WednesdayJournal_012126

of Oak Park and River Forest

Intersection of Oak Park Ave. and Lake St. facing south.

Lawsuits o er window into West Sub’s

Get ready, Oak Park Avenue streetscape starts now

Sewer, water and streetscape work in Hemingway Distric t will run through Thanksgiving

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park is looking to break ground this week on an infrastructure project

Medical equipment supplier sues for more than $7.3 million in overdue payments

By BILL DWYER Contributing Reporter

Lawsuits filed against the owners of West Suburban Medical Center last year paint pictures of a business unable to pay its bills for essential professional and medical services and products

15 years in the making.

Construction on the “Renew The Avenue” Oak Park Avenue streetscaping project is set to begin on Jan. 21 though low temperatures could push the groundbreaking to later in the week, project leaders told Wednesday Journal.

Resilience Healthcare bought Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood and West Suburban hospital in Oak Park, which largely serves Chicago’s Austin neighborhood in late 2022 from Pipeline Health. In Resilience Healthcare’s application to the state to purchase the hospitals, as well as at a later public hearing, Resilience Healthcare Owner and CEO Manoj Prasad said, “Resilience Healthcare will continue to build off of the previous capital investments of Pipeline and will focus on continued operation success.”

The largescale project is set to remake the streetscape by adding art

See STREETSCAPE on pa ge 19

It appears Prasad has done little to make good on that promise, as the business owes money for a wide

See WEST SUB on pa ge 16

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River Forest seeks input on proposed Madison Stre et project

Developer o ers plan for 5-story, mixed-use building at Madison and Ashland

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

River Forest is seeking community input on proposed development of a vacant village-owned parcel at 7620 W. Madison St.

While no ag reements or approvals have been made, over the last year the village considered seven development proposals, selecting two finalists before ultimately choosing Chicago-based Five Thirty-one Par tners, which submitted a plan for a five-story, 72-unit mixed-use building. The development would feature high-end apar tments and first-floor retail space, along with 87 parking spaces.

According to Village Administrator Matt Walsh, there will be two open houses for residents to view renderings of the development and speak to Five Thirty-one and village personnel. The first open house will be from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at Roosevelt Middle School, 7560 Oak Ave., while the second will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the River Forest Civic Center, 8020 Madison St.

Additionally, residents can provide input and ask questions via the online form at vrf. us/Madison. Hard copy for ms will also be available at village hall and the River Forest public library.

“We’ve heard from residents that they want to be involved through development review of the project, and we want to make sure that’s the case,” Walsh said.

So far, he added, commentary has been cautiously optimistic.

“It’s been generally a positive response,” he said. “There have been questions about traffic and parking and the buffering of the property.”

In a brief statement to Wednesday Journal, a small group of neighboring residents emphasized caution.

“Neighbors understand that something will be built, but it needs to be a true winwin for the community, not a deal skewed to benefit the developer,” the statement said.

“The village should avoid rushing into a sweetheart deal that leaves neighbors with vacant residential or commercial space and none of the promised public benefits.”

Walsh said the property once housed a Lutheran nonprofit before the village purchased it in 2018 and demolished it in 2023. The village also purchased residential homes north of the east-west alleyway

with an eye on the future. Once the buildwere purchased and demolished, the area was graded and currently has grass with wood-picket fencing.

“The village has a limited tax base and n’t have a lot of opportunities to expand that tax base,” he said. “Additional retail space on the River Forest side (of Madison Street) would be a benefit. Our hope is that with the new residents and retail that the residents of south River Forest will have a new place to shop.”

The seven original proposals were similar in concept, he said – multi-family, mixed-use projects. None were commercial-only proposals, and just one would have been too large to fit the site. Another would have had to have been higher than five floors to accommodate the units it desired.

Walsh toured a Five Thirty-one project in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, and the village trustees visited as well.

“The quality of the project really stood out,” he said. “Very thoughtful and high quality.”

A request for comment about the project from Five Thirty-one Par tners was not immediately returned.

WEDNESD AY

JOURNAL

of Oak Park and River Forest

Interim Executive Director Max Reinsdorf

Senior Audience Manager Stac y Coleman

Sta Repor ter Brendan He ernan

Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor

Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora

Contributing Editor Donna Greene

Columnists Marc Bleso , Nicole Chavas, Jack Crowe, Vincent Gay, Mary Kay O’Grady, John Stanger, Josh VanderBerg

Shrubtown Cartoonist Marc Stopeck

Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead

Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea

Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza

Senior Media Strategist Lourdes Nicholls

Marketing & Adver tising Associate Emma Cullnan

Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan

Circulation Manager Jill Wagner

Operations Associate Susan Babin

Social Media and Digital Coordinator Maribel Barrera

Special Projects Manager Susan Walker

Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

Senior Advisor Dan Haley

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chair Eric Weinheimer | Treasurer Nile Wendor f Deb Abrahamson, Mary Cahillane, Steve Edwards, Judy Gre n, Horacio Mendez, Charles Meyerson Darnell Shields, Audra Wilson

AXIOS ARCHITECTS AND CONSULTANTS

Preliminar y concept renderings of the proposed Madison Street project.

AXIOS ARCHITECTS AND CONSULTANTS

Safer Lake St. pedestrian crossings part of capital plan

River Forest proposes spending $7M on projects in new scal year

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

For the second year in a row, infrastructure improvements and maintenance headed the list of the five-year capital improvement plan (CIP) unveiled at the River Forest village board meeting Jan. 12.

Among the initiatives in the coming year are adding flashing crosswalk signs at four intersections along Lake Street and creating a pocket park on two village owned parcels on Lake at Park Avenue.

In his village board presentation, Matt Walsh, village administrator, said capital expenditures are estimated to be $37 million over the next five years, almost $7 million of which is expected to be spent in the first year, Fiscal Year 2027, which begins May 1.

Major funding for the coming year will come from the water and sewer fund, $2.3 million; the capital improvement fund, $1.6 million; and the capital equipment replacement fund, $1.3 million.

Of the planned capital expenses, $2.3 mil-

lion will be allocated for streets, sidewalks and alleys and $2.2 for water and sewer improvements

Unveiling the capital improvement plan is the first step of the budget process. Officials said the plan is generally amended during the budget process as determinations are made for items to be moved forward or to be deferred based on current information.

In April, a budget will be prepared and recommended to the village board, which will take input from residents, if there is any, at a public hearing. The final step in the process will be adoption of the budget, which also is expected in April.

The streets, sidewalks and alleys capital expenses include street improvements, $575,000; traffic control installations, $510,000; and parking lot improvements, $431,905.

Projects include the Des Plaines River Trail project, $85,000; the Harlem Avenue viaduct project, $96,556; and converting lots at the corner of Lake and Park Avenue into a pocket park, which officials have dubbed Heritage Square, $100,000.

Half of the capital expenses for water and sewer improvements, $1.1 million, will go to replacing an eight-inch water main along Franklin Avenue from Madison Street to Washington Boulevard

Walsh said the village has already re-

ceived more than $1 million in grants to fund planned projects including a $750,000 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) capital improvements grant for the water main project; a $150,000 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District green infrastructure partnership grant and $200,000 DCEO capital improvements grant for parking lot improvements; and a $96,556 DCEO grant for the Harlem Avenue viaduct project.

In addition, staff members are planning to apply for or already have applied for grants to provide funding for the Lake Street Crossings project and the Washington Boulevard project as well as additional funding for parking lot improvements

The $1.8 million Washington Boulevard project will include a road diet, bump outs, Americans with Disabilities Act improvements and various other traffic calming measures that contribute to bicycle and pedestrian safety. The $64,744 Lake Street Crossing project was undertaken following what village officials term “frequent” complaints at public meetings about traffic conditions along Lake. Improvements include pedestrian refuge islands and rapid response flashing beacons at Lake intersections at William Street, Jackson Avenue, Franklin Avenue and Edgewood Place.

Village President Cathy Adduci expressed support for the Lake Street Crossings project and encouraged staff members to make it a priority.

Although reconstructing the parking lot south of Village Hall has been deferred, other parking areas will be reconstructed. Plans call for reconstruction of the east parking lot at the front entrance of Village Hall; the driveway along the north and west sides; and Police Department parking along the west side of the building.

The Heritage Square project would tur n village-owned properties, a parking lot at the southeast corner of Lake and Park Avenue and a vacant grass lot at 419 Park, into a small park with seating and relaxation areas Streets to be resurfaced include Ashland Avenue, Clinton Place and Bonnie Brae Place, all from North Avenue to LeMoyne Street, and Forest and Park avenues, both from Washington to Madison. Others are Ashland from Hawthorne Avenue to Washington; Park Drive, Franklin to Park Avenue; and Vine Street, Park Avenue to Franklin.

Walsh thanked village staff members for their efforts in creating the CIP, especially Seth Jansen, management analyst.

Adduci also expressed her gratitude.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “Great work.”

Oak Park ahead of peers on recycling, composting

Comprehensive study on garbage, rec ycling and compost published with eyes toward Oak Park climate sustainability goals

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s village board reviewed findings from a study of residents’ waste disposal habits as part of a reflection on the village’s progress towards its environmental sustainability goals

Last year, the village commissioned a study from SCS Engineers on Oak Parker’s waste disposal habits and attitudes on garbage, recycling and compost collection. The study involved SCS Engineers staff analyzing waste collected from Oak Park single-family homes and small apartment buildings that had been brought to Lakeshore Recycling System’s facility in nearby Maywood over the summer

“At the end of the day, this study is really powerful because it gives you a lot of information about what’s going on in the commu-

nity, and that’s not something most communities have,” said Richard Southorn, a VP at SCS Engineers. “You can see the vision and leadership of Oak Park come through the data. Oak Park has been a community that’s really strived to push sustainability, push to be environmentally responsible, and that is born out in the data where you’re beating out the averages.”

The study found that Oak Parkers are doing a better job of recycling and composting correctly, diverting waste out of landfills and creating less waste altogether when compared to the national average and the average for Cook County’s suburbs.

“The village is generating less waste per person, per year, than the national average and the suburban Cook County average, which is a great place to start,” said Spencer LaBelle of SCS Engineers. “A great founda-

tion has been built within the village through programs maintained currently. In addition, I want to point out that recycling contamination is about half the national average, which is a key indicator that people in the village know what they should and should not be recycling.”

But Oak Parkers still have room for improvement, the study found. Over a third of all garbage collected in the village is either paper or plastic, most of which can be recycled through existing village programs, according to the study. Likewise, 35% of the garbage collected could’ve been composted, according to the consultants.

Southorn said he hopes the village will use the study’s results as a “benchmark” to improve its waste collection programs even further.

“With those types of things, I hope the vil-

lage will take the time to digest what this data is showing and compare it to what the goals and objectives are, so you can figure out what programs are really working well and what can be tweaked and fine-tuned to get better results,” Southorn said.

The study also included a survey of over 1,100 village residents which polled Oak Parkers on their attitudes around waste disposal which found “strong environmental awareness and participation” among residents

The survey found that 99% of Oak Parkers recycle regularly and that 89% feel neutral, satisfied or very satisfied with village garbage collection, according to the survey.

The study was commissioned to support the village’s Climate Ready Oak Park plan, which seeks to eliminate 60% of Oak Park’s carbon emissions by 2030 with an eye to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

With no contract, RF schools and teachers take harder positions District

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

River Forest School District 90 and the River Forest Education Association were unable to come to terms at a mediation session T hursday for an ag reement on a new teacher contract.

In a statement to Wednesday Journal, the district said it will begin the public posting process with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, which can be initiated by either side in a ne gotiation process.

Within seven days, the district and RFEA must now submit their final offers and cost summaries to the mediator, the other party and to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. Seven days after that, the board will post both of fers on its website for public viewing.

RFEA co-presidents Cindy Cranan ag reement. T he district made a similar statement.

Crannell and Baiocchi said in RFEA’s statement. “During the last few joint me-

diation sessions, the district has made little to no movement on their offers, seemingly unwilling to move an inch to meet us in the middle.”

T he union added the district has up to 460 days of cash reserves “and is more than able to resolve the financial components at the root of the failed ratification vote.”

Statistically, the district is one of the top academic performers in the area, if not the state.

With a score of 85.36, Lincoln Elementary School earned Exemplary status for the third year in a row according to the Illinois Re port Card released last month by the Illinois State Board of Education. Willard Elementary School (86.17) was declared Exemplary for the fourth straight year, which are schools that rank in the top 10% of the state. The next 67% are considered Commendable, which is what Roosevelt Middle School earned.

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Oak Park plan for ‘quick take’ of U.S. Bank branch moves for ward

Notice of eminent domain sent to state lawmakers as bank continues to oppose plan to redevelop site for new police station

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s plan to use eminent domain to acquire a bank building to redevelop into a new police station took another step forward this week.

The village is looking to take over the U.S. Bank building located at 11 Madison St. with the plan to redevelop it into a long-promised new police headquarters. The building is only two blocks away from Oak Park Village Hall, where the Oak Park Police Department has been based for decades.

Oak Park’s village board sent notice requesting permission to use “quick take” eminent domain on the property to the state legislature and conducted a public hearing on the matter at its meeting Tuesday, Jan. 13.

U.S. Bank officials had said earlier this week that they were “disappointed” by Oak Park leaders’ plan to acquire and convert the bank’s Madison Street branch and voiced opposition to the plan again on Tuesday night. Officials said the bank never planned to close the branch when it listed the building for sale last year.

Abdel Daghlawi, a district manager and vice president for U.S. Bank who previously served as branch manager for the Madison Street location, told the village board about these intentions during the public hearing.

“Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the negative impact to our customers that will result from the village’s decision to take our local Oak Park branch via ‘quick take’ eminent domain, which is unquestionably the most aggressive and risky method of taking private property against the will of a property owner,” Daghlawi told the board.

“To set the record straight, last year, we never listed our property on the private market to sell it so that we could leave Oak Park. Rather, we offered to sell the property on the private market under the clear and unequivo-

cal condition that the buyer lease back the bank branch to U.S. Bank. We included this requirement because U.S. Bank is committed to Oak Park and our customers at this location. We do not want to leave or be forced to leave, and we are very disappointed with the village’s decision to take the bank’s property and force us to leave this location.”

While the building was listed for $2.65 million last year, bank officials said that it was always the corporation’s intention to keep the bank branch open by leasing space back from the building’s new owner, a strategy the company has employed regularly in recent years, officials said this week.

U.S. Bank told customers this week that it is exploring opportunities for a new bank location in the area if it loses its Madison Street location.

The branch, which has operated out of the building since 2009, is also home to mor tgage advisor and wealth management staff not present at most bank locations, U.S. Bank officials said this week.

Two Oak Park residents spoke at the public hearing to voice support for the village’s acquisition plan. Oak Parker Chris Donovan said that Oak Park should put little stock in U.S. bank’s appeal, arguing that the bank hasn’t invested enough into the community or made up for its role in the subprime mortgage crisis of the 2000s.

“Given their track record is what it is, I hope you see them as the bad guys that I see them as,” he said.

Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman gave props to Donovan’s analysis

“Thank you for continuing to make my argument for me,” she said.

On Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2025, the village board had unanimously approved an ordinance allowing the village gover nment to pursue a condemnation suit to acquire the property via eminent domain if a voluntary sale deal didn’t go through, according to village docu-

OPRF OKs next step for arts redo, talks referendum timing

Tax hike vote possible in April 2027

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

As expected the Oak Park and River Forest High School board voted unanimously on Jan. 15 to pay the school’s architectural firm, FGM Architects, $365,000 to develop schematic plans for what school officials are calling Act 3, the third major step in plans to transfor m the OPRF building.

Act 3, or some might say Project 3, will be designed to transform many performing arts spaces at OPRF including new band, orchestra and choir rooms as well as new music practice rooms, a Black Box theater and some new physical education spaces including a cardio gym, an adaptive PE gym and a multipurpose gym. The conceptual design of Act 3 was presented at the board’s Dec. 18 meeting.

The conceptual design projected transforming 93,906 square feet of space in the southwestern portion of the OPRF building on Scoville Avenue. Within that footprint 49,485 square feet of the space would

ments. At a special meeting dedicated to the police station project a week later, the board voted to endorse the acquisition as their preferred strategy for the police station project.

The building is approximately 37,000 square feet and already has its own parking lot, according to village documents.

The initial plan being pursued by the village would have constructed a new police station on the patch of grass south of Village Hall’s parking lot, with building costs expected to have eclipsed $80 million on top of the costs for the planned renovations to the Village Hall building.

The police department presently operates out of Village Hall’s basement, a space considered too small and outdated to suit the needs of a modern village police department. The village has been working to find a path to a new base of operations for the department for years.

be used for programming while 44,321 square feet is classified as other, meaning hallways, mechanicals and other such uses.

Once the architects finish the schematic design they will develop a cost estimate for Act 3. That cost estimate is expected to be shared with the District 200 school board in late May or June.

Then the school board will have to determine whether to go forward with the plans and decide how to pay for it. A timeline presented by the school refers to a potential April 2027 referendum to raise the money needed for the Act 3 project.

However, at the Jan. 15 meeting board member Graham Brisben questioned why the district specified April 2027 as the date for a referendum.

“It’s too early to project, oh it’s definitely April (2027),” Brisben said wondering if the November 2026 midterm election was also a possibility.

The November 2026 midterm election will likely generate a much higher turnout

Over the last decade, the village has spent millions on design work, kicked around several concepts and hired a new architect for the project.

But economic justice advocates have questioned how Oak Park’s gambit might impact low-income people in the re gion.

Horacio Mendez is president and CEO of the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based economic justice nonprofit focused on promoting fair lending, wealth creation and financial systems reform. Mendez, who also serves on the board of Wednesday Journal’s parent organization Growing Community Media, said his organization is troubled by the village’s push to acquire the bank branch. Mendez said it’s become increasingly common for financial institutions to pursue lease back deals as technological advances mean that banking operations require less physical space.

than the April 2027 election in which only school board and village races will be on the ballot. But Supt. Greg Johnson said he thought 2027 would be the earliest the district would be ready to present a referendum to the community.

“I do think November (2026) would be too ambitious,” Johnson said when Brisben asked why April 2027 was specified in official documents as a potential referendum date.

Tim Brandhorst, the board’s vice president, said OPRF should not be publishing any potential referendum date because cost estimates are months away and the board has not even begun to discuss how to pay for Act 3.

“I don’t think we should be getting out over our skis in talking about timelines,”

“This strategy is one we’ve accepted given the enormous costs associated with owning and maintaining a large, traditional physical branch network,” Mendez said. “It’s not perfect, but it helps address the outright closure of an important community resource. Many branches are too big for how little they’re used, so some financial institutions try to become landlords by ‘right sizing’ their branches and leasing other space in the building. Others recognize that banks aren’t great at being commercial landlords, so they sell the building, lease back the space they want for their branch, and then allow someone who’s better at finding commercial tenants go to work leasing up the rest of the building.”

The branch’s location at the corner of Madison Street and Austin Boulevard means it’s positioned to serve many in Chicago’s Austin community and in nearby Berwyn, two areas with large minority and low-income popula-

Brandhorst said.

Board member Jonathan Livingston also said that talk of a date for a referendum was premature. But board member Fred Arkin disag reed.

“I don’t see any problem in saying this is a goal, not a hard, fast deadline,” Arkin said. “And I don’t see any harm in trying to follow this timeline. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”

Board member Kathleen Odell ag reed with Arkin.

“We haven’t had any for mal budget discussions meaning we haven’t decided anything but I do like having the referendum on the timeline,” Odell said. “It signals to the community that if they’re paying attention, that at some point there would mostly likely be a referendum.”

tions often underserved by financial institutions, Mendez said.

“One thing we try to keep an eye on, especially in our home region of Chicago, is the national trend of branch closures in or near low- and moderate-income communities or majority minority communities,” Mendez told Wednesday Journal this week. “The U.S. Bank branch in your market is one we consider to be valuable in serving the Austin and Berwyn communities, both with significant low- and moderate-income residents and a large number of small businesses.”

“It’s pretty clear to me what will provide the sur rounding community greater opportunity to thrive economically in the future if given the choice between a police station or a bank branch. It’s rare to have a community kick out a bank who wants to stay, but that seems to be the case with Oak Park.”

COURTESY OF OPRF

OPRF band room

D97 names former Whittier principal new co-interim supt.

Robinson replaces Wernet due to health concerns

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

Oak Pa rk E lementary District 97 has a new co-interim superintendent.

Following the December resignatio n for health reasons of Patricia We r net, the District 97 school b oard named cu rrent assistant superintendent of elementary schools Patrick Ro binson to ser ve as a co-interim superintendent with G rif f Powell until June 30.

We r net and Powell, b oth retired superi ntendents, we re named as co-interim superintendents in Se p tember following the still unexplained and sudden resignation of for mer superintendent

Ushma S hah in Au g ust, the week before the star t of the new school year Ro binson ser ve d as the acting superintendent for a few weeks i mmediately after S hah resigned and before We r net and Powell we re hired.

allow for an orderly handof f as the b oar c ontinues i ts wo rk to identify the dis t rict’s next superintendent. ”

Under the new ar r angement Ro binson will assume day-to-day c ontrol of distric operations with Powell wo rk ing j ust one day a week. Powell will c ontinue to be paid the same $1,500 a day salary that he and We r net have b een receiving. Ro binson will rece ive a $5,000 stipend for hi s wo rk as co-interim superintendent in a ddition to his re g ular assistant superintendent annual salary of $177,108.

New Co-interim Superintendent Patrick

Moore (le ), and school board

meeting.

At the Jan. 13 school b oard meeting , during wh ich Ro binson sat at the b oard table, Powell noted that the district is saving a significant amount of money by appointing Ro binson as a co-interim superintendent i nstead of h iring another retire d superintendent to wo rk a few days a week as he and We r net had been doing.

“May I point out that the board is saving $120,000 by this ac tion.”

We r net’s last day was Dec. 19. Ro binson be ga n sharing the i nterim superintendent p osition with Powell on Jan. 1. Ro binson’s appointment to the co-interim superi ntendent p osition was approved by the school b oard at i ts Dec. 9 meeting by a vote of 5-0 with two b oard members absent.

GRIFF POWELL Co -interim superintendent

“This was not an easy decision,” We rnet said in a statement that was p osted on the District 97 we bsite and sent to f amilies. “I will be undergoing a medic al procedure and it became clear that stepping aw ay before winter break is the most responsible choice for the district. Making this transition in December will

“May I point out that the b oard is savin g $120,000 by this action, ” Powell said.

Before being named assistant superintendent of elementary schools in 2023 Ro binson, 43, ser ve d as the principal of Oak Pa rk ’s Whittier School fo r five year s. Before bein g hired as the principal at Whittier Ro binson wo rked at U rban Prep Academies as a principal and director of curriculum and i nstruction. He also wo rked as teacher in the Chicago Public Schools and be g an his career as a second and third gr ade teacher in Galesburg. Ro binson gr aduated from Monmouth C olle ge in 2004 and is expected to receive a doctorate in education from C oncordia Unive rsity this year.

school

Superintendent search enters nal stages

Next week on Jan 26 and Jan 27 the District 97 Board of Education is expected to interview six to eight finalists for the permanent superintendent position. After interviewing the six to eight candidates the board will narrow the field to two or three finalists. The finalists will then participate in a virtual town hall on Zoom on Jan. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m.

“The purpose of the townhall will be to introduce the final candidates to the community and it will give the community an opportunity to hear directly from them,” said Amanda Siegfried, the communications director for District 97.

Seigfried said those who watch the town hall will be given an opportunity to complete a survey and give their opinions of the finalists

“It’s an opportunity to hear from the candidates and also kind of engage in the process and provide some input,” Siegfried said. “All that feedback will be provided to the board and it will certainly be one piece of information that they use as they are making their decision.”

The board hopes to hire the next superintendent in February although the person hired will not take over until July 1.

“The goal is to name our candidate as

early as possible in February,” Siegfried said.

It is not clear if Patrick Robinson has applied for the permanent superintendent position. Wednesday Journal asked to interview Robinson but Siegfried said that Robinson was very busy and asked that the Journal submit questions in writing. The Journal, in addition to asking for information about Robinson’s background, asked if Robinson had applied for the permanent superintendent position and whether he would be one of the semifinalists. District 97 provided information about Robinson’s background but declined to say whether he had applied to become the next superintendent.

“With regard to the superintendent search, the district does not comment on who has or has not applied,” Siegfried said in an email. “As is standard practice, applicant identities remain confidential until finalists are for mally named by the board. This approach protects the integrity of the process and ensures fair ness for all involved.”

Dr. Luis Fer nando De Leon, District 97’s assistant superintendent for middle schools, told Wednesday Journal that he did not apply for the superintendent job.

BOB SKOLNIK

Robinson (center),

board President Cheree

member Holly Spurlock at the Jan. 13 school board

Oak Park board considers buying AI chatbot to ol

Product could be provided by village’s longtime digital media contractor as par t of new contract

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s village board discussed the potential for the village to sponsor an artificial intelligence tool that could be launched to answer resident questions.

While village staff and company officials said they were confident that the AI tool is designed to never “hallucinate” misinformation, Oak Park’s trustees who have backgrounds as technology professionals were split on the tool’s usefulness at this time

The chatbot tool could come as part of a new village contract with Granicus, a government digital media services provider the village has worked with since 2011. While Oak Park currently uses Granicus products to support the village’s website, its public engagement platform “Engage Oak Park,” its email newsletter system, its public meeting video streaming platform and more, a proposed contract renewal with the company would see the village

transition from paying individual subscriptions for Granicus products to enrolling in the company’s comprehensive Service Cloud and Operations Cloud programs.

The contract on the table includes a dedicated company liaison to work with village staff along with increased support and training for village staff provided by Granicus. The board will approve a renewed contract with Granicus as part of a future meeting after further negotiation between the village and the company.

markets the AI tool as a way for municipalities to accurately answer resident questions without using staff’s time

“Unlike commercial AI tools, GXA is tuned to understand government interactions and accesses only approved agency data to deliver the best possible responses.”

GRANICUS Digital media services provider

The new contract with the company could include the launch of an AI-powered Gover nment Experience Agent, a public-facing chatbot feature which the company refers to as a “GXA”. The company

“GXA transforms service delivery for gover nments, providing always-on, precise, consistent and contextually relevant responses to resident questions in easy-to-understand language,” Granicus said in marketing materials for the product. “Unlike commercial AI tools, GXA is tuned to understand gover nment interactions and accesses only approved agency data to deliver the best possible responses, creating better experiences for residents and lighter workloads for staff.”

Oak Park’s new deal with Granicus would pay the company as much as $162,666 in its

first year, with the proposed deal running through 2031. Adopting the GXA tool would come with a $15,000 onboarding fee, followed by yearly subscription fees starting at $30,381, according to the company’s proposal.

While some trustees expressed concern over the chat bot providing residents with faulty or incomplete information, village staf f and company officials maintain that the chat bot would only give residents answers with information from “fine tuned” village-provided sources. The GXA wouldn’t pull any information from the open web as AI Large Language Models like Chat GPT do, according to village staf f. “It only responds when its confidence score meets a conservatively set threshold, ensuring the information closely matches the user’s question,” Oak Park Chief Communications Officer Dan Yopchick wrote in a memo to the board last month. “This approach minimizes the risk of ‘hallucinations’ and

See AI CHATBOT on pa ge 10

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SetMeaningfulGoals: Start with small,achievableresolutionslike walkingdaily,reading a bookeach month,ortrying a newrecipe.Every successboostsconfidenceandadds purposetoyourday.

ExploreNewInterests: Learning somethingnewcanstimulateyour mindandsparkcreativity.Try painting,knitting,playing an instrument,orevenjoining a classon a topicthatinterestsyou.

StayConnected: Buildingsocial connectionsenhancesmoodand supportsemotionalwell-being. Attendcommunityevents,joinclubs, orsimplyspendmoretimewith friendsandfamily.

FocusonWellness: Gentleexercises likeyogaorwalkingpairedwith nutritiousmealsandstaying hydratedcangreatlyimproveyour energyandoverallhealth.

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Trinity searches for a new principal

Gallie steps down June 30 after 6 years at the helm

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

When Amy Gallie began her tenure as Trinity High School principal in August 2020, it was a scary time in the

Not only did Gallie ha ing a new position after se years as principal ofthe American School Foundation in Mexico City, but there were logistics ofthe COVID-19 pandemic to navigate.

“It was pretty terrible for all ofus,” said Gallie, who will finish I’m proud of stay open. In 2020-21, about 30 percent remote lear ners and 70 percent of the girls were in the school.

had to close. I am so grateful my daughters had in-person uninter rupted instruction.”

But all things must pass, and Gallie, who’s finishing her 12th year as a high school principal in Mexico City and then Trinity, is looking forward to her next steps.

“It was a lot of work to get our building ready, moving desks six feet apar t, and technology that had to be set up to teach the students in the room as well as the students at home.”

It was a lot of work, no doubt, but something Trinity president Dr. Tina TaylorRitzler appreciated, since she had a sophomore and a senior at school that fall.

“I remember the first day ofschool, dropping them of f what is going to happen?”

Taylor-Ritzler said. “She did an outstanding job keeping everyone safe during the pandemic. There was never a point school

AI CHATBOT

from page 9

ensures responses remain grounded in verified agency data. GXA’s hallucination rate — the chance of fabricating an answer — is effectively zero. It doesn’t invent infor mation. When er rors occur, they usually stem from incomplete or outdated details in the source content, which can lead to missing context for the user. We proactively address these issues during onboarding by reviewing and updating agency content.”

She wants to pursue other professional opportunities in a different sphere, not in a school.

“Both of my daughters graduated from Trinity, so this is a good life moment, and I’m an empty nester so it’s time to try something new,” she said, adding she is bilingual in Spanish and a certified executive coach.

Taylor-Ritzler said Trinity launched the search for a new principal the week before Thanksgiving break. It is working with two talent recruitment consultants, one Catholic and the other focused globall y. Trinity assembled a search and selection committee, including teachers and staf f, academic leaders and a member of its board of directors.

states and down the street.”

What is she seeking in a principal?

“I’m looking for a visionary partner,” she said. “I’m a community and organizational psychologist, and process matters a lot, and how we lead is critical to the success ofthe organization.”

Gallie is assisting the search process as an advisor; when her successor is chosen, she will aid in that person’s transition, which includes school operations, like the bell schedule that was instituted this year.

“Trinity has had the same schedule for 30-ish years,” Gallie said. “We wanted things to be better. We wanted to look at the way we teach classes that involve skills, like math and world languages. The way our block schedule worked in the past, students did not take these classes over the course ofa year. They would take them in two blocks over a semester

The recruitment cycle will close before the end ofthe month, she added. From there, 10 semifinalists will be chosen for virtual meetings, with two to three finalists brought in for a “day in the life,” where candidates will sit in on classes, meet with students and interface with faculty and staff.

It appears the job is a popular one.

“We have a robust pool of applicants already,” Taylor-Ritzler said. “They come from far and wide, other countries, other

Trustee Derek Eder, whose professional background includes building technology tools for local governments, said he didn’t see the value in including the AI tool as part of the contract renewal.

“I don’t think it makes sense for us to be early adopters on this,” Eder said. “I’m just not convinced it’s going to solve the things we think it’s going to solve. I haven’t seen a super effective chatbot as a customer facing thing.”

“It’s just not proven. I’m not convinced on that piece of this.”

Trustees Jenna Leving Jacobson and Brian Straw shared in Eder’s skepticism on the chatbot.

“Now math and world languages are taught every other day. They start in August and finish in June. I feel like this is a much better approach to keep continuity going over time and not have gaps in their lear ning.”

As she ventures out, Gallie also said that as an International Baccalaureate school, Trinity’s future is bright.

“I think the o pportunity for an all-gi rl s school is something all girls need,” she said. “Giving a p lace where they f eel c omfo rt able to make academic mistakes and fail forward is pa rt icularly impor tant fo r gi rl s. ”

Trustee Cory Wesley, who has also spent decades working in information technology, said that the AI tool is soundly designed and meets Oak Park’s needs. He said that he did his best to “break” a version ofthe chatbot provided to trustees but found that the safeguards ke pt it from answering his questions with bad information.

“Our website is great, but it’s old school and the world’s changing,” Wesley said. “This is easy, and ifit doesn’t work, we’ll shut it of f, tweak it and bring it back. That’s how tech works; it’s never going to be perfect, but this is damn good and we should buy it.”

AMY GALLIE

TINA TAYLOR-RITZLER

‘We took no prisoners’

Fenwick to celebrate historic 1974-75 basketball team Friday

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Even now, after more than 50 years, the memory is as vivid to Ed Trauth as if it were last Friday night. It was a 1975 sectional semifinal in a stifling, rocking Hinsdale Central gym in a tight game between Fenwick and heavily favored Lyons Township, the No. 3 team in the state at the time

Needing a spark at a key juncture late in the game, 6-foot-5 coach Ed Galvin called Trauth’s number.

And he delivered.

“We were real stagnant at the time I was subbed in,” recalled Trauth, who was a junior and today lives in Naperville. “I got the ball, and I could have taken a step backward or to my left and I would have gone out of bounds.”

Instead, he stepped up, took his shot and made it, and was fouled by LT’s Tony Lollo, a kid he knew. That ke pt Fenwick in the game, but what happened next still brings a smile to Trauth.

“After the foul, there was a time out and after the time out, I didn’t make it,” he said, refer ring to his one-and-one. “I left it so short, it almost didn’t hit the rim.”

But minutes later? Pandemonium.

Fenwick had upset the mighty Lions and advanced to the sectional final against Proviso East – all in its first year in the Illinois High School Association.

It’s going to be one of many stories that will be recounted Friday night when the team reunites in conjunction with the current Fenwick squad’s game against De La Salle. In case you’re going, the game will be held upstairs at the old Lawless Gym.

TJ Cahill, who was a senior and now lives in Elmhurst, has tears come to his eyes when he thinks about that Lyons game.

“I was near half-court, watching the ball batted above the basket when the clock went of f,” he recalled. “I saw coach Galvin coming toward me. I lifted him in the air, and he weighed 250 pounds.”

He even recalls the aftermath: the story that made the sports section of the Chicago Tribune – front page, right side – and

the nickname the team got from the local press: The Irish Mafia.

“We took no prisoners,” he said.

It was a legendary four-plus months in the winter of 1974-75 for Fenwick, who went 21-9. The Friars won their first-ever Thanksgiving basketball tournament, then took third place out of 38 teams in the Mayor Daley Catholic vs. Public League Christmas Tournament. They went 4-1 and even beat powerful Morgan Park by 12.

Then there was the game at Oak Park and River Forest’s old field house. That contest drew an estimated 5,000 fans of both schools, while hundreds more milled around outside. But if you were lucky enough to get in, you’d have had to contend with netting along the entire outline of the court, along with bleachers at either end for the overflow Fenwick didn’t win that game, but competing against friends and would-be teammates from across town became a huge community event, recalled senior captain Mike Mullins, who went by the nickname Moon after the cartoon character

“It was one of the most fun games I ever participated in in high school or college,” Mullins said. “We were all friends, and we were all competitors and it had never hap-

pened before. That was one of the benefits of joining the IHSA as a senior. It would be a great test for both of us.”

The communities of Oak Park and River Forest were awash in pride for the game

There were signs in the windows supporting one team or the other along Washington Boulevard and Lake Street, said Mullins, who lives in Downers Grove today.

“We played with these guys, not only in basketball but in softball; we went to parties with them,” he said.

As a junior, Neil Bresnahan was a key cog on that team. Bresnahan, who later went on

to star at the University of Illinois and even signed a rookie contract with the Golden State Warriors before tearing ankle ligaments, said Galvin may have been stoic, but if you looked close, you could see the cement of resolve during the OPRF game

“He was downplaying it until we got there,” he said. “He wanted to win this game as badly as any of the rest of us.”

While the Lyons game was electric, reality hit a few days later when the Friars played Proviso East in the sectional final.

There just wasn’t enough gas in the tank. Fenwick lost to Proviso East, which went to the state quarterfinals

After that? The juniors had a year to go under Galvin, and the seniors would move on to college. Like every other high school kid, everyone would find their way in life. Bresnahan, who lives in Wheaton, worked until 2008 at Morgan Stanley. After a lot of help from Galvin sorting out collegiate offers, Mullins went to St. Mary’s in Winona, Minnesota. He eventually worked at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Some of their teammates won’t be there Friday. Ed Kinsella, Barry Houlihan and John Powers are deceased.

But it’s going to be a special night all the same, Trauth said.

“Hopefully we can recognize each other,” he said with a laugh. “Everyone is going to have gray hair, or no hair. Hopefully everyone has kept themselves in good shape.”

Added Bresnahan: “I think it’s going to hit the whole spectrum. It’s going to be something where there are guys you haven’t seen, so that will be fun. At the same time, we did lose three guys since then, which is kind of sad, but this is where we are in our lives.

“I’m going to enjoy it, embrace it, relish the fact that I spent four years with most of those guys.”

Oak Park debuts new emergency noti cation system

Residents encouraged to sign up for new system to receive aler ts

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park is asking residents to enroll in its new emergency alert system.

Residents are being asked to submit their contact information via an online portal through the village’s website to opt-in to receive notifications from village

staf f about emergency situations, the village announced this week. T he new system r uns as part of T he Everbridge Mass Notification platfo rm, the village said.

“The re gistration process allows citiz ens to choose how they wish to be notified – by text, email and/or voice message,” the village said. “The village distributes messages only when deemed

important, such as alerts about severe weather, snow emergency parking and mosquito spraying.”

Residents enrolled in the village’s previous emergency notification system have been sent links to enroll in the Everbridge system, the village said. T he new progr am is being administered by Cook County, at no cost to the village.

“The platfo rm is available to municipalities in Cook County at no cost through the Cook County Department of Emerg ency Management and Re gional Security’s contract with Everbridg e, resulting in cost savings for the Village ’s Public Health Department, which oversees emerg ency preparedness in Oak Park,” the village said.

Inside Scoop on local fun and get out of your house, too

Journal and Review invite you to a casual mixer at Rober t’s Westside

Looking to meet new neighbors? Want to find out more about entertainment options in Oak Park, Forest Park and River Forest? Need something fun to fill your Sundays without the Bears?

Well, then, our Inside Scoop event is made for you.

Growing Community Media, publisher

of Wednesday Journal and the Forest Park Review, will host our first Inside Scoop event on Sunday, Feb. 1 at Robert’s Westside in Forest Park. Drop in. We’ ll go from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 7321 Madison St

It’s fun and it is free (you will have to buy your own drinks, though).

Three local arts and fun venues will be

on hand to provide the entertainment.

Comedy Plex in Downtown Oak Park will offer comedy. T he Forest T heatre Company will perform a scene from a recent show. And Donnie Biggins, our Robert’s Westside host, will take a Name that Tune twist.

The snacks are on us. It is fully casual.

And you’ll find more reasons why living here is so great while meeting neighbors you really ought to know.

More Inside Scoop events are in the works. We’ ll cover the voracious food scene, summer in the villages and the best things to do in the villages with your kids

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range ofhospital equipment purchases, leasing, servicing and repairs essential to its continued operation.

In September, the Agiliti Medical Equipment company in Minnesota filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Weiss Memorial and West Suburban Medical Center, Resilience Healthcare and its corporate parent, AUM Global Healthcare Management, “for failure to make lease payments for medical equipment, and to pay fees for maintaining and servicing it.”

Agiliti is seeking what appears to be more than $7.3 million in allegedly unpaid invoices for leased medical devices and surgical equipment, related maintenance and repair services, plus late fees at 18% annually and reimbursement for its attorney’s fees and costs.

on a service and maintenance contract Prasad signed with Agiliti Bills for as little as a month ofsuction technology at 70 cents a day, totaling $21, were not paid. On the high end, the Biomedical Contract for one month, ranging from $99,600 to $101,000, went unpaid, according to Agiliti.

In February 2024, Prasad, as CEO of Resilience Healthcare, signed a contract extension with Agiliti Health, Inc., eliminating references to the previous owners, Pipeline, and extending the service agreement with Agiliti to Sept. 30, 2027 “at an annualized fe e of $2,320,150.”

According to the documents filed with the court by Agiliti, Resilience did make partial payments on two invoices in late 2024 but has made no payments on any Agiliti invoices since then.

Another Resilience Healthcare service provider, Elevate Financial Solutions, sued Resilience in April 2025 for breach of contract over unpaid invoices submitted between Nov. 2023 and Nov. 2024 that total just over $500,000.

In five ofseven “causes ofaction” in its suit, Agiliti seeks over $2.2 million from Weiss, over $2.6 million from West Sub, and nearly $2.5 million from Resilience.

In addition to forcing the payments, Agiliti seeks court authorization to take back possession of its medical equipment from both hospitals, and authorization to terminate its BioMed Agreement with Resilience Healthcare The equipment at issue is listed in more than 80 pages in an attached exhibit to Agiliti’s lawsuit, covering some 1,800 equipment descriptions ofmedical items of various sizes and sophistication.

The list includes such modern medical facility essentials as X-Ray machines, ultrasounds, electrocardiograms, mammography, CT scanners and other diagnostic devices, as well as numerous dialysis units and dozens ofassorted exercise devices, including treadmills and stationary bikes

Also on the list are more than 500 physiologic monitoring systems of numerous types for various purposes, approximately 250 medical alarms, 10 laboratory freezers, hundreds ofinfusion pumps, numerous therapeutic humidifiers, incubators and several hundred “light sources” for examinations, surgery and other specialized medical uses, as well as countless batteries, power strips and related accessories needed to run the myriad electronics in a moder n hospital.

Another six-page exhibit attached to the lawsuit lists more than 130 unpaid invoices, ranging from $36.94 to $124,247. Most ofthe alleged unpaid debt is for monthly payments

Elevate’s website touts its expertise in “Revenue Cycle Management Solutions, including Medicare and Medicaid, and ‘Legacy System Conversions’ for hospitals.” The firm boasts ofmore than 40 years ofexperience and “serving more than 1,800 clients in 50 states.”

Elevate stated in its lawsuit that it “provided healthcare revenue cycle services to Resilience, Weiss Memorial and West Suburban under separate Master Services Agreements. The agreements were executed on April 1, 2021.

Prasad in public comments explaining Resilience’s cash flow issues has said that it faced challenges with its billing and collection systems.

However, starting in November 2023, Elevate alleged Resilience began missing payments. In May 2024, Elevate notified Resilience of its concerns over non-payment, and after a second letter, Resilience agreed to a payment plan. However, payments continued to be missed, with a total of$500,001 due as ofNov. 11, 2024. Elevate terminated its agreement with Resilience and later filed suit.

The case was closed April 2025 after federal Judge John J. Tharp, Jr. ruled that the lawsuit “fails to adequately plead subject matter jurisdiction.” The ruling allows Elevate to re-file the lawsuit in the future. Resilience, Elevate noted, has “not answered the complaint or moved for summary judgment on any of the claims asserted” in the suit. Jessica Mordacq contributed re porting to this story.

When the cold weather bites, bite back

OPRF Chamber of Commerce hosts a taste tour of the town

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Eats Reporter

Bundling up to go from your car into a restaurant is like being an arctic explorer in January. And the will to try a place you’ve never been before? Even harder. The OPRF Chamber of Commerce has it arranged it so you can taste the best of more than 30 local food and beverage vendors all under one roof.

“This is an amazing way to try many local foods all at once,” said event volunteer Joan Sibal.

at 5:30 p.m. with an open bar pouring beer and wine, and early admission to the local food cornucopia. That ticket is $150.

Drink tickets can be purchased in a 4-ticket pack for $40. Otherwise, drinks can be purchased during the event for $10 each.

Last year many of the participants got more than dinner from the event.

On Friday, Jan. 30, in the ballroom at The Nineteenth Century Club it’s a choose your own adventure menu as you stroll past table after table of delectable offerings. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. and includes an “Ask the Chef” interaction and live + DJ music. Tickets cost $50 to nibble the night away until 9:30 p.m.

If you want a VIP experience that begins

“It’s a great way to research where to go next on our monthly outings tog ether,” said Sarah Irvine, who came with a group of friends.

“This is what I call a ‘communitarian’ event,” Keith Graham said, describing the neighborly feel of the event.

“I’m finding out about new things on the menu at some of my favorite places, like Poor Phil’s and Publican.”

All the funds g enerated by food f ans goes to support the work of the chamber and its vision to support all who live and work in the community.

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

& JJ’s Supreme Steaks and Catering ow ner Maurice Smith

Funkytown is coming to the West Side

A new grant from the city of Chicago will help launch a brewer y on Lake Street

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Eats Reporter

On Jan. 6, Chicago’s Planning and Development department announced grants to local businesses. Funkytown Brewery’s application gar nered them a $3.7 million boost, if they can raise matching funds for their brewery concept.

“The grant is an amazing opportunity,” Rich Bloomfield, co-founder and CEO, said. “We’re raising funds to cover the other half. We’re looking at a spring 2027 launch. But it’s all depending on when we complete the funding. The build-out process and permitting processes should be about 9 to 10 months.”

Funkytown was launched in 2018 by three friends who graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School. The brewery was a chance to combine their love of craft beer with outreach to a segment of the market that they didn’t feel had been fully tapped – Black, Latino, Asian, and women.

Bloomfield, Zach Day and Greg Williams describe their product as “more welcoming on the tongue.” Up until this point, they have been contracting with another brewery to make their offerings. Their flagship beer “Hip-Hops and R&Brew” is an award-winning pale ale with low bitterness and astringency.

“When we have our own facility, that will give us actually a lot more flexibility for a smaller batch, more community-focused drops and more collaborations as well,” Bloomfield said.

The building they plan to transform is at 1923-29 W. St. in Chicago, near the newly renovated Damen Av Green Line stop. Plans include the brewery and also a tap room, serving food.

“We think that it needs to be complementary to drinking beer,” Bloomfield said. “It shouldn’t be like a sit down, knife and fork type thing. It should be something casual, but also be upscaled with quality ingredients, cultural connection, and keeping up with the amazing food tradition of Chicago.”

Though they graduated from high school in Oak Funkytown’s owners have ties to the area.

“My partner Greg moved from the Austin neighborhood to Oak Park. So we’re familiar with the West Side. And we’ve always seen that it has so much potential, but it’s always been underutilized,” Bloomfield said. “We are aware of the changes that are coming to around the United (Center) and we want to be a part of that energy.”

The 58 grants from Chicago’s Community Development Grant and Neighborhood Opportunity Fund programs re present $90 million in neighborhood investments.

Future site of Funkytown Brewery at 1923-29 W. Lake St .

“Lasting prosperity within our communities begins with revitalization ef for ts that center equity, communitydriven development, and each neighborhood’s unique needs,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Through this investment, the city is doubling down on its role as a partner,

n Brewer y products

empowering the businesses and organizations that are already serving our people and shaping our city’s future.”

For the owners of Funkytown Brewery combining industry and hospitality on the West Side is a dream come true.

Conceptual draw ing of Funkytow n’s West Side home

Extensive project

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installations, curb bump outs and other above ground improvements while overhauling the century-old water and sewer systems that run underneath Oak Park Avenue between Ontario Street and Randolph Street through the village’s Hemingway Business District.

The project is scheduled to be mostly completed by Thanksgiving 2026 so that regular traffic through the district can resume before this year’s holiday season.

ALamp Concrete Contractors is overseeing the project. The firm also oversaw the village’s recent Madison Street streetscaping effort, delivering that project “on-time and under budget,” according to Village Engineer Bill McKenna.

The construction crews will take a “layer cake” approach to the project, starting with the underground water and sewer work and finishing with the above ground improvements, Renew The Avenue’s Project Manager Brian Racine said.

served as project manager for Oak Park’s Lake Street streetscaping project in 2020.

“The contractor realizes that they have a lot to do, and the village has some key milestones for the project. They have the Thanksgiving deadline for significant completion on the project,” he said.

Work on all the sewer and water installations is expected to be completed by early May. The first phase of construction will center around the installation of a new sewer main from Randolph Street to Pleasant Street and new sewer and water mains from Lake Street to Ontario Street.

Once work begins, the village will begin diverting most traffic on Oak Park Avenue at Chicago Avenue to the north of the business district and at Madison Street to its south. The detours are set to eliminate through traffic on the roadway during construction, but the village will provide local detours throughout the building process so residents and visitors can still reach the business district.

The village will keep road access open to the Avenue Parking Garage at 720 North Blvd. throughout construction, where residents and visitors will be able to park for

the district will also be preserved at all times, project leaders said.

Trucks will be detoured to Harlem Avenue and Pace Bus service will also be detoured during the construction.

The village also plans to sponsor grant opportunities to local businesses impacted by the construction.

Completing the Oak Park Avenue streetscaping project has been a goal for the village since 2011 but has been delayed several times in recent years. The streetscaping work had been planned to start in 2021 but was delayed to give businesses in the area time to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

After that delay, work on the project had been planned to begin last year but was pushed back again after the village only received a project bid from one construction firm, whose bid came in nearly $5 million above the project’s $18 million budget, according to McKenna.

In the months following that delay, the village cut over $300,000 from the project by doing away with plans for custom fencing, special lighting and granite sidewalk pavers in the corridor. Putting the project out for bid in the fall was also a major factor in getting

than the village did ontractors an opportunity to place bids before having most of their construction season work schedules put in place, McKenna said.

Staff also saved nearly $800,000 through other “miscellaneous adjustments” and by procuring materials that would’ve been more costly to pay contractors to obtain.

Oak Park’s village board cut the project’s budget even more in August, asking staff to use a cheaper material to pave new sidewalks. Instead of using Bluestone for the new sidewalks, the village will use concrete pavers that brought the overall cost of the project down by nearly $1 million.

In August, Village President Vicki Scaman thanked McKenna and his team for revising the plan.

“I commend you for the work that you did to bring that to us and cutting some of those luxury items potentially, but also items that down the road that we can always add, she said. “Some of the things that are important to me about this project is that eventually we see this district really thriving, and there are some great businesses there already that have high energy, hosting events, increasing tourism, but some locations have been vacant for some time

CRIME

Burglars’ bomb at Oak Park restaurant causes $18K in damage

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park police are investigating a burglary incident involving an explosive device that caused thousands of dollars in damage to a local restaurant.

Two unknown men reportedly used a crowbar to gain entry through the backdoor of the Q-Bbq restaurant in the 100 block of North Marion Street in the early morning hours of Jan. 12. Once inside, the burglars reportedly used the crowbar to get into a locked office before using “an unknown explosive, electric power tools” and a crowbar to get access to the restaurant’s safe, according to police.

The burglars stole cash, gift cards and documents from the safe. The total damage from

the incident is estimated at $17,912, according to police

Aggravated battery arrest

Hospital burglary

Police are also investigating a high dollar burglary at a local hospital. Unknown suspects entered an office inside a building at R ush Oak Park’s campus in the 500 block of South Maple Avenue and stole large boxes containing 12 HP Elite Book laptop computers. The stolen laptops are re por tedly valued at a com-

Oak Pa rk p olice ar rested a Chicag o man in c onnection with a re ported attack on a grocery store wo rker this week. Police ar rested the 23-year- old on charges of retail theft and ag gr avated battery on a merchant shortly after 4:40 p. m. on Mond ay, Jan. 19, according to police. T he incident o ccu rred at the Jewe l grocery store in the 400 block of Madison Street, according to police Police learned that the man was the subject of active C ook C ounty war r ants for and p e, a ccording to police

These items were obtained from Oak Park’s Police Department re ports dated Jan. 14–20 and re present a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these re ports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We re port 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 a description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest

Homes

Ar thur and Grace Heur tley House

Wright Plus 2026 line-up announced

Tickets for housewalk bene tting Frank Lloyd Wright Trust available now

(Editor’s note: Lacey Sikora is the Journal’s real estate re porter. She and her husband are the new owners of the Gustav and Ethel Babson II House which they are currently renovating. It is one of the houses on this year’s Wright housewalk.)

By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

For over 50 years, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust has been welcoming visitors to Oak Park from around the world to offer interior access to the private homes of Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries during the spring Wright Plus housewalk.

This year, 8 private homes will be open to ticket holders, as well as Wright’s Home and Studio and Unity Temple.

The Trust recently opened ticket sales to the public. Tom Pierce, development director, says, “We opened ticket sales on Jan. 1, and there’s been a big splash. We’re on track to sell out again.”

This year’s walk features two homes designed by Wright.

The Arthur and Grace Heurtley House on Forest Avenue was designed by Wright in 1902. It is considered one of the earliest examples of Wright’s Prairie Style.

Wright designed the Oscar and Nonie Balch House on Kenilworth Avenue in 1911. The home was last on the walk in 2021. The home recently underwent a significant, sustainable restoration.

One of four houses on this year’s walk on the 400 north block of Euclid Avenue, the Charles and Cleantha Roberts House was designed in 1885 by Burnham & Root and remodeled by Wright in 1896. The house was last on Wright Plus in 2018.

Down the street, the Hermann and Ellen Mallen House on Euclid Avenue was designed by George W. Maher in 1905 and was last on the walk in 2018.

See WRIGHT PLUS on pa ge 22

COURTESY OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT TRUST/JAMES CAULFIELD

COURTESY OF FRANK LLOY D WRIGHT TRUST/JAMES CAULFIELD Oscar and Nonie Balch House (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1911)

(Frank Lloyd Wright, 1902)

WRIGHT PLUS

from page 21

Previously on Wright Plus in 2000, the Wi lliam and Wi lhelmina T homs House on Oak Pa rk Avenue was d esigned by Wo r thmann and Steinbach in 1904.

T he Gustav and E thel Babson II House was d esigned by Tallmadge and Watson on Linden Avenue. T he home was last on

Wright Plus in 2005.

This year ’s walk includes two homes that have neve r b een featured before on Wright Plus, both on Euclid Avenue

T he Paul and Frances Blatchford II House was d esigned by Pond & Pond in 1897.

T he Calvin and Juliette Hill House was d esigned by Patton & Miller in 1903.

Pierce notes that the walk is ve ry c onc entrated this year, with most homes c entered on or near Euclid Avenue and Chi-

cago Avenue.

“It’s great to be back in this area,” he says. “We c oncentrated on the 400 and 300 Nor th blocks of Euclid in 2018, and we ’re back in the neighborhood but still able to feature homes that have neve r b een on the walk. T he fact that we ’re able to return to a f amiliar neighborhood and still see something new is ve ry exciting.”

Pierce says that as of press time, there are still tickets to all Wright Plus pack -

mate Plus weekend will enjoy a F riday excursion to the S outh Side, where they will have a private tour of Wright’s Ro bie House, as well as an exclusive tour of the Wright-designed H. Howard Hyde House, a Chicago landmark and A merican System-Built Home in Beve rly.

Ultimate Plus and Ultimate Saturday ticket holders will be g uests of the owners of Wright’s Ave ry C oonley Home in Rive rside, where a private chef will pre-

COURTESY OF FRANK LLOY D WRIGHT TRUST/JAMES CAULFIELD

Charles and Cleantha Roberts House (Burnham & Root, 1885; Frank Lloyd Wright, 1896 remodel)

COURTESY OF FRANK LLOY D WRIGHT TRUST/JAMES CAULFIELD

Herman and Ellen Mallen House (George W. Maher, 1905)

William and Wilhelmina oms House (Worthmann & Steinbach, 1904)

COURTESY OF FRANK LLOY D WRIGHT TRUST/JAMES CAULFIELD

Gustavus and Ethel Babson II House (Tallmadge & Watson, 1913)

Plan your visit

Wright Plus takes place on Saturday, May 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets to Wright Plus 2026 are available on the Trust website: flwright.org/wrightplus

Tickets for the walk cost $135 or $100 for Trust members.

For those interested in skipping the line, a limited number of fast pass tickets are available for $600 or $565 for members.

The package includes three-nights of accommodations, an exclusive Friday excursion and a gourmet dining experience at Wright’s renowned Avery Coonley House in Riverside.

Ultimate Saturday experience tickets are available for $1,375 or $1,225 for Trust members and include a selection of highlights from the Ultimate weekend including fast pass entry to the housewalk, a private lunch at the Nineteenth Century Club the day of the walk and inclusion in

COURTESY OF FRANK LLOY D WRIGHT TRUST/JAMES CAULFIELD

Paul and Frances Blatchford II House (Pond & Pond, 1897)

and Juliette Hill House (Patton and Miller, 1903)

What Oak Park ve in common

Bad zoning change for Oak Park

What does the elimination of single-family zoning mean? It would allow a builder/developer to convert any home in Oak Park to a multifamily dwelling without restriction. This would apply to the whole of Oak Park. The home next to yours could be purchased by a builder and be conver ted into 2, 3, or more apar tments/condominiums. Multiple homes could be built on a single lot.

Oak Park offers a broad diversity of housing options that exceeds that of most municipalities. It possesses various sizes of rental proper ties, condo units, and multi- and single-family homes. Each of these housing types are within easy access to public transit and public amenities. Oak Pa rk possesses what moder n city planning models set out to deliver: diversity of housing types to meet the needs of a diverse community org anized around transit and public amenities with various densities

JEFFREY ROBERTS

One View

I moved to Oak Park 30 years ago. Through life changes, af fordability needs, and a growing family, Oak Park offered appropriate housing options. We be gan with a one-bedroom apar tment, then rented in a twoflat, owned a vintage condo, purchased and renovated a single-family house, and now own a larger house near OPRF High School. Not many communities can deliver this as well as Oak Park

Oak Park is a community with significant architectural history and character. Our village is an architectural destination. The removal of single-family zoning will compromise its architectural character. The Permit and Development Division has some architectural aesthetic oversight, but not enough to control the character change that the removal of single-family zoning would create

Additionally, a burden will be put on the village to provide the necessary services for the density refe rred to in the language of the zoning change study (potential increase of up to 90,000 population). The schools are currently at capacity, requiring expansions and af fecting taxpayers. The cu rrent parking issue will be exacerbated. The police force is understaffed for the cu rrent population. Significantly increasing population density would dramatically affect municipal services

Even with this proposal, the property taxes and cost

See JEFFREY ROBERTS on pa ge 30

VIEWPOINTS

LDEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M. Call Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at 613-3310 ktrainor@wjinc.com

For Sale sign ban … and more … still needed

acy Sikora’s excellent article last week, “Revisiting Oak Park’s ban on ‘For Sale’ signs” [Homes, Jan. 17] accurately reported on the origins of the village’s ban on these signs, which have been used for blockbusting and panic peddling. It asks the question whether this effectively de facto ban is still needed?

One View

The ban is, indeed, still needed and not just due to the cur rent administration’s evisceration of fair housing law enforcement under today’s GOP’s white supremacist agenda, which makes it

All of this is well documented in the monograph, “Ending American Apar theid: How Cities Achieve and Maintain Racial Diversity,” and in the ar ticle, “Oak Park: Inte gration Takes More than a Racial Quota” which are available free on the “Publications” page at http://www.planningcommunications.com. Also available there is Oak Park’s award-winning Comprehensive Plan 1979, which goes into detail on maintaining a racially-integrated community, including the need for affordable housing

the wealth that homeownership can generate, leads to an inevitable reduction in government services, and results in racially segregated schools where separate is very much inherently unequal.

Unlike Evanston which remains pretty rigidly se gregated, the entry of Black households into Oak Park did not produce racial enclaves. A household’s home is usually its largest investment and generator of wealth. But when Black households are consigned to Black enclaves, their property values are far lower than identical homes in an inte grated setting like Oak Park, thus widening the racial gap in household wealth and denying them full participation in the American Dream.

Sadly, too many Oak Parkers, including some village leaders, are unaware of all the things that Oak Park and its school districts did to prevent Oak rk from becoming as racially segregated as Evanston, the city of Chicago, and the vast majority of suburbs. Our children have no idea what’s been involved. It’s time for OPRF High School to add to its U.S. history curriculum a unit on Oak Park’s ef for ts to achieve housing inte gration within the larger context of the et that forces se gregation upon us and still dominates Chicagoland. If our children don’t understand how we got here, then they and their parents won’t understand how to maintain the fragile inte gration Oak Park currently enjoys.

While nobody pretends that Oak Park or any other Chicago-area town has achieved “perfect” inte gration, Oak Park remains light years ahead of the rest of the metropolitan area. It cannot take its foot off the proverbial pedal.

Daniel Lauber, AICP, grew up in South Shore during its rese gregation and has dedicated his planning and law career to countering the practices that have forced housing se gregation upon the nation. As the Oak Pa rk senior planner, he was principal author of its Comprehensive Plan 1979.

DANIEL LAUBER

OUR VIEWS

Compare and contrast

Transparency is a pretty subjective word when it comes to governance. And our local institutions can waver in their own definitions of what transparency looks like, depending on the issue and the era. That said, each of these bodies would claim a strong focus on transparency.

Here are five current instances where Oak Park and River Forest taxing bodies are earning trust from residents or, in our estimation, falling short.

District 97 Oak Park elementary schools: After the unexpected and still not fully understood resignation of Dr. Ushma Shah as its superintendent just ahead of the new school year last August, the school district is well into its search for its next leader.

We re port this week that school board members are about to begin private interviews with as many as 6 to 8 finalists for the job. The happy twist is that the school board has announced it will hold a virtual town hall meeting on Jan. 29 where interested Oak Parkers can see and ask questions of the final 2 or 3 candidates. Those taking part will be asked to complete a survey sharing their takes on those finalists for the school board to consider.

District 90 River Forest elementary schools: It is stunning that in a school district with the resources and academic accomplishments of District 90 that negotiating a new contract with teachers has been so far impossible. Teachers rejected a tentative contract in November. Since then ne gotiations have stalled. Now the district has said it is reaching out to the state labor relations board and calling for both sides to publicly post their last and best offer for public viewing.

Finally, we will all know just how far apart these two sides remain. An odd, forced transparency.

OPRF: This high school district is no poster child for transparency on financial matters. We don’t have space to review all the twists and turns over the past 20 years of overtaxing and avoiding a tax hike referendum for the most recent major capital project.

That said, the district has been public in its planning and discussions of this massive updating of its aging facility. Last week, as it moved forward toward the third and arts-focused project, the school board is making plain it will go for a tax referendum. Might be late this year or in April of 2027. But this discussion has been in the open.

Park District of Oak Park: The unexpected decision in December to go for a $40 million tax referendum in March to re place the outdoor pool at Ridgeland Common with an indoor facility has been fully under the radar. The district’s failure to communicate that its plan was to eliminate an outdoor pool in favor of a new indoor facility is basically disqualifying. Not transparent in any way.

Village of River Forest: The village has an ethics issue re garding consideration of a since-withdrawn plan to install lights at a private tennis club. That a majority of the commission reviewing the plan have paid memberships in the club makes this issue plain. It may be following its code in assigning the review to a specific committee, but the ripe smell test makes a different solution imperative.

e marri e of hea t and head

Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.

Mar tin Luther King Jr. April 3, 1968

When I started writing newspaper columns 41 years ago this month, I wrote mostly from my head. Some columns, I noticed, we better received than others. Those the ones where my heart was more involved. These days I have to “feel” a column before writing it.

TRAINOR

Music helps — the instrumental, reflective, emotional kind that clears the channel between head and heart. When the channel opens, the writing flows. It takes more than intellect to write. I also need the lubricant of emotion. Anger is an emotion, but writing angry, while sometimes therapeutic, is less well received because no one wants to feel yelled at as they read. It’s not easy to remove anger when writing about Trump, and I end up writing about him more than I want to. He’s a waste of time and energ y. But he has hurt so many and not writing about that feels wrong. I don’t write “about” him so much as “for” those he has harmed.

Donald Trump is America’s foremost example of how not to be a human being. He is the perfect reverse role model. His head is married not to his heart but to his ego. As far as anyone can tell, he has no heart — in the symbolic sense. He has an anatomical heart that somehow keeps him alive, but the channel between his metaphorical head and heart must be so badly blocked that he can’t get in touch with his better self (if he has one). Which probably explains why his actions are so harmful.

Did you know that before he became the world’s premier practitioner of genocide, Adolph Hitler wanted to be an artist? He was turned down when he applied to a prestigious art school. The images he rendered were technically proficient, but his drawings had one glaring omission: people. They were devoid of humanity, which makes sense since he, too, was devoid of humanity. All head, no heart, like Trump.

A well-traveled quote of fo gg y origins holds that “The mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master” (David Foster Wallace used it in his Kenyon Colle ge commencement address, “This is Water”). In most normal human beings, there are times when the head leads and times when the heart leads. It’s a dance. When it’s going well, it is as graceful as a waltz. Knowing when to lead and when to follow is the key.

Without the emotional heart, the rational mind

shrivels, becomes do gmatic, unsympaharsh, punitive, rigid, ruleWithout the head, the hear t becomes melodramatic, excessively sentimental, overly sensitive, hyperemotional, anti-rational. One without the other produces the comedy of rors that characterizes our curent political divide. Re publicans, it is said, need to reconnect with their , and Democrats need to reconnect with their heads. Whichever y embraces both will win over the American people

Ideology is the idolatry of ideas. Divorced from the intuition, imagination and inspiration of the heart, ideology leads to ineffective policies, detached from people’s lived experience, unleavened by caring and consideration.

If the rational, logical mind is a better servant than master, then it’s better to lead with the heart — but not always. The heart sometimes needs to be overruled by the head, which should have happened in the 2024 election, but did not. Ideally, the heart keeps its eyes on the prized destination, while the head plots the most effective way to get there. An equal partnership — a mar riage between heart and head — works best.

Such a marriage unleashes the vast potential of our creativity, and will ultimately harness the energies of love — the very fire that Teilhard de Chardin predicted humanity would someday “discover” for the second time in human history.

That fire is our collective genius, the place where passion and practice converge, where homo becomes sapiens, where intelligence transforms into wisdom. Multiply that by billions and who knows what homo sapiens might accomplish.

At the moment, our country seems to be operating with heartless heads and/or headless hearts. The results are mechanistic, backward, ineffective, self-defeating. Like artificial intelligence, it is common-sense impaired.

With the mar riage of heart and head, we could be brilliant. Healed. Where poetry merges with prose, beauty with design, art with artifice, the muse with music. Common sense for the common good. Becoming more than high-functioning animals. Being truly human. Recover the lost chord that connects heart and head and the two become one in the ultimate act of pro-creation. Body and soul, duality to singularity, binary to unitary, thesis and antithesis to synthesis.

Out of many, one.

That’s the dream.

And our evolutionary necessity.

Find anothe r location for an indoor pool

While an indoor pool would be a nice addition to Oak Park, we should exhaust all other possibilities before razing the newly renovated beautiful facility at Ridgeland Common. A 25-yard pool cannot replace the 50-meter pool we have. A 25-yard pool can really only safely accommodate two lap swimmers per lane at a time. The pool at Rehm, while still 50 meters, has narrower lanes and cannot accommodate the numbers that would be pushed that way. Also two of the lanes dump into the kids’ pool, so they don’t work for flip tur ns. Ridgeland Common was just updated 10 years ago and all that would go to waste. While Ridgeland is only open three months a year, what a wonderful three months they are and something swimmers, children and families look forward to for those golden special summer experiences. Let’s please explore another option to locate an indoor pool.

Phyllis Frick

Oak Park

Editor’s note: Because there seems to be some confusion about past work at Ridgeland Common, here is what Park District Executi ve Director Jan Arnold said when we asked: “In 2013-2014, Ridgeland Common Recreation Center was rebuilt. The park board at that time, based on funding availability, did not include a full redo of the Ridgeland main pool that was constructed in 1962. The life expectancy of the pool shell at that time was an additional 20 years, that was about 14 years ago. During the 20132014 construction the following pool items were re placed: wood decking, concrete deck, fencin g, pool mechanics and the kiddy pool.”

Send letters

Ken Trainor, Wednesday Journal

E-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com

Please include name, address and daytime phone number for verification.

What about sta ng for the new pool?

I haven’t seen anything on what the new indoor pool would do to staffing budgets. It would seem that there would need to be maintenance and guarding staffing. There probably needs to be a consulting ef fort for this. T hey could hire me to do a study as a consultant. Oh, what is the consulting budget?

Michael Papierniak Oak Park

Pool design suggestions

Two pools: The Ridgeland Common pool can be architecturally designed to have natural light from above and remote-controlled walls that will open during the summer months.

Michael Du y Ashland, Oregon

He prefers swimming outdoors

The executive director of the Park District of Oak Park says “no one should be surprised” about the district’s plan to build an indoor pool complex in place of Ridgeland Common’s 50-meter outdoor pool. Well, count me as surprised. I thought the CRC would be a perfect place to include a pool complex of the sort envisioned for the Ridgeland Common site. The Ridgeland Common facility was just redone a few years ago, and the outdoor pool is amazing. I’m voting “no.”

Max Guenthner

Oak Park resident since 1991

Re gular lap swimmer at the pools

‘Grandma’ Johnson was legendary

I’m writing this in response to the war m tribute by Deborah Bayliss on OPRF High School Black parents support group leader Wyanetta Johnson [News, Jan. 17]

Titled, “Mrs. Johnson’s extraordinary life,” with the subhead, “Advocate for equity, for students, Wyanetta Johnson changed OPRF,” this piece moved me to applaud the notice

Like hundreds of locals, I knew and respected Wyanetta, who was “Grandma” to some and “Auntie” to others. She was kind, warm, supportive and empathic. When I was Wednesday Jour nal columnist covering culture and conflict, Wyanetta would call me, drop by my house on Oak Pa rk Avenue, and even stop me in Jewel on Madison to give me a tip for a stor y. Most of the time I checked it out. If I was slow to do so, she politely followed up, explaining it was my “ethical responsibility” to do so. Once she insisted I come out in sub-zero temperature to cover an outdoor protest. Other times, she invited me and my twin sons (who graduated from OPRF in 2011) to show up for soul-food APPLE meetings at the high school “to listen and learn.” Me good boy. I always did what I’m told, especially when “Grandma” instructed

On a personal note, when I explained to her that Yves Hughes Jr., Donna Watts and this re porter were hosting the First Annual Oak Pa rk Inter national Film Festival on Sept. 17, 2005, at the library’s Veterans Room, she brought catered food for the filmmakers rece ption the night before Not only did she attend many of our

fests during the nearly two decades, but she also recruited many young Oak Park and Austin teen filmmakers and even her own director-son for our free, non-juried festival. She was cool like that!

I could go on and on about her many contributions, but I’d rather read yours.

In the Deep South, where many African American families hail from, there’s always initial mourning when someone leaves us. Soon after, we celebrate the time that they were here. Let’s toast “Grandma” Wyanetta Johnson. She was legendary!

Stan West

Former Oak Park resident

e importance of volunteering

Volunteerism is an essential part of life and society too. For example, students from St. Ignatius volunteering at Oppor tunity Knocks (OK) have made a difference.

Jarvis Har t is a good volunteer at OK too. In fact, volunteerism is something that I enjoy because I like to give back and I volunteer my time at the OK Classic.

WYANET TA JOHNSON

Ron Turner Oak Park

SHRUB

TO WN

by Marc Stopeck

Base your pool vote on the facts

The Park District of Oak Park Board of Commissioners is committed to transparency and ensuring residents have all the facts about the pool referendum discussed in Wednesday Journal’s Jan. 7 editorial and accompanying cartoon.

Public projects — particularly those involving public finances — deserve scrutiny based on facts. Residents should ask questions and understand that this decision belongs to voters, not the board of commissioners.

This referendum is not unexpected It reflects several years of community input through surveys and planning, during which residents consistently expressed a need for year-round aquatics for lessons, fitness, therapy, and recreation. This feedback was incorporated into the district’s 2025–2029 Comprehensive Master Plan.

■ In 2019, 41% of respondents identified an indoor pool as the single most important addition to park district facilities.

■ In 2023, 69% of respondents supported or strongly supported a property tax increase to help pay for the cost of an indoor community pool.

Wednesday Jour nal reported on this feedback in March and April 2024.

A board review of site options, costs, code requirements and community needs included an assessment of the existing outdoor pool at the Ridgeland Common Recreation Complex. That pool is more than 60 years old, nearing the end of its use, and will require an estimated $10 million in repairs. Locating the indoor aquatics facility at Ridgeland allows the district to build on existing pool infrastructure while avoiding the additional costs of developing a new site.

On Dec. 18, 2025 at its re gularly scheduled meeting, the board voted to place the question on the March 17, 2026, primary ballot, putting the final decision in the residents’ hands.

Residents may disag ree about whether an indoor aquatics facility

is the right investment for Oak Park. That decision belongs with voters, informed by accurate information. Project details, survey data, and a tax-impact calculator are available at www.pdop.org/indoor-pool, along with infor mation about community sessions beginning Thursday, Jan. 22. At its core, the decision before voters is whether to invest approximately $10 million in a seasonal outdoor pool used about three months each year, or $40 million in an indoor aquatics facility designed for yearround use. If the measure is not approved, the Park District will pursue re pairs to the existing Ridgeland outdoor pool.

Kassie Porreca, President

Jake Worley-Hood, Vice President

Sandy Lentz, Secretary

Chris Wollmuth, Treasurer

Ade Onayemi, Commissioner

Park District of Oak Park Board of Commissioners

WEDNESD AY

of Oak Park and River Forest

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e goal of the Viewpoints section is to foster and facilitate a community conversation and respectful dialogue. Responsible community voices are vital to community journalism and we welcome them. Space is at a premium and readers’ attention is also limited, so we ask that Viewpoints submissions be brief. Our limit for letters to the editor is 350 words. For One View essays, the limit is 500 words. Shorter is better. If and when we have su cient space, we print longer submissions, but when space is limited — as it o en is — we may ask you to submit a shorter version or hold the piece until space allows us to print it.

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A GING DISGRA CEFULL Y

One trauma a er another

He’s done it again. This time Trump has created a condition of war ing another country, Venezuela. What’s next, Greenland? How long do have to put up with this monster? Here’s what some others have to say: Cher (from a Facebook post):

“He’s an asshole. He’s dangerous. What he’s awakened in my country is bigotry and distrust, and a certain kind of supremacy in certain groups. rific at lying. I’ve never seen anybody so good. I can go on and on about this subject forever because I’m so traumatized by it.”

MARY KAY O’GRADY

Yes, Cher, traumatized is the word, over and ov over, and we voted for it. “Chronic trauma develops from prolonged exposure to negative, abusive, or neglectful experiences. This commonly stems from childhood experiences but can also develop as an adult. Being in these long-term situations can lead to anxiety, depression, and PTSD.”

Zohran Mamdani:

The new young New York Mayor, a Democratic Socialist inaugurated on New Year’s Day, said during a news conference that he discussed the matter with Trump on the phone, pushing back on the Commander-in-Chief ’s actions on Venezuela:

“I called the president and spoke with him directly to re gister my opposition to this act and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of re gime change, to the violation of federal international la and a desire to see that be consistent each and eve re gistered my opposition, I made it clear and we left it at that.” On X, Mamdani said the “blatant pursuit of re gime change” will directly affect New Yorkers and Venezuelans living in New York City.

Mister Rogers:

At a time when most children’s programs were selling toys and other products under the guise of escapist cartoon fantasy, Mister Rogers was talking to little kids about what to do with our ang er, what to do when we wronged someone, how to navigate our deepest fears, even how to face the day after 9/11. His few critics say that his program produced a generation of narcissistic and entitled kids. That’s just bosh. Love, he liked to say, is a hard, active noun, more like “struggle” than “affection.”

“You need three things to be successful in life in the only way that truly counts,” Mister Rogers said. “The first is kindness. The second is kindness. And the third is kindness.”

Kindness. Tell that to Trump. He would not know what you’re talking about. Yet that’s how we must act now. Kindness for ourselves.

My Book Club:

When we met recently, for the first time in some years, composed of Oak Park and River Forest liberals, we did not rage, whine, or even talk about Trump. While I appreciated the break in shared rage, I’m afraid it might be a bad sign. We’re a group of super-informed, super-liberal folks. Can it be that we’re exhausted by Trump? Trust me, I welcomed the break, though I noticed the gap. I still have my family and can yell at the TV, but I always welcomed fresh expressions of justifiable loathing. Now what?

Healing from anxiety and depression involves a combination of professional treatment (therapy, medication) and self-care strat egies like re gular exercise, a healthy diet, consistent slee p, staying socially connected, practicing mindfulness, and developing routines, while also avoiding alcohol/drugs and being patient, as recovery is a gradual process.

In other words, we are all now patients. Happy healing.

Build new police station on Mohr site

Response to “U.S. Bank opposes plan for police station at Madison branch” Wednesday Journal, Jan. 13:

While the Oak Park Village Board seems to run in circles around this problem, a ready solution exists at the for mer Mohr Concrete site with a more-than-willing seller and an opportunity to build a specially purposed facility for a 21st-century police department.

Wednesday Jour nal recently published an excellent analysis by Bill Dwyer detailing what other similarly-sized, Chicago-area municipalities have done to upgrade police facilities [What other towns have done when building a new police station , News,

Oct. 15, 2025]. I urge anyone interested in this issue to closely read this article. The village hall campus option is too expensive and still requires police operations divided between the new building and the old village hall. Eminent domain actions are hostile, and litigation with U.S. Bank could take years while the police department attempts to efficiently operate in obsolete and inadequate facilities. I urge this board to stop trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Do the right thing. Purchase the Mohr site and build new on a clean slate.

JAVIER GOVEA

Mohr Concrete site in Oak Park

Noah Sullivan Oak Park

A breaking point for child care

I know what it feels like when child care fails. When my daughter was 2, her early learning and care program closed with one week’s notice. The fear, the scramble, the sense that everything you’ve built could fall apart — it stays with you.

Today, thousands of Illinois families are facing that same fear as federal child care funding is frozen. But this time, the stakes are even higher. We are not just watching families struggl e. We are watching the foundation of our local workforce crack in real time.

Child care is the infrastructure that keeps every other industry running. When it fails, employers lose staf f, productivity drops, and communities absorb the economic shock. The U.S. already loses $122 billion annually due to inadequate child care. Without intervention, that number will rise — and Oak Park and River Forest will feel it first.

Programs like The Day Nursery are

holding the line, but we are doing so under extraordinary strain. More families qualify for assistance, yet too few centers accept it. Costs are rising. Staffing is harder. And families who do not qualify for support are paying more for child care than for housing.

This is the moment when high-capacity donors make the difference between stability and collapse. Your investment not only supports a program but also protects the workforce, strengthens the local economy, and ensures that children and families are not left behind.

If you believe in community resilience, this is the time to act.

Please visit www.thedaynursery.org and donate today

https://www.wbez.org/education/2026/01/08/child-care-funding-freezecauses-anxiety-for-chicago-area-parents

Catherine Eason Executi ve director, OP-RF Day Nursery

NBC Nightly Newsless

To: NBC Nightly News

Mr. Llamas,

My wife and I have watched a recording of the NBC Nightly News together for decades. It has informed us and given us an opportunity to discuss and sometimes debate the events of the day.

We watched tonight’s broadcast in horror as you and your team attempted to take a “balanced” approach to the story about an ICE Agent killing a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis. Your re porting made it seem reasonable that the ICE agent had shot the woman based upon her driving her SUV toward the ICE officer. You should revisit any and all physics classes that you or your team have taken in the past and recognize that if the ICE agent shot her through her open driver’s side window, the ICE officer could not have been in front of the vehicle at that moment. This was unadulterated murder and you had a responsibility to this U.S. citizen, her family and the U.S. public to re port this from a position of facts. This leads me to believe that, had you been re porting the Jan. 6, 2021 insur-

rection, you would have sided with the insur rectionists being on a “tour of the Capitol.”

Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Roger Mudd, David Brinkley, John Chancellor, Morton Dean, Sam Donaldson, Hugh Downs, Chet Huntley, Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Charles Kuralt, Jim Lehrer, Robert MacNeil and every other prior journalist worth their stripes must be spinning in their graves about the eg re gious affront to journalistic integrity that you and your team foisted on the American public.

Shame on you. I just deleted our nightly recording of the NBC Nightly News broadcast and am committed to never watching you again. I realize that one household makes little to no difference to you, but I am a man of integ rity and can only do my small part to cor rect the ills in the world. You had the oppor tunity to be a force for good with fair and balanced journalism for a new generation and you spoiled that opportunity.

Tom Nor they Oak Park

Vote to prot ect reproductive rights

T hank you to Wednesday Jour nal for its recent profiles of candidates running for Cong ress as the re presentative from Illinois’ 7th District. Your ar ticles have covered a number of issues that voters are concer ned about, and indeed there are many serious issues for voters to consider as they deter mine who to vote for this year

Unfortunately, I’ve not found the profiles you’ve published to be helpful in determining the candidates’ views on re productive rights, includ-

ing protecting le g al access to abor tion.

Notwithstanding the number of issues currently before the voters, women’s health and safety are in jeopardy in many parts of the U.S. and should not be forgotten.

I will not be voting for anyone unless I’m satisfied the person whose name I select on the ballot is committed to the protection of re productive rights, including the le g ality of abor tion.

A vote for ju stice: Jarrett Knox for judge

Ja rrett Knox is a man of utmost i nte g rit y, fair ness, and compassion. Wi thout reservation, I enthusiastically recommend him for judge of the 11th Subcircuit of Cook County I first met Ja rrett when I active ly recr uited him for pa rt icipation in the selective Family Law progr am at the DePaul Unive rsity Colle ge of Law. I was greatly impressed with his scholastic

Nuremberg II?

achievement and extensive volunteer experience committed to helping other s.

Fast forward to tod ay, 17 years later Ja rrett’s ef for ts continue to exemplify his steadfast commitment to ser ve f amilies and children across Cook County He has earned your vote.

Ba rbara Hausman Oak Park

I hope all the documentation people are capturing about Trump’s illegal activities (pictures, names, dates, etc.) are someday going to be used against them for trying to control our country like Nazi Germany (Brown-shirted ICE agents, masked, with no names, pardons for Capitol insurrectionists, vendettas against Blue states and cities, etc.).

The way Trump conducts himself — namecalling, swearing, removing our good standing in the world, begging for a Nobel Prize, adding his name on the Kennedy Center, etc. is the definition of a dictator. Let the rule of law be upheld someday like Nuremberg did after World War II.

And may Trump and RFK Jr. suffer from measles this year

Rick Klaus Oak Park

A beautifully curated store

I went into the retail store Filoni on Oak Park Avenue recently and was so excited to find two perfect sweaters on the sale rack that I had to add to my wardrobe. I also bought some delicious tea and a book and asked the owner, Shari, how long Filoni has been open, to which she answered, “18 years.” How wonderful to have this beautifully curated store in the Hemingway Shopping District for so long. I hope Filoni and other retailers in our community continue to thrive.

Melanie Weiss Oak Park

Lizbeth Lemke Oak Park

Important village board votes

In June 2025, I joined the Oak Park Village Board. With the start of a new year, it seems like a good time to pause and reflect on what I’ve learned, the major board votes I made, and what I expect to see and do in 2026.

Oak Park Bike Plan

One View

My first major vote was on the comprehensive Bike Plan, many years in the making, whose goal is to create a safe village-wide bike network for all ages and abilities. This vote was an easy Yes for me, and it passed 6-1. More bike trips mean fewer car trips, which is a win for the environment, as 27% of our emissions come from cars and trucks. As an avid cyclist, I can attest to the convenience and health benefits of biking. Safety and perceived danger from cars has always been the biggest obstacle for mass adoption of biking, and the Bike Plan puts in new protected, raised, striped and marked bike lanes, new crossing signals, and intersection upgrades.

Flock contract

I voted along with the 5-2 majority to cancel our contract with Flock Safety and deactivate the eight Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras that have been operating in our community since 2022.

With the increased presence of immigration enforcement from ICE in the greater Chicago region, Flock’s willingness to share and sell access to our residents’ data to the Trump Administration, ICE, and Texas police enforcing anti-abortion laws, made this technology too dangerous not only to our immigrant community, but to the entire nation.

ICE-free zones

In September, ICE began ramping up immigration enforcement in Chicagoland. In Oak Park, we saw many of our neighbors stopped, abused and abducted just for having brown skin. Our community’s reaction, with hundreds of residents forming rapid response networks and whistle

brigades in solidarity, was a bright spot in these dark times. While our own Welcoming Village Ordinance and the IL TRUST Act prevented local law enforcement from helping ICE, they were also not allowed to interfere

What we could do was restrict their use of village property by not allowing it to be used as a “staging area, processing location, or operations base for the purpose of civil immigration enforcement.” I brought this forward with Trustee Jenna Leving Jacobson and the board voted 7-0 to adopt the changes. The Township and Library boards passed similar ordinances, and my hope is that the school and park districts do the same soon.

2026 budget

The final vote in 2025 was to pass the 2026 Village Budget. We did so 7-0, though it took 11 Finance Committee meetings and five full board meetings to work through all the details. We debated the items to prioritize in the 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan; how to fund a Living Room Pilot request by Thrive Counselling Center; how to address staffing and coverage concerns raised by our Firefighters Union; and how to maintain our sustainability budget.

I successfully advocated to keep the expanded funding for our Energy Efficiency grants fought for in 2024 by my predecessor Susan Buchanan. Looking forward to 2026, I am particularly interested in finding additional revenue sources for our Sustainability Fund, having continued discussions on the use of technology by village police, and doing a comprehensive review of our zoning ordinance and missing middle housing, and strengthening our Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. We also anticipate that ICE will be back with more immigration raids, and we will need to use all of our available legislative tools to continue to protect Oak Park Derek Eder is an Oak Park villa ge trustee.

No smart phone? No discount

Shame on Jewel food stores, which have touted their grocery chain to be “hometown” and “customer-friendly” and has operated in our neighborhoods for decades, fo r clearly discriminating against its most loyal customer base. In line at my local South Oak Park Jewel, I struck up a conversation with an elderly woman ahead of me. She was paying with cash, spoke to me about her dementia and most likely didn’t have a smar t phone

When asked by the cashier if she was a member of their current shopping progr am, she re plied, “I have been coming here for decades!” She cheerfully entered her phone number, soon learning she is not part of their new digital coupon progr am, where

you have to go into an app on a smart phone and “clip” the coupons prior to checking out to get a sale pric e.

This week one of the promotions was “save $7 on your total purchase due to the Bear’s win on Saturday. I asked the cashier if he could give this promotion to her, after she asked to put back one item because she only had $20 and her amount was greater He said she had to be part of the “pro gram.”

Shame on you, Jewel. We’re elderly, and people who do not have the wherewithal to own smart phones are clearly discriminated against. Ther e should be a class action suit against Jewel.

Whistle stop

When I was a colle ge student in midtown St. Louis, we had a spate of property and violent crime on the streets around the campus that then spilled onto the campus itself around dor ms and classroom buildings. The initial response was increased squad car and foot patrol by swor n, armed officers of the St. Louis and University police departments, then 24-hour University police in the lobbies of each dorm, and finally unifor med, unarmed campus security with non-lethal weapons and radios in pairs to escort coeds after dark.

This reaction helped somewhat, but crime persisted. The final strategy that helped the most was “Whistle Stop,” a program in which every student, faculty, staf f and contractor was issued a very loud metal referee whistle

JEFFRE Y ROBERTS

from page 24

of housing for residents would still be high compared to adjacent communities. Oak Park would continue to out-price many potential residents (unless the village is going to subsidize occupants’ taxes!). Th e proposed zoning change also does not ef fectively solve the af fordable housing access issues that its proponents represent.

T he community has protested multiple condo/apar tment developments over the years. The proposal to eliminate singlef amily zoning would bring drastically more

and told to blow their whistle whenever they felt threats, and instructions to call 911 or the University Police Emergency Line whenever they heard that loud piercing whistle sound. Granted, there were a lot of false alarms but also there was a precipitous drop in crime, especially violent crime.

Fast forward 50 years and we don’t need whistles to warn of criminal threat or to deter violent crime by calling the police. Instead it is to warn people at risk to run and hide from ICE and Border Patrol POLICE (they must be POLICE since their bulletproof vests say “P O L I C E.”

What a dif ference 50 years makes. Frank Vozak Oak Park

ne gative change to Oak Pa rk than any single structure that has been proposed. What the village is proposing is unconstrained density rather than practical density.

T he elimination of single-family zoning will lead to a substantial disjunction in the functional and architectural character of the village. It will add density that the community is not suited to manage

As residents of Oak Park we are part of a le gacy. Eliminating single-family zoning will not serve future inhabitants and the le gacy of the village in a sustainable and practical manner.

Jeffrey Roberts, architect and design professional, is a 30-year resident of Oak Pa rk.

Beth Shannon Oak Park

OBITUARIES

DeLacy Sarantos, 91

Elegant, eclectic, energized

DeLacy Ann Phinizy

Brubaker Sarantos, 91, died peacefully on Jan. 7, 2026 in Oak Park Born on Oct. 24, 1934 in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to Frank H. Phinizy and Ellen H. Trull, she lived an exceptional life full of inquiry, adventure, friends, theater, art, and globe-spanning travel. She serve tive director of the Oasis Center

Potential from its inception in 1968 until it closing in 1997, where she introduced suc influential thinkers as Alan Watts, Satir, Joseph Campbell, Jean Houston and countless others to a Chicago audience. She later served as foreign rights manager for Quest Books (Theosophical Society Publishing) and volunteered for decades at organizations that were important to her, including as a docent for the Art Institute of Chicago, a tour guide at both the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio and Pleasant Home, a sales associate at Ten Thousand Villages, and for innumerable causes helping the underserved and marginalized.

Sr. Melissa Waters OP, 95

Dominican U. educator and advisor

Richard Hank, 89 Polio survivor

elementary school to the uni rsity le el, before serving in congregation leadership as director of ongoing formation and then as provincial. She earned her BA in English from Rosary College; MA in English from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; and DMin from Aquinas Institute of Theology, Dubuque, Iowa.

Richard Jude Riverly a long esident of Rive est, died on Jan. 6, ounded by . Born on g. 25, 1936, to Ber ola Hank, up in the ood neighborhood of He and his wife, Joan, were married on Oct. 6, 1962, at Holy Name Cathedral beginning a lifelong partnergraduate of St. Giles School, High School, and the University otre Dame, his spirit of perseverance vident throughout his life. At the age of 14, he courageously overcame polio, an experience that inspired his lifelong passion for fitness, sports, and weightlifting.

Judy Yang-Murawski, 69 Longtime teacher in D97

Judy Yang-Murawski, 69, a 40-year resident of Park and staunch of diversity and multicultur alism, died after a 21-month fight with pancreatic on Jan. 13, 2026, two before her 70th birthd

A lifelong dancer, she studied and perfor med Spanish dance, Indian dance (Bharatanatyam and Kathak) and Hula well into her 80s. A lifelong learner, she earned a BA from the College of Wooster, an MA in English from Columbia University, an MBA from Rosary College (now Dominican U.), and an Master of Education from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She was a member of Grace Episcopal Church of Oak Park and the women’s philanthropic educational organization, P.E.O. International.

She was a force of nature: elegant, eclectic, joyful, passionate, compassionate and deeply authentic, loving life with indomitable energy, openness of spirit and a remarkable ability to laugh at herself. A deep listener, she cherished and nurtured her roles as mother, grandmother, sister and friend DeLacy is survived by her children, Kevin L. Brubaker (Debbie) and Raïna E. Brubaker (Jessica Hough); her grandchildren, Lindsay, Liam, Ashton and Wesley; her stepchildren, Cricket Brookfield (Lance) and Kate Sarantos; and her sister Donna I. Phinizy and brother Frank H. Phinizy, Jr. She was predeceased by her husband, Ted Sarantos

In 1980, she joined Rosary College, now Dominican University, where she served for 38 years in roles that included assistant professor of English, associate dean for advising, and administrator of Rosary in London, a successful study abroad program. The Waters Internship was created in her name for students to pursue faith- and justice-based work on campus through University Ministry.

She was known for her warmth, enthusiasm, compassion and gentle readiness to accompany students through their educational and life journeys and help them discover and cultivate their talents. Her years as an influential educator helped prepare countless students to carry on Dominican University’s mission to pursue truth, to give compassionate service, and to participate in the creation of a more just and humane world.

Sr. Melissa was preceded in death by her parents, Harry and Doris (Waters) McMullen, and a brother, James. She is survived by her brother, Richard, and her Dominican Sisters.

A funeral Mass was celebrated on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at St. Clara Chapel in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, followed by burial at St. Clara Cemetery. A Mass of Remembrance will be held at Dominican University on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 11 a.m. Visit www. dom.edu/sr-melissa-waters for details. Memorials may be made to the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters or to Dominican University.

He and Joan were dedicated to property management. Outside of work, he found joy in reading, western movies, and traveling — especially with family The family would like to extend their sincere gratitude to Bristol Hospice for their exceptional care, especially Nurse Lauren, Father Mark, and Carlos, whose compassion, guidance and comfort meant so much during this time.

Richard is survived by Joan (Kolczak) Hank, his wife of 63 years; his daughters, Diane (the late Pete) Parenti and Barbara (Hank) Rambousek; his grandchildren, Ashley (Bailey) Dean-Parenti, Peter Parenti, Megan Rambousek, and Carter Rambousek; his siblings, William (Joan) Hank, Marie (Arch) McKellar, and Jeanne (William) Dale, along with many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Jerry Hank, his nephew Jim Hank, his sisterin-law Joyce Hank, and his son-in-law, Pete Parenti

Visitation will be held at Conboy-Westchester Funeral Home, 10501 W. Cermak Road, on Jan. 23 from 4 until 8 p.m. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Jan. 24 at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, 1530 Jackson Ave., River Forest. He will be interred privately in St. Joseph Cemetery, River Grove.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Polio Survivor Foundation in Richard’s memory. Arrangements were handled by Peter B. Kennedy & Co., Funeral Directors.

She grew up in the An dersonville neighborhood of Chicago before Grace Yang, moved her and her sister to Skokie. She attended Niles East High School and entered the University of Illinois at the age of 16. She completed her major in special education there and also met her husband, Dennis Murawski. She earned a graduate degree later in special education at Northeastern Illinois University, then accepted a teaching position with the Oak Park elementary schools (District 97) where she taught children with diverse learning needs for 36 years at Whittier and Longfellow schools. She bonded with a loyal group of teachers affectionately known as “The Eight Balls.” She became renowned for her magnificent gardens which she meticulously cultivated. When she and Dennis moved back to her home in Skokie, she maintained her mother’s garden, resulting in winning that suburb’s Beautification Award.

An accomplished artist, she created amazing pieces in a variety of different domains: stained glass, elaborate wall hangings, paintings, colorful woven baskets, and intricate origami objects.

In August, Judy was able to delay her chemotherapy in order to visit Scotland. Having read all of the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter books, she sought to visit the land of dragons, contending that the dragon was her spirit animal.

Her participation in a clinical trial at UIC showed progress, but she became too weak to continue it. She hoped that her inclusion would possibly help future cancer patients

Judy is survived by her husband, Dennis; her sister, Theresa; her son, Nathan and his wife Christine, daughter Aleia, her partner Sam; and her French bulldogs, Chloe and Puck.

Her Celebration of Life will be held at the North Shore Unitarian Church, in Deerfield, on Feb. 21, starting at 2 p.m. Wear something with the color purple, with a dragon design, or with anything bold or playful.

In lieu of flowers, make donations to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, pancan.org.

SPORTS

Sur shines at Navy All-American Bowl

Fenwick senior kicks eld goal in game

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

For the second time in as many years, the Fenwick High School football team had a participant in the Navy All-American Bowl. The game, held Jan. 10 at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas and shown on national television, is considered one of the nation’s premier high school football events for All-Americans

Following in the footsteps of Nathaniel Marshall, now playing at the University of Michigan, Fenwick senior kicker and punter Noah Sur played in this year’s game. He drilled a 36-yard field goal to help the East team defeat West 17-14.

“It was really special and unique,” Sur told Wednesd Journal in an intervie

fun activities. It was a really cool experience and I’m grateful I was able to be a part of it.”

At a Top Twelve Camp last summer put on by Chris Sailer Kicking, Sur won a competition to get the nod for the game.

“I ended up winning it with a 66-yard field goal,” he said. “After that, I got an invitation from [Sailer]. He provides both the kickers and punters for the game, and all four of us [at the camp] were selected.”

The Navy All-American Bowl also provided Sur with a platform for his charity work. He has been with Every Kick Counts the past two seasons, raising money for Healthy Birth Day – a nonprofit organization created to help would-be mothers ensure the health of their newborn children by reducing stillbir ths.

MELVIN TATE

Trinity’s Keyera Gamble (le ) and OPRF’s Katara Watson receive their Player of the Game awards at the Trinity MLK Showcase, Jan. 19.

Sur was the top fundraiser among high ers and punters in 2025 with

$3,948.

“Every Kick Counts wrapped up a few days after the game,” he said. “I wore an Every Kick Counts hat at practice every day of the week, and I had a lot of people asking me about it.”

The Navy All-American Bowl put the wraps on a terrific high school career for Sur, a Northwestern University signee. Last year, he converted 58 of 60 extra points, made 8 of 11 field goals, and averaged 40 yards per punt, including a long of 58 yards.

Sur’s biggest kick came in the IHSA Class 6A championship game against East St. Louis, Dec. 2. His 31-yard field goal with 2:45 remaining in re gulation gave Fenwick the lead for good in its 38-28 upset victory over the favored Flyers. Being a state champion is something Sur is still excited about.

“I’m super-stoked about that,” he said.

“That’s been a goal since I was young, being a state champion. To be one of the leaders of that state champion team was really special. I’m grateful to be on a hardworking team, and I have a lot of good memories that I’ ll remember forever.”

Gamble, Trinity overcome OPRF girls

OPRF boys end their long losing streak

By MELVIN TATE ontributing Reporter

The Trinity High School basketball team won its fourth consecutive game at its MLK , Jan. 19. The Blazers (15-7) rout-

“We had a little bit of a slow start, slowve liked. But we played ay, inside and out, fast, moving the basketball and making the extra pass,” said Trinity coach Kim Coleman. us in that re gard.”

ra Gamble, named Trinr of the Game, had a double-douOPRF: 16 points, 12 rebounds. She credits last season’s experience as a catalyst for this season’s success.

“Playing a little bit on [junior varsity] last year gave me the confidence to know

that I could play up and be myself,” Gamble said. “Knowing that I belong, this team is like family. I love it.”

Other key contributors were Jazmyn Ratliff with 10 points and five rebounds, Chloe Santos with nine points, Zaria Goins had eight points and five rebounds, Lailah Ward seven points, and Destinie Roe five points and seven rebounds.

Taryn Draine had 11 points and Katara Watson nine for the Huskies (5-17), who made only seven shots for the game (7-of-37 for 18.9 percent). Draine and Watson were OPRF’s lone players with more than two points.

“It would’ve been better if we had a more balanced attack,” said OPRF coach Renee Brantley. “Foul trouble really killed us; we couldn’t get into a rhythm.”

Also at Trinity, Fenwick (7-13) lost to Taft

33-32. Avani Williams was Fenwick’s Player of the Game with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Eleanor Gibson had seven points and six rebounds.

OPRF boys

OPRF (5-12) opened the holiday weekend with a 73-64 West Suburban Silver victory over visiting Proviso West, Jan. 16, which ended an eight-game losing streak. George Gray had a game-high 21 points for the Huskies, who also got 19 points from Trent Williams and 13 from Cameron Woods.

“We had a really good game against Downers [Grove North, 44-39 loss, Jan. 13],” said OPRF coach Phil Gary. “We felt the energy was really good and we carried it over, which helped us get the win.”

OPRF participated in the Wheaton-Warren-

COURTESY OF NOAH SUR Fenw ick High School senior Noah Sur kicks a 36-yard eld goal for the East at the Navy All-American Bowl, Jan. 10

Former Julian track coach inducted into Coaches Hall of Fame

After winning the Distinguished Coach’s Award, David Benson re ects on 21-year career at Oak Park middle school

By MARTHA BRENNAN Contributing Reporter

David Benson, who coached the Track and Field and Cross Country teams at Julian Middle School for 21 years, was inducted on Jan. 9 into the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

A recipient of the Distinguished Coach’s Award, he recently reflected on his journey as coach, how he began and what he has accomplished

It all began in 1994 when he interviewed for a physical education teaching position at Julian and was asked if he was willing to coach the school’s track and field team. He already had an extensive running resume, having run cross country at Lane Tech High School in Chicago where he was a three-time state qualifier. He had also, joined the club running team at Northern Illinois University (where he also walked onto the varsity basketball team).

So he gave a yes on the spot.

“It wasn’t a hard sell at all,” said Benson. But Benson’s running experience was centered on cross country running. (He humbly joked that he was never “fast enough” for track and field). At the time, Julian didn’t

ville South MLK Shootout over the weekend. The Huskies were competitive in all three games but were unable to notch a victory.

OPRF had two losses on Jan. 17, 57-50 to Waubonsie Valley then 50-40 to the host Tigers. Against Waubonsie, Woods had 22 points, Gray 12 points, and Owen Towne five points and nine rebounds. Against WheatonWarrenville South, D’Angelo Perkins scored 15 points and Gray added 13.

On Jan. 19, Gray had 19 points and 8 rebounds, Woods 17 points, Jerome Delaney 16 points, and Perkins eight points in the Huskies’ 69-64 loss to Stevenson.

even have a cross country team. So, he made one, which he could coach in addition to the track and field team.

He contacted fifth grade PE teachers at Beye, Irving, Longfellow and Mann Elementary, the schools that fed into Julian, and asked for names of the top 10 boys and girls in the school’s P.E. running tests — like the infamous Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) Test. Then, he contacted their families to gauge interest, eventually securing enough participation to make a roster, marking the beginning of the Julian Middle School Cross Country Team. It started small but participation grew annually, eventually amounting to a program that consistently rostered 90 students. The track and field program recorded even more participants during Benson’s coaching career, usually with upwards of 110 student runners.

Eventually getting the opportunity to coach more than 200 students between both seasons, with cross country in the fall and track and field in the spring, Benson watched a vast number of students set goals for themselves and achieve them. For him, it didn’t matter whether students were running at the front or the back of the pack, but rather the “individual successes” they had the opportunity to achieve throughout the season.

“It’s wonderful to have state championships,” Benson said. “But it’s also wonderful to have those students to get a personal best.”

Benson loved the sport’s accessibility to all students who may not have clicked with other sports. All one has to do to participate is run. This made it all the more

“I know the [win-loss column] hasn’t shown it,” Gary said, “but these guys are getting better each game. Every win’s a positive, and even when we have losses, we learn a lot of things from watching film.”

OPRF hosts Golder College Prep in the annual “Pack the Place” game, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m., before jumping back into WSC Silver play at Lyons Township, Jan. 23, at 6:30 p.m.

Fenwick boys

After climbing back to the .500 mark, the Friars have dropped three consecu-

special to coach, as it allowed him to coach a vast number of students in becoming the best versions of themselves.

“Running is wonderful in that way,” Benson said.

Still, Benson’s passion for being a part of students’ journeys to break their goals did not mean he didn’t care about winning. Even if it wasn’t the most important thing to him, he wasn’t averse to it. Check out his record:

In cross country, he coached three Individual State Cross Country Champions, 39 Individual All-State runners, 12 top-ten IESA State finishes, and five top-four IESA states team finishes; in track and field, he coached 11 Event State Champions, 118 Individual or Relay Event All-State Competitors, and eight top-four-finishing teams at the IESA State Meet.

On the sectional level, as coach, Benson earned 16 Seventh Grade Girls Team Championships; 17 Eighth Grade Girls Team Championships; 7 Seventh Grade Boys Team Championships; and 9 Eighth Grade Boys 9 Team Championships.

But winning wasn’t the reason he became a coach, or the reason he stayed in the position for 21 years. That’s why, when he achieved his Coaches Hall of Fame award nomination, he was shocked to see all of his victories in writing.

“When I got the call, [I was] still kind of shocked and stunned that [I was] at that level of success,” Benson said. “You like to get acknowledged but it’s also a little humbling or embarrassing.”

The award hasn’t only prompted reflection of his coaching success that is measured in

tive games, the latest loss coming to St. Patrick 57-42, Jan. 19, in the Fenwick MLK Day Classic. Fenwick (8-11) scored its first points on a pair of Corey Griffin free throws with 2:10 to go in the first quarter and didn’t have a field goal until Griffin scored with :30 left.

“[St. Patrick] jumped out on us. They’ve done that two years in a row and we need to have a better start,” said Fenwick coach Dave Fergerson, refer ring to last year’s loss in the sectional final.

Jake Thies had nine points while Griffin and Donnie Rogers each added seven

David Benson

wins, but also the intangible successes

“I think [the award] certainly validates the time that that connection with kids throughout the decade mattered,” Benson said. “It just echoed how important the program was, and the experience was to kids.”

His award nomination has also prompted for mer students and parents to reach out to Benson, thanking him for his help and support during their middle school years — a time, for many students, filled with mental health, self-esteem and anxious struggles.

“I had a couple students that reached out with their parents to say that running and the relationships that I had as a coach with them that helped them with some really challenging times,” he said.

To Benson, these calls sparked a “real warmth to know what you’re doing mattered.” He extends his gratitude to the support of the Oak Park community, both throughout his career and upon receiving his award.

points. Fergerson likes the potential of Rogers, who was called up to the varsity last week.

“He’s a sniper. He can shoot the ball,” he said. “He’s one of the best shooters in the state, and I want to get him some experience.” Fenwick hosts De La Salle, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. Instead of the fieldhouse, the game will be played in historic Lawless Gym as part of the festivities honoring the 197475 team, the first to play in the IHSA state tournament.

“It’s going to be cool, should be a fun event,” Fergerson said.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

VILLAGE OF OAK PARK

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

CALENDAR NUMBER� 02�26�Z

HEARING DATE: February 11, 2026 TIME: 7�00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits

LOCATION OF HEARING: Room 201 �Council Chambers), Oak Park Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, 60302

APPLICATION: The Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”) will conduct a public hearing on an application filed by the Applicant, Sergiy Zamula, seeking a variance from Sections 9.3�B� �1� and 9.3�B��8)(a) of the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance, in order to allow an interior accessory dwelling unit in a two-family structure and waive the owner-occupancy requirement, at 300 Home Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index Number 16�07�317�024� 0000 �“Subject Property”), in the R�5 Two-Family Residential Zoning District.

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

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

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

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 2026

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Notice is hereby given by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of River Forest, Cook County, Illinois, that sealed bids will be accepted for:

Community Room / Police Department RTU #2 Replacement

The Replacement of RTU #2 and implementation of a remote HVAC automation system located at 400 Park Avenue in River Forest, Illinois.

The bidding documents are available for download starting Friday, January 16, 2026 at:

www.vrf.us/bids

Bids must be submitted by February 17, 2026 at 11�00 a.m. at:

Public Works Department, 2nd Floor Village of River Forest 400 Park Avenue River Forest, IL 60305

The bid proposals will be publicly opened and read at that time. Proposals will be considered not only on the basis of cost, but also on past performance, experience and ability to perform the work.

No bid shall be withdrawn after the opening of the Proposals without the consent of the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of River Forest for a period of thirty �30� days after the scheduled time of the bid opening.

The Village of River Forest reserves the right in receiving these bids to waive technicalities and reject any or all bids.

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 2026

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: M26001248 on January 15, 2026 Under the Assumed Business Name of NEXT SEASON WELLBEING with the business located at: 604 LYMAN AVE, OAK PARK, IL 60304. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: LORI JANU�CHOSSEK 604 LYMAN AVE OAK PARK, IL 60304, USA.

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 28, February 4, 2026

THE LAW OFFICE OF LINDA EPSTEIN

Attorney for Petitioner

722 W. Diversey Parkway, Ste. 101B

Chicago, IL 60614

STATE OF ILLINOIS� COUNTY OF COOK )ss

Bid Notice

The River Forest Park District will receive sealed bids for the Keystone Park Synthetic Turf Infield Project.

Bid Documents including Plans and Specifications, may be obtained beginning on Monday January 19, 2026 by contacting Ashley Kowalczyk of W�T Group, LLC via email at akowalczyk@wtgroup.com. Only electronic drawings �PDFS� will be provided.

Bids are due on Wednesday February 11, 2026 at 10�00 AM at River Forest Park District’s office which is located at 401 Thatcher Avenue in River Forest, IL 60305. The project includes the removal and replacement of one �1� clay infield with a new synthetic turf infield at the existing Keystone Park site located at the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Keystone Avenue in River Forest, IL. Other improvements include excavation, new storm sewer, a synthetic turf infield, concrete curbing, concrete sidewalk, fencing, and some landscape restoration.

A Certified Check, Cashier’s Check or Bid Bond payable to the River Forest Park District for not less than five �5� percent of the total bid amount will be required for each bid.

The successful bidder will be required to furnish a satisfactory Performance Bond and Labor and Material Payment Bond for the total Contract Amount. The successful bidder will also be required to execute AIA Form A101 � 2017 as the contract between the parties. All questions should be directed to Ashley Kowalczyk at W�T Group, LLC via email at akowalczyk@wtgroup.com.

In all work performed under this Contract, the Contractor and all of its subcontractors shall comply with the current provisions of the Prevailing Wage Act of the Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 48, Sections 39s-1 et seq.

No bids will be withdrawn without the written consent of the River Forest Park District. If a Bid is withdrawn, the Bidder will not be permitted to submit another Bid for the same project. Only bids in compliance with the provisions of the Bid Documents will be considered. Bids will be considered firm for a period of ninety �90� days. The River Forest Park District reserves the right to reject any or all bids or portions of bids/portions of work and to waive any technicalities in the bidding if it should be deemed in the public interest.

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 2026

Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division.

In re the Marriage of� Daniel E. Perez, Petitioner, and Marian Java Maloloy-On Respondent, Case No. 2025D007668

The requisite affidavit for Publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, Marian Java Maloloy-On, Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, Daniel E. Perez, for Dissolution of Marriage and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent file your Appearance and Response electronically to said Petition with the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on or before February 11, 2026 default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage Entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

Mariyana T. Spyropoulos, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 21, 28, 2026

Request for Proposals

The River Forest Civic Center Authority �RFCCA� is accepting proposals for Architect Services from interested architectural firms possessing a high degree of professional skill and ability to assist in drafting plans and estimated probable costs for the renovation of the RFCCA building at 8020 Madison Street, River Forest Illinois. RFP Documents may be obtained beginning on Friday, January 16, 2026 on the River Forest Park District website at www.rfparks. com/bids

Proposals are due on Friday, March 6, 2026 at 3�00 PM to Michael Sletten at msletten@rfparks.com or submitted at the River Forest Park District’s office, 401 Thatcher Avenue in River Forest, IL 60305. The scope of work includes: Prepare an architecture program with input from the RFCCA, Park District, and community; review project site information; prepare conceptual drawings including site plan, floor plan and evaluation of the front of the building; and prepare a probable estimated cost budget for the project. For more information. Please contact Michael Sletten at msletten@ rfparks.com

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 2026

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

CALENDAR NUMBER: 03�26�Z

HEARING DATE: February 11, 2026

TIME: 7�00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits

LOCATION OF HEARING: Room 201 �Council Chambers), Oak Park Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, 60302

APPLICATION: The Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”) will conduct a public hearing on an application filed by Jennie Hull on behalf of Beyond Hunger seeking a special use permit for a warehouse and distribution facility (a food pantry) at 6209 North Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index Number 16�05�102�032�0000 �“Subject Property”), in the NA North Avenue Zoning District.

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

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

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

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 2026

NOTICE

OF

MECHANIC’S LIEN

Notice is hereby given under the Illinois Labor and Storage Lien Act �770 ILCS 45/1� that the undersigned holds a lien in the amount of $19,200 for unpaid charges related to storage, labor and/or materials for the watercrafte described below:

Boat Description: 1992 Fountain 38 Sport Hull Registration FGQ38614G192 White/Teal/Pink

Registered Owner: Frank Esposito 7211 Division, River Forest, IL 60305

The watercraft is currently located at: Ben Watts Marina Inc., 116 S. Route 12. Fox Lake, IL 60020

Unless full payment is made within 30 days of this notice, the vessel may be sold at public or private sale to satisfy the lien, pursuant to 770 ILCS 45/1.

Lienholder: Ben Watts Marina Inc. 116 S. Route 12, Fox Lake, IL 60020

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 28, February 4, 2026

PUBLIC NOTICE

RIVERSIDE TOWNSHIP

MENTAL HEALTH BOARD

In accordance with the Open Meetings Act, this is to advise you that the Riverside Township Mental Health Board will hold the below listed meetings at the listed locations:

Monthly Mental Health Board Meetings

Wednesday, January 21st

� 6�30 PM

The Way Back Inn � 412 WESLEY AVE, OAK PARK, ILLINOIS 60302

Wednesday, February 18th � 6�30 PM

Community Support Services3732 Grand Blvd., Brookfield, IL 60513

Wednesday, March 18th � 6�30p.m.

Riverside Township Hall � Room 4, 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois

If you have any questions, please contact Board President, Adam Wilt, at awilt.rtmhb@gmail.com or call Adam at 708�804�4400.

Published in The Landmark January 21, 2026

ILLINOIS CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING NETWORK HEALTH/ PERSONAL/ MISCELLANEOUS

OVARIAN cancer after use of TALC products such as BABY POWDER or SHOWER TO SHOWER, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Charles Johnson 1-800-535-5727

Accountability. Essential Civics

Submit events and see full calendar at oakpark.com/events