WednesdayJournal_020426 by Wednesday Journal

JOURNAL

of Oak Park and River Forest

Down to two in District 97

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

The two finalists for the superintendent job at Oak Park Elementary School District 97 both appeared in a Zoom townhall on Jan. 29 during answered identical questions from Ca men Ayala, for mer Illinois Superintendent of Schools, who is leading District 97’s superintendent search. opened when then superintendent Ushma Shah suddenly and unexpectedly signed in August the week began.

The two finalists are Terri Bresnahan, who is currently the superintendent of Community Consolidated School District 54 which serves the southern po Arlington Heights, and port Grove, Mount Prospect and De Plaines, and Angela Dolezal, who is cu Director of Teaching and Learning Riverside Elementary School District 96. The two finalists went through a second and final interview on the candidates meeting with D97 school board and also a group of parents and district staf f. A hiring may be announced as early as next week’s school board meeting.

The 10 questions Ayala asked both finalists were drawn from a community

ECHO services begin to shi responses from re dept.

perintendent. Those watching the Zoom town hall were not allowed to ask or submit questions but were asked to fill out a survey about both finalists rating

rs. The survey data will be the school board members who will use it as one factor in their decision-making process.

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park village trustees reviewed statistics outlining the impact of one of its new social service intervention program one year into the pilot program’s existence.

Trustees heard about the operations of the village’s Engaging Community For Healthy Outcomes program, otherwise known as ECHO. Launched in February 2025, the twoyear pilot program was created to provide social service support to people in the at risk community. In year one, the bulk of the program’s work centered on eng aging with the village’s homeless population or others experiencing housing issues, people experiencing behavioral health challenges and Oak Park’s senior population, according to the program’s presentation to the board.

The River Forest Public Library recently celebrated new facility improvements. Thank you to the donors who made this possible. Turn to page XX. Learn more at RFPLFoundation.org

The River Forest Public Library recently celebrated new facility improvements. Thank you to the donors who made this possible. Turn to page 6. Learn more at RFPLFoundation.org.

tual town hall

Beyond Hunger plans move to va cant North Avenue grocery store

Food pantry needs special-use permit for larger site with more parking

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Beyond Hunger may be moving to a new Oak Park location later this year.

The Oak Park nonprofit with a goal of eliminating hunger in 13 Zip Codes on the West Side and near west suburbs, has been operating out of the basement of First United Church of Oak Park on Lake Street for decades. It is seeking a special use permit from the village gover nment to occupy a for mer fitness center and grocery store at 6209 North Ave.

According to Michael Bruce, a village planner, the location’s proposed use is for warehousing and distribution, meaning it requires a special-use permit, not rezoning.

A Feb. 11 zoning board of appeals meeting will begin that process, Bruce said. He said the space is currently zoned for retail. The village meeting is set for 7 p.m.

Beyond Hunger was also planning a community meeting on Feb. 3 at First United Church to discuss the project, according to Jennie Hull, its chief executive officer.

“The village so far has been support ive,” Hull said Monday. “I think they are happy that we are staying in Oak Park. They understand and support the need for these services.”

Hull said last year Beyond Hunger served 79,000 people, including 2,000 households per month. While the First United Church location at 848 Lake St. has worked well since the food pantry’s inception 47 years ago as the Oak Park-River Forest Food Pan-

An article last week in multiple Growing Community Media publications misstated the fundraising and spending of Shantel Franklin, a candidate in the Democratic primary for the 8th District State Senate seat.

We inverted numbers raised by Franklin and Jill Bush, another candidate. The following three paragraphs correctly re present fundraising ef forts. GCM re grets this er ror.

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

simply at

will include 6,000 square feet for warehousing space, a loading dock and space for meetings and plenty of parking.

There’s more. Beyond Hunger is planning an online market, which requires space, and a teaching kitchen will be used for demonstrations and cooking classes

Currently at First United Church, all donations that come in and out of the food pantry does so through a 36-by-42-inch window. Plus, there is the matter of set up and break down time.

“We’ve just outgrown that space,” Hull said. “They are breaking down food pallets

C ORRECTION

Bush raised $35,433 the last three months of 2025, more than half of it from a total of $19,818 she loaned to her campaign. She received $1,000 from her boss, 29th Ward Alderman Taliafer ro, and $500 from 7th Congressional candidate Jason Friedman.

She spent more than $29,000 of what she raised, much of it for what appears to be two full-time campaign staffers and numerous part-time staff, and related expenses

in the parking lot. (It would be desirable) to be able to have a space where people can bring in a truck with donations, where we don’ t have to put them through a window.

“The team has been creative to make it work. We can be open more days during the week, so we can disperse the traffic a bit,” she said of the proposed North Avenue location.

Right now Beyond Hunger’s office and pantry hours are 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturdays. It is open for donations from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

In order to acquire the new building, Hull said Beyond Hunger launched a capital campaign a year ago and currently has 87% of the funds needed to purchase and build out the space. Most of that funding is from individual donors. A public funding phase will kick off in March, she said. The building purchase cost is $1.9 million, Hull said. It is currently owned by First Savings Bank.

Bruce said special-use applications go through three stages: Staf f review, a zoning board of appeals meeting/public hearing and a village board meeting. The zoning board of appeals must recommend approval or approval with conditions to the village board.

“Assuming the village board approves Beyond Hunger’s special-use permit, the applicant may apply for a building permit,” he said. “Once a building permit and any other required village approval, such as a certificate of occupancy, are issued and finalized, the applicant may occupy the space.”

Franklin raised $34,567 in the 4th q uarter, from 50 d onor s, including $5,000 from T he C ook C ounty C olle ge Teachers Union, Local 1600 and $5,000 from for mer b oss A ttorney General Kwame Raoul. S he saw a nice infusion of a dditional c ash on Jan. 20, when Raoul sent her $25,000. S he spent j ust $5,824 last q uarter, leaving her with over $50,000 on hand heading i nto the final weeks of the primar y.

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 & Digital Design Lead 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

BE YOND HUNGER

Jennie Hull

Who is the fr

Cash and endorsements continue to pour in for primary election, March 17; mail-in ballots go out this w

By BILL DWYER Contributing Reporter

As the primary campaign to replace Re p. Danny K. Davis enters its final stretch, there remains no obvious front runner.

The election will be held March 17, with mail in ballots going out Thursday. The district is overwhelmingly Democratic, so the primary winner is expected to win the general election in November.

■ As of now, for mer Chicago real estate investor Jason Friedman continues to enjoy a huge lead in fundraising over the others, according to campaign finance reports filed. He has raised just under $1.8 million, nearly three times that of any other candidate. This includes just over $300,000 in 4th quarter donations. Friedman spent $345,924, leaving him with just over $1 million.

■ ER physician Thomas Fisher had a strong 4th quarter, with $242,582 in net receipts, more than any other candidate besides Friedman. That pushed his total take to over $618,000. He spent $117,060, leaving him $455,239 on hand, also more than all but Friedman.

■ Melissa Conyears-Ervin, who had $223,775 on hand in her congressional campaign fund as of Sept. 30, raised $108,040 and spent $114,873, leaving her with $216,934. However, she appears to be touting her run for Democratic State central committeewoman, rather than Congress

■ State Rep. LaShawn Ford’s quarterly cash haul increased slightly in the 4th quarter, to $140,849. After spending $65,415, he had $307,547 on hand at year’s end.

■ Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins, who started the quarter with $55,655, raised $57,976. With $103,026 in expenditures, he had $11,604 remaining as of Dec. 31. He had a fundraiser in a River Forest home on Jan. 31.

■ Union official Anthony Driver raised $70,932 last quarter and had $73,555 remaining after spending $72,441.

■ Oak Park resident Reed Showalter raised $125,359, plus a $25,000 loan. He spent $114,750 and had $134,680 as of Dec. 31. Showalter announced his 4th quarter fundraising in an email.

■ Richard Boykin took in $198,826 last quarter which included approximately $152,000 which he personally donated to the campaign. He spent $143,140, leaving

12 candidates take their turns at Collins Academy High School on Jan. 27.

him with $105.471 at year’s end. He’s raised $328,111 in total.

Showalter took the opportunity to blast two of the front runners. “Jason Friedman will answer to AIPAC (the America Israel Public Affairs Committee),” he wrote Showalter also alleged that ConyearsErvin “will bring back crypto.” Vowing to “fight for the people of the 7th District, Showalter said his beliefs “are not for sale[DG1.1].”

The issue of AIPAC-funded congressional candidates has been a flash point in several Illinois congressional contests. Friedman was pointedly called out by a questioner at a recent Democratic Party of Oak Park presentation in January and heckled loudly by another audience member regarding AIPAC.

Several hopefuls received notable endorsements in recent weeks. Driver was endorsed by the Mid-America Regional Council of Carpenters and by Rep. Delia Ramirez (D3), giving him more than two dozen endorsements.

Fisher has been endorsed by Rep. Lauren Underwood, the Chicago Tribune and eight medical organizations, including the American College of Physicians.

Friedman has three endorsements, including Chicago Alderman Brian Hopkins,

Two more forums

Voters will have two other opportunities to hear from most of the Democratic field. On Feb. 19, the Business Leadership Council will host a Congressional forum at Malcolm X College from 5:30 to 7:30. The coalition of nonprofit, business, and chamber of commerce partners include the Chicago Urban League, Chatham Business Association, South Shore Chamber, Illinois State Black Chamber of

for mer Oak Park trustee Ravi Parakkat and Emphraim Lee, of the 2nd Chicago Police District Council.

Hoskins has 17 endorsements from officials throughout Proviso township and elsewhere, including the mayors of Melrose Park, River Forest, Westchester, Hillside and North Riverside.

Ford was recently endorsed by for mer Chicago Alderman Walter Burnett Jr, and state Rep. Jawaharial Williams. They join 33 Illinois House and Senate members endorsing Ford, along with retiring incumbent Rep. Davis, Jesse White and several area mayors

On Sunday, Feb. 1, Ford met voters at a meet ’n’ greet in Broadview sponsored by

Commerce and Austin African American Business Networking Association.

On Feb. 20, nine candidates are scheduled to participate in a Congressional Town Hall Forum on the UIC campus sponsored by the school’s Colle ge Democrats. Candidates expected to participate are Boykin, Collins, Driver, Ehrlich, Fisher, Ford, Hoskins, Mendoza and Showalter.

State Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), and “co-hosted” by Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch and Davis

Boykin was endorsed by the Italian American Police Association, and on Jan 27, by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Conyears-Ervin was endorsed by Firefighters Local 2 and Elect Democratic Women. Meanwhile, her latest ad, titled “No Fear,” triggered controversy. She is running both for Congress and a position on the Democratic state central committee, both from the 7th Congressional District, and took advantage of a loophole in federal campaign finance law that allows her to legally

TODD BANNOR

Oak Park purchases electric semi-truck, hybrid police cars

Village approves purchase of semi-truck wor $400,000 with help from state gran

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park has purchased several new vehicles in line with the village’s ambition to reduce its fleet’s environmental impact.

Oak Park’s village board approved deals this week to purchase a new electric semitruck for the public works department and six hybrid police interceptor SUVs for the police department.

The village purchased the Peterbilt electric semi-truck from the JX Truck Center in Bolingbrook, with the vehicle valued at $397,591, according to the village. While the village must allocate funds for the full cost of the vehicle, 75% of it will be paid for through a reimbursement grant provided through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

After the village is reimbursed, Oak Park will only be on the hook for $103,375 for the vehicle’s purpose. The village intends to use the fully electric semi-truck for work in areas with poor air quality levels, according to the village

“This electric semi-truck will primarily drive on routes in EPA-designated non-

use cash from her state campaign fund for the commercial.

The ad begins with her saying, “Am I afraid to stand up to Donald Trump?” She answers that she has “no fear, only fight,” and says she will “Fight Trump and MAGA” and “Protect Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP from Trump’s Cuts.” A graphic toward the end states that the ad is “paid for by Melissa for Chicago,” her state registered fund for her previous run for Chicago City Treasurer

The DSCC is involved solely in party administrative and policy making functions, including establishing party r ules, budg eting, voter turnout ef for ts and candidate recr uitment, not with any govern-

attainment areas for staf f wrote in documents suppo contract. “Using ze in non-attainment areas can assist in improving air quality and conditions outside for people who reside in non-attainment areas.”

The six 2026 Ford Interceptor Vehicles are valued bined $312,012, according to the The hybrid model vehicles offer significant fuel efficiency benefits compared to traditional police utility vehicles, according to the village

“The hybrid drive tial to save a minimum of 30% in fuel usage compared to frontline patrol vehicles currently employed lage staf f wrote in documents suppo the contract. “The village has found that hybrid vehicles historically get double the MPG of their re gular ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) counterparts.”

The Ford Utility Hybrid Police Interceptor is the only pursuit-rated hybrid police utility vehicle available on the market, according to Ford.

ment functions

The Conyears-Ervin campaign seemed to double down on her role as a candidate for the DSCC, rather than Cong ress, in an email sent out Monday morning announcing she’d raised another $123,700 in January. The release was headlined “Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in Strong Position in the 7th Congressional District State Central Committee Race.”

A second email released 30 minutes later touted her “strong position in the 7th Congressional district race…” The $123,700 to Conyears-Ervin’s Democratic Committeeman fund came mainly from $72,800 from the Chicago Teachers Union PAC.

THANK YOU OUR NEXT CHAPTER SUPPORTERS

David Adams & Mary McEnery

Carolyn Aler & Benjamin Irey

Jayne Anstrom & Bill Stapleton

Martha Arendt

Cynthia Barnard

Carole Batlivala

Julie Bauer & Paul Greenberg

Natalie Beckett

Ann & Ray Berens

Mary & Bob Berg

Berenice Leal & Ian Berger

Linda Bernas & Lawrence Vogel

Nick Bevan

Monika Block

Vicky & Bill Brander

Paul & Sandra Brennan

Alan & Melissa Brouilette

Linda Reisberg & Peter Brown

Emily & Mark Brown

Elizabeth & Stephen Bruner

Nancy Burke

Molly & Edmond Burke

Michael & Connie Burns

Sarina Butler

Alice Calabrese-Berry & John Berry

Gregory & Mary Cappelli

James & Gillian Carey

Mark & Elizabeth Carroll

Margie & Dan Cekander

David & Mary Susan Chen

Peter Chien & Stephanie Rath

Don & Francie Coe

Mark & Kristen Coe

Bob & Loretta Cooney

Deidre & Tom Connolly

Daniel & Kathleen Corcos

Elizabeth Coughlin & Terrence Kennedy

Julian Cumpian

Joan Cusack

Robert D'Costa

Ates Dagli & Ann Carlson

Diane & Greg Daly

Scott & Ashley Delano

Timothy & Claudia Divis

Karen & Thomas Doherty

Joy Donahue

Sue Donoghue

Colin & Erin Dowdall

Stacy &Tom Drake

Jan Dressel

Thomas & Amy Dwyer

Francine & Don Dzuryak

Martha & Chris English

Lisa & Tom Engoren

Jane & John Erickson

Jaime Escobar

Heidi Ewell

Nancy Fasano

Maryanne Fishman

Matthew & Sarah Fitz

Juanita Flagler

Kristen & Seth Flanders

Stephanie & John Flynn

Dan and Sue Foran

Eileen Furey

Agatha Gallo & Jack Salmon

Miriam Geraghty & Douglas Severson

Mary Ginwright

John & Linda Girardot

Rachel & Tom Goldrick

Mike & Sheryl Grant

Maggie Gray

Sally & Jonathan Gregory

Norah Guequierre & Ben von Fischer

Mike & Joan Gumbel

Yates & Abigail Hafner

Mary Ann Hagerty

Bob & Pat Hahn

Heidi Hamernik & John Forehand

Lin & Lynn Hancock

Janet & Michael Hanley

David Hanson

Eleanor Hanson

Tyler Harangody

Lynn & Mike Hayes

Matt & Liz Heintz

Kathleen Heiss

Mary Hess

William & Lynne Higgins

Ellen Hildner

Deborah Hill

Jim & Deborah Hopkinson

John & Colleen Horrigan

Bruce Jacobs

Mary & Howie Japlon

Alex & Genevieve Jones

Gary Kagan & Jan Pyrce

John Keefe

Michael Kelty

Pam Kende

Erica Keto

The Kidd Family

Mairin & Zak Knebel

Teresa & Dan Larocca

Laurie Lawton

Ron & Kim Lemar

Craig Lenders

Stu Lerner

Ellen Liebner

Edward & Philip Liston-Kraft

Sara & Andrew Lisy

Susanne Lodgen

Eleanor Long & Douglas Watt

Carlotta & Ron Lucchesi

Dan & Jean Lupiani

John & Michelle Lynch

Mary MacGregor

Melissa Mallinson

Mary Beth Maly

Marlene Mann

Leah Marcus

Jess Martin

Danielle McCarthy & Michael Moster

Jim McClanahan & Beth Smoots

Mary Beth McIntosh

Lindsay & Joe McIntyre

Richard & Karen McMahon, Jr.

Joseph Meginnes

Patricia Montroy

Jane Moore

Jane Murphy

Martin Nieman

Michael O'Connell & Molly Ryan

Ann O'Connell

Joan & Joseph O’Connor

Katie & Hugh O'Neill

Sarah O'Shea Munoz

Skip & Molly Pelzer

David Perzov

Melinda Peterson

Annese & Michael Piazza

Bill & Debbie Piper

Nancy Quinn

Ruth & Karl Reko

John & Therese Rigas

Ben Roberts

Anne & Francis Roche

Paige Rodgers

Nathan & Elysia Root

Douglas Rothkopf

Phyllis Rubin

Cathy Ruggeri & Dan Luther

Caroline Rummans

Pete & Cathy Rutman

Simon & Elise Saddleton

Janet Saeger

Robert & Pat Samko

Erin Saylor & Matt Ryan

Susan Scherer & Harry Richter

Patricia Seliga

Beverly Sha & Thomas Liao

Becky Shaw

Ed & Carla Sloan

Tom & Mary Beth Smedinghoff

Barbara Smith

Robert & Judith Steed

Jeff & Karen Stelmach

Gene & Mary Sullivan

Michael & Jaime Sullivan

Al & Irmgard Swanson

Margaret Tafilaw

Eric & Karen Taubman

Caren & Tim Teclaw

Pamela Timme

Christina Tragos & David Driscoll

Kim & MikeTrucco

Mary Ann & Robert Tuerk

Dave & Annemarie Valenti

Kristin & Shawn Vogen

Brian R. Walsh

Mary Warner

William & Rogue Weiland

Julie & David Westerman

Anita White

James Winikates

Lydia Wilder

Emanuel Witherspoon

Mark & Vicki Witt

Richard & Mary Wood

King & Jane Yang

Mary & Mike Yerkes

Robert & Lisa Youman

Joan & Frank Young

Zora Zivkovic

Claudette Zobel

Snack and stroll

Bite Night brought out ample food per foot

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Eats Reporter

On a wintery night, with snow squalls making an outing all the iffier, the OPRF Chamber of Commerce packed the ballroom at the Nineteenth Century Club on Jan. 30 for its annual Bite Nite. Despite the challenging weather, more than 300 food lovers ventured out to sample the fare. Some tastes were from local institutions, but others were there to introduce themselves.

getting of f the ground with their hibiscus, ginger, honey flavored beverage available

their

Fatso Hard Kitchen won over many with

apricot glazed meatballs and

RISÉ

SANDERS-WEIR

Bite Nite 2026 at the Nineteenth Century Club

Healthy Heart, Happy Life YOUR BEST LIFE with Lisa Capone

February is American Heart Month, a time to focus on cardiovascular health and the steps we can take to maintain a strong heart. At Cantata Senior Living, we recognize the importance of heart health, especially for older adults. Here are some easy ways to prioritize cardiovascular wellness:

Stay Active – Engage in light exercise like walking, chair yoga, or stretching to keep your heart strong.

Eat Heart-Healthy Foods – Enjoy meals rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins while limiting sodium and processed foods.

Manage Stress – Practice deep breathing, meditation, or social activities to reduce stress and support heart health.

Monitor Your Health – Keep up with regular check-ups, blood pressure screenings, and medications as prescribed.

Stay Hydrated – Drink plenty of water to help maintain circulation and overall health.

Stay Connected – Engage in social activities to boost mental and emotional well-being, which benefits the heart.

This February, take simple steps toward a healthier heart. Let’s embrace wellness together— because a healthy heart is a happy heart!

For more info, visit Cantata.org or call (708) 387-1030

Independent

Detained trustee Muñoz tells his story of ICE’s tactics and motives

Juan Muñoz testi ed on his experience being detained by ICE

at Broadview protest

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park Township Trustee Juan Muñoz participated in a hearing last week concerning the impact that ramped up federal immigration enforcement has had on Chicagoland.

Muñoz spoke about his experience being detained by ICE and held inside the Broadview ICE Detention Facility after a protest there last October during the HART TruthTelling Commission put on by the McCormick Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary on Chicago’s South Side. The event featured testimony from many regional leaders on their experiences during the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement operation last year, according to event org anizers

In his testimony delivered on Jan. 22, Muñoz spoke to the conditions he experienced when he was detained by ICE during a protest outside DHS’ Broadview Detention Facility on Oct. 3, 2025.

“I’m here today because I was one of the first elected officials in Illinois to be detained during ‘Operation Midway Blitz,’ and I am also the only elected official held inside the Broadview facility,” he said.

Muñoz said he was tackled to the ground by then Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino, held inside the facility for eight hours, questioned by FBI agents without an attor ney and used as a backdrop for an interview DHS Secretary Kristi Noem gave to a social media influencer.

“This is when it became clear that the arrests, the photos were being used for their propaganda,” he said. “The conditions (inside the facility) were de grading and unsanitary. Minimal privacy, poor air circulation and the smell of excrement. The toilet area was filthy. People had to share shoes left behind by previous detainees because they’d had their shoes removed while being processed.

Muñoz, who spent his teenage years in

rural southeastern Minnesota, said during the hearing that the tactics DHS has employed in Minnesota over recent weeks were worse in many cases than what had been used in Chicago last year, but that they were likely a sign of things to come for Illinois.

He echoed those sentiments when speaking with Wednesday Journal on Jan. 23 during a protest hours after Border Patrol’s fatal shooting of Minneapolis activist Alex Pretti.

“Those tactics are coming back to Illinois, and what are we doing to prepare for it,” he said at last Saturday’s protest.

After Muñoz was arrested last year, re presentatives from every elected body in Oak Park held a joint press conference denouncing his arrest and his treatment while in ICE custody.

“I’m here to unequivocally state that ICE is the aggressor,” said Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman at that press conference. “There is no emergency here, we do not need ICE or the national guard. What I need from our federal government

as a municipal village president is dollars for housing, mental health, physical health, support for transgender individuals, school programs and food.”

The McCormick Seminary event was a “two-day series of public hearings that puts names, faces, and neighborhoods to the headlines — elevating lived testimony on ICE raids, human and civil-rights violations, and community harm as part of a broader national truth-telling and accountability effort,” the seminary wrote of the event. “The hearings will build a lasting public record of the real harms facing our communities of color amid the federal militarization of neighborhoods, including family separation, detention, workplace and home raids, fear-based policing, and lasting trauma.”

Other speakers during the hearing included Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss along with several local clergy members and other experts in public health, civil liberties and human rights, according to event org anizers

ZO Ë TA K AKI

Oak Park Township Trustee Juan Muñoz (le ) and Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman at the ICE facility protest in Broadv iew on Oct. 3, 2025.

Oak Park trustee’s federal conspiracy trial could start in May

Oak

Park Trustee Brian Straw and conspiracy codefendants appeared in cour t again Wednesday

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw appeared in U.S. District court again Wednesday morning alongside his five co-defendants for a hearing in the federal conspiracy case that’s emerged from their participation in a protest at the Broadview ICE Detention Facility last fall.

With the judge close to naming a start date for what will likely be a lengthy jury trial, opposing counsels argued over case procedures during a status hearing inside a downtown federal courtroom packed with roughly 60 observers. Attorneys discussed what the judge called a “flurry of motions” filed by the defense in recent days, along with the defense’s plans to challenge the case on first amendment and selective prosecution grounds.

Straw is one of several progressive political figures facing a felony conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer charge in connection with a confrontation between anti-ICE protestors and a vehicle driven by a federal law enforcement agent during an early morning protest outside the Broadview ICE Detention Facility last September, according to U.S. Northern District of Illinois court documents. Straw’s co-defendants in the case are 9th District U.S. Congressional candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, Chicago aldermanic staffer Catherine “Cat” Sharp, 45th ward Democratic committeeman Michael Rabbit, musician Joselyn Walsh and Andre Martin, who works on Abughazaleh’s campaign staff.

The indictment alleged that Straw and his co-defendants were among a crowd of protestors who blocked, pushed against and banged on a vehicle being driven by a federal agent into ICE’s Broadview Detention Facility the morning of Sept. 26. The prosecution said a side mirror and a windshield wiper on the agent’s vehicle were damaged in the incident and the car was vandalized, but none of the indicted individuals are alleged to have

caused the damage themselves.

The so-called “Broadview Six” are among 32 known defendants to be charged with nonimmigration crimes tied to Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago’s federal court. Fifteen of those defendants have already been cleared, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg is leading the prosecution, with U.S. Judge April Perry presiding on the matter

The jury trial in the case could begin as soon as Monday, May 11, with the trial expected to take at least seven days, attorneys said. Joshua Herman, attorney for Abughazaleh, said that the defense has pushed for as quick a trial date as possible with the hopes of giving their clients as quick a retur n to their re gular lives and work as possible. Sharp recently dropped her bid for a Cook County board seat, citing the mounting stress of the case.

The defense said they are also seeking a speedy trial in light of the tense climate surrounding federal immigration agents’ interactions with protestors and activists, intensified by the recent killings of activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, Herman said.

“We want to bring this case to trial sooner because everything happening in our country right now with DHS,” Herman said. “What this case would ultimately do is expose one more overreach: the misuse of this conspiracy statute against demonstrators exercising their first amendment rights. We’re all on the same page of if we can’t get this case dismissed, which we think it should be, we’re going to take it to trial.”

Straw’s attorney Chris Parente told reporters after the hearing that the prosecution is a waste of the Justice Department’s time and that the gover nment is trying to invent a criminal conspiracy case out of people simply taking part in the same protest without prior coordination.

“That is an attempt by this administration, and potentially this U.S. Attorney’s office, to silence legitimate peaceful protest,” said Parente, who is an Oak Park resident. “The government will acknowledge that none of the six people charged did any of the damage they’re claiming. There’s no alle gation against these six, it was other people at the protest.”

“This is nothing more than a state dis-

orderly conduct case. We’re talking about broken windshield wipers and you ha public corruption senior level (Assistant Attorney) who’s going to spend the next si months responding to motions and putting on a full weeklong trial over this? Why ar we doing that, why is the office putting those resources on a case like this when we have human trafficking, child predators, public corruption and every other kind of crime going on in this city that we know about? Why are we devoting time to a DHS broken windshield wiper? It makes no sense.”

During the hearing, the defense objected to the state’s proposed protective order requiring that the defense not disseminate anything provided by the state in future discovery materials. Mecklenburg said the gover nment wanted to impose that restriction to protect officers’ identities and prevent defendants from using body camera footage related to the incident in social media posts or campaign materials.

“I don’t want body camera footage on their social media, I want to try this case in the courtroom and not in the media,” Mecklenburg said.

Parente said the ask was hypocritical seeing that the state had announced the codefendant’s indictment with a press release featuring quotes from leading Department of Justice officials.

“Her office issued a press release with quotes from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche,” Parente said. “There’s no reason to do that unless you’ re trying the case in the media.”

“Your indignation is noted for the record,” Judge Perry said in response

Attorneys for the defense also invoked the unrest playing out in Minneapolis as reason why the case materials are of significant public interest.

“You don’t have to look farther than the past two-and-a-half weeks of news to know that this is important to the public,” said Terence Campbell, the attorney for Martin. “How federal law enforcement officers, from ICE and Homeland Security, are behaving and acting and whether they are instigators.”

The defense also disputed the government’s offer for an evidence preservation order, asking that all video evidence from Broadview ICE protests from two days before Sept. 26 to two days after be preserved by law enforcement. The state had initially offered

to preserve footage from only an hour before the incident.

Judge Perry said that the relevant footage is likely already being preserved, considering the volume of federal civil cases playing out related to the Broadview ICE protests. If the defense and prosecution don’t come to an agreement on the preservation order and the protective order over the next week, the judge will rule on the disputes at another status hearing set for Thursday, Feb. 5. If that hearing isn’t needed, the next court date for the case will be Thursday, Feb. 26.

The defense also recently motioned for the prosecution to produce a bill of particulars, a document outlining the specifics of a criminal allegation in detail.

“This motion is compelled by the extraordinary nature of the broad and vague conspiracy charge that the gover nment has brought against defendants under 18 U.S.C. §372, a rarely invoked conspiracy statute that the current administration has used and threaten to use against others, ranging from protestors to sitting politicians, who have voiced disagreement with and expressed opposition to its policies, especially its aggressive immigration enforcement actions,” the defense wrote in that motion. “The government’s retort that defendants should merely look at the discovery for answers falls flat There has been nothing produced in discovery showing any connection between defendants and any of those other individuals, beyond being engaged in First Amendment protest outside the Broadview Facility This unique factual context heightens the need for the requested Bill of Particulars.”

During the hearing, the defense reiterated its previous commitment to filing motions to have the case thrown out on first amendment and selective prosecution grounds.

“These six individuals were targeted for very specific reasons,” Herman told the judge.

BRIAN STRAW

Fenwick alum Spillane prepares for Super Bowl

But Patriots’ linebacker questionable with injur y

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

While there has been plenty of excitement locally about Fenwick football alum

Robert Spillane reaching Super Bowl LX with the New England Patriots, his ability to play in the game is very much up in the

air due to an ankle injury suffered during the Patriots’ 10-7 victory over Denver in the American Football Conference title game.

Spillane suffered the injury early on against the Broncos and left after playing just 13 snaps. In an on-field interview with a Boston television station afterwards, he felt optimistic that he’d be able to make the

Super Bowl.

However, Spillane was not tice at all last week, and coach Mike Vrabel status when asked didn’t know what next week.

Despite his questionable status, ho

Robert Spillane during his football play ing days at Fenw ick.

Spillane still enjoys the support of his former Fenwick teammates and for mer Fenwick head coach Gene Nudo. In interviews with Wednesday Journal, they expressed their pride.

“I’m hoping he’s healthy. We’d love to see him play in that game,” Nudo said. “He’s added so much to New England’s defense and everywhere he’s been, he’s added to the quality of the team with his leadership and hard-nosed attitude about playing ball.”

Nudo appreciated the football smarts, toughness and willingness to help the team Spillane provided with the Friars. He said Spillane easily could have played more linebacker, but he felt he was needed most at r unning back.

“We used him as a running back because we felt he was so athletic and he had size. He was a real student of the game,” Nudo said. “If he didn’t think we were doing something right, he would question it. Robert was a great running back and he would’ve been a great linebacker had I used him more there, but quite frankly we didn’t need to because we had Pat Hart, so

See SPILLANE on pa ge 21

FILE PHOTO

100 Brooks students stage brief walkout over ICE actions

Lunchtime protest ended with return to classes

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

Approximately 100 students at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School staged a brief walkout at lunchtime Friday, Jan. 30 to protest the actions of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and recent events in Minneapolis and elsewhere.

“Earlier this morning, staf f became aware that a group of students was planning to participate in a walkout as part of protests taking place across the country related to immigration enforcement,” said Brooks Principal April Moriarty in a letter sent to Brooks families on Jan. 30. “District

97 does not prohibit students from participating in peaceful protests. When students choose to walk out, they are allowed to exit peacefully. Our priority in these situations is always student safety.”

Moriarty said in the letter that she met with the students organizing the walkout and talked over options with them.

“Student leaders indicated that the group would meet at the Washington (Blvd.) exit,” Moriarty wrote. “To ensure their safety, our team proactively org anized and positioned staf f around the perimeter of the building, as well as the front and back of the student group.

“About 100 students chose to walk out at the beginning of our seventh-grade lunch period. Students exited calmly, marched around the school property twice, and then returned to the building and to class without incident.”

SC O VILLE PARK PRO TEST

Pro-Constitution/anti-ICE proteste rs in Scov ille Park at Oak Park Avenue & L ake Street on Fr iday Jan. 30.

The Annual Dine-In Elmwood Park, Restaurant Week gives food lovers the opportunity to sample some of Elmwood Park’s ﬁnest local establishments. Participating restaurants will be offering special menus and pricing during Restaurant Week. To learn more visit ElmwoodPark.org/RestaurantWeek Presented by: The Village of Elmwood Park

PHOTO BY TODD BANNOR

SPRING BREAK* & SUMMER CAMPS

All Camps @ Taylor Park

March 30 - April 3*

June 8 - 12

June 15- 19

June 22 - 26

July 6 - 10

July 13 - 17

July 20 - 24

July 27 – July 31

August 3 - 7

August 10 - 14

9am-12pm Ages 7 to 14

9am - 10:30am Ages 4 to 6

GCM’s Inside Scoop makes popular debut

Inside Scoop, Growing Community Media’s new series of casual mixers for our readers, drew a good-sized group on Sunday afternoon to Robert’s Westside in Forest Park

With an entertainment theme, guests enjoyed short performances from a member of the Forest Theatre Company troupe, an improv session with reps from Comedy Plex in Downtown Oak

Park and a “Bob” related game of Name That Tune hosted by Donnie Biggins, the mind behind Robert’s Westside.

The event, created by GCM’s volunteer event committee, was the first in a series of easy-going gatherings for people new to the community or long ter mers in town.

We’ ll be back in the spring with another Inside Scoop.

TODD BANNOR

Improv session by Comedy Plex at Robert’s Westside on Feb. 1.

TODD BANNOR

GCM Mixer at Robert’s Westside

Successful Brooks boys hoops coaches to step down

‘We are very no-nonsense … Am I my brother’s keeper?’

Little was a sparkplug of f the bench.

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Tanya Thigpen has passion for basketball, which might be surpassed only by a passion to develop student-athletes into responsible young men.

Thigpen, the Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School seventh-grade boys basketball coach, is stepping down, along with her colleague, eighth-grade coach Darren Haus. They have coached their respective teams for more than 20 years and have amassed hundreds of victories.

But know what? Thigpen, a paraprofessional at Brooks, has what she calls an “Am I my brother’s keeper?” philosophy that translates to excellence both on and of f the court.

That record is even more impressive when you consider Thigpen runs a full court press every game, pulling back only when her squad was up by 20 or more.

Thus, it’s true what Julian eighth-grade coach Connor Fuller says about Thigpen, a family friend

“Coach T just likes dogs,” said Fuller, whose team went 15-0 this year and won the conference tournament. “If you love the game, and you want to win, she’s the coach for you.”

How serious is she? Her seventh graders have to wear a shirt and tie and khaki pants on gameday Perhaps a bit stifling for youngsters, but there is something to be said about dressing for success.

“We are very no-nonsense,” said Thigpen. “When you wear nice clothes, certain behaviors you don’ t do.”

What Thigpen did as well all those years as a coach was win. This past season, her team went undefeated until the final of the West Suburban Middle School Conference tournament, where it lost to crosstown rival Percy Julian Middle School. The boys finished 16-1 overall and a perfect 12-0 in leagu e.

The team was led by of f guard Jax Kemp and point guard Juanche Draine, who started the year before as sixth graders. Also lending major support were seventh graders Ethan Casselle, a shooting guard, Matthew Pomerenk, a power forward, and center Joseph Culbert. Sixth man Landon

In a few years, it’s likely you’ll see these boys playing for Oak Park and River Forest High School or at one of the area private high schools, like Fenwick or St. Ignatius. That’s the future. As for Thigpen, she’s going to continue coaching, at Chicago Christian in Palos Heights. But she’ll never forget her time at Brooks

“I love teaching kids and doing what I do,” she said. “Basketball is my motor and the boys and who they are and how they care about each other got us through the season. We showed up every game to win.”

As for Haus, his eighth graders finished 12-9 and were led by forward Isaiah Prince and point guard Will Kelly. He, too, won’t soon forget the success over two decades he and Thigpen had.

“I think it’s the success we shared together with both teams,” he said. “For all of our run here, she helps me with my eighth-grade team, I sit on the bench for her seventh-grade games. We’re more interested in having our program successful than our individual teams.”

Across town at Julian, the seventh graders, led by forward Michael Podlasek, wing John “Trip” Hoerster and forward Tyler Sakellaris, went 13-2 en route to beating

Brooks for the conference tour nament title

“It was pretty intense,” said Fuller, who didn’t see the title game against Brooks because he was coaching the eighth graders. “It was as fulfilling feeling. The kids understand the pressure. I want them to go out there and enjoy the ride and the moment. For these kids, this is probably the biggest game of their lives.”

Fuller’s eighth graders beat Summit Heritage to win the conference tournament and were paced by point guard Manny Shafer,

forward Reid Fogarty and guard Ronan Fuller, who came off the bench and provided key leadership.

Of the 18 eighth-grade players he had, he estimates 15 of them will play next year, likely at OPRF

“I can say the sky is the limit for them,” Fuller said. “I’m not saying they will be varsity players as freshmen, but if they keep developing have their same work ethic, it’s a no brainer that they will get up to the next level.”

PHOTO

Brooks 7th grade boys basketball team.

TANYA THIGPEN

State, local leaders talk energy reform at OPCAN summit

In uential Oak Park environmental group hosted discussions

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Local elected officials, state law makers and energy use experts spoke before a packed room last week at an event organized by Oak Park’s influential environmental activism group.

The Oak Park Climate Action Network held its annual “Brining Clean Energy Home to Oak Park” event at Oak Park’s Community Recreation Center on Monday, Jan. 26. A few dozen attendees packed into a conference room at the rec center to hear testimony from speakers on issues like federal funding cuts to sustainability programs, continued movement on energy and transportation legislation in Springfield and local energy programs launched by Oak Park’s village gover nment in recent years.

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and State Representative Camille Lilly, Illinois Environmental Council CEO Jen Walling and Citizens Utility Board Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz addressed the crowd, along with Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman, Village Trustee Derek Eder, for mer Village Trustee Susan Buchanan, Oak Park Sustainability Chief Lindsey Roland Nieratka and OPCAN member Mac Robinet.

The event also featured informational tables providing advice on how to make your home more environmentally friendly.

Eder said local and statewide environmental sustainability efforts are more critical in light of the significant cuts to Federal spending on renewable energy seen during the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency.

“Billions of dollars spent on energy transition has been cancelled,” Eder said. “At the federal level, things are pretty grim. You just have to say that.”

But there are “causes for optimism” to be found in both Oak Park and Illinois, he said.

“The states and local municipalities have always been the engines of innovation when it comes to policy,” Eder said. “We are the ones leading the way, and we always have been. Your action matters.”

Harmon spoke to residents about sustainability gains made in last fall’s legislative session, which he described as “one of the most impactful and productive fall sessions” he’d been a part of.

Harmon highlighted the Clean and Reliable Grid Af fordability Act, a wideranging law meant to increase renewable energy access and efficiency and set new standards for energy planning and storag e, and the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, which provided $1.5 billion in funding for Chicago area public transportation service and refor med how the CTA, Metra and Pace transportation systems are managed to g ether.

Harmon described the bills as two major wins for the state’s environmental sustainability ef for ts that wouldn’t have crossed the finish line without advocacy from groups like OPCAN

“That’s really the theme with these two bills, we’re putting the people first,” Harmon said. “Folks want reliable energy, they want to flip the switch for the light to tur n on and they don’t want the bill to make their jaw hit the floor when it ar rives every month. With transit, people want to walk out their door and get to where they’re going without knowing whether they’re on a PACE bus or a CTA bus or an el train or Metra train; one schedule, one safe, clean, ef ficient, reliable network.”

“None of that would’ve happened, neither the energy bill or the transit bill, without people like you advocating and demanding that we do our jobs.”

Walling, an Oak Parker who previously served on Harmon’s legislative staf f before moving to head the Illinois Environmental Council, said the transit bill was “so good she cried.” 2026 will be another key year for environmental refor ms in Springfield, Walling said.

The legislature is expected to consider new re gulations that could govern energy use at largescale data centers, potentially requiring companies to build out their own new clean energy supply in order to operate in Illinois.

“We’ re going to be doing a lot of work on data centers this year.” Walling said. “It’ll be a good piece of legislation, but it will be hard to g et done. It’s another issue where we’ ll need you to hold lawmakers’ feet to the fire.”

BITE NITE

from page 7

people with intellectual and developmental differences. Aquafaba featured ve gan sweets and savories.

Local restaurants made the sample worth the step too.

Billy Bricks dished up mac & cheese and

their alfredo pasta. “It’s an opportunity to not only be a pa rt of the community, but to increase visibility. That’s especially good considering the upcoming construction on Oak Park Avenue,” Billy Bricks’ manager Ana Careaga said.

Daly Bagel brough out the schmears, serving plain bagels with a variety of cream cheese concoctions: rosemary & olive oil, blueberry and goat cheese, buffalo blue cheese and Chicago hot dog (everything but the hot dog itself).

A stride away was Smoothie King with their signature blends of healthy drinks. Sister restaurants Betty’s Pizza and Pasta doled out dry-rubbed wings, while Kettlestrings Tavern wowed with gnocchi with butternut squash sauce. FARE dished several options, including a basil turkey meatball.

Taco Mucho showcased their catering menu with spicy chipotle chicken salad and roasted street corn. “This is a tough time of the year to get foot traffic. I enjoy this event as a time to relax and

great spot,” Kimberly Adames said.

“I got to try Mulatta. I hadn’t been there before,” Jana Burke said.

While there was a cash bar, there were a few tipples to try. PRP Wine decanted samples from the bottles they bring to home parties – sort of a Tupperware party for wine! Poor Phil’s made it pour Phil’s with a black Manhattan cocktail. A sip of a different sort came from Olive & Well, who paired their specialty olive oils with aged balsamic vine gars.

“The watermelon tartar from Mother Preppers was my favorite,” Valerie Kahn said. Her husband, Josh Gershenson, ag reed and added, “There are so many places here that I’ve been meaning to try.” Hoof another promenade for dessert! Blackout Baking Company included their triple chocolate cookies and a peanut chocolate tart. Sugar Fixé showed what a celebration sweets table can be with macarons, cookies, cupcakes and bars. Spilt Milk tempted with Rice Krispie treats, brownies and more.

enjoy community building,” owner Ron Aleman said.

Ticket holders had the opportunity to sample from each vendor.

“It’s like a taste of Oak Park all in one

“It’s like everything all at once,” first time Bite Niter Victoria Lozano said.

“We’ve been coming ever since we found out about it,” Mark Cleofe said. “And we’ll be back.”

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Chef Wanda & Chef Freddie of Fatso Hard Kitchen

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Karmali & Maya Reem of Karma & Spice

A ag football leader, OPRF’s Brucato honored by Bears

Senior ag football linebacker gets Inspired Change Changemaker Award

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

What did Elianna Brucato know about American gridiron football when she arrived in Oak Park in 2017 after moving here from Bologna, in Italy?

Nothing. Nada. Or in Italian, niente.

She had been a rhythmic gymnast in the old country, and a good one at that, even participating at the national level one year, according to her mom, Ruthi.

Here, the only rhythmic gymnastics organization at her level was an hour away But she loved sports, and so she tried cross country and track, volleyball and basketball, which became her new love, until her sophomore year at Oak Park and River Forest High School, where she was introduced to a new IHSA sport, flag football.

“End of freshman year, Julia Henderson was in in my PE class,” Brucato said of her OPRF quarterback teammate. “Julia heard about it, she was like, ‘Eli, do you want to do it for fun in the fall? It’s just going to be fun?’ You know what? Yeah. We’d start practicing.”

She practiced and practiced and ev tually found herself on the defensive s of the ball as a middle linebacker. And on Thursday night, all that hard work paid of f when she was honored at Halas Hall in Lake Forest by the Chicago Bears with the Inspire Change Changemaker Scholarshi

That $5,000 will come in handy as she heads of f to Illinois Wesleyan in the fall to study nursing … and play flag football.

“It was honestly surreal,” Brucato said of Thursday’s event, which honored her and two other area players. “I was thinking of my younger self, going to gymnastics practice. I’ve come such a long way. It’s cool to see yourself put in all the ef fort and care so much about something.”

Nicole Ebsen and principal Lynda Park

Her future coach, Illinois Wesleyan’s Melissa Valenzuela, also made the long trip from Bloomington – on her birthday

“This is a pivotal moment for female sports in Illinois and to have one of our own reco gnized speaks volumes to our commitment as a school and community to female sports,” Ebsen said. “We are so proud of Elianna and cannot wait to see the great things she will do.”

Brucato, who along with Henderson and an OPRF wrecking crew that went 13-9 and lost in a sectional final last fall, isn’t only about football. For one, she’s an ace student who also still plays basketball. And eve weekend, you’ll find her at Calvary Memo-

OPRF’s Elianna Brucato (le ) tackles

, helping with Sunicipating in youth group he also volunteers to help ’s summer camp. onsider her a hero,” said her ho nominated her for ward. “She doesn’t have to ver stops running.”

Brucato also helped start Flag Football here every senior and ether to help freshmen and sophomores not only learn about the prothem to the ins and outs

hard-fought loss to Chicago Whitney Young, the eventual state runner-up.

“I could see her on the field, the last minute or two, and she was crying because she was so sad it was over,” Ruthi Brucato said. But while the end stung, her next step as student-athlete at Illinois Wesleyan is bound to be just as special.

“Half of their student body is athletes, so they are dedicated to both school and athletics, but they always put school first,” she said. “I will never have to put my athletic career before my education.”

What was really special was the fact that she had in attendance family, teammates, coaches and even OPRF athletic director

Addison Trail’s Emma Caniglia dur ing the Willowbrook Quad, Sept. 28, 2024 in Villa Park.

eat things, of course, but ustomer on the field, according to Geovanes. She was OPRF’s defensive player of the year and led the Huskies with 84 tackles. She had two interceptions – one for a touchdown – and two quarterback sacks.

But all good things must come to an end. Her mom remembers that sectional final, a

She also has parting words for girls who are OPRF newcomers and middle schoolers about flag football.

“Playing flag football gives you so much confidence,” she said. “This is a sport centered around female athletes. It’s something you can build upon.

“It’s also been a good outlet where I can focus on the sport that I am playing and take all the baggage I have and put it on the field.”

STEVE JOHNSTON

Hola, bonjour, buongiorno; languages thriv at Roosevelt

New schedule allows all students to take a language ever y day and be exposed to world’s cultures

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Making your way through the halls of Roosevelt Middle School these days, you’ re likely to hear a cascade of ous foreign language s, more than in prior school year

That’s because the vast majority of students across all grade levels now participate in daily world language classes – either Spanish, French or Italian. This aligns with the cur riculum at Oak Park and River Forest High School.

Previously, fifth and sixth graders had world language one quarter per school year, while seventh and eighth graders had the course every other day.

Taking a language is about immersion, not only the wo and conjugation, but culture, according to Roosevelt’s wo language teachers who report immediate dividends.

“They definitely feel more motivated … having the language class every day all year, they see their progress,” said French teacher Karen Feeley. They learn more throughout the year and we also don’t have to review quite as much. Sometimes we wouldn’t see them for four or five days because of the weekend.”

But don’t take her word for it. Consider the insights from Isla, a sixth grader, who enjoys having class every day for just 37 minutes.

“Having class every day makes it easier to learn more about Spanish because you do a different thing each day,” she said. “You can keep learning and it is harder to forget.”

Chris, a sixth grader, had Spanish last fall, and said having it every day makes it a more enriching experience.

“We are learning a lot of new things every single day, and we have homework every day and tests,’ he said. “It’s been pretty fun and we’ve done a lot of activities.”

After the COVID pandemic, the prior more limited schedule was implemented, where grades five and six had world language one quar ter, every day for 37 minutes with basics covered in fifth grade and revisited in sixth grade. Seventh and eighth graders had classes every other day all year. Those classes were 82 minutes long

“To our surprise, we had the opportunity to change up the program a little bit, change up the schedule,” said

Spanish teacher Tammy Highfill.

“It became a reality at the board meeting, with a holistic review of the Roosevelt schedule,” Highfill said. “As part of that, one of the benefits was the ability to shuffle things.”

Of course, with a big change to the schedule came questions about the class texts, which were 20 years old. That is when the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, Dr. Christine Trendel, got involved.

Klett World Languages were implemented as new texts for fifth and sixth graders, which will expand to seventh grade next year and eighth grade the year after that. For the time being, current seventh and eighth graders will use the le gacy texts.

That’s where the emphasis on culture comes in, according to Feeley, the French teacher.

“The language is important, but what we’re teaching is understanding of other cultures,” she said, pointing out that for ms of French are spoken in Canada, Belgium and African countries.

Italian teacher Juliana Costabile said that was the exact reason Klett was chosen.

“We spent hours looking at all kinds of book series and materials, and we chose Klett unanimously for the cultural aspect,” Costabile said. “We thought they were one of the best.”

First-year Spanish teacher Kimberly Hammond is a native speaker and studied the language in high school and colle ge. She was a long-term substitute last year and used Klett materials then, so she’s an ardent supporter.

“They do a good job with the different cultural aspects,” she said. “In Mexico, even if you don’t know someone, you say good morning, hello. My students love to hear things like that.”

That doesn’t discount the value of the words and phrases themselves. There are four elements of foreign language skills – speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Ryer, a sixth grader, said the most important thing he’s learned in Spanish is it has subject pronouns.

“It’s a little different than English and it’s hard to do,” he said. “There are different words and some of the words have different accents and it’s hard to say them.

“But now that I am used to it, the words are easier to say.”

PROVIDED

Students practice vocabulary in Spanish class with Tammy High ll at Roosevelt Middle School in River Forest.

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Contributing Reporter

Elmwood Park is like an endless buffet of food choices. There’s something for everyone and you probably haven’t tried everything yet. Here’s your chance. The village is sponsoring DineIn restaurant week throughout Elmwood Park, Feb. 6-15.

“People come from all over the region every year to taste the great cuisine in Elmwood Park,” Village President Angelo “Skip” Saviano said.

Participating restaurants will offer special deals, prix fix meals and more. All you have to do is mention their Dine-In promotion and you are in on it.

In the heart of Elmwood Park there are many options.

• Circle Tavern at 18 W. Conti Parkway is serving up half-priced appetizers with

Dive in during Dine-In week

Elmwood Park offers deals on meals Feb. 6 to 15

the order of any of their famous smashburgers or pizza.

• Are you Eggsperience‘d? At 16 W. Conti Parkway, get your mind around $12 tres leches French toast or others options for the same price.

• Pompei, 22 Conti Parkway, is celebrating: a $25 prix fix lunch that comes with two courses and a dessert or a $40 dinner with three courses and dessert. Cheesy garlic bread, meatballs, fried calamari, lasagna, rigatoni vodka, can-

SPILLANE

A waiting game

from page 10

Robert car ried the load for us on of fense.”

In the 2013 season, Spillane’s senior year, he ran for 1,562 yards and 17 touchdowns on 208 carries and also had 23 rece ptions for 223 yards and five touchdowns as Fenwick won the Chicago Catholic League White Division for the second consecutive year. He was named to the Illinois Football Coaches Association Class 7A All-State team as the Friars finished 10-3. Fenwick’s Aaron Garland (Class of 2015), who played two seasons with Spillane, said he and his teammates had great respect for his game.

“He brought intensity to the field,” he said. “That’s what you want from a guy

ent position so I’m very intentional about my decisions.”

Dolezal, who is a for mer resident of Oak Park, said although she enjoys her cu rrent job and wasn’t really looking for another job she was motivated to apply for the District 97 post because of her experience in the district saying that she enjoyed her time working in District 97.

“I gave it a lot of thought and realized I did want to come back to Oak Park,” Dolezal said. “When I was in Oak Park as a principal I really enjoyed my time there, really enjoyed my colleagues there.”

If hired as superintendent Dolezal said that she would continue the work that has been done to align instruction across all the schools in District 97 making it more of a school system than a system of schools.

“I feel that there are things that are somewhat aligned and then I feel that there are things that I feel need to be more aligned,” Dolezal said.

While working in Riverside Dolezal said that she ke pt her eye on what was happening in District 97.

“I’ve been gone but seven years,” Dolezal said. “Right now I’ve been on the outside looking in and I have been watching and I have been following and am still very well connected to Oak Park. My son plays travel soccer with an Oak Park travel team.”

She also noted that her husband is the president of the board of directors of the Oak Park River Forest Day Nursery.

Both finalists were asked how they define equity.

that’s right next to you. I’m extremely happy for Robert to be able to make it to the Super Bowl.”

Spillane is a grandson of the late Johnny Lattner. Lattner, a 1950 Fenwick graduate, won the Heisman Trophy in 1953 while at the University of Notre Dame.

Another of Spillane’s teammates with the Friars was his cousin, Ryan Smith. Smith, who graduated along with Spillane in 2014, played collegiately at Miami of Ohio and spent the 2018 NFL preseason with the Green Bay Packers.

Smith is not surprised with Spillane’s professional success.

“It wasn’t a matter of if, but when,” Smith said from Paris, France, where he now lives. “Of course it was something I could see coming. I know Robert is a Super Bowl-caliber player and he’s with an awesome team and support system.”

At Fenwick, Smith said that Spillane was the type of leader who let his actions speak

“Equity is, for me, about being inclusive in access and in outcome, ensuring that there is coherence for everybody,” Dolezal said. “A family or parent should not have to have a certain capital to know how to gain access to certain programming, whether it’s something like advanced learning or an Encore class.”

Dolezal said that academic performance should not be predictable based on race, socio-economic status or other factors.

“Everybody is receiving that same education so everybody should have that opportunity to perform at the same level,” Dolezal said.

Bresnahan, who answered her questions in approximately 35 minutes, said that her definition of equity is broad. She emphasized the need to involve all members of the community in decision making.

“Equity is not an initiative, it’s not something we check of f a list, and say oh we’ve achieved equity, equity is really a value and a mindset in how we approach every aspect of our organization and decision making,” Bresnahan said. “It’s a lens that we have to start seeing through.”

Bresnahan, who is in her 11th year as a superintendent, including seven years in Berkeley School District 87, was able to call upon her experience as a superintendent in some of her answers.

“The opportunity to hone my communication skills has really been a core part of my experience of being a superintendent and really going back to my technology days as well,” Bresnahan said.

louder than words, preciated.

“He showed people wouldn’t even bother talking was confident on the field and commanding of both the offense and defense,” Smith said. “And he was such a team pl would’ve done wh Smith adds he’s exchanged a few texts with Spillane ov he’ll do everything he can to get ready for the game. And could be at the game, logistics for it. But he plans to watch the game and won’t be alone.

“I have a big community here in and they have joined me in suppo the Patriots,” Smith said. “We’ lowing them all season, getting together at a central Paris games. Just your classic Sund It’s been one of living here.”

Bresnahan emphasized the need for open and transparent communication to the extent possible.

“Communication isn’t just about pushing out information, but it’s about seeking that feedback so that we can ask ourselves, did it resonate with the audience, did it meet the needs of our varied audience, were there barriers to understanding the messages that were given, do we have the information that we need collectively in order to build decisions to meet the needs of the district,” Bresnahan said.

Bresnahan said that she would have high expectations for students, teachers, administrators and the community. While she said that data is important she also believes education involves more than training students to be good test takers.

“When I look at Oak Park’s ‘portrait of a graduate,’ I’m not seeing on there that we want high test taking as a measure of success for our graduates,” Bresnahan said. “What we’re looking at is students who are going to come out of our district as change agents and dreamers and innovators and people who are contributing back and I think that the data that we have helps us know if we’re on track to do that but the data is informative, it’s not the end result, it’s not the goal. The data is the tool that informs the process along the way.”

Dolezal said that she enjoys delving into data to gain insights.

“Data is what really drives me also because what gets measured is what gets valued,” Dolezal said. “I love a good spreadsheet.”

FILE PHOTO

Robert Spillane was a star at Fenw ick.

Oak Park police make arrests for aggravated assault

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park police arrested two men on separate aggravated assault charges over the weekend.

Police arrested a 33-year-old Chicago man on charges including aggravated assault on a peace officer shortly after 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 30 in connection with a re por ted altercation at the Jewel store in the 400 block of Madison Street, according to police. The man was also charged with criminal damage to property and criminal damage to government property, according to police.

Police also arrested a 70-year-old Oak Park man on aggravated assault charges in connection with a re ported attack in the 200 block of South Oak Park Avenue against another Oak Park resident, according to police. He was arrested shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, according to police.

DUI arrest

Oak Park police arrested a woman for driving under the influence of alcohol while on a suspended license after a traffic accident over the weekend.

The 39-year-old Chicago woman had portedly crashed into a parked vehicle in the 1300 block of North Harlem Avenue. After officers learned she had a suspended license, she was charged with DUI, driving on a suspended driver’s license and an open alcohol container violation, according to police.

These items were obtained from Oak Pa Police Department reports dated Jan. 28–F and represent a portion of the incidents to wh police responded. Anyone named in these report has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the of a suspect only when a serious crime has committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed a descriptio of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.

Reducing responses

from page 1

The presentation was led by Vanessa Matheny, Oak Park’s community services manager, who’s overseen ECHO’s launch.

A little over half of ECHO’s client referrals came from other village departments, primarily the Oak Park Police Department and the Oak Park Fire Department. Another 30% of the program’s total referrals came from Oak Park residents seeking help for themselves or someone in their lives.

“I think that is a reflection of residents understanding that we are a resource to them,” Matheny said.

without involving police officers amid “community calls for a reimagining of public safety,” according to a board presentation last year.

The program’s development followed a 2022 study by consultant group BerryDunn that the village commissioned to help outline a vision for alternatives to police response in Oak Park

The village gave the program continued support over its first year of existence, bringing Mary Naughton on over the summer in a role as the program manager for ECHO. The program was launched last winter with the hiring of two care coordi-

Those resident referrals re present an area where the ECHO program has begun to lighten the burden on Oak Park’s emergency services, according to Oak Park Fi Chief JT Terry.

“What we need to reco gnize that that is a reduction, what that exact number is still tough to work through,” Terry told the board. “Having this program is a safety net that prevents people from getting to the point where they need help.”

Trustee Jenna Leving Jacobson said she’d made an ECHO referral a few months ago and felt very satisfied with the team’s response. “I thought it was a very thorough and helpful answer,” she said. “It seems to me that in the short time of operation, large success that we are seeing is a lot to do in part to your understanding and de understanding of your connections to the community and resources and new landscapes.”

Matheny began her presentation thanking the village board.

“I just want to start the presentation and take a moment to say thank you to the board for your support,” Matheny said. “Your vision has allowed ECHO to be a connector filling gaps and support Oak Pa residents in a way that we have not necessarily seen before.”

Free Memory Screens

The program was first approved a year ago via a unanimous vote at a June 2024 board meeting, in which trustees gave the greenlight for the pilot program to enter its first phase. The program was billed as providing alternative responses to issues

SMALL BITES

Food love is in the ai

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Eats Reporter

You can be a food lover or you can shower your love with delicious foods. Either way you’ re a winter winner. In this season of amore, let the deals hit your eye like a big pizza-pie.

Bite the Burbs asks you to tuck your napkin in and dig in to more than 80 area restaurants. Re gional tourism bureau, Explore Oak Park and Beyond, has organized enticements aplenty happening Feb. 26 – March 7. To highlight a few: Prix-fixe menus, where you get a full meal for a set price are offered at Q-BBQ, 124 N. Marion St. in Oak Park; D’Vino, 1527 S. Harlem Ave. in Forest Park; and The Chew Chew, 33 E. Burlington St. in Riverside.

Everyone loves free! Get a free appe tizer when you order at places li Shangri-La , 7930 W. Riverside; or free desser Pub and Restaurant Ave. in Brookfield, and 129 S. Oak Pa rk Ave.

Explore Oak Park and Bey for a complete list.

Many restaurants are of fering 15% of f your total check such as Taco Amor y Mas, 8420 Brookfield Ave. in Brookfield, Caffe DeLuca, 7427 Madison St. in Forest Park, and Egg Harbor, 1111 South Blvd. in Oak Park

What old Buzz Cafe location in the Arts District? No news to share yet on the floor, but a level up, on the second floor a venture called Pizza Dom home. Dominic Vallone is an Oak Parker who got into pizza making during the Covid lock-down, as seen on his Instagram DeathByDough handle. He is using the kitchen to prep for his mobile pizza oven catering biz and coming, possibly as soon as March, he will offer carryout versions of his Neapolitan-style pizzas, focaccia and other Italian artisanal delights from the building at 905 S. Lombard Ave., Oak Park.

Hungry, but don’ know for what? Get a main dish surprise for $5 at Scratch on Lake, 733 Lake St. in Oak Park, or Scratch Public House, 7505 Madison St. in Forest Park. All you need to do is ask, “What’s on the secret lunch menu today?” Offerings change each week, but recently it was a double smash burger Eats-out ventured to Café Cubano on Jan. 20. The meal was delicious (a new favorite of mine is their papas rellenas appetizer, fluffy potato surrounding seasoned ground beef, then fried to a crispy shell). The conversation with new foodie friends

Q-BBQ participates in Bite the Burbs

A pie, Pizza Dom style

was even better

I scheduled our January outing at the same time as Soup and Bread West, which is at Robert’s Westside, 7321 Madison St. in Forest Park, on the third Tuesday of each month. I’ve been meaning to go sip some soup, where proceeds go to a different area charity each month. So…

The next Eats-out will be on Thursday,

Eats-out outing at Café Cubano

Feb. 19 at Little Owl Social Pub, 3747 Grand Blvd. in Brookfield. The meal will be $25 per person. (If you want alcohol that’s on your own dime.) Get your seat to dine with up to eight local food enthusiasts by emailing me at the address below.

Got news, questions or ideas for this column? Email them to us at Eats@oakparkeats.com.

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Double smash burger at Scratch on Lake PROVIDED

HANK TIBENSKY

Homes

Celebrating ervation

omes and businesses honored for ving histor y’s grace

By LACEY SIKORA Real Estate Reporter

, Jan. 28, Oak Parkers gathered at A Night in Our Village — Community Awards Celebration, which brought together commurecipients, nominators, village officials, citizen commission members and neighbors to “recthe pride, creativity and care that defines Oak

Included in the ceremony, the annual Historic Awards were given to homeowners, arcontractors and business owners who took vations, restorations and construction projects to honor the history of Oak Park’s built

According to Brenton Boitse, Oak Park’s urban on preservation, the awards address preservation and sustainability. Residential and commercial projects can be nominated for the awards in four categories: restoration, rehabilitation, adaptive use and additions/new construction. Additional awards can be presented for stewardship. These awards generally reco gnize maintenance of an historic property.

The home at 1021 Superior St. won an award for restoration for its restoration and addition project. Built in the 1890’s, the home was originally constructed on the southwest corner of Forest and Superior, where 333 Forest Avenue is located today.

In 1886, Nathan Moore purchased the home now known as 1021 Superior and moved it to its present lot on Superior in 1894. Moore hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design his new home on Forest, and Moore and his ved into that home at 333 N. Forest in 1895.

The owners of 1021 Superior, Kristina and Patrick Woodward, won their award for the work they did restoring the front porch and adding a three-seasons room to the side of the house. The owners used historically accurate materials to match the home, including painted wood flooring, railings and siding. New windows for the three-seasons room are clad in wood.

The owners worked with architect Kimberlee Smith and contractor Tony Roeder of Marion Street Services on the project.

AN ARCHITEC T AT HOME: Frank Heitzman’s home on Euclid was reco gnized as was his work on a small commercial building on Marion Street

SUPERIOR AND EUCLID: Homes on both Superior and

517 N. Euclid Ave. won an award for resi dential rehabilitation. Built circa 1900, the home is in the Queen Anne Style. Henry Fiddelke designed the home for owner W. Adams.

The homeowners, Christina Weber and David Muzic, won an award for renovating their historic porch with the help of architect and contractor Ruben Jaime. T took care during the renovation to remo clean, and restore all decorative elements such as ornamental motifs, columns, capitals, moldings, vintage corbellings, brack ets and dentils. The project also included installing a new beadboard ceiling, new pine flooring and new beams.

A bit down the street at 213 S. Euclid Ave., architect Frank Heitzman work with contractor Zenon Kolacz of Z.K. Quality Construction on his own home and won an historic preservation award in the restoration category.

The Queen Anne style home was designed in 1889 by architect William J. V Keuren.

Heitzman added an elevator to the interior of the building, which runs from the basement to the third floor. The project involved removing a section of interior stairs to provide hallway access to the elevator door.

On the exterior, a new tower was constructed to house the elevator shaft. It has

COURTESY

STEWARDSHIP: Architect Frank

was recognized for the copper clad restoration on a Marion Street commerc ial building as well as work on his ow n home.

A CORNER IN TIME: Bill and Denise Scholtens are the ow ners of Elements Architectural Group and of the former Pieritz Bros. building on 401 South Boulevard.

wood siding and asphalt shingles to match the existing home. The tower is tucked behind a side wing of the home, with a part of the addition visible where it projects above an existing gable.

It was a banner year for Heitzman, whose commercial building at 111 N. Marion St. won a stewardship award. Heitzman worked with contractor Paul Jedras of P&L Construction to restore the building. We covered Heitzman’s restoration of his for mer office building here: https://www. oakpark.com/2025/03/13/marion-streetmakeover/

This year’s other commercial property winner was 401 South Boulevard, the former Pieritz Brothers Building. Owner and architect William Scholtens won an award for commercial restoration. He worked with contractor Master Mason, LLC.

To gether, they restored the building’s intricate terra cotta exterior. Scholtens created a sustainable office space for his office, Elements Architectural Group, as well as several rental spaces in the building. We covered the project here: https://www.oakpark.com/2025/10/09/for mer-pieritz-brosbuilding-transfor med/

Here are all the 2025

winners

CAVALC ADE OF PRIDE AWARDS

Residential

1019 N. Kenilworth Ave.: Asena Uyar and Michael Coughlin 1201 Forest Ave.: Vince Marotta

622 N. Marion St.: Barbara and Raymond Muccianti

152 LeMoyne Pkwy.: Angela John and Paul Kotkovich

227 N. Lombard Ave.: Michele and Trent Jurewicz:

520 S. Harvey Ave.: Kiera and Jonathan Pohl

GREEN AWARDS

Climate Ready Green Awards

■ Happy Apple Pie Shop

■ Daly Bagel

Oak Park Climate Action Network Green Home Award

How it works

Oak Park typically opens up nominations for the awards in the late summer or early fall. In order to be considered, projects must have taken place within the last five years and must be within Oak Park village boundaries. Properties do not have to be in one of the village’s three historic districts to be considered.

Any resident, owner of an eligible building, member of local preservation and historical societies, and member of a local board or commission may make nominations

Boitse says that a panel of non-Oak Parkbased professionals from architecture and construction fields choose the winners based on the Oak Park Historic Preservation Commission’s Architectural Review Guidelines, drawn from the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. The panel also considers context and design appropriateness. This year’s panelists were Natalie Hicks, Architect and Sustainability Inte gration Leader at Ratio; Katie Hart, Architect & Senior Project Manager; Alyssa Frystak, Director of Research and Data Analytics at PlaceEconomics.

Maura O’Hara: 319 N. Oak Park Avenue

Honorable Mention: Jessica Loesel: 1025 Home Ave.

Wild Ones West Cook Native Gardens for the Neighborhood Green Award

Luisa DiPietro & Ira Satinover: 518 S. Scoville Avenue

Honorable Mention: Brad Benke: 940 Clinton Ave.

HEALTH AWARDS

Fitzsimmons Public Health Award

Frick Kids Art

Johnson Restaurant Award

■ Publican Quality Bread Oak Park

■ Rustico

■ Sugar Beet Co-op

■ David Haennicke Award

■ Amaranth Sikandra

TODD BANNOR

OF FRANK HEITZMAN

Heitzman

VIEWPOINTS

C ONSCIOUS A GING e age code and

you

Action Community Eng agement (ACE) is the current research study in Oak Park and Forest Park, headed by Becca Levy, PhD, from Yale University. Levy wrote the book Breaking The Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long And How Well You Live

MARC BLESOFF

One of the local spinof f projects from the ACE study is a photo display that just opened this week at Wise Cup coffee on Lake Street in downtown Oak Park. Kudos to the owner of Wise Cup coffee. The display, titled “Aging Well,” comprises photos of older Oak Park residents, taken by participants in the research study. This display joins the ACE photo display currently in the windows of the OP-RF Township Senior Center on Oak Park Avenue and the ACE storefront art exhibit on Harrison Street. Dr. Levy’s book highlights how people who have a positive outlook on aging, rather than fearing or denying it, live an average of 7½ years longer and are less likely to exhibit dementia. I just read about a 2025 study showing that people 62 and older who volunteer to assist others have blood cell markers showing slower biological aging. So you can lengthen your own life by improving someone else’s. No matter how long we end up living, as we age our bodies change.

■ Thirty-five years ago I had to get glasses. Today I can hardly read or see in the distance without my glasses.

■ Twenty years ago I knew I needed hearing aids, but the audiologists ke pt telling me I didn’t. Finally, after the third audiometry test, I got my prescription.

■ I didn’t realize it at the time, but in January 2020 I lost most of my sense of smell and taste. I suspect that loss was linked to the thenunfolding COVID virus.

■ Over the past 10 years, my physical mobility has been changing. It’s hard for me to run these days.

Sight. Sound. Smell. Taste. Touch. All my senses. But to the outside world I don’t appear disabled.

There is a very close link between ageism and ableism. My friend Ashton just started using a cane to help her stay balanced. Right now, she can manage without it, but the cane makes her life easier and safer. She takes the cane with her and uses it everywhere. Without my glasses and hearing aids, I would be in worse shape than Ashton without her cane. Yet the world sees her as disabled, while I get by making a fashion statement. Will a cane ever be just a fashion statement?

Why do people see someone using a cane as disabled but somebody wearing glasses is just somebody wearing glasses? Costco has an optical department. Maybe one day there will be a Costco cane department. It’s probably only a matter of time until canes become a mainstream multimillion-dollar a year industry.

IDEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M. Call Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at 613-3310

ktrainor@wjinc.com

A pilgrimage in Minneapolis

walked a 5-mile pilg rimage in Minneapolis last week. Zerode gree temps. Streets covered with snow.

I star ted at 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue, where ICE agents shot Alex Pretti in the back and killed him. A crowd was there, milling. Cars slowed. And there were TV cameras — looking for the next ICE story.

Among the flowers and candles, a drawing of Pretti imagined him as a saint. His death was the final straw for Trump against the hair-gelled, neo-Nazi-looking Greg Bovino, Customs and Border Enforcement Capo. Trump “reassigned” Bovino and closed his social media account. Did his costume remind Trump of the Jan. 6 Shaman?

Moments after his killing, Bovino and Kristi Noem tagged Pretti, an ICU nurse at a VA hospital, as a domestic ter rorist. Trump re posted that moniker to take early control of the narrative.

walked just a half-mile to another murder landmark, George Floyd Square, where a half-decade ago Floyd was strangled to death by police officer Derek Chauvin. Now there is a statue surrounded by a small square. And a coffeeshop nearby to warm up in.

One more stop, a symbol of hope, Twin Cities Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, a school that serves mostly Hispanic, Hmong and Black, some of them Somali, students.

I’ve been involved for many years with Cristo Rey high schools nationally and in Chicago (Catholic high schools where students work at companies to ear n their private-school tuition).

By Trump’s definition, I guess my silent peaceful pilg rimage opposing his immigration tactics makes me a domestic ter rorist too I walked a couple miles south, over to 34th Street and Portland Avenue, where two weeks ago ICE shot and killed another Minneapolis citizen, Rene Good, mother of three, in her car.

Memorials to Alex Pretti in Minneapolis

PROVIDED

The students here (many from immigrant families) have been tense. In the days before killing Pretti, ICE cruised the front of the building when school let out. All students at Cristo Rey work and have legal status to do so.

The school gave an option for remote learning this week for those afraid to travel. And yet, the students who were present walked the hallways between classes as if everything were normal. As if they could get on with learning, preparing for colle ge and a work life beyond.

A smaller crowd but lots of flowers and memorials there. I saw an older man wipe a tear as he stopped. Someone had a fire pit going against the cold. A small table had a large coffee pot and donuts.

Next, because I was in the neighborhood, I

Despite the killings. Despite Bovino and Noem. Despite Trump and his hatred for “shthole” countries and the people who come from them.

Those Cristo Rey students persist. And we persist too.

Despite dark days for our country, we persist.

JACK CROWE

is building does not work

On Feb. 19, the Plan Commission will consider the proposed Boulevard Arcade apartment building. On the surface, the proposal (1) seems a credible way to increase housing density by building 24 luxury apartments on a parking lot.

But things are not always what they seem.

We believe this building does not work because of the site space restrictions; the neighborhood’s existing transit, parking, and pedestrian safety issues; and Oak Park’s critical need for affordable housing.

The new building would replace the addition to the historic Boulevard Arcade building and its parking lot. The proposal shows that a pedestrian entrance from South Boulevard would be accessed by enclosing an adjacent 4-foot 4-inch-wide by 85-footlong gangway, raising questions about this entry/exit plan for strollers, wheelchairs, 2-way pedestrian access, stretchers, and other emergency situations.

Concer ningly, the building’s parking garage will utilize two sensor-activated car elevators because the garage space is too narrow for cars to tur n. Cars waiting for elevators will further impede alley traffic, which is already often blocked or backed up. There are no other car elevators in Oak Park, and the few that we have found in Chicago are run by valets, not sensors. While the alley, which is south of South Boulevard, between Marion and Home, is 20 feet wide. It is already congested with cars and delivery trucks – from apartments, homes, condos; delivery vehicles, vans,

PROVIDED

e alley behind 1035 South Boulevard is already clogged with vehicles.

maintenance, garbage; parking for Thrive and the Housing Center; and cars that sit outside or are coming out of Crash Champions. (2) Imagine the impact of two years of construction and long-term increased car and vehicle use.

In addition, South Marion’s commercial and residential corridor is already overburdened by cars, trucks, and vans (3). Even before construction, there are safety concer ns for alley-crossers on Marion who are unaware of the challenges posed by the frequent cars and other vehicles entering and exiting, including young families, pedestrians preoccupied with phones and headsets, bikers, skateboarders, and seniors from Mills Tower and others using assistedwalking devices

How we can make a di erence

When my husband and friends gather, our talk centers on the chaos in our world, specifically Trump’s latest outrage: attacks on boats in international waters, warrantless assaults on suspected undocumented people, threats to annex Greenland because Trump didn’t get his coveted Nobel prize … the list goes on.

Trump’s agenda seems to shift frequently, but the ultimate goal is power, money and constant approbation. Our world is bruised and fractured. Maintaining a culture of caring is being crushed by indifference; respect and politeness are seen as weak. Name-calling and slurs are de rigueur.

Here are a couple of ways I use to combat this soul-crushing state: walking dogs, acts of kindness, donations to charities, political activism, smiling at strangers

We can make a difference.

Shelly Uslenghi Oak Park

One other glaring problem is the proposed construction plan. At a Dec 3 meeting, the project spokesperson told neighbors that the construction will be staged for 18 to 24 months on sidewalks and closed parking areas on both sides of South Boulevard between Home and Marion and will be carried by crane either next to or over South Boulevard and its buildings to the back of the alley where the construction will take place.

Finally, and equally significantly, this building will not add to urgently needed affordable housing stock in Oak Park. While the proposal promises to negotiate a contribution to the village’s affordable housing fund, that does not negate that this building itself would only contribute to the surplus of housing that is too expensive for many Oak Parkers (2 bed/2 bath for $3695 to $4195 monthly, plus $200 per month for parking). (1)

Combine that with its other problems, and this project just makes no sense We hope that the Plan Commission and the village board will reach the same conclusion.

(1) https://www oak-park us/files/assets/ oakpark/v/1/boards-and-commissions/ plan-commission/applications-for-publichearing/1035-combined-pdf-all-applicationdocs-1_27_26-traffic-study-added-reduced. pdf

(2) https://bit.ly/AlleyPhotos (3) https://bit.ly/MarionCongestion Carla Lind, Patricia Tucker-Ladd & Caren Van Slyke Oak Park

Jarrett Knox for judge

I first met Jarrett Knox last summer at the Fa rmers Market. He was circulating petitions to run for election for judg e. As a lawyer, I was naturally curious about whether he had the qualities to be a good judge. I quickly learned that he had those qualities. Jarrett has a bright and curious mind. He is committed to the fair administration of justice. Anyone who would appear before him would know that he listened and gave them a fair hearing. As an experienced lawyer, I know that Jarrett will in fact be an excellent judge. Please join me in voting for Jarrett Knox for Circuit Cour t judge of the 11th subcircuit.

Steve Fruth Oak Park

anks for helping your neighbors

Holiday Food and Gift Basket, a program of the Community of Congregations, has concluded our 2025 season, and I want to thank the hundreds of donors, sponsors, and volunteers who gave so generously to make it a success

This year, 667 families totaling 1,873 individuals were referred to us by schools, township offices, and senior and disability housing providers. Each family rece ived a gift card to Jewel-Osco the week before Thanksgiving, ranging from $40 to $85, depending on family size. In addition, every family was matched with a community sponsor who purchased gifts from their holiday wish list.

In 2025, donors contributed more than $66,000 that paid for the grocery gift cards and other program expenses. We also received grants from Oak Park and River Forest townships, totaling $11,500. Sponsors shopped for, wrapped, and dropped of f holiday gifts valued at approximately $100,000.

I am so grateful to our longtime volunteers who assisted both in the office and during gift drop-off week. Thank you as well to the youth volunteers from Oak Park and River Forest High School Civics and the Oak Park Township Community Justice Program, who spent hours helping in the cold. And to the volunteers who delivered thousands of gifts to hundreds of families on Saturday, Dec. 13, we couldn’t do this without you.

A special thank-you to two congregations who are essential to our operations. First United Church of Oak Park donates office space year-round and United Lutheran Church hosts gift drop-off week each December by sharing their sanctuary and other spaces throughout their building.

Holiday Food and Gift Basket has been spreading joy in Oak Park and River Forest since the 1970s. Our small program has a big impact because of the support of community members like you. To learn how you can donate, sponsor, or volunteer, please visit our website at https://www.communityofcongregations.org/holiday-food-gift-basket.

Thank you for helping our neighbors in need Kelly Pollock Director, Holiday Food and Gift Basket

Beyond Hunger’s growth

We have watched with admiration and respect as critical Oak Park-based nonprofits have grown in ambition and reach to take on challenges that, in this moment, seem to have metastasized in our derailed American society.

We’d point to Housing Forward, which has grown from mats on church basement floors to a full range of services that can lead to permanent housing for people. We have watched the Oak Park Re gional Housing Center reclaim a historic but dilapidated Austin bank while adding af fordable housing to it. T he Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation has intentionally blown out of its bubble and now serves nonprofits across the West Side and into Cicero, Berwyn and Proviso Township.

There are many others. The Children’s Clinic, Thrive, Neighborhood Bridge and more.

Today though, we are covering the bold step being planned by Beyond Hunger as it seeks a modest special-use pact with the village, allowing it to purchase and renovate a long-vacant grocery space on North Avenue as its new facility. This is a 15,000-square-foot facility that has cycled through failed uses since Jewel abandoned it decades back.

The infusion of purpose and volunteer spirit into this location will only be a plus for this northeast Oak Park location.

Hats of f to Beyond Hunger, which told the Journal this week it has already banked 87% of the funds it needs to purchase and renovate this building. Most of those funds have come from individual donors, which is another testament to the roots and grace-filled mission of this organization.

We’re confident the village’s zoning board, and then the village board will approve this project, and that neighbors will welcome it.

D97 earns respect

Likely next week the school board at Oak Park’s District 97 public elementary schools will announce the hiring of its next superintendent.

There are two finalists. And to its great credit, this school board has introduced both of them to our community. Terri Bresnahan, currently a superintendent in the northwest suburbs, and Angela Dolezal, an administrator in Riverside’s public schools and a former longtime principal at Longfellow School in Oak Park, have been interviewed by the school board, took part in a public Zoom town hall, and sat for final interviews with both the school board and a committee of stakeholders that includes parents and district staff.

This is a sincere model of community eng agement that all local governments should follow. It reflects a trust in our community and that reflects well on District 97.

Both of these career educators seem well qualified, have an appreciation for the challenges and opportunities of this essential school district, and appear enthusiastic to lead in our village

e pleasure of good books

It’s a good feeling being in the middle of a book. You look forward to passing time with it, plunging back in at the end of a long day. I don’t use my smart phone like other people do. When I have time to kill, a good book is my godsend.

At the moment, that’s Dave Barry’s hilarious memoir, Class Clown – How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up the ideal book when you’ re stuck in a waiting room or an airport or the Emergency Room, the only drawback being that laughing out loud in an ER might not be appreciated.

TRAINOR

A good read is different from a movie, theater performance or symphony concert. A book is a more intimate companion, functioning as armchair travel or as a time machine, taking you on deep dives or a shallow skim. It can make you feel something you’ve never felt before You can escape your comfort zone, even as you’ re sitting comfortably at home

A good book can change the way you look at life It can even change your life. It speeds time up or slows it down — or makes you lose track of time altogether. It relentlessly drives you toward the ending even as you hope it never ends. It can bring to mind the first time you read it, even as it reads like a completely different book the second time around. It opens new worlds, even as you shut of f the current world’s oppressiveness. It is an antidote, sanctuary, and coping mechanism all rolled into one good read.

A book is a relationship, a short-term af fair. You love ’em and leave ’em. I’m a serial philanderer, always on the lookout for the next leaf of my love. Easy come, easy go, but never forgotten.

There’s almost never a time during the year when I’m “between books.” And I’m always aware I’ve been granted the privilege of entering someone’s mind. A good book feels telepathic.

During my year-end review, I took inventory, stacking my reads on my cedar chest. The pile included six Michael Connolly mysteries — Harry Bosch, Renee Ballard, Mickey Haller (Lincoln Lawyer). There is no more entertaining education on how our system of “justice” works, when it works. And his paperbacks are an easy carry in a coat.

As the weather warmed last spring, I took refuge in Ray Bradbury’s summery summary of growing up in Waukeg an (Dandelion Wine), then discovered his much later sequel, Farewell Summer. And just before leaving for Ireland, I came across Green Shadows, White Whale, billed as “A novel of Ray Bradbury’s adventures making ‘Moby Dick’ with John Huston in Ireland.” He proved a literary chameleon, capturing the essence of Ireland in the

1950s, composing it in brogue no less. ker for books on baseball, I read Larry Tye’s Satchel – The Life and Times of an American Le gend, to satisfy my longstanding curiosity about Satchel Paige. We rightly revere Robinson for breaking the Major League color barrier, but Paige, through sheer charisma and a portfolio of unhittable pitches, set the stage with endless barnstorming cross-country, ying against white major-leaguers and drawing large, racially diverse crowds. Satchel desegregated the sport. Jackie made it of ficial.

I also can’t resist books on Lincoln and came across two good ones: Jon Meacham’s And There Was Light and David Donald’s Lincoln Reconsidered. Both extract “Honest Abe” from the idol worship that grew around him and fir mly imbeds him within the political and cultural context of his times, making the man, minus the legend, stand out even more.

I enjoyed Percival Everett’s James, a powerful retelling of Twain’s Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Huck’s travel companion, Jim, the runaway slave. And James McBride’s Heaven and Earth Grocery Store produced a fascinating fable about the inter play between Jewish and Black culture in Depression-era Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Jesus We pt, journalist Philip Shenon’s raw history of “Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church,” with a heavy focus on the mismanaged pedophilia scandal, should be required reading for every adult Catholic. The title hints, none too subtly, at how the battle went, but he dedicates the book to Pope John XXIII, indicating whose lead the Church needs to follow. I strongly agree.

Primal Intelligence – You Are Smarter Than You Think, by Angus Fletcher, argues that we should upend the lessons of the logic-dominant educational system in order to reawaken our inborn intelligence, using “intuition, imagination, emotion, and commonsense.” He discovered this, sur prisingly, by studying how the U.S. military trains special ops personnel. I found it refreshingly unconventional in its thinking.

I haven’t exhausted my list, just my space. I can’t wait to get back to my cur rent read, Walter Isaacson’s Benjamin Franklin – An American Life , a fine way to prepare for our troubled nation’s upcoming 250th birthday. If you read it, you’ll be amazed how one middle-class, 18th-century American printer came to be a highly influential champion for the common good.

Maybe we can all follow Big Ben’s lead.

Questions about River Forest development

Iattended two open houses held by the village of River Forest. After speaking to the developer and village employees, many questions were answered. However, I still have concerns and more questions after listening to the village board meeting on Jan. 26.

TRUDI ROSS

One View

We voiced our opinions on what we wanted to see there and what we didn’t want. The zoning is limited to three stories for a reason. Anything taller doesn’t fit our neighborhood. Five stories with 72 units packed into that area is extreme. If this builder can’t make something smaller on that lot, it’s time to find a different builder. I’m concer ned about the traffic, the parking and the infrastructure having so many units and residents.

The property is being promoted as multi-use, but the plans are for only one retail space (3380 square feet), or two at 1500 square feet, I was told. That won’t make a big difference for the tax revenue benefit as it is being sold to us

The village wants “the project to align with River Forest standards and represent a sound, sustainable investment that is consistent with our community’s quality of life.” How can a rental building of this size contribute to our quality of life? We voiced our desire for something to be built there that the entire village could benefit from. A community gym or a restaurant. Even housing, but not five stories and 72 units Townhomes similar to the ones on the north side of Lake between Franklin and Ashland, the northwest corner of Lake and Park or the northwest corner of Park and Madison

would fit into the community nicely

The 15 outdoor parking spaces off the street for guests and business parking would not be nearly enough. I can see patrons of businesses along Madison Street in Forest Park using all of those. With townhomes, all the parking could be inside. The two lots that were purchased by the village where parking is now suggested could be nice backyards for the townhomes. Or a “pocket park” like the one the village is planning across the street from village hall.

If the project goes through as proposed, it will be another step away from River Forest’s small-town charm. After re-watching the village board meeting, here are a few of my questions and thoughts:

1) Why did the village choose a developer that only does rentals? Viktor, the developer, stated they are not condo builders, only high-end rentals. Condos could work for small structures, he said so why not hire a developer to build threestory condos or better yet, a few high-end townhomes like the ones I mentioned earlier?

2) The developer also said, regarding rentals, that young people don’t want ownership. They want the ability to move in a year or two. So we can expect a lot of turnaround and even more traffic with renters moving in and out in that area. I would prefer ownership where residents can put

See TRUDI ROSS on pa ge 35

Building proposal lacks sustainability

Oak Park has an enviable record on sustainability issues, yet the proposed 10-story apartment addition at the back of the Boulevard Arcade — which comes before the Plan Commission on Feb. 19 — is environmentally regressive and ignores the village’s safety and climate initiatives.

True, there is a vague commitment to pursue LEED certification of some level, but without a single idea offered. What about installing a green roof? Solar panels? A compost program? How about native landscaping on South Boulevard or outside the top floor community room? Or offering to fund the alley’s rejuvenation through Oak Park’s Green Alley Program? Any details on permeable infrastructure for stor m water management or using low-carbon materials? No, not a word, anywhere in the proposal. I believe developers should reflect Oak Park values instead of offering the barest, most minimal compliance.

The proposed apartment tower is just feet from two major transit hubs (Metra and the Green Line). Including four floors of parking so near them is an urban planning failure, contradicting the spirit of the People Over Parking Act (SB 2111). Going into effect in June, this law allows for no parking requirement close to major transit. In contrast, this development would actually increase vehicle miles traveled by adding cars and related commercial vehicles — in direct opposition to the village’s pledge to reduce car dependency (and in heavily trafficked downtown Oak Park, no less).

Indeed, funneling traffic into the alley between Marion and Home goes against Oak Park’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which prioritizes safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and car occupants. The plan instead increases avoidable conflict points for pedestrians and cyclists

Finally, the proposed illuminated facade clock is a major source of light pollution. As a critical flyway for migratory birds, Oak Park has sought to enforce “Lights Out” wildlife standards, not to purposefully interrupt spring and fall bird migration.

It’s all stunning, really.

Please, plan commissioners, take a long, serious, skeptical look at this developer’s proposal.

Sources:

■ https://www.oak-park.us/files/assets/oakpark/v/1/ boards-and-commissions/plan-commission/applicationsfor-public-hearing/1035-combined-pdf-all-application-docs1_27_26-traffic-study-added-reduced.pdf

■ https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/fact-sheetnorthern-illinois-transit-authority-act-sb-2111

■ https://www oak-park us/Public-Safety/Traffic-Safety/ Vision-Zero

■ https://www idachicago.org/resources/new-illinoislegislation-helps-support-birds-and-darker-skies

Patrick

Connolly Oak Park

WEDNESD AY

of Oak Park and River Forest

Viewpoints Guidelines

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.

We reser ve the right to edit submissions. We do not have time to allow the writer to review changes before publication. We also do not have time to do more than super cial fact-checking, and because of our national epidemic of misinformation and conspiracy theories, when writers include statistical evidence to support their opinions, we require them to include the source of that information, such as credible websites, print publications, titles of articles and dates published, etc. Be as speci c as possible so that we and our readers have some way of assessing the credibility of your claims. Links may also be included for the online version. We follow the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics: seek the truth and report it and minimize harm. As a result, we will do our best not to publish pieces that espouse doubtful or debunked theories, demonstrate harmful bias, or cross the line into incivility. While we will do our best not to engage in censorship, we also do not intend to be used as a platform for misinformation. Your sources for fact-checking are a critical step in keeping the discourse honest, decent and respectful.

All submissions must include your rst and last name and the municipality in which you live, plus a phone number (for veri cation only). We do not publish anonymous letters. One View essays should include a sentence at the end about who you are.

If we receive your submission by 5 p.m. on Sunday, you can expect your opinion to be included in that week’s paper (and online), space permitting.

Pieces can be submitted through our online form at oakpark.com or directly to Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor, ktrainor@wjinc.com. For the latter, we prefer attached Word les or plain tex t included in the email.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

■ 350-word limit

■ Must include rst and last names, municipality in which you live, phone number (for veri cation only)

‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY

■ 500-word limit

■ One-sentence footnote about yourself and/or your connection to the topic

■ Signature details as at left

My vote is for Dr. Fisher

I am voting for Thomas Fisher to be the next Representative of the 7th district of Illinois. I have had a conversation with him at a Democratic Party of Oak Park meeting. I am very impressed with his credentials and his commitment to the south side, where he was born and raised. Currently he is an emergency room doctor at the U of Chicago hospital, serving his same community as an ER doctor. His credentials include: BS degree in Biology from Dartmouth, medical degree from the University of Chicago, Public Health degree from Harvard He has been endorsed by several professional organizations and Lauren Underwood, a four-ter m congressional congresswoman for the Illinois 14th District.

Lauren has a BSN in nursing along with master’s degree in Nursing and Public Health from John Hopkins University. She believes Congress needs more medical people to influence health-care policy. Dr. Fisher believes the same, saying it is gover nmental policy that is in crisis. He has worked with Michelle Obama and was a White House fellow while the Affordable Care Act was rolling out.

Please watch the YouTube video to better understand why we need to have Dr. Fisher in Congress. Early voting in Illinois begins Feb. 5.

Check out his campaign site or view the video: https://youtube/5vELCO0uWjA?si=8E VxrFbw33KA7XsC

Please forward to any family or friends living in the 7th District, which covers a large swath of Cook County.

Peggy McGrath Oak Park

Mohr is a better site

Maybe the best location for the indoor pool, since having it be part of the CRC is out, came to mind with a letter about the police station. The Mohr site is adjacent to Maple Park. The park district needs to purchase the Mohr site and build the indoor pool there and expand Maple Park by doing this.

Michael Papierniak Oak Park

What a bad year

As Ken Trainor has said, what a bad, maybe ter rible year 2025 was [From catastrophe to eucatastrophe, Viewpoints, Jan. 7]. Yeah, if you are one of the millions af flicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome!

1347 Europe, terrible year; 1930 USA, terrible year; 1942, terrible year in the USSR. People may want to keep reality in sight when it comes to the human situation.

COVID, thank God we didn’t have the next big wave of life-ending COVID come this winter.

How many abortions did Illinois allow last year? IDPH (Illinois Dept. of Public Health) will tell you. If you happen to be Catholic in Illinois, that’s not a good year

Oh, let’s not forget the new Pritzker law about the ter minally ill.

Remember, in Oak Park the police department is still short 20-30% of its necessary size because our leaders don’t support them. Don’t believe me? Ask them.

Patrick Dailey Oak Park

Kindness is always possible

To the people who got into a fender bender in the Pete’s parking lot Friday afternoon: Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity. Your patience and grace was a beautiful gift at the end of a hard day.

I am going to try harder to treat my fellow humans with the loving kindness you showed.

Thank you for reminding me that kindness is always possible.

And that it is awesome.

Beth Fioritto Oak Park

Wise words

This is to express appreciation of Ken Trainor’s columns on faith, belief, and uncertainty. Anyone seeking an intelligent philosophy of life would do well to read his wise words (for example, “You never know,” Wednesday Journal Viewpoints, Jan. 28).

Bruce Lehman Oak Park

Tax bills extended by a month

Ordinarily, first installment tax bills are mailed around the first of February and are due on March 1. This year, however, the bills will not be mailed until early March and will be due on April 1.

The state legislature enacted this one-time-only extension to give taxpayers more time between tax bill payments. The due date for last year’s second installment bills should have been on Aug. 1, 2025, but was delayed to Dec. 15 because of problems with Cook County’s new computer system.

Without the extension, there would have been just two and a half months between tax bill due dates. I, along

with my colleagues in the Cook County Township Assessors Association, felt that this short gap between tax bills would cause financial hardship for many. So we advocated for an extension with Senate President Don Harmon’s Office while officers from Cook County agencies worked with the House Fortunately for taxpayers, the legislature worked long hours on the final day of the fall veto session, approving the extension at 3:30 in the mor ning. And fortunately for me, I was sound asleep when this climactic vote happened!

Ali ElSa ar Township Assessor

Refuse to follow unlawful orders

As a retired Army Reserve officer (major, retired in 1994), I am quite alarmed by numerous actions and threats by President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth based on my military experience of 20 years and by my reading and academic study of military and international law from World War II to this date.

The foundation of my understanding of the Rules of War under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, was written in 1948 in response to our military experience in WWII as well as Nuremburg and the Tokyo War Crimes trial. This body of military regulations has been updated in response to the military experiences in Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, and Latin America — most pointedly the My Lai massacre and the torture episodes in Iraq, and the extrajudicial killings in Afghanistan.

The most significant element in the Rules of War is not only the opportunity but the obligation of any swor n member of the U.S. Ar med Forces to refuse to follow unlawful orders. Every member of the Ar med Forces is taught this principle in their initial active duty training

Having entered the U.S. Army shortly after the Lt. Calley war crime trial, my officer basic course had multiple instructions on the obligation of an officer to follow the Geneva Convention, the International Rules of War, and the absolute obligation to refuse unlawful

orders, and in fact to step in to protect subordinates from being forced to follow unlawful orders. Carrying out an unlawful order opens any member of the Ar med Forces to legal jeopardy and punishment.

German and Japanese soldiers who carried out unlawful orders in WWII were criminally responsible for committing war crimes. The cry that “I was only following orders” offered no protection from criminal punishment.

When six veteran members of Congress recorded a short video informing sworn members of the U.S. military of this obligation, the response by the President and the Secretary of War was that these six elected veterans were committing treason and should be executed.

Next, Secretary Hegseth has threatened to recall Capt. Mark Kelly to active duty for a Courts Martial and reduction in rank. The other five are being investigated for illegal activities by the FBI. Their crime is teaching that same lesson I was taught in the U.S. Ar my Officer Basic Course on July 16, 1975 by my commanding officer and a JAG commissioned officer attorney, essentially the same lesson that German and Japanese POW’s and Lt. Calley lear ned when they were convicted and sentenced to criminal punishment for har ming the unarmed enemy when they followed unlawful orders given by a military superior.

Frank Vozak Oak Park

Lack of electoral integrity

I am writing to inform the public about a deeply troubling experience I had while attempting to file as a write-in candidate for River Forest township committeeman. This experience raises serious concer ns about the integrity and transparency of our local electoral process

I was initially informed that my Declaration of Intent to run as a write-in candidate needed to be filed by a specific statutory deadline. I was first directed to file the paperwork at River Forest Village Hall, where staff refused to accept it and instructed me instead to file with the township. I immediately complied and met in person with the township supervisor, who accepted my filing, provided me with a notarized receipt, and time-stamped it

At that meeting, I was also told, incorrectly, that I was required to file a Statement of Economic Interest. I was not given the form and was directed to search for it online. County instructions clearly stated that such a filing is not required for write-in candidates for this type of seat. Relying on that official guidance, I reasonably believed I was in full compliance.

Later that same day, less than an hour before the County Clerk’s Office in downtown Chicago closed, I received a call from a sitting trustee informing me that my write-in declaration was invalid and had to be refiled in person at the County Building downtown before 5 p.m. This was the first time I was told of any such requirement. I was infor med that the township supervisor

had just left a voicemail claiming he did not have my contact information, despite having personally met with me earlier that day and answering my return call immediately.

The timing and contradictions speak for themselves.

This is not about sour grapes or electoral ambition. It is about a system that appears designed to confuse, misdirect, and discourage participation, particularly by challengers, through selective enforcement and last-minute procedural traps.

Democracy depends on fair access, clear rules, and good-faith administration. When those charged with overseeing elections fail that standard, the public deserves to know.

David Erfort River Forest

e bagging experiment failed

I’m adding my voice to the many who are hopeful that the village will return to the leaf pickup system we had before the bagging experiment. I call it an “experiment” because experience has now shown that there are substantial drawbacks to bagging. It’s not so much that bagging is extra work for residents (although it certainly is), but that half

of the leaves that fall off parkway trees fall in the street. That might be OK if the contractor swept the streets every week during leaf pickup season, but they didn’t. On our block (1150 Clinton) the street was swept the first week of leaf season (and then the big pile at the end of the street was left to compress and freeze later in the season). But it wasn’t

Another bene t of leaf-bagging?

In a Jan. 28 article [1], Wednesday Journal stated that garbage hauling was likely going out for bid in 2027. Trustee Brian Straw stated that one of the benefits of the recent change to leaf-bagging was that smaller firms that could not do leaf streetsweeping could now present a bid. If the logic of that “benefit” point escapes you, you are not alone. It totally ignores the burden, both in ter ms of additional labor and real dollars paid to lawn services, that leaf-bagging has imposed on thousands of Oak Park homeowners. To many, leaf street-sweeping was a valuable service. The opportunity to receive bids that exclude a valuable service is not by definition better, at least not for residents. So who benefits?

Many, including WJ’s own Ken Trainor [2], have complained of street leaf debris that has not been picked up. While we don’t know the intentions of the village, it certainly has been convenient that this debris,

which in the past has been the village’s responsibility, can now easily be “disposed of ” later by a passing snowplow that merely pushes it from the street to a recently homeowner-cleaned residential parkway. Many have experienced this. After all, if the homeowners cleaned the parkway once, they can clean it again, right? Public works problem solved, at no cost! What a great benefit of the new system.

Brian Straw made this choice, without input from you, in 2024. The only choice left to you will be whether to re-elect him, and others who supported this “beneficial” change, in 2027.

Sources:

(1) https://www.oakpark. com/2026/01/22/oak-park-garbage-haulinglikely-going-out-to-bid-in-2027/ (2) https://www oakpark. com/2026/01/13/no-thank-you-very-mulch

Robert Parks

Oak Park

swept after that, so the leaves matted and compressed, slowly migrated to the gutters, and caused major flooding every time it rained hard by blocking off the sewer covers. If the village needs a different contractor for leaf removal, I’m all for it

Jane Barabe

Oak Park

When the world collides

When the world collides with that which we are,

When it intrudes on our vision of right and righteousness,

That which we have nurtured

In this turbulence, together, a single crew,

We must hold fast, feel the tides, man the oars,

Follow the vibrance of the multi-hued skies,

Because we are still spinning on the axis That unites us all.

Send letters

Ken Trainor, Wednesday Journal E-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com

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

Bagging leaves failed

As a follow-up to my letter to the editor in the Jan. 28 Viewpoints section, I would like to comment on the article in the same issue regarding upcoming village board discussions over new waste hauling contracts for 2027 [Oak Park garbage hauling likely going out to bid in 2027, News, Jan. 28]. For the first time this identifies and admits to the real reason that fall leaf collection was discontinued. It was financially based … not that this wasn’t always evident, in spite of the marketing materials. Cost and labor was shifted to home and building owners. It eliminated a line item expense in the budget and opens up bidding for waste hauling services to smaller companies who can’t provide leaf services. Programs, services and assets in our community should be developed, maintained and supported based on how essential they are and what portion of the community they serve, along with an awareness of special needs. We put a high value on having good schools, a safe community, transportation

services, parks and recreation, community programs, and a thriving business environment. It is in everyone’s interest that the village remains an attractive place to live

The village board members are stewards of this responsibility and need to run a fiscally “sound ship.” I believe leaf collection represents an essential service that affects everyone and should go back into the budget.

The bag program has been a failure in that, in spite of the individual efforts of many, reliance on the homeowners to participate has not matched previous service by the village and has left a mess to deal with. I would urge the board to reconsider their decision and restore a vital service, including doing something before 2027. They should also address the changing environment regarding when the trees drop their leaves and for what rang e of time the services should be provided.

Michael Goodman Oak Park

Naomi Hildner Oak Park

On Jan. 26, Don Harmon’s political candidate committee, “Friends of Don Har mon for State Senate” contributed $35,000 [1] to Village Trustee Brian Straw’s political candidate committee, which one can safely assume is pulling double-duty these days under the banner “Brian Straw Legal Defense Fund” [2] covering the federal conspiracy case brought against Straw. But Har mon’s contribution got me thinking ...

Why doesn’t Don pick up the entire tab?

The contribution limit [1] from one candidate political committee to another is $72,800. Friends of Don Har mon for State Senate reported having an obscene $19.7 million [1] in cash on hand as of Dec. 31. There’s more than enough money here to cut another check. To them, $72,800 is a rounding error. But we’ll need more.

Helping pay for Brian Straw’s defense

Luckily, Don Harmon is the chairperson of five separate political committees!

Don’s Township Committeeman [1] committee reported $462,000. Why someone would need half a million dollars to run for a one-town township committee role no one heard of is anybody’s guess. That’s another $72,800.

Don’s State Central Committeeman [1] committee is flush with $420,000. Lucky for us, Don bailed on that race back in November. Yet another $72,800.

Don’s Democratic Party of Oak Park PAC [1] has “only” $124,000. Unfortunately, a $72,800 check would wipe out over half their balance. No worries, Don could cut DPOP a check for $72,800 from his namesake committee and make DPOP whole. All legal and, again, a rounding error.

We’ll take Don’s final PAC ISDF, NFP [1] off the table as that is meant for statewide candidates. But that’s a total of $291,200 from the other four local committees, which should cover most, if not all, of Brian’s legal costs.

This is all house money to Don Har mon anyway, who was facing $9.8 million in fines [3] for violating Illinois State Board of Elections contribution limit laws. He won that case, ironically bailed out by two board members [4] who had political ties to organizations that contributed to Harmon’s campaigns. Only in Illinois. There is no better way to battle trumpedup charges than with trumped-up funds. Fight fire with fire. Pay up, Don.

Sources:

1) All political contributions,

is case is irrational and absurd

contribution limits, and committee balances can be found on the Illinois State Board of Elections website: https://www. elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure. aspx?MID=rfZ%2buidMSDY%3d

2) Brian Straw Legal Defense Fund fundraising site: https://secure.actblue.com/ donate/strawlegaldefense

3) “Har mon avoids $9.8M in fines after state elections board deadlocks again” https://www.oakpark.com/2025/11/20/ harmon-state-election-board-deadlock/ 4) “2 Illinois Election Board Democrats Who Blocked Senate President Don Harmon Fines Have Ties to His Donors” https:// www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/14/illinois-elections-board-conflicts-harmon Nick Binotti Oak Park

Wednesday Journal’s up-to-date account of the ongoing charges against six protesters at the Broadview detention facility is beyond ironic absurdity. These six (allegedly) did what? Something about damaging an ICE vehicle. A broken windshield wiper. A damaged side-view mirror. The occupants of the vehicle, acting as part of Operation Midway Blitz — were not hurt. That’s what I read Just the facts, ma’am, right? The charges against the six? A federal conspiracy case They “conspired” to do what? Bang and push against the ICE vehicle? Or does the federal

prosecutor have proof that they were trying to force the occupants out of their ride in order to beat on them? To kill them? I mean, what am I missing here?

As I read the article, I began to channel Franz Kafka. His writings evoked an inherently absurd, irrational world. If he were still alive and a subscriber to the Journal, the Broadview Six saga would likely induce a shrug of his shoulders and a turn of the page. Business as usual as far as he would be concerned.

Sadly, this federal case is beyond irrational

Why mention ‘Jewish’ ?

I’m wondering why John Duffy saw fit to identify some local historians as Jewish in his Jan. 28 One View on Oak Park’s housing history [The long journey to inclusionary housing, Viewpoints]. Here’s the passage in question: “… the extraordinary history … told in Suburban Promised Land: The Emerging Black Community in Oak Park, Illinois, 1880-1980 (West, Sinko, Lipo, and Hughes: 2009), and … the recent work of local Jewish historians like Michael Zimora …” Why is the ethnic/religious identity of Mr. Zimora and other local historians relevant here? Duffy doesn’t tell us the ethnicities or religions of the four authors who wrote Suburban Promised Land. Singling out someone’s Jewishness in a context where it’s

not pertinent has the appearance of antisemitism.

I appreciated last week’s story on teaching about the Holocaust at Fenwick. I note that the ethnicity/religion of the teacher who attended a seminar on the subject isn’t mentioned, as was appropriate. Anyone teaching this subject needs to know how to deal with AI misinformation.

One minor correction: The article mentions the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie. Those interested in visiting should know that the Skokie museum is closed for renovations. Another museum location is open at 360 N. State in Chicago.

Judith Alexander Oak Park

and absurd. ICE agents were not har med Their vehicle (allegedly) was. The six are charged with conspiracy. Uh, well, yeah, they conspired to exercise their 1st Amendment right to assembly and to petition their gover nment regarding documented abuses by ICE agents. The defense invokes this sense of judicial overreach in the context of two U.S. citizens recently shot dead by ICE, with unassailable video evidence of each killing being absolutely unjustified.

Are any ICE agents awaiting trial for their lawless and lethal behavior? Is anyone in

the current administration being held to account for conspiring to destroy democracy? Their time will come, though when and how we get that satisfaction remains to be seen. Justice is supposed to be blind, right?

For the Broadview Six, Lady Justice is momentarily clearly out to lunch. For now, let’s call their plight Kafkaesque. Their absurd and irrational trial, however, is not a work of philosophical fictional dread

Although it certainly ought to be.

Joe Harrington Oak Park

Keep the outdoor pool

After falling on the sidewalk, I am told I was rushed by ambulance to Loyola where I was treated for a skeletal hand, four broken teeth, numerous stitches, and a fractured jaw. Not yet returning to any of Oak Park’s wonderful exercise classes, I flipped through the Land’s End swim catalo g and was reminded of my many friendships be gun at Ridg eland Common, starting in the 1970’s. For years a group of early mor ning swimmers, reluctant to cease swimming, extended our season to the rocks at Lake Michig an.

A women who swam in the same lane as I did died one summer morning: as

cantankerous as she was, we knew we were going to miss her. No memorial plans! So I passed the word that we would have a memorial service in my backyard and 13 swimmers came, each with a story.

Now we are all surprised to read that a 6 or 8 lane, 25 meter indoor pool will re place our beloved outdoor pool. Rules will have to change to accommodate the smaller space for passing. The disingenuous backtracking by our elected officials assures that we will never be Oak Park strong. My vote is No!

Pat Healey Lane 1 (slowest) lap swimmer.

TRUDI ROSS

River Forest development

from page 31

down roots and have an interest in the community and neighborhood

3) I was told a restaurant is out of the questions for the “mixed-use” retail space. What did they think might go in that space? “Maybe a coffeeshop.” Dunkin Donuts is right across Madison, Black Fodder Coffee is four blocks north, and U3 Coffee, Kribi Coffee and Starbucks are all east on Madison in Forest Park before Harlem.

4) If V-3 (or 531 Partners LLC which was the name of the developer before I lear ned differently at the board meeting) uses their own money, and have no investors as they stated, will this project take priority over others they are bidding on? Are we sure they have enough of their own funding to support all of that? I’m concerned since we saw what happened on Lake and Lathrop.

I hope other residents ask questions and attend meetings.

Trudi Ross River Forest resident

Questions

on the park pool

Re garding the Park District of Oak Park’s letter of Jan. 20, re garding the March 2026 pool referendum, “Base your pool vote on the facts” [Viewpoints], here are more facts: the PDOP is relying on a 2019 survey from 623 households and a 2023 survey from 558 respondents. (The number of respondents may be different from question to question on the surveys.) The 2019 survey stated private donations and grants would fund a new indoor pool. The 2023 survey asked about a tax increase of $90/year per $400K home. Neither survey specified that a new indoor pool would be built at Ridgeland Common. Ridgeland Common and Rehm Park are the only outdoor pools operated by the park district. A new indoor pool at Ridgeland Common would substantially reduce the capacity of the pool. Why did the PDOP change the funding source?

Why did PDOP not include the location of the proposed pool?

How is PDOP going to ensure that the voters of Oak Park are aware of the location of the proposed pool?

Marty Bernstein Oak Park

To run an obituary

Please contact Ken Trainor by e-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com before Monday at noon. Please include a photo if possible.

Al Berggren, 88 General partner, Tennis & Fitness Centre

R. Alan Berggren, 88, of Oak Park, died on Jan. 26, 2026, surrounded by his loving family Bor n on Dec. 31, 1937 in Oak Forest, he was the only surviving child of Walter & Mildred Berggren (older sister Barbara died as a newborn). They lived in a house his father and grandfather

tended Hinsdale (Central) High School, young age of 16. He attended the Uni Champaign, worked his way through colle ated with a civil engineering de year, he and Jean married and mo work at an engineering fir offered an engineering job within the Real Estate De ment at the New York love with real estate

Within years he was fir m, quickly moving up through the ranks. Finding it difficult to locate functional space for clients or operat industrial facilities within the inner city, he brought hi boss plans to develop industrial and warehouse space in the suburbs near transportation hub refused to work outside the city He resigned and star Berggren Realty Corp Development Corporation. De office buildings, and shopping centers became his passion. He led the way to de many firms quickly follo

Some of Al’s award-winning de Hinsdale Industrial Pa merce, Batavia Industrial Pa retail, and restaurant de of Butterfield and Finley in Downers Gr past president or serve COLBA, SIOR, etc. He chaired the Ethics Committee for many organizations and drafted National Guidelines for Brokerage and Ethics still in use today.

and step-granddaughter Lauren (Michael Dixon); and great-grandson Kane Dixon.

Visitation will be held at Conboy-Westchester Funeral Home, 10501 W. Cermak Road, Westchester on Wednesday, Feb. 4 from 3 to 8 p.m. The funeral Mass will be held at St. Vincent Ferrer Church (River Forest) on Feb. 5 at 10 a.m., inter ment at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Mercy Home for Children would be appreciated.

Morgan

Lewis, 44

Refer e librarian, track coach

In Oak Park, with the help of many communityminded leaders, he was instrumental in the reopening and continued success of the Tennis and Fitness Centre of Oak Park - River Forest. As its general partner, his guidance and attention to detail helped leave a wonderful asset open to the community for 42+ years.

Al was the fun-loving husband for 67 years to Jean (nee Scheldrup) Berggren; the father of Michael, Robert, Steven (Laurie Broderick), Patrick (Kristin Kramer) and the late Timothy; the son of the late Walter and Mildred Berggren; the grandfather of Steven and Laurie’s children, Alan, Jennifer and Angela, and Patrick and Kristin’s children, Sarah (Colby) Hollins, James, Alexander,

Morgan devoted his professional life to service, lear ning, and community. He worked for more than a decade in public and academic libraries throughout Chicago, most recently as a reference librarian at the Harold Washington Library Center. He also served as head track & field coach at Latin School and spent many years at YMCA Camp Pendalouan and Camp Eberhart, where his influence endures.

Above all, he cherished relationships. Friends from every chapter of life became his chosen family. One of his most treasured roles was uncle to Ellie-Simone Arthur, lovingly known as “Uncle Morgie.”

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to EllieSimone Arthur’s college fund

Morgan’s life was one of quiet brilliance, deep integrity, and enduring love. He will be deeply missed

SPORTS

Fenwick girls basketball rolls past OPRF

Molis pours in 21 points on Senior Night

By MELVIN TATE

Contributing Reporter

Fenwick High School girls basketball coach Lenae Fergerson has been steadfast in her belief that her team would start to play its best basketball as postseason nears. Judging by the outcome of the Friars’ game against visiting OPRF, Jan. 27, her prediction may be coming true.

On Senior Night, Cammie Molis tallied 21 points on 7 three-pointers as the Friars (11-14) rolled to a 54-36 victory over the Huskies (6-21).

“I’m really glad she was able to go out like this tonight,” Fergerson said. “She can do that at any given moment, you just never know when it’s going to be.” Molis is the definition of a team player.

While she was happy with her performance, she was more thrilled with the victory and how the team played.

“It feels really good because it was our rival school and it’s our last home game,” Molis said. “It felt extra special.”

Fenwick scored seven of the game’s first eight points and led 13-7 after the first quarter. Molis hit back-to-back threepointers to begin the second quarter as the Friars built a 26-18 halftime lead .

In the third, the Huskies scored just four points while Molis helped Fenwick pull away by connecting on four more 3-pointers, giving the Friars a 40-22 lead after three.

Fergerson started seniors Gia Delator re, Zoe Dray, Heaven Lee, Elissa Scholtens, and Madison Zorovich. She felt their good

COURTESY OF CAROL DUNNING

OPRF’s Tar yn Draine takes a shot against Fenwick in a non-conference game, Jan. 27. Draine had 13 points and six rebounds in the Huskies’ 54-36 loss to the Friars.

ef fort set the tone for the night.

“It’s difficult because it can go a lot of different ways,” Fergerson said. “You end up starting a different lineup than you usually do; sometimes you’ re playing girls who barely get to play so it’s like your fingers are crossed that they can hold it [t ogether] and they did. I was proud of them; they played their butts off, and you couldn’t ask for a better Senior Night. ”

Dray finished with nine points and nine rebounds, Zorovich five points, and Scholtens four points and seven rebounds.

Katara Watson had 18 points (eight in the fourth quarter) and 10 rebounds, and Taryn Draine 13 points and six rebounds for the Huskies, who have dropped eight of their past nine games

“When we’re down, we need every possession, and we didn’t execute certain things and had key turnovers,” said OPRF coach Renee Brantley. “But they fought until the end and it never really was out of control. We just can’t afford [untimely] mistakes.

“It took us too long to understand that

[Molis] was hot and we can’t leave her roaming free. We played a little bit better in the fourth quarter, but by that time, the hole we dug was too deep and we couldn’t get out of it.”

Fenwick won two more games last week to extend its winning streak to four. On Jan. 29, Avani Williams had 18 points and six rebounds to lead the Friars to a 55-29 victory at Willowbrook. Zorovich had 12 points and four steals, and Lucy McAllister added 11 points and six rebounds.

Then on Jan. 31, Williams scored 13 points and Molis added eight in a 48-9 victory at Lincoln Park. Molis and Williams were named to the All-Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division Team, with Williams, a sophomore, getting the honor for the second consecutive season.

The Friars hope to have a good showing in this week’s GCAC tournament as they look to secure a higher seed for the upcoming IHSA Class 3A Trinity Sectional.

“Once the playoffs start, it’s 0-0,” Fergerson said. “As long as we’re playing our

C AROL DUNNING

Fenw ick’s Eleanor Gibson drives toward the basket despite intense defensive pressure from OPRF’s Katara Watson (le ) and Gabriella Chesney during the Friars’ 54-36 basketball victor y over the Huskies, Jan. 27.

OPRF boys wrestling takes 3A regional

Huskies advance 13 to sectional, Fenwick quali es 10 for 2A sectional

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

The old adage, “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” describes this year’s Oak Park and River Forest High School boys wrestling team. Jason Renteria replaced Paul Collins as head coach this season, but the Huskies have sustained the high standards established by Collins.

OPRF began its postseason in impressive style on Saturday, winning the IHSA Class 3A Lane Tech Regional with 266 points. St. Patrick was second with 193 points and York was third with 146.

The Huskies had seven individuals win titles and overall advanced 13 wrestlers to the Conant Individual Sectional, which takes place Feb. 13. While Renteria realizes there’s a lot more work ahead, he expressed great satisfaction with how his team performed

“Obviously the job’s not done yet, but I’m really proud of the way they wrestled today,” he said. “The focus was definitely at an alltime high across the board. We had a couple of dudes who had to step up for some unfortunate reasons, and they definitely answered the call. [Sophomore] Zach Chasson at 120, Donovan Lopez at 175, and Danny Solano at 190, were backups the whole season, but they stepped up and killed it.”

best basketball, I’m confident we can go somewhere.”

OPRF, which lost at home 57-38 to York, Jan. 30, is looking to build positive momentum in the final week of the re gular season.

“Right now it’s just about us,” Brantley said. “It’s just executing and doing all the little things. There’s not a defense we haven’t seen, there’s not an offense we haven’t seen. It’s just about execution and ef fort.”

Girls bowling

Trinity’s Josephine Rodriguez won the individual title at the GCAC tournament,

Junior Michael Rundell, the defending 3A champion at 106 pounds, is wrestling at 113 this year and is looking like a serious contender for that title as he improved his record to 34-3 with a victory via pinfall over St. Patrick’s Jack Koenig in the final.

“It’s the first step in anyone’s state series to get [on the podium] at the end of the season,” Rundell said. “It feels good.”

He was joined in the winner’s circle by ju nior Jamiel Castleberry (29-3) at 126, junior Alex Cohen (26-13) at 132, senior Zev Koransky (26-8) at 144, senior Aiden Noyes (29-7) at 150, senior David Ogunsanya (27-3) at 157, and junior Lucas Albrecht (7-3) at 215.

“It was a definitely a step in the right direction for me,” Ogunsanya said. “I have big goals this year, and winning the regional was just the first step of many that I have to take.”

In addition to the seven champions, six other OPRF wrestlers are moving on: junior Jordan Dezara (second at 106), Chasson (second at 120), senior Isaiah Gibson (second at 138), senior Jeremiah Hernandez (second at 165), Lopez (third at 175), and senior Pierre Nelson (second at 285).

OPRF hosts a team sectional, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. The Huskies face Schaumburg in one semifinal with Maine South and St. Charles East squaring off in the other, and the winners meeting for the title.

“I’m really excited to have the team sectional at our house,” Renteria said. “Couldn’t ask for a better spot. We’ve been scratching at this trophy for the past two years and it’s time to go get it.”

held at Bowlero in Niles, Jan. 31. Her effort sparked the Blazers to a fourth-place finish as a team with 4,051 pins.

Rodriguez’s six-game total was 1,131 pins. Sophia Gonzalez (20th, 860) and Gabriella Pikulski (22nd, 849) also had top-25 finishes for Trinity.

Fenwick finished second with 4,851 pins. The Friars had five bowlers in the top 13: Mariya Mason (3rd, 1,049), Millie Ramire z (7th, 982), Josie Milewski (8th, 979), De’Ondrea Almond (11th, 927), and Jakayla Davis (13th, 914).

Fenwick and Trinity will bowl in the Morton Re gional at Bowlero in River Grove, Feb. 6.

e OPRF High School boys wrestling team won the IHSA Class 3A Lane Tech Regional, Jan. 31. e Huskies advanced 13 individuals to the Conant Individual Sectional, Feb. 13, and will host Schaumburg in a team sectional semi nal, Feb. 5.

Fenwick

The Friars finished second in the Class 2A Rickover Re gional with 180 points and qualified 10 for the Antioch Individual Sectional, Feb. 13.

“It was a great re gional,” said Fenwick coach Seth Gamino. “[Re gional champion] IC [Catholic Prep] is one of the top teams in the state for a reason, but I was proud of my team and the way they wrestled.”

Seniors Jacob Kruszewski and Zikomo Mbewe won individual titles for Fenwick At 165, Kruszewski (9-15) pinned Westinghouse’s Luke Perez at 56 seconds in the semifinals and pinned Gael Martinez-Cabrera of ITW Speer at 57 seconds in the final.

“Jacob was the number 4 seed going in and he wrestled really well,” Gamino said.

At 215, Mbewe (25-11) pinned Anthony Ke

finals and pinned Speer’s Yovany Amaya Ber rios at 2:25 in the final.

“Zikomo’s wrestling really well. It’d be very exciting if we can get him downstate,” Gamino said.

The Friars’ other advancers are freshman Palmer Brown (third at 106), sophomore Maurizio Campana (second at 113), junior Harrison Brown (second at 120), senior Solanus Daley (second at 132), sophomore Quinn Paris (third at 150), junior Burke Burns (second at 157), junior Ricardo Garcia (third at 175), and senior Adam Calicdan (third at 285).

Gamino likes how his young team has progressed.

“We’re very happy with everyone’s effort,” he said. “The guys are finally clicking these last couple of weeks. As coaches, it’s happy to see; they’ve really worked hard this last month and things are adding up.”

e Fenwick High School girls bowling team nished second at the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference tournament, Jan. 31. Front row : Josie Milewski, Jakayla Dav is, and Mariya Mason. Back: Millie Ramirez and De’Ondrea Almond.

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICES

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

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

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination. The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

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

To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-669-9777

GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA

LEGAL NOTICE

The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed Bids from qualified contractors at the Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd., Oak Park, IL 60302 Monday through Friday 7�30 a.m. to 4�00 p.m. local time until 2�00 p.m. on Wednesday February 18, 2026 for the following:

Village of Oak Park

2026 Irrigation Maintenance Bid Number: 26�106

Bid documents may be obtained from the Village’s website http://www.oak-park. us/bid. For questions, please call Public Works at �708� 358� 5700 during the hours above.

Published in Wednesday Journal February 4, 2026

LEGAL NOTICE

Village of North Riverside Joint Planning Commission Public Hearing Notice

Notice is hereby given that the Village of North Riverside Joint Planning Commission will hold a public hearing for the purpose of making a recommendation on the adoption of the Village’s first Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Date: Thursday February 19, 2026 Time: 6:00 p.m. Location: Village Hall 2401 Desplaines Avenue North Riverside, Illinois

All interested persons are invited to attend and be heard. Written comments may be submitted in advance of the hearing to phughes@northriverside-il.org.

The proposed Comprehensive Land Use Plan is available for public review on the project website at: https://egretandoxplanning. mysocialpinpoint.com/ northriverside-plans/ northriverside-comp-plan

For additional information, please contact the Community Development Department at (708) 762-5924 during regular business hours.

Published in RB Landmark February 4, 2026

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

February 1-15

Valentine’s Market at the

Oak Park Conservatory

Give your Valentine a gift that Blooms !

Shop for blooming gifts from our greenhouse for your valentine or treat yourself! Order online February 1-10 or visit the Conservatory February 10 and 15 to shop in person (10:00A-4:00P).

Locally grown and full of love, choose from blooming plants and flowers such as succulents, tropical houseplants, fresh-cut bouquets & more.

Visit oakparkconservatory.org/valentines-market

“Quality, A ordable, Independent Housing for Seniors”

Our beautiful 6-story building provides quality, a ordable, independent housing for seniors. We o er 75 studio and onebedroom apartments. Amenities include an award winning interior landscaped atrium, central meeting room, library, laundry facilities, computer learning center, internet access, electronic key entry system, parking, onsite management, and 24/7 emergency maintenance service. e Oaks is funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through HUD’s Multifamily Housing Program. Monthly rent is based on the resident’s income, with individuals paying approximately 30% of their monthly income toward rent.

114 South Humphrey, Oak Park, Il 60302

For more information, please visit us at www.oakparkha.org or contact us at 708-386-5812.

BLACK HISTORY

Fr the West Side with L e

Cover and spread photography by KENN COOK JR.

a time marked by economic strain and cultural uncertainty, staying grounded has become increasingly difficult. Anxiety is rising across the nation, and underserved communities are feeling the weight of these challenges most intensely.

Kenn Cook’s loving view of the West Side

#MyWestSideStory is a testament to the enduring strength of Chicago’s Westside, a visual diary that captures the soul of the community. Through my lens, I seek not just to document faces but to reveal lives in full: the struggles, the triumphs, and the undeniable resilience that defines this place. This project is a love letter to the streets, the culture, and the spirit that pulse through this neighborhood, honoring a Black experience too often overlooked.

I want to move beyond the headlines to show a world where life persists despite systemic hardships. Through intimate portraits and unguarded moments, this work challenges the limited narratives imposed on the Westside. These are faces of strength, unity and pride -- a counter to the nar row portrayals of crime and neglect.

This project is more than a collection of images; it is an invitation. I want viewers to feel the streets beneath their feet, hear the laughter rising from the corners, and sense the deep history in the air. It is a call to see this community not as outsiders but as part of a larger shared human experience. For the residents of the Westside, I hope these photographs reflect their power not as victims of circumstance, but as architects of their own narrative, proud of their past and empowered in their present.

From The Westside, With Love is not just a documentation of a place it is a celebration of its people. It amplifies voices too often silenced, giving them space to tell their own stories. The heart of this community beats not just in its trials, but in its triumphs, its beauty, and its unity.

Building Strength through Peace: Join us this June 4th to Kickoff National Gun Violence Awareness Month 2-Mile Walk, 5k, 8k, or Kids for Peace Sprint June 4th � 6pm The 13th Annual Race Against Gun Violence in Grant Park

The Gun Violence Prevention Expo Goes National September 24th - 26th at Hilton Chicago � FREE General Admission contact info@stridesforpeace.org for booth space CONNECT. COMMIT. CONTRIBUTE. CHANGE. www.stridesforpeace.org 200 West Madison, 2rd floor, Chicago IL 60606 Peace is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Kenn Cook Photographer

DOORS OPENING AT CENTRAL, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2023: is photograph was made at the Central Green Line stop, a point of entry into Chicago’s Westside.

‘Held in the highest esteem’

Tea party for Black and Brown girls promotes leadership

By DEBORAH BAYLISS Contributing Reporter

Black and Brown girls “understood the assignment” as they showed up wearing beautiful white dresses in a wide array of designs for Ase Production’s 5th Annual Uniquely You Tea Party held at Oak Park’s 19th Century Club Sunday after noon.

Held annually under one of five tenants -- friendship, resilience, creativity, culture and leadership -- the event is really a social and emotional workshop where elementary and middle school girls are surrounded by reinforcement to be proud of who they are and that being Black or someone of color, is a beautiful and special thing.

Juanta Griffin, Ase Productions executive director, added that because African Americans are sprinkled here and there through-

out Oak Park, Black girls are not necessarily aware that they are a part of a larger Black community until they get to junior high school.

Her daughter Yemi Griffin, now in 8th grade, attended Horace Mann Elementary School in northwest Oak Park which is predominantly white.

“So putting on events like the Tea Party is a way to help Black and Brown girls feel seen,” Griffin said.

What started with empowering Black girls in Oak Park has grown over the years to include girls from neighboring communities

“When we did that we got more girls with more experiences and we got a richer, more fulfilling workshop where the girls are really sharing, “ Griffin said.

Elementary and middle school girls are the focus of the event. With the exception of the 8th grade mothers who took part in the rite of passage ceremony, mothers are not allowed to attend so that girls feel free to express themselves

Ryann Dawson, a junior at Fenwick High School served as emcee for the event. An icebreaker session kicked off the event with 100

or so girls seated at tables covered in white tablecloths, chanting “I love being Black.”

“Speaking up, knowing when to listen,

and continuing to learn are three leadership characteristics,” Dawson told the girls, her voice filling the second-floor banquet hall

ERICA BENSON

Cook County Board Commissioner Tara Stamps asks Oak Park stude nt Oliv ia Br yant what it means to be a leader

with a kind of “Black girl magic.”

Dawson also introduced the Inaugural 2025 Uniquely You Tea Party Court made up of 8th grade girls referred to as ‘butterflies’ which symbolizes their evolution from middle to high school.

Presented with class and elegance in an upbeat manner to the delight of all in attendance, the court entered the banquet room in step with Kendrick Lamar’s “They Not Like Us.”

Wearing white cowboy hats topped with lights, the court performed a line dance to the popular “Boots on the Ground” song with fan popping and audience participation part of their routine

The “It Takes a Village” saying was put into play with people from all walks of life in Oak Park and surrounding communities including elected officials who either sponsored, in some way supported or attended the event.

State Sen. Don Harmon, Oak Park’s village clerk’s office, The Nova Collective, Suburban Unity Alliance and Westgate Flowers sponsored the event. People from the community donated all of the swag bag items that were gifted to the girls.

Khalida Himes, a social worker at Oak Park and River Forest High School and mentor fo r the event, led this year’s leadership-themed exercise centering around putting the girls in

the mindset of creating a product and owning their own company.

“I like being here because a lot of these 8th graders are going to be seeing me next year,” Himes said. “So, it’s really important for them to see a Black woman in the building.

I just love being involved with anything that’s going to help them with their social and emotional health.

It was 13-year-old Journi Bolar’s third time taking part in the event.

“I feel special and I lear n something every time.”

Sophy and Katara Watson were among the mothers and daughters who took part in what was a tearful, and emotional rite of passage ceremony for the eighth-grade girls.

they’ve received

“This event allows my daughter to be involved culturally and to experience sisterhood,” Sophy said.

Juanta and her own daughter, Yemi, were also part of the rite passage ceremony.

ERICA BENSON

Eighth-grade members of the Butter y Cour t dance during the tea party.

The ceremony was also an opportunity for words of appreciation, encouragement and support as mothers placed a gold key – symbolic of unlocking the door to the future –around their daughter’s neck.

The daughters in turn presented their mothers with a meaningful bouquet of flowers and a word describing the parenting

In a touching exchange, Juanta told her daughter that her wish for her was that when she made decisions for herself, that she would also make them for others and also fo r her community. Yemi expressed her appreciation for her mother’s hard work.

“I love being part of the event,” Yemi told Wednesday Journal prior to the ceremony. “It’s a way for [girls] of color to feel included They come here and feel supported. My main takeaway is women empowerment. I’m in a room filled with powerful women.”

Tara Stamps. 1st District Cook County commissioner, has been part of the event since the beginning

“Juanta does so much for the community at large,” Stamps said. “Specifically trying to amplify the voices, the images and the selfconfidence of Black and Brown girls in the Oak Park community which has a history of being very liberal and welcoming but that’s not always the experience of our girls.”

Vicki Scaman, Oak Park village president, was in attendance, telling Wednesday Journal the event was a display of Black excellence.

What’s behind the big numbers in participation? Griffin said she thinks it’s because people want to connect culturally and belong.

“I like cotillion culture,” Griffin said. “That’s a part of our culture that I want to reclaim. This is like a mini cotillion. Our girls deserve to be presented and held in the highest esteem and have beautiful things around them and to dress beautifully. I think this is important for all Black girls.”

SNOW CONES, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: One person hands a snow cone to another on a warm day, a simple act of care and connection.

SPLASH , CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: Children play on a hot summer day, running through sprinklers and chasing laughter across the street.

SMILE, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: is photograph captures a bright, open smile from a Westside resident.

Photography by KENN COOK JR. founder of Westside Historical Collective kenncookjr.com

QUEEN ESTHER JACKSON #2, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: Queen Esther Jackson has lived and owned her home on the Westside for over forty years.

DAYDREAMING, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: A quiet moment of pause when someone is lost in thought while the neighborhood continues around him.

MACA R THUR’S LOBB Y, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: is photograph was made inside the lobby of MacArthur’s Restaurant, a place deeply tied to my ow n memories of the Westside.

BIG & LIT TLE RALPH GO FOR A WALK , CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: A father and son walk together, their steps in rhythm with each other and the street around them.

A HOUSE IN AUSTIN, CHICAG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: is photograph shows a group of students from Nash Elementary School sitting in front of the building that houses A House In Austin.

SUN SHINE, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: is photograph was made at the Marshall High School All-Class Reunion. A young boy holds a family member closely, his body pressed into their arms, taking in the energy of the celebration

SAVING OUR PARK , CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2023: Westside residents rallied to protect Amundsen Park from a proposal to conver t it into a temporar y migrant shelter.

NO LOITERING, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: On a summer a ernoon, a group of older Black men hang outside, sharing stories and laughter.

WESTSIDE STRONG, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: #WestsideStrong

HOLDING HISTORY, CHIC AG O ’S WESTSIDE, 2024: Inside a woman’s home, a hand rests along a worn staircase banister.

Whether you’re making improvements or purchasing your first home — FPB can help make it happen.

First elected to Congress in 1996, Davis has spent 46 years in elected o ces

DEBORAH BAYLISS Contributing Reporter

As an eight-year-old son of a sharecropper in 1949 who spent his days picking and chopping cotton in the sweltering fields of Parkdale, Arkansas, Danny K. Davis could never have foreseen he would become a noted African-American member of the U.S. House of Re presentatives with a tenure spanning decades.

Davis, a Democrat who currently re presents Illinois’ 7th Congressional District that includes parts of Cook County, this summer announced his retirement from public office. He will trade Capitol Hill for quiet mornings and peaceful evenings chatting with wife Vera G. Davis. At the end of next year, Davis will have been in public office for 46 years including the 11 years he served on the Chicago City Council as an alderman prior to serving in Congress.

He said he always has seen his primary responsibility to be to help lift the lives of those that have been stuck at the bottom.

“That’s been my focus but not to the neglect of any other segment of society,” he said. “I just feel good when I see the desolate person uplifted. When I see a kid go to colle ge who wouldn’t have been able to go unless they got some help which is what we did with my scholarship fund.”

Reflecting on where it all started, Davis, born in 1941, credits his parents, his teachers and his church, for bestowing upon him the foundation necessary to reach the highest plateaus this country offers.

“We lived on a farm and my parents were sharecroppers,” Davis said in his distinguished baritone, echoing the cadence of Frederick Douglass, who was born into slavery, later a free man, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman who played a crucial role in the fight against slavery.

He added: “I had two wonderful parents. My dad finished the fourth grade when he was 19 years old. My mother finished the eighth grade. Where we lived, they didn’t always have a school and they certainly did not have a high school.”

Young Blacks who were of high school age had to go to another town to continue their education, Davis explained.

“Parkdale was real rural but the people were wonderful,” he said. “The average family size was five or six. In my family there were nine of us children. In our church we had about 10 families. When you added all the children in, there would be about 100 people at church on a Sund ay.”

Despite working hard on the farm, chopping and picking cotton and all the other labor that was necessary, along with the hardships Black families faced during those times, Davis describes his childhood as “pretty cool.”

Cong. Danny Danis has deep West

roots.

“There were always chores, including milking a cow,” he said. “You learned to do it all and generally started when you were eight or nine years old. You talk about child labor…We’d actually do what you would

call a full day’s work and you only went to school about five months out of the year.”

From the middle of July until the middle of August was referred to as the “lay by season,” meaning there was no work to be done because the crops had all been planted and cultivated. Davis explained.

The congressman moved to Chicago in 1961, after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Arkansas A.M. & N. Colle ge at 19. He subsequently earned both Master’s and Doctorate de grees respectively from Chicago State University and the Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“I was part of what you would call that last big migration wave that came from the rural South,” Davis explained. “Chicago was ‘poppin’” in the neighborhood I came to live in which was the North Lawndale community. There were just eons of people. I mean Black people were leaving the South, trying to get away from racism and there were plenty of jobs so people came.”

Things were also changing in terms of technology so work on the far ms was decreasing. The previous manpower or womanpower needed to work a farm was no longer as necessary due to farm machinery becoming more proficient.

Davis has never lived in any other area in Chicago except the West Side.

“When I got here, I had two sisters who lived here so of course my first stop was living with them,” he said. “Quite honestly, I fell in love with the West Side and decided as I sized things up, that this was where I was going to live and where I was going to try and be helpful.”

Davis had not set his sights on Congress at that point but knew he wanted to be publicly eng aged.

After working a short while for the postal service, Davis began a teaching career in the Chicago Public School system in North Lawndale at age 20, something he said he always knew he would do.

“This was during the Civil Rights Movement,” he said. “I went to meetings and listened to (Rev.) Dr. (Martin Luther) King and all of those things,” Davis said. “That was my motivation to do public work. I was teaching G.E.D. classes at one of the Urban Progress Centers when I met Ms. Rosemarie Love who was chairman of the personnel committee for the Greater Lawndale Conservation Commission.”

Love convinced Davis to leave his “good” teaching job to work for the Conservation Commission, his entry into public involvement. From there, it was a continuation of working for one agency or another.

As an alderman during the Harold Washington era, Davis was known as an inde-

pendent who was not part of the “political machine” that was still the dominant force in Chicago politics, he said.

Davis was elected to the Cook County Board where he remained for six years and was elected to Congress in 1996 and started his service in 1997.

“At the end of next year, I will have spent 30 years as a member of the House of Re presentatives,” he said.

“You’ re asking people to put their faith and trust in you to re present them and their positions on things.” Davis said of his role in public life. “So, if they’re going to give you that kind of responsibility, then you got to try and live up to it.”

Davis responded to the Trump administration’s ef for ts in turning back civil rights and other gains made over the years,

“The road has been rugged,” he said. “We made progress during the reconstruction period where we elected African Americans to public office, even two Black Senators from Mississippi. Then all of those individuals were put out. There were ef for ts to make them look bad and redistricting. These are the things that the Trump administration is doing now.”

He added: “The only thing I can figure out about the Trump administration is that they must be checked! They must be fought and we have to say ‘we’ re not going back.’ The courts in some instances have been complicit. It seems to me that some of them are following the Trump law more than they are following the constitution of the United States.”

In order to get back on track, Davis said it is time to change leadership.

“If we don’t change leadership, we don’t change our direction, so there’s no other way,” the congressman stressed. “I’m amazed at the number of people who did not vote in the last election so, everywhere I go, I’m saying vote.

Josie Ware, Davis’s scheduler and office manager, has worked with him for years.

“I am proud to have known Re p. Danny K. Davis for at least 40 years, if not more,” Ware said. “He has served in several elected government positions and has proven to be a trailblazer throughout his public service career, who always put the interest of the people he re presents first.”

Davis has two sons, Jonathan and Stacey (deceased), and is a member and Deacon of the New Galilee M.B. Church

WednesdayJournal_020426

JOURNAL

of Oak Park and River Forest

Down to two in District 97

ECHO services begin to shi responses from re dept.

Beyond Hunger plans move to va cant North Avenue grocery store

Food pantry needs special-use permit for larger site with more parking

JOURNAL

C ORRECTION

Who is the fr

Cash and endorsements continue to pour in for primary election, March 17; mail-in ballots go out this w

Two more forums

Oak Park purchases electric semi-truck, hybrid police cars

Village approves purchase of semi-truck wor $400,000 with help from state gran

ment functions

THANK YOU OUR NEXT CHAPTER SUPPORTERS

Snack and stroll

Bite Night brought out ample food per foot

Healthy Heart, Happy Life YOUR BEST LIFE with Lisa Capone

Detained trustee Muñoz tells his story of ICE’s tactics and motives

Juan Muñoz testi ed on his experience being detained by ICE

at Broadview protest

Oak Park trustee’s federal conspiracy trial could start in May

Oak

Fenwick alum Spillane prepares for Super Bowl

But Patriots’ linebacker questionable with injur y

100 Brooks students stage brief walkout over ICE actions

Lunchtime protest ended with return to classes

SC O VILLE PARK PRO TEST

SPRING BREAK* & SUMMER CAMPS

GCM’s Inside Scoop makes popular debut

Successful Brooks boys hoops coaches to step down

State, local leaders talk energy reform at OPCAN summit

In uential Oak Park environmental group hosted discussions

BITE NITE

A ag football leader, OPRF’s Brucato honored by Bears

Senior ag football linebacker gets Inspired Change Changemaker Award

Hola, bonjour, buongiorno; languages thriv at Roosevelt

Dive in during Dine-In week

SPONSORED CONTENT

DISTRIC T 97

SPILLANE

A waiting game

Oak Park police make arrests for aggravated assault

DUI arrest

Reducing responses

Free Memory Screens

SMALL BITES

Food love is in the ai

Homes

Celebrating ervation

omes and businesses honored for ving histor y’s grace

winners

CAVALC ADE OF PRIDE AWARDS

GREEN AWARDS

How it works

HEALTH AWARDS

VIEWPOINTS

C ONSCIOUS A GING e age code and

you

MARC BLESOFF

A pilgrimage in Minneapolis

is building does not work

How we can make a di erence

Jarrett Knox for judge

anks for helping your neighbors

Beyond Hunger’s growth

D97 earns respect

e pleasure of good books

TRAINOR

Questions about River Forest development

TRUDI ROSS

Building proposal lacks sustainability

WEDNESD AY

Viewpoints Guidelines

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

My vote is for Dr. Fisher

Mohr is a better site

What a bad year

Kindness is always possible