Wednesday Journal 060822

W E D N E S D A Y

June 8, 2022 Vol. 42, No. 45 ONE DOLLAR @wednesdayjournalinc

@wednesdayjournal

JOURNAL @oakpark

Oak Park taking small, studied steps toward reparations

of Oak Park and River Forest

Distributed by

AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2022 QUARTER 2

June 8, 2022

THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY PUBLISHED ITS FIRST QUALITY-OF-LIFE PLAN CALLED AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. (AFT) IN 2018.

THIS QUARTERLY PUBLICATION DESCRIBES HOW AUSTIN COMING TOGETHER (ACT) IS SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY TO IMPLEMENT AFT AND OTHER EFFORTS.

FROM AN EYESORE TO A

BEACON OF HOPE

How the Austin community is transforming a closed school into the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation

ACT Special Section SEE INSIDE

Back in the ‘Day’ Oak Park celebrates after two year hiatus SEE MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 18

Oak Park Reparations Task Force, Dominican University working on reparations survey, study to present to village taxing bodies

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Equity Editor

Last year, Evanston became by most media accounts the first municipality in America to pass a local reparations program. Now, momentum may be building in Oak Park among community members who are figuring out what it will take for the village of Oak Park to pass a reparations program of its own.

Last month, a group of Oak Park stakeholders called the Oak Park Reparations Task Force partnered with Dominican University in River Forest to facilitate a series of forums designed to get a sense of what Black residents of the village think about a municipal reparations program.

The forums will help shape a survey that will go out to the village’s Black residents soon.

See REPARATIONS on page 12

SHANEL ROMAIN/Staff Photographer

District 97 band leader Leslie Hunt performs during the Day in Our Village event on Sunday at Scoville Park.

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

YOU’RE INVITED!

Family Day

GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION FRIDAY, JUNE 17 | NOON TO 5 PM Lunch is served 1 TO 3 PM OAK PARK BANK – MADISON ST. 400 Madison St. | Oak Park

Enjoy a taco truck, live music, and a festive ribbon-cutting ceremony as we open the new Oak Park Bank location.

Something new is coming to Oak Park! Is it a Taco Bell? Not quite — but we’ll have a taco truck here to help us celebrate. We are thrilled to cut the ribbon on our new Oak Park Bank location — this one’s on Madison Street — and we hope you’ll come to enjoy the live music, festive atmosphere, and tacos that we’ve arranged to ring in the moment.

Celebrate our GRAND OPENING with our #1 CHECKING ACCOUNT and

GET 300 $

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400 Madison St. | Oak Park, IL 60302 708-948-0480 | bankoakpark.com

Plus, enjoy TOTALLY FREE ATMS!

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Really, every ATM you use is free.

We’ll reimburse your ATM fees everywhere outside our network.

when you open a new Total Access Checking account.

Only $100 required to open. No minimum monthly balance or monthly maintenance fees.

Enroll in online banking, activate e-statements through the bank website, and have at least monthly occurring direct deposits totaling $500 or more each month for the qualification period.2

Stop by to say hello or open online at bankoakpark.com/taco Oak Park Bank is a branch of Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, N.A. 1. Total Access Checking Account Bonus Information. This Total Access Checking account bonus offer is valid for new accounts opened January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022. This Total Access Checking account bonus offer is not available to existing or closed checking account customers of Wintrust Financial Corporation (‘WTFC’) and its subsidiaries or its active employees. Limit 1 bonus payment per customer, regardless of the number of accounts opened. If you qualify for this Total Access Checking account bonus offer, you are ineligible to receive this Total Access Checking account bonus offer from any other WTFC location. If you qualify for any other WTFC savings offer it may be combined with this Total Access Checking account bonus offer. Your new account must be open, in the same product, and have a balance greater than zero to receive the bonus payment. Balance is determined as of the end of each Business Day as the funds currently in your account including deposits and withdrawals made in the Business Day. The $300.00 bonus payment is subject to IRS 1099-INT reporting and may be considered income for tax purposes for the tax year in which the bonus was paid. BANKER INSTRUCTIONS: Enter offer code WFC00DMTA300 during account opening. 2. Total Access Checking Account Bonus Qualifications. (i) Open a new Total Access Checking account; (ii) tell us you are aware of this Total Access Checking account bonus offer at account opening; (iii) have at least monthly occurring direct deposits totaling $500.00 or more each month made to your new account for 2 consecutive calendar months after the calendar month your new account was opened (‘Qualification Period’). For example, if you open your new account in January, you would need to have “Direct Deposits” made to your new account in February totaling $500.00 or more and in March totaling $500.00 or more; and (iv) enroll in online banking and activate e-statements within the Qualification Period. A direct deposit is defined as any payment made by a government agency, employer, or other third-party organization that is made via an electronic deposit. A direct deposit does not include teller/ATM/mobile or remote deposits, wire transfers between accounts at WTFC, external transfers from other accounts at other financial institutions or ATM/debit card transfers and deposits. After you have completed all the above bonus qualifications, we will deposit the bonus payment into your new account within 30 calendar days after the Qualification Period. 3. ATM Fees. There is no WTFC transaction charge at any ATM in the Allpoint, MoneyPass, or Sum surcharge free networks. Other banks outside the network may impose ATM surcharges at their machines. Surcharge fees assessed by owners of other ATMs outside the network will be reimbursed. Reimbursement does not include the 1.10% International Service fee charged for certain foreign transactions conducted outside the continental United States. A listing of WTFC locations can be found here: wintrust.com/locations.

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

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The antidote to fake West Cook News? Not the Washington Post, but truth-tellers like Ida B. Wells

he great Black scholar Neely Fuller once said that if you don’t understand white supremacy, what it is and how it works, everything else that you understand will only confuse you.

I thought about that truism when reading much of the reaction to the lies produced

by West Cook News about Oak Park and River Forest High School’s plans for its grading system. I won’t repeat the details. One outlet after another after another — from sea to shining sea — has taken pains this past week to either amplify the lie or attempt to correct it.

Based on the general contour of the national response, one may come away with the sense that this is all about the rise of misinformation (inadvertently misleading) and disinformation (deliberately misleading), the fall of professional journalism, the rise of filter bubbles and ideological isolation, and the dangerous proliferation of right-wing media echo chambers.

All of those factors play critical roles in the West Cook News debacle, but, as Fuller said, it’s not possible to begin to construct a holistic understanding of what West Cook News is doing and the very concrete danger sites like it pose if we don’t understand white supremacy, particularly in the context of the American press.

The ugly secret of our country’s free press is that it was birthed in the very waters that feed the media cesspool that sustains the likes of West Cook News.

Robert G. Parkinson, in his magisterial book, “The Common Cause: Creating Race and Nation in the American Revolution,” writes that founding fathers like Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Franklin manipulated newspaper networks in order to broadcast “stories of British agents inciting African Americans and Indians to take up arms against the American rebellion.”

Parkinson does not dismiss that enlightened principles of press freedom

and liberty and emancipation were critical during the American Revolution in the founding fathers’ efforts to mobilize 13 distinct colonies around what historians call the “common cause.”

But the thrust and the nature of the “common cause” narrative changed once the shooting started at Lexington and Concord in 1775, the historian notes.

“The American Revolution and the Revolutionary War were not the same thing,” Parkinson writes. “Now, as part of waging war against the crown, the demands to monitor information — to establish your own representations as well as undermine your opponents’ — became essential.

“War stories, appearing as facts inside printed publications, offered the best medium to cordon off friends from enemies and cement union. Representations of British deception and heroic American volunteers rushing to defend liberty were the polestars of patriot narratives during the war; they were the proof that all colonists should recognize the common cause as the proper side to take. In this context of civil war and disunity, substantiating this appeal meant the difference between an abortive colonial uprising and a revolution.”

By publishing in colonial newspapers rhetoric depicting Blacks and Indians as “domestic insurrectionists” and “merciless savages” who might take up arms with the British, the founding fathers “rallied the people around a common enemy and made racial prejudice a cornerstone of the new Republic.”

In order to unite the colonies in war, the nation’s burgeoning press duly created Black and Brown enemies — a mobilizing project, Huntington argues, that was essential to the country’s founding.

MICHAEL ROMAIN

Alan Taylor’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia 1772-1832,” provides a litany of examples of war-time colonial newspapers inflaming white fears of Blacks and Indians, particularly the unfounded fear among white slave-owners that Black people wanted revenge rather than “equality and opportunity.”

Andrew Delbanco’s “The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War” demonstrates another critical way in which the American press helped sustain the white supremacist foundation on which the country was built.

Delbanco writes that newspaper advertisements “offering rewards for runaways became so common that the historian Edward Baptist has called them the ‘tweets of the master class.’”

Yes, journalism eventually professionalized, but it did not purge itself of this common cause instinct to unite whites by creating anti-white enemies; rather, over the years, the tendency splintered and mutated into at least two kinds of white media: mainstream professional journalism and explicit white nationalist media.

Professional journalism has traditionally sought to glaze over white supremacy with the gloss of objectivity while white nationalist media “announces its white identity with pride and anger,” as scholars Carlos Alamo-Pastrana and William Hoynes point out in their insightful article, “Racialization of News.”

Both strands of media, the authors write, “ultimately depend on each other to shield themselves from serious critique and interrogation of their investment in white supremacy.”

And often, especially during wartime, (which has been most of American history), the one strand has not been easily distinguishable from the other.

In 1969, the Chicago Tribune editori-

Yes, journalism

eventually professionalized, but it did not purge itself of this common cause instinct to unite whites by creating anti-white enemies.

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alized that the members of the Black Panthers (many of them Black people in their teens and early 20s) “should be kept under constant surveillance. They have declared war on society. They therefore have forfeited the right to considerations of ordinary violators of the law might claim.”

In her new book, “The Newspaper Axis: Six Press Barons Who Enabled Hitler,” Kathryn S. Olmsted fleshes out how the Tribune’s vaunted owner and publisher, Robert McCormick, “was a hemispheric imperialist who supported U.S. invasions of Latin America while warning against the dangers of confronting Hitler.”

McCormick, Olmsted adds, was “an ultra-nationalist who questioned the patriotism of his American political enemies and even the legitimacy of their laws.” And McCormick wasn’t alone (among the other five Hitler enablers were Joseph Medill Patterson and William Randolph Hearst).

There is no amount of tweeting, factchecking, debunking, contextualizing or correcting the record that will sufficiently mute the cultural and historical force of white supremacy. Neither will a hysterical insistence on anti-racism and staying woke dull its power.

Those of us, despite our race, who are committed to fighting white supremacy have to be wise about what we’re up against and how successful that social construction has been in mobilizing people to fight for it. But we also have to know how others before us fought against it.

That means looking beyond West Cook News and their ugly common cause of white supremacy toward platforms and publics that are operating in the spirit of journalists like Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass and Elijah Lovejoy — truthtellers who fought and countered the ugly narrative of the common cause by constructing different visions of human commonality, which ultimately made America better.

They struggled to construct their respective visions. Now, we have to fight to construct our own.

CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

Celebrate Juneteenth Storytime Thursday, June 9, 10-11 a.m., Scoville Park The Oak Park Public Library, together with the Park District of Oak Park brings Juneteenth story time out of doors - no celings, no walls! Share books and songs in a fun Juneteenth storytime, weather permitting. Bring your own blanket. If the weather isn’t agreeable, the event will be moving inside the Main Library. Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 800 Lake St., Oak Park.

Pride Trivia Thursday, June 9, 7-8:15 p.m., virtually through Oak Park Public Library LGBTQ+ Elder and Queer Hero Paul Larrobino is hosting a virtual, interactive Pride-themed trivia event to celebrate the achievements of the LGBTQ+ community! This video gathering spotlights fun, acceptance, and multi-generational awareness. All are welcome!

Register now at oppl.org/calendar.

Film Screening: Rocketman Friday, June 10, 1-2:30 p.m., Oak Park Main Library (Veterans Room) Pride Month will be celebrated with a screening of Rocketman, a biopic about the extraordinary life of Elton John. Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Coffee: From Bean to Cup! Sunday, June 12, 2-4 p.m., Oak Park Main Library (Book Discussion Room) Learn more about one of the world’s most popular beverages—from bean to cup—in this presentation by Brewpoint Coffee. Take a journey from the beginning of the plant itself, the harvesting of the beans, through the roasting process, and all the way to the final pour into your morning cup.

Samples will be provided (limited to the first 25 participants registered). Register now at oppl.org/ calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park

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BIG WEEK

The Interview Show With Mark Bazer

Lights Out, Everybody: Mystery & Horror in the Golden Age of Radio

Wednesday, June 8, 8:30 p.m., FitzGerald’s This revolutionary concept - a talk show shot in a bar and shown on Chicago’s WTTW-TV - continues.

This time around, Bazer’s guests include musician Toronzo Cannon (who will discuss blues and The Brady Bunch), Rex Huppke (USA Today columnist), and playwright Natalie Moore. Toronzo will also play a few tunes live. $15 - $80, 6615 W. Roosevelt Road, Berwyn.

Wednesday, June 15, 2-3 p.m., Oak Park Main Library (Veterans Room)

Blind Boys Of Alabama

June 8-15

In honor of radio’s recent 100th anniversary, this progra.m. examines the medium’s “Golden Age,” when radio was a theater of the mind, combining words and sounds in such a way that listeners could create “pictures” with the power of their imaginations. Included are sound clips from some celebrated mystery and horror programs of the era designed to give a chill to listeners of all ages. Listeners will emerge with a better understanding of how radio went from being a novelty to being a necessity and get a good old-fashioned scare at the same time. Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Outronaut Friday, June 17, 7 p.m., FitzGerald’s Guitarist Steve Gerlach explores the world of crime-jazz instrumentals with his latest band. 6615 W. Roosevelt Road, Berwyn.

The Community Blood Center: Blood Drive Monday, June 13, 12:30-4 p.m., Oak Park Main Library (Veterans Room) To schedule your donation, visit communityblood.org/donor. Click “donate now” and search for sponsor code CW03. You also may call 800.280.4102. Appointments are required to ensure appropriate social distancing, and Photo ID is also required. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Tabletop Roleplaying One-Shot Adventure: Wanderhome (Grades 7-9) Friday, June 10, 3-5 p.m., Oak Park Main Library (Book Discussion Room) This event is a tabletop roleplaying adventure set in the pastoral fantasy world of Haeth. Using the Wanderhome system, we will embark together on a journey as animal folk to explore a vast landscape full of boundless beauty, ancient legends, and small and forgotten gods. Whether you have played many times or this is your first time trying a tabletop roleplaying game, all are welcome to learn to play Wanderhome together. Register now at oppl.org/calendar.

834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Saturday, June 11, 8:30 p.m., FitzGerald’s True religion comes to town when this long-running gospel quintet takes the stage. $45, 6615 W. Roosevelt Road, Berwyn.

Read to a Dog Sunday, June 12, 3-4 p.m., Oak Park Main Library (Storytime Room) Come read to a dog! Dogs don’t mind if you make any mistakes, they love spending time with you always. Come a little early to sign up for a 10-minute slot and don’t forget to count it toward your summer reading program minutes! Best for kids who are or are beginning to read independently. Learn more at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Listing your event Wednesday Journal welcomes notices about events that Oak Park and River Forest groups and businesses are planning. We’ll work to get the word out if you let us know what’s happening by noon Wednesday a week before your news needs to be in the newspaper.

■ Send details to Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, 60302 ■ Email calendar@wjinc.com

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

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Three familiar faces tap into CBD business

Concrete Rose Organics, the brainchild of community activist Anthony Clark, Oak Park Village Trustee Chibuike Enyia and Brewpoint Craft founder Melissa Villanueva

By F. AMANDA TUGADE Staff Reporter

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?

Proving nature’s law is wrong It learned to walk without having feet.

Those are the opening lines to “The Rose that Grew From Concrete,” a poem by the late legendary hip-hop artist and activist Tupac Shakur. The poem, which was featured in a song on an album bearing the same name, serves as a metaphor for overcoming adversity and having hope. That you are somebody no matter where you came from.

For local community activist and teacher Anthony Clark, the poem embodies his views on mental health, ultimately paving the path for a new business venture with one village trustee and one coffee shop owner. Clark, Oak Park Village Trustee Chibuike Enyia and Brewpoints Craft founder Melissa Villanueva recently launched Concrete Rose Organics, which offers a small line of CBD products including supplements and tinctures and holds a mission to uplift community and raise awareness for mental health.

“When we talk about mental health, when we talk about physical health – just healthcare overall – there’s a lot of stigma particularly in underserved communities, Black and Brown communities, and we all struggle. So many of us struggle silently,” Clark said. “I think it’s important to put out there that we still have the ability to grow.”

That perspective also comes from a personal place for Clark, Enyia and Villanueva. The three, who previously worked together on various community efforts and

projects, have their own stories about their mental health and wellness journey, part of which introduced them to CBD and opened the door to explore as a consumer and later as entrepreneurs in the booming industry.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is an active ingredient in cannabis and doesn’t cause a “high” unlike THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), a psychoactive compound in cannabis, according to Harvard Health Publishing. CBD is often sold as an extract, a vaporized liquid or oil-based capsules and known to help alleviate anxiety, insomnia or chronic pain.

Clark, an Air Force veteran, told Wednesday Journal he struggled to recover after he was wounded from a shooting in 2007 and honorably discharged from the military. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and Behcet’s disease, an inflammatory disorder that, among many things, causes skin and joint pain. Clark said he started self-medicating, drinking to ease his physical ailments, but reached a breaking point where he needed something more viable.

Clark, who paused his use of cannabis because he was in the military, said he searched for another alternative and later stumbled on CBD. He remembered buying his first product at a gas station in Washington, which was where he was living at the time. “I didn’t know what quality organic was, just that started my journey.”

“I’m a huge proponent of CBD based upon its mental and physical impact that it’s had on me. I’m in such a better place than I was in 2007. I’m a functioning member of society. I’m able to give back to society, and I attribute CBD, along with therapy, as being hefty factors in that, Clark said.”

Villanueva, however, began learning about the benefits of CBD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many business owners, Villanueva was stressed and overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the pandemic and its impact on her, her employees and customers.

“Running a business and being responsible for 40 individuals and trying to figure out people’s livelihoods …” she said, her voice wavering, recalling one worry after another.

She added she decided to try CBD as a way to unwind and picked up a product from a See CBD BUSINESS on page 14

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

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S P O N S O R E D

C O N T E N T

Savor a slice of history at Old World Pizza The legacy recipes of the Bambini family endure at the Elmwood Park mainstay In 1960 the Bambini family emigrated from Sicily to the United States and brought an arsenal of well-loved recipes with them. In 1963 the family opened their first restaurant and relied on “quality and service” to nurture a loyal customer base.

Though ownership of the pizza and pasta focused eatery has changed hands several times over the years, the same collection of century old recipes remains at the heart of the Elmwood Park business. Today, The Original Old World Pizza, 7230 W. North Ave., thrives thanks to generational affinFood Writer ity for their traditional pies and consistent flavor.

Current manager, Nick Tharani and his staff have dedicated themselves to keeping this Elmwood Park pizza tradition alive. Tharani has been part of that legacy for three years, but pizza cook, Amadeo Montalvo, has been topping, baking and sliced Old World pizzas for more than two decades. The continuity of recipes and longtime employees cultivates a base of cus-

MELISSA ELSMO

More than pizza at Old World: An array of dishes awaits at the Elmwood Park eatery. Burgers, wings, salads and pasta dishes are shown here with traditional Old World pies.

PROVIDED

Veteran pizza cook, Amadeo Montalvo, slices up a small thin crust pie at Old World Pizza in Elmwood Park.

MELISSA ELSMO

tomers who keep coming back.

“All of our sauces are made fresh inhouse,” said Tharani. “A Wisconsin dairy farm custom blends our cheese.”

The manager qualifies Old World’s sauce as “not too sweet and not too tangy.” The red sauce forms the base for the five types of pizza offered at the unassuming strip mall restaurant. Traditional thin crust and indulgent deep dish are the most popular offerings, but double deck, double dough and stuffed pizzas are also on the Old World menu. The shop churns out an average of 150 pizzas every Friday night.

In fact, Tharani recollects a time when a former owner changed the custom cheese blend for a less expensive and more readily available brand. Customers were swift to notice the change and the business returned to their old ways to keep their patrons satisfied.

“Some of our customers have been coming here for more than 20 years and we know them by face and name,” said Tharani. “If we make any changes, we’ll hear from them.

We have customers who come back to get a slice after 10 years and they say it tastes exactly the same.”

Old World Pizza has a small casual dining room where hungry customers can enjoy

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

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Fried Dough is an indulgent treat from Old World Pizza in Elmwood Park. a freshly made bowl of spaghetti or piping hot pizza, but 90% of Old World’s business comes from a combination of delivery and carryout orders. Pizzas account for 80% of business at Old World Pizza, but Tharani is quick to recommend their chicken wings, house made meatballs, and fried

A deep-dish pizza at served at Old World Pizza in Elmwood Park. Provided.

MELISSA ELSMO

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PROVIDED

dough, too.

An Elmwood Park mainstay, The Original Old World Pizza, is on a mission to continue serving hungry locals the pizza they have come to know and love — every slice they serve honors a near 60 year old legacy.

Lunch Specials at Old World Pizza: Despite supply chain issues and food cost increases, management has kept the prices on their weekday lunch specials the same. These “pick-up only” are available Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and come with a can of soda or bottle of water.

Two slices of thin crust pizza ............$6.50 Italian beef sandwich with fries........$7.50 Meatball sandwich with fries.............$7.50 1/3-pound hamburger with fries........$7.50 Breaded Chicken Sandwich with fries ...$7.50 Grilled chicken sandwich and fries ...$7.50 Eggplant sandwich with fries ............$7.50 Pepper and Egg Sandwich with fries .....$7

#JULQJRDQGEORQGLH

For more culinary delights, visit OakPark.com and click on EATS.

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A FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED. FIND US ON RESTAURANT ROW! PDVVDFDIH FRP JULQJRDQGEORQGLH FRP

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

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Austin student musicians showcase their skills at Ravinia As part of Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play: Play Programs

By SAMANTHA CALLENDER Community Narrative Reporter

Sistema Ravinia, part of Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play: Play Programs, a music education program for students in the third through eighth grades across Chicago and Lake County public schools, has been serving students in Austin for nearly 10 years.

On May 21, West Side students were able to showcase their skills at the famous Ravinia Pavilion in Highland Park.

Students arrived at the site by bus, and parents and family were also welcome to take a program-sponsored bus ride.

Although this recital was only open to family and friends of performing scholars, Alex Rodriguez, the site manager at Sistema Ravinia Austin, said they hope to be able to put on more community performances in the future. Rodriguez said the program also hopes to enroll more students next academic year.

“The instrument and lessons are free of charge to families,” Rodriguez said. “Our goal is to make education accessible and engaging without worrying about cost.”

Currently, the program is available throughout the aca-

PROVIDED

West Side students playing at Ravinia Pavilion in Highland Park on May 21. demic year to students at Catalyst Circle Rock and T.M. Clark Elementary schools in Austin. This year marked the first time since 2019 that students have been in-person for the program.

“It’s been so amazing to be able to teach scholars in per-

son again,” Rodriguez said. “Our virtual programming was amazing but it’s exciting to be able to engage scholars in live music again.”

Last month, scholars showcased what they’d been practicing all year at Ravinia’s Spring Celebration.

“We want to engage scholars more outside of the daily ensemble and the recital,” Rodriguez said. “We hope to do more community performances and we want to have students performing at open-houses to hopefully encourage their peers to join.”

While music education is the goal, Rodriguez said that there have been students enrolled in Sistemia Ravinia who have gone on to pursue music beyond elementary and high school.

“We’ve had scholars who have gone on to become part of the Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI), whose goal is to prepare gifted orchestral students for conservatory programs,” he said.

CMPI, like Ravinia, also aims to eliminate the financial barriers for low-income students in order to give them access to music education, creating a pathway for a career in music.

For those interested in Sistema Ravinia and Ravinia’s other Reach Teach Play: Play Programs, visit: www.ravinia. org/RTP_Play.

CONTACT: samantha@austinweeklynews.com

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

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Oak Park hosting early voting for Illinois primary election

Village hall will be open to all Cook County suburban voters June 13-27

By BOB UPHUES Senior Editor

Oak Park Village Hall, 123 Madison St., is serving as an early voting site for the 2022 Gubernatorial Primary Election. Early voting opens June 13 and lasts until June 27, providing any suburban Cook County resident the opportunity to cast an in-person ballot before Election Day on Tuesday, June 28.

No village-level races are on the ballot in this election, but there are plenty of other posts up for election on a federal, state and county levels, including for U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress; Illinois governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and comptroller; Senate and House seats in the Illinois General Assembly; Cook County Board president, commissioners, sheriff, treasurer, assessor and Board of Review; and a slew of state and county judicial races.

Like most early voting sites across suburban Cook County, Oak Park Village Hall will be open to early voters Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Government IDs are not required of early voters but can help clear up any potential confusion over the voter’s signature. Those who choose to vote early need not provide their reasoning for choosing to do so.

Each early voting site, as well as Election Day polling places, will now be equipped with electronic voter check-in devices, as Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough announced last week during a press conference in Cicero.

The system uses an iPad where voters can check in without polling place workers having to thumb through large paper poll books. Each device can pull up a voter’s registration, verify signatures and ensure they are given the proper ballot.

Voter registration is available at every

early voting site. Two forms of ID must be presented if registering to vote for the first time or filing a change of address. A list of the acceptable forms of ID can be found on the Cook County Clerk’s website at tinyurl. com/2y96yedu.

As poll workers need to be able to offer the correct ballot to all who are registered to vote anywhere in suburban Cook County, early voting takes place in person and on electronic touchscreens. Once cast, ballots will be securely stored until votes are counted after polls close on election night.

In addition to Oak Park Village Hall, other early voting sites nearby include: ■ Cicero Community Center, 2250 S. 49th Ave., Cicero ■ Cicero PSO Building, 5410 W. 34th St., Cicero ■ Hodgkins Village Hall, 8990 Lyons St., Hodgkins ■ Lyons Village Hall, 4200 S. Lawndale Ave., Lyons ■ Maywood Courthouse (Whitcomb Building), Room 104, 1311 Maybrook Square, Maywood ■ Stickney-Forest View Library, 6800 W. 43rd St., Stickney Any registered voter in suburban Cook County can also vote by mail. More information on voting by mail either for a single election or permanently can be found at cookcountyclerkil.gov/elections/ways-tovote/vote-by-mail.

Poll workers are needed for Election Day. Election judges receive $200 in compensation for Election Day. Polling place technicians get paid $365.

Those interested in serving as an election judge or polling place technician can apply online at cookcountyclerk.com/work.

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

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To raise visibility Oak Park Township rebrands New effort intended to better convey the many social services township provides

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park Township provides crucial social services, many of which the people of Oak Park may not even realize are available. Depending on circumstances, residents may be aware of one or two services offered. The township wants to raise awareness and use of its full array of services.

“It’s important that they understand what we do,” said Township Manager Gavin Morgan. “Not knowing that we’re here and not having the knowledge of our services really was a barrier to accessing our services and it was a negative for the community.”

The township soft launched the rebrand, complete with a new logo, on Monday. The goal of the rebrand, according to Morgan, is to establish an easily recognizable identity for the township encompassing all its myriad age, income and ability-inclusive services and programs.

All those services will remain intact as the rebrand will not change the functionality of the township as a social services agency.

“We’re social service providers. Marketing is not our strong suit.”

GAVIN MORGAN Township Manager

“If anything, we’re stepping those up because we know with more visibility is going to come with more people accessing the services and that’s the goal,” said Morgan.

The township is frequently recognized on the state level for its services. Recently, the Illinois Township Association of General Assistance Caseworkers named Oak Park Township as “2021 Township of the Year.” The township’s general assistance administer, April Dugal, was

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

A NEW LOOK: The Oak Park Township staff welcomes visitors during the rebranding event on June 6. also awarded the “2021 Caseworker of the Year” by the Illinois Township Association of General Assistance Caseworkers.

The township’s lack of a cohesive brand presence has limited its ability to reach people in the community and connect them to such needed programs as senior meal deliveries and wellness checks, transportation, youth and family support and mental health services. The township board and its staff have long wished to see marketing on par with the quality of its services.

“We’re social service providers,” said Morgan. “Marketing is not our strong suit.”

To carry out the rebrand, the township

enlisted the services of Oak Park-based design consultant Nancy Morris of N2, who worked with a committee of township staff from each of its departments.

The entire process of developing the rebrand took about a year to complete and cost under $10,000, according to Morgan.

Much of the copywriting was done inhouse to keep costs affordable.

Graphic designer Jim Bernard, also an Oak Parker, developed the township’s new logo, which is reminiscent of an oak tree with color-blocking between branches.

The splashes of color signify the different township departments. The branches represent all the different avenues of services that stem from the singular town-

ship entity. It was chosen out of several provided by Bernard.

As the primary objective of the rebrand is to shine attention onto the township and what it provides the community, communication will be key to its success.

The township is launching a messaging campaign June 13 using a brand-new framework. Oak Park residents can expect to receive more email messages and social media postings out of the township. The township is also taking out an insert in the Village of Oak Park’s print newsletter.

“I think there was a lot of confusion about what the township is and does and we’re hoping to address that.”

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

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One school board member anticipated equitable grading practices would be misunderstood. He was right.

A conservative local news site publishes false news story about OPRF’s grading practices

a “race-based grading system” “OPRFHS does not, nor has it next year and require teachers ever had a plan to, grade any stuto curb their grading as part of dents differently based on race. a larger plan to “equalize test The article’s mischaracterization scores among racial groups.” of the board meeting is unfor“Oak Park and River Forest tunate and has caused unnecesHigh School administrators will sary confusion,” the districtwide

By F. AMANDA TUGADE require teachers next year to newsletter read.

Staff Reporter adjust their classroom grading Fiorenza and district spokesperson Karin Sullivan told “Equitable grading practices: People are scales to account for the skin color or ethnicity of its students,” Wednesday Journal the school going to hear that and not understand it.” the West Cook News lede read. continued to dispute the claims That’s the conclusion school board memThe article noted that teachabout “the plan” referred to by ber Ralph Martire reached at the May 26 the local news site and said it meeting after Laurie Fiorenza, an admin- ers would “exclude” variables does not exist. istrator at Oak Park and River Forest High in their grading assessments that are said to “disproportion“You didn’t hear me say it in School District 200, gave an update on teachately hurt the grades of Black the four minutes I talked [at the ers’ approaches to grading. students.” Black students would board meeting]. There is no plan An assistant superintendent for student also “no longer be to do any of that,” Fiorenza said learning, Fiorenza briefly led docked for missing in an interview with Wednesday a presentation on the ongoing class, misbehaving Journal. “That is a complete falwork of a team of administrators in school or failing to lacy. It’s a false narrative and just and teachers, who among other turn in their assignuntrue.” issues, are examining equitable ments, according to Martire shared Fiorenza’s sengrading practices. The teachers’ LAURIE FIORENZA the plan,” the story timents. methods of grading – which inOPRF administrator also reported.

“They just completely misclude scoring Fs no lower than That plan and the characterized the process,” Mar50% instead of a zero to using details released in tire said to the Journal in an a competency-based system to the West Cook News interview days after the board measure students’ skills – were story did not appear meeting. “I think that’s what’s folded into a larger discussion in any part of Fiorenza’s roughly most unfortunate about what the West News about the district’s efforts to offer four-minute presentation at the did – is to make their ideological point and more professional support and board meeting or the 11-page possibly race-bait. They completely distorted collaboration opportunities to PowerPoint slide and memo she a process that is designed to get to a more teachers this year. provided to school officials. objective assessment of whether or not an “It’s finding a way to be objecWest Cook News is a product individual student has mastered academic tive about determining whether of Local Government Informa- content.” a student has mastered the acation Services (LGIS) and is one This is not the first time the Journal has demic content,” said Martire, of about 30 conservative news found and reported on false information the board secretary, about the sites covering various counties from West Cook News. Last year, during a loequitable grading practices. in Illinois. LGIS is overseen by cal election, West Cook News released a story “The community needs to hear Brian Timpone, a conservative about Patty Henek, a former River Forest that. It’s an important thing.” He businessman and TV journalist. trustee and village president candidate, and added the grading practices are Timpone, a former River Forest misconstrued her stance on affordable housnot about “dumbing down” the resident, also ran Journatic, an ing. course expectations or “making outlet that featured hyperlocal The lede in that story read: “Patty Henek concessions.” news stories and later gained is running for River Forest on a platform of RALPH MARTIRE But Martire was right, and his national attention for plagiarism bringing more low-income, Section 8 apartD200 board member comments foreshadowed what and for using fake bylines and ments to the village.” Henek previously told came next. quotes, according to Columbia the Journal her words were twisted, and she Four days after the meeting, Journal Review. was not interviewed by West Cook News.

District 200 released an official West Cook News, a conservative Over the course of the COVID pandemic, news site, published a story about Fiorenza’s statement on Memorial Day, one day after the site has repeatedly vilified and targeted brief presentation, spreading false informa- the West Cook News article came out, deny- Oak Park Public Health Director Theresa tion about the high school’s grading prac- ing any claims to implement a “race-based” Chapple-McGruder for her mitigation eftices. The story – which went viral on social grading approach and addressing the story’s forts, calling them “divisive” and countering media – claimed the school will move toward inaccuracies. them by promoting anti-mask beliefs.

“There is no plan to do any of that. That is a complete fallacy. It’s a false narrative and just untrue.”

“I think that’s what’s most unfortunate about what the West News did – is to make their ideological point and possibly race-bait.”

Other articles featured West Cook News promote panic over critical race theory and anti-LGBT rhetoric. One recent story revealed remarks from Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, who described a Pride event at River Forest District 90 as a “left-wing, anti-family political rally.” The schoolwide event, which was held June 1, served as a celebration and marked LGBTQ Pride month.

In another story, the site aimed to criticize Chapple-McGruder, who specialized in maternal health, for using “birthing people,” a term used by birth workers to include those who are nonbinary and transgender. In that same story, political journalist Katelyn Burns, who is a trans woman, was misgendered, her preferred name placed in quotation marks.

‘How about ‘lies?’”

Fiorenza and Sullivan reiterated that teachers are looking closely at different grading methods and implementing them in ways they see fit. The two shared the district is not planning to create a grading policy or mandate but continues to provide teachers with tools and resources to “explore” the best grading practices for their students.

Fiorenza clarified that students at OPRF still receive letter grades and that equitable grading practices are about the teachers’ approach, bringing the focus back to how well do students understand the material?

The assistant superintendent went on to offer an example. She recalled being a student and teachers asking her and her classmates to bring in more school supplies such as Kleenex tissue boxes or Clorox wipes for extra credit. Fiorenza said her own children were presented with that same opportunity and promised extra credit by teachers if they brought in additional tissue boxes or wipes.

“I got extra credit every year. Even as a mom, I did that for my kids,” Fiorenza said.

“They got extra credit for that, but the question is – and the question that we have to grapple with – is that equitable? Are we creating a barrier?”

Fiorenza asked what if she or other students were not able to bring those tissue boxes? They lost out on the points, but what’s more is how do those points contribute to their actual learning?

See GRADING on page 16

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

REPARATIONS

Oak Park government’s responsibility to acknowledge this and repair the damage that was done. White Oak Parkers were allowed to build their wealth, Black Oak Parkers were not.” from page 1 Those were all aspects similar to Evanston’s Local Reparations Housing Program.

“The end goal is to present the village and Launched in 2020, the program allows each other taxing bodies with a full report,” said recipient a $25,000 reparations payment that could be used on home repairs, a home purJacob Bucher, the dean of the College of Applied Social Sciences at Dominican, who chase or mortgage assistance, according to helped facilitate the forums. He will work on the city’s website.

The Oak Park village board discussion last administering the survey and will help draft year, however, has not yet translated into any the report.

Christian Harris, 31, who was born in formal action by the village government on Evanston but grew up in Oak Park, leads the the reparations proposal or the apology. “[After the board presentation in 2021] Task Force, which has nine members whose ages range from 19 to 75, he said. Harris said there was an election right around the corthe Task Force evolved out of the grassroots ner, so we said, ‘Let’s hold off and see who is group Walk the Walk, which he co-founded elected,” Harris recalled during an interview with Danielle Morales and Chris Thomas in last week. “Unfortunately, two of the three Black candidates lost. Particu2019. larly, the two candidates who can The group’s mission is “to trace their lineage to the time pebreak down systemic barriers to riod of a lot of the atrocities we equity through community bridgare trying to get repaired both ing, demonstrative activism and lost their races.” grassroots initiatives,” according Instead of waiting for addito its Facebook page. “Our efforts tional village action, Harris said, are inspired by the idea of creatWalk the Walk decided to take ing a world that is free of barriers matters into its own hands, formto equity or equality.” ing the Task Force last summer.

On Feb. 22, 2021, Walk the Walk The nine members of the Task proposed a reparations resoluForce, all Black residents and/or tion to the village board that natives of Oak Park, were paid would have created a low-interest $1,000 for their participation, real estate purchasing program thanks to $15,000 from Euclid Avfor Black Oak Parkers, provided enue United Methodist Church’s free financial literacy and homeReparations Working Group, ownership classes for Black resiwhich provides seed funding to a dents and created a Reparations variety of initiatives and causes Task Force that would have proled by Blacks in Oak Park. posed even more recommenda“It was big for me not to ask tions, according to village minBlack people to do this work utes of the meeting. for free,” said Harris, an entreJACOB BUCHER The proposal called for the creation of a reparations fund paid Dean of the College of Applied preneur and former Oak Park for with 100 percent of the can- Social Sciences at Dominican library board member who ran unsuccessfully for the village nabis sales taxes, “up to $10 milboard in 2019. “I know we can’t lion annually,” and 40 percent of pay them what they should get the village’s Affordable Housing paid, but we wanted to give them Fund. In addition to the reparations proposal, Walk the Walk also recom- something. The $1,000 stipend is for what mended the village board issue a formal apol- would be a year of their time.”

The remaining $6,000 would go toward adogy for the local government’s treatment of ministering the survey, but Dominican UniBlacks in Oak Park.

“Oak Park government benefited from the versity insisted on contributing its technical sales and property tax revenue generated af- expertise at no cost. That balance may instead go toward marketing the survey, among ter the Black community was pushed out of their homes for the creation of a commercial other costs, Harris said. district,” according to the Feb. 22, 2021 meet“I think we have a responsibility to contribing minutes, which paraphrased the com- ute our resources to the community,” Bucher ments of Morales. said. “We are objective research partners in “Harlem and Lake is prime real estate this. We’re not going in with an agenda or today,” according to the minutes. “It is the bias about what needs to happen. Our role

Evanston model

“The end goal is to present the village and other taxing bodies with a full report.”

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM is to collect data, so we can accurately re- more context with Evanston and some of the flect what the residents are voicing, but with missteps they made,” Harris said.

The focus groups were an attempt to shore that said, we hope the village will seek some changes.” up community input before distributing the As they enter into this data collection survey, he said, adding that 11 people regisphase, the Task Force and Dominican have a tered to participate in the three scheduled foclearer sense of both the promise and perils cus groups, but only three people showed up. of a local reparations program. For one, they “Overall, it was a pretty disappointing have Evanston as both a model and an object turnout, but the conversation we had with lesson. those two residents who showed up ended up Since Evanston passed its lobeing two hours long and they cal reparations program in 2021, just really let it all out — to the criticisms have been raised about point that Dominican said they the amount of local input among have more than enough informaBlack residents and about whethtion on how residents are feeling er the program is a sufficient based on that conversation,” Harenough response, given the scale ris said. of the past harm the city inflictHarris said the opinions on ed on its Black residents. There reparations from Black people have also been a host of logistical he’s encountered both within and quagmires, one of which WBEZ outside of Oak Park fall along a reported on in March. spectrum. There are those who Evanston’s reparations fund fully support the idea of repaprioritizes Evanston residents rations and want it to become a considered “ancestors,” or anyreality, those who think it’s “a one who lived in the city between noble cause,” but who think gov1919 and 1969. As of Jan. 13, the ernments should prioritize more city had only approved 122 appliimmediate problems like gun cants qualifying as “ancestors.” violence and poverty, and those That leaves Black people like who believe that, even if a repaNortha Johnson, who grew up in rations program materializes, it Evanston in the 1950s, but had to “won’t do any good.” leave the city after her father was Bucher said one sentiment, denied a mortgage despite havin particular, that lingered in ing a “good job, great credit [and] the focus group discussions was the G.I. Bill behind him.” “hope,” but mixed with “earned CHRISTIAN HARRIS So instead of moving to a more skepticism or reservation that Oak Park Reparations Task spacious home in Evanston, the Oak Park’s village government Force member family bought a home in Gary. will do anything” with whatever “I think about what they recommendations come out of deprived us of,” Johnson told the process.

WBEZ. “I had grandparents, “The folks were really appreuncles and aunts, cousins [in Evanston]. And ciative of the Task Force leading this effort when we moved to Gary, they kept us from goand pushing the conversation, but there was ing around the corner to visit family.” a lot of, ‘Well, we’ve seen and heard stuff beJohnson, who currently lives in Chicago, fore and never seen any action,’” Bucher said. would not qualify for Evanston’s reparations Indeed, before Evanston, many of the fund, despite being directly affected by racist municipal measures related to reparations housing practices.

More recently, Evanston community mem- had been formal apologies for past injustice bers have pushed the city to increase the rep- and symbolic support for federal measures, arations fund by $2.6 million and to identify namely HR 40 — a bill that would establish a additional funding sources beyond the tax on commission to study and develop reparation cannabis, such as the city’s general fund. The proposals for Black Americans.

When Harris presented to the village last city’s attorney has argued that using general funds for reparations might violate the Equal year, virtually everyone on the board, includProtection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, ing former village president, Anan Abu-Taaccording to a June 3 article by the Evanston leb, expressed support for federal action.

“On a national level, reparations is very Roundtable. black and white, but on a local level, it is a bit Harris said he’s aware of the complications and complexities of Evanston’s pro- more muddied,” Harris said.

To learn more about the Oak Park Reparagram. Last week, he said the Task Force has tions Task Force, email walkthewalkop@ been holding ongoing meetings to discuss those issues. He said they’re poised to discuss gmail.com. the lineage question, in particular, this week.

“When we started the Task Force, we had CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

“On a national level, reparations is very black and white, but on a local level, it is a bit more muddied.”

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Growing Community Media

LocalNews a non-profit newsroom

We’ve got YOU covered.

NewsDiningGovernmentActivismArts EducationEventsRealEstateNonprofits Active disinformation right at our door For 40 years we’ve competed in Oak Park and River Forest with Oak Leaves. It’s been an intense fight but a fair fight. Two legitimate newspapers working to out report the other in covering villages we both admired enough to do strong work.

These days our competitors are local Facebook groups chattering down rabbit holes. And, more virulently, West Cook News, a despicable online purveyor of well targeted balderdash being passed on as news. It went viral this week with a made up story out of OPRF. Without a byline it “reported” on a May 26 school board meeting where an update on the school’s ongoing assessment of grading policies was presented.

This reactionary web site – one of hundreds across America, has disheartening local roots in founder and one time River Forest resident Brian Timpone. Political money makes this a lucrative method of spreading propaganda near and far through digital and social platforms. Heard immediately from locals and ex-pats who had read the piece and believed OPRF was going to implement a new grading policy this fall that puts in the fix to raise the marks of Black and Brown students while ending all accountability.

The story is a race-baiting crock. But it has reach.

Wednesday Journal’s story has now been posted and published. It is thoroughly reported and sourced by Amanda Tugade, our education reporter.

It will not ever catch up to the whirlwind of the right-wing echo chamber. But for the people who live in Oak Park and River Forest, who elect the school board and pay the taxes and send their kids to this school, it is a credible and fact-based piece of reporting.

If the threat to our democracy that looms in part with the lying and contortions of purposefully divisive propaganda seems remote to you -- a Fox News story, a national story -- well here it is at our front door.

Putting a real reporter, with an authentic byline to work covering critical local news is what we do at Wednesday Journal and Growing Community Media. Every day.

It costs money and I am asking you, if you are outraged by this destructive masquerade at reporting made up news, to join us in our work by donating today. Right now.

This is important. This is immediate. This is how you stand up for democracy in the villages you live in.

Dan Haley Editor and Publisher Growing Community Media

To donate, visit Oakparkcom/donate

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OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Oak Park police applying for three federal training grants Grants would provide crisis intervention training, de-escalation training and recruitment and retention projects

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

The Oak Park village board has authorized the Oak Park Police Department to apply for three grants through the U.S. Department of Justice. Two of the grants are directly related to officer development, providing crisis intervention training and de-escalation training, respectively. The third would fund the development of an officer recruitment and retention pilot project.

Interim Police Chief Shatonya Johnson explained the police department’s need for the grants at the board’s June 6 meeting, sharing the three grants are entirely funded through the DOJ. The de-escalation training, according to Johnson, will help Oak Park officers with situational awareness and to create strategies to “slow down the sequence of events” to

CBD BUSINESS Familiar faces from page 5 small shop while on a weekend getaway.

As for Enyia, he said he learned about CBD’s benefits after adopting a rescue dog.

Enyia said he adopted a dog from a shelter his neighbor operates. The dog, he described, was “anxious, jittery, hyper” and just starting to adjust to the Enyia’s home and living outside the shelter. Enyia said his neighbor recommended he give small doses of pet-friendly CBD to his dog to help him settle and taper the doses as he grows comfortable and accustomed.

“That’s what we did,” he said, adding he saw his dog mellow out and become less nervous.

The three used their experiences as a way to build their business model, one that is

properly assess threats, ensuring the safety of all individuals. If the grant is awarded, the DOJ will pay up to $250,000 for two years.

Technically a micro-grant, the officer recruitment and retention pilot program grant will seek to combat low staffing levels in the police department. It will also serve to diversify the department by broadening its recruitment efforts to offer employment opportunities for people from different backgrounds.

Both the de-escalation grant and the recruitment microgrant were approved via the board’s consent agenda and not discussed by the board. Trustee Lucia Robinson was absent from the meeting, but all present board members voted in favor of passing the consent agenda, including Trustee Arti WalkerPeddakotla in a somewhat unusual move. A vocal advocate for defunding police, she regularly votes against passing consent agendas when they include matters of policing.

The crisis intervention training grant was pulled from the consent agenda for board discussion by Walker-Peddakotla. The grant, per the board’s resolution, supports the implementation and development “of various model[s] of crisis intervention teams, including training for law enforcement officers in crisis intervention response.” Through the grant, the DOJ will fund that training up to a maximum of $350,000 for a duration of two years.

Currently about 58% of the department’s officers are trained in crisis intervention, according to Johnson. Her goal is to have the entire department trained in crisis intervention to “properly identify individuals who are in crisis and not to criminalize their behavior but instead to ensure they get the necessary resources and help that they need.”

The intended purpose of using this grant, Village Manager Kevin Jackson told the board, is “not inconsistent” with the village’s aim to create an alternative response model to police calls. Rather, he said, the grant “bolsters” that aim. The training utilizes a trainee-to-trainer model, so that all officers are equipped with crisis intervention skills and can pass that knowledge on as new personnel joins the police department.

The comments from the interim police chief and the village manager did not assuage Walker-Peddakotla’s concerns that the police department was requesting board authorization to apply for the grant prior to the release of the report from BerryDunn, the consulting firm currently carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the police department.

BerryDunn’s Michele Weinzetl told the board earlier that evening that the firm was still in the process of finalizing research, developing data and formulating its recommendations. BerryDunn anticipates the final report will be completed by mid-Septem-

ber, which is a four-to-six-week delay from the original plan.

“We’ve been told that we have to wait for the BerryDunn report to come out in order to evaluate the need for a crisis response team,” Walker-Peddakotla said.

She was further against authorizing the police department’s application as the crisis intervention training grant involved “embedded behavioral or mental health professionals in crisis intervention,” which Walker-Peddakotla said was different than the model currently used by the police department in partnership with Thrive Counseling Center.

Part of BerryDunn’s assessment is researching and recommending potential alternative responses during mental health crises, which could include embedded behavioral and mental health professionals.

“If the rationale that has been told to me since the last election is that we should wait for BerryDunn to come through with their report then we should wait for BerryDunn to come through with their report and evaluate the use of embedded behavioral and mental health professionals in crisis prevention,” Walker-Peddakotla said.

Ultimately, she was the only board member to take that position. All but WalkerPeddakotla voted in favor of permitting the police department to apply for the grant.

meant to be intimate, warm and inviting.

Customers who use the webstore will be greeted with a soft rose-colored page and a row of tabs that breaks down CBD, products and the business’ mission. The idea here is to make customers feel comfortable, Villanueva said, recalling her own feelings when she first visited a brick-and-mortar store where she found and purchased her first CBD product. On the site, customers can take a quiz to bring attention to their needs and see what products best suit them and their lifestyles.

“I know that everyone has a different use, so it might not even be for a person. It can be for your pet. … I think for everything, there’s going to be a different type of balance,” Enyia said.

Beyond that, they said Concrete Rose Organics is about giving back to the community and bringing more representation into a budding industry that has criminalized and stigmatized Black and Brown people.

A 2017 survey from Marijuana Daily

Business revealed that 81% of marijuana business owners were white, while roughly 6% were Hispanic; about 4% were Black and almost 2% were Asian. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Black people are roughly 4 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana. Since cannabis has become legal, people of color have voiced concerns over access into the industry and setting up shop, as application fees and licensing are more available to those who are wealthier or have financial backing.

“It is really infuriating the lack of true representation for the Black and Brown community,” said Villanueva, who is a Filipina American, about the makeup of the cannabis industry, and whose business partners are both Black.

“Representation is just one of those things that matters on so many levels, not just in politics, not just in local leadership, but I think it matters, especially when you think about business and growth and development,” Enyia said.

Circling back to Shakur’s poem, Clark, Enyia and Villanueva talked about their pledge to donate and support different organizations. Ten percent of Concrete Rose Organics’ profits will be put toward partnering groups and raising awareness for the needs of youth, veterans and survivors of abuse.

“We still have the ability to bloom,” Clark said. “That’s why we chose Concrete Rose.

No matter what the individuals are going through, we want to help them still find that bloom and still feel beautiful and still feel like they belong.”

Concrete Rose Organics For more information on Concrete Rose Organics, visit www. concreteroseorganics.com.

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Beloved school pet turtle dies

UPCOMING NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING

Holmes Elementary School’s Shelly remembered as a good listener, friend to staff and students

Join us June 21 from 7-9pm at the Greater Chicago Church to learn about the proposed Terrace915 & Marriott Hotel on the Mohr Concrete property

By F. AMANDA TUGADE Staff Reporter

In 1997, Julie Bernstein decided to introduce her kindergarten class to Shelly the Turtle. Bernstein just became the de facto caretaker for the pet turtle, who once belonged to her young son Graham Johnston.

There, inside Bernstein’s classroom, Shelly was cozy in an aquarium, its glass walls inviting students to peer in.

For more than a decade, Bernstein and Shelly were a dynamic duo at Holmes Elementary School, 508 N. Kenilworth Ave. In many ways, Shelly was a fixture at Holmes.

Bernstein said Shelly befriended the “shy kids,” who would often crowd around her tank during play time and watch her jump off a rock and into the water. Students often pitched in to help feed Shelly and keep her home neat, one of Bernstein’s ways of teaching lessons on responsibility. The school also hosted races between Shelly and Bella, a classroom pet rabbit, according to administrative assistant Margaret O’Malley. And as the old fable goes, O’Malley said Shelly would win.

“That was a big thing,” O’Malley said.

“They would set up courses and have the turtle and the hare races. Shelly often won because the bunny would take off, and then get confused, and be running in the opposite direction and things like that.”

When Bernstein retired in 2013, Shelly stayed behind, finding herself under the care of other school staff such as O’Malley, and would go on to support batches of students for about another decade. Shelly died May 20. She was about 35 years old, “give or take a few years,” Bernstein said.

Shelly’s death has been tough for the Holmes community, including Bernstein, O’Malley and Principal Christine Zelaya.

PHOTOS PROVIDED

Shelly the turtle entertained, and educated, a host of students.

“I cried, not going to lie. It was really sad,” Zelaya said. She told Wednesday Journal that Shelly had fallen ill over the last two years. A local veterinarian diagnosed Shelly with dystocia, Bernstein added. It’s a medical condition common among female reptiles who have difficulty laying eggs.

“I remember when we first found out she was needing a lot of intensive support,” Zelaya said about Shelly, who was prescribed medicine to help with her condition. Zelaya said for two weeks, O’Malley stepped in and injected Shelly with her medicine, hoping for her comeback.

Zelaya told the Journal Shelly did get better, and for about five months, the turtle was back to her old ways, swimming around in her aquarium.

“We thought she was on her way to recovery,” Zelaya said, “and then she started to kind of go through the same things again and had stopped eating. It was really hard for everybody.”

O’Malley shared how Shelly found a home in different parts of the school building. After Bernstein left, Shelly made her way to the library before making her last stop and settling in the school office. This has sort of been a pattern in Shelly’s life, traveling from one person to another, one place to another. Bernstein said her son was 6 years old

when he received Shelly as a gift from her husband’s coworker, Larry Kofoed (Andy Johnston and Kofoed are former employees of Wednesday Journal). “[Kofoed] had two sons who had Shelly, and they sort of lost interest. So, he asked my husband, Andy, if Graham would be interested. I do remember when Graham came home with Shelly. He said, ‘This is the happiest day of my life,’ which as a 6-year-old, it was a pretty big deal to get a pet.”

In an email to the Journal, Mindi Maneck, a former Holmes school librarian, wrote that she would have students practice reading to Shelly. The pet turtle helped the children not feel nervous or judged as they sounded out words that trailed into longer sentences.

“Shelly was the ultimate listener,” said Maneck, one of Shelly’s caretakers, in an email. “She sat, with her sweet, crooked smile and just … looked at you. She truly was such a sweet soul. I’ve moved on to another school library where I have THREE [sic] turtles in my care (I don’t know how this happens!), but none of those turtles listen like Shelly did.”

In the office, Zelaya and O’Malley said Shelly took on another role. Shelly became “our comfort turtle,” working with students who may feel sad, frustrated or angry, they said. The two said it wasn’t uncommon to see students sitting in the office and talking to Shelly.

“She was always the best kind of listener,” Zelaya reiterated.

O’Malley agreed, summing up Shelly in a nutshell: “She was a great support for our students.”

let your voice be heard

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Woman suing Oak Park, police officer for excessive force

Lawsuit alleges officer struck woman in the face, slammed her against squad car

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park resident Beunka Porter has filed a federal lawsuit against Oak Park Police Officer Ashley Alonso, alleging the officer battered her and used excessive force to illegally detain her during an altercation outside Ridgeland Common on March 15. The village of Oak Park and a second, unnamed officer are also listed as defendants.

Porter is seeking compensatory damages for battery and excessive force, as well as false arrest, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unlawful detention, false arrest and wrongful imprisonment.

“Beunka had committed no crime, had not resisted an arrest and had done nothing to

justify any use of force against her,” the complaint states.

Oak Park spokesperson Erik Jacobsen declined to speak on the matter, stating that the village of Oak Park does not comment on pending litigation. The village’s no comment policy extends also to Alonso.

The incident allegedly began after a physical fight broke out involving Porter’s daughter and other Oak Park and River Forest High School students. The situation then allegedly escalated into Alonso slamming Porter against a squad car and hitting her in the face.

Oak Park police were already at the scene when Porter went to the park to pick up her daughter after the fight, according to the complaint, filed May 13. When Porter asked her daughter’s assailant, listed as “Kyra” in the filing, why she had attacked her daughter, the complaint states that Kyra’s unidentified sister began to punch Porter repeatedly in her head and face.

“She starts getting punched by this girl and, while that’s happening, at some point, [Porter] is on the ground,” said Porter’s at-

torney Jordan Marsh. Porter declined to be interviewed.

As Porter tried to stand, the complaint states the teenager was hitting her with one hand and holding onto her hair with the other. Around this time, Alonso reportedly intervened by pulling Porter back to the ground after she had regained her standing position.

“Defendant Alonso pulled Beunka up by her collar, then began striking Beunka in the face and possibly other areas of her body,” the complaint states. “Immediately after striking Beunka, Defendant Alonso slammed Beunka against her squad car and handcuffed her behind her back.”

The complaint alleges Porter spent 10 or 15 minutes in the squad car before being mirandized by an unnamed officer, who did not give Porter any reason for her arrest. Porter then reportedly spent another 10 minutes in the squad car, hyperventilating and in “extreme anxiety,” until an ambulance arrived. Porter was then uncuffed and released without being charged and without an apology or explanation from

Oak Park police investigating shootout near Austin Gardens Second shooting in Oak Park in less than a week

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

More than two dozen shell casings were found in the aftermath of a shootout that took place Sunday night near Austin Gardens at Forest Avenue and Ontario Street. Police are planning to increase patrols in the community in response to the shooting, which is the second to occur in Oak Park in less than a week.

Oak Park police responded to the scene Sunday at about 11:30 p.m., after receiving multiple reports of reckless gunfire in the 1000 block of Ontario Street. The shooting is believed to have involved a black SUV and a red sedan, both of which were seen fleeing the area heading westbound on Lake Street immediately after the incident was reported, according to Oak Park spokesman Erik Jacobsen.

Police have so far recovered 32 shell casings in

the area, which is still being canvassed. No injuries have been reported at this time. However, a bullet was found lodged in an aluminum doorframe of a building in the 900 block of Lake Street.

The number of individuals involved in the shooting has not yet been determined by police, but Jacobsen said police do not believe it to be a random incident. It is also unknown whether the offending individuals fired guns from inside their vehicles.

The Austin Gardens incident comes on the heels of the shooting at Roosevelt Road and Cuyler Avenue. The latter shooting occurred just after midnight on Memorial Day in Oak Park following an altercation at Mike’s Place, a bar located in the city of Berwyn, and resulted in a 34-yearold man being shot twice in his leg. Police are still investigating the incident; however, Chicago resident Jeremy Riley has been charged with reckless discharge of a firearm.

GRADING

the police, according to the complaint.

“Later on, she’s asked to come to the hospital and give a blood test because apparently, while she was being assaulted by Officer Alonso, some of her blood got in Officer Alonso’s mouth,” Marsh told Wednesday Journal.

In the aftermath, Marsh said Porter twice went to the police station to help identify her teenage attacker, known only as “Kyra’s sister.” Marsh believes the officers squandered the opportunity to take Kyra’s sister into custody at the scene. “[Porter’s] the one who gets placed into custody,” Marsh said. “Meanwhile, the offenders are able to walk away scot free.”

The two others allegedly left the scene fled while Porter was being detained, according to Marsh, who added that, as of a week ago, the two had not been located by police. For that reason, Marsh said the village has denied his request to obtain police records of Porter’s arrest.

“It is extremely clear to everyone involved that she was not an aggressor, that she was a victim,” Marsh said.

Cofsky told the Journal he was surprised to see the article that surfaced from West Cook News and said another word comes to mind in describing the article: “How about from page 11 ‘lies?’”

“When I saw the story, I was dumb“The question goes back to: Do I founded because it had nothing to know what that person do with what the board knows?” she said, notagenda item covered, ing that all students and it’s just shameful learn at different paces. that the misinformation “We want to make sure is being spread to agithat our grades reflect tate people and divide what students know. people,” he said.

That’s it – just what they For Fiorenza, she beknow.” lieved that people who Echoing Fiorenza, have visceral reactions Tom Cofsky, newly to information or miselected school board information are usually TOM COFSKY president, said the word afraid, but what they D200 board president “mastery” is vital to unare afraid of, she doesn’t derstanding the meanknow. ing of equitable grading practices.

“It’s really unfortunate because “The whole key here is we need equitable grading practices – if I to make sure that we are measuring might be so frank to say – has nothstudents’ ability to comprehend the ing to do with race,” she said. “It has material, and that’s what grading nothing to do with gender, gender practices need to cover. And this is expression, economic status. It is an attempt to relook at it, to make about making sure that the grade reflects what you know. That’s it.” sure that’s happening,” he said.

OPRF responds

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

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C R I M E

Man arrested in Roosevelt Road shooting

Chicago resident Jeremy Riley has been charged with reckless discharge of a firearm in connection to the traveling shootout at Roosevelt Road and Cuyler Avenue on Memorial Day. Riley, of the 100 block of Bell Avenue, was with a friend at Mike’s Place, a Berwyn bar, when the latter was shot twice in the leg by an unknown person in a silver vehicle just after midnight.

As the vehicle fled, Riley, a registered gun owner with a conceal and carry license, got out his handgun and began shooting after the silver vehicle. Riley continued to shoot the silver vehicle while he chased it in his own vehicle carrying the victim in tow.

Shortly after, Riley abandoned the chase and drove the victim to Rush Oak Park Hospital, according to Oak Park police.

The investigation into the initial shooting that wounded Riley’s companion remains ongoing.

Aggravated use of weapon arrest William Harvey, of the 8700 block of West Summerdale Avenue in Chicago, was arrested for pulling a loaded handgun out during a verbal altercation with another person following a traffic accident in the 6400 block of North Avenue at 3:46 p.m., May 31.

Robbery A Chicago resident was robbed and assaulted by a man and a woman, who followed her as she was walking, grabbed her arms and pushed her against the window of the former GAP, 435 N. Harlem Ave. The offenders then held the victim down, hit her on her face and body with their closed fists and took cash from her pockets at 1:36 p.m., May 31. The offenders fled in an unknown direction after the victim escaped.

Burglary A silver HP laptop computer was taken from the front passenger seat of an unlocked Subaru Outback between 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., May 5 in the 1100 block of Linden Avenue. The estimated loss is $1,200.

Motor vehicle theft

■ A gray 2020 Chevy Malibu was taken from the BP gas station, 6119 North Ave., between 7:55 p.m. and 8:05 p.m., May 28 using the keys to the vehicle that were accidentally left when the vehicle owner was into the station. The estimated loss is $7,500.

■ The vehicle was recovered in the 5400 block of West Crystal Street June 1 by Chicago police.

Theft ■ The catalytic converter was removed from a gray 2013 Toyota Prius parked in the 600 block of South Austin Boulevard between 10 p.m., May 24 and 8 a.m., May 25.

■ The catalytic converter was cut from a white 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander parked in the 100 block of Chicago Avenue between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., June 1.

Criminal property damage ■ A Chicago resident watched as two approximately 20-year-old men throw a raw egg, which hit the roof of his gray BMW 525, at 4:45 p.m., May 29 in the first block of Harrison Street.

■ Someone sprayed white paint onto an Oak Park resident’s Black Lives Matter and rainbow pride flags between 12 p.m., June 1 and midnight, June 2 in the 1000 block of South East Avenue.

■ Someone cut the internet, phone and power lines to a building in the 900 block of South Ridgeland Avenue between 1:25 a.m., June 4 and 1:35 a.m., June 5. The tabs behind the electrical meter were also removed. The estimated damage is set at $1,000.

These items, obtained from the Oak Park Police Department, came from reports, May 28 to June 6, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated.

We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.

Compiled by Stacey Sheridan

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Signs of the past

Local historical markers take many forms and are not just for famous buildings

By LACEY SIKORA

O

Contributing Reporter

n May 23, the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association erected an interpretive sign in front of its historic Forest Avenue headquarters. The Oak Park landmark, with its signature white columns and red brick, has stood in the center of the downtown since 1891, but members realized that not everyone knew what the association’s purpose is.

The sign explains the history of the building, designed by architect James L. Fyfe and the mission of the association: strengthening community through learning, giving and sharing their landmark building.

The association was established in 1891 by a group of women who believed that education, charitable activities and civic involvement were vital elements in a thriving community. Today, the association con-

NINETEENTH CENTURY CHARITABLE ASSOCIATION

tinues that mission through grants, scholarships and public programming.

Frank Lipo, executive director of the Oak Park River Forest Historical Society, says the Nineteenth Century Club’s new sign is just one of many markers in the area that shares a story about important buildings, people or events with a local connection.

He points to the marker in Scoville Park, which includes a photo of the Scoville famSee MARKERS on page 21

NINETEENTH CENTURY CHARITABLE ASSOCIATION

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association members turned out in May (top) to mark the installation of an interpretive sign (above) in front of its Forest Avenue headquarters, explaining the building’s history and mission of the 131-year-old association.

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21

MARKERS

‘No hard rules’ from page 19 ily house that once stood on the site. He calls this “a kind of public marker put up by a public entity like the park district.”

Another recently erected marker is one a few blocks north of the Nineteenth Century Club at 414 Forest Ave. that tells of the efforts of Grace Wilbur Trout. Put in place in August 2021, this marker was part of an initiative by the William C. Pomeroy Foundation, which wanted to honor the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage with markers in each state.

Working with local historical societies, the League of Women Voters and organizations like the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association, the Pomeroy Foundation erected 250 markers nationwide on its National Votes for Women Trail.

Trout was president of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association from 1912 to 1920.

FRANK LIPO Lipo says she Executive director, was “arguably Oak Park River Forest the leader of the Historical Society state’s movement and systematically organized the whole effort.”

He notes that the marker stands on the location of Trout’s Oak Park residence from 1900 to the teens. Her home was later torn down and replaced by the house that still stands on the site National organizations, local entities and private citizens can be the impetus behind markers and signs, and Lipo says there can be a common misconception that all historical markers come from a single source.

In fact, he says, “It’s a very grassroots effort. There’s often a combination of private ownership of property and the common good of marking a property.”

He points out that when people wanted to mark the Oak Park home where Betty White lived for a time as an infant, it engendered some questions. A few people wondered why there should be a marker

“This is public history. It’s not just the history that’s taught in the classroom, but civic history, too.”

COURTESY OF SUFFRAGE2020ILLINOIS.ORG

The Pomeroy Foundation, with the help of other organizations, succeeded last August in erecting a marker on the site where the home of Grace W. Trout, the leader of Illinois’ women’s suffrage movement, once stood to mark centennial of the 19th Amendment, which gave women in the U.S. the right to vote.

GRACE WILBUR TROUT for a home where someone famous only lived for a few months early in life.

“There’s an ongoing debate,” Lipo said.

“How long do you have to live in a place before it’s historic?”

He says that by the very definition of

the word, being born in a place makes you a native, which is reason enough to commemorate a home.

“There are no hard rules,” he said.

“This is public history. It’s not just the history that’s taught in the classroom, but civic history, too.”

In Oak Park and River Forest, homes designated local landmarks by the local historic preservation commissions also are recognized with historical markers. These markers denote the historical significance of the home, the architect and the year it was built. As designated landmarks, these homes are afforded more protection from demolition, and the sign can be an outward marker of that protection.

The Oak Park River Forest Historical Society set up its own historical plaque program almost 20 years ago. Information on the program is available at oprfmuseum.org/historic-plaque-program.

Homeowners interested in obtaining a plaque can research their house at the

Historical Society or pay the Historical Society $25 per hour to do the research.

Plaques include the date the home was built, the name of the original owner and the architect’s name if available.

Plaques are available for homes and buildings that are least 50 years old, in good repair and that retain most of their historic character as determined by a visual inspection conducted by the museum’s plaque committee.

Lipo states that whatever the type of marker, it is important to be accurate with the dates and facts included on signs.

He thinks the Oak Park and River Forest communities are great locales for more markers due to the rich architectural and cultural histories of the towns.

He says that signs are a common good.

“They are a good way to learn,” Lipo said. “You see them in your daily patterns as you walk around town. Locals can learn more about their community. Signage has a tourism aspect to it too.”

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C O N S C I O U S

R

VIEWPOINTS

A G I N G

Adjusting to the new 100%

ecently, I met a good friend for breakfast. He and I have known each other for about 35 years. We’ve not been together in-person for over two years because of COVID, so we did a lot of smiling.

And the conversation was wide ranging. I talked about Conscious Aging, of course. Somewhere along the way we shared a little “organ recital.” I brought up getting massages regularly for some lower back pain, Harold shared his experience with shoulder surgery and recovery last year. At one point, he raised his arm up to his head and commented that it wasn’t 100%.

Something about this comment resonated, but I could only take note of it as I continued to listen to what he was telling me.

A few minutes later, I realized what had caught my attention about Harold’s 100% comment. His “mobility standard” had changed, but he hadn’t realized it yet. Or, perhaps he realized it but couldn’t articulate it yet. Harold was still using how he could move his arm prior to shoulder surgery as the standard by which he judged his recovery. He was unconsciously assuming that his mobility would get back to pre-surgery performance, not realizing that those days were probably gone forever. However he could move his arm now was his new 100%.

I am not suggesting that nobody can ever return to presurgery mobility, or even surpass it. I am only commenting about my friend Harold, and I could be wrong about him.

Nonetheless, it is inevitable that our mobility will change as we age. Loss, as well as opportunity, is just part of being alive. Our standards must evolve as well.

When I brought this up to Harold, he shook his head in agreement and we shared conversation about the differences between adulthood and “post-adulthood.” I commented that we are in a new phase for our species and we don’t even have the right words yet. We’ve added more longevity to our species’ life span since 1900 than all of previous human existence. Fifty years ago, retirement meant winding down slowly for three or four years before eventually dying. Today, those three or four years are more like 30 or 40 years.

MARC BLESOFF

See BLESOFF on page 27

23

Plenty of blame to go around Harriet Hausman, p. 28

S U S T A I N  A B I L I T Y

The rules of recycling, revisited The second week of each month, we feature a column on environmental issues submitted by IGov, an intergovernmental body composed of two representatives each from the village, public library, park district, township, and school districts 97 and 200.

T

rying to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, to live more sustainably, can feel like an insurmountable challenge. Climate change is global. What can an individual citizen do to make a difference?

One of the earliest recommendations we’ve been given is to recycle as much of our trash as we can.

Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to our landfills, thereby decreasing the emission of greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. So, into the recycling bin go the glass jars, the newspapers, the aluminum cans. Maybe these can be recycled into new products. This feels good!

What about plastics and other containers that have that triangle of circling arrows?

Well, if it has that triangle, or maybe even if you don’t see one, it must be recyclable.

So in it goes. This has been called “aspirational recycling,” the action of feeling that something should be recyclable, so you throw it into the recycling bin, hoping that, if it is not, someone down the line will remove it. The problem is that this doesn’t happen. When articles that cannot be recycled are put in with recyclables, the recyclables become contaminated and in most communities all wind up in the landfill.

Since Lakeshore Recycling Systems has recently taken over recycling in Oak Park, now may be a good time to review our recycling practices. Most of us have been recycling for quite a while; Oak Park has a very high rate of community members recycling.

And we have developed habits that may not be what is currently the best practice.

Or we’re unsure — do the container caps stay on? What do I flatten?

Let’s look at some of the obvious “nono’s” first. Thin plastics — grocery bags, dry cleaners bags, newspaper wrappers — these clog the sorting machinery. They can be recycled, however. Many grocery stores have designated collection bins for them. Stuff them into a larger bag and drop in. Do not, however, put your recyclables into a plastic bag before putting them in your cart. #6 plastic, otherwise known as styrofoam, is not accepted for recycling in Oak Park. Other items that clog the machinery are long, “stringy” things — hoses, holiday lights, hangers, wire, rope. Anything with food or organic material embedded in it — liquids, used napkins, used diapers (ugh), used tissues — should never go in the recycling, either.

No clothing or textiles (see “stringy”).

What can? Glass bottles and jars.

Aluminum and bimetal cans. Cereal and cracker boxes, without the liners. Plastic containers — bottles, tubs, jugs and jars — labeled in the arrow center, numbers 1 through 5, and 7.

All containers should be clean, thoroughly rinsed out, and recapped.

Aluminum foil, rolled into a ball. Cardboard (larger pieces cut up, flattened). Paper — newspapers, magazines, plain gift wrap. Cartons — juice, milk, broth — rinsed and recapped. Office paper, junk mail, including window envelopes.

There are many, many items that we can properly recycle, and we should. Perhaps more importantly, let’s look upstream and try to avoid single-use, unrecyclable plastics in the first place, But avoid contamination: when in doubt, throw it out.

IGOV

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

O U R

V I E W S

Lies about OPRF

G

ood for Oak Park and River Forest High School for calling out as “lies” the story published last week by the West Cook News.

A right-wing propaganda site masquerading as a local news source, West Cook News unfortunately has River Forest roots and devotes a keen attention to undermining truth and reality in these villages. The Journal has reported multiple times when the site has focused, with pernicious attention, on stories involving public schools, municipal elections and public health. The site is part of a group of 30 sites operating in Illinois under the auspices of “Local Government Information Services.” Its funding comes from political sources looking to spread misinformation.

Or, as Tom Cofsky, president of the OPRF school board, would succinctly say, “lies.”

The school, in a statement issued immediately following the viral West Cook News story, and in interviews with the Journal by administrators and the board, has been rightly direct in its assessment of the news site’s methods and motivations. The story was allegedly based on a public school board meeting on May 26 and on a very brief presentation by an administrator updating the board on the continuing work of a faculty/administration committee looking at professional development for teachers.

A topic of that committee is how to adapt grading methods in ways that more accurately reflect what students have learned.

That very short report was twisted into all sorts of racebaiting nonsense, claiming the school was implementing a new grading policy this fall that would specifically favor Black and Brown students.

Straight-up lies — for political gain in OPRF’s immediate community and to stoke the fear-based strategy to gin up a white base across the country.

In a Sunday column in the Washington Post, media critic Margaret Sullivan cited the West Cook News story about OPRF and the power of such a story being launched into welcoming minds as confirmation of readers’ already stoked biases. And she noted that, according to a 2020 report by Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, West Cook News is one of at least 1,200 such fake news sites across the country.

There is a vivid term for these sites, “pink slime,” which comes from the meat processing industry.

OPRF, like any institution, is imperfect, but it gets great credit these days for facing up to complex issues such as grading and its relation to equity. Wednesday Journal is also imperfect, but we put real reporters and editors to work each day, actively in the community, accountable to readers under their real names.

News consumers also have a responsibility to discern what sources are doing authentic reporting and which are just trying to make your blood boil. If your source is West Cook News, you are about to be manipulated.

The dangers to our democracy are not all at Fox News or in Donald Trump’s lies. They can be much closer to home and we need to be aware and on guard in protecting our small-town democracy.

V I E W P O I N T S

The journey that may or may not end

A

few weeks ago, I wrote about “core beliefs” from the book This I Believe II – More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women.

The project, started back in the early 1950s by legendary radio broadcaster Edward R. Murrow and resurrected by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman in the early 2000s, asked people to write 500 words on “the core belief that guides your life.”

My column generated a few responses. One reader wrote, “I believe we are completely on our own, but that I am not on my own.” I took the “we” to mean Homo Sapiens and the “I” to mean that individual humans are interconnected and interdependent.

Another replied, “I believe that what I believe is not as important as my actions in the world.”

And a third wrote, “I believe in Nature — I’m constantly in awe of it, and all its complexities. I believe in Now — it’s all I have at every moment.

Yesterday is gone, tomorrow isn’t here, but I have this present moment. It’s mine (but it keeps slipping away!)”

I’ve narrowed my core beliefs down to three: I believe life is a journey.

I believe that everyone has a story and each story deserves to be heard.

I believe in the extraordinary ordinary.

What guides my life most, however, is the journey. That’s not original, of course. Homer established this most commonly held of human metaphors in “The Odyssey,” the epic story of the 10-year journey of Odysseus and his men following the Trojan War as they struggled to make their way home to Ithaca. It has long served as an allegory for every person’s journey through life.

In the late 1800s, Alfred Tennyson extended the motif in his stirring poem, “Ulysses,” wherein he imagines the famous wayfarer, back home in Ithaca, grown old and restless, yearning to set out again. “Come my friends,” he enjoins, “’tis not too late to seek a newer world.”

Egyptian poet C.P. Cavafy followed with his poem, “Ithaka,” in which he advises us to: … Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years, so you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way …

Mary Oliver also embraced the metaphor in her poem, “The Journey”: … But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do — determined to save the only life you could save.

We are all on this journey, but not all of us have it fixed in our sights as a guiding principle. I believe that I must choose to take the journey and find out where it will take me. I am not entirely in control. My journey has been, and will be, full of surprises.

I believe my journey is taking me somewhere.

To journey is to change, develop, hopefully someday become wiser. A friend tells me he believes life is a journey without a destination. It seems obvious that death is our destination. But it may not be the end. Even the “afterlife,” if it exists, may not be a destination so much as the beginning of a new journey, setting out “like the beam of a lightless star,” as the poet W.S. Merwin wrote.

If death is the end, so be it. I don’t live my life as if an afterlife were assured. Neither do I live as if nothing exists beyond my personal extinction.

I believe life is a journey to some end, whatever that ending might prove to be. But I believe it’s not over till it’s over as the great catcher/philosopher Yogi Berra once said. I believe my journey goes on at least until death, and maybe longer.

The goal of the journey is to better myself and maybe others, to journey as far as I can, given my unique set of circumstances, despite the setbacks that are sure to come, despite my physical and mental diminishments, which are inevitable.

Even if I can’t travel, even if I can’t move, I can still journey, which is both external and internal.

Hopefully, I’ll keep my wits about me. Hopefully, I’ll still be able to walk and read and think and write. If dementia steals my cognitive abilities, that will end my journey. Until then, I keep going, all the way to the end.

I mention this because on Monday, I turned 70, which is to say I completed my 70th year. I might have 20 more years tops in the best-case scenario.

But I also know tomorrow is guaranteed to no one.

I know people who feel they’ve done all they’re going to do in life. The rest is sightseeing, celebrating, enjoying as much as they can. I’m all for sightseeing, as long as it’s part of the journey to seek that newer world, but I also want to activate the better angels of my nature, to widen

KEN

TRAINOR

Continued on next page

V I E W P O I N T S S H R U B T O W N

by Marc Stopeck

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022 W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

Editor and Publisher Dan Haley Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Michael Romain Senior Editor Bob Uphues Digital Publishing and Technology Manager Briana Higgins Staff Reporters Stacey Sheridan, F. Amanda Tugade Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora Food Editor Melissa Elsmo Big Week Editor James Porter Columnists Marc Blesoff, Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, Harriet Hausman, Mary Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger, Stan West Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Designer Susan McKelvey Business Manager Joyce Minich Marketing Representatives Marc Stopeck, Lourdes Nicholls, Kamil Brady Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Development & Sales Coordinator Stacy Coleman Circulation Manager Jill Wagner E-MAIL jill@oakpark.com Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

About Viewpoints

Continued from previous page my consciousness and my horizons, and, if possible, contribute something of real consequence.

It’s not about learning as much as I can.

Knowledge amassed is ever at the mercy of memory loss. It’s about seeking wisdom and experiencing the truth and beauty of love. It means taking my one and only life seriously enough to live it, however imperfectly, as fully as possible, to the very end.

I want someday to say, as Tennyson did: All times I have enjoyed Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone …

I am a part of all that I have met …

Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are, One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, And not to yield.

Our mission is to lead educated conversation about the people, government, schools, businesses and culture of Oak Park and River Forest. As we share the consensus of Wednesday Journal’s editorial board on local matters, we hope our voice will help focus your thinking and, when need be, fire you to action.

In a healthy conversation about community concerns, your voice is also vital. We welcome your views, on any topic of community interest, as essays and as letters to the editor. Noted here are our stipulations for filing.

Please understand our verification process and circumstances that would lead us not to print a letter or essay. We will call to check that what we received with your signature is something you sent. If we can’t make that verification, we will not print what was sent. When, in addition to opinion, a letter or essay includes information presented as fact, we will check the reference. If we cannot confirm a detail, we may not print the letter or essay.

If you have questions, email Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR ■ 250-word limit ■ Must include first and last names, municipality in which you live, phone number (for verification only)

‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY ■ 500-word limit ■ One-sentence footnote about yourself,

your connection to the topic ■ Signature details as at left

Email Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com or mail to Wednesday Journal, Viewpoints, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

H O W

T O

R E A C H

U S

ADDRESS 141 S Oak Park Ave., Oak ParkIL 60302 ■ PHONE 708-5248300 EMAIL Dan@OakPark.com ■ ONLINE www.OakPark.com

From the Landmark book, “The Adventures of Ulysses”

Wednesday Journal 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 $43 within Cook County and $53 outside of Cook County.

Advertising rates may be obtained by calling our office. Periodical rate postage paid at Oak Park, IL (USPS 10138). Postmaster, send address corrections to Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, Il 60302. © 2022 Growing Community Media, NFP.

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

Our killing field

Who are we as a nation if we cannot protect our children?

What do we love more: our instruments of death, or our future?

W

Cardinal Blase Cupich

e sacralize death’s instruments, and then we’re surprised when death uses them. A space designed for learning has again become a killing field. Uvalde, Texas, a community that will never be what it was.

Grief, trauma, heartbreak — burdens carried forever by survivors and family — the candle of vivid memory, never to be extinguished.

It fights to help silence the familiar song of “Thoughts and Prayers,” played after Buffalo, Sacramento, San Jose, Colorado Springs, and Indianapolis, Rock Hill, Boulder, and on and on.

Uvalde will be followed by some peaceful community somewhere, waiting ... waiting to have its lives torn apart, never to be healed. Gone forever will be those happy sounds of squeaking laughter.

We feel helpless; we feel hopeless. Nineteen happy children massacred; Nineteen little angels slaughtered; And two brave and selfless teachers. Children remembered always for their innocence and beauty.

Yet, yet, and yet, we know how the comments flow with “Thoughts and Prayers” aplenty from the NRA and others “Not Responsible,” as they lobby Congress with steady pressure.

Passage of sensible gun-control laws will again be judged out of reach, too radical or inimical to our exceptional, untouchable American ideal of Liberty.

If only somebody would take the country by its shoulders and scream the screams of a mother or father or grandparent, now, looking at years of deep, dark, unyielding pain, with always an open spot at the kitchen table.

We need someone of unquestioned moral authority to speak out and insist: No more! Not again! This time we must do something! Now! We are better than to send our children our children off to school every day, knowing we may never see them alive again because they were annihilated by someone who just walked in with an assault weapon.

Yes, a voice of moral authority. You won’t find it in the statement the Conference of Catholic Bishops released. Three short sentences and no episcopal signature. Nothing on the need for gun control measures, or any specific call for Congress to do ... well ... anything.

If the Church had long criticized both parties equally, and supported them equally, people would not consider it political when the Church sought to defend and promote human life and dignity.

We are sick of “guns aren’t the problem.” What we are also sick of hearing always is the same song, with a new verse, but always one where more of our children are butchered, and no one in authority does anything.

How long must this Song of Death go on?

Source: Idea from NCR, 5/26/22.

Tom Lynch is an Oak Park resident.

TOM LYNCH

One View

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OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Memorial Day is not ‘mush’

was absolutely appalled by your editorial “More normal Memorial Day” in your May 25 edition. You stated that 42 years ago, “We specifically cited editorials related to Memorial Day as an example of the sort of editorials we would never write. Sure, we were taking a shot at our competition at Oak Leaves who often wrote a lot of mush about what a great holiday Memorial Day was.” Mush? Unbelievable!

During my lifetime, over 100,000 American soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in wars (Korea, Vietnam, Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan) to defend the United States of America and its Constitution. And what does Wednesday Journal think of this sacrifice? Not newsworthy? Mush?

Each one of those soldiers took an oath, which states in part: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” My recollection is that the Constitution has 33 Amendments, and the First Amendment says something about Freedom of the Press.

Have employees of Wednesday Journal ever heard of it? Do they think it’s worth defending? Or is it just more mush?

As a veteran, as Memorial Day approaches, I get emails that contain messages such as this: “On Memorial Day, my one request is this …

When you view the names and faces of these fallen men and women at Memorial Park located in Arlington Heights or at a memorial near you, I challenge you to approach with a heart of recognition and gratitude and say,

“thank you.” Remember why you get to live in this great and free nation and the great price of that freedom.

When gathering with your friends and family to enjoy your picnic or barbeque, take the time to teach your children and others about the true meaning behind this day, and to remember our fallen heroes and their families.

And always remember, freedom is not free.

Katie Stack, Gold Star wife of LCpl James Bray Stack, USMC, KIA, Afghanistan Nov. 10, 2010” Then I open the latest edition of Wednesday Journal, my “community newspaper,” and I see that to the Journal, Memorial Day means that “maybe, just maybe, [the editors might get to see] that giant Jewel shopping cart.” The word “mush” does not adequately explain my reaction to that attitude.

I will be the first to admit that I am not one who goes around waving the red, white, and blue. I do not have a U.S. Flag bumper sticker on my car. I was not happy when I got my draft notice that eventually sent me to Vietnam as a combat infantryman. But I know the meaning of Memorial Day, and it is not a giant Jewel shopping cart.

Your editorial also stated that, 42 years ago, you said you’d only write editorials that had a discernible and local point of view. Maybe you could write an editorial about what that local “Peace Triumphant” monument at the crest of the hill in Scoville Park is all about. There was some “mush” going on there on Memorial Day. Alan Krause is an Oak Park resident.

ALAN KRAUSE One View

For equitable and exceptional facilities at OPRF

When the OPRF athletic facilities were constructed a century ago, they were state-of-the-art. They weren’t just acceptable; they were exceptional. The field house drew national acclaim. Two pools meant all students could swim — another exceptional, equitable achievement.

But that was the 1920s.

By the ’50s, things had changed.

The indoor track, once a marvel, was already a dinosaur — too short for sanctioned competition, with four sharp corners that risk injury to runners (never fixed, by the way.

For the past 70 years other communities have provided their students with safe, modern indoor competition tracks. Not OPRF).

Things changed with the pools, too. Over the past 50 years, nearly every high school of OPRF’s size (and certainly every community we benchmark ourselves against) has built new, modern pool facilities. Other communities host swim competitions, with families as spectators in the stands, without risk of catastrophic collapse. Some of these other communities have even built — dare I say it? — Olympic-sized pools.

The fact is, OPRF has been left behind. That matters. The high school is the single most important institution in most communities. A failure to invest in that singularly important institution leads the high school to

begin to fade. And usually, inexorably, the community begins to die.

Our collective failure to invest in OPRF for the past 50 years has consequences. We can make a different choice. We can make the appropriate investments to provide safe learning spaces for today and for the future. We can fund physical education learning spaces that are both equitable and exceptional.

I urge the District 200 school board members to rise to the challenge their predecessors ignored for decades. I support the plan for improvements to the athletic facilities and hope the board will act.

Laura Minnis

River Forest resident

V I E W P O I N T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

The killing tool

“Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” is as nonsensical, illogical and useless as “Hammers don’t drive nails; people drive nails.” Each is the most efficient and effective tool to get a job done.

Fred Reklau Oak Park

Kina Collins has energy and drive to push for change

Just recently I had the opportunity to meet and talk with the congressional 7th District candidate Kina Collins. She is a young, dynamic, Black woman who grew up on the West Side. I was impressed with her extensive background in community organizing nationally against gun-violence. She has been a self-proclaimed “interrupter” ever since her high school days when she stepped forward to de-escalate fights. She has successfully fought for legislation and reforms as an activist.

Kina began her remarks to the gathering by saying, “I mean no disrespect to Representative Danny Davis …” That was impressive; many of us have voted for Danny for years. She just believes she has the energy and drive to push for change and has many new ideas for the future. She garnered quite a few votes two years ago when the primary field had many candidates and only one real name-recognition candidate. This time she hopes to bring in all of us in the wide 7th District: Edgewater to Englewood, I think she said.

So I write to encourage Wednesday Journal readers to vote for Kina Collins as our 7th District representative in the June 28 Illinois Primary. She will continue a long legacy of activism and pride in our Chicago region.

Register online until June 12 at http:// www.illinoisvoterguide.org.

Cynthia Breunlin Oak Park

BLESOFF from page 23 What will we do — as individuals and as a society — with those years?

The concept of “retirement” is already changing. Will the idea of a work career change? Will institutions employ older people instead of discarding us?

Harold got it right away. He brought up how, if we get to live long enough, our adulthood phase can change into

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

our post-adulthood phase, with its own set of standards and judgments. He wondered what those standards might be. Perhaps solitude (as opposed to loneliness) becomes more attractive.

Perhaps what’s really important to us as adults will change as we age into postadulthood.

I added that this transition can be made even more difficult because of ageism. Our ageist society holds that young is good, old is bad, so who really wants to get old? But just like Harold will probably embrace his new 100%

mobility standard, we can embrace new post-adulthood standards.

Our breakfast conversation continued for a few more hours. We’d missed one another, and we kept smiling.

Marc Blesoff is a former Oak Park village trustee, co-founder of the Windmills softball organization, co-creator of Sunday Night Dinner, a retired criminal defense attorney, and a novice beekeeper.

He currently facilitates Conscious Aging Workshops and Wise Aging Workshops in the Chicago area.

Do you wake up with

HEEL PAIN?

H

eel pain is one of the most common conditions I treat" says Dr. Linda Lambert of the River Forest Foot Clinic. If you wake up having difficulty putting your feet on the floor, Dr. Lambert can help.

Heel pain or plantar fascitis is caused when the foot flattens out with weight bearing. Sometimes a heel spur forms where the plantar fascia

attaches to the heel bone. A heel spur can be diagnosed with an in office x-ray.

There are many ways to treat heel pain without doing surgery. Rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medication, supportive shoes and stretches help in most cases. Custom made orthotic devices or cortisone injections may also be needed.

• Call Dr. Lambert, you don’t have to live with foot pain •

708.366.FOOT (3668)

Dr. Linda Lambert

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7351 Lake St. (Just west of Panera Bread)

FREE PARKING (on street or lot on west side of building) Aetna, AARP, Blue Cross PPO, United Healthcare, Healthspring, Humana, Medicare Assignment, Medicare Advantage Plans & most other insurances accepted

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V I E W P O I N T S

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

Plenty of blame to go around

T

he recent school mass murder, in Uvalde, Texas, is horrifying and painful. Nineteen precious children and two brave teachers died. Others were maimed, and countless others, near and far, have been emotionally damaged for life. I will never forget the picture of that beautiful 10-year-old smiling so proudly as she showed off her honor roll certificate. Her mother took that treasured photo only a short time before her daughter was slaughtered.

The shooter, an obviously troubled 18-year-old boy, legally purchased two military style rapid-firing rifles from a local, licensed gun dealer. Although this boy pulled the trigger, there are many others who must share blame for this tragedy. Mainly, I place the greatest blame on partisan Republicans who have consistently voted against sensible gun regulations. What an outrage! Restrictions on age and on the sale of military assault weapons, in addition to establishing a waiting period between purchase and possession, would have had an effect on this happening … and possibly prevented it. Background checks of gun purchasers was a restriction that has had some bi-partisan support at times over the years, but even that safeguard has more recently been voted down by Republicans again. How can this negative vote be defended?

They are not alone in sharing blame.

The dealer who sold these rifles to an 18-year-old boy should have asked some questions of this young man as to why he required a gun, let alone two military weapons. Although the sale was technically legal, and the dealer made his money on this expensive purchase, he seemingly didn’t care about the gun’s use.

The NRA and the gun lobbyists must also accept their portion of blame for this horrific event. They funnel massive amounts of money to politicians who in return feel obliged to favor unrestricted gun use. The NRA claims they are merely honoring the Constitution’s Second Amendment. Most of us are aware of the amendment’s real intent. It was adopted in 1791 at a time when there

were no protective services.

Each family protected its own household, and also each had to use their own arms when called upon to participate in the militia. The NRA has distorted the idea of the Second Amendment by promoting ever more private gun ownership without any significant restrictions. I could possibly understand the NRA’s stance if their efforts were in support of gun museums or private gun collections or even for use by hunters. However, I cannot understand any argument for the sale of military-style, rapid-fire weapons for private ownership or use.

Neither gun collectors nor hunters need these massively destructive guns.

Additionally, what harm would result from running a background check on a purchaser? Also, I’d be remiss not to relate the strong connection between the NRA and the gun and ammunition manufacturers. The sales of these multimillion-dollar companies have substantially grown while more lives have been lost. I am appalled that the concern is for profit and not human life. They, too, must take a great deal of blame.

Last, but not least, I include myself in the list of those who must shoulder some blame for this tragedy. Why, after a period of time, did I stop pestering and pleading with our legislators following the Parkland, Florida high school massacre? Or after Columbine, Colorado or after Newtown, Connecticut? One thing we all know is that when the public is riled and angry enough to persistently fight for an issue, change can occur. Following the Parkland shooting, the public joined in with those wonderfully brave and determined high school kids, and laws even in conservative Florida were impacted. The new regulations were not as extensive as many of us would have wanted, but at least there was some change for the better. We now must force our Republican lawmakers to accept their responsibility to serve Americans, the majority of whom support sensible gun restrictions. Voting for commonsense regulations is truly a life-or-death issue.

Haven’t we and our precious children suffered enough deaths?

HARRIET HAUSMAN

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OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Info for voting on judicial candidates

have in the past sent out a short notice about how to research the judicial elections in Cook County, but just received a much more complete explanation of the process from a friend (below).

Some of you may also have gotten this. Please share this information widely so that we can have an informed electorate, and thank you!

“You will not be voting for all of the judicial candidates. Look at your individual ballot to see who is on it, then make your own judgment using the Alliance assessments.

“Almost all of the candidates are Democrats. In the circuits and subcircuits in which only Democrats are running, whoever wins the primary is the de facto elected judge. Only one subcircuit, the Circuit Court 13th, has both Republican and Democratic candidates, so in the general, this will be a contested election.

“In the fall, all of the winning primary candidates will be on the ballot. So will judges running for retention. The difference is that primary winners in single-party circuits and subcircuits will be elected even if they get only one vote in the general election. Candidates running for retention must attain approval of 60% or more of those voting that slot; otherwise they are not retained.

“I distribute this information in each election cycle that includes judicial candidates because among public servants whom you might encounter in your life, a judge could possibly be the most consequential. It pays to elect judges who have the temperament, intelligence, experience and knowledge to provide what we conceive of as “justice.” I highly recommend taking the assessments of the Alliance’s member bar associations quite seriously. If you wonder about a specific assessment, go back to https://www.voteforjudges.org/ and click on the association that made it to see why they say what they say.”

TERRI POWELL One View

It’s that time again in Illinois. We have a primary election on June 28. Whenever a primary or general election includes judicial candidates, I send out two things: ■ The Alliance of Bar Association for Judicial Screening assessments of candidates for judge in Cook County and for Illinois Appellate or Supreme Court candidates if there are any. Here’s that link: https://voteforjudges.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2022Primary-Ratings-6.1.pdf ■ A link to the Cook County Clerk’s Voter Information site, where you can enter your name and address and be linked to the ballot that applies to you. Here’s that link: https:// www.cookcountyclerkil.gov/elections/yourvoter-information The Alliance is a consortium of 11 bar associations. They submit questionnaires to candidates and ask for frank and clear answers. They make their association assessments based on specific issues important to each of them and issue their ratings based on, first, whether a candidate answered at all and, second, on the actual responses and how those responses accord with the tenets of the bar association doing the rating. Here is what the Alliance says about its process: “Judicial candidates are rated by the Alliance members based on detailed information supplied by candidates, a background check by trained lawyers/investigators, and interviews of each candidate. Ratings reflect the Alliance’s opinion of whether candidates have the necessary qualifications for judicial service or ascension to a higher office and are not a reflection of the candidates’ abilities as lawyers or judges.

“This round’s assessments are filled with ‘NR’ (Not Recommended) and ‘NQ’ (Not Qualified) ratings. The ‘NR” rating is applied specifically to candidates who fail to participate in the evaluation process. You’ll see that there are eight possible ratings.

Thanks to Charlie Meyerson and his every-weekday news service, https://www. chicagopublicsquare.com, for providing the information on this primary round’s candidate assessment and voting links. If you don’t already subscribe to Chicago Public Square, you can do it for free — or better, pay for your subscription, or at least make a contribution at https://chicagopublicsquare.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=c1 ce195a775f7d7ff4846006e&id=01942e7bc1 Whatever you do, please do one thing above all: Vote!

Terri Powell, an Oak Park resident, is a former village clerk.

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

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O B I T U A R I E S

Flora Green, 79

D97 principal, administrator Flora Christina (Braxton) Green, 79, died peacefully with her family at her bedside on Saturday, March 28, 2020, after a brief hospice stay. Born on Dec. 25, 1940, to Dupree and Elise (Thompson) Braxton of Savannah, Georgia, where she graduated from Alfred E. Beach High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Savannah State College in 1962.

She married Richard Charles Green Jr. in 1967 and soon welcomed a son, Richard, and a daughter, Rona. The couple later embraced their niece, Joann, as part of their family as well.

Their young son’s diagnosis with an intellectual disability shifted the trajectory of their professional life, changing her career focus from business to education.

Flora earned a master’s degree in education in 1977 from the University of Illinois Chicago and began her career as a special education teacher at Emerson Junior High School (now Brooks Middle School) in Oak Park.

After many years as a classroom teacher, she set her sights on administration, serving as assistant principal of Longfellow Elementary School (1991-1993) and interim principal of Irving Elementary School (1993-1995). She returned to Emerson Junior High as principal in 1995 and led the school through its transition to become Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School in 2002. She retired from the Oak Park public school system as the assistant director of Special Education in 2007.

In addition to her professional endeavors, she was a member of the Links Inc., the Jack and Jill Associates, Al-

pha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and was also an active and involved member of Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park where she served multiple terms on the Vestry. An adventurous and lively spirit, she traveled the world, visiting all seven continents (including Antarctica).

Flora is survived by her daughter, Rona Taylor (Korol); her niece, Joann Braxton Jones; her sisters, Hortense Grimsley and Vivian Rivers (Stanley); and her grandchildren, Kara, Julian and Nina.

Funeral services (long delayed by COVID), will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at Grace Episcopal Church, 924 Lake St. in Oak Park.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be sent to the American Heart Association or to Grace Episcopal Church.

Carl Gilmore

Painter, trader, attorney, expansive spirit Carl William Gilmore, 61, died unexpectedly on May 12, 2022. Born on July 23, 1960 in Gary, Indiana in 1960, he graduated from Portage High School and was an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. He studied economics and painting at Indiana State University in Terre Haute (class of 1984), where, as a member of the Indiana ETA Chapter of Phi Delta Theta, he met many brothers who would become lifelong friends. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of Chicago in 1993, and a Juris Doctorate from John Marshall Law School in 2002. He worked his way up in the futures industry, starting as a runner at the Chicago Board of Trade, and became an expert in risk manage-

Come visit us at Booth #89 during this Sunday’s Day In Our Village!

Leo (Bud) Turner, 80 Fisherman

Bud Turner, 80, of El Cajon California, formerly from Oak Park, died on May 15, 2022. Born on Aug. 8, 1931, he is survived by his sister, Patsy Thompson; his children, Debbie Turner, Maureen Turner, Jack Turner, and Colleen Hutcherson; five grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Bud has requested that his ashes be scattered in one of his beloved fishing lakes in Minnesota. We miss you.

ment, law, and compliance. He was a devoted, tenacious and successful provider for his family.

He had lived in Oak Park since 1988 and adored spending time at the family’s cottage in Ferrysburg, Michigan, which became a venue for many memorable vacations and events and was a wonderful host, who enjoyed throwing parties of all kinds. He was known for his ability to chat with everyone, no matter their background and made many friends wherever he went, with whom he shared his generosity and expansive spirit.

A loving father, brother, and husband, he was preceded in death by his parents, Bob and Bonnie, and his brother, Richard. Carl is survived by his wife, Helen (née Wiss); his sons, Noah (Emily), and Will (Meaghan); and his brothers, Paul (Chrissy), and Kevin.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, June 26 at 5 p.m., at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 611 Randolph St., Oak Park. Donations in Carl’s memory can be made to: PING! (Providing Instruments for the Next Generation) https://pingoprf.org.

Heritage HeritageFuneral FuneralHome Home and andCrematory Crematory

Kevin Kopicki Kevin Kopicki

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30

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

SPORTS Fenwick girls finish 4th at state soccer finals

Friars cap season with first downstate trip since 2013

By BILL STONE Contributing Reporter

Even before the Fenwick High School girls soccer season, starting senior central defender Abbie Rogowski called it.

“At the pre-season meeting, they were like, ‘What do you want out of the season?’”

Rogowski said. “[I said], ‘We’re going to state.’ And we did it.”

The Friars indeed made their first state trip since 2013 and finished fourth in IHSA Class 2A. They lost to Deerfield 3-0 on June 4 at North Central College after losing to back-to-back state champion Triad High School 3-1 in overtime in the semifinals on June 3.

The Friars (13-8-2) allowed just one goal in five playoff games to reach state. At the Brooks Supersectional, they beat De La Salle on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie.

Fenwick actually led Triad (25-1) and was tied 0-0 at halftime against Deerfield.

“Freshman year coming in, it’s always been a dream for us to go to state,” starting senior outside defender Emily Ortiz said.

“Although it was a big dream, we made it far. It’s amazing that we were able to show that we can make it this far.”

Fenwick graduates 11 seniors, including

captains Kate Henige, Audrey Hinrichs, Ortiz and Rogowski. Henige, Hinrichs and Ortiz were four-year varsity players.

“I think we [seniors] set the standard really high for our team. I hope that they continue to build upon what we’ve built, and I think they will,” Hinrichs said.

“That’s where it starts, with our awesome captain leadership with high expectations,” Fenwick coach Craig Blazer said.

“It’s a culture of winning and working hard for each other.”

The Friars reached perhaps their highest level against Triad. The underdogs were outshot 32-5 yet led 1-0 after sophomore Grace Kapsch headed in an Ortiz corner kick with 8:48 left before halftime.

“Every single time that [Ortiz] kicks the ball, everyone somehow gets a head or foot on it. It was just perfectly placed. I jumped up and got it,” Kapsch said. “It was really, really important to get ahead. It gave us the adrenaline we needed to carry it on in the second half.”

Triad tied the game with 29:51 left in regulation. In the second of two 10-minute overtimes, Triad took the lead on a 30-yard blast into the upper right corner.

“It was definitely exhausting and the mental toughness to keep going even though you’re getting shot at a lot, but we tried,” Rogowski said. “We pushed through and brought Triad to overtime.”

Great defense (11 shutouts this season)

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Fenwick senior central defender Abbie Rogowski (15) spent much of the IHSA state semifinal game in Naperville on June 3 against Triad High School clearing balls from the penalty area. Triad outshot the Friars 32-5 in the game. and Hinrichs’ spectacular goaltending kept the Friars battling.

Hinrichs made 22 saves over the two state games. “[Triad is] a tough team. Obviously, things don’t work out always as you want them to, but we gave it our all,” Hinrichs said. “I love being busy in the net. As tough as the game was, that’s what I’m there to do.

And I’m always going to give it my all and I think I did that.”

Deerfield (23-4-2) led 19-1 in shots after the teams tied 2-2 on March 31. Nearly everyone

played, but Rogowski’s sophomore sister, Maddie, a starting center midfielder, was injured during the supersectional.

Henige played her last game with sophomore sister Caroline. Kate (19 goals, 7 assists) and Caroline (12 goals) were Fenwick’s leading scorers.

“We’ve done [soccer] since we were little so it was very fun,” Henige said. “I would just say [to underclassmen] you’ve got to be there, show up to practice, put the work in and anything’s kind of possible. If you try your best, hopefully it’ll pay off in the end.”

OPRF volleyball exits in state quarterfinals

After strong start, Huskies falter against Libertyville

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

The Oak Park and River Forest High School boys volleyball team, making its 18th appearance in the IHSA state finals,

entered its quarterfinal match against Libertyville on June 3 at Hoffman Estates confident of an extended stay this year.

But the Huskies couldn’t maintain their strong start against the Wildcats, losing in three sets 25-17, 23-25, 15-25.

OPRF (25-9) led 10-9 in the first set, then erupted for a 7-2 run to take command.

Sophomore Quinn Borzarth had a pair of kills and an assisted block during the

spurt.

However, the Huskies never led again during the next two sets and were tied just twice in the third (1-1, 2-2) as Libertyville seized momentum and didn’t give it back.

“I think the big stage played a big factor,” he said. “We won the first set, and I thought we were feeling good. But the second set, I was like, ‘What is going on?’ The bench was trying to pump up the team, but they

couldn’t hear anything. [Libertyville] fans were just too loud and discombobulated us in the last two sets.”

Patrick Akers had a match-high 12 kills, Oliver Sikora eight kills, Aleks Slesers seven kills and five digs, and Luis Correa 19 assists for Libertyville (22-15), who went on to finish fourth in the state finals, won by Continued on next page

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

S P O R T S

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

31

Rain ends Fenwick’s bid for supersectional comeback Crystal Lake South’s 6th-inning rally cements trip to state

By BILL STONE Contributing Reporter

Senior Luke Mockler and his Fenwick baseball teammates were determined, almost certain, of pulling off another comefrom-behind thriller June 6 in the IHSA Class 3A Schaumburg Supersectional against Crystal Lake South.

They never got the chance.

In a cruel twist of fate from Mother Nature, the Gators won 8-6 at Wintrust Field after the game was called in the bottom of the sixth inning following a roughly 70-minute lightning and rain delay.

The Gators were still at bat with two outs during their three-run frame to regain the lead.

“It was not fun [waiting] in the dugout. It wasn’t good,” Mockler said. “We just wanted to get back out there and show that we

could beat them.”

The Friars (17-15) had reason to believe they could earn their first downstate trip in the program’s third supersectional appearance. They won the Fenwick Sectional 5-3 on June 4 over Notre Dame after Josh Wicker’s bases-clearing triple in the top of the seventh.

Monday’s wild game was even more back and forth with six lead changes.

Fenwick pulled ahead 6-5 in the rainy sixth as Louis Leonardi reached on an error, advanced when leadoff hitter Wicker was hit by a pitch and scored on Jimmy Martin’s single.

A No. 6 sectional seed, Crystal Lake South responded with two singles and a walk to load the bases with one out. After Mockler hit Mark DeCicco on a full-count pitch to tie the game, Luis Gonzales relieved. The Gators used a full-count, bases-loaded walk

and sacrifice fly for a two-run lead.

Then came the delay. The Class 4A supersectional was moved to June 7, but the already official Class 3A game was going to be completed or ended prematurely.

“Nobody wants to go out like this,” Fenwick assistant coach Kyle Kmiecik said.

“Especially what happened [June 4], knowing what our guys are capable of late in the game.”

Fenwick pulled ahead 3-1 with a threerun second and 5-4 in the fifth.

Drew Horne was 2 for 3 with three runs scored. Horne started the fifth with a double and scored on Finnley Koch’s two-out double.

Jordan Vasquez hit a two-run double in the second to score Horne (single) and Gonzales (walk). Vasquez scored on Wicker’s single.

With two outs in the third, Horne and

Gonzales drew back-to-back walks and Jack Powers singled home Horne.

Senior pitcher Dominic Corgiat worked into the fourth until reaching his IHSA pitch-count limits. Corgiat delivered a clutch scoreless third after the Gators loaded the bases with one out.

“I know this one’s going to stick with me, knowing what could have happened,” Kmiecik said. “Our senior leadership – we challenged them throughout the season to step up and they rose to the occasion and went above and beyond.

Mockler will play baseball next year at Black Hawk College in Moline.

“The sectional win we had. That was the greatest game I’ve ever been a part of, besides this one,” Mockler said. “This was a nail biter, too. The heart we all played with [in the sectional final], I’ll take that over any individual things I’ve got.”

Fenwick softball falls to Benet, ending postseason run

Redwings cash in early, coast to 7-1 win in sectional semifinal

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

The Fenwick High School softball team outhit Benet Academy nine to eight in its IHSA Class 3A sectional semifinal game May 31 at Glenbard South.

But the Friars couldn’t cash in on a few scoring opportunities, leaving the bases loaded twice. Those missed chances loomed large in a season-ending 7-1 defeat.

“We couldn’t come up with that big hit,” said Fenwick coach Bryan Hoffman. “We weren’t able to execute our game plan

Continued from previous page Glenbard West.

Borzarth had a strong match, leading OPRF with 11 kills.

“We realized that Quinn was playing with confidence and they were leaving him with one blocker,” Cousin said. “So we said

early on.”

Junior pitcher Talia Lorenzo, the Friars’ ace, had a tough outing against the Redwings. Three wild pitches in the first inning gave Benet its first run and foreshadowed what was to come. She allowed seven runs on seven hits with a pair of walks in just 1.2 innings as the Redwings took control early.

“Talia’s had an awesome year and she’s a great pitcher,” Hoffman said of Lorenzo, who made the All-Girls Catholic Athletic Conference team. “There were some nerves involved as it was her first time in the sectionals.”

A bright spot was sophomore Sophie Stone, who came on for Lorenzo and tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of one-hit relief.

Fenwick (14-15-1) left the bases loaded in the first inning, then Emma Meehan got thrown out trying to score on a Benet error

in the second. The Friars’ only run came in the third when Gabrielle Simon, who led off with a double, came around to score on singles by the next two batters, Kailey Janda and Madelyn Entler.

With one out, Sophie Stone sacrificed the runners into scoring position, but Caity Barganski struck out to end the inning. Fenwick also loaded the bases with one out in the sixth. But Teresa Nevarez struck out and Simon grounded out to end the Friars’ last real threat.

Nevarez and senior Marisa Sena each had two hits for Fenwick. The Friars also surely missed the presence of Maddie Krzak, according to Hoffman. An all-conference selection in 2021, Krzak missed the 2022 season due to injury and served as a student assistant.

“Marisa would always be the first one to

practice and was a great leader this year,” Hoffman said. “Had Maddie been healthy this year, we would’ve won four or five more games and gone further in the sectional. It was tough to see her sidelined.”

Fenwick fielded a young squad this season, with six freshmen and two sophomores in the field during Fenwick’s 6-5 victory over Trinity for the regional title May 27.

Hoffman couldn’t help but look ahead to see what the Friars can do next year with virtually the entire roster returning.

“This is a great experience for us, being able to get to the sectional this year,” Hoffman said. “Now we’ve got a chance to continue to build and make a name where people are going to come to Fenwick and be part of a great program. The bar is going to be higher next year, a plus-.500 record and at a minimum a regional championship.”

we’d try to get him as many balls as we can. We made a bunch of errors and Libertyville made less as the game went on.”

Junior Ryan Montroy added seven kills, while senior A.J. Robateau had six kills and a block; senior Daniel Scholvin five kills, six digs, and an ace; junior Peter Zurawski four kills and 27 assists; and junior Daniel

Moran 10 digs for the Huskies.

Robateau and Scholvin are two of four seniors departing, along with Camari Bolger and Kevin Bullens. But with Zurawski -- one of the Chicago area’s top prospects in the Class of 2023 – and Borzarth, Montroy, Moran and Ebube Nwafor returning, OPRF should once again be a top team next

spring.

“Even though we’re losing some major pieces in the middle of our offense, we still have a huge underclassman group,” Cousin said. “Next year, we’re going to be senior-heavy, but we’ve also got a ton of sophomores coming up that are going to be looking to make a difference.”

32

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

Growing Community Media

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

HELP WANTED

RIVER FOREST PARK DISTRICT PARK SPECIALIST

Starting Salary Range: $17.50 $20.38/HR plus full benefits 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

HELP WANTED

Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.

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.

Working Hours: The Park Specialist is a full time non-exempt position working 40 hours per week, plus overtime. The scheduled work hours for this position are Monday – Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM, including ½ hour unpaid lunch. Hours may be shifted occasionally to accommodate specific tasks.

Summary: The Park Specialist is responsible for assisting the Director of Parks with the maintenance operations of the Park District grounds, facilities, and equipment. The work includes, but not limited to: 1. Landscape maintenance operations for the Park District. This includes but not limited to: a. Turf maintenance: Mowing, irrigation, fertilizing, seeding, weed control, and trash removal. b. Athletic field maintenance: Baseball diamond infields, soccer fields, football fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, and installation and maintenance of necessary apparatus of each field use. c. Landscape maintenance: Soil grading and preparation, tree planting, tree trimming, tree spraying, tree watering, mulch bed maintenance, and flower bed maintenance. d. Construction: Installation of park/ playground equipment, park benches, park signage, retaining walls, and drainage systems.

2. Assist with the custodial maintenance of all Park District facilities.

3. Assist with any equipment repairs for the Park District. This includes but not limited to vehicles, tractors, any facility, or program equipment.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INTERN

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Environmental Health Intern in the Health Department. This full-time seasonal position will provide assistance to the Environmental Health Practitioners in the inspection and local businesses, homes and other establishments to enforce state and local laws and ordinances related to public Health safety; to respond and resolve citizen complaints regarding nuisances and reported epidemics.

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

ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Animal Control Officer in the Health Department. This position will perform a variety of duties involved in enforcing Village ordinances governing the care and keeping of animals in the Village; and to impound, care for and assist with redemption of animals as appropriate. Applicants are encouraged to apply using the following link: https://secure.entertimeonline.com/ta/6141780.careers?ApplyToJob=218333253. For additional information on the position please visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park.us/jobs.

This position is open until filled.

BUSINESS LICENSE OFFICER

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Business License Officer in the Development Customer Service Department. This person will perform a variety of technical duties in the processing and approval of business licenses and permits; and provide assistance and support to the Department. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park.us/jobs. First review of applications will be May 9, 2022.

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.

SEASONAL FARMERS’ MARKET ASSISTANT

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Seasonal Farmers’ Market Assistant in the Health Department. This position will provide administrative support to the Farmers’ Market Manager to allow growers and producers of food to sell directly to the public within established guidelines. This position requires work in inclement weather conditions; some heavy lifting of up to 50 pounds; walking or standing for sustained periods of time. 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. Open until filled.

Growing Community Media NFP • Bookkeeper/Office Manager

We are hiring a part-time Bookkeeper/Office Manager to oversee the day to day operations of our busy community publishing nonprofit.

Flexible hours (25 per week), a hybrid of in-office and work from home options, and a salary in the low $30s.

Among the key roles for this are: • Bookkeeping entries; QuickBooks proficiency desired • AR and AP management • Payment processing for donors, advertisers and subscriptions

• Payroll and benefits processing • Office supply maintenance • Nonprofit experience a plus.

Bonus points for being a notary!

Send resumes to Dan Haley, CEO, Growing Community Media dhaley@wjinc.com

4 Assist the recreation department in set up, construction, and repair of all special event props.

Qualifications: 21 years of age. A valid Illinois State Driver License (Class A). In good physical condition with sufficient strength to lift and hold 50 pounds.

Interested candidates shall submit an application in person or by email: John Beto, Director of Parks 401 Thatcher Avenue River Forest, Illinois 60305 708-366-6660x103 jbeto@rfparks.com

HELP WANTED • OAK PARK POLICE DEPARTMENT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Application Deadline is Thursday, June 23, 2022, at 4:00 p.m.

How to Apply: • Purchase and complete your application at https:// iosolutions.com by the application deadline • Submit all supporting documentation by the application deadline

Written Exam Information: Your exam will be offered electronically, and you will take the exam in your own home. There will be multiple sessions offered and each will be proctored virtually. All sessions will be offered during business hours the week of July 25, 2022 – it is your responsibility to ensure you have the flexibility to test during these times.

Police Officer Minimum Requirements: • $40.00 non-refundable application fee

Salary and Benefits:

• At least 21 years of age and have not passed their 35th birthday by closing date for application

• Population: 54,500 Sworn Police Officers: 119

• U.S. Citizen who speaks and understands English

• Competitive benefits package includes: Two weeks paid vacation; Health, dental and vision insurance plans; Paid sick leave accrual; $50,000 Village-paid term life insurance; 13 paid holidays; Educational pay; Defined-benefit pension plan

• Possess at least 60 hours of college credit at a fully accredited college or university, and also possess a minimum grade average of “C” by application deadline • Possess a valid driver’s license • Successful completion of the POWER Test within one year prior to the application deadline

• Salary: $72,680.49

Please contact IOS Recruitment at (800)-343-HIRE or recruitment@iosolutions.com with questions regarding the application, required documents or testing.

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

CLASSIFIED

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 BY E-MAIL: EMAIL@GROWINGCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG R E N TA L S

HELP WANTED

GRANTS COORDINATOR The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Grants Coordinator in the Development Customer Service Department. This position will develop and coordinate CDBG and other grant-funded programs for the department; coordinates assigned activities with other departments and outside agencies; and to provide highly responsible and complex staff assistance to the Development Customer Services Neighborhood Services Division Manager and department director. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park. us/jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

BUDGET AND REVENUE ANALYST

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Budget and Revenue Analyst in the Development Customer Service Department. This position will Serve the public with professional administrative and analytical duties in the areas of budget preparation, purchasing, payroll, data analysis and process improvement. Provides, prepares and maintains records, and financial and statistical reports and analysis which assist in the Village’s ability to improve business processes and gain efficiencies through better use of technology. Budget duties include assisting in the development, analysis and application of performance measures with regard to Village services and resources; preparing, modifying, tracking and monitoring Village expenses and transfers; and conducting budget-related research and analysis. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oakpark.us/jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

33

POLICE RECORDS CLERK

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Police Records Clerk in the Police Department. This position will perform a wide variety of specialized clerical duties in support of the Police Department including processing and maintaining documents, correspondence and coding reports; and to provide information and assistance to the public.

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

PARK DISTRICT OF OAK PARK EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

SUBURBAN RENTALS OAK PARK 1 BR APARTMENT FOR RENT

Convenient, accessible area CALL 708-456-2643

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

1 BEDROOM APT

Small 1 bdr apt in Forest Park. Water and heat included. No parking. Available May 1. $750/month.

708-227-7007

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE II

Clean, quiet, secure building. No pets. Seniors welcome. Available now. Rent $550/month.

Call 630-247-7936

ROOMS FOR RENT CHICAGO WEST SIDE ROOM FOR RENT

OFFICE/RETAIL FOR RENT OAK PARK THERAPY OFFICES:

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.

RIVER FOREST–7777 Lake St. * 1116 sq. ft. * 1400 sq. ft. Dental Office RIVER FOREST–7756 Madison St. * 960 sq. ft.

OAK PARK–6142-44 Roosevelt Rd. * 3 & 5 room office suites FOREST PARK–7736 Madison St. *2500 sq. ft. unit Strand & & Browne Strand Browne 708-488-0011 708-488-0011

Starting a New Business?

Publish Your Assumed Name Legal Notice in • Austin Weekly News Wednesday Journal • Forest Park Review • Riverside/Brookfield Landmark Call the Experts Before You Place Your Legal Ad! Call Stacy for details: 773/626-6332

OAK PARK & FOREST PARK

MMpropMgmt.com

2BR, 1BTH apartment for rent. Hardwood floors. Renovated and freshly painted. Small, vintage building. No smoking. No pets. Parking included.

708-657-4226

MARKETPLACE

GARAGE SALES

GARAGE SALES

Oak Park

La Grange Park

Vintage china, some Jadeite. Toys —-board games, rock tumbler, microscope, Haba marble run, dollhouses.

Gymnastics mat, kid’s Electra bike, scooters. Home decor— unused pillows, picture frames, furniture, light fixtures. Vintage wicker. Kids and adult clothing/shoes. Many holiday decorations. Building materials, antique doors and windows.

Tools, Clothes, books, records and much miscellaneous.

GARAGE SALE 701 S ELMWOOD AVE (AND NEIGHBOR TOO!) SAT 6/11 9 AM – 3 PM

CEMENT

CEMENT

708-386-7355

DOWNTOWN OAK PARK 2BR APT

The Park District of Oak Park is hiring a Full-time Executive Assistant with a starting salary of $50,000 yearly with benefits to view the full job description and apply online please click the following link: https://www. paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/ jobs/ViewJobDetails?job=57519& clientkey=41D8300184906117978 771C10E755DC6

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Customer Service Representative II in the Development Customer Services Department. This position provides customer service to the public by providing a variety of responsible and difficult customer service and receptionist work including high volume telephone traffic; and to perform the more difficult and complex customer service duties depending on the department including but not limited to service requests, permits, parking passes, block party permits, accounts payable processing and vehicle stickers. This position is crosstrained with the other Customer Service Representative IIs in the Village.

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. This position is posted until June 13, 2022.

HOME SERVICES

GARAGE SALE 845 ROBINHOOD LANE SATURDAY, JUNE 11TH 9AM - 2PM

River Forest

HUGE RUMMAGE SALE GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH 7300 DIVISION ST. FRI JUNE 10 8AM-5PM SAT JUNE 11 9AM-1PM

Clothing for kids and adults, toys, housewares, collectibles, books, small furniture and much more.

Please enter through the Bonnie Brae doors.

WANTED TO BUY 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

CARS WANTED

CLASSICS WANTED CLASSICS WANTED Restored or Unrestored

MAGANA

C O N C R E T E C O N S T RU C T I O N “QUALITY IS OUR FOUNDATION” ESTABLISHED IN 1987

COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL RESIDENTIAL

708.442.7720 '5,9(:$<6 )281'$7,216 3$7,26 67(36 &85% *877(56 6,'(:$/.6 612: 3/2:,1* 67$03(' &2/25(' $**5(*$7( &21&5(7( FREE ESTIMATES LICENSED, BONDED & INSURED

ELECTRICAL Ceiling Fans Installed

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 KLIS FLOORING INC.

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

Low prices, insured.

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

HANDYMAN

HANDYMAN

Mike’s Home Repair

CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE

Drywall H Painting H Tile Plumbing H Electric H Floors Windows H Doors H Siding Ask Us What We Don’t Do

or Unrestored Cars &Restored Vintage Motorcycles Domestic / Cars & Vintage Motorcycles Import Cars: 708-296-2060 Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari’s, Domestic / Import Cars: HANDYMAN Jaguars, Muscle Cars, Mustang & Mopars Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette, $$ Top $$ all makes, Etc. Ferrari’s, Jaguars, Muscle Cars, Collector James • 630-201-8122 Mustang & Mopars

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

Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari’s, Jaguars, Muscle Cars,

Roofing Repairs Concrete Repairs • Drywall All types of handiwork Call For Free Estimates

773-637-0692 Ask for John

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

Free estimates Excellent References No Job Too Small

708-488-9411

HAULING BASEMENT CLEANING

Appliances & Furniture Removal Pickup & Delivery.

708-848-9404

Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Stop your home from flooding!

Village of Brookfield just approved $300,000.00 for flood mitigation program.

Act now to get on the list! MORNING NOON AND NIGHT PLUMBING & SEWER has been helping residents for 20 years with their sewer and plumbing needs.

We come highly recommended, we are a 24 hours business.

We have the best equipment and highly trained technicians.

We also install new water services and remove the old lead water lines.

WE DO THE JOB RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!

Call us now at (708) 447-9640.

Free estimates and second options. Stop Flooding!

License number: 055-034250 • Lyons, IL 60534

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Wednesday Journal, June 8, 2022

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

No Closing Costs or Annual Fees A Home Equity Line of Credit can be an easy, affordable way to finance home improvements, college expenses, debt consolidation, etc., etc., etc.

Stop in or call (708) 485-2770 for more details F

N B

B

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF BROOKFIELD

* 10 Year Interest only loan. APR= Annual Percentage Rate of3.25% fixed. APR is the introductory rate for the first 12 months. After the introductory period, the rate will adjust to the current variable rate based on the highest Prime Rate as published in the Wall Street Journal with a maximum loan to value of 80%. APR’s accurate as of 6/18/20 and subject to change. The maximum Annual Percentage Rate that can apply is 15%. The minimum Annual Percentage Rate that can apply is 3.25%. Except for this 15% “cap” and 3.25% “floor”, there is no limit on the amount by which the annual percentage rate on the account can change during any one year period. Subject to approval and underwriting standards.

9136 Washington Avenue • Brookfield, IL 60513 • (708) 485-2770 www.FNBB.com