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Vol. 37, No. 52

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December 28, 2022

North Riverside police recover 2 stolen cars, arrest 3 PAGE 7

Also serving North Riverside

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RBHS boys off to good start at Tosh hoops tourney PAGE 12

2022

LTHS won’t take less than $55 million for Willow Springs land

YEAR IN REVIEW

Stormy weather

Wrapping up 2022, from climatic upheaval to tectonic political shifts SEE STORY, PAGE 4 ALEX GARCIA/Contributor

School board votes 6-0 to seek bids, which will be opened Jan. 11

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

The Lyons Township High School Board of Education has decided to sell the approximately 70-acre parcel of vacant, wooded land located in Willow Springs that it has owned for than 60 years -- if it gets an offer of at least $55 million.

LTHS will accept sealed bids for the property over the next couple of weeks and open them on Jan 11 at 1 p.m. The land will be sold to the highest bidder, as long as the bid is at least $55 million. If there is no bid See LTHS LAND on page 8

Happy New Year!

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The Landmark, December 28, 2022

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The Landmark, December 28, 2022

Ori to take helm of RBHS baseball team this spring

Former sophomore coach played minor league baseball for seven years

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

Riverside-Brookfield High School’s new head varsity baseball coach played minor league baseball for seven years.

Mark Ori, a special education teacher and instructional coach at the school, was drafted by the Houston Astros in 2005 and Mark Ori has coached sophomore baseball advanced to AA ball in 2009 before being re- and has worked as a special education leased in 2010. teacher and instructional coach at RiverThe following year, he played for an Inde- side-Brookfield High School since 2015. pendent League team before hanging up his He spent seven years playing professional spikes. Ori batted .278 in his professional cabaseball in minor leagues, with his best year reer and hit 39 home runs in 709 professional games. His best season was in 2008 when he at Class A Salem in 2008 (at right). batted .304 and hit 11 home runs for Salem in Ori, 39, had been the RBHS sophomore the Advanced Class A Carolina League. baseball coach. He said the transition to After finishing his baseball career Ori got the varsity level will be easier because a master’s degree in special education from the University of Phoenix. In addition to giv- knows most of the current varsity players.

“I coached most of these guys when they ing private baseball lessons, he worked as a were sophomores,” Ori told the paraprofessional at Maine South Landmark in a telephone interHigh School in Park Ridge and view. filled in for a maternity leave at Ori was chosen after being inan elementary school before getterviewed by an interview comting hired at RBHS in 2015. mittee consisting of Athletic While at Maine South, Ori Director Brendan Curtin, ashelped coach the Maine South sistant athletic directors Sandy baseball team with his former Czajka and Sam Styler and softcoach Bill Milano, who is the ball coach Doug Schultz. brother of current Nazareth “We are excited to have Coach baseball coach Lee Milano.

Ori heading up our baseball “I’m a baseball junkie,” Ori program” Curtin said in an said. email to the Landmark. “He In October, the RBHS school MARK ORI is passionate about the sport board unanimously approved RBHS baseball coach and coaching Bulldog baseball. hiring Ori to replace Dallas Till Coach Ori is respected by stuas the varsity baseball coach. dents and staff alike. He has Till remains on paid leave after set clear and attainable goals being accused in a lawsuit of having a sexual relationship with a student for the program and will serve as a great while a teacher and coach at Elmwood Park mentor for our student athletes.”

Ori was one of two internal candidates High School. Till officially resigned as RBHS baseball coach on Sept. 27 after not being on for the job, but the other candidate dropped out of the running shortly before intera list of approved stipends last summer.

“I want the kids to learn how to swing the bat and move guys over swinging it, steal bases.”

views were conducted. No outside applicants were considered.

He’ll be paid a stipend of $7,140 as head varsity baseball coach. In addition to coaching sophomore baseball, Ori was an assistant football coach on both the varsity and underclass levels for a few years and has served as the assistant athletic director for winter sports.

Ori was a two-time all-state baseball player at Maine South High School where he was also a standout football wide receiver.

After being recruited for both football and baseball, Ori decided to go to Northwestern University on a baseball scholarship and became the captain of the Northwestern baseball team.

After his junior year at Northwestern Ori, who was primarily a first baseman, entered the Major League Draft in 2005 and was chosen in the 14th round by the Houston Astros.

Ori said that he is typically an aggressive coach.

“I don’t like to bunt a lot unless we need a run,” Ori said. “I want the kids to learn how to swing the bat and move guys over swinging it, steal bases. I’d rather take a chance that way than giving up an out unless I’m playing for a run early or late in the game. Pitching, same thing, attack the zone.”

IN THIS ISSUE Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Kosey Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Police reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Editor Bob Uphues Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Michael Romain Digital Publishing & Technology Manager Briana Higgins Staff Photographers Alex Rogals, Shanel Romain Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Designer Susan McKelvey Sales and Marketing Representatives Marc Stopeck, Lourdes Nicholls, Kamil Brady Business & Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Donor Relations Manager/Food Editor Melissa Elsmo Sales & Digital Development Manager Stacy Coleman Circulation Manager Jill Wagner EMAIL jill@oakpark.com Publisher Dan Haley Special Projects Manager Susan Walker

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Judy Greffin Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer

HOW TO REACH US ADDRESS 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 PHONE 708-442-6739 ■ FAX 708-467-9066 E-MAIL buphues@rblandmark.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 $41 within Cook County and $51 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, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302. © 2022 Growing Community Media NFP.

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The Landmark, December 28, 2022

Another stormy year in the books

COVID may have receded, but there were plenty of stories to take its place

By BOB UPHUES

A

Editor

fter more than two years of political and social upheaval, June 13 was a metaphor of the times, written in wind.

The day arrived without fanfare, a back-to-work Monday with comfortable temps and a Brookfield Village Board meeting to look forward to.

It would get hot that afternoon, into the low 90s, and then things started looking dicey. At first creeping in from the northwest, a storm fueled by tornadic winds blasted across Cermak Road near 25th Avenue and zoomed IN straight into North Riverside, Brookfield and Riverside, leaving a path of destruction.

The streets, yards and greenspaces in the western part of North Riverside near Komarek School, as well as the forest preserves surrounding Caledonia Senior Living, were soon littered with fallen tree limbs and uprooted trees.

In the Hollywood section of Brookfield, trees toppled onto homes and their branches rained down. Over at Kiwanis Park, a huge oak snapped in half, falling onto the Overholt Field concession stand.

Riverside got creamed.

In the areas just north and south of the BNSF railroad tracks, in particular, the damage to trees and homes was spectacular, with old oaks snapped like toothpicks in the First Division and one huge oak essentially demolishing a house on Lawton Road.

It would take days before power was restored to the thousands of residences and businesses that lost power due to downed utility poles and lines. Cleanup would carry on for at least two weeks, with all three villages assisted by mutual-aid crews from suburban public works departments from across the

Chicago metro area as well as Cook County.

As of mid-September, Riverside officials reported having spent $680,000 on the cleanup and repair efforts and expected the total to end up closer to $750,000.

To give a sense of how bad Riverside got hit compared to its neighbors, North Riverside reported spending about $135,000 on emergency storm cleanup, most of that to a thirdparty tree service. Brookfield did not report hiring a private third-party service for emergency cleanup.

COVID, what COVID? As we exit 2022, it’s as if the pandemic never happened. Sure, you may see a masked-up person or three in the grocery store – such a vision would have seemed remarkably strange in 2019 but is simply part of the scenery now – but it’s the exception and not the rule.

But rewind the tape to the beginning of the year, and we were all still in a very different place. Schools were flashpoints for those seeking to force an end to COVID-19 protocols, specifically masking, even as public school districts were reporting numerous cases among students and staff and athletic teams went into isolation due to outbreaks -Riverside-Brookfield High School’s boys basketball team had to withdraw from the holi-

2022 YEAR REVIEW

BOB UPHUES/Editor

A large pine tree uprooted from in front of a home at the corner of Washington and McCormick avenues in Brookfield during the June 13 storm, falling on the house and damaging the roof. Tree damage was extensive on both sides of Washington Avenue from Arden Avenue to Golf Road. day tournament it was scheduled to compete in due to just such an outbreak.

But, as more and more people, especially children, became eligible for vaccines and were immunized – at least around this part of the world – fear of COVID began to ebb and a push for a return to “normal” began to pick up steam.

By late January, the surge of new COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious omicron variant had peaked and by mid-February, amid court battles over the governor’s ability to mandate masking, schools began to drop their own mandates, with all of the local school districts doing so by Feb. 28.

When it came to schools resuming classes in August for the 2022-23 school year, although COVID-19 is still a fact of life and infections not uncommon, the subjects of masking, social distancing and testing were distant blips on the radar.

COVID was over, even if it wasn’t.

North Riverside firefighters claim victory ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Students walk through Riverside-Brookfield High School between classes on Feb. 28, the first official day of the school’s “maskrecommended” policy.

If there was any one issue in North Riverside politics that divided the VIP Party powers that were and what opposition existed – mainly in the form of independent Trustee H. Bob Demopoulos – it’s been the fate of the North Riverside Fire Department’s union firefighters.

PROVIDED

North Riverside Firefighters Union President Chris Kribales (left) and Mayor Joseph Mengoni shake hands after signing a new contract that eliminated contract paramedics in October.

Elected first in 2011, Demopoulos allied himself closely with the union, which had been agitating to end the village’s contract paramedic services agreement and create a department of entirely union firefighter/ paramedics.

The union and village administration were constantly at each other’s throats, the village seeking to squeeze firefighter staffing and firefighters rolling out labor complaints by the barrel.

For the VIP administration, which ended with the defeat of Mayor Hubert Hermanek

The Landmark, December 28, 2022 Jr. in 2021, the issue was the expense a union firefighter/paramedic department would cost in the long term due to pension obligations, which prior VIP administrations had underfunded to the point of crisis.

In 2014, Hermanek turned the volume knob to 11, initiating a plan to unilaterally terminate the village’s contract with union firefighters and privatize firefighting as well as paramedic services, saying the two sides had reached the point of no return. The administration went so far as to issue termination notices to union firefighters, who sought redress in court.

North Riverside ended up losing its costly battle to terminate its union firefighters and their contract, with judge after judge siding with the firefighters, in 2018. Four years later, following the 2021 election of Mayor Joseph Mengoni, a former VIP member who was among those forming the new North Riverside United Party, the world had turned upside down.

Oct. 17, the village board voted unanimously on a new five-year contract with union firefighters that abandoned its contract paramedic service in favor of training and hiring in-house firefighter/paramedics over the next three years.

When it came to filing nominating petitions for a fourth term as village trustee earlier this month in the local elections next April, Demopoulos was not among those doing so. Job done, he apparently is riding off into the sunset, for now.

Yes, Virginia, there is a bridge You might have noticed throughout three quarters of 2021 and nearly all of 2022 that if you wanted to make a trip to Brookfield Village Hall or downtown Brookfield, you had to actually map a route.

That’s because beginning in May 2021, the village shut down the 8800 block of Brookfield Avenue to traffic in order to construct a new bridge over Salt Creek. The bridge’s superstructure was more than a century old and the 35-year-old bridge deck needed replacing.

Seemed like a routine project. It was not.

Beset by delays from almost the start, the project was shut down for six months in late 2021/early 2022 as engineers worked with the Illinois Department of Transportation and ComEd to reroute a water main and overhead electric lines through a trench that would be dug into the Salt Creek riverbed. When that work finally wrapped up in March, the jobsite went silent again for two months beginning in June when a quarry workers’ strike halted concrete supplies to jobs all over northern Illinois.

BOB UPHUES/Editor

Brookfield Village President Michael Garvey (right), assisted by 6-year-old Lucille Matthews, cuts the ribbon on the new Brookfield Avenue bridge over Salt Creek on Dec. 9.

Finally, mercifully on Dec. 9, officials cut the ribbon on the completed bridge, reopening the roadway to traffic and pedestrians.

Next job: getting a new fountain built at Eight Corners by the Fourth of July. Anyone taking odds?

On a spree Crime will always be a factor of life, no matter where you live, but there are some trends that are particularly aggravating, especially ones involving motor vehicles, because of the expense and headache of resulting repairs, insurance claims and sheer inconvenience.

In 2022, the theft of catalytic converters was epidemic in Brookfield, Riverside and North Riverside – and in neighboring communities – due to the ease with which they’re stolen and, apparently, sold without question to unscrupulous recyclers interested in converting the precious metals inside the devices into quick cash.

A quick trawl through our 2022 crime archive came up with catalytic converter reports roughly every other week, more than 60 thefts in all – there were no doubt more – with as many as 10 being stolen in a night.

It got so bad that North Riverside police hosted a catalytic converter marking event on Oct. 29 to help discourage thefts.

Also in October, another troubling trend developed. Apparently inspired by a viral TikTok video showing how easy they were to steal, groups of people began stealing Kia and Hyundai model vehicles from

neighborhood streets, driveways, shopping center parking lots, car dealerships, you name it.

The M.O. is typically breaking out a passenger side rear window, peeling the steering wheel and using a screwdriver or USB cord to start the car. It can be done in less than two minutes. Local police have made some arrests, often of juvenile offenders, but the trend continues as we enter 2023.

BOB SKOLNIK/Contributor

Abdelnasser Rashid talks to Riverside resident John Filipkowski at his home on June 18.

David topples Goliath Politically speaking, 2022 wasn’t a huge year locally since municipal elections take place in odd-numbered years, but there was one story of note at the state government level.

Michael Zalewski, who had represented the village of Riverside and other nearby

5

communities as a state representative for 13 years, lost his Democratic primary in June to Abdelnasser Rashid, who up until that point had been defeated in his two other election bids, for Cook County commissioner and Board of Review commissioner.

Zalewski, who won his first term as state rep in 2008 in a three-way race where his campaign raised $54,000, was last challenged in 2010 and was considered the clear favorite to represent the newly drawn 21st District.

It didn’t turn out that way.

Rashid ran an aggressive campaign, hammering away at the Zalewski family’s close ties to indicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and at a vote Zalewski cast in 2021 against a law repealing a law requiring minors to notify their parents before having an abortion.

Despite being outspent by a 2-to-1 margin – Zalewski’s campaign committee raised about $1 million and spent about half of it in the race – and the incumbent landing the endorsement of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Rashid won 52% of the vote in the primary election. He won almost 60% of the vote in Riverside.

Rashid will be sworn into office on Jan. 11.

Riverside’s buzzkill With its relatively small retail sales tax base, Riverside thought it had landed a potential difference maker when Mint IL LLC, which had been awarded a license to open a cannabis dispensary in the Chicago area, signed a contract to purchase the property at 2704 Harlem Ave., whose most recent sales tax generating tenant had been a Sara Lee outlet store, which closed in 2012.

The owner of the property, Dr. Milad Nourahmadi, who also owns the strip mall at 2720 Harlem Ave., convinced the village to sell him their property – in between the two he owned – at 2710 Harlem Ave., to extend the parking lot.

Things were looking good, too. The village and Nourahmadi worked on a plan that would beautify that gateway to Riverside and everything looked ready to launch. Until it didn’t.

The owner of Mint IL LLC revealed to the Landmark earlier in December that the Riverside location was “probably not” going to work for the kind of dispensary he wanted to operate. It was just too small a property. Riverside’s dreams of cannabis cash went up in smoke, destined for some other lucky place. One close by perhaps?

Stay tuned.

6

The Landmark, December 28, 2022

The masks came off in schools during 2022 Contentious issue early in the year now a non-factor Tensions at LTHS

In 2022, the masks came off at area schools and things returned to normal despite the lingering presence of COVID-19.

Students and parents once again gathered for large indoor events such as assemblies, plays and performances. By the end of the year masks were a rare sight with only a very few students and teachers wearing face masks in school.

“I think it has been a very significant return to what we’ll never take for granted as normal,” said Martha Ryan-Toye, the superintendent IN of Riverside Elementary School District 96.

Face masks were a contentious issue at many schools at the beginning of 2022, especially at Lyons Township High School, where a vocal group objected to a mask mandate.

In early February, more than 100 LTHS students refused to wear face masks and were barred from their classrooms and confined to other areas of the school. Face masks were also the subject of contentious meeting of the Brookfield-LaGrange Park School District 95 Board of Education in February.

But by March 1 face masks were no longer required in area schools. Some school boards even eliminated the mask mandate before Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifted the state mask mandate in schools on March 1.

Gone too are the days of entirely quarantining a classroom if one student comes down with COVID. Now only the student who is infected is generally required to stay away from school for five calendar days.

COVID has not gone away. In District 96, one of the few area districts that does COVID testing, 98 students and 33 staff members have tested positive for COVID since the start of the 2022-23 school year in August. But most cases are mild and the infected students and staff members only miss a few days of school.

“We’re talking about children with maybe three days of absences, which isn’t highly unusual from flu, cold and other viruses that children get, so it does not feel like it’s had a significant impact,” Ryan-Toye said.

Other issues were also contentious at LTHS in the first half of 2022, including a new grading system that initially didn’t count homework toward a class grade and allowed the unlimited retakes of tests.

LTHS officials spent much of 2022 modifying the grading system to combat what became an endless cycle of test retakes and in response to complaints from parents that the new system was disincentivizing students from doing their homework.

One veteran LTHS English teacher even quit at the end of the 2021-22, blasting the new grading system and the administration.

By the start of the fall semester, homework did count again and retakes were limited.

Race was also a flashpoint at LTHS in 2022. In February a Black LTHS sophomore reported that after she made a social media post about Black History Month, she received a flood of racist responses.

This resulted in an anti-racism protest at LTHS. A couple months later, on April 27, the same student, a sophomore girl, who said that she received racist taunts attacked a 14-yearold white freshman girl in a school hallway.

2022 YEAR REVIEW

The attack was recorded on a cell phone and went viral on conservative political websites. The Black girl was ultimately arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery, while the boy who recorded the incident was charged with disorderly conduct. In August LTHS agreed to pay the family of the girl who was attacked a $158,500 settlement to prevent a lawsuit.

Renaissance at Komarek School Komarek School was transformed in 2022.

A new addition to the west wing opened in the spring and the fully renovated existing west wing was ready to welcome students when they returned to school on Aug. 31.

Their once cramped, stuffy, dowdy school with a leaky roof had turned into a sparkling, open, modern, colorful, comfortable state-ofthe-art school. A new gym is currently being built and should open in 2023.

Diamond dreams A highlight of the year at Riverside-Brookfield High School was the performance of the school’s baseball team led by pitcher/ shortstop Owen Murphy, no doubt the best baseball player who ever has played at RBHS.

The Bulldogs went 30-6 and won their first regional championship since 2014 before losing to Mount Carmel 11-6 in a sectional a game that Murphy didn’t pitch in.

Murphy was almost unhittable on OWEN MURPHY the mound and a terror at the plate. As a pitcher, he was undefeated (9-0) and had a 0.12 ERA. He threw four no hitters and struck out 156 batters in 58.1 innings. As batter he hit .578 with 18 home runs and 75 RBI. In July Murphy was selected by the Atlanta Braves with the 20th pick in the first round of the MLB draft. He quickly signed a contract with the Braves that included a reported $2.56 million signing bonus.

Ryan Cermak, a 2019 RBHS grad who developed into an outstanding centerfielder and power hitter at Illinois State University, was picked in the second round of the MLB draft with the 71st overall pick by the Tampa Bay Rays. Cermak also quickly signed and received a reported $750,000 signing bonus.

Matthew Grimes/Atlanta Braves

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

Allegations made against coach

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Kids arrive at Komarek School on the first day of classes Aug. 31 entering the newly renovated and expanded west wing, where all classrooms are now located. A portion of the east wing is being demolished to make way for a new gymnasium.

However, this fall some of the glow of RBHS baseball dimmed when Dallas Till, the RBHS baseball coach who coached Murphy and Cermak, was named in a lawsuit filed by a woman whom Till had coached as a basketball player at Elmwood Park High School in 2008.

The lawsuit alleged that Till had had a sexual relationship with the then-minor while she played on his team. Till was placed on paid administrative leave over the summer when RBHS officials had learned of the lawsuit and its allegations.

Till had resigned as girls basketball coach at RBHS in 2021 and resigned as RBHS baseball coach this fall after he was put on paid administrative leave.

After the Landmark broke the news of the lawsuit against Till, a 37-year-old woman appeared before the RBHS school board in October, alleging that Till tried to groom her when she was a 16-year-old high school junior at Morton East High School and Till was a student-teacher there.

P O L I C E

R E P O R T S

The Landmark, December 28, 2022

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Three charged after North Riverside police recover stolen cars North Riverside police recovered two stolen vehicles at the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, in the past week, making arrests both times.

In the first incident on Dec. 23 at 1:30 p.m., an officer on patrol observed a gray Hyundai Sonata with one of its rear windows broken out and covered with plastic enter the parking lot and park in a space near Entrance 2 on the east side of the shopping center.

A computer check of the license plate reportedly showed the car had been reported stolen out of Chicago on Dec. 22. In recent months, the Chicago area has experienced a wave of vehicle thefts, particularly of Hyundai and Kia models, which can be started using a USB cord once the steering column is peeled back.

Police approached the parked Hyundai and ordered the two occupants out. The passenger, an 18-year-old Chicago man wearing a backpack, and the driver, later identified as Charles Lambert, 18, of Chicago, exited and ran away through the parking lot.

Both were apprehended a short time later.

Inside the backpack, police reported finding a bent USB device, a stun gun and a plastic handgun magazine loaded with one 9 mm round. Inside the car, police observed the steering column had been peeled.

Lambert was charged with felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle and misdemeanor resisting. Police charged the passenger with misdemeanor trespass to a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of ammunition.

In the second incident on Dec. 26 about 3:45 p.m., a police officer at the mall observed a white Maserati Levante SUV without a front license plate backed into a parking spot near Entrance 2.

A check of that vehicle’s registration

showed that it had been reported stolen in Chicago on Sept. 18. According to police, the vehicle also allegedly had been used in several commercial burglaries in recent days, including one in Wheeling on Dec. 23 and one in Highland, Indiana, on Dec. 24.

Police used surveillance camera video to identify two suspects, a man and a woman, seen getting out of the car after it was parked just prior to 3:30 p.m.

At 4:20 p.m., police reported locating the suspects in the lower-level mall concourse and approached them. The man, later identified as Orlando Murray, 34, of Riverdale, reportedly resisted arrest but was taken into custody after a brief struggle. The woman was taken into custody without incident.

The woman, who was not charged, reportedly told police she did not know the vehicle was stolen and that Murray had picked her up in the car to take her and her four children, ages 18 to 4, shopping.

Police did not locate the children in the mall. They reportedly were seen on security camera video exiting the mall via a rideshare at about 4:45 p.m.

Murray reportedly refused to talk to police.

At the time of his arrest, Murray was on parole from Pinckneyville Correctional Center, where until late August he had been serving an eight-year sentence for burglary. He had two prior burglary convictions in 2008 and 2012, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections website.

Vehicle break-ins ■A

woman went to North Riverside police on Dec. 23 to report that someone had broken into her vehicle, which had been parked in the parking lot near the food court at North Riverside Park Mall, 7501

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Cermak Road, the day before.

The victim told police that the center console was open, which was unusual, but did not notice anything missing at that time. Later she discovered an employerprovided laptop computer was missing from the back seat.

Police did not report observing any signs of forced entry to the vehicle.

■ North Riverside police charged a 16-year-old boy with burglary, unlawful possession of a credit card and resisting arrest after they arrested him for allegedly pulling on car door handles and entering vehicles parked in the lower-level parking deck at North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, on Dec. 22 at about 7:20 p.m.

A 911 caller gave police a description of the alleged offender and officers reported locating him in the parking lot near the food court entrance. The boy ran from police, who tackled him to the ground after a short foot chase.

Police reported recovering a credit card belonging to someone else, an envelope with loose coins and several keys. Other items the boy reportedly dropped on the ground during the chase included an empty wallet, ID cards and a key.

Security cameras reportedly captured video of the boy entering two vehicles.

One of the victims later called police to report that a key to a storage unit was taken from her vehicle.

Store manager allegedly attacks employee North Riverside police charged a 28-yearold Cicero woman with battery after she allegedly attacked a co-worker at B Toys Zone

at the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road on Dec. 19 at 6 p.m.

The victim reportedly suffered a large abrasion extending from just below her neck down to the center of her chest and a cut to her right eyebrow.

She reportedly told police she had been having issues with her manager at the store and that just before getting off work that day, the manager followed her outside and attacked her.

Woman ticketed for crash A 21-year-old Woodridge woman was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and failure to report damage after she allegedly walked away from the scene after her car struck The Sweet Spot, 2531 Desplaines Ave. in North Riverside, on Dec. 22 at about 1 p.m.

Police located the driver in the alley near 26th Street and Park Avenue. She had some small abrasions on her face and was walking in the cold weather without a coat. She reportedly admitted being in a crash, saying she had turned onto northbound Desplaines Avenue from westbound 26th Street, but could not detail how she lost control of the vehicle.

Alcohol or drugs did not appear to be a factor in the crash, police said.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Dec. 1926, 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 Bob Uphues

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The Landmark, December 28, 2022

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on the east, German Church 79th St. Road on the south and Howard Avenue on the east.

LTHS bought the land in two parcels, one in 1955 and the other in 1962, because there was concern that District 204 might someday need to build another school or campus to handle increased enrollment. But that has never happened.

80th Pl. Earlier this year, the school district hired a demographer to look at future enrollment scenarios over the next 15 years.

The demographer, John Kasarda, predicted enrollment would likely remain stable.

Kasarda projected that the most likely scenario would be for LTHS’ enrollment to range between 3,736 students and 3,905 students over the next 15 years, roughly in line with or below this year’s enrollment of 3,882.

German Church Rd. His most aggressive scenario GOOGLE MAPS indicated that LTHS’ enrollment could range from 3,936 Lyons Township High School has owned a 72-acre and 4,315 students, while the parcel of land in Willow Springs, shown above most conservative forecast in- inside dotted line, for 60 years. dicated that enrollment could range from 3,418 to 3,824 stuvillage’s role to issue building permits for dents. a future development.”

“These figures are consistent with the If the land is sold, the school would use the same fluctuations that LT has experienced proceeds to modernize its two campuses and for the last 50 years,” said school board probably fully air condition the two buildPresident Kari Dillon. “A new building ings. Proceeds would also bolster already would not be needed under any of those ample cash reserves of about $31.4 million. scenarios.”

“The potential this sale could have for School officials have not revealed the our students is tremendous,” Dillon said. identity of the possible purchaser who “Proceeds from this transaction could approached the school. A buyer could greatly enhance and improve the learning develop the property in many ways, with spaces at both our aging campuses. As outcommercial or residential development lined in our district strategic plan, LT has being the most likely. The property is lo- a goal to allocate the resources necessary cated near the Tri-State Tollway and is to maximize success for all our students, just west of a large UPS facility. and tonight we are taking steps toward “The board has included contingencies achieving that goal.” that allow the purchaser to investigate the Not all district residents support selling suitability of the site for its planned de- the land. Anne Bennett, of LaGrange, the velopment and that any potential zoning daughter of a former LTHS school board changes and final approval of the develop- member, believes that District 204 should ment plans would need to be through the hold on to the land and lease it out to esvillage of Willow Springs,” said Dillon, tablish a permanent revenue stream for reading from a prepared statement. “How the school. the property is ultimately developed is up One person, who declined to give his to the contract purchaser and the village name and who lives near the land, told the of Willow Springs. The Board of Educa- Landmark that he hoped the school would tion will not be involved in that process, not sell the land.

He was concerned about what kind of as it is solely within the jurisdiction of the village to approve any changes to the cur- development would take place and enjoyed rent zoning and any special use permits or having the large tract of wooded land nearvariances to current zoning. It is also the by.

Willow Springs Rd.

of at least $55 million, LTHS will not sell the land.

The school board decided to put the land up for sale after being approached by a potential buyer and concluding that the district will not need the land in the foreseeable future.

School board member Dawn Aubert

called the potential sale of the land a tremendous opportunity.

“I’m really excited to embark on this endeavor and, you know, study and look forward to determining where those monies are best allocated,” Aubert said before the school board voted 6-0 to approve a resolution authorizing the sale.

Board member Jill Grech said that the sale of the land could have a “generational impact.”

The land is located just southwest of 79th Street and Willow Springs Road in Willow Springs. It is bordered by 79th Street on the north, Willow Springs Road

Howard Ave.

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The Landmark, December 28, 2022

Savory and Sweet: Nine standouts from 2022

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t was a downright delicious year inside our Landmark Eats communities in 2022. I enjoyed a massive number of delicious things in our little foodie alcove. We welcomed newcomers like the Sandtrap and said farewell to Sips and Sweets — for now at least.

We watched food-focused events draw crowds once again and wit7 nessed restaurants redefining themselves in the face of post-pandemic norms. As hard as it was, I picked a nine of my very favorite local sips and nibbles from the past year. Enjoy this delicious look back at some folks clamoring for cabbage rolls, kielbasa of 2022’s best bites! and pierogi have been following the glit1. An outlier taco from Beach Ave, tering lights to Sawa’s Old Warsaw, 9200 BBQ, Brookfield: Known for slinging W Cermak Rd. in Broadview. We revisited Wagyu brisket and whole hog pulled pork, the Proviso Township classic for Broasted Beach Ave. BBQ, 3453 Grand Blvd., also chicken and dill meatballs, but also tried has a notable special menu including unexpected things like this mighty good fried a Polish taco because it was the second Tuesday evening of the month, and they fish taco on a hand-made tortilla. Chef are free to anyone visiting the bar.

Juan Silva is known for experimenting in 4. Sopesitos from La the kitchen — he threw some Malquerida Latin Fusion, house-made slaw, jalapenos Berwyn: This Depot Disand pickled onions on this trict spot specializes in artcrispy taco. ful preparations of steaks, 2. A Ropa Vieja Sandwich seafood and tapas that blend IN from Cubanito Express, Latin culinary influences.

Riverside: Looking for more La Malquerida, 6906 Windthan your average grab-andsor Ave, Berwyn, puts a noteworthy fusion go establishment? In a twist on a Cuban spin on sopes — offering three mini corn tradition, Cubanito Express, 3222 Harlem sopes topped with black beans, chicken Ave., serves up a pressed Ropa Vieja sandtinga, sour cream, and queso fresco. wich featuring shredded beef in creole 5. Wings from the Sandtrap, Rivtomato sauce, topped with house made erside: The Sandtrap Grill and Tap, 31 black beans and sweet plantains.

Forest Ave., opened in early September 3. Polish Smorgasbord at Sawa’s Old and the first-time restaurateurs have been Warsaw, Broadview: Since 1973, hungry

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MELISSA ELSMO Food Writer

2022 YEAR REVIEW

perfecting their swing since opening their golf-themed bar and eatery. Guests are gravitating toward the chicken wings and feedback has been positive. The marinated and fried drums and flats are sauced with a choice of barbecue sauce, garlic-Parmesan or in a custom-blended buffalo sauce — they are among the best in Riverside.

6. Red Pozole carryout from La Lupita, Berwyn: In 2022, many folks contracted COVID, but nothing made my family feel better than carry out pozole from La Lupita, 6539 Cermak Rd. White, green and red pozole have been the “icons of La Lupita” for years, but the dish has become more popular since being invited by acclaimed chef, Rick Bayless, to serve her pozole verde at the after-party for the James Beard Awards in 2019. You can purchase the soup and all the trimmings to enjoy at home if you are feeling in the mood or under the weather.

7. GCM Jars, private residence, Oak Park: Growing Community Media and The Landmark hosted a donor event in

2022 where we gifted cherry filled cheesecake jars to our guests. They were darn delicious — with flavors of ginger, rosemary, and orange.

8. A bar burger at The Cordial Inn, Brookfield: According to owner, Joe Kenny, The Cordial Inn, 9207 31st St., is a “true old-fashioned Chicago-style tavern” and a place for residents to socialize. The mainstay tavern keeps things consistent by serving up classic burgers cooked on a grill situated behind the bar. The place is brimming with regulars and the burger, while simple, is exactly what you’d want to enjoy with a shot and beer.

9. Turkey Wrap from Sawmilly in Riverside: This eco-conscience eatery has mastered the art of sandwich making. On a recent visit we ordered the turkey wrap with bacon, avocado, greens, pepper jack cheese, and boom boom sauce. It was a perfect treat on a summer afternoon -- the bold flavor and friendly service hit the spot! Find your own favorite at Sawmilly, 35 East Burlington.

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The Landmark, December 28, 2022

In memoriam: Remembering those we lost in 2022 A look back at notable people of the Landmark coverage area who died in the past year

Anthony Bednarz, 80

Joseph Gaberik, 89

Kendra Kuehlem, 27

Dale Rider, 90

The Riverside native followed in his father’s footsteps to become a Riverside firefighter, serving the village in that capacity for 45 years, 30 of them as fire chief, before taking the job as fire chief in Western Springs in 2006, serving there until his retirement 2012. May 21.

While he lived in Berwyn, Gaberik was a business owner in Riverside, operating Riverside Works, a machinist shop/ antique auto museum, for nearly 40 years with his brother inside a former Chandler automobile agency on East Quincy Street, a space now housing Quincy Street Distillery. Jan. 30.

Appointed Brookfield’s village planner in April 2021, Kuehlem was seen as an up-and-coming and well-regarded municipal administrator. She was also a talented photographer, who ran her own business. She died when she was struck by a Metra train at the Prairie Avenue crossing while crossing the tracks on her way home from work on Feb. 4.

Raised in Riverside and a Riverside-Brookfield High School graduate, Rider worked in the chemical industry before becoming a stockbroker.

Moving to River Forest as an adult, Rider served as a River Forest village trustee for more than 18 years, elected five times over four decades. Sept. 10.

Chris Borzym, 64 Beloved as the cheerleading coach at Riverside-Brookfield High School for 17 years, Borzym would become just as beloved as the owner of Christopher Mark Fine Flowers in downtown Brookfield. After being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020, he battled valiantly to the end and was crowned champion of the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Dancing with the Chamber event this past October. Dec. 3.

Richard Buresh, 76 The Brookfield native cut his teeth in the restaurant business as a young man working in his father’s 31st Street eatery, Buresh’s Lobster House, and then took over the operation in 1982 and ran it until retiring in 2000 to Coloma, Michigan.

July 26.

Richard Dolejs, 92 The former Riverside resident was a longtime owner of his eponymous real estate and property management company in Lyons. In the 1960s, he was said to have originated the term “Little Village” for the formerly Czech neighborhood of South Lawndale as it evolved with an influx of Mexican immigrants. Dec. 17, 2021.

Darel Glaser, 66 An actor on Broadway, in feature films and in television as a child and young man in the 1960s and 1970s, Glaser returned to his hometown of Riverside in 1980 and threw himself into training a generation of young actors as director for the Riverside Theater Guild and Riverside Children’s Theater Guild. Dec. 7.

Carol Hall, 76 Originally from Ohio, Hall moved to Brookfield and was instrumental in the founding of the Friends of the Brookfield Public Library. She spent two terms on the library’s board of trustees and was the curator of photos for the book “Brookfield, Illinois: A History” marking the village’s centennial in 1993. That year she returned to school and earned a master’s in library science, becoming the administrative librarian at Worth Public Library for 25 years. Aug. 25.

Edward Jaeky, 83 The former Brookfield resident was a real estate broker whose office was a fixture on Grand Boulevard and later on Burlington Avenue in downtown Brookfield for decades.

Oct. 7.

John Mach, 75 The longtime president of the Hofmann Dam River Rats dedicated himself to the removal of the Hofmann Dam to improve the Des Plaines River ecosystem for fish and recreation opportunities for people.

Regarded at first with skepticism, Mach’s persistence and dedication to his cause paid off in 2012, when the Hofmann Dam, along with a smaller one downstream were removed, realizing in his dream. Jan. 30.

David Moreau, 75 After a career working as a brakeman for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, Moreau in the mid-1990s would open a coffeeshop and ice cream parlor in the Arcade Building in downtown Riverside that would eventually be called Grumpy’s and become a beloved gathering spot, which he operated for nearly two decades. Dec. 3.

Paul Proteau, 91 The longtime Riverside resident and attorney built a successful law practice in Oak Park while finding time to serve as a Riverside village trustee and as a member of the Riverside Township Lions Club. July 1.

Jose Rodriguez M.D., 85 Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Dr. Rodriguez was recruited as an intern to work at Cook County Hospital in 1965. He would move to Riverside, where he would live for more than four decades and practiced medicine in the community for 40 years before retiring to a farm in downstate Princeton. Oct. 18.

Barbara Ruska, 92 The longtime Riverside resident was the owner of Cermak Home for Funerals in Cicero and the past president of Ceska Beseda Ladies Auxiliary.

Sept. 17.

Monsignor R. George Sarauskas, 77 The pastor of St. Mary Parish in Riverside from 2004-11 generated some controversy in 2007, when he launched a plan to build a new rectory on Mary Park, a greenspace area west of the existing rectory, which he shunned for a condo. He went so far as to obtain building permits before protests from parishioners halted it during a heated exchange at a school board meeting, which Sarauskas dissolved in response. June 25.

Opinion W

ith the close of 2022, all of us at Growing Community Media, the nonprofit parent of the RiversideBrookfield Landmark, are enormously grateful to our communities for the support we have received this year.

As we write this note on Dec. 27, we have surpassed the original fundraising goal of $150,000 and are now working to add 100 monthly donors

by Dec. 31. That represents hundreds of individuals who have donated anywhere from a few dollars to many thousands.

Each of you has fueled our determination to continue building our nonprofit newsroom, which now includes five flags across the Greater West Side — from Garfield Park to Oak Park, from Maywood and Proviso to Forest Park and Riverside, Brookfield and North Riverside.

Thanks also to the thousands who subscribe to our vital print editions and the thousands more who read us digitally. A special thanks always to our hundreds of advertisers who continue to invest in us and in their businesses by connecting with our readers.

We have big plans for 2023, important and contested elections to cover ahead of the April vote. While as a nonprofit we may no longer endorse candidates under IRS regulations, we will overperform in providing all of our readers with extensive coverage of the candidates and the issues in every race. Planning for that coverage — digital and print, and a return to live candidate forums — is already underway.

Also, we are actively hiring for full-time reporting positions. If you, or someone you know, wants to be part of this newsroom, now is the time to reach out.

Finally, always, gratitude for recognizing that strong community journalism is the essential glue that builds neighborhoods. While we are building a new model to fund our work and adapting how we tell stories on many platforms, the core effort of explaining, demanding accountability, and connecting is the same as it has been since we launched our first paper, Wednesday Journal, 42 years back.

11

KOSEY CORNER

THE LANDMARK VIEW

Gratitude fuels our progress

The Landmark, December 28, 2022

Another year that went by too fast in the books

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nother Christmas has wrapped up and here we are getting ready to put up a new calendar. It seems like I just put up ones that were marked 2022 -- where did the time go.

We have two favorite calendars, a Page-a-Day one from dear friends Joe and Nancy Dvorak and a family calendar with pictures carefully assembled by our daughter-in-law Pam, surely a work of love.

It’s fun to see how the kids have grown from year to year and how the grandparents have aged from year to year. It does ensure that we have pictures chronicling the past years.

It does seem unreal we are saying 2023 when I just got used to writing and saying 2022. Didn’t we just hit the year 2000? Remember that? All the gloom and doom that was assigned to that and what we could expect and what we would fear.

Well, the millennium clicked over the same as other years, and we survived the fateful night. We did our usual celebrating at Chew Chew, which was then located in the Arcade Building.

A group of Riverside revelers had assembled in front of the township hall to watch the clock strike 12 and make some noise to welcome in the new year. It was cold so they did the only right thing to do, and that was come to the Chew Chew for some liquid warmth and celebrate with those present. It was memorable.

While the actual day is over, Christmas isn’t over for me, since I celebrate until Jan. 6 -- Little Christmas -- when the Magi came to visit the Christ Child. So, I still have time to send out the rest of the Christmas cards, which I always intend to send out early. It does give the recipients a chance to enjoy them more since they are most often the lone card in the mail along with the bills and charity requests.

Watch the mail, and if you don’t receive one from me, don’t take offense. Consider this your personal greeting with wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.

My resolution? Not to make any resolutions I won’t keep -- although getting organized would be a good start, starting right now.

JOANNE KOSEY

OBITUARIES

Thomas J. Doyle, 79 Former Brookfield resident Thomas J. Doyle, 79, of Lyons and formerly of Brookfield, died Dec. 21, 2022 at his home.

He was the son of the late Gerald E. and late Winifred (nee Minihan) Doyle and the brother of John F. “Jack” (Diane) Doyle and the late Gerald Doyle.

Visitation is Wednesday, Dec. 28 from 10 a.m. until time of funeral Mass at 11 a.m. at St. Barbara Church, 4008 Prairie Ave., Brookfield. Interment is at St. THOMAS J. DOYLE Mary Cemetery, Evergreen Park.

Johnson-Nosek Funeral Home, Brookfield, handled arrangements.

Online condolences, memories and photographs may be shared at JohnsonNosek.com.

Beatrice L. Fojtl, 92 Homemaker was active at St. Barbara Beatrice L. Fojtl (nee Vejr), 92, of Brookfield and formerly of Cicero and Lyons, died Dec. 21, 2022 at home.

Born June 4, 1930 in Oak Park.

Ms. Fojtl was a homemaker, CCW member, longtime sacristan and Girl Scout leader at St. Barbara Parish.

She was the wife of the late Frank E. Fojtl; the mother of Bea BEATRICE L. FOJTL (Jim) Boyd, Mary Fojtl and Emmy (Bill) Gerny, the grandmother of Billy Gerny, Becky (Matt) Kocourek, Jamie Boyd, Ben (Christina) Boyd; the great-grandmother of Lily Kocourek, Jake Kocourek, Violet Gerny and Billy Gerny; the sister of the late Jim (late Beverly) Vejr; and an aunt.

See OBITUARIES on page 12

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Sports

The Landmark, December 28, 2022

Alijosius drops 29 on Schaumburg to lead RBHS at Tosh Undefeated LTHS smothers Batavia in tourney’s first round

ing senior guard Connor Carroll said. “Obviously, you need to score to win, but I think that we’re a very strong defensive team.”

Nik Polonowski (14 points, 2 threes), Graham Smith (12 points), Louis Kaminski (11 points, 3 threes) and Jackson Niego (10 points, 4 assists) finished in double figures. Carter Reid (5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) and Matthew DeSimone (5 rebounds) also contributed.

Kaminski enjoyed his best offensive game on 4-for-4 shooting. He had the Lions’ last six points of the first half on backto-back threes. In the third quarter, Kaminski hit another three and a shot left of the lane as LTHS scored on its last 11 possessions to build a 57-29 advantage.

“The shot was feeling good, so I just kept shooting it,” Kaminski said. “It was just kind of a confidence level and once the confidence goes up, then it makes it a lot easier to play.”

By BILL STONE Contributing Reporter

Marques Turner and his Riverside-Brookfield High School senior boys basketball teammates finally played in a holiday tournament for the first time since they were freshmen.

After the 2020 Tosh was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last season’s Bulldogs had to drop out of the 2021 Tosh because of a COVID outbreak in the team.

But, the Bulldogs seized the opportunity on Dec. 26 and defeated Schaumburg 59-38 in their opener at York’s 32-team Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.

“Not having played in it the last two years kind of stuck with us,” Turner said. “We want to win this.”

RBHS (9-3) played Lake Forest in the second round on Dec. 27, after the Landmark’s print deadline. Undefeated Lyons Township (8-0) beat Batavia 61-34 in the first round and advanced to play Timothy Christian.

RBHS senior Arius Alijosius continued his great shooting against Schaumburg, hitting 7 of 9 three-point attempts en route to 29 points with five straight successful threes in the first half.

Will Gonzalez had 12 points (10 in second half) and Stefan Cicic had eight points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

Turner had three assists.

In the Bulldogs’ 78-49 victory over St. Edward on Dec. 20, Alijosius equaled his personal-best of 30 points with eight threes, one short of the single-game school record.

“It felt really good shooting [against Schaumburg],” Alijosius said. “I need that record. I’m trying.”

The Bulldogs led Schaumburg 7-0 and a 10-0 run on Alijosius threes and back-to-back baskets by Steven Brown helped to open a 32-19 halftime lead.

When the Saxons closed to 38-32 with 2:34 left in the third

OBITUARIES Continued from page 11 Visitation is Thursday, Dec. 29 from 9 a.m. until time of funeral Mass at 10 a.m. at St. Barbara Church, 4008 Prairie Ave., Brookfield. Interment is at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee, 38105-9959, would be appreciated.

RBHS girls basketball

FILE

Arius Alijosius (shown above in action earlier this season) scored 29 points in RBHS’ tourney opener on Dec. 26 at York High School. On Dec. 20, he scored 30 during the Bulldogs’ win over St. Edward. quarter, the Bulldogs responded with 13 unanswered points, seven by Gonzalez.

“The effort from the outset was great. We had a lot of energy. We got a lot of contributions,” RBHS coach Mike Reingruber said. “Obviously, Arius shot the ball well, but I thought we were really locked in defensively.”

Lyons Township High School’s strong defense held a fifth opponent this season to fewer than 35 points.

During a 10:21 stretch of the first half, LTHS limited Batavia to six points on two threes in turning a 7-4 deficit into a 27-13 advantage. The Lions led 33-17 at halftime.

Opening in man-to-man defense before switching to zone, LTHS committed just two fouls the first three quarters.

“We start every single practice with defensive drills, doing full-court defensive slides and zig-zag ball handling,” start-

Johnson-Nosek Funeral Home, Brookfield, handled arrangements.

Online condolences, memories and photographs may be shared at JohnsonNosek. com.

Joyce B. Grills, 82 Administrative assistant Joyce B. Grills (nee Earl), 82, of Brookfield died Dec. 20, 2022 in Lombard.

Ms. Grills was born April 8, 1940 in Chi-

RBHS senior Luna Lloyd finished the Bulldogs second game on Dec. 26 with a bag of ice on her left hand for a jammed finger.

The Bulldogs (7-8) endured a rough start at the Sandburg Holiday Classic, losing to Minooka 50-37 in the consolation bracket after earlier losing to Downers Grove South 65-23.

“We had a hard time today. It happens,” said Lloyd, who had a team-high eight points against Downers South. “I think that it’s good for us to be playing in this tournament because it’s a lot of better teams. We might be losing to them but we’re still doing good things. We’re just having a hard time converting it to a win.”

Junior Emily Organ, who was all-tournament at Oak Lawn on Dec. 10-17, had 10 points against Minooka. Julia Madera had six fourth-quarter points, Alyssa Morris had four points and Lloyd, Lena Lembcke and Ava Marrello each had three.

Organ had four points against Downers South.

RBHS played Argo on Dec. 27 after the Landmark’s print deadline with the final round Wednesday.

The Bulldogs lost 54-25 at Glenbrook North on Dec. 19.

cago and worked as an administrative assistant at Lions Clubs International before retiring.

She was the wife of the late Peter P. Grills; the mother of Michael Grills, JOYCE B. GRILLS Deanna (Robert) Jennings and David (Sue) Grills; the grandmother of Jaclyn (Keith) Crawford, Ian (Emily) Howard,

Lisa Grills and Sarah Grills; and an aunt to many.

Memorial visitation is on Friday, Dec. 30 from10 a.m. until time of memorial service at 11 a.m. at Johnson-Nosek Funeral Home, 3847 Prairie Ave., Brookfield. Inurnment is private at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Elwood.

Memorials to the Arthritis Foundation, 1355 Peachtree St., Suite 600, Atlanta, Georgia, 30309, would be appreciated.

Online condolences, memories and photographs may be shared at JohnsonNosek.com.

The Landmark, December 28, 2022 Growing Community Media

HEL P

Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.

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WA NTED

Shipping Manager

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 | BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 BY E-MAIL: EMAIL@GROWINGCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI

H E LP

WAN T E D

HELP WANTED • NETWORK SPECIALIST Class specifications are intended to present a descriptive list of the range of duties performed by employees in the class.

Specifications are not intended to reflect all duties performed within the job.

DEFINITION To perform various network/system administration, computer support, and operational activities for the Village including computer system setup, configuration, and testing.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED Reports directly to the Information Technology Services Director.

EXAMPLE OF DUTIES: Essential and other important duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following: Essential duties and responsibilities 1. Ensure that best in class customer service is provided to both internal and external customers and also embrace, support, and promote the Village’s core values, beliefs and culture.

2. Configure, test, and deploy network systems, such as, firewalls, routers, switches, wireless equipment, network servers and storage arrays.

3. Configure, test, and deploy system servers, such as, file, print, Internet, e-mail, database, and application servers.

4. Configure, test, and monitor server and end-user systems for security, such as, user accounts, login scripts, file access privileges, and group policy management.

5. Configure, test, and deploy end-user systems, such as, workstations, laptops, mobile devices, printers, and software.

6. Test, configure, deploy, and support security systems, such as, facility access system, video & audio system.

7. Monitor and auditing of networks, systems, and user activities to ensure security and efficiency of systems. Create scripts and reports of detail activities for regular review.

8. Perform and participate in disaster recovery activities, such as, backup procedures, data recovery, and system recovery planning.

9. Assist end-users with computer problems or queries. Troubleshoot systems as needed and meet with users to analyze specific system needs.

10. Ensure the uniformity, reliability and security of system resources including network, hardware,

software and other forms of systems and data.

11. Prepare, create and update user/technical procedure documentations and provide computer training.

12. Assemble, test, and install network, telecommunication and data equipment and cabling.

13. Participate in research and recommendation of technology solutions.

Other important responsibilities and duties 1. Train users in the area of existing, new or modified computer systems and procedures.

2. Participate in the preparation of various activity reports.

3. Travel and support remote facilities and partner agencies.

4. Operate, administer and manage the Village and Public Safety computer systems, including E-911 center, in-vehicle computer systems.

5. Prepare clear and logical reports and program documentation of procedures, processes, and configurations.

6. Complete projects on a timely and efficient manner.

7. Communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

8. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

9. Perform related duties and responsibilities as required.

QUALIFICATIONS Knowledge of: Principals and procedures of computer systems, such as, data communication, hierarchical structure, backups, testing and critical analysis.

Hardware and software configuration of. computers, servers and mobile devices, including computing environment of Windows Server and Desktop OS and applications, Unix/Linux OS, VMware, iOS/Android.

Network protocols, security, configuration and administration, including firewalls, routers, switches and wireless technology.

Cabling and wiring, including CAT5/6, fiber network, telephone, serial communication, termination, and punch-down.

Telecommunications theory and technology, including VoiP, serial communication, wireless protocols, PBX, analog, fax, voicemail and auto-attendant.

Principles and methods of computer programming, coding and testing, including power shell, command scripting, macros, and

VB scripts.

Modern office procedures, methods and computer equipment.

Technical writing, office productivity tools and database packages.

Ability to: Maintain physical condition appropriate to the performance of assigned duties and responsibilities, which may include the following: - Walking, standing or sitting for extended periods of time - Operating assigned equipment - Lift 50 pounds of equipment, supplies, and materials without assistance - Working in and around computer equipped vehicles Maintain effective audio-visual discrimination and perception needed for: - Making observations - Communicating with others - Reading and writing - Operating assigned equipment and vehicles Maintain mental capacity allowing for effective interaction and communication with others.

Maintain reasonable and predictable attendance.

Work overtime as operations require.

Experience and Training Guidelines Experience: Three years of network/system administration in the public or private sector, maintaining a minimum of 75 Client Workstation computers. AND Training: Possession of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in computer science or a related field. Certifications in Microsoft Server Administration, Networking, Applications and Cisco Networking.

Possession of a valid Illinois Driver License is required at the time of appointment.

Vaccination against COVID-19 strongly preferred.

WORKING CONDITIONS Work in a computer environment; sustained posture in a seated position for prolonged periods of time; continuous exposure to computer screens; work in and around computerized vehicles outdoor and garage facility; lifting heavy equipment, communication cabling and wiring into walls and ceilings.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Administrative Assistant in the Public Health Department. This position provides a variety of responsible administrative and analytical functions; records and monitors department budget and fiscal requirements of grant-funded programs; oversight of Accounts Payable process; prepares reports and serves as a resource for computerized office applications. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www.oak-park.us/ jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

PARKING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Parking Enforcement Officer in the Police Department Field Services Division. This position will perform a variety of duties and responsibilities involved in the enforcement of Village parking regulations; and to provide general information and assistance to the public. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park.us/. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

Software Engineer sought by Pangea Transfer Company LLC in Chicago, IL. Dsgn, dvlp & bld ftrs for Pangea’s iOS app. Apply @ JobPostingToday. com, REF#99149.

Project Mgr, Civil Engineering (Chicago, IL) coord & execute Streetscape & Infrastructure improvement projects; determine sched, resources, staffing & procedures; prep/document submittals, RFIs & RFIM’s; ensure project executed in accordance w/ stds/designs, scheds, budgets & regs; manage fin’l aspects of contract. Reqs MS in Civil or Transportation Engg & 2 yrs exp as Civil or Project Engineer. Resumes to H. Mangrola, Sumit Construction Co, 1450 W Wrightwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60639 Business Operations Analyst (Chicago, IL) Duties: review & analyze fin’l statements, sales & activity reports to measure productivity & achieve sales growth & targets. Dvlp key sales & performance goals. Create & implmt strategies for operational efficiency & business dvlpmt; identify areas needing cost reduction or improvement; identify ways to expand customer base & grow mkt share; identify prospective customers’ needs. Compile data regarding customers’ practices & preferences & internal procedures; maintain relationships w/ existing & potential customers. Reqmts: Bach deg in Business, Econ, Mgmt or closely rltd field or foreign educational equiv & 3 yrs exp in job duties or in a position involving administrative or operations mgmt for a wholesale distribution business. M-F 8am-4pm.

Email resumes to Covemex Corporation; Attn: R. Passarini; covemex@ yahoo.com

Clean, safe, fun work with graphic display frames that you’ll see in Wal-Marts, Verizon stores, CTA stations, all over US. Manufacturing No weekends, no evening hours, great pay and benefits. $20-$25 per hour Top rated firm Alpina Manufacturing LLC founded in 1992, locally owned beautiful campus in Galewood, near Mars candy, 3 blocks north of Oak Park. We build and sell display framing systems to customers nationwide including Wal-Mart, Verizon, Circle K, Hospitals, CTA

Apply in person M-F 8am to 4pm • Alpina • 6460 W Cortland St Chicago, IL 60707 www.fastchangeframes.com FINANCE COORDINATOR

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Finance Coordinator. The ideal candidate will perform a wide variety of responsible and complex administrative, secretarial and clerical duties for the Finance department; and will provide information and assistance to the public regarding department to which assigned. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www.oakpark.us/jobs.

Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application. This position is open until filled.

COMMUNITY HEALTH ADVISOR

The Village of Oak Park is seeking a qualified candidate for the position of Community Health Advisor.

The professional in this position is responsible for a variety of tasks including; promoting a safe health care environment; including health education, outreach and promotion which includes disseminating information, making referrals, and counseling as well as managing caseloads, and performing a variety of tasks relative to assigned area of responsibility.

Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www.oak-park.us/jobs.

First review of applications December 19, 2022.

FULL-TIME POLICE RECORDS CLERK FOREST PARK, IL

The Forest Park Police Department, seeks a Full-Time Civilian Information Management Records Clerk reporting to the Lieutenant of the Criminal Investigations Division. Eligible candidates will be required to pass an aptitude test and an extensive background check. Qualifications include excellent organizational skills, computer skills, the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines,

good knowledge of English language, and adherence to all police department policies and procedures.

Responsibilities and duties include subpoena fulfilment, evidence room duties, data entries, general office functions, report creation, and other duties as needed our assigned.

Open until filled. Applications are available at Village Hall, 517 Desplaines Ave. or at www.forestpark. net and should be returned Attn: Vanessa Moritz, Village Clerk, Village of Forest Park, 517 Des Plaines Avenue, Forest Park, IL 60130. Email: vmoritz@forestpark.net

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Oak Park, Illinois (Chicagoland) www.collab4kids.org Since its beginnings in 2002, the Collaboration for Early Childhood (the Collab) has embraced the vision that all children should arrive at kindergarten safe, healthy, ready to succeed and eager to learn. The Collab’s focus has always been on how much impact the organization could have on the youngest among us in the community.

The Executive Director will be charged with taking the organization into its next phase of organizational life. He/She/They will have the opportunity to leverage the organization’s expanded influence and funding, potentially beyond the state of Illinois. The Executive Director will enhance the organization’s advocacy profile and will help shape a policy agenda for early learning. He/She/ They will help expand the organization’s opportunities for revenue generation, diversification, and strategic partnerships. Most significantly, the Collab will continue to serve as one of the state’s primary thought leaders in early childhood education.

and will be commensurable with experience. The Collab offers a comprehensive benefits package, including but not limited to 12 paid holidays, vacation days and group health insurance, as well as a retirement plan.

It is the policy of the Collaboration to afford equal employment opportunities regardless of actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, religion, marital status, disability, sex, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, order of protection status, genetic information, or any other category protected by applicable law. This policy of equal employment applies to all aspects of the employment relationship, including but not limited to: initial consideration for employment; job placement and assignment of responsibilities; performance evaluation; promotion and advancement; compensation and fringe benefits; training and professional development opportunities; formulation and application of human resource policies and rules; facility and service accessibility; and discipline and termination.

Applications are being received by Kittleman & Associates, LLC. For more information or to apply, please visit https://bit.ly/3tBKpLu (click on the Apply button at the bottom of the page to upload a current resume and letter of interest).

The minimum of a bachelor’s degree is required, though a master’s or advanced degree is preferred.

The salary range for this position is between $120,000 and $140,000

   

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The Landmark, December 28, 2022

CLASSIFIED

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 BY E-MAIL: EMAIL@GROWINGCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG

MARKETPLACE

HOME SERVICES

ELECTRICAL

CARS WANTED

Ceiling Fans Installed

CLASSICS WANTED CLASSICS WANTED Restored or Unrestored

or Unrestored Cars &Restored Vintage Motorcycles Domestic / Cars & Vintage Motorcycles Import Cars: Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette,Cars: Ferrari’s, Domestic / Import Jaguars, Muscle Cars, Mustang & Mopars Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette, $$ Top $$ all makes, Etc.

Ferrari’s, James Jaguars,• 630-201-8122 Muscle Cars, Collector Mustang & Mopars

$$ Top $$ allWANTED makes, Etc. CLASSICS WANTED TO BUY Collector James Restored or Unrestored Cars630-201-8122 & Vintage Motorcycles Domestic / Import Cars:

WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, flags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers – lead, plastic – other misc. toys.

Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400

Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari’s, Jaguars, Cars, R E N TAMuscle LS Mustang & Mopars

FOR RENT $$OFFICE/RETAIL Top $$ all makes, Etc. OAK PARK THERAPY OFFICES:

Collector James

Therapy offices available on North Avenue. Parking; Flexible leasing; Nicely furnished; Waiting Room; Conference Room.

Ideal for new practice or 2nd location.

708.383.0729 Call for an appt.

630-201-8122

SUBURBAN RENTALS STUDIOS, 1, 2 & 3 BR Best Selection & Service

OAK PARK & FOREST PARK

708-386-7355

MMpropMgmt.com

ELECTRICAL

A&A ELECTRIC

Let an American Veteran do your work

We install plugs for battery-operated vehicles We fix any electrical problem and do small jobs We install Surge Protectors • Home Re-wiring • New Plugs & Switches Added • New circuit breaker boxes • Code violations corrected Service upgrades,100-200 amp • Garage & A/C lines installed Fast Emergency Service | Residential • Commercial • Industrial Free Home Evaluations | Lic. • Bonded • Ins. • Low Rates • Free Est.

708-409-0988 • 708-738-3848 Sr. Discounts • 30 Yrs. Exp. Servicing Oak Park • All surrounding suburbs • Chicago area

FLOORS

HANDYMAN

KLIS FLOORING INC.

CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE

New hardwood flooring installation & pergo. Sanding, re-finishing, staining. Low prices, insured.

Call: 773-671-4996 • www. klisflooring.com

Drywall Repair • Painting Fans Installed • Carpentry Trim Gutter Cleaning • Window Repair

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

708-488-9411

DAVID FIGUEROA GENERAL CONTRACTOR

(Kitchen & Bathroom Remodeling, Installation of Countertops, Electrical Services) Licensed and bonded.

773-587-6142 Figueroa.dave23@gmail.com

HANDYMAN Mike’s Home Repair Drywall H Painting H Tile Plumbing H Electric H Floors Windows H Doors H Siding Ask Us What We Don’t Do

708-296-2060

Free estimates Excellent References No Job Too Small

LANDSCAPING BRUCE LAWN SERVICE

Lawn Maintenance Fall Leaf Clean-Up Sodding/Slit Seeding Bush Trimming Senior Discount

brucelawns.com

708-243-0571

PAINTING

CLASSIC PAINTING Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/ Plaster Repair Low Cost • 708.749.0011

PETS While you’re away, your pets are okay . . . at home

cat calls

Oak Park’s Original Pet Care Service – Since 1986

Daily dog exercising Complete pet care in your home House sitting • Plant care Bonded References

708-524-1030

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES LEGAL NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF COOK, ssCircuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division

PUBLIC NOTICE BID NOTICE The Village of Riverside will be receiving sealed bids for the 2023 Tree and Stump Removal and Emergency Storm Damage Response services.

The Village of Riverside requires the payment of prevailing wages in accordance with the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, when applicable. Bids will be accepted at the Riverside Department of Public Works, 3860 Columbus Blvd., Riverside, until 10:00 a.m. January 18 th , 2023 at which time the bids will be opened and read aloud. Bid Packets and Specifications may be obtained at the Department of Public Works between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Questions may be directed to the Public Works Department at (708) 442-3590. The Village of Riverside reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive technicalities, and to accept any bid which is deemed to be in the best interest of the Village of Riverside.

STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, County Division.

In re Nicholas J. Russo and Isui Dawn Russo, Petitioner and JeanCarlo Munoz-Ordaz, Respondent, Case No. 2022COAD000505.

The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Adoption and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending.

Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 20, 2023, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Adoption entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk.

Published in Wednesday Journal December 21, 28, 2022, January 4, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y22009963 on December 16, 2022. Under the Assumed Business Name of SLOAN COFFEE ROASTING with the business located at: 261 HERRICK RD, RIVERSIDE, IL 60546. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: MATT SLOAN 261 HERRICK RD RIVERSIDE, IL 60546, USA. Published in RB Landmark December 21, 28, 2022, January 4, 2023

In re the Marriage of: Nina Obi, Petitioner, and Innocent Obi, Respondent, Case No. 2022 D 005212.

The requisite affidavit for Publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, Innocent Obi, Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, Nina Obi, for Dissolution of Marriage and that said suit is now pending.

Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent file your Appearance and Response electronically to said Petition with the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on or before January 4, 2023, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage Entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

Published in RB Landmark December 28, 2022

IRIS Y. MARTINEZ, Clerk.

Published in the Wednesday Journal December 14, 21, 28, 2022.

PUBLIC NOTICE BID NOTICE The Village of Riverside will be receiving sealed bids for the 2023 Cyclic and Demand Tree Pruning Services. The Village of Riverside requires the payment of prevailing wages in accordance with the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, when applicable. Bids will be accepted at the Riverside Public Works Department, 3860 Columbus Blvd., Riverside, until 10:15 a.m. January 18 th , 2023, at which time bids will be opened and read aloud. Bid Packets and Specifications may be obtained at the Public Works Department, weekdays, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Questions may be directed to the Public Works Department at (708) 442-3590. The Village of Riverside reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive technicalities, and to accept any bid which is deemed to be in the best interest of the Village of Riverside.

Published in RB Landmark December 28, 2022

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed bids from qualified vendors at the Public Works Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302 Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. local time until 2:00 p.m. on Friday, January 13, 2023 for the following: Village of Oak Park 2023 Street Lighting & Traffic Control Materials Pricing Bid Number: 23-108 Bid documents may be obtained from the Village’s website at http://www.oak-park.us/bid.

For questions, please call Public Works at (708) 358-5700 during the above hours.

Published in Wednesday Journal December 28, 2022

The Landmark, December 28, 2022

CLASSIFIED PUBLIC NOTICES

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 BY E-MAIL: EMAIL@GROWINGCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS CALENDAR NUMBER: 01-23-Z HEARING DATE: January 18, 2023 TIME: 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits LOCATION OF HEARING: Room 201 (Council Chambers), Oak Park Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, 60302 APPLICATION: The Zoning Board of Appeals (“Board”) will conduct a public hearing on a special use permit application filed by the Applicant, Prosperous Platforms LLC, to operate a day care center (Little Leaders Academy) pursuant to Section 8.3 (Table 8-1: Use Matrix) of the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance at the property located at 404 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index Numbers 16-08-118-0031-0000 (“Subject Property”) in the NC Neighborhood Commercial Zoning District.

A copy of the application and applicable documents are on file and are available for inspection at Village Hall, Development Customer Services Department, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard at the public hearing. Interested persons may also sign up to participate in-person in the hearing to cross examine the applicant and its witnesses by submitting a crossexamination form or by emailing Zoning@oak-park.us before 5:00 PM on the day prior to the public hearing.

The public hearing may be adjourned by the Board to another date without further notice by public announcement at the hearing setting forth the time and place thereof.

Published in Wednesday Journal, December 28 2022

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS CALENDAR NUMBER: 02-23-Z HEARING DATE: January 18, 2023 TIME: 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits LOCATION OF HEARING: Room 201 (Council Chambers), Oak Park Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, 60302 APPLICATION: The Zoning Board of Appeals (“Board”) will conduct a public hearing on a special use permit application filed by the Applicant, Prosperous Platforms LLC, to operate a day care center (Baby Genius Academy) pursuant to Section 8.3 (Table 8-1: Use Matrix) of the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance at the property located at 326 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index Number 16-08-118-0031-0000 (“Subject Property”) in the NC Neighborhood Commercial Zoning District.

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A copy of the application and applicable documents are on file and are available for inspection at Village Hall, Development Customer Services Department, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard at the public hearing. Interested persons may also sign up to participate in-person in the hearing to cross examine the applicant and its witnesses by submitting a crossexamination form or by emailing Zoning@oak-park.us before 5:00 PM on the day prior to the public hearing.

The public hearing may be adjourned by the Board to another date without further notice by public announcement at the hearing setting forth the time and place thereof.

Published in Wednesday Journal, December 28 2022

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park—Office of the Village Engineer, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302—will receive sealed proposals until Wednesday, January 25, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. At that time, sealed proposals will be publicly opened and read aloud for the following Village project: 2023 Division Street Resurfacing, MFT #22-00266-00-FP. In general, the improvements consist of the removal and replacement of portions of curb and gutter, ADA ramps, select driveways, minor drainage improvements, installation of Hot-Mix Asphalt Binder and Surface Courses, drainage structure adjustments, pavement striping, parkway restoration, installation of RRFB system, bicycle detector loops, and all appurtenant work thereto.

Plans and proposal forms may be obtained from the office of the Village Engineer starting on

Wednesday, December 28, 2022 at 10:00 A.M. The Village of Oak Park reserves the right to issue plans and specifications to only those contractors deemed qualified. No plans will be issued to prospective bidders after 4:00 P.M. on the working day preceding the opening of bids.

All prospective bidders must prove they are pre-qualified in the HMA Paving category by the Illinois Department of Transportation by providing a certificate of eligibility to the Engineering Division prior to receiving bid documents.

The work to be performed pursuant to this Proposal is subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, 820 ILCS 130/0.01 et seq.

THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK Bill McKenna Village Engineer

Published in Wednesday Journal, December 28, 2022

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR THE RMAC TRUST, SERIES 2018-G-CTT Plaintiff, -v.ANN W. BELL, MARTIN F. BELL, COMMUNITY BANK OF OAK PARK RIVER FOREST Defendants 2022 CH 02068 1152 HOME AVENUE OAK PARK, IL 60304 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on September 6, 2022, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 13, 2023, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1152 HOME AVENUE, OAK PARK, IL 60304 Property Index No. 16-18-326-0020000 The real estate is improved with a single family residence.

The judgment amount was $130,513.82.

Sale terms: 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, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee

acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. 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 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 15-1701(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

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

For information, contact Alexander Potestivo, POTESTIVO & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 223 WEST JACKSON BLVD, STE 610, Chicago, IL, 60606 (312) 263-0003.

Please refer to file number 314605.

THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.

POTESTIVO & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 223 WEST JACKSON BLVD, STE 610 Chicago IL, 60606 312-263-0003 E-Mail: ilpleadings@potestivolaw. com Attorney File No. 314605 Attorney Code. 43932 Case Number: 2022 CH 02068 TJSC#: 42-4397 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 # 2022 CH 02068 I3208865

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 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 15-1701(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.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL, 60602. Tel No. (312) 346-9088.

THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200 Chicago IL, 60602 312-346-9088 E-Mail: pleadings@mccalla.com Attorney File No. 20-04687IL_613739 Attorney ARDC No. 61256 Attorney Code. 61256 Case Number: 18 CH 12736 TJSC#: 42-1079 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 # 18 CH 12736 I3208765

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION SELENE FINANCE LP Plaintiff, -v.LARSENIA HORTON, NEIL SMITH, ASSURANCE RESTORATION & CONSTRUTION, INC., PRAIRIE HOUSES OWNERS ASSOCIATION, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 18 CH 12736 14 DIVISION STREET, # 14 OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on December 16, 2019, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on February 9, 2023, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 14 DIVISION STREET, # 14, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-05-127-0480000 The real estate is improved with a brown brick, three story townhouse, attached one car garage.

Sale terms: 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, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. The subject property is subject

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

Let the sun shine in...

Public Notice:

Your right to know Available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year • OakPark.com • RBLandmark.com • ForestParkReview.com • VFPressnews • AustinWeeklyNews.com PublicNoticeIllinois.com

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.

The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.

To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800669-9777.

GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA

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The Landmark, December 28, 2022

Happy New Year! from your friends at The Burlington Group 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

When it comes to selling and buying homes... experience, results and ties to the community make all the difference.

Curious about the current real estate market and the impact on your home’s value? Thinking about selling, but need to find your next home first? Can’t find your dream home in this competitive market? Contact one of our local market experts for a free, confidential consultation.

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