FACING UNREST, OAK PARK DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY
JOURNAL Page 10
June 3, 2020 Vol. 40, No. 45 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
The looting of our minds
F
or me, it started on Sunday afternoon. I was driving east on Madison into the city to get a sense of the mood, expecting to see what I had gotten used to seeing in the five years of protests and parades and Lollapaloozas that have gripped the Loop, but have no stronghold on the West Side, where chaos and euphoria — rather than coming in fits and starts — constitutes simply living. Here, the stores are already boarded up, shards of glass are always and forever being swept away. Here, the pain of loss or of some injustice is always lamented. There are always protests (and, yes, against crime perpetrated by people other than the police). Here, life goes on after a million minor tragedies. And that’s how the trip started and continued a block after crossing Austin Boulevard (I remember being relieved, as I always am, by the sight of the 15th District police headquarters). But as I drove east past Laramie and Lavergne and Cicero, I gradually became even more tense than I typically am on the West Side. The traffic slowed for bodies walking frenetically into the street. Vehicles uturned in front and beside mine. Those cars that always wrack my nerves: the threatening-looking ones with tinted windows and overlarge rims blaring overloud, bass-heavy rap swerved in and out of gaps between other cars at a standstill. I drove a few more blocks east and no-
MICHAEL ROMAIN
See ROMAIN on page 14
OPRF grads lead protest at village hall By JAMES KAY Staff Writer
With protests and looting happening across the globe in response to a police officer murdering Minnesota resident George
Floyd, a group of Oak Park and River Forest High School seniors banded together to lead a peaceful protest at Oak Park’s village hall on May 31. During the 40-minute event, organizers of the protest shared heartfelt messages to
a crowd of around 200 attendees to express their outrage over law enforcement abusing their power at the expense of black and brown people. Members of the community held up signs that read “Black Power,” See STUDENTS on page 14
SUBSCRIBE! O N LY $ 38 A Y E A R !
@OakPark.com/subscribe • Enter “FREE MONTH” in comments for...you guessed it...a FREE month!
2
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Farmers Market different but still ‘the happy place’ By MELISSA ELSMO Oak Park Eats Editor
The Oak Park Farmers Market opened Saturday for its 45th season on a sunny day amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The market was heavily modified to ensure social distancing and Oak Park police presence helped exude a feeling of calm over the market in the wake of Chicago protests. The village happily welcomed more than 1,750 customers to Saturday’s market. All 50 preorders made through the What’s Good app were successfully aggregated and picked up by noon. “The success of the first market was a huge team effort,” say Oak Park Farmers Market Manager, Colleen McNichols. “It was a happy day for everyone.” The Department of Public Works worked diligently to physically set the modified market up for success. The swift completion of paving on the corner of Scoville and Lake Street and the building of handwashing stations were both instrumental in the success of opening day. Additionally, the department delivered barricades, placed cones and created signage for the market. “The village board, village manager, village staff and volunteers were all instrumental in the success of the first day of this year’s re-imagined market,” said Cam Davis, village staff liaison to the farmers market.
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
“Cam is a true professional and worked very hard to make sure we could continue the farmers market, with necessary safety measure in a pandemic,” said Village Manager Cara Pavlicek. “What looked so easy only happened because of his leadership and tenacity to meet public expectations with the support of many village staff.” Staff and volunteers were enthusiastic and brought a positive energy to the market
as they ushered attendees through the entry process. A quick-moving line formed at the corner of Scoville and Lake and extended to East Avenue; wait times hovered around 15 minutes. Mask-clad guests were counted on their way in and out of the market, leaving plenty of room for customers to roam. “It was such an enjoyable experience,” said Penelope Ferringno, a market goer and Oak Park resident. “I am not kidding I al-
most prefer this new layout.” Customers moved in one direction through the no-touch market and pedestrian traffic clogged slightly at the corner of Scoville and South Boulevard. Village staff are considering tweaking vendor placements on South Boulevard to facilitate better flow through the market. “Safety was our main goal and residents seemed happy about the availability of so much great fresh food,” said Davis. Sarah Thomas, manager of the Brookfield Farmers Market set to open June 6, attended the Oak Park Farmers Market for the firsttime last weekend. “I just got off of a Zoom meeting with my team discussing the success of the Oak Park market and what things we need to have in place for next week,” said Thomas. “They did an excellent job and I learned a great deal from them.” McNichols said village staff listened to all suggestions and feedback offered at the information tent on opening day. There is hope assistance can be offered to seniors looking to traverse the market in-person in the future. Only one unhappy young customer was discovered crying simply because Pilgrim Church had run out of donuts. “This community never gives up on the market,” said McNichols. “We have maintained the spirit of this 45-year-old market. It is still Oak Park’s happy place.”
Restaurants finally open, suddenly closed
Worries shutter patios in Oak Park, Forest Park By MELISSA ESLMO Oak Park Eats Editor
The threat of vandalism and looting related to the protests surrounding the death of George Floyd impacted local restaurants beginning on Sunday evening. The upheaval came days after Illinois entered phase three of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois recovery program allowing patio dining at local restaurants. As violence loomed restauranteurs, fearing property damage, quickly stowed away patio furniture and sent their cooks and waitstaff home to keep their customers and employees safe.
Il Vicolo Il Vicolo, 116 N. Oak Park Ave, closed at 5:30 on Sunday evening despite having an abundance of patio reservations. The Village of Oak Park recommended business operators should prepare “to close should they feel it necessary.” “I would have liked a little more direction last night,” said manager Andrew Bejlovec.
“We checked in with a few other restaurants and we as a block we decided to close up to keep our customers and staff safe.” Il Vicolo, like all local restaurants, has been struggling to survive during the COVID-19 outbreak and welcomed the return of patio dining last Friday to help boost the Italian restaurant’s seating capacity. Just two days later, however, threats of vandalism and violence impacted operating hours. Bejlovec would have like to have seen police in the area communicating with restaurant owners exactly how safe it was to be out and about “It feels like war time,” said Bejlovec, “This is a tough balancing act. It was a difficult decision to close, but we know we did the right thing. We hope the violence doesn’t come to Oak Park.” Il Vicolo is currently taking patio reservations for lunch and dinner. Should the restaurant need to close early because of threats of violence, Bejlovec assures Il Vicolo will clearly communicate changes to customers holding reservations.
Scratch on Lake “I didn’t have much information when I closed Scratch on Lake for the day,” said owner Patrick O’Brien. “but I had already
closed my Forest Park location, so I decided to do the same at my Oak Park restaurants.” Oak Park had been cooperative in helping Scratch on Lake, 733 Lake St., Oak Park, reopen their patio as swiftly as possible and just days after opening threats of volatile protests forced the burger joint to close early yesterday. As the sun came up the next morning, however, O’Brien, brought the patio back to life on Lake Street. He noted that big box stores seem to be most targeted by looters and felt comforted by fact the Lake Street construction protected his restaurant from potential vandals. On the flipside, O’Brien opted to keep District Kitchen and Tap and Scratch Kitchen and Lounge open for carry out and delivery only. O’Brien is prepared to pack up the Lake Street patio again if it becomes necessary. “This is all random and people are on high alert,” said O’Brien. “I do feel demoralized. This feels like a gut punch right after we were able to open again.”
Amy’s Winehouse Mark Callahan, co-owner of Amy’s Winehouse, 7235 W. Roosevelt Rd., Forest Park, lives above his restaurant. When Forest Park police entered the area to close up
nearby Walgreens, they stopped by the restaurant to encourage the owner to close for the day. “It all started around 4 p.m.,” said Callahan. “They told me I had a constitutional right to stay open but said it would be safer if I closed for the day.” This came as just another blow to Amy’s Winehouse. Business at the Roosevelt Road eatery has been down 80 percent since COVID-19 closed dining rooms in Illinois and the building suffered significant flood damage in mid-May. Now, days after reopening his secluded restaurant patio, volatile circumstances are impacting his business once again. “I think everyone is wary of what could be next,” said Callahan who is looking into terrorist and flood insurance for his business. “If these people are not held accountable for the death [of George Floyd] this could be restoked all over again.” Callahan looks forward to the day when more people feel ready to venture out into the world again. For those that do, Amy’s Winehouse offers carry-out, delivery and patio seating. “Nothing lasts forever, and we will try our best to outlast this,” said Callahan.
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
3
Vandalism continues in Oak Park and River Forest
Looting minor as some stores proactively board windows By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
Vandalism, looting and rioting have occurred throughout the nation, accompanying mass protests following the death of George Floyd, an African American man who died under the knee of a now fired and charged white Minneapolis police officer. Oak Park and River Forest have not gone unscathed, with multiple properties damaged in both villages. Two women smashed the front window of EcoKarat Jewelry, 131 N. Marion St. in Oak Park, and stole merchandise the afternoon of June 1 before fleeing in a car. The car caught fire during its attempted escape and ended up in a village parking enclave at Austin Boulevard and Randolph. A second vehicle also caught fire. Oak Park fire personnel put out the fire. However, the wit-
Austin looted as residents lament
‘It is sad to watch as more Black lives are lost and property is destroyed,’ By MICHAEL ROMAIN and DAN HALEY Staff Reporter and Publisher
It was a Sunday afternoon of contrasts in Austin. On North Austin Boulevard an eighth grader in cap and gown posed in front of congratulatory signs and balloons. A mile away, in the shopping mall at North Avenue and Cicero, looters ran across a chaotic street shedding empty shoe boxes as they ran. The Forman Mills store was wide open as were stores further west in the strip mall. Lines were long at McDonald’s and Popeyes drive thru lanes, but small liquor stores and cell phone shops were broken into and looted from North Avenue to Madison along Cicero. Cars doubled and tripled parked on Cicero near Lake Street as a small liquor store was looted at 3:30. Ninety minutes
ness could not identify the woman driving as having participated in the burglary. A 27-year-old woman was charged with looting and burglary in connection with the jewelry store break in. Also in Oak Park, Tobacco & Vape, 6415 North Ave., was burglarized at about 10 p.m., June 1 after a window was smashed. The clerk at Denny’s, 711 N. Harlem Ave., was held at gunpoint and $150 was taken at 9:50 p.m., June 1. Oak Park police detained two juveniles in connection with an attempted break in at CFSC Currency Exchange, 1147 Madison St., at about 3:20 a.m., June 2. Eight businesses in Oak Park and one in River Forest were damaged overnight May 31, despite curfews in both villages imposed to limit vandalism and looting to local businesses. Neither Oak Park police nor River Forest police made any arrests for that day. In River Forest, vandals hit the CVS located at 7929 North Ave. “A couple of subjects broke the front doors, went inside and made off with a couple of bottles of liquor. No arrests, citations,
later a larger liquor store near the same intersection was broken into on the east side of Cicero. Earlier in the day, at around 1 p.m., people crowded around the Family Dollar at 4247 W. Madison St., as afternoon traffic slowed to a stand-still. A man with a large cardboard box crossed the street while commotion grew outside of the store. No police presence was detected in the area. About five minutes later, however, squad cars were seen speeding west on Washington Boulevard. Teenagers piled out of the back seats of cars and into traffic when drivers could not park. Meanwhile on nearby side streets residents gathered on porches enjoying the cool, sunny afternoon. Chicago police had a slight presence for much of Sunday afternoon though dozens of officers in riot gear made stands at two different spots on Madison Street. At 4 p.m. they were stretched across Madison at Cicero. But just after 5 p.m. the corner was dominated by the fire department as it put down a smoky fire in the old storefront – a cell phone store -- on the southeast corner of the intersection. “They shouldn’t be burning up shit,” one man standing on Madison, just east of Kostner, told a Chicago Tribune reporter. “I can’t even go the store now to (buy) liquor. All (that) is not going to help with nothing.” Oak Park police blocked Chicago Avenue at Austin Boulevard before 3 p.m. to keep cars from entering the city. Oak Park Commander Dave Jacobson said the intersection had been blocked at the request of Chicago police “to try to calm things in Austin.” Asked where problem spots existed there, Jacobson said, “pretty much in all of Austin.” Oak Park police were evident at the Austin Boulevard intersections at Madison
or other damage has occurred,” said River Forest Police Chief Jim O’Shea. The previous night in River Forest, a group of people attempted to rob the 7-Eleven convenience store at 1140 N. Harlem Ave. “We had an armed robbery crew that was active in the city and suburbs try to enter our 7-Eleven on Harlem,” said O’Shea. “The clerk had locked the door earlier and the offenders cracked the glass on the door but did not make entry.” Half of the businesses in Oak Park damaged the night of May 31 are located on North Avenue, including PCS Metro cell phone store, 6319 North Ave.; A-1 Pawn Shop, 6151 North Ave.; PNC Bank, 6621 North Ave.; and Suds 2000 laundromat, 6045 North Ave. Suds 2000 received an estimated $20,000 worth of damage, after the offenders broke into the business and damaged a vending machine, a washing machine card vending machine, as well as an ATM, which they unsuccessfully attempted to steal, according to police reports. MedMen marijuana dispensary, 1132 Lake St.; Oak Park Jewelers, 101 S. Marion St.;
Walgreens, 811 Madison St.; and Dream Town shoe store, 4 Madison St., are among other Oak Park businesses to have sustained damage May 31. On the Chicago side of North Avenue, MY Beauty Supply, 6014 W. North Ave., and Pru/ Utopia hair salon, 6118 W. North Ave., have windows boarded up. The activity in Oak Park calmed around 1:30 a.m., June 1. As of that day, Oak Park police officers have made no arrests regarding the vandalism and break ins. “Two suspects were detained in connection with Metro PCS incident, but the business owner declined to sign a complaint,” said Oak Park spokesman David Powers. “A juvenile was detained in connection with the MedMen incident and turned over to parents. Police determined the juvenile did not cause the damage but had entered the business through a broken window.” “Last night was an incredibly tough one for police,” said Powers in a June 1 email to Wednesday Journal. “Tonight could be, too.”
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
CLEAN UP: Workers cover the windows and close the station on Monday, June 1, 2020, at a Citgo gas station on Chicago Avenue in the Austin neighborhood. Street and North Avenue, but as of late afternoon those intersections were open. Karl Brinson, the president of the Westside Branch NAACP and a longtime Austin resident, said he was getting frequent calls about the looting. In response to the unrest, Brinson released a statement. “Never burned one building or car. Never robbed or looted one store. Never destroyed this beautiful city but have effectively worked to save the world. It is sad to watch as more Black lives are lost and property is destroyed,” Brinson said. “Five years ago we made a clear and articulate request for police reform. For we could foresee actions like this on the horizon. As you know we have had to bring legal actions against the city, we uncovered and revealed your actions regarding a decades old, unjust collective bargaining agreement, and to date, no avail. We gave directions to save our city and it falls on deaf ears. Noth-
ing we have asked for has ever been enacted. Just words on words. Chicago is a leader in the nation with the strongest, most ignored consent decree in the country.” Hours before the looting ramped up on Sunday, First District Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, a lifelong Austin resident, struck a note of resolve on his morning talk show. “Though I find it difficult to rest in this moment, I do believe we can locate peace,” he said, addressing the national outrage that has followed the May 25 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. “We can locate a level of rest that has been afforded those who maintain a position of privilege,” he said. “Even though sometimes it’s difficult to find rest in the literal sense, I do believe that there is a resolve that our people possess that allows for us to find comfort and solace even in the midst of turmoil.”
4
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
BIG WEEK June 3 - 10 Books & Brews: Daisy Jones & The Six Tuesday, June 9, 7 to 8 p.m., Zoom through Oak Park Public Library At Books and Brews expect stimulating conversation about fiction and nonfiction titles in a social atmosphere, and no pressure to finish the book if you run out of time. Meet new friends, discuss books and enjoy some drinks virtually. In Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, two rising 70s rock-and-roll artists are catapulted into stardom by a producer who puts them together, a decision complicated by a pregnancy and the seductions of fame. Ebooks available through Hoopla, Media on Demand and Libby. Register: oppl.org/calendar
BASE Camp Inspired Kits
Bring the Zoo to You Live Chats
Sign up now; pickups will begin June 15 BASE Camp is on hiatus, but The Oak Park Education Foundation has activity kits inspired by their popular summertime camp experiences. Each kit has a specific focus, such as art or engineering; a recommended grade range; supplies for an assortment of home-based projects; written instructions and video tutorials led by BASE Camp teachers. More: opef.org/base-camp-2/
Weekdays, 11 to 11:30 a.m., Facebook.com/BrookfieldZoo Join Animal Care Specialists and a live animal each day for an educational talk. When animals of the day are posted, post questions in the comments section and zoo staff will try to answer them after the talk. Previous live events may be viewed anytime on Facebook and the Brookfield Zoo YouTube channel. Also, download educational and fun activities for kids at CZS.org/ BringTheZooToYou!
Midday Meditation Thursday, June 4, Noon to 12:30 p.m., Zoom through Oak Park Public Library Join others during an instructor-led meditation session by Betsy Grimm. Register: oppl.org/calendar
WrightSites SitesxxPechaKucha PechaKucha Wright Monday, June 8, 8 to 10 p.m., Zoom Monday, June 8, 8 to 10 p.m., Zoom See the best of Frank Lloyd Wright in an event featurSee the best of Frank Lloyd Wright in an event featuring ing the highly-visual and efficient PechaKucha style, the highly-visual and efficient PechaKucha style, which which consists of 20 image-based slides for 20 seconds consists of 20 image-based slides for 20 seconds each. each. Curators from Frank Lloyd Wright’s public and Curators from Frank Lloyd Wright’s public and private private buildings, including local executive director buildings, including local executive director of Unity of Unity Temple Heidi Ruehle, will offer their insights Temple Heidi Ruehle, will offer their insights with 20 x 20 with 20 x 20 talks in honor of Wright’s 153rd birthday. talks in honor of Wright’s 153rd birthday. Register/more: Register/more: pechakucha.com/events/wright-sitespechakucha.com/events/wright-sites-x-pechakucha-live x-pechakucha-live
2020 Census Respond Now Take ten minutes to fill out census data and help your community get funds for important social services and projects, such as health clinics, fire departments, schools, roads and highways. Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year. Go to: 2020census.gov, or call: 844-330-2020.
Spanish Conversation Hour Conversación en español Saturday, June 6, 3 to 4 p.m., Zoom through Oak Park Library Join in a casual hour of open conversation with other Spanish speakers to practice the language. Those with basic conversation skills to tellers of long stories are all welcome. This is not a class or formal lesson. Register: oppl.org/calendar
Fiber Fun Nights Wednesdays, 6 to 9 p.m., Zoom The stitching and creating typically held at Dye Hard Yarns continue at home virtually. The shop is also taking merchandise orders, and is offering video concierge service and free curbside pickup. Zoom sign up/more: dyehardyarns.com/pages/new-covid-19-shelter-inplace-services. 210 Harrison, Oak Park.
Physically Distant: Socially Connected Art Show See student art created during remote learning led by District 97 art teachers. Some art is in windows or installations on students’ properties, so take a walk around Oak Park and see what you find. And, art can be viewed online: sites.google.com/op97.org/d97-rl-artexhibition-2020/home
One Earth Film Fest Virtual Screenings and Discussions When the film festival went virtual in March, programming was recorded. Now, viewers can see a choice of several films, including family-friendly selections, in their own homes along with accompanying discussions. Choices include Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution, The Human Element, The Biggest Little Farm, Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, Why We Cycle, Monty and Rose and Hike the Divide. For kids, there’s No Time to Waste, The Impossible Way and We Can All Help the Earth! A Young Filmmakers Contest honorable mention winners reel is also available. Selections are free or offered with a small charge. More: oneearthfilmfest.org/virtualscreenings
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
I
A dark week. A little hope
t has been a terrible week. In Oak Park. In Austin. And stretching out from there. Nothing culminates right now. But certainly we reached some sort of moment Monday afternoon when Donald Trump exited the bunker, had peaceful protesters driven from Lafayette Park with tear gas and gave a disorienting speech about sending military forces into American cities to put down what he is on the verge of labeling an insurrection. We are in trouble. And it is certainly not from heart-wrenching and overdue protests of systemic racism in our policing, nor even from the frightening and destructive looting racking our neighborhoods. We’re in trouble from the top. But the trouble brings sharp contrasts with the hope that is out there when you go looking. Sunday was a day of jarring contrasts as we went about the work of reporting on our neighborhoods. Just before 1 p.m. I was on the green behind Oak Park’s village hall as brave and eloquent members of OPRF’s class of 2020 convened a protest. It was peaceful. It was pointed. Outside of the organizers, it was too white — a chronic Oak Park issue. The protest took place with the logistical support of the Oak Park police — bathrooms open, handwashing station provided — but police made no public showing there, which was reassuring. God knows this was not the gathering these kids deserve to cap their OPRF years. But in the moment, it felt right. Later I spent three hours in Austin where we publish the Austin Weekly News. As noted in a news article elsewhere in the paper, it was Austin showing its loving and ragged extremes. The side streets on a perfect Sunday were filled with families on their porches, graduations being celebrated with COVID precautions. And in hot spots along Cicero Avenue there was out of control looting of liquor stores and shoes stores and cellphone stores. An old storefront burned at Madison and Cicero until the fire department doused it. There was no pretense of protest along Cicero Avenue Sunday. This was opportunistic, sometimes giddy, criminal action. Curious and scary to watch up close as, for some hours, the thinly held norms we mainly follow fell away. The greatest danger
DAN HALEY
Sunday in those limited hot spots was drivers on the wrong side of the street, at high speeds, ignoring red lights and the looters, largely but not exclusively young, darting between the cars. We report today on the godawful predicament of our favorite local restaurants, all at the brink, many finally open for limited outdoor seating as COVID-19 restrictions ease and now making day-by-day decisions if it safe to open at all, owing to violence and danger. Talked Monday to a longtime restaurant owner without a history of outdoor seating who is not yet allowed to improvise some solution. Oak Park’s village government is two weeks behind on this one. These eateries needed proactive approval to close parking spaces, set up tables and make some money. Now. Waiving permits and fees is good. But not getting them open last weekend is a fail. George Konstantos, owner of George’s on Oak Park Avenue, looking over his mask, said to me with desperation, “I’m going to lose everything
OAK PARK SCHOOL OF MUSIC
2020 SUMM ER CA MPS!
SHAKIN' MOVIN' GROOVIN'
MUSIC, ART, READING, & OUTDOOR RECREATION PIANO OR DRUM LESSON EVERY DAY! K - 6TH GRADE WEEKLY OPTIONS 6/15 - 7/31
We are in trouble. And it
is certainly not from heartwrenching and overdue protests of systemic racism in our policing, nor even from the frightening and destructive looting racking our neighborhoods. We’re in trouble from the top.
I have.” Back in the paper we carry the obit for Frank Muriello. Once a village trustee, the longtime head of the Residence Corporation, a pillar of Ascension Church, a man with a family, and, yes, one of those early investors in Wednesday Journal. Ed Solan, who followed Frank at the Residence Corporation, was precisely right when he said Frank Muriello — second generation Italian immigrant, who grew up above his family’s grocery at Madison and East — belongs in the top echelon of bold, inclusive, pragmatic, caring thinkers who shaped Oak Park’s experiment in race and integration starting in the late 1960s. This was a good man. And finally, because it is important for a newspaper columnist to correct his mistakes and because it can’t hurt to think about something else, two readers have set me straight on what business preceded Pieritz Bros. at Ridgeland and South Boulevard. I had the fancy dress store part right. But the wrong name. Peck & Peck sold its fancy dresses at Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street, now home to Courageous Cupcakes. Claudia, owner of Claudia’s, sold fancy dresses in what then became Pieritz. Final answer.
To learn more and register, visit: oakparkmusic.com/camps
Apartment living with congregate services
114 South Humphrey Oak Park, IL 60302
T
his property with its architecturally award-winning atrium, provides seniors and persons with disabilities with parking, library, laundry room, wellness center and other conveniences. A service coordinator is on staff to assist tenants who may need additional services. The units are studio and one bedroom, each with electric appliances, tile bath, and wall to wall carpeting. Modern fire and safety systems are installed in each apartment and common areas of the building. There are 8 accessible one bedroom units for the mobility impaired. The Oaks is owned and operated by the Oak Park Residence Corporation and is funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through the 202/section 8 Program. Residents pay approximately 30% of their monthly income for rent. For additional information, please visit our web site at www.oakparkha.org or contact us at 708-386-5812.
5
6
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
ART BEAT
HARD, SCARY TIMES FOR LOCAL WRIGHT, With live birthplace tours out, Hemingway home goes virtual By MICHELLE DYBAL Arts Editor
When a nonprofit’s main source of revenue comes from having in-person group tours, how does it go on when it is shut down? This is the question the Hemingway Foundation faced since the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Home, 339 N. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, closed its doors in mid-March. The home brings in $10,000 to $15,000 each month from its tours, according to Executive Director Keith Strom. He also said 40 percent of visitors are international travelers. “We depend on people coming to this place,” said Strom. “And this is our high season.” Tours are led by volunteer docents, many older and in a high-risk category for complications if they become ill from COVID-19, said Strom. The hoped for solution for the foundation, implemented May 22, is live virtual tours. Up to 15 visitors can sign up for each tour and a docent leads an interactive experience through the birthplace home, sharing stories of Ernest Hemingway, his family and his early years in Oak Park, while answering visitors’ questions along the way. The usual $15 per person charge applies.
To start, only one docent is leading tours to make sure all goes smoothly and to trouble shoot any technical problems that may arise before other docents are trained. The tours are being offered twice each day, Wednesday through Sundays. The Hemingway Foundation has been affected financially in other ways during the pandemic. It’s annual gala, which takes place in May at a local venue, was canceled this year. The income from the gala accounts for 10 to 15 percent of the foundation’s budget. It is as much a way to raise community awareness as it is a fundraiser, according to Strom. The event also launches an annual publication, which is the result of a writing contest for both adults and teens, Hemingway Shorts. The fifth annual Hemingway Shorts was not thwarted from being published, however. Fiction writers, especially those who have never been published, are invited to submit short stories for consideration with a deadline in April. The works of one overall winner and 10 finalists are put into the publication.
Oak Park and River Forest High School juniors are also invited to enter a writing contest. The 2020 overall winner, who receives a $1,000 college scholarship, is Allen White. Scholarship finalists are Jackson Tanner and Eleanor Sigel. A high school senior writer was recognized this year with a new scholarship that honors Allan O. Baldwin, former Hemingway Foundation chair who died last year. Ella Haas received that $1,000 college scholarship. All four students’ work are featured in Hemingway Shorts. All the writers who are published in Hemingway Shorts are invited to attend the gala. The writers for 2020 come from as near as Chicago and as far as Trinidad and Tobago. “We usually meet the students and adults in person at the gala,” Strom said. “For the students, especially, I am going to miss seeing the smiles on their faces.” The top junior is also given an opportunity to work with the Hemingway Foundation’s Writer in Residence, currently Laura
Young, as a mentor during senior year. As part of being a Writer in Residence at the Hemingway Birthplace Home, the attic space is available to use as a creative haven. Young has been able to continue to not only work there, but have access to the whole house, according to Strom, and bring her children, the bright side to cancelled tours. Young has also finished her book, The Butcher, while working there. The foundation received a Small Business Administration/Paycheck Protection Program loan but were denied Arts for Illinois Relief Fund money and await word on an Illinois Humanities grant. Other canceled events, such at the annual Hemingway 8K Running for the Bulls Race, planned for July 18, and a Friday @ Hemingways featuring singer Jenny Bienemann, slated for June 19, continue to reduce visibility as well as cash flow. Instead, the nonprofit is appealing to donors, considering options for an online fundraiser and hoping virtual live tours will keep them on track financially. They are also introducing a new member benefit, which includes a workspace for the day – the opportunity, through a sign up, to work in the birthplace home.
Art League auction of paintings beats expectations $20,000 will fund repairs, scholarships, virtual classes By MICHELLE DYBAL Arts Editor
Paintings from the Oak Park Art League’s (OPAL) permanent collection were auctioned last month, resulting in just over $20,000 for the nonprofit – more than anticipated. Storing and maintaining the works were not part of OPAL’s mission, Jill Kramer Goldstein, executive director, said at the time. “We’re more about offering opportunities for artists -- professionals and students -- to learn and grow in the arts,” she said. The 17 works, chosen from a larger group of 40 to 50 by Toomey & Co fine art experts, sold for a total of $29,397. That sum includes buyer premiums, 25 or 30 percent added to the gavel price to offset Toomey’s costs of running the business. Several works sold well above auction estimates. For Kramer Goldstein, an online auction was new to her. She followed from home since an in-person auction could not be held at Toomey’s Oak Park auction house and showroom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As I watched the bids continue to rise on the first items,
the pair of Carl Krafft landscape paintings, I was shaking my head, thinking there must be a glitch or something wrong with my computer,” Kramer Goldstein said. “When I saw the winning bid amount, I started yelling and called to my family, ‘You are not going to believe this!’” Carl Krafft was a founder of the Oak Park Art League. His oil on panel “Through the Woods,” estimated at $1,000 to $2,000 sold for $6,500. Another landscape by him with the same pre-auction estimate sold for nearly $3,000. John Thomas Nolf ’s oil “Girl in the Woods” also far exceeded its preauction estimate and sold for nearly $6,000. “OPAL can now seriously address some of the programming, scholarship and maintenance issues that have been put off for a while,” Kramer Goldstein said of their plans to use the funds. “Minor upgrades to the gallery and studio lighting will be addressed as well as establishing a sound scholarship fund for youth.” “With the recent disruption to in-person classes and workshops due to the pandemic,” she said, “we will be using some of the funds to establish new online programming so that our teachers, students and staff can remain connected and engaged.”
WINDFALL: John Thomas Nolf ’s oil “Girl in the Woods” sold for nearly $6,000.
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
7
ART BEAT
HEMINGWAY LEGACY INSTITUTIONS Wright Trust ‘in stage of surviving’ says chief after 13 layoffs Home & Studio hopes to reopen partially in June By LACEY SIKORA Real Estate Editor
On May 21, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust laid off 13 employees, 25 percent of its workforce. Celeste Adams, Trust president and CEO, said the layoffs are directly tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have been hard hit for an extended period of time. If you had told me in March, I would not have believed that we would be closed until June. The situation has evolved.” The Trust initially furloughed employees in March, with the hopes that those employees could return. Since that time, Adams said a small crisis team has worked reduced hours for reduced pay to try to raise needed funds to support the Trust. She said as it became clear that the immediate future of the Trust had changed, it was clear that cuts had to be made. Adams characterized the lay offs as very difficult. “Our organization has always had a family spirit. Our offices are in a house, and we function as a family,” she said. A laid-off employee who requested anonymity said that family spirit made the lay-offs hard, particularly when some employees were fired via email. “One of the most difficult pieces was that this was not just a job. It was something I was passion-
ate about. My co-workers and the volunteers are all so passionate about architecture and preservation. “On the flip-side,” the person said, “I see the potential difficulty for the Trust to rebound and see how truly difficult the financial situation must be for them to have to do this.” Adams said of the lay-offs, “They are across the board from senior level to staff. We did not eliminate a department.” The laid-off employee said though that the eliminated positions don’t necessarily reflect a thoughtful response to the pandemic. “Certain positions make sense with the changing environment for the next year. But there are some that have us all scratching our heads. We’re asking will they be able to make it through with volunteers stepping up and a skeletal staff ?” The former employee said, “We get it. If there’s no money, there’s no money, but the question is: Did they really make the best-informed decisions to provide the framework to keep things going? Some people essential to the everyday are no longer there.” “Many of us are feeling that leadership will try to create a narrative of this being COVID-related, but some of us see it as the Trust being unprepared for a long time for an unusual event. We should have been better prepared,” the person said. A second employee who was laid off and also asked to remain anonymous questions the financial stability of the Trust. “We’re
not coming from a place where we’re disgruntled about the effects of COVID. In my opinion, the issues go back to last summer, when the Trust had trouble making payroll,” the source said. “Having a presence and renting at the Rookery (a historic downtown office building) is expensive, and that would have been a good place to make cuts.” The second former employee said the Trust’s failed proposal for a Visitor’s Center on Chicago Avenue is evidence that the Trust is tone-deaf to the community and isn’t thinking clearly about finances. “There was the Visitor’s Center and the grand plans last year, but not having the funds to back that up is such contradictory information and behavior.” Kurt Neumann, the Trust’s board treasurer, said the board worked with Adams to make the difficult decision about the layoffs. “These are obviously not the type of decisions we want to be making. They are very challenging due to the impact they have on people who make up the Trust.” He said the layoffs were unavoidable given the timing of the pandemic. “Summer is the busiest season for tourism, so this is a devastating time for this to happen. When you’re a revenue-based institution and the revenues stop because you have to shut the doors, you have to make changes,” said Neumann. Both Adams and Neumann say that while donations to the Trust and a federal Payroll Protection Program loan provided some short-term relief, they were not enough to
keep operations running as normal when all of the Trust’s sites and gift shops are closed for business. In addition, after postponing Wright Plus twice, the Trust recently announced that Wright Plus will not take place during 2020 and will instead return in the spring of 2021. Neumann calls the housewalk the Trust’s largest fundraiser and says its loss had a huge impact on the finances of the Trust. As the Trust grapples with changing circumstances, Adams praises donors, the homeowners who have agreed to have their homes featured on the delayed Wright Plus in 2021, and Trust volunteers. Noting that the Trust could no longer afford the lawn care services for their sites, she says that a volunteer mowed the grass at the Home and Studio when it got too high. “There have been so many acts of kindness,” she said. Adams is hopeful the Trust’s sites, including the Home and Studio, can open in some capacity in June. She says the Trust desperately needs the revenue of the tours and gift shops, and they are making inquiries about how they can resume small tours of eight to 10 guests in the future, as well as offering recorded tours for visitors to take on their own outside. “We are still very much in a stage of surviving. Perhaps recovery will take a year or more. It’s very difficult for everyone involved. It’s a sad moment for everyone, but we had to face the facts of the situation,” said Adams.
Nice line
Teachers from the Academy of Movement and Music greet preschoolers during their caravan graduation in Oak Park last Thursday. (Below) Retiring director, Stephanie Clemens and her dog, greet the new grads.
SHANEL ROMAIN/Photographer
8
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
RF affordable housing plan finally reaches village board Village must add 39 units By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter
The long-awaited River Forest affordable housing plan was unveiled at the May 26 virtual village board meeting but adoption will not occur until June 8 at the earliest. The report from the Plan Commission was presented over the objections of Trustee Patty Henek, who said trustees had agreed at the January meeting that they would address the topic over two meetings before voting on adoption. Approval of the report was on the May 26 agenda in addition to the report and recommendation. In response to her request that the matter be removed from the agenda and scheduled for discussion at a committee of the whole (COW) meeting in June, village President Cathy Adduci proposed that the report be given as scheduled but deferring discussion to a committee of the whole meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday June 8 and a vote to the regular board meeting at 7 p.m. that day. Adduci’s proposal did not sit well with Henek, who repeated her desire that the matter be deferred completely, or with Trustee Tom Cargie, who said he supported voting on adoption without waiting until June. “We have commissions for a reason, which is to vet these issues for us,” he said, noting the commission had held four meetings on the matter. “I don’t know what we would learn from a COW meeting that we don’t already know.” Consultant John Houseal of Houseal Lavigne Associates presented the plan despite Henek terming the handling of the matter as being “very unfair to everyone involved with this meeting” and “so inappropriate.” The plan adopts the goal of bringing the percentage of affordable housing units to 10
percent of the total housing stock by pursuing two tracks. The first track is protecting and enhancing the existing affordable housing that currently exists in the village, primarily the multi-family residential along the village’s perimeter corridors. The second track is concentrating attention on new multi-family and mixed-use buildings and providing developers of such buildings the opportunity of including affordable housing units. The village board assigned the task of creating an affordable housing plan to the commission in October to meet a state mandate. River Forest needs to add 39 affordable housing units to bring its overall percentage of affordable housing up to the state-required 10 percent. River Forest is currently at nine percent. According to the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act of Illinois, any municipality with less than 10 percent affordable housing is required to adopt a plan to remedy its lack of moderately-priced housing. A 2018 report from the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s (IHDA) pegged River Forest at nine percent. IDHA data shows that, of a total 3,788 total housing units in River Forest, 340 meet the criteria for being affordable. David Crosby, commission chairman, gave credit for the creation of the plan to members of the plan commission as well as residents and representatives of community groups. “The fingerprints on this document are from everyone on our committee,” Crosby said. “We got some good suggestions from the community. We incorporated that and made changes at each of our meetings. “So many people will be affected by this plan – residents and non-residents – a really wide spectrum of people that we are going to impact. It’s exciting.” Houseal agreed that commission mem-
bers deserve credit. “We received feedback from a lot of commission members who didn’t always agree on things but came to a really good collaborative effort to get us across the finish line,” he said. “They really did a diligent job of looking at every sentence and every word, making sure it was right. If a sentence wasn’t worded correctly, it was completely rewritten.” In his presentation Houseal said the goal River Forest chose was one of three offered by the state. Goals not chosen were increasing the affordable housing stock in the village by 3 percent, which would have required creating 115 additional units instead of just 39, and making 15 percent of all new residential construction or residential redevelopment affordable, which would have a potential negative impact on the singlefamily residential market. “Adding new affordable housing is difficult,” he said. “It’s easier to keep what we’ve got.” The plan identifies incentives that the village could provide to developers, including zoning mandates; dedicated taxes and fees; village subsidies; and subsidies through a non-for-profit entity. The preferred incentive, however, is providing zoning bonuses, which would be in the form of relaxations to height, setback, parking and similar regulations and would serve as a means of encouraging and accommodating developers to include affordable housing units in new multi-family buildings. The plan also offers possible additional considerations, including exploration of two possible amendments to the zoning ordinance. One would accommodate accessory dwelling units (ADU) as a conditional use in the R1 and R2 zoning districts and the other would accommodate integrated supportive affordable housing. An ADU, which Houseal said is also called
an in-law apartment or “granny flat,” is a second small dwelling on the same grounds or attached to a regular single-family house, such as an apartment over the garage, a coach house on the back of the property or a basement apartment. If a part of a singlefamily house, the ADU would require separate access. He said Oak Brook is reportedly exploring allowing ADUs. Integrated supportive affordable housing allows people who are developmentally or physically disabled to live independently. Houseal said the suggestion to explore amending the zoning ordinance to allow integrated supportive affordable housing was the last change made to the plan at the last meeting and he credited Phil Carmody of Opportunity Knocks, a River Forest social service agency that supports people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, with making the suggestion. Another suggestion from the public that Houseal said led to “a lot of discussion” is recognizing that tax increment financing (TIF) funds are eligible for the provision of affordable housing. “We didn’t want to dictate that TIF funds are to be used,” he said. “We wanted to highlight the fact that TIF funds are eligible to be used.” Although discussion of the plan was deferred to June 8, trustees were effusive in their praise for the work of commission members. “There’s a lot here and it is complex,” Adduci said. “We appreciate these volunteers spending a considerable amount of time. “I think you guys did a great job,” Trustee Bob O’Connell said. “I know how much public opposition you had on the subject.” Henek said she did not want Crosby and Houseal to think her actions reflected a negative opinion of the report, adding, “In no way was I questioning your good work.”
River Forest awards $768,000 road improvement contract Portions of eight streets set for resurfacing this summer By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter
River Forest officials started the ball rolling on this summer’s street construction at the May 26 virtual village board meeting, approving a contract for the 2020 street improvement project and authorizing spending motor fuel tax (MFT) funds for that project and the 2020 asphalt crack-sealing and street-patching projects. Both were approved when the consent agenda was unanimously approved. The majority of the $630,000 MFT funding will pay for the majority of the road improvement work, with $500,000 going
toward that, $91,425 for street patching and $43,400 for crack sealing. Although the village budgeted $825,000 for street resurfacing, the contract with Builders Paving LLC of Hillside is for $768,000. The village also budgeted $275,000 from the infrastructure improvement bond fund and $50,000 from the water and sewer fund for work associated with the road improvements. Streets to be resurfaced this summer are Oak Avenue from Thatcher Avenue to Bonnie Brae Place, Quick Avenue from Lathrop Avenue to Bonnie Brae, Jackson Avenue from Chicago Avenue to Augusta Street, Franklin Avenue from Oak to Chicago, Keystone Avenue from Chicago to Thomas Street, Forest Avenue from Chicago to Thomas, Jackson Avenue from Lake Street to Quick and Monroe Avenue from Lake to Oak. Start dates have yet to be determined. The street improvement project consists of resurfacing
the asphalt roadway in various locations on an as-needed basis. At times, portions of the adjacent curb and sidewalk also are replaced. Impacts to traffic are minimal as the driving surface will be passable in all phases of the work. The only time the roadway will be inaccessible is when the construction crews are present and working on a particular area. On-street parking will not be allowed during the work. Builders Paving’s bid was the lowest of 10 received, with the high bid $896,855. Builders Paving has not previously worked in River Forest, but Village Engineer Jeff Loster said multiple references had been contacted and all those who responded indicated only positive feedback. Contracts for crack sealing and street patching were awarded in April 2019, crack sealing to Denler Inc. of Joliet and street patching to McGill Construction LLC of Frankfort. Street patching locations have yet to be identified.
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
9
Quarantined for ‘Longest Time,’ Julian ensemble takes to song Lyrics updated for ‘endless nightmare’ By MICHELLE DYBAL Arts Editor
Stuck in a situation out of their control during COVID-19 – quarantined and forced into remote learning -- the Percy Julian Middle School Men’s Ensemble decided to approach the situation with humor and song. One choir member, 7th grader Tavi Calin-Jagemann, rewrote the lyrics to “For the Longest Time” with input from other members, while Choral Director Andrew Seymour pulled off creating a video that looks effortless. “As musicians around the world began navigating potential options for performing remotely, the most popular solution has been to create virtual ensembles” Seymour said. “In reality, they were edited to look that way since it’s impossible to perform together due to the 1 to 2 second delay over the internet.” Julian’s Men’s Ensemble is a co-curricular group with students in grades 6 through 8. It is an extension of the school’s music program; members are in band, orchestra or chorus classes at Julian. This group was meeting once per week during the regular school year, paused when District 97 schools
Photo by ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
LYRICS FOR A PANDEMIC: Tavi Calin-Jagemann, a 7th grader, updated the words of “For the Longest Time” to match these odd days. An then, via Zoom, the Percy Julian Middle School Men’s Ensemble recorded it. closed in mid-March and resumed when “after the first couple weeks of Remote Learning, district administrators gave us the goahead to reach out to before/after school groups.” It was Seymour who suggested a parody, saying this ensemble is known for its “schtick” during its performances. “We had
Sawa’s Old Warsaw Come Celebrate early from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Authentic Polish-American Food
Sawa’s Old Warsaw Restaurant • Lounge • Banquet Rooms
DAY
E ’ S Friday & Saturday! N Curbside Pick-Up I T N E ET V A L11am-5pm U F F708-343-9040 S T •BCall A BREAKF Ready Plate Special
Texas Style French Toast Apple wood Bacon Breaded Pork Cutlets with Mushroom Gravy, Scrambled Eggs with Potatoes and Vegetables or Sauerkraut $8.25 Boiled Potato Pancakes Kiszka (Polish Sausage) Sliced Ham Potato Pancakes .75 each, $7.50 doz Broasted Chicken Pork Sausage Links Wings .75 each, Apple Pierogi .75Crepes each, $7.50 doz Apricot Crepes 7.50 doz Apple Blintzes .75 each, $7.50 doz Blueberry Crepes Bloody Mary Pork Chop Steak $2 Cheese Crepes.85 each, $8.50 doz Cheese Blintzes Fresh Fruit each, $20 doz or Mimosa Potato Dumplings $3.25 pt, $5 qt Raisin Bread Shrimp Cocktail 1/2 dozen only $6 English$4 Muffins Sauerkraut pt, $6 qt
Serving Tom’s Jambalaya! $6 pint, $11 quart
for $7, $12 Broasted Shrimp 1/2 dozen for $7, Stuffed Cabbage $2 each, $20 doz one dozen $12 Polish Sausage 2”(fresh and smoked) Broasted Cod Fish $1.50 each, $15 doz .75 each, $7.50 doz Lunch ~ Noodles ‘n Ham Dinner ~ BBQ Pork Ribs Beer Battered Cod $2.25 each, 11 a.m. to 3:30Breast p.m. 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Broasted Chicken $20 doz $9 per person $13 per person $2 each, $20 doz Cheese Cake $3 each BroastedSmorgasbord Chicken Thigh • Lounge • Banquets • Carry Out • Catering & Delivery 9200 W. Cermak Road • Broadview, IL Kolaczki $4.25 dozen $1.50 each, $15 doz dozen All that plus $3.25 Apple Juice, Orange or Coffee... Chicken Soup pt, $5.50 qtJuice, Milk one
For only $9 per person!
www.SawasOldWarsaw.com
Broasted Chicken Leg $1 each, $10 doz
From the Freezer
6 pack of frozen potato pancakes $2.50 Jambalaya $5 pint, $10 quart
9200 W. Cermak Rd, Broadview • 708-343-9040
a reputation to uphold…” he said and challenged Tavi to write the lyrics during the remote learning. “Later in the same Zoom call he dropped the first two lines in the chat -- Once I thought I’d see my friends again, now I know this nightmare never ends -- and another singer said ‘Whoa. That’s actually re-
ally good,’” Seymour said. “A few days later, Tavi wrote a rough draft of the lyrics and on another Zoom call, other members of the group made comments on a Google Doc and added to the verses.” Seymour then prepared practice tracks for the singers to record. “Students recorded their parts on a phone or mobile device while listening to the practice tracks on another device through headphones,” the choral director said. “Since we only learned half the song in person they also had to practice the new sections before recording. It’s an awkward process and the singers really had to take a leap of faith that their voices would not stick out or sound bad in the recording.” Seymour said the inability to hear each other also created a challenge. “When you are singing live in a choir you constantly adjust to the voices around you and match their tone, pitch and volume,” he said. Through the “magic” of editing and Seymour’s musical skills, he was able to “account for their inability to hear each other without the use of auto-tune. The finished product appears as if the students are singing in unison, each from his own home. “The music teachers around the world, spending hours in front of a screen with audio and video editing software, can’t wait to be with our students in person again,” Seymour said.
10
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Facing unrest, Oak Park declares state of emergency Mayor imposes curfews By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb declared a local state of emergency, June 1, in light of recent acts of property destruction and disturbances to peace from widespread protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. The village board voted 6-1 to pass an ordinance allowing the mayor to make the declaration following recommendations from the police chief and village manager. Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla opposed the measure. “I want to be able to give the police the necessary tools to protect the community,” said Abu-Taleb. “My intention would be to follow the advice of the village manager and the chief of police.”
been detained for breaking curThe local state of emergency, few. which expires June 9, gives the The June 1 village board meetmayor the authority to declare ing started with a moment of sia nightly curfew. The night of lence for George Floyd. the declaration, the mayor set “I want to say that I’m angry a curfew of 9 p.m., expiring at 6 about what happened in Mina.m., June 2, the same hours as neapolis,” said the mayor. “The the curfew put in place by Mayvillage board, village staff and or Lori Lightfoot in Chicago, as the whole village is angry at this well as that of the May 31 curfew tragedy. It was wrong and unacin Oak Park. ANAN ABU-TALEB ceptable that a public servant Following consultation with Mayor acted to harm and not protect.” the police chief and village manSeveral public comments from ager, Abu-Taleb will determine if and when to impose curfew. He has the citizens denounced police brutality and ability to impose a curfew for single or con- called on the village board and the police department to employ more racially equitable secutive days. People traveling to and from work deemed tactics when policing. Village Manager Cara Pavlicek made essential, such as law enforcement personnel, fire, public works and news media, are clear that protests, walks and memorials exempt from the curfew. Attorneys are also for Floyd in Oak Park have been “incredibly exempt when representing clients who have peaceful” and instances of damage and de-
struction were completely unrelated to the protests. The June 1 meeting marked the expiration of the mayor’s declaration of an emergency affecting public health enacted March 13 due to COVID-19. Per recommendation from the ad hoc business taskforce, the village board voted to waive and suspend business license fees through March 31 for businesses that had to close during the village’s declaration of an emergency affecting public health. The board of trustees also voted to decrease the license fee for any current nonpackage Class C liquor licenses for the time the emergency affecting public health declaration was in effect. The village board tabled a discussion about reducing expenses for the fiscal year of 2020 to address the fiscal impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Oak Park.
Progressives organize to win Oak Park trustee seats
Newly formed PAC won’t endorse for village president By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
A group of Oak Parkers launched a new political action committee (PAC) May 26 to support progressive candidates vying for three open village trustee seats in the April 2021 election. The PAC, called Activate Oak Park (AOP), will not involve itself in the race for village president or mayor. “I don’t even know that we’ll do a formal slate. To us, it’s more about cooperation and collaboration,” said Brynne Hovde, AOP cofounder and chairperson. The PAC, organizers say, focuses on four key pillars: pursuing climate justice, strengthening the social contract, committing to racial equity and reimagining community safety. Activate Oak Park will financially and operationally support candidates running for village trustee who share those values. Board seats currently held by Deno Andrews, Simone Boutet and Dan Moroney will be on the ballot. Boutet has already announced plans to run for village president. The plans of Andrews and Moroney are unknown at this point. Anan Abu-Taleb, the current village president/mayor, said he had not decided on seeking a third term and is focused on Oak Park’s COVID-19 response. “The main platforms of the PAC are meant to be broad because we’re not looking for someone to agree with every little bullet point of how things should be executed. It’s really just about ideals and vision,” said Hovde. “Social contract is really meant to refer to the broader idea of what government can do
for a community, what kinds of elected office prevents many services the government could people from seeking those pobe providing, how we’re fundsitions. The PAC is intended ing those services and looking at to give progressive candiwhat is regressive taxation.” dates the financial backing Hovde said the idea of startneeded to successfully caming a PAC has been in the works paign. “The main driver behind for months. Many of the people that is really the resources associated with AOP were previthat it takes to run for trustously active in the campaigns of Oak Park Trustee Arti Walker- ARTI WALKER-PEDDAKOTLA ee and the kind of folks we help run for trustee don’t alPeddakotla and other women of Oak Park village trustee ways have those resources or color. Walker-Peddakotla is also privileges that allow them to an AOP co-founder. The PAC is particularly interested in sup- fully staff a campaign or fundraise or get porting women, women of color and people the funding that’s necessary to win,” said of color running for village trustee, as well Hovde. Hovde and Walker-Peddakotla, as well as as working class candidates. “Oak Park prides itself on diversity and other AOP members, have already started inclusion. We don’t have enough diversity,” recruiting candidates but the nature of said Walker-Peddakotla. “We need to in- holding an elected office makes people recrease working class representation on our luctant to run. board. This PAC can help with getting more Now that the PAC has officially launched, people of color elected, more working-class Hovde hopes it will help to convince propeople elected, more people that just don’t gressive residents to enter the race with the have the time or the resources or the money assurance that they will receive support. to run for office.” “If this is on your mind as a possibility, Walker-Peddakotla called her own experi- there will be infrastructure to support you. ence running for village trustee in 2019 dif- You won’t be doing this alone,” Hovde said. ficult. As a current village trustee and AOP co“It was really, really hard, especially to founder, the role Walker-Peddakotla will run as a bold progressive against people play in choosing which candidates the PAC who all they were talking about was prop- will support has yet to be determined. erty taxes. There are other issues people are “Will I be involved in helping the PAC enhurting about,” she said. dorse candidates? I don’t know yet,” WalkerWhile Walker-Peddakotla was able to Peddakotla said. “We’re still figuring out partly self-fund her campaign, she could not that structure.” fund the campaign in its entirety by herself. AOP was created strictly to support candi“I have three kids. I could self-fund a little dates running for village trustee; it will not bit, but not to the extent that some of the support any candidates running for village other candidates did,” she said. president. The inability to self-fund campaigns for “The primary focus will not be on the vil-
lage president,” said Hovde. “We’re focused on getting folks at the board table that can help push things forward in Oak Park. While we think it certainly matters, the village president is not the groundswell effort we need necessarily to get things passed.” The question of who plans to enter into the race for village president is unclear, as many of the rumored contenders have not officially announced their candidacy. For Bob Tucker, a former village trustee, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed any decision-making on making the race. “I am still considering it. I think the past couple months have delayed any decisions one way or the other,” Tucker said. “I would plan to make a decision on that in the summertime and move forward from there, but I need to weigh a lot of things in my life first.” Tucker’s progressive ideals, he believes, are apparent when looking back on his tenure as village trustee. “I think it’s a strong progressive record that is also balanced by trying to be fiscally responsible and promoting economic development in Oak Park,” he said. Boutet confirmed she still plans to run for village president in 2021. “Yes, I still have the goal of running for village president. I hope my candidacy will be supported by this group, as well as a broad coalition of other groups in the village.” While the newly formed PAC will not involve itself in the 2021 race for village president, AOP may broaden its support to benefit candidates in other elections in the future. “Let’s see how we do in 2021,” said WalkerPeddakotla. “If this experiment is successful and it resonates with the community, then I think we could reevaluate for the 2023 elections and see what happens there.”
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
11
Oak Park extends health director COVID authority
Village enters into Restore Illinois phase three By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
File photo
STILL SHUTTERED: Rachel Weaver and Jason Smith,owners of the Book Table decided not to open their doors quite yet.
Book Table delays reopening Plans to reopen June 12 By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
As the village of Oak Park moves into phase three of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan, allowing for more businesses to resume semi-regular operations, the Book Table has opted to delay its reopening. Due to COVID-19-related safety concerns for its staff and customers, the independent bookstore, 1045 Lake St., plans instead to reopen June 12. “The metrics by which our government is calculating moving on to phase three is not whether it’s safe to reopen but whether or not there are enough hospital beds to accommodate us all when we reopen,” said Jason Smith, who owns the Book Table with wife Rachel Weaver. “We don’t want to be responsible for filling hospital beds.” The book shop with its many nooks and crannies has an intimate atmosphere, conducive for browsing the selection but not conducive for social distancing. “We’ve designed two-thirds of the store deliberately to get people stuck in alcoves,” said Smith. “It’s one thing to get trapped in an alcove with a bunch of other people in normal times, but right now, it is very difficult to fully imagine someone browsing safely six feet away from somebody else.” The merchandise sold at the Book Table also makes it different from other retailers; when buying books, most people tend to pick up the volumes, examine the inside covers and read a few pages. “When you walk into a grocery store, I would say probably about 80 percent of what you touch you buy,” said Smith. “But in a bookstore, probably 20 percent
of what you touch you buy. You spend a lot time looking at this book, setting it down, looking at something else and setting that down.” While not quite reopened, Book Table employees have returned to work from being on paid leave. The Book Table also offers curbside pickup for book orders. “We do a big curbside business, contactless curbside, out of the rear of the store,” said Smith. Employees then set the customer’s order on an outside bookcase then go back inside the store without physically interacting with the customer. “That’s working for us right now,” said Smith. “We’ve been doing that since May and lots of people have taken advantage of that.” The Book Table is also shipping book orders to those who cannot come pick them up. Due to the removed nature of shipping orders and doing curbside delivery, the Book Table is missing out on sales from items people typically grab while checking out, such as greeting cards and newspapers. Smith said coming to the decision to delay the reopening was “extremely difficult.” “Of course, we’re not happy about it, but once we made the decision there was no doubt about the decision,” Smith said. “It was clearly the right decision for our particular business in our particular location at this particular time.” Shanon Williams, executive director of Downtown Oak Park, said she has not heard of any other retailers delaying their openings, but understands the reasoning behind the Book Table’s decision. “I have not heard another retailer say they’re not going to try to open under the guidelines Pritzker set,” said Williams. “I think a lot of the retailers are anxious to open their doors.”
As Oak Park moves into phase three of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan, Oak Park Public Health Director Mike Charley will effectively retain the same powers given to him within the declaration of the public health emergency after its June 1 expiration. The declaration of an emergency affecting public health was first adopted on March 13 then twice extended. The board of trustees decided to extend Charley’s powers during a special meeting held virtually May 28. “We want him to be able to act swiftly and make those decisions as he has for the last 75plus days so we ensure we’re doing everything we can related to the medical, public health aspects of this pandemic,” said Village Manager Cara Pavlicek. The approved ordinance allows Charley the authority to establish “reasonable rules, regulations and orders” regarding COVID-19, despite the village not being under a declaration of a public health emergency. Charley will not have these powers indefinitely; under the ordinance, Charley’s extended authority expires Nov. 15 at 11:59 p.m. The abilities under the ordinance do not extend to the entirety of the public health department, nor do they apply to anything unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic’s presence in Oak Park. Village staff did not recommend to further extend the public health emergency declaration, but should the village experience a backslide regarding COVID-19, staff would likely recommend reinstatement of the declaration. When asked by Trustee Jim Taglia the difference between the public health director’s authorities under a public health emergency declaration and those pursuant to the presented ordinance, Village Attorney Paul Stephanides said, “Really no different.” Trustee Simone Boutet called the powers listed in the ordinance “overly broad” and that made her “uncomfortable” with the ordinance. She also did not support the line in the ordinance dictating any “rules, regulations and orders promulgated by the Public Health Director prior to June 1, 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 disease which are not due to expire on or before June 1, 2020 shall remain in effect through their respective expiration dates or through Nov. 15, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. as applicable.” “We don’t necessarily want the exact same rules to stay in place the whole entire time as we’re looking to open up and help the businesses and help the community,” Boutet said. “I’m comfortable with the powers that you’ve been using as is because you’ve already been
doing a great job.” The ordinance does not take any authority away from the board of trustees itself, which Pavlicek confirmed, saying, “The board at any given meeting could ask us to put this on the agenda and remove this paragraph from the code. The board is not losing any authority.”
Trustee Dan Moroney felt comfortable with extending Charley’s powers because the board had the ability to reverse or add to any order or regulation put in place by Charley. Trustee Deno Andrews said he understood Boutet’s concerns and that he would probably feel differently about the language if Oak Park was not grappling with a global pandemic. “I think if staff thinks they need this language to guarantee Mike Charley’s ability to make the right call, I support it,” Andrews said. Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla wished to see the public health director work alongside the Oak Park board of health to ensure that the village was racially equitable in its response to the pandemic. “We are sorely lacking in using a racial equity lens in our COVID response,” said Walker-Peddakotla. “Where we all continue to struggle is, we’re straddling emergency management and trying to return to business as normal,” said Pavlicek. “And so, it’s a time crunch.” Walker-Peddakotla wished to see language added to the ordinance dictating that the board of health be used in an advisory capacity. Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb said he was very much in support of the ordinance, saying, “Things are working in the village of Oak Park in terms of flattening the curve and not overwhelming our health department, health workers and health system.” The ordinance, he said, is an extension of powers allowing Charley to continue enforcement of public orders given to grocery stores, nursing homes and other places that need more guidance from local government than state government. “If we do not do that for Mike with the health department, we are not utilizing an asset that we have,” Abu-Taleb said. Abu-Taleb also said the nation as a whole could have handled the pandemic better if health departments and health experts were allowed active leverage in managing COVID-19, preventing it from becoming a political fight. “Now, even wearing a mask is a statement about a political affiliation,” he said. “Let us get on with our business, let us allow the health department to go do the great work they have done, let us allow Mike Charley to continue doing an excellent job for us.” The village board passed the ordinance with five affirmative votes; Boutet and Walker-Peddakotla both cast dissenting votes.
12
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Mohr Concrete is back on the market
Contract fell through due to COVID-19 By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
The site of former concrete company H.J. Mohr & Sons Co. is back on the market. The “L”-shaped Mohr property, 3.29acre plot of land represented by realtor Peter Poulos was previously under contract back in February to an unnamed developer. But that potential deal fell through due to COVID-19. “The developer up until COVID-19 was hitting all the marks. They did everything they said they were going to do. They didn’t miss a beat. Everything was in alignment and then boom! COVID-19 hit and it seemed like there was a lot of uncertainty in the market, which there is,” Poulos said. “If I had to point the finger at the problem, I’d say COVID-19. It pushed us into a position where the developer’s end user – one or two, I don’t know how many – had some concerns and hit the pause button.” The uncertainty surrounding when the COVID-19 pandemic would subside contributed to the contract falling apart. Timing, Poulos said, typically kills deals. Poulos said the initial developer re-
Thank You Moms of Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding suburbs!
mains interested in reentering discussions post COVID. He also said there has been strong interest in the property from multiple other users. “It seemed like in the beginning COVID-19 was going to be a one-month, twomonth, three-month delay from the developer’s perspective,” said Poulos. “The developer just wanted some time to get some things in order. We couldn’t define it. I believe that was the problem. There’s just such an unknown timeline, so they fell out of contract per their request, nothing to do with the owners. And the owners allowed them out of the contract.” The developer, Poulos said, could not get a firm commitment from their client. Despite the contract falling through, the developer has maintained an interest in the property and in moving forward. “We’re still talking to them. They’re still very much interested in the site. They’ve invested a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of money. They like the site,” Poulos said. The property sits on the corner of Harlem Avenue and Garfield Street, taking up a whole block, and also includes a small area along Garfield to the east of South Maple Avenue. That smaller area was used by H.J. Mohr & Sons Co. to house concrete trucks. The listed price of the full property is $6.675 million.
We have missed you! GRAND REOPENING! Mickey’s Rib Special
1/2 Slab Dinner $11.99 • Full Slab Dinner $17.99 includes fries or baked potato, coleslaw and garlic bread
Wednesday
Gyros Plate Dinner 1 lb meat, 2 pita breads, fries & 3 cups sauce $10.99
Every day Special!
Come try our Big Mickey! $2.99
Gyros with fries $7.99
Poulos has also been showing the property, with everyone wearing masks for safety, to other developers who have shown great interest in the property, which he called a “very sought-after location.” “We’ve had everybody you can think of looking at that corner, from car dealerships to gas stations, carwashes, medical centers to microbreweries,” he said. Although there are many birds in the bush and none officially in hand, the original developer is not completely out of reach. “We’ve had multiple showings and a lot of interested parties,” said Poulos. “On one hand, I’m grateful that we still have active significant developers reviewing the site. The existing developer that had it under contract is still under tow, trying to figure out how they can move forward in an adjustment to their plan.” Given the property’s proximity to the CTA Blue Line and the highway, as well as the sheer size of it, Poulos does not anticipate the property languishing in real estate purgatory. “It’s a wonderful space and I feel like it’s going to come back and what’s going to be there is going to be something very thoughtful and fit in well and be well respected within Oak Park,” Poulos said. “I’m very confident we’re going to move forward.”
Father’s Day Sale! 4 -$10 LUSTRE wash for $31 4 - $8 ULTIMATE wash for $23 4 - $7 DELUXE wash for $19
ENDS 6/21/20!
UNDERCARRIAGE SPRAY ON ALL WASHES!!
The Difference is TOUCHLESS! This is the ONLY TOUCHLESS Car Wash in Town! Durashield Total Body Surface Protectant on the Lustre Wash!
Spotless Carwash • 7802 Madison St. & 7343 Roosevelt in Forest Park 708-771-2945 • We Accept All Major Credit Cards
525 N Harlem Ave, Oak Park (708) 848-3333 10:30am - 9pm Daily
You can purchase tokens from an attendant weekdays from Noon to 5pm or Sat. & Sun. 9-11am & 11:30-4pm. OR YOU CAN BUY THEM ONLINE AT:
spotlessautowash.com
WASH HOURS: 7AM THRU 10PM DAILY!
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
13
C R I M E
Armed robbers abscond with $6 Two men wearing face masks robbed 7-Eleven, 240 Chicago Ave., at 11:16 p.m., May 30, leaving with booty worth only about $6. The first man said he had a gun and demanded the clerk open the cash register and safe. He grabbed cash and cigarettes, and then both men left the building. Police describe the first man as black, of light complexion, about 6-feet tall. He wore a blue plastic jacket and blue face mask. The second man is described as black, of dark complexion, about 5-feet-6, wearing dark clothing and a dark facemask.
Vehicular hijacking
Two men in their late teens took car keys, then drove off in the victim’s 2019 black Honda CRV with a third person between 9:55 p.m. and 9:59 p.m., May 30, in the 300 block of South Grove Avenue. The loss is estimated at $24,000.
Burglary ■ Someone entered a 2016 Nissan through an unlocked door and removed a black-purple Coach purse containing a gray Guess wallet with cash, credit cards and identification enclosed between 6:05 and 7:27 a.m., May 30, in the 1000 block of South Lombard Avenue. The estimated loss is $620. ■ A bottle of Prada cologne and a credit card were taken from a black Jeep Cherokee with an unlocked door, parked in the 1000 block of North Humphrey Avenue between 2:45 and 2:48 a.m., May 29. The estimated loss is $150. ■ A witness reported seeing a juvenile enter a blue Chevy Malibu and take two wallets containing cash and credit cards at 10:03 p.m., May 30, in the 900 block of North Taylor Avenue. The witness described the boy as being about 11-13 years in
loss is $70.
Theft
■ Someone took a box of silverware from the basement of a residence in the 1100 block of South Grove Avenue between 3 p.m., May 20 and 7 p.m., May 25. The estimated loss is $7,000. ■ The catalytic converter was cut from a white Acura TL while parked in the 500 block of North Oak Park Avenue between 6 p.m., May 27 and 1:05 p.m., May 29. Estimated loss unknown.
age, wearing a pink pullover with a white Adidas symbol on the back, and black pants. The estimated loss is $160. ■ Someone broke into American Jewelers, 6151 North Ave., by shattering the glass pane window and pushing in the security gate. Once inside, the person damaged the display case and attempted to enter a secured room, but was unsuccessful at 11:25 p.m., May 31. The estimated damage and loss are unknown. ■ Someone damaged the front door glass and broke into Suds 2000, 6045 W. North Ave., and once inside, damaged an ATM, a vending machine and a washing machine card vending machine between 10:40 p.m. and 10:49 p.m., May 31. Estimated damage is $20,000. ■ The glass windows of a white Mercedes Benz Sprinter were damaged and a black-gray camera, a black-gray Apple 6S iPhone cellphone, white-black adapter, black Samsung cords and dark blue Adidas bag containing men’s clothing and a bottle of cologne were taken from inside the vehicle between 5 p.m., May 31 and 9:10 p.m., June 1, in the 1200 block of North Austin Boulevard. The loss is estimated at $830. ■ Someone ransacked the interior and took a pocketknife from a black Chevy Trailblazer with an unlocked door, parked in the 100 block of North Humphrey Avenue between 9:30 p.m., May 30 and 3 a.m., May 31. The estimated
Criminal damage to property ■ Someone shattered the rear driver side window of a 2005 Ford Escape parked in the 400 block of South Harvey Avenue between 11 a.m. and 1:45 p.m., May 25. ■ A man was observed carving into the paint of a vehicle and damaging its front and back windows at 3:59 p.m., May 28 in the 1100 block of Garfield Street. Police estimate the damage at $1,000.
These items, obtained from the Oak Park Police Department, came from reports May 26- June 1 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.
Compiled by Stacey Sheridan
Man with AR-15 tazered, arrested on Harlem Avenue Gun and practice rifle recovered By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter
Oak Park police arrested a man with an AR-15 after a traffic stop on Harlem Avenue and Randolph Street in Oak Park around 5:11 p.m. on May 28. According to Forest Park Police Chief Tom Aftanas,
Oak Park dispatch received notification of a person with a possible rifle who had gotten into a white van with “J.C.” and a hammer logo on the side. Coincidentally, a Forest Park police officer happened to see a white van with “J.C. Painting” at that moment and was about to pull it over on Harlem Avenue when Oak Park police found the van with the hammer logo. The van was stopped by Oak Park police around Harlem Avenue and Randolph Street in Oak Park, and officers demanded that the man put his hands out the window.
Instead, he made a phone call. Two Oak Park officers approached the van and saw he had an AR-15 next to him. A Forest Park police officer approached the other window. The man, who refused to cooperate, was tazered and the gun taken by the Oak Park police officers while Forest Park officers removed the man from the car. An AR-15 was recovered along with what looked like a tan-colored rifle but appears to be an airsoft (replica gun for practice) rifle. The man appeared to be intoxicated.
Our Community Needs Community Journalism Let's build community!
Read and Support Wednesday Journal.
Partner with us. Donate at GrowingCommunityMedia.org
Growing Community Media NFP is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization
14
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Elise Beile was another speaker at the event and discussed her white privilege at the school she attended for four years. “As a white girl who walked through
OPRF, I never feared that I would be targeted by security guards or that my teachers would treat me a different way,” said Beile. “As a white girl, I don’t fear the police be-
cause I know that my skin is my shield. That is my white privilege.” Along with nine seniors who spoke at the event, there were about 60 to 70 students who were sitting on the grass on the south side of the village hall campus. They wore matching white t-shirts that had “OPRF Senior Class of 2020” on the front. “I think it’s easy for people who aren’t affected by [systemic racism] to be passive towards these situations,” said Aaron Brown. “Protests like these help them remember how important and relevant these issues are right now. They are happening now and it has been happening for years. Not much has changed and it is our job to keep it on everyone’s minds.” There were no members of the police in uniform attending the protest. Anderson, who wanted to make sure everyone would be safe at the event, told Oak Park police she was planning on holding this event. According to Anderson, they brought garbage cans, a washing station for COVID-19 safety reasons, and opened bathrooms to the protesters. “The thing about protesting is that if you have enemies, you don’t tell your enemy what you’re doing,” said Anderson. “If you have allies, you tell your ally what you are doing. I went to them and told them what was going on because we wanted to make sure there were no more people murdered, killed or arrested. We wanted it to be peaceful and it was.”
And it continued on Monday, when the mayor and the manager stood at a corner outside of Proviso East, this time with the police chief, in anticipation of a protest they heard was planned to happen at 3 p.m. Two people showed up — a married couple who lives in town. They said they’d gotten wind of the “protest” on social media, but no one (not even the authorities) could tell me where the information originated or who planned the demonstration and for what purpose. And it continued into the evening, when I noticed two expressway entrance ramps into my town closed before heading home to listen to the police scanner well past midnight. I heard reports of suspicious vehicles and broken windows and shots fired and armed robberies. I heard police running license plates from Alabama and Arizona. I took breaks from the scanner to read news reports of vigilante justice happening in Cicero and to belatedly learn of a car “linked to an attempted looting incident” on fire in Oak Park. And it continued on Tuesday, when I woke up to video footage released by North Riverside police of a black man shot executionstyle on Sunday by another black man wearing a hoodie and a medical mask. And that was almost enough to push me past my breaking point, to say, ‘F— it’ and
start rooting for the National Guard to come rushing in like the Allied forces on VE Day; to start saying, ‘Well, the president has a point,’ as he mobilizes the military; to go to YouTube and grin and giggle at the famous Chris Rock routine about black people vs. n—as, as a way of justifying the ramped up aggression that some part of my subconscious hopes meets those threatening tinted window travelers; to pine for the days when the looting merely happened inside of our national treasury and not in my community. I have not flirted with the forces of authoritarianism this intensely since my late teens and early 20s, when I fashioned myself something of a conservative and Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom was (for about six months) my Bible; and I thought Dinesh D’Souza was an actual scholar; and I watched with glee whenever Bill O’Reilly “destroyed” a member of the New Black Panthers; and I would argue with people about how the ghetto was actually formed because there was something wrong with black culture (trust me, my arguments were very sophisticated). When I saw the video of that young black man from Austin shot execution-style outside the Olive Garden in North Riverside, I briefly forgot that George Floyd was dead;
had briefly forgotten the history of structural racism I’ve been reading these last three months in quarantine. I became a fan boy of the police and whatever forces of state might quell this chaos. I was something of my younger self again. I briefly forgot that, based on multiple reports from suburban residents who demonstrated downtown on Saturday, most protesters were peaceful and most taggers and arsonists they came across were not black; and that elected officials across the country, including Maywood’s mayor, are telling us that they think there is a campaign of disinformation happening to deliberately stoke this anarchic chaos. But the chaos is a symptom of our problems and should not be confused with peaceful actions targeting those problems’ deep, centuries-old roots. Now is not the time for undisciplined thinking and for putting human beings (whether they be police or protesters) and living ideas (like ‘law and order’ or justice) into lazy categories. We need laws that are just, we need civil order that is premised on equity, we need police who are not racists, we need actual equality of opportunity for black people, and we need an economy that values all people over profits. These things are not mutually exclusive, but there are forces that would persuade us that each is alien to the other. Yes, we must be vigilant about the looting of businesses, but we must be even more on guard against the looting of our minds.
STUDENTS
Looking to the future from page 1 “Defund the Police,” “Black Lives Matter,” among others. On an afternoon that was supposed to be dedicated to the Class of 2020 walking across the football field for graduation, the seniors decided to make the most out of the situation. “I feel like Oak Park is an example,” said Trinity Anderson, lead organizer and graduating senior. “I was blessed to live here and get an amazing education that helped me learn about the things that are going on in this country. When I see things like [George Floyd and Ahmad Arbery’s deaths], it urges me to do something and it’s a responsibility. This was something that needed to be done.” There were nine seniors who spoke at the protest. Among them was Leah Jones who listed off demands that she and others wants from the community. “First, we want the police to be held responsible for hate crimes such as racial profiling, over policing and harassment,” said Jones. “OP law enforcement will follow and be held accountable according to the promises of the village of Oak Park’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement.”
ROMAIN
Seeking clarity from page 1 ticed the source of the tension — a crowd of people in front of a Family Dollar. Stopped at a red light on Kildare, I glanced at a man walking on the other side of the street with a large cardboard box. People were carrying merchandise into cars in the store’s parking lot. Instead of driving another block, I turned left and headed for Washington, past a well-known and prominent church, whose pastor was walking quizzically to his car, as if noticing the scene for the first time. His presence brought me some comfort. That was before or after I heard what sounded like a gunshot. I sped anxiously on Washington, the sounds of sirens flanking me, anticipating, as I perhaps never have before, the relative safety and serenity of Oak Park. For me, it continued hours later. As stores near where I live in Maywood began to close, I headed out to drive around and spotted a caravan of cars, engines revved and weaving in traffic near a shopping center in Melrose Park. Hours later, I saw the mayor of Maywood standing beside the village manager. They were guarding our only grocery store after reports that its alcohol inventory was a target for looting. Our small police force was dispersed elsewhere
Courtesy Todd Bannor
TOGETHER: OPRF students gathered behind village hall for a peaceful protest of major issues that they believe are troubling our nation.
We need civil
order that is premised on equity... we need actual equality of opportunity for black people.
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Angelina Adamiec
Giovanna Aiuppa*
Paige Alcorn-Priest*
Alyssa Alioto*
Isabella Allegretti*
Kelly Angus*
Alicia Badillo*
Elizabeth Basulto
Alyssa Bennett*
Clare Birmingham*
Jennifer Bowman*
Kathleen Burns*
Catarina Calicdan*
Lauren Considine*
Alexandria Davis*
Grace DeGroff*
Ella Eisman*
Erika Estrada*
Maria Estrada*
Jillian Fahey*
Julia Faryjewicz*
Gemma Fonseca
Lena Foster*
Valeria Fuentes*
15
Congratulations to Trinity’s Class of 2020 100% College Acceptance Isabella Girjikian*
Trinity High School
$33.8 Million
Awarded in College Scholarships 7574 West Division, River Forest, IL 60305 www.trinityhs.org
A Sinsinawa Dominican College Preparatory School for Young Women
* Indicates Full International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidate or International Baccalaureate Certificate Student
Nadia Gonzalez ŠEbert Studio, Oak Park
16
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Jocelyn Guerra*
Natalia Guerra*
Claire Hanley*
Madeline Healy*
Kara Heisler*
Heather Hellquist*
Carina Huerta*
Emma Jacobs*
Jillian Johnson*
Kyra Josephs
Nyah Joubert*
Megan Kazmierowicz*
Megan Kearns*
Fei Kirchen*
Emily Kowal*
Arianna Lebab*
Erin Lewandowski*
Bianca Little
Natalie Maite*
Jacqueline Martinez
Liliana Matias*
GrĂĄinne McDonagh*
Rose McGowan
Sarah Mendelson*
Madeline Mercado*
Mary Mintz*
100% College Acceptance For a full listing of college acceptances and scholarships, go to www.trinityhs.org/classof2020.
Valeria Mendoza*
Trinity High School 7574 West Division, River Forest, IL 60305 708.771.8383 www.trinityhs.org
* Indicates Full International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidate or International Baccalaureate Certificate Student
ŠEbert Studio, Oak Park
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Liza Montgomery*
Taylor Moore
Lorena Mora*
Miranda Morado
Alexandra Morelli*
Vipalin Morelli*
Isabella Morini
Natalie Navratil
Khadedra Neals*
Teresa Ochoa*
Olivia Ochoa*
Cristina Olmos*
Daniela Olmos*
Isabella Ostiguin*
Vanisa Oupokin*
Katherine Pancotto*
Isabella Parravicini
Jada Patterson*
Brianna Perez
Grace Perschke*
Parker Phillips*
Kaitlyn Poulsen*
Arianna Raimonde*
Maureen Riley*
17
$33.8 Million Awarded in College Scholarships
Average of over $315K in scholarships per student.
Angelica Rivera*
Ariel Rodriguez*
Trinity High School 7574 West Division, River Forest, IL 60305 708.771.8383 www.trinityhs.org
* Indicates Full International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidate or International Baccalaureate Certificate Student
Nicole Romano* ŠEbert Studio, Oak Park
18
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Mia Ruggiero*
Scarlett Saenz*
Kelly Saleh*
Lauren Saleh*
Dejah Santiago*
Madison Schultz*
Heather Shortall*
Annaliese Siriano
Nia Smart*
Kendal Spears*
Zyerra Stafford*
Alyssa Suarez*
Brianna Sullivan*
Ashanti Teruel*
Mary Therese Thavis*
Molly Tomzik*
Allison Urso*
Madeline Vargas*
Kimberly Verceles*
Milany Villa*
Alessandra Weber*
Meghan Weidel*
Caitlyn Wirkiowski*
Jennifer Yaccino
Celebrating 26 Years as an International Baccalaureate World School There’s still time to be a Blazer! Visit trinityhs.org/beablazer
Hillary Yousif*
Frances Zaloudek*
Trinity High School 7574 West Division, River Forest, IL 60305 708.771.8383 www.trinityhs.org
* Indicates Full International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidate or International Baccalaureate Certificate Student
Amanda Zobel ŠEbert Studio, Oak Park
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
NEED TO REACH US?
oakpark.com/real-estate email: buphues@wjinc.com
Homes
BOUNCING BACK
How the pandemic hit local real estate By LACEY SIKORA
T
Contributing Reporter
he Oak Park and River Forest real estate market hit the ground running in 2020, with robust sales and the promise of a busy spring market. Everything came to an abrupt halt with the shelter-in-place orders instituted by the state in mid-March. Open houses were cancelled, showings went virtual and many homeowners chose to hold their listings for a better time. Is that better time now? A few local brokers weigh in on the state of the market more than two months into the pandemic.
U-shaped recovery John Lawrence, managing broker of Oak Park’s Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices says that everyone was worried at the begin-
19
ning of the pandemic that there would be a deep cut in real estate. Happily, he says that hasn’t been the case. Lawrence says there was a two- to threeweek period that the market stayed down. “We were humming along on March 9, and by the sixth of April, things had plummeted,” Lawrence said. “But, since the week of April 13, we’ve been on a solid upward trajectory.” Lawrence says that we are in the process of a U-shaped recovery in real estate and notes that locally, by May 18, more homes were going under contract than the same period last year. “Last year wasn’t necessarily a great year, but to see this happen in the span of nine weeks is very impressive,” Lawrence said. When it comes to pricing, he says that across the Chicago area, there has been a slight increase of a couple of points. “We’ve been really steady,” he said. “It’s not a great year for price appreciation, but we won’t lose ground.” Lewis Jones, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Realty in Oak Park, says that when he looks at the numbers for this
spring, there was a dip in listings and sales in April but the numbers are moving back up. Locally, he says of sales in relation to the pandemic, “Oak Park saw prices dip even before this happened,” Jones said. “This was a trend that is not coronavirus-related. River Forest was trending a little bit up.” He points to statistics showing that Oak Park’s average sales price for April 2020 was $361,561, a decrease of 3.6 percent from a year earlier. The number of listings in Oak Park was also down year over year, with new listings in April of 1,550 properties down 11.2 percent from April 2019. In River Forest, Jones says that the average sales price of $532,000 for April 2020 is up 3.1 percent from April 2019. In April 2020, River Forest saw 394 new listings, an increase of 6.8 percent from April 2019. His own office has seen increased interest from buyers and sellers in May, and his office has added a lot of agents this year, which adds to their activity level. Erika Villegas, managing broker and coowner of ReMax in the Village, says that during the first three or four weeks of the pandemic, there were a lot of unknowns,
causing some clients to hold their listings or pause their search for a new home. “In March, we told our clients, we don’t really know what’s going to happen in the next 60 to 90 days,” Villegas said. Some clients, she added, had to analyze their situations and step back if they were concerned about job security or had health issues. More than two months later, Villegas says that a look at her office’s numbers show they are holding steady with the number of transactions equal to what they were in 2019 and in 2018. “Just this week alone, we’ve had at least five or six closings of homes that were out on the market during the pandemic,” Villegas said. She points out that from Jan. 1 through June 3 there were 242 closed sales of singlefamily homes and condos in Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park. For the same period of 2019, that number was 219. See RECOVERY on page 20
20
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
REALTORS
Road to recovery from page 19
Shifting practices Villegas notes that a lot of the momentum in the market has to do with making clients feel comfortable. “Once there was system in place, people felt comfortable,” she said. Pivoting to video tours allowed potential
buyers to see more homes virtually and winnow down how many homes they needed to see in person. Buyers became more selective with their time. Realtors shifted to doing closings in cars and taking care of some parts of the process via video conference, eliminating the need for a lot of in-person contact. On top of the usual safety practices of masks, gloves and cleaning that real estate offices adopted, Jones says the virtual world became more important to real estate. His office recently started holding a virtual brokers’ open house on Tuesdays on Facebook Live, and he says the practice is another tool in the tool box for these times.
Suburbs vs. city Jones, who previously worked in Coldwell Banker’s Lakeview office on Chicago’s North Side, says another trend his office is watching is that of people leaving the city for the nearby suburbs. “Nationally, people are saying they want less communal living,” Jones said. “They want houses with yards and spaces with walls. With more people working from home, people need office space.” He says this trend ups the desirability of Oak Park and River Forest. Lawrence says that he has heard anecdotally that the pandemic is shifting buyers’ perspectives. People are looking for more green space, and with so many people working from home, he says people can be flex-
Lewis R. Jones, branch manager Coldwell Banker Realty, Oak Park
Joe Castillo and Erika Villegas of Remax in the Village, Oak Park ible about where they live. He has heard some rumblings that working and schooling at home is driving down the desirability of the open floor plan.
Looking ahead Lawrence thinks the summer market will be strong. “When we look back on this, six months from now, I think we will have had a five to six-week lull,” Lawrence said. “Now, the market kind of feels like it does right after the Super Bowl. It’s ramping up like it typi-
cally does the first week of February.” He notes that early on, some potential buyers thought the pandemic would give them an opportunity to discount prices, but that was not the case. “The recession of 2008 is fresh in peoples’ minds,” Lawrence said. “This recession, unlike 2008, is not based in real estate. The market is still strong, and interest rates are still good. Good houses, priced right are going to move. This will probably end up being a good year for real estate when we’re all done.”
SINGLE FAMILY HOMES
This Weekend ADDRESS
REALTY CO.
LISTING PRICE
1636 Boeger Ave, Westchester . . . . . . . . . . Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $233,000 438 Lenox St, Oak Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$380,000 1215 Park Dr, Melrose Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$399,900 1145 S. Euclid Ave, Oak Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . Re/Max In The Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $419,000 1217 N. Columbian Ave, Oak Park . . . . . . . . Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$670,000
LISTING PRICE
TIME
CONDOS
REALTY CO.
7248 Washington St. UNIT 602, Forest Park. . . . . . 224 N. Kenilworth Ave. UNIT 3B, Oak Park . . . . . . . 110 S. Marion St. UNIT 305, Oak Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Forest Ave, River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
VIRTUAL
ADDRESS
TIME
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sat. 11-12:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:30-4
921 Ontario St #B, Oak Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BHHS CHICAGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $293,000 . . ... 6/7/20 • 1:15-1:45PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Facebook.com/teamkohut/ 921 Ontario St #B, Oak Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BHHS CHICAGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $293,000 . . . .6/7/20 • 1:45-2:15PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Facebook.com/teamkohut/
ADDRESS
Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$130,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-2:30 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago . . . . . . . . . . $269,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-2 Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $439,900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3:30 Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $499,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1:30
REALTY CO.
LISTING PRICE
ONLINE
This Directory brought to you by mrgloans.com
Providing financing for homes in Oak Park and surrounding communities since 1989. Conventional, FHA, and Jumbo mortgages Free Pre-approvals
7544 W. North Avenue Elmwood Park, IL 708.452.5151
Mortgage Resource Group is an Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee. NMLS # 207793 License # 1031
Maximize the value of your home.
F R E S H PA I N T
S T R AT E G I C S TAG I N G
Compass Concierge is the hassle-free way to sell your home faster and for a higher price. From painting to flooring, Concierge transforms your home with zero upfront costs and no interest. Let the team with over 45 years of experience in real estate and home improvement guide you through the process.
Steve Nasralla
Joelle Venzera
Adriana Laura Cook
Real Estate Broker 708.466.5164
Real Estate Broker 708.297.1879
Real Estate Broker 312.497.2044
U P DAT E D F LO O R I N G
Need a helping of
Rules & Exclusions apply. Compass offers no guarantee or warranty of results. Subject to additional terms and conditions. The Navigation Group is a team of Real Estate agents affiliated with Compass. Compass is a licensed Real Estate broker and abides by federal, state and local Equal Housing Opportunity laws. If your property is currently listed with another broker, this mailer is not solicitation for business.
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Hiring Online Account Specialists! • We are a local US essentials manufacturing company • Work remotely from your own home office • Bonus & benefits package
Call Jill at (708) 524-8300 or visit OakPark.com/ subscribe
UNDER CONTRACT
UNDER CONTRACT
135 S SCOVILLE, OAK PARK $639,000 :: 4 BED :: 2.5 BATH
SOLD
1023 PARK, RIVER FOREST $1,650,000 :: 7 BED :: 6.5 BATH
1122 FOREST, RIVER FOREST $1,219,000 :: 6 BED :: 5.5 BATH
Updated & stylish Victorian. Close to train.
Beautiful English Tudor. Exquisite home.
Gorgeous kitchen & family room. Beautiful 1/2-acre lot.
SOLD
NEW PRICE
400 FOREST, OAK PARK $1,167,500 :: 5 BED :: 3.5 BATH
900 FRANKLIN, RIVER FOREST $797,000 :: 4 BED :: 3.5 BATH
1023 WENONAH, OAK PARK $715,000 :: 5 BED :: 4 BATH
Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District. Beautiful 1-acre lot.
Brick Colonial home. New kitchen & baths.
Unique Victorian in Lincoln School District. Renovated kitchen & baths.
KATHY & TONY IWERSEN
Call Claudia Eichelberger for a phone interview. 815-739-8294
UNDER CONTRACT
708.772.8040 708.772.8041 tonyiwersen@atproperties.com
21
22
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
! o G o T Up!
paid advertisement
s k d c i o Go rbside P Cu
These local businesses are all OPEN! Curbside pick-up is available.
Some are offering Phase 3 limited in-store shopping. Call ahead before you go! Now is the time to support local businesses!
16 Suitcases
Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore
Manouche
Ten Thousand Villages
108 N. Marion St, Oak Park 708-628-3677
7419 Madison St, Forest Park
146 N Oak Park Ave
Specializing in History, Mystery and Biography Books both hard back and paperback books for adults, young adults, and children.
(New Location - previously at 103 N Oak Park Ave)
121 N Marion St, Oak Park 708-848-4572 land-line 708-737-3156 mobile
16suitcases.com
Specializing in contemporary women fashion, accessories and gifts.
You can order online or call 708-628-3677. We offer Curbside Pick-up, Free Local Same Day Take 20% off your entire purchase use code SPRING20
Accents by Fred 7519 Madison St., Forest Park 708-366-9850 Facebook.com/accentsbyFred/
Handcrafted one-of-a-kind jewelry, gift items, custom greeting cards, custom face masks. Jewelry repair, watch batteries replaced Call or email us at accentsbyfred38@g-mail.com. Curbside pick-up Hours: Tues - Sat 1-6
Al-Mart Furniture & Bedding 7045 W. North Ave. Oak Park 708-383-5909 Almartfurniture.com
Bedroom Furniture, Sofas, Sectionals, Desks, Book Cases, Dinettes, Recliners, Mattresses and all other home furnishings and accessories.
Order on our website or call to schedule a showroom appointment. Curbside pick-up Hours: 11 to 5 pm Extra 20% off everything we carry!
BEAD IN HAND 145 Harrison Street, Oak Park 708-848-1761 Beadinhand.com
An extraordinary selection of beads and beading supplies. Now offering in store shopping by appointment. Visit our website (beadinhand.com) for information about: shop hours, scheduling an appointment, purchasing one of our DIY bead kits or a gift certificate online, or for more information about our safety protocols. You can also call (708-848-1761) or send an email to query@beadinhand.com.
The Book Table 1045 Lake St, Oak Park 708-386-9800 Booktable.net
Books, journals, and puzzles
Order online or over the phone. Curbside pick-up Hours: Mon-Sat 9-9, and Sun 11-6
CarefulPeach Boutique 1024 North Blvd, Oak Park 708-383-3066 CarefulPeach.myshopify.com
Wine, bath and body, jewelry, home goods, kitchen and hostess gifts, puzzles and childrens items, all with a French Flair! Call our shop, direct message us on Facebook or Instagram, or order thru our Shopify website Curbside Pick-up Hours: Mon-Sat 10:30-6, Sun 12-5 Buy a case of wine, even mixed, 15% off! Check out our 25% OFF Daily Peachy Items on our website or social media.
Call or shop online Centuriesandsleuths.com/ E-mail: cns7419@sbcglobal.net 708-771-7243 (Fax 708-771-7412) Curbside Pickup Hours: Tue-Fri 12-7; Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5 Make a $15 purchase for books (before sales tax) and choose an ARC* from the books (covers) displayed on easels in the store’s display window.
Divine Consign 1800 S. Harlem Ave, North Riverside 708-386-3366 Divineconsign.com
New and Nearly New Furniture and Decor Purchase online or call (708)386-3366 for appointment.
Now OPEN for business. Packed with stunning furniture. Strictly following CDC Guidelines. Temporary hours Monday - Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 11-5
Edible Arrangements 107 N Marion St, Oak Park 708-848-4840 Edible.com
Fruit baskets, chocolate strawberries, fruit smoothies, balloons, cookies and cheesecakes
Order on our website or call us. Pay for your order online or by phone, then call when you arrive and we will bring it out to you. We also offer next day free delivery (except holidays) Hours: 9-6 Mon thru Fri. 9-5 Sat and 10-3 Sunday
Fitzgerald’s Fine Stationery
708-505-5546
Manoucheshop.com
Women’s clothing and accessories with a focus on independent designers, organic fibers, and ethical sourcing. Currently open for curbside pick-up and doing local non contact delivery. Flexible hours
Oak Park Jewelers 101 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park Oakparkjewelers.com
Jewelry store
Call 708-383-9695 or email info@oakparkjewelers. com to set up a virtual appointment and/or arrange curbside pick-up. Local Delivery is also available. Hours: Tues – Fri 11-4
A Paw Place in Oak Park 708-516-8038
APawPlace@gmail.com • Apawplace.com/ A mom-owned local business delivering biologically appropriate foods, treats & toys for cats & dogs. We also carry artisanal Grounds & Hounds coffees. Help support homeless pets! Shop online or contact us any time by phone or email. We provide FREE Door Drop Delivery!
Sear’s Pharmacy 1003 Madison St, Oak Park 708-386-6304 Searsrx.com
Prescription Medications, Over-the-counter medications, Vitamins
Call ahead with order and payment info. Call when curbside, and we will bring your order out to you. We also offer Delivery Hours: Mon-Fri 9-7; Sat 9-2; Sun Closed
111 North Marion Street, Oak Park 708-445-8077
Sugarcup Trading
Greeting Cards, Stationery and Gifts
Sugarcuptrading.com
Fitzgeraldsstationery.com
Call or shop our online store. Complimentary local delivery (Oak Park, River Forest, Elmwood Park, Forest Park) or Curbside pick-up.
Garland Flowers 137 S Oak Park Ave, Oak Park 708-848-2777 GarlandFlowers.net
Flowers, loose and arranged, green plants, blooming plants, garden plants
Order by phone or online Call when you arrive and we will bring your order out to you. We also deliver! Hours: Mon – Sat 9-3
L’Institut Français d’Oak Park 11 Harrison St, Oak Park 217-840-6359 Frenchinstitute.net/
All levels of French classes for adults and mature teens. Register on our site now for Summer Session I or II All classes held via zoom while Coronavirus restrictions are in place.
Tenthousandvilllages.com/oakpark
We are a cultural gift shop selling an assortment of fair trade items from jewelry, home decor, musical instruments, planters, garden accessories, cards, coffee, tea, chocolate, wall decor, clothing.
Look online, then call the store to place an order. You can also DM us if you see something you like through our Facebook or Instagram pages. Curbside pick-up is at our side door on Westgate. Call us when you arrive. Hours: Tues, Fri and Sat 10-4pm
Trends Consignment Boutique 810 North Blvd, Oak Park 708-434-0801 Trendsoakpark.net
Women’s clothing & accessories
Shop on our website and through our social media posts. If you have a special request, virtual shopping appointments are also available. Join us for our LIVE shopping parties on Facebook. Tues-Thurs at 8pm. When you have placed an order, you can request curbside pick-up by emailing Amanda@trendsoakpark.com. Curbside pick-up is available Monday-Friday starting at noon
Tulipia Floral Design 1044 Chicago Ave, Oak Park 708-524-1323 Tulipiafloraldesign.com
Floral arrangements and gifts
Order on our website or call us at 708-524-1323 . For curbside pick-up, call upon arrival and we will bring out your order. We also deliver. Hours: 10-5
110 N. Marion St, Oak Park 708-524-5336 A whimsical well curated children’s boutique specializing in fashion, accessories, books, specialty toys and gifts.
Offering: Online Shopping, Concierge Service, Virtual Shopping Parties You can order online or call 708-524-5336. We offer Curbside Pick-up, Free Local Same Day Delivery and shipping throughout the US. Hours: Mon-Sat 11-5
Team Blonde Boutique, Eco Spa, and Salon 7442 W. Madison, Forest Park 708-771-5590
Teamblonde.com Clothing, gifts, jewelry, handbags, bath & body products, hair care products To order, go to our website, email us at blondes@ teamblonde.com, or call. We offer curbside pick-up and delivery. For curbside pick-up, pull up to our front or back door and call to let us know you arrived. Hours almost anytime, by appointment. Mention this ad for 15% off your first curbside purchase
Each of these businesses paid a very nominal fee to participate in this ad. Thank you for supporting these local businesses!
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M. Call Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at 613-3310 ktrainor@wjinc.com
C O N S C I O U S
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
VIEWPOINTS
23
Fix River Forest’s flawed affordable housing plan p. 27
A G I N G
‘Alive’, not inside The Lake but inside your home
O
ver the past five years, there has been much effective organizing and consciousness-raising around older people with dementia and their caregivers. Locally, River Forest has been designated a dementia-friendly village and Oak Park is working toward that designation as well. The local Township Senior Services hosts the very successful Memory Café every month. One factor for whatever increased awareness and decreased stigmatization exists regarding dementia patients is the breakthrough 2014 documentary film titled Alive Inside. Part of the film follows social worker Dan Cohen as he researches, compiles and produces personalized music playlists for older dementia patients and delivers them loaded onto individualized iPods. Directed/written/produced by filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett, Alive Inside features captivating footage of previously uncommunicative dementia patients virtually “waking up” onscreen, right before your eyes. Mr. Rossato-Bennett will join us for a Q&A and audience conversation following the film via the Zoom platform. Not only can this event reach people who, for one reason or another, were unable to attend the Lake Theatre location, not only is this screening free, but we get to hang out with the person who made the movie. How special is that?! Another thread in the film is the commentary by Dr. Bill Thomas about some of the weaknesses in our medical approach to understanding and treating dementia. This is the same Bill Thomas who brought his Changing Aging Tour to Oak Park two years ago. The Wabi Sabi Film Festival was scheduled to screen Alive Inside at the Lake Theatre last month. That event had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 virus. Now the Wabi Sabi Film Festival is offering a free digital screening, as a COVID-19 gift to the community, on Friday, June 19 at 10 a.m. You may obtain your free tickets online via EventBrite using this link: wabi-sabi-alive-inside.eventbrite.com. Just click on the link and then create/sign-in to a free EventBrite account in order to receive the Zoom log-in information. Wednesday Journal and A Tribe Called Aging founded the Wabi Sabi Film Festival last year as a quarterly film series encouraging everyone to embrace and respect our aging population and the transformation of society. The COVID-19 virus has forced this adjustment to a digital screening. We don’t know when the Lake Theatre will re-open, and we don’t know when the Wabi Sabi Film Festival will resume in-theater presentations. But we do know that we support Classic Cinemas, an important and longtime member of our area community. I look forward to joining you on June 19 to watch the outstanding documentary Alive Inside. Although the popcorn is no longer free, the cost of admission is.
MARC BLESOFF
SUBMITTED
MEMORIES: OPRF’s class of 2020 won’t be lining up on the athletic field as in the past. This year’s virtual commencement will take place on June 14.
I
Graduation reflections
t’s impossible to miss the orange and blue “OPRFHS 2020 Graduate” signs around Oak Park these days. On almost every block, they serve as hollow reminders of a ritual that should have been. Thanks, coronavirus pandemic. It’s not fair, but of course we all know what our parents have told us about fairness. Still, I can’t help but feel bad for young people these days and the rites of passage they’re missing. I imagine it would be hard to get excited about a drive-by parking lot ceremony even with Elgar blasting from a makeshift PA. And your mortarboard would go about 6 inches before banging on the minivan roof. Speaking of Elgar, each time we hear his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 we’re transported back to our own commencement day. The class of 2020 will sadly remember a graduation that wasn’t. I remember my OPRF High School graduation fondly, though there was a twist to it. It was June 12, 1980, back in the days of red roses and white gowns for the girls, and dark suits for the boys. I borrowed the family Chevy Citation (short-lived GM model) to pick up my friends and fellow grads-in-waiting: Kurt, Larry and Mac. We had to be at OPRF an hour or so prior to the 6 p.m. start time. We parked on Elmwood Avenue and walked along Ontario Street toward the school’s main entrance. Lost in our excitement, we jabbered about our post-ceremony plans. And we were oblivious to the dark sedan roaring east on Ontario, even when it came to an abrupt stop at the alley. Before we knew it, a couple of cream pies sailed through the air toward us. Larry got the worst of it, a direct hit with significant splatter. I got some of Baker’s Square’s best on my pant leg. Kurt and Mac escaped any mess. We’d been blindsided, left stunned and baffled. What happened next was really strange. A woman
in the yard of an adjacent two-flat saw the whole thing. She ran over to us and I’m thinking, Oh, maybe she’ll help us wipe off. No such luck. Instead she chastised us and ranted that if we hadn’t dressed so nicely it wouldn’t have been so bad. Huh? We proceeded to the Student Center where faculty distributed the roses for the girls and boutonnieres for the boys. It was hard to miss the remnants of whipped cream on Larry’s navy blue suit coat. “Oh my, what happened to you? Oh, and you too?” I remember Mrs. Dalstrom and Mrs. Saecker being most helpful to us. I’m sure they were trying to process our predicament, but they didn’t hesitate to assist us in getting cleaned up. Then we were off to our assigned places in line. I recall being quite distracted in the procession. I wasn’t thinking of my family watching from the stadium, or what my diploma looked like, or the after-parties. Who were those jerks with the pies? (We later found out who it was and heard that each of the culprits was a fellow senior, denied walking in graduation due to various infractions or academic failures.) It was a glorious summer evening fit for an OPRF outdoor graduation. The rest of it went off without incident. We departed the football field to Delibes’ March and Procession of Bacchus. As I reflect on that weird ceremonial prelude, I wonder if it was foreshadowing the general adversity one encounters moving closer to adulthood. But I must dismiss that. COVID-19 and all it’s wrought is not a blot of pie on your suit. The reality is that the class of 2020 is dealing with greater adversity. It’s so hard for them to ponder this now, but they’ll be better for it. And better days are ahead. Anthony Gargiulo Jr. is an Oak Park resident and OPRF graduate, class of 1980.
ANTHONY
GARGIULO JR. One View
24
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
O U R
I
V I E W P O I N T S
V I E W S
Listening, then changing policing
t would be easy to get lost in this stunningly grim week. So we’ll shine a light on the letter jointly issued Sunday by Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb, Village Manager Cara Pavlicek, Police Chief LaDon Reynolds and Deputy Chief Joe Moran. The letter was in the context of the village government’s response to the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week. It was in the context of generally supporting the work done by Oak Park’s police force. And it was in the context of trying to head off violent protests, and violence generally, in Oak Park in the wake of this latest atrocity against black and brown Americans by police excess. “We denounce and condemn actions of this officer who has since been fired and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter,” is the opening. It goes on to laud Oak Park’s police saying the department rejects racism and discrimination in all its forms and that the department values community policing and works “for ever increasing the diversity of our department.” All largely true. And not good enough, as this page has long maintained. So it was heartening that this letter went on to say village government was open to a public discussion on policing and equity. This is new. And overdue. “We must also have procedural justice, transparency, accountability and honest recognition of not only the present but the past as well,” said the letter. “Additional tools are needed. And to that end, we pledge to support a public discussion about police training, policies and technology such as body cameras to determine the best ways to improve how we serve the Oak Park community.” While the past week has been a year long, it was only last Tuesday that the Journal reported on a new progressive political PAC called Activate Oak Park. We have concerns about PACS and their funding. We have enough middle-ofthe-road in us to question if Oak Park benefits from full-tilt progressive pursuits. There is an entire election season to sort all that out. But it is notable that one of its four “pillars” has to do with rethinking public safety and policing in Oak Park. We agree with that fully. It is possible to praise Oak Park’s police department while also offering genuine criticism. And it is necessary to think about public safety in ways well beyond traditional policing. The elemental lesson of this past week is that we need to listen. White people especially need to listen. Systemic racism pervades policing. And education. And the union movement. And news gathering. It is baked deep into the American heart. This is not about “a few bad apples” as Trump’s national security advisor said Sunday on the news shows. Our nation is rigged for white people. It comes at a staggering cost for people of color. First we must block the inevitable and somewhat understandable noise and anguish over the violence and the looting. We’re going to need some strong reporting over weeks and months to figure out locally and nationally the sources of this hostile disruption. It cannot, though, be an excuse to divert from the necessary discussion of racism in policing. And Oak Park may be ready, at long last, to lead on remaking policing in foundational ways. Last week, in this moment of crisis, Oak Park’s leaders made a commitment to that path. We will hold them to it.
‘H
The beginning of racism’s end
ow do the events of the past week keep happening?” was the subject heading of an email I received Sunday morning from the Unity Temple Unitarian/Universalist congregation, which was planning an online discussion of the issue the following day. That’s certainly the question of the moment. Along with a few others: How does a white police officer kneel on the neck of an already handcuffed African-American man until that man dies? Could there be a more apt and telling symbol of our racially unequal society? And how could three supporting officers witness this and not intervene? An apt and telling symbol of the rest of us. There are no innocent bystanders here. It doesn’t matter whether you’re shaking your head or nodding it in the aftermath. The reason this keeps happening is that we live in an unequal society, and if we don’t actively work to dismantle the inequities, we are implicated in perpetuating an inherently racist system, which inevitably leads to events like George Floyd’s murder. That was the assessment of Stephen Carter, law professor at Yale University, who was interviewed by Scott Simon last Saturday on Weekend Edition. Simon, too, wanted to know how such casualties keep happening. It happens, Carter said, “because for centuries now, so much of the West, including America, has been infected, if I can use the word, by a pandemic of hatred, a pandemic of suspicion that rests on the fundamental lie that black people are inferior and white people are superior. That’s the lie that permeates our society. And until that lie is undone, we’re going to keep seeing incidents like this one.” Carter and his family are members of an organization called Community Healing Network. “It is founded,” he told Simon, “on the proposition that until we deal with and work toward extinguishing these terrible lies of white superiority and black inferiority, we’re not going to make the progress that we need to make.” Is it a simple matter of getting to know one another better, Simon asked, getting out of our silos? “People getting to know each other is always a good thing,” Carter replied, “but it runs deeper than that. These lies themselves so touch our interactions. Thirty years ago, I wrote an article called ‘When Victims Happen To Be Black’ that talked about these stereotypes and how they increase these interactions. And it grieves me to look at how little has changed since then.” The hard truth — but also the starting point for ending events like George Floyd’s unnecessary death — is admitting that all of us are influenced by racism, racist policies and racist ideas. I recently finished the book, How To Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, where, as a professor of history, he has extensively studied and traced the origins of racism and racist ideas in this country. He also spends a lot of time examining the racist ideas he himself absorbed unconsciously growing up in a culture based on racism. It’s unavoidable, he says. We have all, consciously or unconsciously, absorbed and adopted ideas that perpetuate the lie that whites are superior and blacks are inferior. Our
entire society is built on that lie. Race is a fiction. White superiority is a fiction. Black inferiority is a fiction. Some fictions lead to truth. Some lead to more lies. Racism belongs to the latter. Hallucinations are not real, but they’re real to those who believe them and we have to deal with that “reality” in order for healing to take place. Racist ideas are not real, but racism is real. Kneeling on the neck of a black man until he dies is very real. We would make a lot more progress if we recognized and acknowledged that we are all influenced by racist ideas — and stop wasting our energy defensively insisting that we aren’t racist. Kendi’s book should be read by everyone of every color. It provides a clear road map to begin the process of becoming an antiracist. Chapter One alone is worth reading for his definitions [My italics for emphasis]: “Racist: One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea. Antiracist: One who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea.” There is no in-between. You are either racist or antiracist (often both, moving back and forth). Anyone who thinks there is a neutral middle ground is kidding themselves. “Racism,” Kendi says, “is a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities. … Racial inequity is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing.” Racial inequities are created by racist policies. Racist ideas support both racist policies and the racial inequity that results from them. You want examples? Read the book, he’s got plenty. But whatever racist ideas you have absorbed and/or adopted will likely not survive reading this book. What is a racist idea? “A racist idea is any idea that suggests one racial group is inferior or superior to another racial group in any way. Racist ideas argue that the inferiorities and superiorities of racial groups explain racial inequities in society.” Antiracist ideas, on the other hand, are any ideas “that suggest racial groups are equals in all their apparent differences — that there is nothing right or wrong with any racial group.” We are surrounded by racial inequity. In Oak Park, the most obvious and immediate example is education at OPRF High School. We saw it in the docuseries America to Me, and we can see, in the resistance generated to the recent antiracist equity curriculum proposal, just how far we still have to go. “The question for each of us is: What side of history will we stand on?” asks Kendi. “Racist ideas have defined our society since its beginning and can feel so natural and obvious as to be banal, but antiracist ideas remain difficult to comprehend, in part because they go against the flow of this country’s history. … To be an antiracist is a radical choice in the face of this history, requiring a radical reorientation of our consciousness.” But this is where we must begin if we want to understand why events like the death of George Floyd keep happening — and if we want to prevent more knees to the neck of handcuffed African Americans.
KEN
TRAINOR
V I E W P O I N T S by Marc Stopeck
S H R U B T O W N
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
W E D N E S D A Y
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
Editor and Publisher Dan Haley Senior Editor Bob Uphues Staff Reporters Michael Romain, Stacey Sheridan, Maria Maxham Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor Sports/Staff reporter James Kay Columnists Marc Blesoff, Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, John Hubbuch, May Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger, Stan West, Linda Francis Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Designers Mark Moroney, Javier Govea Business Manager Joyce Minich Advertising Design Manager Andrew Mead Advertising Designers Debbie Becker, Mark Moroney Marketing Representatives Marc Stopeck, Lourdes Nicholls
T
Aiming to weather this storm in the same boat
he COVID-19 global pandemic has changed our lives dramatically and given rise to uncertainties that weigh heavily on each of us. As the loosening of some restrictions opens a path forward, we continue to seek direction in a world of unknowns. Yet while we are all weathering the same storm, we are not all in the same boat. The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation (OPRFCF) created its Rapid Response and Recovery Fund in mid-March, as the pandemic began to affect local communities. We established this resource in order to support organizations providing our most vulnerable residents with fundamental human needs and services: food, shelter and health care. The fund also aids local nonprofits that provide important financial relief and counseling services to address mental health issues and economic difficulties brought on by the pandemic. These community-based organizations have shown unwavering dedication to delivering crucial assistance throughout a time of incredible distress. The constant, extraordinary generosity of our community members has made this support possible. In just two months, more than 250 residents have given over $200,000 to the fund. Combined with the foundation’s seed and matching gifts, monies from the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund, and the amazing generosity of Ken and Patty Hunt, longtime Oak Parkers and foundation friends, we have been able to raise more than $850,000 in financial resources to our communities. Because of contributions to the Rapid Response and Recovery Fund, OPRFCF has granted $500,000 to
27 area nonprofits to date, with more to be granted in the coming months. Organizations like the African American Christian Foundation (AACF), which will continue to empower young adults with employment and self-sufficiency. AACF will also offer rental assistance to those who are furloughed, and continue employee placement at essential businesses, helping 70 area youth. We realize our communities’ needs will continue to grow due to this unprecedented health crisis, and our resolve to meet those challenges is firm. Further extending their generosity, Ken and Patty Hunt have pledged additional giving to the fund, and will match every donation, dollar for dollar, up to a total of $250,000. We ask that you consider contributing to this vital resource by visiting oprfcf.org and making a donation. No amount is too small. On behalf of the foundation’s board of directors and staff, we are forever grateful to the Hunt family, and to all those who continue to support our nonprofit community, whether directly to the organizations of their choice, crowdfunding sources, or contributions to the Rapid Response and Recovery Fund. In addition, we are immensely thankful for those who have demonstrated innovative ways to lend support, such as those repurposing their businesses to provide essential goods and services. We wish you and your loved ones good health and well-being, and we stand in solidarity with you as we continue to weather this storm. Tony Martinez Jr. is president and CEO of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation.
Advertising Sales Marc Stopeck Sales & Development Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Front Desk Carolyn Henning, Maria Murzyn Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs
TONY
MARTINEZ One View
About Viewpoints Our mission is to lead educated conversation about the people, government, schools, businesses and culture of Oak Park and River Forest. As we share the consensus of Wednesday Journal’s editorial board on local matters, we hope our voice will help focus your thinking and, when need be, fire you to action. In a healthy conversation about community concerns, your voice is also vital. We welcome your views, on any topic of community interest, as essays and as letters to the editor. Noted here are our stipulations for filing. Please understand our verification process and circumstances that would lead us not to print a letter or essay. We will call to check that what we received with your signature is something you sent. If we can’t make that verification, we will not print what was sent. When, in addition to opinion, a letter or essay includes information presented as fact, we will check the reference. If we cannot confirm a detail, we may not print the letter or essay. If you have questions, email Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY
■ 250-word limit
■ 500-word limit
■ Must include first and last names,
■ One-sentence footnote about yourself,
municipality in which you live, phone number (for verification only)
your connection to the topic ■ Signature details as at left
Email Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com or mail to Wednesday Journal, Viewpoints, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 708 613 3300
25
26
V I E W P O I N T S
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Who needs to change? Look in the mirror
T
he story of Amy Cooper calling the cops on Christian Cooper in Central Park has been overshadowed by the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing protests. Mayor Lightfoot imposed a curfew and volunteers are downtown cleaning up Michigan Avenue. In Oak Park, we like to see ourselves as progressive, open-minded, inclusive, and certainly not racist. As a community, we may realize, or have been pushed to realize, that we have shortcomings, places where “things need to be fixed,” that we are hardly a community devoid of racism. But in my discussions with white people, so often it is somehow someone else who is in the wrong, who needs to change. It’s rarely “me.” I have no doubt than many white women in Oak Park read about Amy Cooper and thought, “How terrible. These racist people, these white women, need to be stopped.” I wonder, how many of them reflected on whether or not they would do something similar? Last Fall, I was walking home from the el and a white woman called out to me. She wanted me to call the police on some kids she thought were stealing a bike. Admittedly, lots of bikes get stolen in Oak Park, and in broad daylight at the el station (one of my family’s included). But I was also very aware that this could be a situation that was being blown out of proportion. I told her I did have a phone and would check it out. Honestly, I didn’t want to say no and then just have her ask someone else. I did walk back around the corner to the bikes. There was a group of three or four black teens standing around a bike and talking among themselves in a casual way while one of them appeared to be unlocking a bike. Nothing at all looked suspicious to me, not even enough to warrant me going over for a closer look. I don’t know what this woman saw. Would she have responded differently if the kids had been white? They looked like teens just out of school, on their way home or to the library. Why not just go over and talk to them, ask if they needed help with their bike? There are many alternatives to calling the police on a group of chatting teens with a bike. I’m not telling this
story to point a finger, yet again, in another direction. The point is not to say, “See? This happens in Oak Park too, but it wasn’t me. It was that other white woman over there.” I have never called the cops on anyone. But about a year ago, I was downtown waiting for the el when a black man, about my age, passed by very near to me. I moved my bag aside and stepped back a little. He gave a little laugh as he continued on, and it seemed clear to me that for him this was yet another white woman who was sure he was going to steal something from her. Was I? I don’t know. I can tell myself that I would have done that for anyone passing by that closely. It is true that, as a woman, I am very aware of my surroundings any time I am alone and among lots of strangers. I keep an eye on the white frat boys, too. But if I am truthful, I was also taught to be afraid of black men. Not overtly, but in little ways that are part of the white culture I grew up in. So in truth, I would guess that at least part of my reaction to this man was simply because he was black. And even if it was not, I am now very aware of how black men have been used, historically and today, by white women. It is quite likely that this man interpreted my action as racist no matter what was going through my head. I have spent time over the past years working to change my internalized racism and to behave differently, proactively, especially around black men. It’s not enough that my behavior may be neutral to me. If I care about changing the dynamics of racism, I need to be aware of the historical (and current!) context of my behavior. I need to make sure my impact is aligned with my intention. While I can’t imagine the white women I know acting on ingrained racist culture in the way that Amy Cooper did, we are a part of, and have absorbed, the racist myths that surround us. The Amy Coopers of the world don’t just live among us, they are us — even in Oak Park. As white women (and men) we need to acknowledge this, so that we can do something about it. Elizabeth Freeland is an Oak Park resident.
ELIZABETH FREELAND One View
The consequences of Trump’s racism The increasingly violent response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police is not surprising. We have seen case after case of black men beaten or killed by police for trifling, non-threatening actions. What is surprising is that it took so long. For over three years President Trump has stoked and encouraged his base supporters. His single fundamental attraction to his base is hatred of other Americans: virulent hatred of blacks, minorities, women, intellectuals, and anyone who does not grovel at his royal feet. He has always appealed to the very worst of human emotions. He loves his rallies, where he openly encourages his fans to beat anyone who opposes him, to assault news reporters. His tweets are a constant barrage of vicious attacks on whomever he is annoyed with at the moment. His supporters love him because he does not pretend to be a loving, tolerant, magnanimous, civilized leader. They love him because he is proud to be vulgar and nasty, to be openly racist, and to advocate violence against his enemies, most of whom are fellow Americans. By his example, he makes it OK to be a racist, homophobic, xenophobic woman-abuser. He not only supports police
violence against minorities, he encourages it. Some of Trump’s “enemies” are selected just for grandstanding, but his racism runs deep. In 1973 the U.S. Justice Department prosecuted Trump for violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968[i]. Applications of prospective tenants for Trump apartments were coded with “C” for colored. Trump counter-sued and eventually the case was settled out of court, with Trump promising to do better. If Trump remains president, we can expect a full-out race war. Trump has no interest in solving problems — he exploits them to stir up his base. This is his modus operandi. His immediate response to the demonstrations was to provoke and encourage a deadly response by police: “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Now we see the result. [i] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-thegovernments-racial-bias-case-against-donald-trumps-company-and-how-he-fought-it/2016/01/23/fb90163e-bfbe-11e5-bcda62a36b394160_story.html
Tom DeCoursey Oak Park
Re-election fever
O
n April 14, 2020, news media revealed that farmers were destroying crops, and dairy farmers were dumping milk because they were unable to deliver their products to the markets. Grocery stores could not be resupplied. A pork processing plant in South Dakota was shut down because a large number of its workers tested positive for coronavirus. The prospect of a food shortage in America became a reality. Twenty-six million unemployed and their families overwhelmed food pantries. President Trump expected the economic recovery to start by Easter. He signed a $2.3 trillion economic relief package to alleviate the plight of the furloughed millions. But the prematurely expected economic resurgence did not happen, and relief checks have been selectively denied to U.S. citizens with immigrant spouses. There is much ado and self-serving grandstanding by the President about the urgency to reopen America. But it is not about the restart of the economy. Nor is it a revelation of Trump’s newfound compassion for the dying. It is not empathy for the suffering jobless. It’s re-election fever. Opportunistically during this period of social-distancing, Trump uses the White House Daily Task Force briefings as substitutes for political rallies. In effect, he has left the Democrats in home confinement, virtually voiceless, while he angrily lashes out against the press and the governors of the opposition party who press him for support and supplies in the fight against the pandemic. President Trump posted the inflammatory tweets, “Liberate Virginia,” “Liberate Michigan,” “Liberate Minnesota.” He urged his supporters to engage in “civil disobedience” to show their support for a rush to reopen the country and the economy. A quick economic resurgence is a must for his re-election, but large gatherings and protest marches are against the President’s own orders to stay sheltered. In mid-April, several marches were staged by assaultrifle-brandishing demonstrators. They protested what they perceived to be an infringement of their constitutional rights by in-home sheltering. The emotional rallies were ill-timed and misguided. They sabotaged efforts to save lives. The spring protest marches are forerunners of probable civil unrest later in the summer. The hungry, the desperate unemployed, and pandemic-ravaged minorities are likely to protest their plight. In fervent demonstrations, there is a likelihood of clashes between the liberal progressives and Trump-supporting right-wingers. The virus pandemic validates a necessity for an improved health-care system. Proponents of “Health Care for All” are justified to press their cause. The agony of pandemic-inflicted mortality, the misery of economic woes, and political grudges are elements for a hot summer. Both parties are making the election a referendum about Trump. Both parties are hoping for a landslide victory. But the outcome may be uncomfortably close. The “Blue Tsunami” did not materialize in the midterm election as hoped. The electorate is as divided as ever. Although unemployed and disgruntled, bluecollared Johnny Redneck will still vote for Trump. The Trump campaign will attempt to exploit the Electoral College, just as it did in 2016. Fred Natkevi is a longtime resident of Oak Park.
FRED NATKEVI One View
V I E W P O I N T S
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
S
Fix River Forest’s flawed affordable housing plan
peak up this Monday or the River Forest Village Board will adopt a very flawed affordable housing plan that does nothing to prevent the current or future village board from using its power to collaborate with developers to force out current residents of modest means, especially the seniors who helped make River Forest so desirable. It’s critical that concerned neighbors attend the village board’s Committee of the Whole Meeting via phone at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 8 to voice their support to add provisions to the plan to save the housing that nurses, teachers, bank associates, retired seniors, librarians, our children, social workers, first responders, office workers, small business owners, and others with an income below the village’s $107,000 median in 2013-2017 can afford. You can download the plan (with commentary on its flaws and factual errors) at http://www.riverforestmatters.com. Instructions for attending the board meeting by phone are also posted there. The majority of the Plan Commission rejected nearly every effort to fix the flaws in the affordable housing plan. While the plan has improved since its first draft, which inaccurately depicted affordable housing as a burden on villagers, it still sets a goal for 10 percent affordable housing, making that a ceiling rather than “at least 10 percent.” It also contains misleading information and lacks the essential policies needed to assure that the village does not use its power to collaborate with developers to force out our neighbors with modest incomes, especially seniors. On Monday, we need to urge the village board to add provisions that recommend: ■ Amending the River Forest Comprehensive Plan to set a policy to preserve existing multifamily and single-family housing (there actually is some) affordable to households of modest incomes ■ Adopting a precise policy for TIF districts to preserve existing housing affordable to households of modest means and/or replace it with affordable units in new developments on a one-for-one basis
Amending the zoning ordinance to establish incentivized inclusionary zoning that grants a density bonus (which is now just being given away) only if at least 15 percent of dwelling units in a new development with multi-family housing is affordable to households of modest incomes The reasons why are detailed at http://www. riverforestmatters.com. And we need to convince the board to replace the misinformation on housing cost burden with accurate, factual data. The last page of the plan badly distorts the cost-burden concept that planners and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have used for decades to determine housing affordability. The village’s consultant told the Plan Commission that households should spend 30 percent of their gross household income on housing, intimating that it’s undesirable to spend less than 30 percent — a factually inaccurate conclusion. In reality, a household is cost-burdened when it spends 30 percent or more of its gross annual income on housing; severely cost-burdened when spending half or more. The plan, however, never mentions that more than 42 percent of River Forest tenants are cost burdened — more than half of them severely cost-burdened. It never reports that almost 29 percent of River Forest homeowners with a mortgage are cost burdened as are nearly 26 percent of our homeowners without a mortgage — all documented by the U.S. Census. Spending 30 percent or more on housing squeezes the finances of households of modest means, forcing them to cut back spending in their community on other essentials, rarely allowing them to save money for a down payment. The local economy, as well as these households, suffer. In an age where citizens feel powerless, this is one time that we can make a difference — if a large number of us speak out this Monday evening. Daniel Lauber, a 32-year River Forest resident, has worked as a city planner to preserve affordable housing since the 1970s.
DAN
LAUBER One View
■
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
27
Is death our prerequisite for dignity?
T
he execution of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor has sparked conversation about the racial violence experienced by black communities. While this is common knowledge in black communities and advocacy communities, we are seeing the media cover it more extensively, reaching populations that may not have had the opportunity to be exposed to the inequities experienced by marginalized populations. While some may deem this occurrence an opportunity for much-needed reform within various systems in our country, I can’t help but think, at what cost? Did it take the alarming deaths of these individuals to spark such a conversation? How many black bodies must be laid in coffins for us as a nation to honestly acknowledge and address the racial violence that black people have been screaming about from the rooftops of disinvested and segregated communities? But this narrative of black deaths being a necessary precursor to reform is far from new for this country. Black people have long had their bodies laid on the altar of American society to be sacrificed prior to reforming the many unjust systems that were compiled to create the foundation of this nation. It takes the visual sight of our blood for this country to be pushed to the point of incrementally chipping away at the racist barriers that wall off black people from the America that was reserved for white people. It took the open casket of a teenage boy, Emmet Till, who was brutally beaten beyond recognition for the nation to be shaken and forced to confront the racial violence experienced by black people. It sparked an upsurge of activism and resistance that became known as the Civil Rights Movement. It took the graphic visual of seeing 16 shots unloaded into the small frame of a teenage boy, Laquan McDonald, for the city of Chicago to confront the need to aggressively reform their police department and again forced the nation to confront the racial violence experienced by black people, sparking another upsurge of activism and resistance. Now it is taking the execution of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor for all Americans to re-evaluate our criminal justice system and again confront the racial violence experienced by black people. While I applaud our leaders and the media for putting the racial violence experienced by black people at the forefront, how many black people have to die for our nation to acknowledge how racism is still sophisticatedly woven into the fabric of our society, stitched into our systems, its thread stained with the blood of so many black people we have lost throughout this nation’s history? Black communities can no longer be the designated casualties of creating a nation that provides freedom and justice for all. Death can no longer be black people’s prerequisite for dignity. Michelle Mbekeani, a former Oak Park resident and graduate of OPRF High School, is an attorney in Chicago.
MICHELLE MBEKEANI One View
Don’t conflate pandemic with racism John Adams famously observed that “facts are troublesome things.” And the facts described by Michael Romain in his recent piece on “COVID-19 and the ‘race tax’” are indeed troublesome. There is indeed cause for concern in the “disproportionality” between blacks and whites of the relative number of cases of COVID-19. But Mr. Romain’s conclusion is also deeply troublesome: “how this risk was manufactured by whites in the first place.” In so doing he conflates an Act of God with acts of men, and creates yet another toxic instance of white prejudice and black victimization. I respectfully disagree.
James Jenkins Oak Park
28
O B I T U A R I E S
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
Frank Muriello, 92
tioned each summer from the 1950s to the ’70s, Ascension Parish where he was an usher at Sunday Mass for approximately four decades, and Jesus Christ. He also loved Oak Park and wanted to give back to his community. He became a pillar of Frank J. Muriello, 92, died at Brookdale in that community, serving as a village trustee Oak Park on May 31, 2020. Born in Oak Park from 1981-85, then head the Oak Park Resion March 28, 1928 to Joseph and Mary Muri- dence Corporation (aka ResCorp) from 1986 to ello, he was the brother of Rose, Marie and 1998, as well as the Oak Park Housing AuthorJack, all now deceased. ity, both of which were among several core The son of a Sicilian immigrant, he was village public/private partnership organizaraised in an apartment above tions. ResCorp resisted blight in his dad’s grocery store, CardiOak Park by buying some two doznal Food Mart, on the southwest en “troubled” multifamily buildcorner of Madison and East Avings, rehabbing them, and selling enue. He graduated from Ascenthem to new owners and/or mansion Grammar School in 1942, aging them. He became known as Fenwick High School in 1946, and Oak Park’s “blight fighter.” Loyola University in 1950. During his time on the village He had a 65-year love affair board, his brainchild, the Equity with an Irish girl from Chicago’s Assurance Program, ensured that West Side, Eileen Simpson. Marhomeowners would be covered ried in 1950, they had seven chilin the event that housing values FRANK MURIELLO dren, 15 grandchildren, and nine crashed as the village began to great grandchildren. diversify. That program has been His business career started at the former credited with stopping “white flight” and Oak Park Federal Savings & Loan (now By- leading to Oak Park’s success in maintaining line Bank), then as president of Life Savings stable diversity. In a 1998 interview with Wednesday Jourin Melrose Park. In the 1960s he became a real estate appraiser and had a reputation as one nal, he talked about the importance of diverof the greatest appraisal minds of his genera- sity: “It’s surprising the flavor that somebody tion. His loves included his wife (desperately), who comes from a different background his kids, Keeler’s Resort on Lake Metonga in brings. The wisdom that people bring from diCrandon, Wisconsin where the family vaca- verse cultures is just amazing, and when you
Head of Rescorp, architect of Equity Assurance
oprfchamber.org
don’t have it, you lose something. Not to have that diversity is almost incestuous. Who are you talking to, the same people all the time? Who is my fellow man? People are more respectful of each other when there’s diversity.” Being a second-generation Italian-American, he and his family experienced their share of prejudice, yet he never expressed resentment and always preached that everyone deserves respect and a chance. He was also an early investor in Wednesday Journal. “When they get around to writing the history of the modern village of Oak Park,” said Ed Solan, who succeeded him as executive director of ResCorp, “Frank’s name should be prominently featured along with Jim McClure, Bobbie Raymond, and others of their generation. He had a major impact on racial integration and the stabilization of the village’s rental housing market at a time when both were in question. He combined the acumen of a savvy banker and appraiser with a strong vision for the future of the village. Oak Park owes a major debt of gratitude to Frank for the work he did to make the village the outstanding place we know today.” To his kids he was a quiet leader, kind, loving and thoughtful. “I was never afraid,” said his son, Tom, who joined him in the appraisal business. “We learned by his example and strength, and the gift of his love of my mom.” Due to the pandemic, a funeral service will be planned for a later date.
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
Thomas Dwyer, 84 Saloon keeper
Thomas James Aquinas Dwyer, 84, died peacefully, surrounded by his loving family on May 29, 2020, after a battle with cancer. He was the proprietor of Grandpa’s Place in both Glenview and on the West Side of Chicago. In that capacity, he made many friends and affected numerous lives with his kindness and generosity. Born on March 6, 1936, he engaged in various endeavors before he settled on his life as a saloon keeper. He enjoyed a good cocktail and a round of golf, and in 2019, recorded a hole-in-one at the 8th hole at Flagg Creek THOMAS DWYER Golf Course. His last 14 years were spent in Oak Park, where he had many friends, and where he enjoyed membership in the “150” Club. He was a devout member of St. Edmund Catholic Church where he generously volunteered. Tom Dwyer was the father of Marguerite (“Peggy”) Sutton, Timothy (Liliana) Dwyer, Julie (Thomas) Tuten, and Thomas Joseph Dwyer, and the former husband of Mary M. Dwyer. He was the grandfather of nine God-
JOIN US
We know that most businesses cannot reopen right now, but let's plan for when you can! Zoom into our Multi-Chamber by industry discussions on strategies to re-open. Bi-Monthly calendar per industry is available on: oprfchamber.org/events oprfchamber.org
#workingtogether #shoplocal #ChamberLOVE
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM given bonuses in life: Erin Marguerite, Sam Dwyer; Thomas Max, Marguerite “Maggie” and Jesse Luke Tuten; Tyler Simpson, Teigan, Riley Jake and Grace Dwyer; and great-grandfather to Aubrey Doll. All of them gave life and true meaning to the name of the fine establishment called “Grandpa’s Place.” He was also the brother of John Dwyer (Mary Lou, nee Kurtz, and the late Kay, nee Arado) and Mary Virginia “Ginny” (the late Tom) McManus. He was predeceased by his parents, Martin “Matt” and Marguerite Dwyer, three brothers, Martin J. “Jay”, William M. “Bill” (the late Nora, nee Millette), Robert David Dwyer, and his sister, Barbara Dwyer (the late Jerry) Tarzon. He was the uncle and great-uncle of many loving nephews and nieces, and was the fortunate friend of many great people who gave love and support along Tom’s long and rewarding travels in life. Given the current situation, there will be no public wake or funeral service, which is ironic. Due to the many friends and acquaintances he made through the tavern business, and living to the ripe age of 84, he attended thousands of funeral services. The family intends to have a memorial service at a later date. Donations in Tom’s memory may be made to Misericordia Heart of Mercy (Misericordia. com) or National Religious Retirement Office, 3211 4 St. NE, Washington, DC 20017. Arrangements were handled by Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home.
Kyle Davis, 50
Architect and Renaissance man Kyle C. Davis, 50, of Oak Park, died on May 28, 2020 after a courageous battle with cancer. Born on Oct. 9, 1969, he grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma and received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Oklahoma State University. Growing up, he was a frequent cast member in his father’s community theater productions as well as those at the university. During these formative years, he also discovered his love of hunting, golf, “bar” sports, and generally engaging in what can only be described as shenanigans. After graduation, he moved to Denver, Colorado to pursue his chosen vocation with a brief stopover, waiting tables at the Trail Dust steak-
S W E N !
FLASH You can get local news delivered right to your email in-box. Sign up for FREE at OakPark.com
O B I T U A R I E S house under the nickname “Copenhagen.” He began his architecture career at Gensler, where he worked for over 20 years, ultimately as a principal, running a studio. Throughout his career, his specialty was the relationship side of the business. In this he thrived and was finally able to combine his love of golf, hunting and architecture. He joined HKS three years ago as a principal, focused on business development in the Chicago studio. Upon moving to Chicago, he met Kate — someone who complemented his unique perspective on life. Their story continued by getting married and moving to Oak Park. Kaelin and Karsten were welcomed and became the light of his life. In both he found willing recipients upon which to impart his varied skills: baking and cooking with Kaelin, shooting in the Country Club Skeet League with Karsten, and golfing with both children at the Oak Park Country Club. A self-described Renaissance man, he could beat you at a round of skeet or take your money in a round of golf, then invite you to join his family at a holiday meal, make a keyKYLE DAVIS lime pie from scratch or barbecue an excellent brisket. His unmistakable sartorial style was a combination of his reverence for Ralph Lauren, a reinterpretation of the past, and his own unique point of view. Through it all, he was a collector of people and relationships, making friends wherever he went. He believed life is a long game. His life was bigger than his body and will live on in his family, friends, and the wonderful stories he leaves behind. Kyle was the husband of Katherine “Kate” Clemens Davis; the father of Kaelin and Karsten; the son of Judyth and the late Jerry Davis; brother of Kelly (Lisa Egger) Davis; and best friend to his canine companions, Bythel and Miles Davis. Visitation was held June 1, 2020 at Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations to Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Center of Northwestern (cancer. northwestern.edu) are appreciated.
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
Maura Kiley 80 Artist, teacher
Maura Therese Kiley, 80, died as a result of brain/lung cancer on May 23, 2020. Born on May 2, 1940 to the late Roger and Helen (nee Burke) Kiley, she impacted many people through her warmth and compassion. She graduated from St. Mary’s of Notre Dame with a B.A. in French and Education and earned a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in art from the Art Institute of Chicago. She was an exceptional artist and her passion for art/painting continMAURA KILEY ued her entire life. She taught French, English, and Art in a number of Catholic and public elementary schools in Chicago and Oak Park. In her 20s, she worked for Department of Defense, teaching French and English at Camp Drake in Japan. While there, she, traveled all over the Far East with friends, enjoying her travels immensely. She worked for the city of Chicago’s Office of Manpower as chief training officer and was active in politics. She was a real estate broker for over 11 years in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood and enjoyed several years of peaceful retirement in Wisconsin before returning to live in Chicago and later, Oak Park. She was generous, creative, selfless, and a woman of many talents. Her infectious smile, and passion for the underdog will be sorely
29
missed by her brothers, sisters, cousins, many nieces and nephews, and her many friends. Maura is survived by her sisters, Dee (the late Raymond) LeFevour, Gillian (James P) Carey, and her brothers, John (Carolyn) Kiley, and Roger Jr. (Alvina) Kiley. She was predeceased by her sister, Kathleen Kiley. She was the aunt and cousin to many generations. Maura’s family will hold a private memorial service in June remembering her love and uniqueness with grieving hearts. Arrangements were handled by Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home.
Dorothy Younger, 89 Loved and cared for animals
Dorothy J. Younger (nee Jones), 89, of Oak Park, died on May 21, 2020. Born on Aug. 31, 1930, she was a 1952 graduate of Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri. A longtime member of 1st PresDOROTHY YOUNGER byterian Church of River Forest and the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association, for many years she worked at Quintero Limited in Oak Park and will be remembered for her lifelong love and care for animals. Dorothy was the wife of the late Perry F. Younger, mother of Pamela Marie and Deborah Lee Younger, and daughter of the late Charles N. and Elsa F. Jones. A visitation was held May 29, with funeral services May 30, at Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home, followed by interment at Mt. Emblem Cemetery in Elmhurst.
W E D N E S D A Y
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
To run an obituary Please contact Ken Trainor by e-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com, before Monday at noon. Please include a photo if possible.
Robert P. Gamboney Funeral Director
Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home
Since 1880
I am there for you in your time of need. All services handled with dignity and personalized care.
Family Owned & Operated
Cell: 708.420.5108 • Res: 708.848.5667
Charles Williams, Owner/Funeral Director
I am affiliated with Peterson-Bassi Chapels at 6938 W. North Ave, as well as other chapels throughout Chicagoland.
203 S. Marion St. Oak Park 60302 708/383-3191
30
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM New local ads this week
HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI
WEDNESDAY
CLASSIFIED
YOUR WEEKLY AD
REACHES SIX SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES: OAK PARK, RIVER FOREST, FOREST PARK, BROOKFIELD, RIVERSIDE, NORTH RIVERSIDE, AND PARTS OF CHICAGO
Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.
Place your ad online anytime at: www.OakPark.com/ClassiďŹ ed/
Please Check Your Ad: The publisher will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion. Wednesday Journal Classified must be notified before the second insertion. The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement.
BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 | BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 | BY E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@OAKPARK.COM | CLASSIFIEDS@RIVERFOREST.COM HELP WANTED
HELP WANTED
River Forest Public Schools District 90 Student Support Services - Vacancies for the 2020-2021 School Year District 90 is seeking qualified and experienced student support educators for the following positions: • Special Education Multi Needs Instructional Teacher (Roosevelt Middle School) • Special Education Support Teacher (Willard Elementary School) • Special Education Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Coordinator (All D90 Schools) • English Language Learners Teacher – Part-time (Roosevelt Middle School) • Speech and Language Pathologist (Roosevelt Middle School) • Social Worker - Part-time (Willard Elementary School) For detailed qualifications requirements and job duties, please visit our website at https://www.district90.org/about/ employment for our complete list of employment opportunities.
General Qualifications: Valid Illinois Professional Education License with endorsement in field of study, a Master’s Degree is preferred and successful teaching experience with students in a classroom setting is preferred. General Duties: Provide excellence in education by developing and implementing activities that encourage students to be life-long learners. Possesses knowledge of District policies and regulations relating to areas of responsibilities. Create an environment that is conducive to learning and appropriate to the developmental maturity and interests of each student. Application: Apply online at www. district90.org. Application Procedure: Interested candidates should complete the online application available at district90.org. Please do not send hard copies of supporting documentation, i.e. cover letters, resumes, licensure, etc. to River Forest Schools District 90; instead, upload these materials onto the online job application system for proper processing.
SUBURBAN RENTALS
SUBURBAN RENTALS
FOREST PARK 1BR 1 BR in Forest Park in quiet 4 at. Heat, gas, parking included. Laundry facilities. Available 6/15. $950/ mo. Call Henry 708-436-3644
OAK PARK 1ST FLOOR 2BR 1185 S OAK PARK AVE $1300/mo plus security deposit. Incl. garage parking. You control heat/ac. Available 6/15. No pets. 708-246-2579
M&M
property management, inc.
708-386-7355 • www.mmpropmgt.com 649 Madison Street, Oak Park
CITY RENTALS BASEMENT APT FOR RENT 1BR Furnished apt near Thomas & Lavergne. Available June 1. $675. Tenant pays utilities. Call 773-626-0365
ROOMS FOR RENT AUSTIN CLEAN ROOM With fridge, micro. Nr Oak Park, Super Walmart, Food 4 Less, bus, & Metra. $116/wk and up. 773-637-5957
OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT THERAPY OFFICES FOR RENT Therapy ofďŹ ces for rent in north Oak Park. Rehabbed building. Nicely furnished. Flexible leasing. Free parking. Free wiďŹ ; Secure building; Friendly colleagues providing referrals. Shared waiting room; optional Conference. Call or email with questions. Shown on Sundays. Lee 708.383.0729 drlmadden@ameritech.net
ITEMS FOR SALE LENOX CHINA 5 piece place settings Lenox china, Tuxedo pattern IRISH CARDIGAN Men’s size large. WATERFORD GLASSES Colleen pattern, 2 water goblets, 2 wine glasses, 5 double old-fashioned glasses 708-386-6160
Contact us for a complete list of available rentals throughout Oak Park and Forest Park.
ITEMS TO BE GIVEN AWAY
Apartment listings updated daily at:
HOSPITAL BED We will deliver. 708-485-0929
WANTED TO BUY Find your new apartment this Saturday from 10 am – 4pm at 35 Chicago Avenue. Or call us toll free at 1-833-440-0665 for an appointment.
WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, ags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers – lead, plastic – other misc. toys. Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400
Lost & Found, Items for Sale, and To Be Given Away ads run free in Wednesday Classified. To place your ad, call 708-613-3342
PARKING SPACE FOR RENT OAK PARK PARKING SPACE FOR RENT Safe parking space (uncovered) off one-way alley on 200 block, South Kenilworth, Oak Park. 60302. Great centerof-town location near Metra, green line, Oak Park library, Scoville Park, Lake theater, shopping and restaurants. Only $95 per month for your space. 847-814-5741
CLOSET ORGANIZATION ORGANIZE YOUR CLOSETS! We can offer safe, creative, professional, and affordable solutions to address the need of your cluttered, unorganized closets. Using either wire shelving components, or more attractive wood grain laminated particle board, we successfully work closely with our clients to help them with their organizing challenges. We also offer assembly services for and Ikea products. Contact us for a free quote today! Brian@bkedesigns.com (312) 504-6149
PETS While you’re away, your pets are okay . . . at home
cat calls
Oak Park’s Original Pet Care Service – Since 1986
Daily dog exercising Complete pet care in your home )PVTF TJUUJOH t 1MBOU DBSF Bonded References
524-1030
AIR CONDITIONING/ HEATING AIR CONDITIONING AND APPLIANCE EXPERT Air Conditioning Automotive A/C Refrigerators Ranges • Ovens Washer • Dryers Hot Water Heaters Rodding Sewers Lic/Bonded 25 yrs experience
FREE SERVICE CALL WITH REPAIR AND SENIOR/VETERAN DISCOUNT.
708-785-2619 or 773-585-5000 OakPark.com | RiverForest.com
CEMENT Residential Commercial Industrial Licensed Bonded Insured Free Estimates ¡ Veteran Owned
Drives Walks Patios Stamped Concrete Curbs/Gutters Garage Floors Foundations Parking Lots Water Control
devegaconcrete.com ¡ 708-945-9001
MAGANA
C O N C R E T E C O N S T RU C T I O N “QUALITY IS OUR FOUNDATION� ESTABLISHED IN 1987
COMMERCIAL ˜ INDUSTRIAL ˜ RESIDENTIAL
708.442.7720 '5,9(:$<6 ‡ )281'$7,216 ‡ 3$7,26 67(36 ‡ &85% *877(56 ‡ 6,'(:$/.6 612: 3/2:,1* ‡ 67$03(' &2/25(' $**5(*$7( &21&5(7( FREE ESTIMATES LICENSED, BONDED & INSURED
You have jobs. We have readers!
Find the best employees with Wednesday Classified! Call 708-613-3342.
ELECTRICAL Ceiling Fans Installed
A&A ELECTRIC
Let an American Veteran do your work
We install plugs for battery-operated vehicles We fix any electrical problem and do small jobs We install Surge Protectors • Home Re-wiring • New Plugs & Switches Added • New circuit breaker boxes • Code violations corrected Service upgrades,100-200 amp • Garage & A/C lines installed Fast Emergency Service | Residential • Commercial • Industrial Free Home Evaluations | Lic. • Bonded • Ins. • Low Rates • Free Est.
708-409-0988 • 708-738-3848 Sr. Discounts • 30 Yrs. Exp. Servicing Oak Park • All surrounding suburbs • Chicago area
ELECTRICAL
HANDYMAN
FOUR SEASONS ELECTRIC
Mike’s Home Repair
★Cool your Home★ with Ceiling Fans! Installing Ceiling Fans Rewiring Old Houses Service Upgrades
Reasonable Pricing & Free Estimates
• No Job Too Big or Too Small • Lic * Bonded * Ins * 24 hrs
708-445-0447
Drywall H Painting H Tile Plumbing H Electric H Floors Windows H Doors H Siding Ask Us What We Don’t Do
708-296-2060
HANDYMAN Roofing Repairs Concrete Repairs • Drywall All types of handiwork Call For Free Estimates
FLOORS
773-637-0692
KLIS FLOORING INC.
HAULING
New hardwood ooring installation & pergo. Sanding, re-ďŹ nishing, staining. Low prices, insured. Call: 773-671-4996 www.klisflooring.com
GARAGE DOORS Our 73rd Year
Garage Doors &
Smart Door Openers
Sales & Service Free Estimates
(708) 652-9415 www.forestdoor.com
HANDYMAN CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE Drywall Repair • Painting Fans Installed • Carpentry Trim Gutter Cleaning • Window Repair
FREE ESTIMATES Excellent References No Job Too Small
Ask for John
BASEMENT CLEANING
Appliances & Furniture Removal Pickup & Delivery. 708-848-9404
LANDSCAPING NEIGHBORHOOD CLEAN UP
Evergreen trimming & more. Hand weed removal. Clean-ups. Call 24 hrs.
708-447-1762
PAINTING & DECORATING CLASSIC PAINTING Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/Plaster Repair Low Cost
708.749.0011
708-488-9411
ď ž email us: Classifieds@OakPark.com |
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
CLASSIFIED
31
(708) 613-3333 • FAX: (708) 467-9066 • E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@OAKPARK.COM | CLASSIFIEDS@RIVERFOREST.COM
PLASTERING
Let the sun shine in...
McNulty Plastering & Stucco Co.
Public Notice: Your right to know
708/386-2951 • ANYTIME
OakPark.com | RiverForest.com | PublicNoticeIlli-
In print • Online • Available to you 24/7/365
Small & big work. Free estimates. Complete Plaster, Stucco & Re-Coating Services Work Guaranteed
Licensed, Bonded, Insured, & EPA Certified Expert craftsmanship for over 50 years
ROOFING
MIDWEST ROOFING All Types of Roofing Repairs Shingles, Hot Mop, Torchdown • Free Estimates
773-637-0692
PUBLIC NOTICES NOTICE OF 2020-2021 BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING DATES FOR RIVERSIDE BROOKFIELD TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT 208 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on May 12, 2020, a resolution was passed establishing that the 20202021 meetings of the Board of Education, Township High School District 208, Cook County, Illinois, will be held in Room 201 at the hour of 7:00 p.m. in the Riverside Brookfield High School building, 160 Ridgewood Road, Riverside, IL 60546. The Regular Meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of each month with the exception of the May 1, 2021, meeting (first Tuesday). The Committee of the Whole Meetings will be held on the fourth Tuesday of each month with the exception of June, July, August, November, December, and March. Meeting dates can be found on the Riverside Brookfield High School website (www.rbhs208.net). Published in RB Landmark 06/03/2020
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION US BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR VRMTG ASSET TRUST; Plaintiff, vs. LORNA J. RANKER; CHARLES K. RANKER; CITIZENS BANK NA; Defendants, 18 CH 2459 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-17-327-034-0000. Commonly known as 1185 S. LOMBARD AVE., OAK PARK, IL 60304. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds,
PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICES
NOTICE TO BIDDERS AND INVITATION FOR BIDS VILLAGE OF BROOKFIELD 2020 PUBLIC WORKS BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT RECEIPT OF BIDS The Village of Brookfield will receive sealed proposals for the 2020 Public Works Building Improvements Project until 11:00 A.M. Central Time, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, at the Office of the Village Manager. Bids will be opened and read in the Edward Barcall Hall in the Municipal Building, located at 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois, on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, at 11:00 A.M., Central Time. The Project includes the improvements to the Village of Brookfield Public Works Building located at 4545 Eberly Avenue consisting of the removal and replacement of the asphalt shingle roof, reinforcement of an existing bar truss, and the masonry work around all window and overhead doors. CONTRACT DOCUMENTS Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from the Edwin Hancock Engineering Company at 9933 Roosevelt Road, Westchester, Illinois 60154, upon payment of a non-refundable charge of Thirty Dollars ($30.00) per set of bidding documents. No bidding documents will be issued after 4:30 P.M. on Friday, June 12, 2020. A mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on site on Wednesday June 17, 2020 at 11;00 A.M. for all potential bidders interested in submitting a proposal for the work. Bid proposals must be submitted on the forms provided. Submission of a bid shall be conclusive assurance and warranty that the bidder has examined the plans, the site of the work and the local conditions affecting the contract and understands all of the requirements for performance of the work. The bidder will be responsible for all errors in its proposal resulting from failure or neglect to conduct an in-depth examination. The Village of Brookfield will, in no case be responsible for any costs, expenses, losses or changes in anticipated profits resulting from such failure or neglect of the bidder. The bidder shall not take
advantage of any error or omission in the plans or proposal. Sealed envelopes or packages containing bids shall be addressed to the Village Manager and plainly marked “Village of Brookfield - 2020 Public Works Building Improvements Project” on the outside of the envelope. QUESTIONS, CHANGES, CLARIFICATION Any questions that arise must be made in writing and shall be directed by electronic mail to Timothy C. Wiberg, Village Manager, Village of Brookfield at twiberg@brookfieldil. gov. The written questions, along with the Village’s response, shall be circulated to all known potential bidders without identifying the party submitting the questions. The cutoff for receipt of additional questions shall be 12:00 Noon, Central Time on Friday, June 19, 2020, in order to facilitate preparation of any addenda. No inquiry received after that time will be given consideration. Replies and/or addenda will be mailed and faxed to all known potential contractors by 4:00 P.M., Central Time on June 23, 2020. Receipt of any addenda must be acknowledged in writing as part of the Bidder’s Proposal. Bidders shall be responsible for ensuring that they have received any and all addenda. The Village of Brookfield shall not assume responsibility for the receipt by the Bidder of any addenda. BID SECURITY Each proposal shall be accompanied by a proposal guaranty in the form of a bid bond, executed by a corporate surety company, a bank cashier’s check or a certified check payable to the “Village of Brookfield” for not less than five percent (5%) of the amount of the proposal. The proposal guaranty checks of all, except the two responsive, responsible proposers which the Village determines in its sole discretion to be the proposers with whom the Village desires to commence negotiations for a contract,
will be returned after the proposals have been checked and tabulated. The proposal guaranty checks of the two responsive, responsible proposers will be returned after the contract and the contract bond of the successful proposer have been properly executed and approved. Bid bonds will not be returned. RIGHT TO REJECT BIDS The Village of Brookfield reserves the right to waive technicalities and to reject any and all proposals for any reason deemed in the best interest of the Village of Brookfield. AWARD OF CONTRACT Unless all bids are rejected, the contract award will be made to the lowest responsive responsible bidder that the Village of Brookfield in its sole discretion determines to be in the best interest of the Village. In determining who the lowest responsive, responsible bidder is, the Village of Brookfield will consider all factors that it, in its discretion, deems relevant in determining who the lowest responsive responsible bidder is. LEGAL REQUIREMENTS The general prevailing rate of wages in Cook County, Illinois, for each craft or type of worker or mechanic needed to execute the contract or perform the work, also the general prevailing rate for legal holiday and overtime work, as ascertained by the Illinois Department of Labor, shall be paid for each craft or type of worker needed to execute the contract or to perform the work. Work performed under this contract shall be in accordance with Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (Illinois Compiled Statutes, Ch. 820, Act 130, Sections 1-12), Employment of Illinois Workers on Public Works Act (Illinois Compiled Statutes, Ch. 30, Act 570, Sections 1-7), Drug Free Workplace Act (Illinois Compiled Statutes, Ch. 30, Act 580, Sections 1-11). Village of Brookfield, Illinois Timothy C. Wiberg, Village Manager
Published in Landmark 6/3/2020
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Mr. Ira T. Nevel at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Law Offices of Ira T. Nevel, 175 North Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois 60606. (312) 357-1125. 18-04613 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3150861
the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-10-431-012-0000. Commonly known as 830 South 16th Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Law Clerk at Plaintiff’s Attorney, The Wirbicki Law Group, 33 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603.
(312) 360-9455. W19-0247 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3150866
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION AM SOLUTIONS LLC; Plaintiff, vs. ARIEL CHAPMON; TAJ CHAPMON; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 19 CH 7196 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION US BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR TOWD POINT MASTER FUNDING TRUST 2018-PM16 Plaintiff, vs. GRADY RIVERS AKA GRADY A. RIVERS, JR.; GLENDA L. RIVERS AKA GLENDA RIVERS; Defendants, 18 CH 11332 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120
Starting a New Business? Call the experts before you place your legal ad! Publish your assumed name legal notice in • Wednesday Journal • Forest Park Review • Riverside/Brookfield Landmark • Austin Weekly News Call Mary Ellen for details: 708/613-3342
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-11-317-010-0000. Commonly known as 406 South 7th Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a multi-family residence. The successful purchaser is entitled to possession of the property only. The purchaser may only obtain possession of units within the multi-unit property occupied by individuals named in the order of possession. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC, One East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (614) 220-5611. 18-034750 F2 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3150870
Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR
(HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL, 60602. Tel No. (312) 346-9088. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200 Chicago IL, 60602 312-346-9088 E-Mail: pleadings@mccalla.com Attorney File No. 267501 Attorney ARDC No. 61256 Attorney Code. 61256 Case Number: 18 CH 12736 TJSC#: 39-8007 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Case # 18 CH 12736 I3150458
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION SELENE FINANCE LP Plaintiff, -v.LARSENIA HORTON, NEIL SMITH, ASSURANCE RESTORATION & CONSTRUCTION, INC., PRAIRIE HOUSES OWNERS ASSOCIATION, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 18 CH 12736 14 DIVISION STREET, # 14 OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on December 16, 2019, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on July 9, 2020, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 14 DIVISION STREET, # 14, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-05-127-0480000 The real estate is improved with a brown brick, three story townhouse with an attached one car garage. Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential
EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY 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. Wednesday Journal • Landmark • Forest Park Review
32
Wednesday Journal, June 3, 2020
OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM
presents
A Wednesday Journal & A Tribe Called Aging Production
wabi sabi F I L M F E S T I V A L
Our Covid-19 free gift to the community watch it free on ZOOM in your own home
Appreciating the beauty of impermanence, a quarterly Film Series encouraging everyone to embrace and respect our aging population and the transformation of our society.
Alive
Inside
Friday, June 19th • 10am
A joyous cinematic exploration of music’s capacity to reawaken our souls and
uncover the deepest parts of our humanity. Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett chronicles the astonishing experiences of individuals around the country who have been revitalized through the simple experience of listening to music. His camera reveals the uniquely human connection we find in music and how its healing power can triumph where prescription medication falls short. A FILM ABOUT DEMENTIA FOR ALL OF US TO SEE. Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett is the Writer, Director and Producer of ALIVE INSIDE – winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for U.S. Documentary MICHAEL WILL BE JOINING US LIVE ON ZOOM FOLLOWING THE MOVIE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOU ABOUT THE FILM
Signature Sponsors
Non Profit Patron Sponsors
Oak Park Township/River Forest Township
Learn more and register at: wabi-sabi-alive-inside.eventbrite.com