible.” Looking ahead to 2026, Marsh-Ozga said she has her eyes set on implementing items from Riverside’s climate action and resilience plan as quickly as possible, especially those that have “little to no cost.” She also hopes to engage the public as the board works toward approving a new public safety facility that will include community spaces. “Those are conversations that are going to be really interesting and important. We’re having Williams architects draw up some preliminary plans that can be shared and workshopped, and we would like as many people to weigh in on that as possible,” she said. It’s going to be a space for all of us, for all of Riverside, for the future, and it’s really something that is long overdue in terms of our public safety needs.” Overall, she said she’s thankful for the strong community Riverside has developed. “I would just like to thank everybody for being here,” she said. “Sometimes, on the spot, it’s hard to put all those sentiments into words, but it’s easy to be inspired by your surroundings and your neighbors in a community like Riverside.”
The Landmark, December 24, 2025
P O L I C E
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
R E P O R T S
ELECTRICAL
ELECTRICAL
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Man arrested for no license, no insurance Brookfield police arrested a 27-year-old Burbank man on Dec. 10. Around 11 p.m., an officer was sitting on patrol in a parking lot when they saw a gray Honda ignore the stop sign at the intersection of Grand Boulevard and Washington Avenue at Eight Corners. The officer turned on their emergency lights and initiated a traffic stop on the 3400 block of Grand. The officer made contact with the driver, who said he did not have his driver’s license on his person, though he provided the officer with his name. The officer ran his information through the police database and learned his license had been suspended since September 2020. The man provided proof of insurance that showed the insurance had expired more than a year ago. The officer told the man he would be cited for disregarding a stop sign, driving on a suspended license and operating an uninsured vehicle and that his car would be towed. Due to the cold weather, the officer suggested transporting the man to the police department to wait for a ride rather than leaving him outside, to which the man agreed. Police set a Jan. 13, 2026, court date for the man and he was allowed to go on his way.
Possible attempted theft Brookfield police on Dec. 10 responded to a report of a theft from a vehicle. No one was arrested. Around 10:52 p.m., an officer was dispatched on the report to the intersection of Southview and Oak avenues, where they
found a white box truck operated by Five Star Energy Services that had been working on the village’s sewers, police said. The officer spoke with the driver, who said he had been in a room in the box of the truck with the door closed when he noticed two men inside the rest of the box, one of whom had his hand on a piece of camera equipment. The man said he opened the door and told them to leave, after which he followed them north on Oak Avenue to the alleyway north of Southview Avenue. There, they got into a white SUV that left to the south on Sunnyside Avenue, the man told police. The man could only describe the men’s clothes to the officer and said the box truck did not have cameras. The man agreed to sign a complaint if police could find the two men in question. According to police, the officer checked the intersection for cameras and found none, and two Ring cameras in the neighborhood did not capture any relevant footage. These items were obtained from the Brookfield Police Department reports dated Dec. 8-15; they represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
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ter, and chief operations officer William Laws IV, his son. According to the business plan included in the agenda packet for the meeting, Amber Laws and William Laws IV “will be intricately involved in daily operations,” and Prolific will be “deeply connected to the village of Brookfield while supporting neighboring communities” and participating in local community events. At the meeting, residents gave public comment both in support of and in opposition to the proposed dispensary. Many of those who spoke against it expressed fears of increased traffic along 31st Street and at an intersection many said is already known to be dangerous and difficult to cross, while those who spoke for it decried fearmongering about the negative optics associated with cannabis use. After public comment concluded, Evans expressed frustration at some residents’ requests for the petitioners to look to put the dispensary elsewhere and noted the location has been vacant since 2019. “If I think back to my three years on the board here, the two most populated meetings [were] this one and when we tried to put a daycare there. Both had [people saying], ‘Don’t put it there because it’s a problem,’ so I’m not sure what becomes not a problem for that location,” he said. “We keep hearing that each of the things that comes to us poses challenges, and that’s the truth. Any new business is going to pose challenges to every neighborhood that it goes into.” He said he was still against allowing the special use at this location due to its proximity to residences, including three apartments on the second floor of the mixed-use building. “If it’s a dangerous intersection for a [nearby] Montessori school or for a dispensary or for just about anything else, then nothing could go there,” Straka said. “It’d be a forever-vacant property, so that’s not a good enough reason to deny recommendation for this business.”
The Landmark, December 24, 2025
2025 Special Advertising Section
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The Landmark, December 24, 2025
OBITUARIES
Diana Algminas, 85 School psychologist Diana A. Algminas (nee Radys), 85, of Brookfield, formerly of Riverside, died on Dec. 19, 2025. Born on March 4, 1939 in Kaunas, Lithuania, she retired as a school psychologist. Diana was the wife of the late Arvydas Algminas, the aunt of Audra (Brian) Ebling and Kristina (Joe) McGann and the great-aunt of Everett Ebling, August Ebling and Dalia McGann. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 6 from 10 a.m. until the funeral service, 11:30 a.m. at Kuratko-Nosek Funeral Home, 2447 S. Desplaines Ave., North Riverside. Interment private at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Elwood. Online condolences, photos and memories may be shared with the family at www.KuratkoNosek.com.
Ray Kalebic, 91 The singing bus driver Raymond (Ray) Joseph Kalebic, 91, of North Riverside, died on Dec. 11, 2025 at Loyola Hospital in Maywood. Born on May 25, 1934, in Chicago, he proudly served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, stationed in Puer-
to Rico as a communications and electronics specialist. He built his career in the trucking industry through determination and hard work, advancing from truck driver to dispatcher, and ultimately becoming a company owner and head of operations of Personalized Pick-Service, the largest unionized trucking company in Chicago at the time. He was known for treating his employees fairly and ensuring they received generous Christmas bonuses each year. After retiring from trucking, he began a second career as a tour bus driver, finally retiring at the age of 85. Passengers frequently requested him as “the singing bus driver,” as he loved to sing and play guitar during trips. He also used his voice as a cantor at Mater Christi Catholic Church. Throughout his life, he reveled in boating and water sports with his family, especially in Phelps, Wisconsin, where he owned vacation property on North Twin Lake. In recent years, he was an active member of three local pinochle card-playing groups, valuing the friendships he formed there. Ray is survived by his wife, Jarmila (Drobilek) Kalebic; his son, David Ray Kalebic; his daughter, Debora (Kalebic) Wilhelm-Tozer; his grandson, Matthew Wilhelm; and his granddaughter,
Kelly Wilhelm. A private burial will be held at Fort Sheridan National Cemetery. A memorial Mass will be celebrated at a later date. Online condolences, photos and memories may be shared with the family at www.KuratkoNosek.com.
William Nelson, 92 Family practice physician William J. Nelson MD, a 65-year resident of Riverside, died peacefully surrounded by his children on Dec. 19, 2025. Born in Chicago on Aug. 3, 1933 to Julius and Pearl Nelson, he was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Julius “Skip” Nelson; and his sister, Rita Jankowski. Grandpa Nelson, also known to many as Doc Nelson, was witty, committed and passionate about his family and the families he cared for in his medical practice. His compassion, tenacity, critical-thinking skills and humor were gently and uniquely woven into both his personal and professional life. A lifelong educator, he became director of the LaGrange Hospital family practice residency program in 1975 and dedicated himself to growing the family practice medicine profession
in the community. Over the course of decades, he trained hundreds of physicians, including two of his sons. The residency program continues to thrive and produce family practitioners. He was a dog lover and devoted Chicago Bears fan, but his most prized possession was the family he raised with the love of his wife, Shirley Ann, who preceded him in death. Together, they were blessed with nine children — including two daughters who died as babies — and seven children, Ken (Karen), Bill, Tom (Anne), Jim (Marci), Rick (Maggie), Lori (Armando) Saltiel, and Tim (Ofe); 19 grandchildren, Nicole (Jon) Utz, Jessica Saltiel-Bodnar (Steven), Cody (Yuliya), Justin (Casey), Julianne (Phil) Pedi, Jennifer Saltiel, David, Sarah (Joshua) Paseka, Jerett, Armando Saltiel, Jonathan (Anna) Nelson, Candice, Kim (Alex) Furth, Paige, Marlea, Hannah (Bill) Barry, Joseph (Angela) Nelson, and Eduardo and Sophia Lopez; as well as 18 great-grandchildren, Rylie, Jackson, Logan and Avery Utz, Gabriella, Julia, and Benjamin Pedi, Noah and Charlotte Nelson, Kendall and Finn Furth, Fiodora and Shai Nelson, Nolan Barry, Penelope Paseka, Rose Nelson, Connor and Isabelle Nelson, and baby Paseka on the way. His legacy lives on through his family, the physicians he mentored, and the many people whose lives he touched. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to Game Changers FTS, www.gamechangersfts. com. Through its Be Healed retreats, led by Father Burke Masters, the ministry helps men and women find freedom and wholeness. Visitation will be held on Friday, Dec. 26 from 11 a.m. until the funeral Mass at noon at St. Isaac Jogues Church in Hinsdale. Arrangements were handled by Kuratko-Nosek Funeral Home. Online condolences, photos and memories may be shared with the family at www. KuratkoNosek.com.
Sports
The Landmark, December 24, 2025
19
Tough shooting night hurts Bulldogs at Glenbard East
compete at York’s 16-team Jack Tosh HoliRBHS suffers first UEC day Classic, which starts Friday, Dec. 26. The Bulldogs open with Andrew (5-7) at East loss; LTHS boys win 6:30 p.m. LTHS plays South Elgin (3-7) at 9 a.m. and could meet Fenwick (4-6) in Saturon Smith’s buzzer-beater day’s second round. RBHS trailed Glenbard East 50-48 entering the fourth quarter. The Rams (9-1, 5-0) Contributing Reporter opened with a three and pulled ahead 57-50 with inside and fast-break baskets. Riverside Brookfield High School senior Enright scored to cut the deficit to 57-52 and returning starter Liam Enright has with 5:02 left, but the Bulldogs never got progressed to find and take more shots this closer. Described by Reingruber as “a gym basketball season. rat,” Enright had a personal-best 19 points “I just feel like I have the ability to do it with 5 threes against Fenton a little bit more,” Enright said. Dec. 5. “Last year I didn’t want to get “Motion-offense wise, (Glenon the court and get yelled at. bard East) was really our best This year I definitely feel more game. But we did miss a good confident. Every shot I take, I amount of shots,” Enright said. try to do with intention.” “That’s all going to clean up.” The Bulldogs created many RBHS scored the last 10 points shots they wanted in Friday’s of the first half. Glenbard East early-season showdown at opened the third quarter with Glenbard East, but not consissix points to lead 38-36 and tently making three-pointers ended it with a buzzer-beating was a key factor in the 70-58 loss LIAM ENRIGHT rare three from Keenan House between last season’s Upstate (game-high 19 points). South Eight Conference East Division co-cham- Dakota recruit Michael Nee (16 points) pions. was among three more seniors in double Cameron Mercer (15 points with 2 three- figures. pointers), Enright (10 points, 10 rebounds, Last season, the teams shared first in the 7 assists), Noah VanTholen (10 points, 6 as- UEC East at 11-1. The home team won both sists, 5 rebounds), Ben Biskupic and Walk- times. er Burns (8 points each) and Colin Cimino “I felt like they did a better job of getting (5 rebounds) led the Bulldogs (7-3, 4-1 in loose balls and stuff like that in the second UEC East). half, all correctable stuff. We’ll be ready for RBHS made 21 of 55 shots (38 percent) them [at home Feb. 3],” Reingruber said. but were 3 for 22 from three-point range (14 RBHS beat Elmwood Park 63-26, Dec. 16, percent) and 0 for 11 in the second half af- and lost to Leo 68-50, Dec. 13, at Mt. Carmel. ter owning a 36-32 halftime lead. Mercer had 22 points, eight rebounds and “That’s uncharacteristic for us. We’re seven steals against Elmwood Park and 25 better than that,” RBHS coach Mike Re- points with five threes against Leo. Cimino ingruber said. “The opportunities were (11 points, 6 rebounds) and Hunter Twitty there. I thought we ran good offense. We’ve (9 points) also contributed against Elmjust got to step up and make shots. We’re wood Park. going to be fine as the year goes on. We just The Lions won 49-47 at Glenbard West didn’t make them [Friday].” Friday on Grant Smith’s buzzer-beating The Bulldogs and Lyons Township (7-2) shot to move to 3-0 in the West Suburban
By BILL STONE
STEVE JOHNSTON
RBHS’s Cameron Mercer (5) puts up a hook shot over Fenwick’s Luke Vonglukiat (12) during the RBHS Vandemerkt Tournament, Nov. 28, in Riverside. Conference Silver Division and lost 57-48 at Sandburg Saturday. After an LTHS timeout with 4.1 seconds left, Timmy Sloan inbounded to Smith, who drove from the top of the key to sink a falling jumper from right of the lane against two defenders. The Hilltoppers (2-5, 1-1) played for the last shot and took timeouts with 58.7 and 20.0 seconds, but Sloan stole the inbounds pass to Josh Abushanab (23 points). Owen Carroll (12 points with 2 threes, 7 rebounds) and Smith (11 points, 6 rebounds) fueled the Lions. Sloan (5 assists, 5 rebounds), Nate Woods and Blake Ragsdale each had eight points. The Lions’ switch to man-to-man defense helped to turn a 21-8 second-quarter deficit into a 36-30 third-quarter lead. Woods’ jumper tied the game at 47 with 2:09 left. At Sandburg, Smith’s inside basket with 5:25 left gave LTHS a 45-42 lead but the Eagles (6-2) then scored 10 unanswered points.
Girls basketball Senior guard and fourth-year varsity player Avery Mezan often provides the giving spirit for the Lyons Township girls basketball team with several assists as well
as making and creating steals. On Monday, Mezan added eight points, including a third-quarter three-pointer, as the Lions defeated Merrillville (Ind.) 58-34 to begin the Montini Christmas Tournament. LTHS (10-2) played Prospect (7-5) in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. Third at Montini last season, the area-ranked Lions continue seeking improvement. Emma O’Brien (20 points), named by the tournament as the Lions’ Player of the Game, and Gwen Smith (17 points) reached double figures. O’Brien was coming off her best overall game this season Friday in the Lions’ 60-52 home loss to WSC Silver leader Glenbard West with 30 points and numerous steals, blocks and rebounds. Smith added 11 points and senior Anna Bigenwald had six. The defending champion Lions now are third in the WSC Silver at 3-2 behind the Hilltoppers and Downers North (13-1, 4-1). “My goal is keeping them on the floor without getting into foul trouble,” Hutchens said. The RBHS girls (4-8, 3-3 in UEC East) return to the Sandburg Tournament Dec. 27, 29-30. They open playing Andrew (6-4) and Hope Academy or Plainfield East Saturday.
20
The Landmark, December 24, 2025
S P O R T S
Senior Gonzalez makes impact as RBHS wrestling newcomer O’Connor second at Erb Invite; Lions’ Powell wins again at Whitlatch
By BILL STONE
the Upstate Eight Conference East Division with its next dual at home, Jan. 7, against defending champion Glenbard East. Sophomore Riley Cavaliere (10-7 at 106) is Riverside Brookfield High School’s Izaiah Gonzalez has comfortably handled the among other newer varsity faces off to an entransition to not only a new school as a senior couraging start. “We just have some young, inbut a new boys wrestling program. experienced guys in the lineup. Gonzalez moved to LaGrange Park We’re progressing, but at the same before the school year after attendtime we’re going to take some ing Bremen in Midlothian. lumps,” RBHS coach Nick Curby “Everything’s kind of the same, said. “We know we have some same expectations, still working time with some of these [younger] hard,” Gonzalez said. “Everyguys to get better. They’re workthing’s still the same, great coaching hard in practice. We always es. Everything’s great.” talk about February [postseason] One thing certainly hasn’t is when we want to be our best.” changed. Gonzalez is a contender IZAIAH GONZALEZ Gonzalez has been a 132 individto qualify for Class 2A state in ual sectional qualifier the past two the 132-pound weight class. On Saturday, he was among the Bulldogs’ six seasons. Not knowing he was moving at the place winners at Glenbrook South’s Rus Erb time, Gonzalez and the Bulldogs have comTournament. The Bulldogs were eighth (96.5 peted at the same Hinsdale South Sectional. points). Senior Nick O’Connor (13-2 season Last season, he was 20-6 with a 0-2 sectional record) was second at 175, losing 9-5 to Evan- record. As a sophomore, he was 29-6 and 2-2 at ston’s Diego Lopez (17-1) in the final after a 7-2 sectionals, one backdraw victory from qualifying for state. decision and pin in his two victories. “I’m just going out every match, trying to Gonzalez (14-2 at 132) and junior Tony Lombardo (13-3 at 138) both finished third. work my moves,” he said. “I know I could Seniors Gerald Evans (12-7 at 190), Miles have done better in other matches (this seaRussell-Barnes (8-8 at 113) and Joey Alberts son) but I’m still working to be the best I can (6-9 at 215) were sixth. Gonzalez is a welcome at the state (series). I’m just trying to go as far addition for a team that graduated most of its as I can go.” Curby said he’s also pleased that Gonzalez regional championship lineup. RBHS is 3-0 in Contributing Reporter
STEVE JOHNSTON
Lyons’ Griff Powell wrestles Lincoln-Way West’s Shane Stream at 138 pounds during the Championship match at the 59th Annual Rex Whitlach Invitational, Dec. 20. has stepped up as a leader even as a program newcomer. “I try to make everyone around me better,” Gonzalez said. “It’s not only me. If I make the other people better around me, then they can help me get better also.”
LTHS boys wrestling
STEVE JOHNSTON
RBHS’s Colin Tomkins wrestles Elgin’s Jayden Edgar at 144 pounds during a Upstate 8 Conference match, Dec. 17
Last season, Lyons Township senior Griff Powell was excited just about capturing his first title at Hinsdale Central’s Rex Whitlatch Invitational at 132 pounds. On Saturday, Powell was more enthused about dominating. The repeat champion and Illinois recruit improved to 18-0 at 138 with his four victories being a 14-3 major decision in the final over Lincoln-Way West junior Shane Stream (14-3) after two technical falls (22-5 and 19-4) and a first-period pin. “It was pretty nice, just knowing that I could do it again, knowing that I’ve separated myself from the other competition,” Powell said. “I’m getting better, trying to get ready for that next level of college (wrestling).” Senior Jimmy Hillmann of Brookfield (16-3) was second at 285, having to take an injury default to Downers Grove North senior Colin Murphy (15-1) after the second period
and trailing 6-2. Senior Luke Wilhelm (15-6 at 190) was seventh and senior Cornell Fennessee (12-7 at 165) was eighth. The Lions were 14th (102 points). The Whitlatch Invite always features numerous state-ranked wrestlers and great competition. Powell currently is ranked No. 2 in 3A behind Marmion’s Zach Stewart, the 2023 state champion at 138 and second at 144 last year. Stream is No. 5. Losses for Wilhelm and Fennessee were to defending state champions from Illinois and Neenah (Wis.), respectively. “The Whitlatch this year was very competitive. All of the weights had multiple stateranked guys,” said LTHS coach Griff Powell, also father of the 138 champion. “[Griff] really started to distance himself from a lot of the competition. He’s wrestling well.” Hillmann reached the final with three wins by decision — 7-2, 7-1 and 10-6 in the semifinals. He is expected to compete at next week’s DeKalb Invite Dec. 29-30. “I went in for the takedown (against Murphy) and couldn’t finish,” Hillmann said. “I had a great day, honestly, one of the best days of wrestling I’ve ever had. I’m actually learning how to wrestle instead of just trying to throw people. It just didn’t end how I wanted it to.”
S P O R T S
The Landmark, December 24, 2025
21
First full lineup adds up to RBHS girls wrestling win Invite titles for Villagomez, Bejarano, Lions’ Turek, Wickert-Harris
By BILL STONE Contributing Reporter
Senior Zuleyka Echevarria started out planning to serve as manager for the Riverside Brookfield High School wrestling teams. Her interest and quest to be involved now has her competing. “I was a manager for a good three weeks. But then I got convinced and [RBHS girls coach Dan Verr] knew I wanted to do wrestling,” Echevarria said. “I still record because I have ESTEFANY BEJARANO good angles whenever I’m next to the coaches [on the sidelines], but I’m not a manager anymore. I’m a wrestler.” Echevarria’s decision is among the reasons the girls team made history while
beating visiting Glenbard South, Dec. 11. In their fourth official season, the Bulldogs had wrestlers for all 14 weight classes in a match for the first time after coming as close as 12 in Verr’s memory. They also won a 42-42 tie on criteria by receiving two forfeits while having none with the full lineup. “Having everyone have their own match, have their own spotlight and everybody being a participant was a big deal,” said Echevarria (2-2) after the Bulldogs’ 72-12 win over Elgin Dec. 17. M’GELINA BRITO “It was a very proud moment. We were very happy about it and especially for me (I was) because it’s my first year.” Seniors Heidi Velazquez (115) and Danely Villagomez (155), junior Emily Anaya
STEVE JOHNSTON
RBHS’s Heidi Velazquez wrestles Elgin’s Valeria Guzman at 115 pounds during an Upstate 8 Conference match, Dec. 17, in Riverside.
STEVE JOHNSTON
RBHS’s Estefany Bejarano wrestles Elgin’s Esperanza Morales at 190 pounds.
(170) and sophomores Valerie Galvez (110) and Chloe Gonzalez (125) won with pins. Junior Erica Hill (235) and freshman Gia Esposito (190) received forfeits. Galvez, who nearly considered not finishing the season, trailed when she pinned her opponent. Junior M’Gelina Brito, another team newcomer, competes in the lightest weight class at 100. “[Echevarria and Brito] were talked into [wrestling] and without them, we wouldn’t have a full lineup.” Verr said. “I’m super-proud of [Galvez] because wrestling’s a tough sport. Making that decision [to continue], the whole team benefitted by winning that dual. It really is a team effort and that’s what I’m trying to instill in these girls.” Echevarria also plays badminton. Brito played junior varsity soccer last season. “My friends really wanted me to join [wrestling] and then when I got to the open mats and stuff, I realized that I really liked it,” Brito said. “It’s been really fun, really enjoyable. I’m just happy to be part of that
[full lineup] experience.” On Saturday, senior Estefany Bejarano (190) and Villagomez (155) were champions at the Lady of Lane Tournament. Villagomez won her title with a pin in just 11 seconds after two pins and a 1-0 victory in her opener. Bejarano won her title with a pin in 2:38 following pins in her other three matches. Velazquez (115) was fifth and Echevarria (135), Anaya (170) and Hill (235) were sixth. The Bulldogs finished fifth (125 points).
LTHS girls wrestling Lyons Township senior Sofia Turek (135) and sophomore Jhania Wickert-Harris (105) were repeat champions in the same weight classes at the Lakes Snow Brawl Friday. Both won their title matches by pin. Junior Zoe Connelly (125) was second, sophomore Mariah Zalapa (110) was third and junior Mari Sorce (130) and sophomore Gabby Jackson (140) were fourth. The Lions were fourth (100.5 points).
22 The Landmark, December 24, 2025 HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI • Deadline: Monday at 5 p.m.
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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION US BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR VRMTG ASSET TRUST Plaintiff vs. UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF WILLIE G. HENRY; FLORENCETTA HENRY; TCF NATIONAL BANK; ANITA HENRY; COURTNEY HENRY; EBONEE HENRY; MERCEDES HENRY; TIARA HENRY; JACK LYDON, AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF WILLIE G. HENRY; UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF FLORENCETTA HENRY, IF ANY; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON RECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendant 17 CH 13529 Calendar 61 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on January 13, 2026, at the hour 11:00 a.m., Intercounty’s office, 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, IL 60602, sell, in person, to the highest bidder for cash, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-09-315-063-0000. Commonly known as 635 Rice Avenue, Bellwood, IL 60104. The real estate is: single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: If sold to anyone other than the plaintiff, 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, in certified funds or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition. IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER THE ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701¬© OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Codilis
& Associates, P.C., 15W030 North Frontage Road, Suite 100, Burr Ridge, IL 60527. (630) 794-5300. 14-23-01315 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3277542
of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g) (4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 151701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, contact HEAVNER, BEYERS & MIHLAR, LLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 601 E. William St., DECATUR, IL, 62523 (217) 4221719. Please refer to file number 2044189. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc. com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. HEAVNER, BEYERS & MIHLAR, LLC 601 E. William St. DECATUR IL, 62523 217-422-1719 Fax #: 217-422-1754 E-Mail: CookPleadings@hsbattys. com Attorney File No. 2044189 Attorney Code. 40387 Case Number: 25 CH 04295 TJSC#: 45-2279 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Case # 25 CH 04295 I3277709
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Plaintiff, -v.CHARLES S TRNKA, UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DEVISEES OF GEORGIANA M. TRNKA, DECEASED, UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS AND LIENHOLDERS AGAINST THE ESTATE OF GEORGIANA M. TRNKA, DECEASED, UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS AND LIENHOLDERS AGAINST THE UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DEVISEES OF GEORGIANA M. TRNKA, DECEASED, SUSAN R WEAVER, SHERYL L TRNKA, ILLINOIS HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, CARY ROSENTHAL, AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF GEORGIANA M. TRNKA, DECEASED Defendants 25 CH 04295 1811 DOWNING AVE. WESTCHESTER, IL 60154 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on September 5, 2025, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 6, 2026, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at public in-person sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1811 DOWNING AVE., WESTCHESTER, IL 60154 Property Index No. 15-20-403016-0000 The real estate is improved with a single family residence. The judgment amount was $206,676.20. Sale terms: If sold to anyone other than the Plaintiff, 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in ‘’AS IS’’ condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition
PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICE ANNUAL APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Brookfield will hold a public hearing at 6:30 P.M. on January 12, 2026, at the Village Board Room in the Municipal Building of the Village of Brookfield, 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois 60513 on the Village’s proposed appropriation ordinance, which will serve as the basis for the Village’s 2026 Annual Appropriation Ordinance. The proposed appropriation ordinance will be on file in the Village Clerk’s Office for at least ten (10) days prior to January 12, 2026, and copies thereof will be conveniently available for public examination and copying. Brigid Weber, Village Clerk Published in RB Landmark December 24, 2025
PUBLIC NOTICE Public notice is hereby given that the Board of Education of Riverside School District 96 in Riverside, Illinois will receive sealed bids for: Hauser Junior High School Window Replacement Project Copies of the Bid Documents including plans and specifications will be available starting December 15, 2025. Bidders can download electronic Drawings and Specifications from the BHFX Plan Room, www.bhfxplanroom.com. Printed sets may be ordered and paid for by the contractor. All bids offered must be accompanied by bid security in the form of certified check or bid bond made payable to the Owner in the amount of not less than ten percent (10%) of the amount of the aggregate of the bid as a guarantee that if the bid is accepted, a contract will be entered into and the performance of the contract properly secured. The successful bidder for the project is required to furnish Performance and Labor and Material Payment Bonds in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the bid amount, with sureties to be approved by the Owner, and in the form required by the Bidding Documents. The successful bidder is required to pay the general prevailing wage for work under this Contract as ascertained by the Illinois Department of Labor, and shall submit certified payroll records, in compliance with the Prevailing Wage Act (820 ILCS 130) and the requirements of the Bidding Documents. A pre-bid meeting will be held on December 22, 2025 at 8:30 AM at Hauser Junior High School, 65 Woodside Road, Riverside, IL 60546 in the Hauser Cafeteria. Bidders must allow sufficient time to register at the building prior to being permitted to proceed to the meeting location. Bids will be received until 1:00 PM, January 12, 2026, at the District office at 3440 S. Harlem Ave, Riverside, IL 60546. A public bid opening will take place afterwards at 1:00 PM, January 12, 2026 at the District office at 3440 S. Harlem Ave, Riverside, IL 60546 The Board of Education reserves the right to reject any or all bids or any part thereof. Published in RB Landmark December 24, 2025, January 7, 14, 2026
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