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Vol. 35, No. 53

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December 30, 2020

COVID-19 weekly case totals on the decline PAGE 3

North Riverside mayoral race already at full blast PAGE 4

Equity at 2020 forefront in LTHS election

LINING UP: Shoppers queue up outside of Costco in North Riverside, from the front entrance to the warehouse’s north end, on Friday, March 13 when panic buying began stripping grocery stores of canned goods, pasta, paper goods, water and cleaning products.

YEAR IN REVIEW

School board could undergo big change as incumbents bow out

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

With five seats at stake in April 2021 and three incumbents not running for re-election, the Lyons Township High School District 204 Board of Education is about to undergo a big change.

Eight candidates have filed for the five seats up for the grabs.

One of those races is for a two-year term on the board, which is open because Barbara Rosinsky, who was re-elected in 2019 to a four-year term, resigned earlier this year.

Her appointed replacement, Michael Thomas, is running for a full four-year term. The choice for the two-year term will be between first-time candidate Jill Beda Daniels and incumbent Jessica McLean.

Daniels, an attorney with her own practice is LaGrange focusing on collaborative divorce and mediation, has done more than anyone to put the issue of the race and equity on the front burner at LTHS by calling attention to the wide achievement gap between Black and white students.

She says that the school board and administration have not adequately addressed the issue and said See LTHS ELECTION on page 8

A year in crisis

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Pandemic, civil unrest, political upheaval all reverberated at home in 2020

By BOB UPHUES

T

Editor

he front-page headline of the Jan. 1, 2020 Riverside-Brookfield Landmark was “Change is in the air.”

The statement was the news-

paper’s somewhat ambivalent summary of the year that had just ended – one that saw a new long-term contract for union firefighters in North Riverside and a new library about to break ground in Brookfield, but also one where retail businesses continued to decline and the reintroduction of a po-

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The Landmark, December 30, 2020

So close to the end of this gruesome year.

And so close to reaching our ‘stretch goal’ in fundraising.

Our readers are generous and we are grateful.

Since November began, we have been posting fundraising matches and more fundraising matches. Each time our readers have met that challenge.

Last week, since we ran out of matches (maybe we’re not supposed to tell you that) we set one final goal of raising another $10,000 to help fund our independent newsroom for 2021.

As of Monday morning, Dec. 28 we are half-way to that new goal. We’d like to get there, we’d like to beat it by the time 2020 finally gives up the ghost at midnight on New Year’s Eve. If you’re able, we’d appreciate your help. If you have already joined us as a member then our deep thanks.

We love what we do across our seven neighborhoods from the West Side to the near west suburbs. We have plans to do more and better in the new year. Be part of it.

With gratitude, Dan Haley Editor and Publisher Growing Community Media

To donate, visit www.growingcommunitymedia.com/donate

The Landmark, December 30, 2020

IN THIS ISSUE Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Kosey Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Lowest virus case numbers seen locally since Oct. Weekly totals roughly one-third of all time highs in November

By BOB UPHUES Editor

The number of people who contracted confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 fell for the second straight week in Brookfield, Riverside and North Riverside, a trend playing out statewide after a massive spike in new cases from late October through mid-December.

One more Brookfield resident, a 63-year-old man, died on Dec. 21 from the disease. He was the 11th resident of Brookfield to die from COVID-19 since the county began tracking that data in March and the seventh since Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26.

There were no additional deaths reported in either Riverside or North Riverside, where three residents each have succumbed to COVID-19 during the pandemic.

While still higher than at any time during the first seven months of the pandemic, the one-week total of new COVID-19 reported cases in each village as of the morning of Dec. 29 was the lowest since mid-October.

According to the Cook County Department of Public Health, there were 50 new cases in Brookfield. That’s down sharply from the 92 reported the week before and one-third the highest weekly total of 152 the village experienced in mid-November.

Since the county began tracking data in March, there have been 1,281 people with confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 in Brookfield.

In Riverside, there were 23 people with new

confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 for the week ending on the morning of Dec. 29.

That was down from 29 the week before and one-third of the village’s one-week high total of 69 on Dec. 1.

Meanwhile, in North Riverside the weekly total number of people with new confirmed or probable cases fell to single digits for the first time since the seven-day period ending Oct. 20.

The county reported seven new cases in North Riverside for the week-long period ending the morning of Dec. 29, down from 27 the previous week. North Riverside all-time high for new cases in a one-week period was 36, at the end of November.

State’s death toll passes 16,000 While the number of new COVID-19 cases and people hospitalized in Illinois continue to decline, the state’s coronavirus death toll has surpassed 16,000.

An additional 105 deaths were reported on Dec. 28 by the Illinois Department of Public Health. That brings the total COVID-19 deaths in Illinois to 16,074 among 942,362 cases and more than 13 million test results reported.

The IDPH on Monday reported 4,453 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois.

Statewide, the rolling seven-day average case positivity rate from Dec. 21 to Dec. 27 was 7.2 percent. That is three-tenths of a percentage point lower than the seven-day aver-

age case positivity rate reported on Dec. 23, the last day IDPH released COVID data before the holiday weekend. That makes one week of rates below 8 percent.

However, according to the most recent data available Monday on the IDPH website, the seven-day rolling positivity rate in Region 10, which encompasses all of suburban Cook County, was 9 percent as of Dec. 25.

At the end of Dec. 27, there were 4,243 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois, a decrease of 350 from Dec. 23.

There were 884 intensive care beds in use

by COVID-19 patients as of Sunday night, a decrease of 69 from Dec. 23. That left 840, or just over 25 percent, of ICU beds available statewide.

COVID-19 patients occupied 515 ventilators, a decrease of 21 from the Wednesday prior to the holiday weekend. That left 4,205 ventilators, or 73.7 percent of all ventilators, available for use across the state.

More than 112,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Illinois since the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were approved for emergency use earlier this month.

On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a bill granting $900 billion in COVID-19 aid, which includes a direct payment up to $600 dollars to some Americans. The bill also includes funds for vaccine distribution and boosts in weekly unemployment benefits.

Raymon Troncoso of Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.

Editor Bob Uphues Sports Editor James Kay Food Editor Melissa Elsmo Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Designers Javier Govea, Mark Moroney Debbie Becker Sales and Marketing Representatives Marc Stopeck, Lourdes Nicholls Sales & Development Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner E-MAIL jill@oakpark.com Publisher Dan Haley Business Manager Joyce Minich

Growing Community Media 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@wjinc.com ONLINE www.RBLandmark.com The Landmark is published digitally and in print by Growing Community Media NFP. The newspaper is available on newsstands for $1.00.

A one-year subscription costs $34 within Cook County and $44 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. © 2020 Growing Community Media NFP.

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The Landmark, December 30, 2020

North Riverside mayoral campaign at full blast Mandel rips opponents for ‘blatantly political’ letter placed into record

By BOB UPHUES

quest, references the documents submitted with it, including a 2001 order from the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals afThe campaign season in North Riverside firming a 2000 U.S. District Court’s decision kicked into high gear without waiting for the to sentence David Mandel, who is Marybelle calendar to flip the page, after a public com- Mandel’s husband, to 12 months in prison afment entered into the record under protest at ter he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to a financial the village board’s Dec. 14 meetinstitution. ing brought to the surface unflatIn 1998, according to the appeltering information about one of late court decision, a grand jury the candidates running for mayor returned a 10-count indictment in 2021. against David Mandel and three The letter itself was not read others in a scheme “to defraud during the public comment porlenders and the United States Detion of the meeting nor was specifpartment of Housing and Urban ic information revealed relating to Development” and through which the candidate, Marybelle Mandel, David Mandel “received real eswho called it “blatantly political” and said it had “no place in our MARYBELLE MANDEL tate commissions and profited from the sales of the properties he village business.”

But Mandel’s request to remove the letter personally owned.”

The scheme involved “obtain[ing] mortgage from the record, a request supported not only by her political ally on the village board, H. financing for unqualified buyers by fabricatBob Demopoulos, but one of her opponents ing gift letters in which the ‘donor’ claimed to in the 2021 election, Trustee Joseph Mengoni, give the buyer an amount needed for the down payment,” the appellate court decision stated. was overruled.

David Mandel pleaded guilty to Count 9 of There was even a question as to whether the purported author of the letter, submitted the indictment. According to the appellate as “Jamie Bishop,” was a real person. The court decision, “Mandel’s wife, Marybelle letter, along with other documents submitted Sanchez, at his direction provided the false with it, were placed inside a manila envelope gift letter in the transaction underlying Manwith no return address and the words “Clerk del’s guilty plea.”

The appellate court decision stated, “ManRanieri,” referring to Village Clerk Kathy Ranieri, who handles village board correspon- del had Sanchez prepare a gift letter in which dence, and deposited in the Village Commons she falsely claimed that she was a relative of the buyers and had given them $12,900 for the drop box.

The letter, which was obtained by the Land- down payment. Mandel used $12,900 from his mark through a Freedom of Information re- personal account to obtain a cashier’s check, Editor

deleted the last digit of the serial number, and made a copy for the lender as verification of the earnest money.”

As a result, the buyers obtained the property knowing they didn’t make the down payment, and David Mandel made a commission on the sale.

David Mandel argued in his appeal that his wife, Marybelle, was an “unknowing facilitator” in the scheme.

However, the three-judge panel hearing the appeal upheld the trial court’s ruling, saying “we cannot even reach the merits of Mandel’s argument that she was merely an ‘unknowing facilitator’ and not a ‘participant.’” Moreover, the appellate court ruled, “a preponderance of the evidence supports the conclusion that Sanchez was a criminally responsible participant” and that “Sanchez too could have been charged with making a false statement to a financial institution.”

Marybelle Mandel on Dec. 21 filed nominating petitions to run for mayor of North Riverside as part of a slate of candidates calling themselves the People Before Politics Party.

That same day, Marybelle Mandel’s attorney, Lawrence G. Zdarsky, sent a response to the Landmark, which had emailed Mandel about the 2001 appellate court decision in which she was named.

The response came in the form of a press release, calling the letter submitted to the village board of Dec. 14 “blatant political mudslinging” that “should never have been allowed as part of village board proceedings, even if only published in the minutes.”

Zdarsky in his response on behalf of Mandel said entering the letter into the record ap-

peared to violate the village’s own rules and “will most probably be viewed as the misappropriation of village resources for political purposes by the appropriate prosecutorial authorities.”

The response also included a statement attributed to the People Before Politics Party ticket: “I am not inclined to comment on these anonymous misstatements, falsehoods and gossip. I will stand and run on my record of assisting the residents of North Riverside.

There is little doubt that my record of service over these past several years far surpasses VIP’s record, which is headlined by decadeslong mismanagement of village tax dollars.

The current administration is so embarrassed by their record that they are running away from it – choosing instead to start a new United Party. My guess is that VIP, like all the rest of us, would like a change.”

The statement referred to the dissolution in December of the VIP Party, which had controlled North Riverside politics for three decades. A slate of former VIP Party members, with Mengoni at the top of the ticket, is running under the banner of the North Riverside United Party.

Also running for mayor as an independent is incumbent Mayor Hubert Hermanek Jr., also a former member of VIP. Zdarsky’s response also stated that “Marybelle Mandel has never been involved with; never accused of; never charged with; and never convicted of any crime.”

“The ink is not yet dry on the nominating papers,” Zdarsky’s response continued, “and the sleaze of the opposition has already started.”

Vehicles strike two deer within seconds on First Avenue

One injured when animal darts in front of vehicle in the dark

By BOB UPHUES Editor

Riverside’s police chief is warning motorists who plan to drive on First Avenue, particularly at night, to be aware that deer may dart across the roadway at any time.

The warning comes after two vehicles struck two different deer within seconds of each other as the animals ran across First Avenue into traffic just south of the BNSF railroad bridge on Dec. 22 at 11:40 p.m.

“Deer activity and the likelihood of deer-vehicle collisions increase between October through January during deer mating season,” said Chief Thomas Weitzel in a press release. “So, as we get closer to the end of the year, please be more aware of deer crossing roads, especially at night.”

Video cameras mounted at the front and rear of the first vehicle, a 2013 Lexus, captured both collisions. The 27-year-old Chicago man at the wheel of the Lexus and his

27-year-old female passenger were not injured.

First a deer darts in front of the Lexus, causing the driver to slow down after impact and veer across the centerline before pulling over to the right. Just moments later, the Lexus’ rear camera shows a deer running directly in front of a 2017 Chevy, also heading south just behind the Lexus.

The 20-year-old Westchester woman at the wheel of the Chevy reportedly sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken by paramedics to Loyola University Medical Center for treatment.

Police in a press release recommended ways to reduce the risk of hitting a deer while driving, including reducing speed and watching for deer at the edge of the road, especially at dawn and dusk.

If a deer crosses in front of you, slow down and expect others to follow, since they often travel in groups. Make note of where you’ve seen deer before if you drive the same stretch of roadway often.

If you see a deer in the roadway ahead of you, don’t assume it will run off as you approach. They may bolt in any direction without warning.

If your vehicle does strike a deer, call 911 and don’t attempt to remove an injured animal from the roadway.

COURTESY OF THE RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT

OH, DEER: Two different vehicles struck two different deer within seconds of each other just south of the BNSF railroad bridge in Riverside on the night of Dec. 22.

The Landmark, December 30, 2020

P O L I C E

R E P O R T S

Riverside ‘minister’ now faces felony charges

The nearly year-long saga of a self-styled minister from Riverside who was charged with harboring a juvenile runaway from Cleveland in January and charged again in August after allegedly being found in the company of the same girl in a suburban Cleveland hotel room has taken yet another turn.

Juan Ocampo, 40, was arrested by Chicago police on Dec. 27 during a traffic stop in the 4000 block of West Madison Street and appears to be in custody awaiting action on active warrants out of both Riverside and Des Plaines.

Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said the Cook County State’s Attorney prosecutor supervising the Riverside case has agreed to ask for an increase in Ocampo‘s bond from $5,000 to $25,000 due to his repeated run-ins with the law since January and his failure to appear at court dates.

Des Plaines police took Ocampo into custody at his East Burlington Street apartment in Riverside on a harassment charge on Nov. 13. At the time, he was also awaiting trial on the Riverside case and the case involving the minor at the hotel outside of Cleveland.

On Dec. 7, Ocampo was arrested again in the Cleveland area and on Dec. 24 was indicted for felony intimidation and menacing by stalking. He had since been in custody at Cuyahoga County Jail under medical isolation of COVID-19, according to court records, until Dec. 24, when he was freed on bond after pleading not guilty to the felony charges.

He was due back in front of a Cuyahoga County judge on Dec. 29.

Unlawful use of a weapon North Riverside police charged a 25-yearold Chicago woman with misdemeanor unlawful use of a weapon after finding a brass knuckles/folding knife combo and two knives that were within her reach during a traffic stop on Dec. 21 at about 4:30 p.m. at Cermak Road and Desplaines Avenue.

Police initially received a call of a reckless driver piloting a red minivan without license plates and blowing through red lights and weaving in and out of traffic. During the traffic stop, the driver reportedly was uncooperative, irate and refused to exit the vehicle.

After a second officer pointed out a knife lying on the front passenger seat, the driver reportedly grabbed it and threw it up onto the dashboard and then placed her hand in her coat pocket. Officers removed the woman from the vehicle at that time. A search of the vehicle reportedly turned up a larger kitchen-type knife between the driver’s seat and the center console and brass knuckles inside the driver’s side door panel.

In addition to the weapon charge, the driver was charged with obstruction and cited for the vehicle having no registration.

Packages stolen in Riverside ■ A resident of

the 100 block of East Quincy

Street, Riverside, called police on Dec. 21 at about 10:05 a.m. to report that earlier in the month someone had stolen a package from her porch.

The package, which contained a leather purse valued at $264, reportedly was taken around 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, according to police, during a 10-minute period the victim was away from home.

It was the second such incident at the home, the victim said. Two packages were stolen from the porch in March, but the victim did not report that incident.

■ Riverside police responded to a home in the 300 block of Blackhawk Road on Dec. 22 after a resident called to report two packages being stolen from the front porch. Video from the doorbell camera reportedly showed someone wearing a mask take the two packages and flee east in a vehicle about 20 minutes before the victim called police.

SUV takes out light pole Riverside police cited a 30-year-old Maywood woman for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and damage to village property after the woman drove her 2011 Chevy SUV into a light pole on the median at 26th Street and Desplaines Avenue on Dec. 23 at about 7 p.m.

The SUV sustained heavy front end damage in the crash, but the driver and her 5-year-old daughter, who was a passenger, were uninjured. The woman told police she was westbound on 26th Street and turned left too sharply towards Desplaines Avenue, hitting the pole in the process.

Neither drugs nor alcohol played a role in the crash, according to police.

Good Samaritan turns in wallet A 41-year-old Maywood man has been reunited with his wallet and the $925 in cash inside of it after a Good Samaritan turned the wallet in to police on the afternoon of Dec. 22.

According to police a man found the wallet lying in the alley behind his home in the 4000 block of Park Avenue, and inside was a driver’s license belonging to its owner and the cash. The Brookfield man delivered the wallet to police, who counted out the cash, sealed the wallet in an envelope and contacted Maywood police to inform the wallet’s owner it could be picked up in Brookfield.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Dec. 2027, 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 30, 2020

Brookfield shocker: 2021 election will go uncontested PEP files only candidate petitions prior to Dec. 21 deadline

By BOB UPHUES Editor

The 2021 election of Brookfield president, clerk and trustee will be unusually quiet, something village residents haven’t seen in decades.

There won’t be much, if any campaigning or lawn signs or direct mail blitzes or debates or intrigue typical of a Brookfield village board race.

For the first time in anyone’s memory – perhaps since the late 1960s or early 1970s – Brookfield will have an uncontested election.

When the village clerk’s office closed at the end of the candidate filing period on Dec. 21, the only nominating petitions turned in were the ones submitted by the PEP Party. Michael Garvey, who is finishing up his second consecutive term as a trustee, will return to the village president’s chair, a position he held from 2005-13.

Kit Ketchmark, who is completing his second term as president, will return to a seat at the board table as a trustee. He’ll be joined by incumbent Edward Cote and Jennifer Hendricks, who will give up her

seat on the Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission to become a first-time trustee.

Brigid Weber, the incumbent village clerk, will continue in that role.

“I think there’s a good part that goes to people thinking we’re doing a good job,” Ketchmark said of the absence of a challenger. “Not that it’s perfect, but I think people have confidence in us.”

As far as COVID-19’s impact on the willingness of anyone else wanting to step into a role as president or trustee in the midst of a pandemic, Ketchmark said he wasn’t sure. But he did admit that anyone coming into the job cold would face enormous challenges.

“For anyone at any level of government it’s been a very challenging year,” Ketchmark said. “It might not be an ideal time for someone new to step up. For someone who is a complete outsider to come in, to me, would be unbelievably challenging.”

While there had been some speculation that Brookfield may have experienced an uncontested election in the late 1980s, a search of the Chicago Tribune’s online archive showed that there had been contested elections for village president since

at least 1977.

There wasn’t any information about the 1985 election for trustee, but there was a contested presidential election that year, hinting at a contested trustee race as well.

From 1961-75, Philip Hollinger was Brookfield’s village president, and it’s possible he might have not faced an opponent during that stretch, but the Tribune archive was inconclusive.

In 1976, Hollinger was found guilty of extortion and tax evasion and sentenced to 20 months in federal prison. The conviction resulted two years later in voters passing a law limiting Brookfield municipal officials to two consecutive terms in office. An attempt to repeal that law in 1988 was unsuccessful.

Hollinger ran to regain his old seat as president in 1981, but lost. He also ran unsuccessfully for trustee in 1987.

Riverside election will go uncontested Despite an expectation that the race for three trustee seats on the Riverside Village Board would be a competitive one in April

2021, that turned out not to be the case after no one else filed nominating petitions on the final day, Dec. 21.

The slate of candidates that will appear on the ballot was endorsed by the Riverside Community Caucus in October. Running under the banner Riverside 2021, former village trustee Joseph Ballerine will take on the duties of village president, while he’ll be joined on the board by two-term incumbent Trustee Doug Pollock and first-time candidates Aberdeen Marsh-Ozga and Megan Claucherty.

Back in October after being passed over by the caucus, incumbent Trustee Wendell Jisa said he would run for re-election as an independent. However, he chose not to file nominating petitions. “[Jisa’s wife] Val and I decided that with three kids under 8 years old and a growing demands in my role as CEO of Reveal that all of my free time needs to be spent building family memories,” Jisa said in an email response to an inquiry from the Landmark.

“This past summer we spent every weekend at our beach house in Michigan, and we have never been happier. Being a great dad and husband is my number one priority.”

Riverside Library Board president, treasurer step aside Renovation project winding down, Wiaduck sees ‘good time for transition’

By BOB UPHUES

exercise. After the final plan was adopted in 2017, the library Two of three incumbents on the Riverside embarked on a capiPublic Library Board of Trustees – both its tal campaign that atpresident and treasurer – have chosen to not tempted to raise the seek another term in 2021. funds through speLibrary board President Joan Wiaduck cial events and pritold the Landmark last week that after a busy vate donations. eight years that saw trustees lay the groundAfter three years, work for a major renovation project, it was that effort had sucJOAN WIADUCK time to move on. ceeded in raising “I’m a firm believer that un$220,000, less there’s something major to much of which was used to create a new Early Learners Area on the stay on the board for, I feel it’s a lower level, a space the library good time for a transition,” Wiaboard used to help convince votduck said. ers to pass a $1.5 million bond isShe and board Treasurer Misue in 2020 to complete the plan. chael Flight will leave the board When work is complete, the with that major renovation projJOAN WIADUCK lower level will have separate ect well under way in the lower Riverside Library spaces for early learners, youth level of the library. Wiaduck said Board president services and teens, a new public work is on schedule for the lowmeeting room that can be divider level to reopen to the public, ed to allow more than one propandemic allowing, by March 1, gram at a time and reconfigured 2021. staff offices.

The project is the result of a During the two terms Wiaduck years’ long campaign that began in 2013 when the library board hired an ar- and Flight served, the library board underchitectural firm to conduct a space planning took other library infrastructure projects, Editor

“I feel it’s a good time for a transition.”

MICHAEL FLIGHT

including installing a $370,000 heating and air-conditioning system, making the library’s elevator more accessible and installing new shelving to consolidate the library’s adult collection on the library’s main floor.

“We practically rebuilt that library,”

Wiaduck said.

The race to fill the three Riverside library board seats up for election in April 2021 will be uncontested. Three people have filed nominating petitions, including incumbent Michael Hagins, who was appointed to the board in 2017 and then elected to a two-year term in 2019.

He will be joined on the ballot by first-time candidates Christine Long and Jane Birmingham, who is Wiaduck’s daughter.

Birmingham continues a family tradition of public service to Riverside. In addition to her mother’s years serving on the library board, Birmingham’s father, Harold J. Wiaduck Jr., was Riverside village president from 2001-09. He also served as a village trustee.

Library board races uncontested in Brookfield, North Riverside The race for three four-year terms on the Brookfield Public Library Board of Trustees next April will be uncontested after just three candidates, all incumbents, filed nominating petitions by the Dec. 21 deadline to get on the ballot for the 2021 Consolidated Election.

As a result, Carol Vaughan Kissane, who by next April will have served on the library board for 40 years, will win an 11th term as a trustee.

Also running for re-election are Jeanne McTeague and Adam Burghgraef, who seek their second four-year terms on the board.

Burghgraef, prior to his election in 2017 alongside McTeague, served on the library board for two years as an appointee following the resignation of Trustee Judith Sweet in 2015.

Meanwhile, three people have filed for the three six-year terms up for election on the North Riverside Public Library District Board of Trustees.

Two of the candidates, John Mathias and Greg Gordon, are incumbents. Jeanne Ottenweller will join the library board for the first time.

The Landmark, December 30, 2020

BIG WEEK

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And more North Riverside Public Library, 2400 Desplaines Ave., is offering the following virtual programs through Facebook Live, conference calls and the teleconferencing app Zoom. Programs include Makerspace Mondays on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. via Facebook Live on North Riverside Public Library’s Facebook page and Stretching and Meditation on Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m. via conference call (800-747-5150, code 1453322).

Brookfield Public Library offers virtual classes and programs for patrons of all ages throughout the week. Most youth activities will be presented live on the library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ BrookfieldPublicLibrary.

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Theatre of Western Springs presents “It’s a Wonderful Western Springs Life,” a digital play for the holidays by the Actives of the TWS and the young actors of the Children’s Theatre of Western Springs.

Tickets are on sale now at theatreofwesternsprings.com and the performance can be seen through noon Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. Subscribers will receive the code; a $10 donation is suggested for non-subscribers. The digital Vimeo link will be emailed to patrons.

“It’s A Wonderful Western Springs Life” features a cast of more than 100 adults and children and was filmed on the streets and in the parks and businesses of Western Springs.

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Tower Chorale performs holiday classics

The Tower Chorale performs a mini concert of uplifting Christmas music whenever it’s convenient for you, via YouTube, through the month of December.

The program features five favorites: “Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella,”“O Holy Night,”“Angels We Have Heard on High,”“Still, Still, Still” and “Hope for Resolution,” all sung by their 50-plus voice choir.

A link to the concert can be found at towerchorale.org and while “tickets” are free, donations are appreciated.

Around Riverside in 80 Days

There are 80 days between Thanksgiving Day and Valentine’s Day, so with that in mind the Riverside Department of Parks and Recreation invites you to register for Around Riverside in 80 Days, which challenges you to get out there every day through Feb. 14 and walk, run or bike any distance to stay healthy this winter.

Track your trips on the downloadable tracker sheet and see just how far you can go in 80 days. Send your pictures and keep Parks and Rec posted on your achievements by emailing to riversidepr@ riverside.il.us.

Register to participate in the fun run campaign at riverside. il.us/513/Around-Riverside-In-80-Days and receive a sweatshirt of your choice.

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8

The Landmark, December 30, 2020

LTHS ELECTION

OBITUARIES

Patricia R. Liska, 95 Teacher, traveler and matriarch Patricia Ryan Liska, 95, formerly of River Forest and Oak Park, died on Dec. 26, 2020.

Born in Chicago on Dec. 13, 1925 to a large Irish clan, she was raised in Obregon, Mexico, where she mastered Spanish and became bilingual at an early age. The Ryan family returned to Chicago and settled in Oak Park.

She attended Trinity High School and Rosary College (now Dominican University).

After graduation, she married Bob Liska and together they raised their six children in River Forest, and she began PATRICIA R. LISKA her second career teaching special education in the Chicago Public Schools for 25 years, putting her Spanish and writing skills to great use.

Ms. Liska traveled the world with friends and family, including many domestic and international trips with children and grandchildren. She cherished those trips, often planning her next one before the last one was completed. She missed Antarctica only due to bad weather.

Family and friends are indebted for the love of life she shared and her unsurpassed art of communication, always engaging others and asking about their lives, families and interests.

She had a keen sense of humor and loved her Irish heritage. She embraced her faith and respected all others. She loved watching and interacting with children of all ages. She loved playing tennis at the Oak Park Tennis Club, bridge with her many dear friends, and dining at restaurants.

A voracious reader, and member of several book groups, she devoured stories of people, events and places that whetted her thirst for relationships and travel. She was the family matriarch with a healthy dose of wanderlust, experiencing life to its fullest.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob; her son, Tom; her sister Honey (Dick) O’Hara; her brother, Bill Ryan; and her sisters-in-law, Fran Ryan, Marion (John) Ford, and Lorraine (Rollo) Christiansen.

She is survived by her brother, Larry (Nancy) Ryan; her sisters-in-law Jane Ryan and Jeanne (David) Stein; her sons Pat, Mike, Paul (Kathy), and Dan (Pam) Liska; and her daughter, Mary (Dan) Phelps.

She was Nana/Gram to Jennifer Coolidge, Danielle (Paul) Eisenbacher, Tommy (Rachel) Liska, Katie (Brett) Novey, Maggie (Chip) Jessopp, Dan (Elizabeth) Phelps, Kate (Patrick) Smith, Beth (Drew) Seward, Bob Liska, and Sam Liska; and Bingo to Elise and Jacqueline Novey, Chase, Molly and Mac Jessopp, Tommy, Lulu, and Jojo Phelps, Emily and Claire Smith, Kay, Jack, Billy and James Seward.

A celebration of life will be held on June 25, 2021. In lieu of flowers send donations to Trinity High School in memory of Patricia Ryan Liska, 7574 W. Division St., River Forest, 60305.

Conboy-Westchester Funeral Home, Westchester, handled arrangements.

Fresh voices from page 1

that she filed for the two-year term hoping that she would face off against an incumbent.

“I’m running because I feel the board needs a fresh voice,” Daniels said. “I felt that I could make a difference better in the two-year term, because I might be running against an incumbent.”

Nearly a year ago Daniels paid to have an education expert prepare a lengthy report on the achievement gap at LTHS and how it could be addressed.

“I feel that LT needs to be a place for belonging and equity for all of its students, and this must be a forefront of every decision made,” said Daniels, a 47-year-old mother of four children including one LTHS graduate and a junior who was adopted from Ethiopia. “If the district was doing their job, I wouldn’t have had to commission a report.”

Daniels said LTHS officials have mostly ignored the report and have not adequately addressed the issue despite holding an open board meeting devoted to the subject this summer.

“I think it was just to humor people,” said Daniels of the meeting this summer. “I do question the motive of the board.”

McLean, who has served on the District 204 board since 2015, says she agrees that the achievement gap and equity are big issues, but she disputes the notion that the current board hasn’t dealt with them. She admits, however, that what has been done so far hasn’t been very effective.

“There’s definitely an opportunity or an achievement gap … they have tried to get after, but obviously what they have tried, it didn’t achieve what it’s supposed to do,” McLean said.

McLean, a LTHS graduate and the mother of three graduates, said she was horrified by some of the things she learned this year,

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The Landmark, December 30, 2020 including that some Black and Hispanic students at LTHS had heard racial slurs.

“That is completely unacceptable,” McLean said. “In the spring what I found out in a way that I was not aware of, the climate at LT seems to be less welcoming in a way that I think I was embarrassingly unaware of, and I think many people felt the same way.”

McLean, 56, a LaGrange resident, says decided to run for another term on the school board because there was going to be so much turnover. Three experienced incumbents, board President Tom Cushing, three-term incumbent George Dougherty and six-year incumbent Molly Murphy Bruton, all decided not to run for re-election.

The school board will also hire a new superintendent in 2021.

“This is kind of a big moment, and I feel like I would just like to see it through,” McLean said.

4-year candidates also eye equity Equity and the achievement gap were issues mentioned by all six of the candidates running for the four four-year terms at stake.

Thomas, a 54-year-old LaGrange Park resident who works as a marketing manager for Dart Corp., was appointed to the school board in October to replace Rosinsky. He is a former LaGrange-Brookfield Elementary School District 102 board member and is likely the first Black person to ever serve on the LTHS school board.

Thomas said if he’s elected to a full fouryear term, he wants to focus on equity and the issue of learning loss. Thomas said he needs more than a few months to work on the issues that the board and school face.

“I really see that the whole learning loss that is happening with our students is a really big issue,” Thomas said.

The other five candidates for four-year terms are Dawn Aubert, Tim Albores, Jill Grech, Ricardo Martinez and Julie Swinehart.

Aubert, 53, served on the District 102 school board from 2007 to 2015 before stepping aside to spend more time caring for her aging parents.

She believes her experience as a school board member is something that would be very valuable to a District 204 school board that won’t be very experienced. She said that if elected she would hit the ground running.

“I hope that my eight years of experience can provide some assistance and good energy towards a school district that obviously is going through an inordinate amount of issues right now with COVID and hiring a new superintendent who will start next year,” Aubert said. “Having done this previously, there’s a big learning curve.”

Martinez, 35, who ran a spirited, insurgent campaign in 2019 but finished last in a fiveperson field, is trying again.

“I am running again because I want to give a strong voice for equity and achievement and access to opportunity,” Martinez said. “I think I could be a unique voice for the board. I’m the father of two young boys. I’m a minority.”

Martinez, a Western Springs resident whose wife is a French teacher at LTHS, works as an analytics and insights manager

for Breakthrough Beverage Group.

“I’m a data person,” Martinez said. “I know that there is a lot of law expertise on the school board right now. I just think it brings something different to have a background in analytics and be really comfortable looking at data and drivers.”

Two years ago, Martinez made air conditioning a major issue in his campaign, criticizing the slow pace of the expansion of air conditioning at both campuses. He also called for District 204 to sell a 70-acre parcel of land in Willow Springs purchased decades ago when District 204 believed it might need to open another high school.

While air conditioning is still important, Martinez it will not be as large a focus due to the pandemic and equity.

Albores, 46, lives in LaGrange Park and works as the director of student services for high schools and alternative programs for Plainfield School District 202, where he oversees about 80 social workers.

He has been a member of the LT Advisory Council (LTAC) and is the father of three children, two of whom are students at LTHS, a senior and a sophomore.

“I’ve always wanted to take my knowledge and expertise in education and give back to my local community,” Albores said.

Like the other candidates Albores says equity is an important issue.

“I believe it is important to continue to investigate how we can level the playing field for all kids: black, brown, male, female, disadvantaged, wealthy,” Albores said.

He says that while LTHS is an excellent school it can be better.

“I don’t think that LT is broken, but I do think we can always do better,” Albores said.

Grech, 45, works as digital marketing strategist for Loyola University of Chicago. She has lived in LaGrange for nearly 11 years and is the mother of three children, including a freshman at LTHS and child who will be a freshman next year.

“I think there’s a unique opportunity right now to add a lot of new voices to the table,” Grech said. “I love our community; I love these kids. I’m so enthusiastic about Lyons Township High School.”

Grech said District 204 is facing a structural budget deficit this year and must also focus on equity and the mental health of students who have become isolated during the pandemic.

“We just have to responsible stewards of finances,” Grech said.

Swinehart, 45, is a resident of LaGrange who grew up in Western Springs and graduated from LTHS in 1993. She has served on LTAC for the past four years.

“It really gave me a tremendous amount of insight as to how the school functions,” Swinehart said.

Swinehart is the mother of three children, a sophomore at LTHS and eighth-grade twins. She said she would bring expertise in finance to the school board. A certified public accountant, Swinehart works as the treasurer, chief financial officer and executive vice president for Retail Properties of America, Inc., an Oak Brook-based company that owns about 105 shopping malls and strips around the country.

“I see myself as a consensus builder, see myself as someone who has experienced leading through crisis. If you can imagine being in retail through a pandemic, it hasn’t been easy,” Swinehart said. “Obviously, I think my finance expertise is something that could be a benefit and is something of a timeless need.”

Swinehart, who is a lesbian, said that she feels that she could also add additional diversity to the school board.

“I’m passionate about diversity and have witnessed firsthand how different ways of thinking, based on different life experiences and different thought can really generate a lot of creativity and often get to the right answer in things,” Swinehart said.

Read it online at www.rblandmark.com

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10

The Landmark, December 30, 2020

YEAR IN REVIEW from page 1

Plague ship sets sail The word “coronavirus” first appeared in the pages of the Landmark on March 4, reporting that local officials had been briefed on this virus that was just popping up in Illinois – the state had just recorded its third and fourth cases, a married couple in Cook County.

Five days later, Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker declared a state of emergency and for the next two months the novel coronavirus and the disease resulting from its infection, COVID-19, would consume us all.

Two weeks after that first news story on the coronavirus, the Landmark’s frontpage headline on March 18 – in all caps – declared “LIFE GRINDING TO A HALT” and was accompanied by the first photo of the panic that ensued, a crowded line of more than 100 people outside Costco in North Riverside stretching from the front door to the north end of the warehouse. No one in the photo wore a mask.

That same week, the governor shut down non-essential businesses, including all bars, restaurants and most retail stores.

Streets emptied, but people swarmed grocery stores, buying out supplies of disinfectants, hand sanitizer, paper towels, bottled water and toilet paper. It was as if they were preparing for the apocalypse.

“It’s catastrophic,” said North Riverside Mayor Hubert Hermanek Jr., who would impose a mask mandate for all employees and customers inside local businesses on April 16.

Until that time, it’s hard to believe now, uncovered faces were not unusual inside local businesses. Virtually no one has left home without one since.

COVID-19 upended society like nothing perhaps since World War II. Citizens, business owners, local government officials, educators all improvised to adjust to a pandemic that had forced everyone behind closed doors in order to control the virus’ spread.

A teleconferencing app IN called Zoom became the means by which we would conduct everything from classroom instruction to business meetings to recreation and library programming to government meetings. It became the vehicle for those strictly locked down in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities to see the faces of their loved ones.

For many – by Christmas more than 15,400 Illinois residents were confirmed to have died from COVID-19 -- it was how families said their final goodbyes.

Faces framed inside rectangles arrayed on screens was the manifestation of gathering, even near death, during a pandemic.

We have found it a wearisome existence.

The “drive by” became a thing – from im-

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

SIGN OF THE TIMES: A mannequin sporting a surgical mask, a symbol of life under COVID-19 lockdown, stands sentinel in the front window of a home in the 300 block of Fairbank Road in late March. promptu caravans beeping horns, waving and shouting birthday and anniversary greetings and retirement best wishes to cap-and-gown clad graduates lining up in vehicles to get their diplomas safely from masked faculty.

By summer the strict lockdown had eased and had its intended effect. The number of new COVID-19 cases flattened and then fell.

Restaurants opened outdoor patios and, later, dining room doors to customers.

Retail stores welcomed back maskedup customers and local farmers markets kicked into gear under new, one-way, notouch protocols. Even local movie theaters reopened, briefly, before shutting down again due to Hollywood delaying new releases.

While some school districts opened the new school year in the fall with classes conducted only remotely, others opened classrooms cautiously to limited numbers of students for short periods of time.

The cold weather of autumn brought with it a second surge in COVID-19 cases – worse, it turned out, than spring and just as deadly. The governor ordered restaurants, bars and indoor attractions closed, but the dining and drinking ban has been widely ignored, often openly, to the point of prominent signs boasting “open for dine-in.” Local officials, for the most part, have let it go.

Perhaps that’s due in part to the glimmer of hope ignited by the arrival in December of a vaccine, which has started being administered to the elderly, first responders and health care workers.

If it is the beginning of the end of the pandemic, it’s all the more reason to get to 2021 as quickly as possible.

A racial reckoning On May 25, a Minneapolis police officer involved in the arrest of a man named George Floyd, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine

minutes while detaining him on a charge of passing a fake $20 bill. Floyd died as a result of that conduct, and his death ignited a powder keg of anger.

Floyd was the latest example in a long line of a Black Americans who died for no good reason at the hands of police, whether it was the result of police incompetence, as it was in the case of Breonna Taylor, or actual malice. And Floyd would turn out not to be the last in 2020.

His death, and the visceral reaction by people to the police brutality that caused it, resonated worldwide. It touched off weeks of civil unrest, not seen since 1968, in cities from coast to coast.

The vast majority of the protests that followed in the wake of Floyd’s death were peaceful demonstrations and marches, including several in Brookfield, Riverside and North Riverside.

Those demonstrations drew hundreds, whose marches through local streets and main thoroughfares interrupted traffic but reinforced the message that government and police agencies themselves needed a re-examination of their practices, training and, in some cases, their presence at all.

Civil unrest also manifested itself in dark ways. On May 31, caravans of vehicles descended on the area of Harlem Avenue and Cermak Road. Outnumbering police and moving quickly, looters smashed their way into the North Riverside Park Mall and other retailers, large and small, making off with everything from shoes and clothes to electronics to liquor.

That day also claimed the life of 22-yearold Myqwon Blanchard, shot multiple times outside Olive Garden, execution style. His murder remains unsolved. He would be the first of three people shot on the mall property this year, and the only fatality.

2020 YEAR REVIEW

BOB UPHUES/Editor

SILENT VIGIL: Demonstrators called for unity while protesting the death of George Floyd during a march that closed the intersection of Harlem and Cermak on June 3.

The Landmark, December 30, 2020

The feds close in A year ago, things were getting uncomfortable for a number of local politicians, their lieutenants and political contributors after federal investigators swooped in and raided their government buildings, campaign offices and homes.

The biggest names caught in the net were state Sen. Martin Sandoval and Cook County Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski, and in 2020 their bills came due.

Sandoval, who resigned as state senator amid the probe on Jan. 1, was indicted and pleaded guilty to bribery and lying on a tax return. His sentencing was deferred in exchange for his continued cooperation in the federal probe.

In March, Tobolski suddenly and without explanation resigned from his positions as county commissioner and mayor of McCook. On Sept. 1 the reasons became clear – Tobolski pleaded guilty to extortion and lying on a tax return. His sentencing also was deferred in exchange for continued cooperation.

Sandoval died on Dec. 5 after contracting COVID-19. Tobolski continues to cooperate with prosecutors, who are not done with their investigation.

assessment of Donald Trump’s one term as U.S. president. Early voting in October saw lines at Brookfield Village Hall out the door and around the building.

When Cook County certified its result, local turnout was huge, with 80 percent of Riverside registered voters, 76 percent in Brookfield and 74 percent in North Riverside casting ballots, with between 61 and 65 percent of local voters choosing Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20.

The miracle of 2020

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

EARLY BIRDS: As the first day of early voting dawned in the Cook County suburbs on Oct. 19, voters lined up around the building at Brookfield Village Hall, waiting as long as two hours to cast their ballots.

The only bright spot was the emergence of Penney’s from foreclosure in November, with the North Riverside store still intact.

But big-box retail’s future remains as precarious as ever.

End of an era in North Riverside

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Rough year at the mall The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in March at the same moment as unrelated, ominous news for North Riverside Park Mall. A real estate appraisal conducted in late 2019 valued the shopping center at about $20 million less than its owner, The Feil Organization, owed on the loan.

A week after that story broke, the mall was forced to shut its doors to the public due to the pandemic. When the mall was allowed to reopen in late May, the hits kept coming.

First, the May 31 looting forced another short-term closure and then two weeks after reopening a man was shot and wounded inside the shopping center.

About the same time, it was announced that Sears, which had already downsized to half its original footprint, would be closing

by Labor Day and the lone remaining mall anchor, J.C. Penney, announced it was seeking bankruptcy protection.

At the end of July, the mall’s lender initiated foreclosure proceedings, which continue as the year draws to a close.

A third shooting, also inside the mall, followed in September and resulted in the arrest of two people. The man believed to be the shooter remains on electronic monitoring while awaiting trial.

11

For 30 years the VIP Party was synonymous with North Riverside government.

It was an impregnable political wall that more or less cleared the field of opposition through perpetual homeowner-friendly property tax freezes, water and waste hauling subsidies, handyman services for senior citizens and free vehicle stickers for residents.

The largesse was paid for by the village’s enormous commercial and retail sales tax base. A global economic recession and the Age of Amazon revealed the flaw in that model.

In order to balance the books, village leaders began looking for additional revenue to pay for top-notch resident services, costs for which were expanding faster than sales tax receipts.

Water, trash hauling and vehicle subsidies ended. An aging water and sewer infrastructure would have to be addressed, resulting in a special fee. Red-light cameras were introduced, along with video gambling machines – in bars and restaurants, in standalone mini-casinos, inside a liquor store and even in gas station minimarts.

More and more credible challenges threatened VIP – first in the form of H. Bob Demopoulos, elected in 2011 and involved in a 2013 election campaign straight out of the Wild West.

Then came 2014 and the attempt by Mayor Hubert Hermanek Jr. to privatize the fire department, a five-year campaign that weakened VIP’s popularity even further.

In the meantime, longtime Village Administrator Guy Belmonte, a direct line to the VIP heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, retired and the remnants of the party fractured after a 2019 trustee election that saw the party

lose two of three seats to Demopoulos and his political ally Marybelle Mandel.

The two have formed a new party, People Before Politics, and its slate is challenging for the future board majority in 2021.

VIP has disbanded, its political committee chloroformed permanently Dec. 3. Its assets were transferred to the new North Riverside United Party, now home to several key former VIP stalwarts who seek to hold onto that majority.

It won’t be easy.

Voters speak loud and clear The political intrigue locally, however, was nothing compared to the national scene, where the year started out with a presidential impeachment and ended with that same president botching the national response to the pandemic and then refusing to admit he’d been soundly defeated at the polls and toying with sedition.

Local voters were clear enough in their

On the afternoon of March 28, chafing at being cooped up during the lockdown, 11-year-old Maxx Kusper put in his earbuds, turned on the music and left his Brookfield home for a breath of fresh air.

About two blocks away, he started across the railroad tracks at Prairie Avenue. He didn’t make it all the way to the other side. An Amtrak train speeding through town clipped him as he crossed. It was a terrible accident, and one that left Maxx seriously injured.

On April 6, Maxx was still in an induced coma, still not out of the woods after surgery, which included removing part of his skull to relieve swelling on his brain.

“We are praying for that miracle,” said his mom,” Marcey Raymond Kusper.

The family received that miracle.

On May 16, behind a police and fire escort, Maxx returned home to a street lined with trees adorned with Cubbie blue ribbons and homes decked out with signs bearing the hashtag #MaxxStrong.

More therapy lay ahead, but so did baseball.

As unlikely as playing baseball looked for Maxx’s future in early April, there he was in Kiwanis Park – where just a few months ago a #MaxxStrong banner hung on the backstop as friends and family held their breath -- playing in the 57th Annual Roy Overholt Tournament in October.

“That field was where our boy did a lot of his healing, both physically and emotionally,” Maxx’s mom wrote on Facebook.

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

WARM WELCOME: Maxx Kusper (wearing helmet) rides next to his mom, Marcey Raymond Kusper, past cheering well-wishers lined up on the streets to welcome the boy home from the hospital on May 16.

12

The Landmark, December 30, 2020

Opinion KOSEY CORNER

THE LANDMARK VIEW

Aspirations for 2021 A year to forget that we’ll always remember

N

o one could have predicted the abyss of 2020 when it took the stage a year ago. Clearly it has been an almost impossible challenge from start to finish. Globally, nationally, locally, COVID-19 had us by the neck throughout the year.

What’s ahead in 2021 can’t be predicted until we understand when vaccines will be available widely — and fairly — enough and prove effective enough to begin to suppress this pandemic.

But 2020 laid bare just how fragile we are as a nation, as communities, as institutions, as an economy and next year will begin either the reclamation of those ideas or their abandonment.

There’s not a lot we here can do about events taking place hundreds or thousands of miles away, but there’s plenty we can do at home to refocus priorities as the pandemic fades.

Local elections await in April and while a good many will go uncontested, there are plenty of important ones at stake, particularly for seats on high school boards, where so much of the pandemic’s visible effects have played out.

One thing remote learning has shown us again is the gap between those with the resources, technology and support systems and those without. Providing public education equitably and bridging the chasm in achievement between white and minority must be front and center.

That issue appears to be in particular focus in the election for seats on the Lyons Township School Board of Education, and with so many longtime incumbents bowing out there’s room for a real change.

At Riverside-Brookfield High School the pandemic has resurfaced the tension between faculty and administration that we’d hoped had been resolved with the quick approval of a new contract in 2019.

Those sides being on the same page is critical for the school to begin tackling crucial issues like equity and achievement. We hope they work toward that meeting of the minds in 2021.

We’ve seen so much dysfunction in government on the national level in recent years – and especially in 2020 – that we sometimes forget it is there to improve our lives and can, when those in charge believe in the purpose of governing.

That filters down to the local level and we fear at times that the strident, social media-driven rhetoric will result in people tuning out and letting those loud, often self-interested, voices clear the field.

Governing at the local level, at its core, is about mundane affairs – making sure water and sewer systems function, maintaining streets and alleys, efficiently serving residents who want to improve their properties and ensuring both existing and prospective businesses thrive by instituting sound planning methods.

It’s also about delivering public safety in an equitable manner and not using public safety agencies as political pawns.

If the last several years have taught us anything, however, it’s that no one person has all the answers when it comes to “fixing” government and that those say they have all the answers likely have no idea what they’re talking about.

As for 2020, our lost year is over. Let’s make 2021 much better.

W

ell it finally came to an end, the year 2020, and what a year it was! I can’t even begin to think of all that has happened, and much of it I would prefer to forget.

I’m glad I won’t be writing the text books for this period of time or for that matter teaching it, and I liked teaching history and social studies, especially preparing students for the Constitution test. Maybe some people need to retake it.

At this time of the year people are busy making resolutions (or is it revolutions?) for the coming year. Each year I resolve not to make any resolutions; therefore, I am safe.

New Year’s Day will find us not doing much except relaxing from our yearly New Year’s Eve dinner from The Chew Chew, which we have been doing it for a long time.

I will also spend time changing the calendars -- now that can be time consuming, putting in relevant dates in the proper places. Our page-a-day calendar goes in the TV room so each day we can thank Joe and Nancy Dvorak for the thoughtful gift.

In the kitchen will be the family photos calendar put together by our daughter-in-law Pam, so we can see events of the family from 2020, all good things. I will also put away (hopefully for good) my holiday masks and choose which I will use for now. I am starting to gather quite a few of them, but I never seem to have one handy when I need it.

The tree and decorations will stay up until after “Little Christmas” on Jan. 6, and it may even stay up longer depending how I feel. Again I will try to put decorations away carefully so they will be ready for 2021.

In 2021, there will be a change in Washington and village election campaigns will start up for April. North Riverside will be the only town this time around giving voters choices. Riverside and Brookfield’s election won’t be so interesting with no contested races, too bad. Thoughts on that at another time.

Hopefully people will be going back to work, kids back to school, back to stores and restaurants and back to church.

One of the things I will be glad to be able to do again is to shake hands with people and give hugs and kisses, especially to my grandchildren. A priority for me will be to get that shot, and so should you. Happy New Year!

LETTERS

child from Riverside who asked his birthday party guests to bring food for the pantry instead of presents for himself.

Groups and individuals have made monetary contributions to help keep the pantry stocked. Donations have made it possible to purchase refrigerators and add fresh produce to our offerings twice a week. We could not have done this on our own. It is hard to express just how much this touches our hearts as you all reach out to touch the lives of people you most likely don’t know.

We often get messages to our Facebook page inquiring about how to donate. We will soon be adding a page to our website for those who would like to be involved, but until then, please feel free to call the church office at 708-447-1520.

We are always in need of canned meats like tuna, chicken, ham, and Vienna sausages. Peanut butter is a welcome source of protein, and we often run out of canned fruits.

This time of year, soup is especially welcome.

Monetary donations assure that we can purchase those things that are most in demand, and since we do most of our shopping at Aldi, gift cards to that store are helpful, too.

We look forward to a post-COVID world when we can once again gather to provide community dinners. We hope that many of you will join us for food and fellowship so that we can thank you face to face.

Until then, please know that your generosity does not go unnoticed. We feel blessed to be part of a community that truly embraces the idea of loving one’s neighbors and is willing to work with us to do so.

With gratitude we wish you peace and love during the holidays and always,

JOANNE KOSEY

Riverside Presbyterian gives thanks It is that time of year when many take stock of life and give thanks. Riverside Presbyterian Church would like to express our appreciation to the greater community for the support we have received from so many of you in our efforts to provide for our neighbors.

In 2017, we opened our Little Food Pantry, a cupboard outside our doors that was stocked with non-perishable foods for anyone who was food insecure. Since then, we have received thanks from moms who can provide better lunches for their school children, senior citizens on small, fixed incomes, who at times need to choose between medicine and food, and those between jobs who have lost their incomes.

Over the time our Little Food Pantry has been operating, we have seen an uptick in its usage. We have been surprised by the amount of need in our area, and the congregation has had some difficulties keeping the pantry stocked while trying to do something about other hardships locally, nationally, and globally. There have been points in time where we wondered if we would be able to continue to stock the shelves each day.

And then, as word got out about what we were doing, donations from the community started to come in. We give thanks for our community members who have been wonderful about dropping off bags of groceries, including a

The congregation of Riverside Presbyterian Church Riverside

The Landmark, December 30, 2020

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In memoriam: Remembering those we lost in 2020 A look back at notable people of the Landmark coverage area who died in the past year

Paul Bednarz, 74 A scion of the family that operated Bednarz Ace Hardware in Riverside, Bednarz spent a lifetime in public safety. He started as a dispatcher with the Riverside Police Department and later became a police officer in North Riverside, where he retired a detective. He was also a member of the Riverside Fire Department, earning the rank of lieutenant. May 15.

Lee Phillip Bell, 91 A Riverside-Brookfield High School graduate and longtime Riverside resident, Bell found fame first as an Emmy Awardwinning Chicago TV talk show host on the longrunning “Lee Phillip Show” and “Noonbreak.”

In the 1970s, she and her husband William Bell, a soap opera script writer, would team up to create the hit TV soap operas “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Feb. 25.

Sally Danihel, 64 Danihel was a longtime resident of North Riverside and a devoted employee of the village of North Riverside, serving as administrative clerk, as well as taking on several other duties at the Village Commons. March 9.

Donald Farnham Sr., 94 A two-time Emmy Award-winning TV cameraman for ABC-TV, Farnham worked three Olympic Games, professional football and baseball games and was part of the TV crew covering President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972. A U.S. Marine combat veteran who saw action at Iwo Jima, Farnham would become one of the

“fathers” of Riverside TV, creating a model government-funded cable TV operation and serving on the village’s cable TV commission for 23 years. Feb. 9.

Lois Palmer Huth, 102 After graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1939, Huth raised three boys of her own and fostered 12 other children before turning her eye, at the age of 40, to her art as a sculptor. She would create more than 8,000 works during her lifetime. In her late nineties, Huth was still at it, sculpting figures in her studio/apartment at The Woodlands at Cantata Adult Life Services in Brookfield.

“I’d like to quit, but my kids don’t want me to,” Huth told the Landmark in 2015. “And I get new ideas all the time.” Aug. 26.

Rev. Paul Landahl, 82 The son of Swedish immigrants, Landahl served as parish minister of Ascension Lutheran Church in Riverside, making a name for himself as a champion for social justice and an advocate for marginalized groups. He was a longtime member and chairman of the Riverside Township Mental Health Board, volunteer and board member at BEDS Plus and a board member of RiversideBrookfield High School District 208. He also served as bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and was director of candidacy for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Aug. 31.

Frank Llewellyn, 92 After serving in the U.S. Army, Llewellyn was hired as a police officer in Riverside in April 1957. He would remain a fixture on the force for 34 years, retiring in June 1991 at the rank of lieutenant. Sept. 30.

Robert Molaro, 69

James Votava, 92

A native of Chicago’s Southwest Side, Molaro made his mark locally as a state legislator representing Riverside and Brookfield during his years in the Illinois General Assembly. He served as a state senator from 1993 until 2002 and as a state representative from 2002 until resigning in the summer of 2008. He was known for promoting legislation in support of animal welfare and the horse racing industry.

He also sponsored and passed laws banning shooting preserves and outlawing the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Legislation proposing banning aluminum baseball bats and the consumption of foie gras was not successful. June 15.

As mayor of North Riverside from 1981-85, Votava was instrumental in the development of the Village Commons campus. After losing a bid for re-election, he won a seat as a village trustee in 1987 and held that post for the next 24 years, serving for much of that time as finance chairman.

He was also a keen amateur actor and past president of the North Riverside Recreation Community Theater. Oct. 29.

Martin Sandoval, 56 A product of Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, Sandoval was a Metropolitan Water Reclamation District commissioner when he ran for a seat in the state Senate and won in 2002. As senator for the 11th District, which includes part of Riverside, he rose to become chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. As head of that committee, he took bribes from a red-light camera company official to serve as that industry’s protector in the Senate. He pleaded guilty to that offense in January in federal court and died while awaiting sentencing on Dec. 5.

Kathleen Subaitis, 85 Along with her friend Annette Corgiat, “Kay” Subaitis was a founding trustee of the North Riverside Public Library District, serving in that capacity for 30 years from 1985 to 2015.

As a trustee, she championed a successful 1995 referendum to build a proper library, which opened in 1999. She was also active with the Friends of the Library and the library’s nonprofit foundation. Oct. 2.

Myron J. Wimmer Jr., 85 “Mike” Wimmer lived in both Riverside and Brookfield through the years. An architect, he served on the Riverside Historical Commission, designing the interior of the Riverside Historical Museum’s home in one of the two water tower well houses in Centennial Park. He would later serve on the Brookfield Zoning Board of Appeals. Oct. 24.

Giuseppe Zappani, 65 Though he never lived in Riverside, Zappani will be remembered as the Man Who Saved the Arcade Building.

The Italian immigrant, who founded a successful west suburban roofing company, fell in love with the Victorian gothic structure, the only commercial building specifically commissioned by the Riverside Improvement Company in 1870. He bought the vacant, endangered landmark in 2010, restored it to its original glory and got it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Oct. 10

To run an obituary

Please contact Bob Uphues by e-mail: buphues@rblandmark.com, before Monday at noon.

Please include a photo if possible.

Read it online at www.rblandmark.com

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The Landmark, December 30, 2020

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