W E D N E S D A Y
February 13, 2019 Vol. 36, No. 20 ONE DOLLAR
JOURNAL
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of Oak Park and River Forest
Reality vs. progress on equity stark Celebration prompts a newspaper to reflect on racial progress By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
There could perhaps be no starker illustration of the divide between Oak Park’s lofty image of itself as a bastion of racial diversity and the much less airy reality than last Friday night’s celebration at Dominican University. Two of Wednesday Journal’s most valuable platforms — its regular Wednesday Journal Conversations series and its annual Villager of the Year distinction, given each year to notably newsworthy residents of Oak Park and River Forest — merged during a panel discussion featuring the 2018 Villagers of the Year. The event was the brainchild of Dominican University President Donna Carroll. On the panel, last year’s designees — District 200 Board President Jackie Moore, Oak Park filmmaker Steve James and River Forest District 90 Board President Ralph Martire — talked about the strides the villages have made in the area of racial equity during a conversation moderated by Frances Kraft. More than a dozen of the roughly 150 audience members were Villagers of the Year from years past. If they were in attendance they were asked to stand. For Dan Haley, Wednesday Journal’s publisher, assessing some 33 years of Villagers of the Year in Oak Park was both illuminating and indicting. Haley said that staffers scoured the archives to identify past winners before attempting See Equity on page 13
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
ANOTHER VICTIM: River Forest resident Jon Reith was carjacked at gunpoint in the parking lot of Kids Unlimited Therapy Services, 820 North Blvd. (above), on the evening of Feb. 4. He had to get his two small children out of the vehicle before carjackers could take the vehicle.
‘I’ve got to get my kids’
River Forest resident tells his story after carjacking in Oak Park By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
In early February, River Forest resident Jon Reith, a graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School and lifelong resident of the area, joined a growing number of residents who have been
carjacking victims. There have been at least six carjackings or attempted carjackings in Oak Park since the beginning of the year, and at least two other thefts of vehicles that were left running and unattended. Reith wasn’t the only victim of the armed carjacking that took place in the parking lot next to Kids Unlimited Ther-
apy Services, 820 North Boulevard, on the evening of Monday, Jan. 4 – his two small children, ages 4 and 5, were in the back seat of the car when he was robbed of his vehicle at gunpoint. “Give me you f---ing keys; we’re taking the f---ing car. Get out of the car before I fSee CARJACKING on page 15