WednesdayJournal_061125

Beyond

OPRF softballers head downstate again Page 32

By GREGG VOSS ontributing Reporter

with long-time Irving ElemenNick and Kara Sakellaris, their relationship takes some explaining. First off: No, they aren’t married. Kara is ounger brother Max, who and River Forest High s, Nick’s wife, CourtOPRF as an assistant athletic

“Everyone always thinks Kara and I are ho teaches third grade. “It takes a little family-tree explanation.”

TEACHERS on pa ge

McManus in front of the Oak Park Public Library in 2022.

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Term limit referendum confusion surfaces in River Forest

Advisory or binding? Attorney suggests board ‘Do nothing’

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

Discussion over whether the term limits referendum approved by River Forest residents in April was binding or advisory resumed at the June 9 meeting of the village board but no resolution was reached which left two village trustees frustrated.

River Forest resident Sue Foran, who in December 2024 submitted the petitions placing the referendum on the April ballot, raised the issue during the citizen comments portion of the meeting before Trustees Erika Bachner and Katie Brennan continued the discussion at the board table.

“The question is whether the referendum was binding or advisory,” said Lance Malina, the village attorney, in response to a question from Bachner. “The actual issue was va gue and unclear,” he said.

Malina works for the Chicago-based law fir m Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins

T he language of the referendum question that asked residents to vote for or against ter m limits was specific:

“Shall the Village of River Forest, after the April 1, 2025, Consolidated Election, enact term limits for the elected offices of Village President, Village Clerk, and the six (6) Village Trustees for no more than two (2) four-year (4-year) terms total as follows: for each of three (3) Trustees beginning with the April 3, 2027, Consolidated Election, and for the Village President, Village Clerk, and three (3) Trustees starting with the April 6, 2029, Consolidated Election?”

T he Yes votes totaled 52.51%, compared to 47.49% for the No votes

T he petition language showed that while the title of the document stated, “Petition for River Forest Binding Refer-

THE BURBS

endum,” the language in the subsequent para graph said that “the following advisory question of public policy be placed on the ballot and submitted to the voters of River Forest for their approval or disapproval, by referendum at the Consolidated Election to be held on April 1, 2025.”

In response to a question from “super perplexed” Brennan, Malina said, he was not aware of a similar set of circumstances in Illinois.

“It’s not clear in my opinion whether the referendum was binding or advisory,” he added, noting that then-village Clerk Jonathan Keller submitted the referendum question to Cook County election officials despite being advised not to do so

“The clerk chose not to interpret whether it was one or the other and just sent it in as is,” Malina said. “The clerk was advised to not send it in at all. T he clerk sent it in and it was run by the county.”

“What do you recommend that we do?” Brennan asked

“Nothing,” Malina responded “Somebody should be able to deter mine one way or another,” Bachner said.

“It was our opinion that the question should not have been certified,” Malina said.

Bachner and Brennan said they both felt “uncomfortable” with the situation and Brennan asked Malina to provide his firm’s le g al opinion in writing.

Other officials stated that the opinion written by Scott Uhler of Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins already had been distributed but Brennan said she had not received a copy. Uhler handles election-related issues for River Forest and other municipalities.

“This was all established before the clerk certified the referendum,” Village President Cathy Adduci said. “The board was privy with the question of whether the referendum was binding or advisory.”

She said she would make copies available to all trustees, including the recently elected Trustee Me g an Keskitalo Keskitalo, attending her first full village board meeting since being elected, said she ag reed with Bachner and Brennan.

WEDNESD

AY

JOURNAL

of Oak Park and River Forest

Interim Executive Director Max Reinsdorf

Digital Manager Stac y Coleman

Sta Repor ter Brendan He ernan

Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor

Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora

Contributing Editor Donna Greene

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

Shrubtown Cartoonist Marc Stopeck

Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead

Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea

Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza

Senior Media Strategist Lourdes Nicholls

Marketing & Adver tising Associate Emma Cullnan

Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan

Circulation Manager Jill Wagner

Operations Associate Susan Babin

Special Projects Manager Susan Walker

Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

Senior Advisor Dan Haley

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

TODD BANNOR

Drag queens Kimberly Summer and Riley dress up the Out in the Burbs Pride celebration in downtown Oak Park on June 7.

Dozens of Oak Pa weigh in on Harv bike lane debat

South Oak Park residents

o er opinions on a potential bike lane

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s village board heard from dozens of residents about Harvard Street’s place in the Oak Park bike plan last week, with Oak Parkers split on the pros and cons of parking on the street being co nverted to bike lanes.

Debate on the future of the street was spirited, as the village ran out of public comment sign-up sheets while accommodating the crowd that gathered at Village Hall to weigh in on the bike plan. The meeting stretched past midnight after so many residents took their turns at the podium addressing Oak Park’s trustees over a three-hour discussion.

Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman said the board will move forward from the listening session looking to eng age more with residents on the issue and find points of compromise.

“I’m going to take the next month to listen for where some of the compromise is, however, I do at this point appreciate the work that has been put into hearing from

residents,” Scaman said. “We are looking for our processes to match the spirit that we have as elected officials, but I do see where there has been a lot of adjust the final alternati ing some of the concerns. At this point, I’m in favor of that as I continue to just see if there is room for further ideas or for me to be specific I know there will be a disability access challenges and how the homeowner and invite any of our residents this email us questions.”

The board is expected to vote on a bike plan in July.

In the latest draft of Oak Park’s bike plan, the east-west street in south Oak Park is identified as one of the first stretches of road in the village that would be reshaped once the plan is put into action.

The bike plan includes short-term, medium-term and long-term plans for making Oak Park more bicycle-friendly, with the plan’s short-term vision calling for the parking spaces along both sides of Harvard Street between Maple Avenue and Humphrey Avenue to be converted into stiped bike lanes. The current plan’s long-term vision would see the striped bike lanes on Harvard Street eventually upgraded to raised, protected bike lanes.

The plan’s short-term vision also calls

for parking to be removed on Augusta Street between Harlem Avenue and Cuyler Avenue in favor of striped biking lanes as well as on one side of Chicago Avenue between Kenilworth Avenue and Ridgeland Avenue near the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, according to the plan.

The vast majority of public commentors at the June 3 meeting were primarily concerned with how the plan would affect Harvard Street.

Opponents of the bike lanes said the plan was created without giving residents a fair voice, unjustly removes easy access to homes along the street, creates accessibility challenges for older Harvard Street residents and will not convincingly make the street safer for cyclists.

Harvard Street’s inclusion in the proposed Oak Park bicycle network.

The first residents allowed to speak on the issue were several school children who prepared statements in support of the bike plan. One young girl Anya, who identified herself as a third grader at Irving School, took to the podium wearing her bike helmet and pajamas.

“Those interventions are to create a whole net work so kids can go to school, elderly can be par t of the community, that families can go to parks. That is what this plan is designed for and it does it carefully.”

STEPHEN STASSEN

Proponents of Harvard Street’s inclusion in the plan said it’s a commonsense location for protected bike lanes because of the schools and parks it connects and that the loss of parking access for the street’s residents does not outweigh the benefits the whole community would enjoy through

“If there is a bike path when I get older, I would feel a lot safer biking around parks with friends, when I’m riding with my parents I will know exactly where to ride because the lane will be marked,” she said. “I have seen kids get into accidents when they do not know where to go. This happened to me just this weekend when I was riding with my parents on a busy street. There was a stoplight. We went between two cars and when it was time to go, I was having trouble going straight and I went right in front of a car. My mom was yelling things and I could not understand what she was

PINK BADGER - ADOBE S TO CK

GCM paper named best in Illinois

Dear readers,

Last week we took a road trip to East Peoria. The Pair-a-Dice Casino and Hotel if you want to program your GPS. It was the annual Illinois Press Association conference and the editorial and advertising awards. Honestly, winning awards from your peers is gratifying. We don’t do this hard and good work for the plaques. We do it for our readers and these communities. And while I always tell my colleagues that these contests can be a bit fickle, over 45 years now we’ve won a lot of them.

Maybe you know, maybe you don’t, but five years ago our four flags became a nonprofit which we named Growing Community Media. That means we now proudly rely on our readers to help fund our scrappy newsroom.

This is a better moment than most to make the ask.

If what you know about these neighborhoods comes significantly from reading the Review, the Jour nal, the Landmark or the Austin Weekly News online, we need you to become a member of this hometown club. That’s our future. That’s how local news will continue, maybe thrive a little, going forward.

This year Growing Community Media and our four flags earned 35 awards. The Forest Park Review grabbed the handsome Kramer Trophy as the best small weekly paper in Illinois. Both Wednesday Jour nal and the Review placed for General Excellence. The Jour nal took first place for best website in its circulation category while the RiversideBrookfield Landmark took second place. Across the flags, our reporters, photographers, digital manager and designers and freelancers won for beat re porting, feature writing, obits, spot news photos, overall page design, and for a succession of our special publications such as Eats, West Side Magazine and the community guides. What did we cover to win awards? Zoning. Taxation. Casket Races. The death of a for mer park district director. And, of course, Wally’s Waffles. The stuf f of local journalism.

Jessica Mordacq holds the Kramer Trophy, anked by Stac y Coleman,

Dan Haley and Andy Mead. e Illinois Press Assoc iation named the Forest Park Rev iew the Best Small Weekly newspaper in the state

Best case scenario for us is for you to sign on as a monthly donor. Ten dollars a month With gratitude.

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‘No Kings’ protest Saturday in Scoville Park

Oak Park is one of more than 1,800 American communities where protests will occur

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park will play host to a protest against President Donald Trump Saturday, June 14, just one of many such protests happening in Chicagoland and across the country the same day.

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The “No Kings” day of protests were scheduled to coincide with the presi dent’s 79th birthday and Flag Day, as protest orga nizers hope the series of protests will amount to the largest single-day show of opposition to the Trump administration since it took office in January. In addition to the Oak Park protest scheduled for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Scoville Park, protests are scheduled for Daley Plaza in Downtown Chicago, the Beverly, Edgewater and Jefferson Park neighborhoods of Chicago and other suburbs including Evanston, Elmhurst, Schaumburg, Joliet and Forest Park.

“No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance,” protest organizers said. “From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism — and show the world what democracy really looks like. We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind. The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us.”

In April, local organizers held a “Hands Of f” anti-Trump rally, which drew thousands of demonstrators to Lake Street. Organizers of those demonstrations said more than 500,000 people showed up nationwide June 14 will be marked in Washington D.C. by a large military parade celebrating both Trump and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Ar my.

pelled howitzers rolling through the city streets, according to the Associated Press.

A large No Kings protest is planned to march to the White House Saturday, according to the AP

The weekend protests come on the heels of tense scenes playing out in Los Angeles as Trump ordered more than 2,000 National Guard troops and more than 700 U.S. Marines to intervene in immigration protests demonstrating against the administration’s bid to maximize deportations

The move marked the first time in decades that the national guard was deployed in a state without a gover nor requesting it, according to the AP

No Kings national organizers expect more than 1,800 community demonstrations on Saturday, according to organizers.

The Ar my birthday celebration had already been planned for months. But earlier this spring, Trump announced his intention to transform the event into a massive military parade complete with 60-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks and Paladin self-pro-

“The No Kings mobilizations on June 14 were already planned as a peaceful stand against authoritarian over reach and the gross abuse of power this administration has shown,” No Kings protest organizers said. “Now, this military escalation only confirms what we’ve known: this government wants to rule by force, not serve the people. From major cities to small towns, we’ ll rise together and say: we reject political violence. We reject fear as gover nance. We reject the myth that only some deserve freedom.”

‘Solidarity Walk’ for Israeli hostages honors those injured in Boulder attack

Local organizers say walk is ‘apolitical’ event

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

A group of Oak Parkers are asking community members to join them for a walk in solidarity with the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and the victims of the June 2 firebombing attack on hostage-release campaigners in Boulder, CO.

The walk will begin at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, June 15 from the front steps of Oak Park Temple B’nai Abraham Zion, 1235 N. Harlem Ave. The org anizers have staged a walk

every week since the beginning of the war between Hamas and Israel. There are 55 Israeli hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the American Jewish Committee.

Since Hamas invaded Israel and took the first of those hostages on Oct. 7, 2023, over 54,000 Palestinians and over 1,200 Israelis have been killed, according to the United Nations

This walk is dedicated to “the safety and dignity of our Jewish community,” “the urgent need for the hostages’ release” and “our shared commitment to peace.” It comes on the heels of an attack in Boulder in which people campaigning for the hostages’ release were attacked with a Molotov cocktail.

Fifteen people were injured in that attack.

“Recent violent attacks on the American Jewish community, specifically targeting peaceful walkers in the Run for Their Li ves movement — including a horrifying incident in Boulder where 12 people were injured—have shaken Jewish communities across the country,” organizers said in a news release. “But we will not be silenced. Since Oct. 7, our Oak Pa rk and River Forest community has walked weekly to raise awareness for the hostages still held in Gaza. These global Run for Their Li ves walks are apolitical, focused solely on bringing the hostages home and supporting their families.”

June marks Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month—a time to raise awareness about the importance of brain health and support those impacted by Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

Oak Park board approves dual-use zoning for places of worship

They can now seek permission to use parts of their buildings as rentals to o set expenses

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Places of worship in Oak Park may now seek special-use approval to convert parts of their buildings into rental units in order to help make ends meet.

At its June 3 meeting, Oak Park’s Village Board unanimously approved a special-use amendment to the village’s zoning code, opening the door for churches to rent out parts of their buildings to either residential or business tenants

that’s in a similar situation,” Failor said.

While the amendment applies to houses of worship in all residential zones and business districts, it does not give houses of worship the ability to build on additions for the purpose of renting out space.

The amendment aims to help churches remain open in the village even as congregations shrink and building costs rise, according to village staff.

“This initiative is occurring as a result of church leaders seeking ways to repurpose church assets in underutilized buildings,” staff wrote in a report to the board.

Co lin F ane, A gent

212 S Marion Street Fl G

To qualify, the house of worship’s main sanctuary must still be in use by a congregation.

Oak Park, IL 60302

“The proposed amendments would allow congregations facing challenges of declining membership and deferred maintenance to continue to fund their missions and outreach, and pay for the upkeep of their buildings.”

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The amendment comes after leaders of a local congregation approached the village, saying that a dip in their congregation’s numbers was making maintaining their building difficult, according to Oak Park Development Services Director Craig Failor.

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“The proposed amendments would allow congregations facing challenges of declining membership and deferred maintenance to continue to fund their missions and outreach, and pay for the upkeep of their buildings, while using space that may no longer match the congregations needs. The Place of Worship – Dual Use amendments allow for creative and flexible changes to uses of church structures encouraging their preservation in the village in a reasonable manner.”

“This text amendment could bring benefit to or consideration for any place of worship

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The measure didn’t require much discussion prior to the board’s vote.

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“I think that’s a new record,” said Village President Vicki Scaman after the board’s quick unanimous vote

Colin Fane, Agent

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Oak Park, IL 60302

Oak Park, IL 60302

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Grace Episcopal Church’s insterior was used in the lm ‘Home Alone.’

OA K PARK VILL AG E

THERESA CLANCY

Oak Park seeks state grant for solar energy project

Village asks for $295,000 from the state to suppor t a new green energy outreach, ‘One Stop Shop’

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park is seeking grant funding from the state gover nment to help the village support low- and medium- income households making the switch to solar power.

T he village ’s sustainability office is developing an “Efficiency and Electrification One Stop Shop” to help residents improve the efficiency of their homes and to open up more opportunities for house-

TEACHERS

Staszak Aw from pa

Nick, also known as “M in Oak Park Elementary School District 97, having graduated from Lincoln Elementary and Emerson Junior High (now Brooks Middle School) and just completed his 29 at Irving. He has a son at Julian Middle School and a son at OPRF. Meanwhile, Kara finished her 15 Irving, and 19th year of teaching ter moving here from daughter at Irving and a son at J Whew. Get all that?

Good, because it provides context something else. The pair was named 2025 co-recipients of the Oak Foundation (OPEF) Staszak Outstanding Educator of the Year Award, a dedicated District 97 teacher. It is named after William Staszak and highlights his le gacy of service to Oak trustee and a founding member of OPEF’s board of directors.

The award was announced assembly on May 21. It was the first time the award honored a pair of recipients.

holds to switch to solar energy. T he office is seeking $295,000 in state money to help them drive enrollment in the state’s Illinois Solar for All pr ogr am.

“The proposed grant-funded project provides personalized services and assistance to potential Illinois Solar for All participants through the One Stop Shop model,” village officials wrote in the grant application. “By providing a single point of entry to the assessments and assistance needed to g et the property

prepared for solar installation, submit application materials, and connect with approved contractors the One Stop Shop model will address many potential barriers to Illinois Solar for All participation. This will result in an increase in solar system installations on qualified homes in Oak Pa rk.”

Part of the project would include outreach to Oak Parkers who qualify for the Illinois Solar for All Pr ogr am.

“Knowing the numbers of cost bur-

To say the pair is really involved at Irving Elementary, 1125 S. Cuyler Ave., is a gross understatement. They coordinate the annual Irving Sleepover in May, which this year drew 300 kids from kindergarten to fifth grade. Not only does an endeavor like that take a lot of planning, it also takes a lot of coordination of parent volunteers onsite. But the kids love it.

girls divisions.

They also teach two Eagle Extras after school programs, including a class called Let’s Get Saktive, which are games in the gym for kindergartners through second graders. The other, for third through fifth graders, is Strat-O-Matic, which is a classic baseball board game played with dice. For years, they also organized the school’s annual Fun Fair

There’s also the Be Like the Saks Night, where up to 30 kids get together to play

likely to see the other. That includes in their neighborhood; when a chat is necessary about a school-related thing, they can usually be seen strolling up the street in quiet conversation.

“I feel like everything that I’ve seen and know about them, their dedication to their kids, their passion for education, they are a fun group,” said Latonia Baker, OPEF executive director. “They are an extension beyond their own classrooms. You can tell

dened households, the village knows that there are many residents who might meet the requirements of the Illinois Solar for All Progr am, particularly in renter occupied homes,” village of ficials wrote in a project summary. “Since these households are not concentrated in certain areas or census tracts of the village but are spread throughout, a significant amount of outreach is needed to identify and provide assistance to the income eligibl e households.”

the students sand apprethe parents and go above and becommunity.”

OPEF board member Luke Staszak, William Staszak’s son, said that while there many renowned nominees, it wasn’t hard to choose them both for the award. saw the nominations come really stuck out was that o individuals who have had such an impact on the Irving community,” taszak said. “They each individually could ut they affect the comether, so it made sense to put ear for Nick. He missed school this year due to quadru, and also dealt with Stage 4 Hodgkins lymphoma in 2003 and 2007.

“The Irving community was unbeli evably e in all those times,” he said. ward announcement was a esign. But let the record show nor Kara are big fans of at was going on,” Nick under the impression it assembly for the summer

Added Kara, “I was mortified when I walked in and saw balloons and all the things. I saw the superintendent and the assistant superintendents and (I thought), They are not talking to us about the robotics club you can sign up for.”

But Irving Elementary’s feelings about the duo are perhaps matched only by their feelings for Irving Elementary.

“I was sad to leave my old school, but this is my home and Irving is the best school,” Kara said. “There are so many things we do at Irving. People think we’re a little bit crazy.”

PROVIDED

Nick S akellaris and his sister-in-law, Kara, teach at Ir ving School in Oak Park.

Community Open House

Oak Park honors gun violence victims

Trustee Leving Jacobson a gun violence prevention activist

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park honored gun violence victims at its village board meeting last week as it observed National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

The board heard from Oak Parker’s whose lives have been touched by gun violence and heard from members of a community organization led by Trustee Jenna Leving Jacobson about a local memorial project.

Leving Jacobson’s primary community experience prior to her seeking election to Oak Park’s board was through her work as leader of the Oak Park-Austin Chapter of Moms Demand Action, a nationwide organization dedicated to raising awareness about gun violence and pushing lawmakers to support solutions like Moms Demand Action is a subgroup within the larger Everytown For Gun Safety gun violence prevention organization, which boasts nearly 11 million members nationwide.

Leving Jacobson and other members of the community group wore orange shirts, the color of gun violence awareness. Two Oak Parkers spoke to their personal experiences with gun violence.

Park, recounted her harrowing experience in which she was “followed, attacked and shot at point-blank range” while out for a run in the village She said her experience speaks to the deep-seated nature of gun violence in America and the responsibility of public leaders to face the challenge.

“The reality is, I did not do anything to get shot, I was a woman on a run in Oak Park at 4:15 in the afternoon on a Tuesday and that was enough,” she said. “No shooting occurs in a vacuum without context. Gun violence is intertwined with mental health, with police presence, with education, with public health, with hatred, with so many more things. So in this month of gun violence awareness and beyond, as you work to better our community, I ask all here to remember the intersectionality of gun violence. Because intersectionality for survivors is our power and it is what keeps us persevering.”

Over the weekend, members of Oak ParkAustin Area Moms Demand Action spent time together working in the Mercy Garden of Peace and Healing, a community garden space group members helped build at 4912 W. Quincy St. in Austin to give people a place to honor slain loved ones and provide healthy food and a safe place to play for neighborhood families

Group members decorated the garden with rocks painted with the names of loved ones lost to gun violence.

Sherita Galloway’s son Elijah Sims was shot to death days before his 17th birthday in 2016 while the boy was a student at Oak Park and River Forest High School. She said she is “still trying to survive after nine years.”

“He was not only my baby boy, he was a brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend, OPRF senior and a Pete’s Fresh Market employee and in my eyes, those carts have not been aligned correctly since he left,” Galloway said. “Gun violence took my son’s future away from him. As a survivor of gun violence, I believe gun violence prevention is extremely important in conjunction with keeping guns away from those that are a danger to themselves and as well as others. And as I wear this orange shirt with my son’s face on it, I hope to help raise awareness about gun violence.”

Alison Gerard, a 10-year-resident of Oak

Oak Park has seen several incidents of gun violence over the last 365 days, including the fatal shooting of Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins in downtown Oak Park last November and the fatal shooting of 54-yearold Gulf War veteran Corey Gates in April Both those cases are still progressing through the courts

The Austin community has had more homicides than any other neighborhood in Chicago so far in 2025, with 21 killings in the neighborhood so far this year, according to crime stats analysis by The Chicago Tribune

Those figures include the killings of 17-year-old Drevon Watson and 19-year-old Elzie Johnson last month.

■ Another of Sherita Galloway’s sons works to build moving business.

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SANCTUAR

Protecting

the marginalize from page 1

list of local governments the Department of Homeland Security said is violating federal immigration law. The list was unpublished from the DHS’ website days later, but Oak Park Village President Vi still for mally responded to it during the meeting.

“I remain in constant contact with the governor’s office and I’m grateful support, our designated contact with the governor’s office was the first person to call me Friday morning after the Thursday release of a Presidential press release wrongly and ir responsibly sanctuary city politicians,” she said. “Our ultimate goal is to build a stronger, more inclusive Oak Park and position our community to best serve and protect our residents. It is our eng aged community, all of you, that makes us the leaders that we are and holds us accountable to never rest. I will never rest.”

The DHS list came following months of federal pressure on localities with immigration sanctuary policies, including congressional hearings and threats that locations with such policies would lose access to federal infrastructure funding. The Trump administration won election while vowing to dramatically increase deportations, with the president calling on federal agents to increase immigration arrests to at least 3,000 a day.

Oak Park adopted its sanctuary city ordinance in 2017, barring village employees from assisting federal agents “in the investig ation of the citizenship or immigration status of any person unless such inquiry or investigation is required by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.” At the time, immigrants’ rights advocates called it one of the strongest sanctuary city ordinances in the United States.

Scaman’s comments were just the village’s latest defense of its progressive policies, but several residents at last week’s meeting said the village can do more.

As the village honored Pride Month with a proclamation, residents expressed suppor t for the village passing a sanctuary ordinance dedicated to protecting transgender people and other members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I’m here to ask you as well for sanctuary and to really understand what a pivotal moment this is,” said Aaron McManus,

who helped organize Oak Park’s Transgender Day of Visibility celebration earlier this year. “I’m here to ask again that we for mally add transgender sanctuary city status to our municipal ordinances and begin a public discussion on noncooperation policies. We must ensure that our data systems, public institutions and staf f are prepared to protect and not expose the people who are fleeing persecution. This is much more than symbolism and needs to be much more than just using the LGBTQ+ community to boost businesses. It is about affirming the safety, dignity and humanity of trans people, immigrants, Black people, disabled people and all those facing systemic targeting.”

One of Trump ’s earliest executive orders of his second term targeted “gender ideolo gy” and cracked down on federal support and acce ptance for transgender people in several ways. T he order purged all references to transgender people in federal gover nment publications, programs and online media, blocked transg ender people from receiving passports that correspond with their g ender identity and laid down a ban on transgender people in the military, forcing an estimated 4,200 service members to decide whether to leave their posts voluntarily or stay and fight the ban following a June 6 deadline

Colette Mor row, an Oak Parker who works as a professor at Purdue University

Nor thwest, said she fears for the safety of her transgender students across the state line in Indiana. She said a sanctuary ordinance would help keep Oak Park’s transg ender young people safe.

“I want to echo the plea to Oak Park to establish itself as a trans and gender queer sanctuary,” Morrow said. “We cannot offer those young people and their families much because we are on the other side of the line, but we can stand up and do what is right! We may not be able to give them any concrete protections, but for them to know that there is a whole community in their re gion that cares and will stand up to the U.S. government and proclaim a commitment to resisting the hatred. It may make a difference in a person’s life.”

Scaman said she would lead the board in considering a sanctuary ordinance that “meets all needs.”

“Thank you very much for being with us this evening and joining us to highlight the importance of uniting together as one community in full support of our trans community,” Scaman said. “I appreciate the partnership and holding us accountable in our preparedness to live our values, support and protect all members of our community and refuse cooperation with any agency that does not operate consistently with our shared values and out of the constitution of the United States. I want to work together to ensure our language meets all needs as a sanctuary city.”

BIKE LANE Di ering views

from page 4

saying or what was happening. It was scary, I think if there was a bike path, then that would not have happened.”

Several of the opponents of the Harvard Street bike lanes said that their outreach to board members and village staf f had been ignored and that the street is already safe for bikers of all ages, few recorded bike accidents have happened on Harvard and that removing parked cars would encourage reckless driving on the residential street in addition to creating accessibility challenges

“It is not going to eliminate speeding cars going down the street,” said Jen Zarosl, a Harvard Street resident and a teacher at Lincoln Elementary. “This is a year-round permanent inconvenience for people. Kids biking to school is only going to be here or there. I am all for biking. I love it, my family grew up biking but my husband was recently diagnosed with M.S. He might not be able to bike much longer, so how is this going to affect him? It will affect him because he will have to walk further to get to my house.”

Several supporters of the plan said that the village-wide bike plan is wisely designed, and that Harvard Street’s inclusion plays a nuanced part in making the proposed system function.

“I am deeply for the bike plan, I think it is a wonderfully designed and very thoughtful plan and how it has gone about the actions that it proposes,” said Stephen Stassen. “It isn’t just proposing interventions because it feels like it. Those interventions are to create a whole network so kids can go to school, elderly can be part of the community, that families can go to parks. That is what this plan is designed for and it does it carefully. North-south streets are nice and quiet, they do not need much intervention like Kenilworth. Your east and west streets with the intersections present the biggest issue.”

Some supporters of the bike plan mentioned that people with disabilities could be authorized to seek permission from the village to have handicapped parking spots cut out of the bike path in front of their homes to accommodate them.

ADOBE STOCK

OP-RF Day Nursery gets a lifeline from the village board

Trustees approve a forgivable loan of $246,000, with rights to historic site if preschool closes

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s village board authorized a forgivable loan of $246,532 to The Day Nursery, with the hopes that the funds will help keep the 113-year-old institution’s doors open.

In a presentation before the board June 3, leaders of the preschool outlined a dire financial situation left in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the preschool projects a budget shortfall of more than $30,000 a month next year, The Day Nursery leaders said that the loan, coupled with an ambitious fundraising campaign, will keep the school open and serving local families

“Everyone involved in the organization is committed to making the most of this opportunity should the village decide that that is appropriate,” said Scott Dolezal, the new president of The Day Nursery. “When we do something like this and make this kind of request it blows the lid of f the struggles that we have been dealing with privately for a long time.”

“The day nursery is so much more than a childcare center, it is a village, it is a heartbeat, it is a place where kids are safe to be exactly who they are and loved for it is where we help shape kindness, courage and confidence,” said Amy Murray, teacher at The Day Nursery. “When we l up spaces like this, we are lifting up eve one and that is the kind of world I want to be part of.”

Trustee Brian Straw was moved to tears by the presentation, saying he was proud to be able to use his vote to help the institution persevere

“If The Day Nursery were to suddenly stop being able to provide service, it would be a real tragedy,” Straw said. “If this loan is able to allow The Day Nursery to survive, this is an incredibly low price to pay to preserve such an important institution for the long term. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to vote yes on this.”

“This is an incredibly low price to pay to preser ve such an important institution for the long term.”

BRIAN STRAW Oak Park village board trustee

If the preschool closes down, the village would have right of first refusal to purchase The Day Nursery’s 100-year old building or the village could opt to be compensated from the money from the sale of the property, according to village documents.

Oak Park’s Neighborhood Services Director Johnathon Burch said the loan is meant to serve as “a bridge to determine a plan for sustainability in the future” for The Day Nursery.

Oak Park & River Forest Day Nursery is over a centur y old.

The Day Nursery primarily serves families whose tuition is subsidized via Illinois’ Child Care Assistance Program. Roughly 85% of Day Nursery’s 66 pupils are part of the CCAP program, and the preschool is one of only two preschools in Oak Park that accepts CCAP funds, Burch said.

Mary Reynolds, executive director of local non-profit The Collaboration for Early Childhood, said The Day Nursery fills a key role in the re gion supporting low- and moderate-income families.

in order to access childcare and early childhood education, the state reimbursement does not cover the full cost of providing the care,” he said. “It only provides $0.48 on the dollar in order to provide that. That in turn, as you might surmise, given the large size of the enrollment, the sizable portion of the enrollment that makes use of the childcare assistance program has created a long-term challenge for the day nursery on a financial basis.”

The board approved the loan unanimously after hearing from school leaders, employees and families. The Day Nursery’s building at 1139 Randolph St., in use since 1925, is also an Oak Park historic landmark

“We plan on meeting re gularly with The Day Nursery staf f and the board to understand how they are moving forward with their plan and developing their plan for sustainability,” he said. “This is a bridge to somewhere, we have to figure out where that is going and we have to figure out when those different pieces will come together.”

“We support programs across the economic spectrum, which is increasingly difficult to do in today’s market,” Reynolds said. “The Day Nursery’s current situation reflects those broader pressures. The Day Nursery prioritizes accessibility through sliding scale tuition, acceptance of the state Child Care Assistance Program subsidy and participation in publicly funded programs like Preschool for All and the Prevention Initiative. Programs that center this type of accessibility often face unique financial challenges that creates tension between mission and sustainability. The access they provide is something that our community cannot af ford to lose.”

CCAP funding does not cover the full cost of caring for a child, creating a long-term financial challenge for the preschool, aggravated by a drop in enrollment following the pandemic, Burch said.

“One of the challenges with the program is while it provides an important subsidy

The preschool is still serving less enrolled students than it did before the pandemic, and is now serving a higher percentage of subsidized students. Those developments have forced the school to dip into its cash reserves, which have dwindled to around $70,000, Burch said.

Part of the loan agreement requires the preschool to launch a fundraising campaign to get its reserves back to over $100,000, Burch said.

Dolezal said that the loan will stop the bleeding for now, but that the board is still working on developing a long-term plan for sustainable operation.

“I wish I had a perfect answer right now,” he said. “We are working with them on identifying what our needs are, what we need to do specifically and how to do that in the short-term, medium-term and long-term. So, we know this is not just something that we work on for a little bit and put to the side We understand that as a long-term plan that we need to come up with and enact.”

River Forest to inst all EV chargers at 3 sites

With grant support, CVS, Metra and Franklin lots planned

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

River Forest officials took a major step toward adding electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, voting unanimously at the J village board meeting to award a contract to Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. the construction, equipment purchase equipment installation for an electric v charging station project.

The total cost of the project is $993,226 the village’s cost is estimated to be $343,535 with the balance being paid through a $370,000 Illinois Environmental Protection Agency grant and $308,252 in Commonwealth Edison rebates

tember.

The charging stations will be installed at three village-owned lots, the village-owned portion of the CVS Pharmacy lot, 7929 W. North Ave.; the parking lot at 400 Thatcher Ave., which is used for Metra parking; and the parking lot at 418 Franklin Ave.

In a memo to Matt Walsh, village adminis-

and engineering, and Seth Jansen, management analyst, explained that each location must have the electrical capacity and infrastructure to support the installation of the charging stations. In his presentation to officials June 9, Jansen said the grant is coming from the state and not the federal government, which alleviated concerns about possibly losing funding.

Bielak said staff members would be placing the order “in the coming days” with an estimated completion in late August or early

In November, officials approved a contract for electrical and civil design services to Burke Engineering for the project. At the time of that contract’s approval, staff noted this project is ideal for “design-build” given the limited certified suppliers of electrical ehicle charging stations and limited siterk involved, Bielak and Jansen said in the memo. “Design-build” is where the design and construction of a project is contracted through a single vendor, an approach that can result in a shorter timeframe for project completion, they added.

Burke solicited bids from electrical contractors who are certified EV charging station installers.

The equipment includes eight Direct Current Level 3 Fast Charging Stations and five Dual-Port Level 2 Charging Stations. Because of limitations of grant eligible costs, some costs associated with the equipment purchase are not eligible for grant funds nor can they be applied to the village ’s 20 percent

match requirement for the grant. Burke projects that $341,479 of the $370,000 grant can be applied to the project, though staff members anticipate the village will be able to recoup the full amount of the grant through additional coordination with the IEPA

Burke and five other firms submitted proposals in September and October and staff members interviewed three of the firms in November, eventually determining Burker to be the firm “best suited to complete the project,” Bielak and Jansen said in a previous memo to Walsh.

In recommending the contract be awarded to Burke, Bielak and Jansen said the firm has “significant experience” with EV charging installation projects, including navigating IEPA grant requirements and the ComEd rebate program. They also noted that Burke has performed similar work for the village in the past.

River Forest will receive funding through the second round of Driving a Cleaner Illinois grant program.

Elmwood Park sets the stage for summer Cars,

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Contributing Reporter

Each summer Elmwood Park pulls out all the stops to entertain, feed and wow community and guests. The first event that revs up the season is the annual car show on June 13. With vintage, muscle, motorcycles, exotics and more, it’s a sight to behold on Conti Parkway Circle, just north of Grand Avenue and 76th Street.

“We have a lot of variety of different vehicles,” said Jim Sabatine, Elmwood Park lead mechanic and car show organizer. “And it keeps getting bigger and bigger every year.”

Anyone can showcase a vehicle with a $10 registration prior to the event. Cars are on display from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

“We’ve added a few things for the kids now, bikes, skateboards. Now we’ve kind of brought the kids more involved,” Sabatine said. “We got good food, good cars, good people, good atmosphere and the backdrop of the community.”

At 7 p.m. the excitement amps up with a concert by Libido Funk Circus. Billing themselves as the ringleaders of a funky good time, the band combines a flare for showmanship, genuine musical talent into a high-energy party. Their song selections please kids, grandparents and everyone in between.

The fun doesn’t stop that weekend.

“If you’re looking for a good time this summer, Elmwood Park is the place to be,” said Village President Skip Saviano. “From festivals, to movies, to al fresco dining, there’s never a dull moment, especially in our Village Cir cle which has great bars, res taurants and events all season long.”

The concert series continues on June 19 with 7th Heaven rocking out hits of the 1970s and 1980s. Famous for their

music, food, drink. That’s summer

medley of 30 songs in 30 minutes, a concert by this band never slows down.

July 10 features 90s Pop Nation. The name says it all. From Britney to Blink, Spice Girls to TLC, this band gets it done – without backing tracks. It’s all out there live and in person.

July 24 Hello Weekend rocks the Circle. Their goal is to get you dancing and keep you in the groove. Their sets range from Guns n’ Roses to The Beach Boys, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga.

On Aug. 2, the summer comes full circle with the annual D.A.R.E. car show. Got a car you want to show off? Register and

bring it to the Circle. The entry fee is $10. Funds raised go to supporting the Elmwood Park police’s participation in Drug Abuse Resistance Education. This outreach program, started in 1983, has reached K-12 students nationwide and around the world. Taught by law enforcement officers, the goal is to build self-esteem and good decision-making skills to help kids lead safe and healthy lives.

That same night American English hits all the right nostalgia notes playing songs

of The Beatles. They start the show with Ed Sullivan era hits, then they trip into the psychedelic years of Sgt. Pepper and the Magical Mystery Tour. They end at Abbey Road, where they Let It Be. The band takes pride that all the music is played live. A warm summer night, tunes to set the mood, good food and good company awaits in Elmwood Park.

Find out more Visit Elmwoodpark.org. Keep

A rst look at the Aspire Center

The building opens June 19 and will house resources for workforce training, legal and nancial services

By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter

The Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation opens this month after two years of construction, and about a decade of imagining and planning.

On a stretch of Madison Street that is seeing revitalization after decades of systemic disinvestment, the Aspire Center offers free workforce training, plus financial, legal, family and emotional services. But the building, the for mer and long-empty Robert Emmet Elementary School, is more than a 78,000-square-foot, $47 million investment in Austin.

“We don’t want our community to just visibly and physically change. We want the people to be a part of that,” said Darnell Shields, executive director of Austin Coming To gether – which, with Westside Health Authority, helped develop the Aspire Center where both will now have their headquarters. Shields is also a member of the board of directors for Growing Community Media, which publishes the Austin Weekly News.

Shields took the Austin Weekly News on a first-look tour of the building ahead of its grand opening. Beyond the nearly completed Aspire Center’s expansive atrium addition, contractors are hurrying to finish work on areas for the building’s tenant organizations

On the building’s first floor – in the for mer auditorium and gym of Emmet Elementary, which closed in 2013 – Jane Addams Resource Corporation offers free training for the trades in over 8,000 square feet of offices, learning space and machines

Through JARC’s 10-to-16-week-long training sessions, participants can graduate with qualifications for trade jobs that pay up to $30 an hour JARC will screen eligibility for those who want to be a part of their free training and, if they don’t qualify, they can start in the organization’s bridge program before be ginning hands-on lear ning

“The question isn’t if you can be a JARC candidate, but when,” Shields said. JARC estimates they will train over 2,000 West Siders in the next five years.

Also on the first floor of the Aspire Center, BMO bank provides financial planning services within 2,000 square feet. And ACT will move its headquarters to the center from Harrison Street. Though they will still make use of that building, their 7,000 square feet of new office and meeting space in the Aspire Center is about triple the amount they previously had

On the building’s second floor, Westside Health Authority offers reentry services for those who have served time. JARC also offers training to those who are out of prison, as every year nearly 40% of their participants have a record.

The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender and

On the back wall of the building’s rst level, artist Shaw n Michael Warren is painting a mural. Warren grew up in Austin and created a portrait of Oprah Winfrey for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in 2023.

Legal Aid Chicago will also have space on the second floor to offer criminal, civil and domestic legal advice.

The Aspire Center property includes a vast amount of public space with a community plaza and POP! Pa rk. Shields said that he’s already heard from children who enjoy using the track and field out front of the building, who, according to him, say, “‘My mom would never let me go to the park, but she lets me go here.’”

TODD BANNOR

“You can see Austin in a way you haven’t seen it before,” Darnell Shields said of the second-level balcony, which is also public space and w ill soon have patio furniture.

TODD BANNOR

TODD BANNOR

Aspire Center atrium

At the Aspire Center, anyone can hang out in the atrium and second-floor common space. There are several rooms on the building’s second level that can be reserved by anyone as a free meeting space.

The entire Aspire Center property has free public Wi-Fi. The center is partnering with Comcast to make the property a live zone site, which has high-speed internet access in common areas while protecting digital information for tenant organizations. Comcast is also funding a laptop library, where visitors can check out computers, and the center is partnering with ScaleLIT to offer digital literacy training programs

“There’s a big digital divide in our community,” Shields said. According to a 2022 report by Kids First Chicago, predominantly Black neighborhoods, like Austin, have a disconnected household rate of about 30%, largely because of a lack of affordable internet, computers and the training for how to use online resources.

The third floor marks what will be the second phase of the Aspire Center project. Construction will likely start in the fall to convert old classrooms into space to host community programming, events and conferences for up to 250 people

“It’ll totally optimize the center,” Shields said, allowing them to host large groups without disrupting those using the center’s public space. It will also generate revenue, so use of much of the building can remain free to locals. “We want this place to be self-sustaining.”

Preserving histor y, looking forward

While the Aspire Center has about 20,000 square feet of new build onto what was once Emmet Elementary – including new electric, plumbing and HVAC systems – much of the original structure, built in 1893, has been preserved.

Emmet’s staircases remain, decorated with ornamental trims, as do the walls of the school’s high-ceilinged classrooms and wide hallways, lined with wooden seats that were once installed in the building’s auditorium and wooden lockers that have been turned into benches. Many of the hardwood floors are original and refinished, as are the door and window frames, though the doors and windows themselves have been re placed. Wooden built-ins still adorn some of the new office spaces and hallways, too.

“This building re presents some of the most beautiful architecture,” Shields said of Emmet Elementary’s bones.

Shields added that the Aspire Center is only possible because of the Austin community. In 2018, Westside Health Authority bought the property. Though there were no plans for it yet, the organization wanted to keep it in the community.

Around the same time, ACT launched the Austin Forward To gether plan. As a part of it, the Aspire Initiative aims to offer support for West Siders from early childhood to aging in place.

Westside Health Authority started the Aspire Center’s journey by purchasing the site for $75,000, though the building is now managed by a joint venture consisting of organizations that lead other parts of the Aspire Initiative. While the Aspire Center focuses on workforce development, By the Hand Club for Kids after-school program leads the youth education and wellness portion of the initiative. ACT plans to revitalize Austin Colle ge and Career Academy High School, focusing on teenaged children, in addition to uplifting the community around them.

Repurposed elements from Emmet Elementary School, like wooden lockers, were tu rned into benches and wooden seats came from the building’s auditorium

Classroom space on the rst oor of the Aspire Center.

“You can’t create a thriving neighborhood high school in a neighborhood that’s not thriving,” Shields said.

Finally, Aspire Housing provides shelter to residents throughout their lives, an initiative aided by By the Hand Club for Kids and Habitat for Humanity.

“That’s the continuum that all healthy communities look for and Austin hasn’t had,” Shields said of the four par ts of the Aspire Initiative

T he creation of the Aspire Center was heavily influenced by community eng agement, since the project’s leads wanted it to be built by Austin residents, for Austin residents.

“What we have been doing is a re-illumination of our con-

nection … that connection allows us some stake and control of the system,” Shields said. “This is bigger than Austin. It’s a microcosm of a larger plight.”

And in turn, infrastructure like the Aspire Center helps continue the revitalization of Chicago’s West Side. A concentration of investment along Madison and Chicago Avenues can be seen in the construction of the HOPE Center in Austin, the Sankofa Wellness Village in Garfield Park, and the Aspire Center at 5500 W. Madison St. Investment in the Aspire Center was funded by more than $40 million from a state grant, Chicago’s TIF funding, new market tax credit equity, plus Blue Cross Blue Shield, BMO, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, and United Way.

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Oak Park police investigate an incident in which an Oak Park juvenile was attacked while taking the train

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

The arrest was in connection with an alle ged robbery at a grocery store in the 7000 block of Roosevelt Road, according to police. The man has also been charged with four counts of theft, according to police

Firearm threat assault

Shortly after noon on Sunday, June 8, a man threatened a Chicago resident with a handgun, according to police.

Oak Park police are investigating an incident in which a minor from Oak Park was attacked while taking the CTA Green Line last week, according to recent Oak Park activity re ports.

The juvenile was traveling on the train shortly after 7 a.m. Monday, June 2 when they were punched in the face by an unknown man. The attack was unprovoked, according to police.

The victim suf fered lacerations to their face as result of the attack, according to police. The suspect is wanted on battery charges.

While the victim was inside of a business in the 6400 block of North Avenue a man approached him and asked if he “had a problem,” while displaying a handgun inside of his waistband. The suspect then exited the business, entered a white Nissan Altima with a missing front bumper and drove away eastbound on North Avenue, continuing northbound on Narragansett Avenue, according to police.

Vandalism incident

Oak Park police are also investigating a disorderly conduct incident that occurred in which a man threatened to shoot a CTA employee at the Oak Park Avenue Green Line station who told him that he was blocking a train door from closing. The suspect in that incident was last seen traveling east on Lake Street on a bicycle, according to police.

Armed robbery arrest

Oak Park police arrested a 25-year-old Chicago man on armed robbery charges the afternoon of Sunday, June 1, according to police.

Police are investigating an incident in which playground equipment at Scoville Park was defaced with “offensive, derogatory and racist literature,” according to police

These items were obtained from Oak Park’s Police Department re ports dated June 1–9 and re present a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these re ports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We re port the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed a description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.

OPRF receives $3.5 million state grant for Project 2 improvements

Money will go toward paying for the geothermal heating and cooling system included in the high school’s new physical education facilities

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park and River Forest High School will benefit from millions in state money to support the construction of its new physical education facilities

The Oak Park and River Forest High School Imagine Foundation, a non-profit organization running a fundraising campaign to support the school district’s ambitious facility improvement plan, secured a $3.5 million grant from the state of Illinois to cover costs related to the geothermal heating and cooling system being installed underneath OPRF’s football field.

The new system is one part of Project 2 of the high school’s “Imagine Plan,” the second of five phases of facility upgrades on the school’s Scoville Avenue campus. The system will service the new five level physical

southeaster n corner of OPRF’s campus.

The new system is expected to help save District 200 more than $300,000 a year in utility costs while also driving the district towards its ambitious sustainability goals.

The state money, which comes from Illinois’ Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, will cover a chunk of the $12.5 million cost of the system.

“We are grateful to the OPRFHS Imagine Foundation and our local elected representatives for their assistance in securing state funding to help D200 build better educational facilities for our students,” said Greg Johnson, D200 superintendent. “By supporting our investment in geothermal for Project 2, this grant helps us take a big step toward meeting our district’s very ambitious sustainability goals, which include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100% of 2012 levels by 2050.”

District 200’s sustainability policy tasks it with reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 45% of its 2012 levels by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Geothermal systems are more efficient than gas or electric heat and emit no greenhouse gas. The D200 board unanimously approved the system in January 2024 with the expectation it would create 442,500 fewer pounds of carbon each year compared to a natural gas system.

The work on the geothermal system is expected to be completed by July, before the ootball team begins summer prac-

tice, OPRF’s director of construction Jeff Bergmann told Wednesday Journal in April

“The status of the project is actually going very well considering the cold winter that we had,” said Bergmann. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do another project like this in the future for a different part of the building.”

The new physical education building is expected to be completed by the summer of 2026, according to the district.

The OPRFHS Imagine Foundation helped secure the state grant as part of its commitment to raise at least $12.5 million in funding for Imagine Plan Project 2 through charitable gifts, grants, and other funding sources. In addition to the State of Illinois grant, the Imagine Foundation has

used charitable gift funds to grant $3M directly to District 200 via two grants in 2024 and a third grant to be presented to the D200 Board of Education at its meeting on June 12, 2025, according to the district.

“The OPRFHS Imagine Foundation is thrilled to work with donors and other stakeholders to fulfill our commitment to OPRFHS students. We are immensely grateful to the State of Illinois for its commitment to provide all OPRF students an excellent educational experience in sustainable facilities,” said Heidi Ruehle, executive director of the foundation. “This investment in green energy is a win-win for our students, communities, state, and planet.”

JAVIER GOVEA

Building a moving business as a path to generational wealth

Walter Sims is working hard to establish his entrepreneurial chops

By DEBORAH BAYLISS Contributing Reporter

A young Oak Park entrepreneur who grew up in the Austin community, is working to build generational wealth for his family, one moving van and satisfied client at a time.

“I want to leave something for my kids and help my family,” said Walter Sims, 27. “So, in December of 2022, I changed my whole life and gave my full life to entrepreneurship and tried new things to build something positive.”

The pivotal moment that led to Sims’ mindset change, sadly, was the loss of his younger brother to gun violence at age 16 in 2022.

“After he passed away, I was losing other friends, close friends and I told myself, ‘I need to grow as a man and do something different,’” Sims said. “That’s when I started my business, Sims’ Family Transportation. I have been doing that ever since.”

The business has its ups and downs, Sims said, and has not reached its full potential as yet but he’s not about to give up.

In an article published last year by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, titled “The State of Black Owned Businesses,” Adrienne McFarland, program director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC), shared her thoughts on the current, and future outlook for Blackowned businesses across Chicagoland. A study a few years ago, she said, found that Black-owned businesses make up approximately 11% of all businesses in Illinois.

“Historically, Black entrepreneurs just don’t come from a world where there’s a support system that helps [them] sustain [their] business, tells you what you’ re going to need before you even get started,” McFarland said in the interview.

McFarland continued, “Let’s say you’ re

20 years old, and you’ve never met someone with a successful business. How do you know what to do? ... Who do you talk to if you can’t ask an uncle, a mom, or a dad investment into your business? That’s wh the main issue for starting a business is access to capital period, point blank.”

Sims has the full support of his mother who lives in Oak Park and father who sides in Tennessee.

“I’m so proud of him,” his mother Sharita Galloway said of her son. “I do wh ever I can to help him and invest in him. I’ll introduce him to someone and he does the rest.”

“There are a lot of things that people never told me about the growing pains and the ups and downs of entrepreneurshi Sims said. “A lot of people are not built it but I tell myself everyday that this is me and that there is no Plan B, this is going to work. People tell you to start a business but they don’t tell you about the part where you’ re going to be down and some days you won’t make any money.”

McFarland’s advice, to young entrep neurs like Sims, is to look for a business resource person, someone at a chamber of commerce or SBDC and become as knowledgeable as possible.

Sims right now, does not have a social media page so it’s primarily word of mouth and old-fashioned pounding the pavement to pass out flyers to get the word out about his business.

“I understand now that it’s more about digital marketing as well,” Sims said.

Sims is open to taking business courses to expand his knowledge.

Aside from his solid work ethic, Sims’ use of southern, polite ter ms of address such as yes ma’am and no ma’am, may be a helpful tool in growing his client base.

“I got that from my dad and my mom,” Sims said. “My dad is from the South. I was always corrected as a child to say yes ma’am and no ma’am to my elders.”

In five years, Sims sees his business with a fleet of vehicles for moving, hauling and other work and about 25 employees.

Right now, Sims has one person work

pickup truck. Now that his pickup truck is having problems, he rents a U-Haul truck en

a logistics business as well,” Sims said. “I ways, . I offer lawn

multiple streams of income so that I can something

Walter Sims, ow ner of Sims’ Family Transpor tation

Homes

Beauty and inspiration in 8 local gardens

31st Garden Walk covers River Forest and Oak Park on June 22

By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

Rain or shine: The Oak Park and River Forest Garden Walk is the place to be Sunday June 22 if you are seeking to be inspired by the beauty and variety of area gardens

This, the 31st annual walk sponsored by the Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory (FOPCON) and the Garden Club of Oak Park and River Forest, will focus on eight private gardens in the two villages.

Proceeds of the walk benefit both the conservatory and the Garden Club, which uses its share of the money to fund scholarships for graduates of OPRF High School.

Sue Boyer, one of the co-chairs of this year’s walk, said that the garden walk continues to attract an increasing number of visitors.

“We had a tremendous year last year, and we’re thrilled that more and more people are so interested in gardening,” she said. Each year, the Garden Walk Committee starts looking for the next year’s gardens during the peak of the summer garden season. This year, they chose a mix of styles and sizes of yards that are sure to inspire. Boyer noted that the garden walk differs from typical housewalks because of the living nature of the yards and encouraged visitors to see all eight on this year’s walk.

“Every garden is so unique, and you see a lot of eclectic styles. There’s really something for everyone,” she said.

Homeowner Pe gg y Kell has been gardening in her Oak Park yard for 48 years. She said that her garden has evolved over the years. Ever since she and her husband ved into the home, they’ve made changes little by little.

“I call ourselves serial renovators,” she said. “We’ve changed the house itself, add-

ing on a lot over the years. We’ve done the same with the garden.”

When the couple moved in, there was no garage, and they made two large ve getable plots in the backyard. Eventually, they added a garage to the back yard and moved the vegetable plots to the front yard.

When she started gardening, Kell was pregnant with her youngest child; now her four-year-old grandson is an avid helper in the garden, especially when it comes to

picking raspberries. Her yard has other fun finds for children, including railroad trains and a fairy garden.

This is Kell’s third time on the garden walk, each time, she said she has a different garden. “Stuf f dies, or I find a new piece. Gardening is a journey.”

In River Forest, Marilee Unruh has been working on her garden since 2001. She

See GARDEN WALK on pa ge 23

TODD BANNOR

TER AND RAILS: Pegg y Kell’s garden includes both a fountain and a model train.

TODD BANNOR

Peggy Kell in her Oak Park garden.

GARDEN WALK

‘Gardening is a journey’

from page 21

slowly re placed the lawn until she had gardens but no lawn in the front and back of her home.

A native of California, Unruh loves discovering the variety of perennials that can be grown in Illinois’ climate, but she had to reconsider her planting methods when she realized how close to nature her garden really is

She not only has plenty of rabbit and deer visitors, a deer was born in her backyard. “A lot of perennials sa they’re deer resistant, but they are not that resistant to deer who think your backyard is their home,” she said laughingly

In recent years, Unruh has “become addicted to bricks,” she said. She creates circles with brick and gravel, filling in spaces with a variety of flowers and non-blooming plants in various shades of green. She said working in the garden with her hands is one of her favorite activities and a gr way to connect with the outdoors.

Also in River Forest, Marylen Marty-Gentile has seen her garden evolve over the 40 years that she and her husband Michael, have owned their home. When they first moved in much of the yard was shaded by a large elm and ash trees

After spending lots of time trying to grow grass under those trees and failing, she turned to Scott McAdam of McAd am Landscape Professionals, and that made all the differenc “Scott said, ‘Let’s think about your yard in terms of rooms.’ We started at the front with a section that was about shade. Over time, we got rid of all of the grass in the front and most of the lawn in the back yard,” she said.

Marty-Gentile says that there’s a lot of trial and error volved in gardening. “It’s been fun, and it’s been an adv ture, and we’ve made tons of mistakes,” she said.

In the summer the yard can get a bit of a Dr. Seuss look, she said. “It has a wacky, wild look to it, which please us a lot.”

Before You Go

Walk takes place on Sunday, une 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 in ance and $25 after 5 p.m. on June 21. Children 12 and under can attend for free. FOPCON lub members rece ive a reduced et price of $17 prior to 5 p.m. on June 21. purchased online via credit card at: https://gcoprf.org/

Prior to June 16, tickets are available by mail. hecks payable to GCOPRF and mail to Box 5633, River Forest, IL 60305. et purchases are non-refundable.

The day of the walk, ticket holders and those looking to purchase tickets can visit the Cheney Euclid in Oak Park, or the Oak onservatory, 615 Garfield in Oak Park, to guides and maps between 9:30

The walk is not cancelled due to inclement ather. Any questions can be directed to (708)

TODD BANNOR

Marylen Marty and her husband Michael Gentile in their River Forest garden on June 5.

TODD BANNOR

Marylen Marty’s River Forest garden.

TODD BANNOR

Marilee Unruh in her River Forest Garden on June 3.

VIEWPOINTS

llage Board voted for the status quo, re-approving our . Only Trustees Straw and Wesley voted for reform. ppointing, as many of these folks in the recent election were values and saying how important equity and re to them. Many might think zoning is boring and pedestrian, but ationists, there is no more pressing local

JOSH

VANDERBERG

is proud of its progressive pedigree. We were on the forefront of progressive action in 1968 when we enacted the Fair Housing Ordinance — and in the decades after, we successfully fought off white flight and created one of the most diverse, integrated places in the country. But we left this work undone. Though Oak Park as a municipality is racially diverse, our neighborhoods are not. Single-family homes are populated mostly by white families, with Black families more likely to live in apartments relegated to the edges of neighborhoods and the middle of the village

The root cause of this segregation is single-family zoning, which prevents anything but single-family homes from being built in large parts of Oak Park. It survived the refor ms of the ’60s and ’70s largely intact.

Single-family zoning was a direct response to the Supreme Court outlawing explicitly racial zoning codes with its Buchanan v Warley ruling in 1917. It took enterprising municipalities very little time to craft a replacement: Single Family Zoning

ktrainor@wjinc.com

Political activism as self-care essives asleep at the switch?

It served basically the same ends and passed legal muster with the court in 1926. This ruling is notable for saying that “the apartment house is a mere parasite.” Hearing this judicial dog whistle loud and clear, single-family zoning was rapidly adopted by local gover nments across the country. In combination with “redlining,” which denied home loans to Black families, single-family zoning successfully preserved the segregationist project for decades, kee ping Black families out of the suburbs.

Single-family zoning remains to this day, almost entirely unchanged, left unaddressed by the Civil Rights Movement and largely ignored by modern progressives. “Not In My Back Yard” is one of those odd “horseshoe” issues where conservatives and liberals find common cause. Conservatives deny the racist lineage of singlefamily zoning, and many progressives ignore the issue, preferring to quietly enjoy their shady neighborhoods and wide lawns

Which is weird. The preservation of segregated housing via municipal zoning is the number one equity issue of our era. We have every legal lever required to correct it available to us, right here in Oak Park. But the progressive movement in Oak Park is more focused on national culture-war issues and international conflicts. “The sty in thy own eye” indeed.

We are promised reform is coming. But it’s been in the works for quite some time. The studies have been conducted, and the recommendations have been made. Other municipalities are stepping up and leading on this issue. It’s time for zoning reform to come to Oak Park. Progressive Oak Park should be leading on this issue, and should hold the village board accountable to its promises.

Josh is a passionate urbanist and entrepreneur who’s lived in Chicagoland over 30 years and has called Oak Park home for over a decade.

Like many Oak Parkers, I was actively involved in the 2024 presidential campaign: donating, phone-banking, canvassing. And like many of you, I was gutted by the results of that November election.

After the election, I took the rest of November and December off and then got re-involved in politics — part of my self-care. It has helped lessen my feelings of discouragement, depression, and discombobulation. And it has helped shield me a little from the daily news firehose of one down-the-rabbit-hole event after another

I connected with the WisDems (Wisconsin Democrats) in January, one of the groups I worked with before the November election, and got actively involved in the election of Judge Susan Crawford for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. The election was key in keeping the Wisconsin Supreme Court liberal and was seen as a bellwether for upcoming local and state elections. President Trump endorsed her opponent, and Elon Musk contributed

over $25 million to Brad Schimel’s campaign.

From mid-January until April 1, I was part of various phone-bank teams, often doing two shifts a week and sometimes an additional shift on weekends. I made calls to low-tur nout Democratic voters, worked with a nonpartisan group that made calls to Black voters in Milwaukee, giving them precinct information and information on free rides to the polls on Election Day.

Many of the people I called didn’t know about this campaign. In March, I had an unforgettable conversation with someone in Maryland who had helped in the Harris campaign, asking them to volunteer.

The caller said, “I want to sue Donald Trump for breaking my mother’s heart. She is 97 years old and almost at the end of her life. She lived through the Depression, two wars, the Civil Rights Movement, Obama as president, and is so discouraged about what is going on now.”

JOY AARONSON

TODD BANNOR

OUR VIEWS

River Forest and term limits

On April 1, River Forest voters chose to impose term limits on their local village government officials. The turnout in a largely uncontested election season was small. The margin of victory was notable but not a landslide.

And now, 10 weeks later, at this week’s River Forest Village Board meeting, one of the instigators of the petition that put this issue on the ballot came to the board and asked when the village would incorporate the referendum result into local ordinance. Two sitting trustees asked basically the same thing.

That’s when the simmering backstory came into view.

Village Attor ney Lance Malina told the village board that the referendum question was “vague and unclear.” He said that, based on the wording of the ballot question, it is not clear if the vote was binding or advisory. Malina said that then Village Clerk Jonathan Keller was advised not to send the question to the county, given the conflicting wording within the referendum question. He sent it. The county certified it. Voters voted. Now what?

Some village of ficials have said proponents of term limits should go to court to seek clarity. Malina on Monday suggested the village itself should do “nothing.”

At least Trustees Erika Bachner and Katie Brennan were not having any of that as an answer.

We see the ambiguity in the wording of the measure. Within the question, the vote is deemed as “binding” in one spot and “advisory” in another.

This might wind up in the courts. The resolution to us is uncertain.

That said, we continue to believe that the ter m limits issue reflects a genuine divide in River Forest. One that cannot be swept away on a technicality. One that won’t go away on its own.

No Kings

Both Forest Park and Oak Park will be re presented this Saturday as a defiant opposition to President Donald Trump rises up across America in the No Kings protest.

That Oak Parkers will crowd Scoville Park and Lake Street is hardly a surprise. It was just in April that a large crowd gathered in the same place to object to the early months of the second Trump presidency. We expect a large, boisterous and peaceful crowd at Oak Park’s effective town square.

More interesting to us is the nascent effort to draw a crowd to protest Trump at Constitution Cour t in Forest Park We don’t doubt Forest Park’s increasingly progressive mindset. This is the week the village enthusiastically supported an exuberant Pride event and marked Juneteenth as well.

Turns out that Tom Holmes, a longtime Review opinion columnist, has a hand in this along with others. We’ll be curious to see who gathers at Forest Park’s “town square” on Madison Street.

Traveling in real time

We live in three dimensions … not in space, but in time.

We are time travelers: past/present/futurenauts, moving back and forth, for th and back across the sacred terrain of now and then and to be, without understanding the full measure of why.

If you live only for today, it can be a problem.

If you live only for tomor row, it can be a problem.

If you live only in your memories, that can be a problem, too.

TRAINOR

If, however, you can find a way to live for all three, with some semblance of balance and a benevolent view of each, you have a shot at real happiness.

It’s possible to visit the past without being abducted and held hostage, and it’s even possible to be “making other plans” for the future without missing life as it happens here and now.

Time travelers must be agile, fluid. The past is alive in the present, eager to impart its lessons and work its charms. Haunting, too, holding our re grets just out of reach, missed opportunities, the pain of loss. But upbeat or down, the past fashions who we are.

Memory may taunt us with our shortcomings and disappointments, but those can turn into gifts if we apply the lessons in the present … to better our future.

Having a past is a blessing, transforming our topo graphical maps into holy ground.

The present, meantime, abounds with blankslate opportunity.

And both may bear fruit for the future. The key seems to be a healthy dose of acceptance. Not resignation, not surrender. Acceptance sees the value in all three dimensions. Our only real control over all of this is easing the transitions from one dimension to the next, without getting overly attached and stuck in the quicksands of time.

We aspire to wizardry, mastering the ebb and flow between past, present and future, each a tonic in its own way.

Treasured moments from our past offer proof that life has been worth living.

But a summery, sunny Sunday morning asks: Who needs the past to validate living when you can sit on a park bench in a songbird paradise, before the motorized monsters

rev up and pollute the world with noise? Life is full sitting right here, right now and steeping in it. And perhaps dreaming a little about what might be … and looking forward to what might yet please us.

In my childhood I needed things to look forward to. It ke pt me going, made life feel exciting and worth living — that was before I accumulated enough meaningful memories to make the case. As a kid, I dreaded empty moments most of all. I took refuge in books about those who lived full lives and imagined finding my own path through the dark wood of childhood to a better version of being alive. I knew if there were enough good books to read, I would never have to fear the nothing-to-do moments and could keep the boredom monster at bay.

Eventually I learned that the problem with living is not having too little to do but too much — the tyrrany of the To-Do List. Empty time was no longer to be feared but devoutly to be wished. We live in a world that obsessively fills time, at decibel levels intended to distract, teasing us with the fear of missing out, to the point where many of us miss out on the blissful solace of silence.

These days I crave time to find the right words that define and refine my de eper longings and to puzzle out how to live happily ever after.

Past/present/future is a unified field theory of time: visiting the past, vitalizing the present, visioning the future. Back and for th, here and now, then and yet to be, choosing when to emphasize one over the others and when to give each its due, but always anchored by the present.

Some time travelers pull this of f with greater ease and grace than others, or so it seems. But maybe we’re paying too much attention to other lives and not enough to the rich one we’re already living. Some of that richness, though, includes the lives surrounding us, the lives we enrich and that enrich ours by sharing the journey, even if it’s only wishing one another a cheery “Good morning” in passing. If we learn to live 3-dimensionally, travelers can befriend the past, the present and the future.

All in good time.

Donald Trump hates Harvard. Pete Buttigieg graduated from Harvard. It figures. Trump didn’t get in. I did. Here’s my story:

I was a first-year English teacher in a blue collar Chicago suburb. I really liked it. I liked the kids — some of the boys were bigger than me — and it was very hard work

On a Friday when the younger single teachers went out for beer, someone handed me infor mation about a Harvard/ U.S. Military program that was recruiting English teachers to work with U.S. military officers all over the world on improving their writing and speaking skills. The program would also include research and could be folded into a master’s de gree. I applied and was accepted.

I had good instructors in my undergrad work at the University of Illinois. At Harvard, I was star-struck. We had two main areas of study. One was to improve our own writing. It was taught by the head of the very competitive Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa

I dreamed of Harvard

(acceptance rate, generally between 2.7% and 3.7%). Over the years I had gotten into the habit of laziness on footnotes and bibliography form when I wrote a paper. He called me in and lowered one of my grades for an inaccurate footnote!

Who knew anyone checked?

The other course was about government, taught by an Undersecretary of State who flew up from D.C. a few times a week. For our government project, another young woman and I interviewed the notorious head of the Boston schools, Louise Day Hicks, who headed Boston’s School Committee and City Council. She went on to serve in Congress. She became notorious for fighting courtordered busing.

MARY KAY

O’GRADY

She hated Harvard. She accused us of being Communists, and that was just for starters. I knew there were racists in my own family, but I had never heard someone

We’d lie or sit scattered around the floor or on the couch in our bungalow’s living room at night, a light from the dining room casting shadows behind us while Beethoven, Tchaikovsky or Brahms caressed the air.

Previously, we’d gone with Dad to Polk Brothers to pick out the records. There, he’d given us some idea of what dif ferent pieces might evoke musically: serenity, curiosity, surprise, or maybe the thunder of war. At home, he and Mom would cut the lights, set the needle gently on the vinyl disk, and turn the tuner’s dial where they wanted. We’d go quiet as the music filled the forward space in our Berwyn home. A shadow is not the same as darkness: It’s enabled by light, and for ms as a murky, visible shape behind or beyond something solid. The murkiness and unplanned appearance can provide intrigue in what a shadow might reveal. It might signal that something needs attention. Nested in music as were ours, the trickery of a shadow

so vocal. I was actually afraid of her.

My roommate was Black, a few years older than I was. She taught kindergarten in a Chicago school. (While we were there, she was of fered the principalship of her school. The Harvard ef fect?) She and I met another young Black woman, a student at Spelman Colle ge, whose education was being funded by the Rockefellers. We three started having our meals together and became friends. Every meal was an education for me, and many, many laughs.

Some afternoons, I walked across the street from the campus to a large yellow house, once the home of the poet Longfellow. I sat in the garden and read, occasionally pinching myself and thought about telling my next semester’s students, if we read something by Longfellow, where I had been.

Music in the shadows

can be stir red by dark melodic passages or surprising harmonies.

Decades after those private concerts with the family in the parlor, I wrote of a shadow hovering overhead as I saw it cast by the light of the moon. My poem’s final stanza said, Mystery moon in mystery’s air, Surrounded by mist, hauntingly You cast a shadow, a chill, a stare That in dampness thirsts me tauntingly. The moon above created shadows whose shapes stir red feelings within. Around that time, with the guidance of Jungian analysis, I was coming to an understanding of a shadow as something living inside me, as well as a shape hovering above or near me.

RICH KORDESH

One View

I had rele gated certain parts of my youthful, Berwyn self to my shadow. I had come to see that kid from 15th and Clarence as backward, limited by his working-class perspective and embarrassingly guilt-ridden, due to his traditional Catholic upbringing.

To get beyond him, to grow as a planner, to earn a doctorate and make it in the progressive social circles that came with those career moves, I pushed him into my unconscious. But he had too much to offer to keep him there forever. And the challenges of life pushed me eventually to honor his strengths and bring him back into the light.

On other weekdays I drove up to one of the beaches on Cape Cod to study (and contract subsequent middle-age skin cancers), but I can’t remember which one. Occasionally I stopped for an ice cream cone at a shop that I had heard was frequented by Kennedys.

Once I was sitting on a ledge outside the Widener Library at Harvard, when a group of men in suits walked up the stairs. They seemed to be in a fo rmation; in the center was President John F. Kennedy. I swear, he had red hair! So did I! He would be murdered four months later.

I did not return to Harvard the following summer; I was planning my wedding. The summer after that, mar ried, my husband did not want me to return to Harvard, even though they of fered me a full scholarship. The mar riage lasted 20 years.

I wish we could make a trade where the Church would get Trump and we would get the new Pope. Those crafty bishops could short-circuit Trump and we could smile again with President Bob.

To Jung, the shadow is a living part of the self, containing re pressed aspects of the personality. I lear ned as a middle-aged adult that after I left Berwyn for college, and then set out on a professional career,

In the series of pieces I’ve been writing in recent years, I’ve been reflecting on my life as a kid south of 12th Street and my existence as an older guy nor th of it. I grew up there, left the area for 20 years, and retur ned with a family to Oak Pa rk, where I’ve been since 1996.

Much of the Berwyn self has blended with the Oak Park self in a conscious ef fort to be whole. Some of my life still involves music, much of it with my wife, Maureen: singing in the Ascension choir, taking in performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and enjoying the Lyric Opera. With our choir, we traveled to Spain last year to sing in old churches and cathedrals rich in shadow life. Making music in a place like Sagrada Familia raises an awareness of men and women who’ve worshipped there. Gaudi himself is buried in the crypt, his spirit very much alive in the prayers and songs drifting about.

And now at home when I listen to music while the lights on Marion Street cast shadows of the trees onto our windows and walls, there are times when those hours with Mom and Dad 60 years ago come forward, and we enjoy a symphony to gether once ag ain.

SHRUB TO WN by Marc Stopeck

Friends Book Fair is co

The 53nd Annual Friends of the Oak Park Public Library Book Fair returns July 11-13 to the Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake St. It’s the largest and longest-running used book/ DVD/CD sale in the Midwest!

Shop for all kinds of reasonably-priced used books, DVDs, CDs, puzzles, and games. You get fabulous new-to-you items while supporting your public library at the same time. All the money raised from the sale goes to support vital library programs, such as the Barbara Ballinger lecture series, the hugely popular folk music concert series, and popup libraries around town.

Proceeds also have helped purchase a 3D printer and a guitar for the Main Library Creative Studio, a train table and a Lite Brite wall for the Main Library Children’s Services Area, and other exciting items that enrich library patrons of all ages.

And last September, Friends funds gave 30 middle- and high-school students the opportunity to attend the Chicago Football Classic and HBCU College Fair with library staff at Soldier Field. For these students who had never before been to a football game, the day included education, culture, and community. One student told library staff, “I never knew we could do something like this through our library We got so much more than a game!”

The Friends couldn’t be more pleased to continue our

beloved Oak Park Book Fair tradition that also gives back to our library. The Book Fair is free to attend, and cash and credit cards are accepted for purchases. Underground garage parking (with the first two hours free) and elevator access are available. Details can be found at oppl.org/fair.

Sale hours: Friday, July 11, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Saturday, July 12, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sunday, July 13, 2-4 p.m. Nonprofits, teachers, area Little Free Library Stewards, and fair volunteers can select free items Sunday only; everyone else can fill up a grocery bag for only $10 a bag!

Russ Glidden

President, Friends of the Oak Park Public Library

WEDNESD AY

of Oak Park and River Forest

Viewpoints Guidelines

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

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

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

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

■ 350-word limit

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OPRF frosh honors program: What comes next

In Oak Park and River Forest, we pride ourselves on our work toward open housing and diversity, which started back in the 1960s. Building on that le gacy, over the past 10 years Oak Park and River Forest High School has worked to better support the wide variety of students who call our community home – students of varying lear ning needs, students of all genders, and students of all racial groups.

This ef fort revealed that tracking at OPRF was a major impediment to the achievement of Black and Latinx students: these young people were over re presented in the lower-level tracks even though they were capable of Honors-level work, a phenomenon reco gnized across the nation. As a result, in the fall of 2022, OPRF implemented the Freshman All-Honors curriculum in English, History, and Science. The program aimed to increase overall enrollment of students in upper-level, advanced coursework, especially increasing enrollment for Black and Latinx students.

The district’s own evaluations for the first two years of this program demonstrated that increased numbers of students were indeed enrolling in sophomore-level Honors classes — the intended benefit of the program. However, they also identified the need for additional academic supports for some students.

In June 2023, school administrators called for the training and support of new academic and social emotional interven-

tionists to meet the “significant increase in student needs over the past several years, exacerbated by the pandemic.” In September 2024, outside consultants Isobar surveyed families and found that many wanted increased supports for their young people, summarizing their perceptions that “students who are struggling are not receiving the level of targeted support they need to be successful.” Also in 2024, community advocates released the report, “Historical Harms to the Black Community of Oak Park and Suggested Re pairs,” which stated that a lack of support for Black student success in advanced courses is a systemic harm that needs immediate cor rection.

COMMITTEE FOR EQUITY & EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION

support classes for some students

■ Trained academic and socio-emotional interventionists to address student needs

The most important next step that the school must take in determining these additional supports is to eng age with the students and families who are most affected. They are the ones who know their needs and who can best advise the school on how to proceed.

riculum Quar ter Three Update, April 13, 2023 COW meeting: https:// go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/Board.nsf/ goto?open&id=CQJSCE720637

2022-23 Freshman Curriculum Year 1 Evaluation, Sept 7, 2023 COW Meeting: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/ Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CUSGFK439AB1 2023-24 Freshman Curriculum Year 2 Evaluation, Sept 12, 2024 COW Meeting: https://go.boarddocs. com/il/oprfhs/Board.nsf/ goto?open&id=D8UMXM5D633D

All of these recommendations point in the same direction: the Freshman AllHonors program is a worthy ef fort and is seeing success, but the high school needs to provide additional support We believe that these supports could take a variety of forms. These might include:

■ Research-based tutoring which involves students meeting multiple times each week with the same professionally trained tutor during the school day

■ Co-teaching in the Freshman AllHonors classes, having two teachers in the same classroom to provide more one-onone and small group teaching to students

■ Additional reading and writing

All too often, OPRF has tried to implement grand plans without taking the time to eng age in dialogue with those whom they exist to serve – the young people and their families. Aside from being practically problematic, operating without these conversations is contrary to OPRF’s own equity policies and assessment tools. We insist that, in this moment, the school must eng age the young people and their families who need extra supports in Freshman All-Honors, and then provide the support that they need. This is what the school owes to them.

To lear n more about our and others’ effor ts to advocate for these supports, please visit http://bit.ly/oprf3calls.

Sources:

Young people of color under re presented in Honors classes: https://www.beacon. org/On-the-Same-Track-P1104.aspx Freshman Restructured Cur-

Isobar Restructured Curriculum Analysis Re port, Sept 2024: https://drive.google. com/file/d/1W-gQ0IMVIyX9kAyW59EgqykIuMswrm-T/view

MTTS Re port, Re gular BOE meeting, June 22, 2023: https:// go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/Board.nsf/ goto?open&id=CSUNHQ600D0F

Historical Harms to the Black Community of Oak Park, Illinois and Suggested Re pairs: https://bit.ly/ophistoricalharms Tutoring and Testing Center Update, Re gular BOE Meeting, June 22, 2023: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/oprfhs/ Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CSULGP5672CF Overview of research-based tutoring supports: https://www.nea.org/nea-today/ all-news-articles/high-impact-tutoring

The Committee for Equity and Ex cellence in Education is a multi-racial group of Oak Park and River Forest residents advocating for racial equity at OPRF High School.

River Forest’s Comprehensive Plan spurs progress

River Forest is in the midst of a dynamic new chapter — marked by thoughtful, strategic growth that is energizing the local economy and enhancing the village ’s distinct character. This exciting momentum is the direct result of the village’s Comprehensive Plan, a community-driven roadmap that guides responsible development, supports business vitality, and works to preserve the charm that makes River Forest so special.

At its core, the Comprehensive Plan is more than a document — it’s a vision for how River Forest lives, works, and thrives.

It shapes day-to-day decisions about land use, public infrastructure, and economic development, all with the goal of continually improving quality of life for all community members.

Recent economic developments reflect this vision in action. The expansion of Whole Foods Market at Town Center is a major investment that brings new jobs, increases foot traffic, and enhances the shopping experience at the heart of River Forest’s commercial district. Soon the village will welcome First Watch, a popular breakfast and lunch café that adds a fresh,

welcoming dining option — also located in Town Center.

Meanwhile, momentum continues re garding the Madison Street properties that Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is actively marketing to prospective developers. This engagement with a professional real estate broker to bring the highest and best uses to these properties demonstrates the village’s commitment to attracting quality projects through thoughtful redevelopment. The village board will receive an update on JLL’s ef for ts in July

All these activities — as well as those

past and future — are guided by the village’s Comprehensive Plan. The result is that River Forest is not just growing but growing with purpose.

Please visit our website at www.vrf.us to access our Comprehensive Plan. Also, please sign up for our weekly newsletters, through our website, to get up-to-date information on River Forest (https:// www.vrf.us/guides/guide/15?utm_ source=%2fcomprehensive-plan&utm_ medium=web&utm_campaign=redirect). Cathy Adduci Ri ver Forest villa ge president

Do you remember 2016? It was the year Beyonce released her groundbreaking concept album Lemonade and tickets to Hamilton on Broadway were selling for thousands of dollars. The Cubs won the World Series for the first time in over 100 years and Trump began his first term as President.

One thing you may not remember so clearly about 2016 is that it was the last time the Collaboration for Early Childhood conducted a comprehensive survey of families with young children in our community. The goal of that 2016 family survey was to understand directly from families with little ones what our new Family Engagement work should look like here in Oak Park

We asked families where they looked for information and resources and we invited them to share the triumphs and challenges of raising young children in our community.

Families, tell us your story

After receiving over 400 survey submissions and conducting multiple focus groups, we learned that parents and caregivers wanted more socialization opportunities, more education programs, and for someone to coordinate family resources so that they were easier to navigate. This led us to create our annual Early Childhood Resource Fair, our parent and caregiver workshop series, and our Parent Leadership Training, among other things. While we continuously learn from families when we do outreach and have workshops, this survey from 2016 continues to drive our family engagement work

MARY REYNOLDS One

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munities. We faced isolation as so many of our support systems fell away. School, work, and child-care routines were completely upended. We grieved. Our children relied more heavily on screens and technology to get through each day than they ever had before. We became more wary of where our information was coming from and many of us became more skeptical. Today, we have more urgent concer ns about climate change, screen time, and safety in our communities We wonder about how these things impact our young children’s development.

Park family members (e.g., parents, guardians, foster parents – including kinship caregivers, adoptive parents, and grandparents raising grandchildren) to take part in our 10-minute online survey, where we will be raffling off ten $100 gift cards.

To say that things have changed since 2016 is the understatement of the decade. We are still recovering from, and processing, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on ourselves, our families, and our com-

Walking for their lives

As the founder of the Oak Park chapter of Run For Their Lives, I was horrified at the attack on our sister organization in Boulder, Colorado last week. People advocating for the release of hostages in Gaza were attacked with homemade explosives, and several were seriously injured. The attacker stated he wanted to “kill all Zionist people,” and is being charged with attempted murder. This should be recognized for what it is: an act of domestic terrorism directed against American Jews and our allies.

During our most recent walk, a motorist followed the group, yelling profanity, spitting at us, and even throwing things from her car at us. Several other drivers yelled or were verbally abusive

With the attack in Boulder, and now this, our local walks have police protection. Thank you to all the Oak Park and River Forest officers for your support

Like Boulder, Oak Park holds itself out as a diverse, educated community, and yet our local group now needs to follow security protocols and coordinate with the police to walk in public. My children are concerned for my safety, worried that it is dangerous simply to call for freedom for our brothers and sisters held by Hamas

We will not be intimidated. Run For Their Lives in Boulder has announced that they will continue to walk. In Oak Park, we will do the same, until all of the hostages are home.

Je rey Bergman Riverside

JIt’s time for the Collaboration for Early Childhood to get a fresh post-pandemic pulse-check on where families are at and refine how we do our work in response to what families need right now in 2025.

Please join me in encouraging eligible Oak

Participation in this survey is completely voluntary, and answers will remain confidential. Families who live in Oak Park and are pregnant or expecting, or who are raising young children (birth to age 5) are all invited to complete the survey. You can find a link here: https://collab4kids.org/family-survey. Your answers will directly shape our programs and services in 2025 and beyond Thank you for helping to ensure our work remains responsive to the current needs of families and driven by our community Mary Reynolds is the executive director of the Collaboration for Early Childhood located in Oak Park.

A celebration of survivors

une 1 was National Cancer Survivors Day.

The very first NCSD, celebrated in 1988 37 years ago, was meant to demonstrate that a quality life after a cancer diagnosis can be a reality. It is a day to celebrate those who have survived, inspire those recently diagnosed, and show support for the families involved in the day-to-day battle.

JULIANNE

WOOD

One View

The annual event is an effort to recognize and celebrate everyone who has faced cancer head-on and emerged as survivors. It is a day to acknowledge, celebrate and support our friends and loved ones for their strength and resilience.

Cancer survivorship often encompasses the physical, emotional and psychosocial aspects of recovery and long-ter m well-being. As survivors, we face many challenges, including physical and emotional side effects of treatments, and ongoing medical care

Most health-care professionals believe a patient needs to be cancerfree for five years before being called a “survivor.” No offense to the profes-

sionals, but I beg to differ. It will be three years this July for me, and every day when I wake up, I feel like a survivor.

While it is widely accepted that cancer is an inherited disease, 90% of cases can actually be attributed to environmental and lifestyle choices outside the familial gene. It is a disease that has been documented on papyrus by the Egyptian Physician Imhotep dating back to 2600 B.C.

And the sad truth is that it is here to stay. You can get lung cancer and never have smoked a cigarette, skin cancer and never have left the house without SPF 100, colon cancer after years of eating organic and following through on regular colonoscopies.

Cancer is a non-discriminating bully, and 1 out of every 2 people will develop some form of it in their lifetime. The odds of getting cancer may not be in our favor, but our chances of survival are: live a healthy lifestyle, exercise, eat healthy, drink in moderation and give up those little white “cancer sticks.” Listen to your body and your doctors. We’ve come a long way in

cancer research, detection and treatment, but we still have quite a way to go to stop it

This got me to wondering, and worrying, about how the $2.7 billion being cut in NIH research funding by this administration will af fect today’s cancer research. It remains to be seen how the lack of funding and cuts to clinical cancer research will affect the U.S. population in the coming years. The hope is that it will not have a long-ter m impact on all the progress that has been made since Marie Curie discovered radiation at the end of the 19th century. The Trump administration has already slashed U.S. cancer research by 31% in the first three months of 2025. How much more will he be allowed to take?

On National Cancer Survivors Day, we all have it in us to be survivors — no matter what obstacles this crazy world throws in front of us.

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”

Happy NCS Day, my friends. I am happy to call myself a survivor.

Julianne Wood grew up in Oak Park and River Forest and now lives in Elmwood Park.

Such sweet sorrow: Saying goodbye to my Prius

Recently, I did something I never thought I would ever do, or at least not for another decade or two until I was really old. I shed my car

This is the 2017 low-mileage Prius Prime Advanced, plug-in hybrid car that I had paid to have professionally transported ($700) to Oak Park from New York when I moved here a year ago.

DONNA GREENE

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This is the car that I bought a new battery for ($250) last summer in the hope it would get me through the cold Chicago winters without going dead. (Spoiler alert: it did not!)

This is the car I had blessed with new tires last fall ($650) to get me through driving in the snow (which in fact I never did and not just because there was next to no snow this year) and the same car on which I spent big bucks ($900) to re place an amplifier that prevented the car’s GPS from talking to me (on those rare occasions when I was, in fact, driving).

In the end, I had to conclude I just did not need this car (my husband has a “pre-DOGE” Tesla) or the parking space I paid for or the insurance and car re gistration fees I was required to have, let alone the hassle and stress of getting the car jumped multiple times when the new battery died because the car was almost never being used. Even to say “almost never used” implies more use that it got. After living in Illinois six months, it still had New York gas. The pressure to take it out for a spin to charge up the battery was getting to me. I stressed over it. I used Post-it Notes to remind me to go for a drive. I did use the car for an occasional run to the supermarket but not much else. Why would I when I could walk everywhere? I live near the Green Line CTA and Metra stops, across from Target, around the corner from Whole Foods, a block from the vibrant Oak Park business district and just a few blocks from the offices

of Wednesday Journal, where I am a parttime volunteer editor. Most important of all, I am walking distance to the home of my two granddaughters (and their parents), the main reason I moved to Oak Park. In addition, I could order anything I wanted on Amazon (Yes, for political reasons I wanted to boycott Target and Amazon and Whole Foods, but much to my embar rassment, have not risen to this occasion).

I have owned a car since I was 21 and beg an my first job as a re porter. It was a butterscotch-colored Mustang that got, at best, 10 miles per g allon at a time g as cost about 36 cents a g allon. It was followed by other cars, none of which spoke to my heart — until I purchased a Honda Odyssey, one of the first vehicles to include GPS. That feature revolutionized my life, taking away my fear of getting lost.

Getting rid of that car was emotional. I had no such heart-felt af fection for my Prius. Nonetheless, could I part with it — or more specifically car ownership? What of my inde pendence? (Think: Driving Miss Daisy.)

Finally my head won out. I filled out for ms on Carvana and CarMax, and found that both companies would pay me a lot of money for my ca r. I didn’t believe they would actually give me the projected amount, but they did. It was a simple transaction. They plugged a gizmo (onboard diagnostic) into my car and found nothing wrong. They handed me a check. I posed for a final photo with “my” car and said goodbye without a tear. Then I notified insurance companies, motor vehicles and my friends via Facebook. (I got lots of ‘likes.’)

For several days thereafter, I fantasized that my car, like a homing pigeon or Lassie, would find its way “home” to my g arage. It has not.

I have no re grets. But I do have a concern: I’m not sure I want to be seen driving a Tesla.

‘No Kings’ rally this Saturday

In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings. “No Kings” is a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and cor ruption from Trump and his allies We’ve watched as they’ve cracked down on free speech, detained people for their political views, threatened to deport American citizens, and defied the courts. They’ve done this all while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies. Saturday, June 14, we’re taking to the streets nationwide. We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind.

The flag doesn’t belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to

us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it. On June 14, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t — to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings. Check out nokings.org for more infor mation.

A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.

Oak Park’s rally will take place in Scoville Park, Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street, on June 14 from 1 to 3 p.m. Cynthia Breunlin Co-organizer

JOY AARONSON

Like breathing clean fresh air

from page 24

It turns out that the caller was a health researcher at Johns Hopkins and the day before, had received an email that 500 studies there were on hold. She told me, “I never thought that at this time in my career, I might lose my job. And I never thought that cutting-edge research would be eliminated. The sickest people come to Johns Hopkins.” She signed up to phone bank and was excited to tell her mother that she and people like me were doing something to help change the direction of the gover nment. I think of her when I hear about cuts in scientific research; it is very likely that her job has been eliminated.

Judge Crawford won the election. And for me it was like breathing clean fresh air to know that I played a small role in her victory.

Phone banking breaks the isolation and makes me feel empowered, even if only briefly. Some of my friends are introverts and don’t want to even think about calling strangers. Anyone who has spent time with me knows that I love to talk and listen to people. My parents were activists. My mother proudly told stories of the 1950s and 1960s, going out to lunch with people from her work and the restaurant not wanting to serve her Black co-workers. “If you don’t serve all of us, we all are leaving” she announced and usually they had to leave. Both my parents were active against the Vietnam War, and I was part of many social-justice efforts, including supporting the United Farm Workers Union in their grape and lettuce boycotts. We stood in front of supermarkets encouraging people to support the farm workers. For many of us, finding balance in these challenging times is key. How do we help make a better world for our children and grandchildren and also spend quality time with them? How do we find time to tend to our health, connect with loved ones and friends and, for those who aren’t retired, work?

Here are some resources I use to stay infor med:

I receive daily emails from Heather Cox Richardson, who gives in-depth historical analysis. She also has after noon Facebook live videos answering questions from the chat. I also get emails from Robert Reich, MoveOn, Swing Left, and Sister District, which has a Greater Chicago group that works on a strategic campaign of down-ballot candidates from “purple” or “red” states

Jessica Craven’s column, “Chop Wood, Carry Water,” shares positive happenings and has links for volunteering. Her Facebook posts are short, timely, and full of emotion.

A few other Facebook groups with good information are Oak Park Progressives, Illinois Women Forward, Polite Politics Oak Park, Oak Park Area Neighbors, The 5051Movement. I also read Wednesday Jour nal and listen regularly to WBEZ.

For those who are interested in participating in No Kings Day on June 14, rallies and marches are scheduled in Naperville and Chicago. I plan to be at the Oak Park rally at Scoville Park from 1 to 3 p.m.

Joy Aaronson is an Oak Park resident who writes about “Favorite Things” for Wednesday Journal.

Bob Cullen, 70

Pediatrician,

poet and scholar

bert Thomas ullen, M.D., 70, a ifelong resident of Oak Park, died on y 24, 2025. Bor n Aug. 27, 1954 to the late Frank T. ullen and the late Patricia Hewitt ullen, he was one eight siblings aduate of Ascension Catholic School (class of 1968), Quigley Seminary North (class of 1972), the ia Santa Cruz, and the University of California Los Angeles Medical School, he received prestigious awards throughout his academic and medical careers, including consecutive California Regents Scholarships, UCLA Alumni Medical Student of the Year, and the Quigley Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award. He was also a prolific, award-winning writer and poet, a Spanish, Chinese, and Latin scholar and received honors for his literar translations.

Despite suffering a catastrophic spinal cord injury at the age of 33, he leaned on hi faith, his family, and his indomitable will and dedication to complete his pediatric residency through Northwester n Unive Medical School at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now Lurie Children’s Hospital). He was a person for others, dedicated to seeing the humanity in every person, wh he demonstrated this through his work pediatrician at Erie Family Health Center and The Children’s Place. He worked with some of the most vulnerable, including children living with HIV and illnesses related to lead exposure, as well as undocumented and uninsured families

Alex, Ronan, Cullen, and a new baby who will be born in July to Laura and Kevin. Bob was one of eight siblings, Michael (Alice), the late John Cullen (Julie Weber), Kathleen (Joe Verhauz), Terrence (Geri), F. Thomas (Mary), Edward (Linda), and Daniel Cullen; the brother-in-law to Frank Puccio (Sharyl), and the late Joseph Puccio (Linda); the uncle of 18 nieces and nephews; great-uncle of 30 grand-nieces and –nephews; godfather, doctor, and dog grandpa to Luna the golden retriever; and longtime friend to many.

A funeral service will be held on June 21, with visitation beginning at 9 a.m., followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. at Ascension Catholic Church in Oak Park. Father Richard Fragomeni will officiate In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Shriners Children’s Chicago, or Doctors Without Borders in memory of Dr. Robert T. Cullen.

Nora Amey, 48 Pianist and piano teacher

At home, his lap was the most coveted seat in the house. Patience personified, he saw his loved ones through their most challenging times and celebrated with them during their highest highs. He was often described as the funniest, kindest person in the room. A voracious reader, music aficionado, and movie buff, his love of nature led him on travels through the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Mexico, and Puerto Rico alongside his wife, Mary, whom he met at the age of 15.

Bob is survived by Mary Puccio Cullen, his wife of 48 years; his daughter, Sarah Cullen Fuller; his son-in-law, Dr. Brian Fuller; his daughter, Laura Cullen Nihill; his sonin-law, Kevin Nihill; and his grandchildren,

in-laws, Steve and Anne Claypool, Eunice Howe, Steve and Kay Amey, and Jennifer and Michael Franco; and her nieces and nephews, Miranda and Teagan Amey, Evan and Amanda Garcia, and Dylan, Reilly, Mickey, Marty and Michael O’Connor. Visitation will be held at Zimmer manHar nett Funeral Home in Forest Park on Friday, June 13 from 3 to 7 p.m. Nora’s life will be celebrated with a funeral Mass at Ascension Church in Oak Park on Saturday, June 14, at 10 a.m.

Wilmer Rutt, 90

Co-founder of Oak Park’s Ten Thousand

Villages

Nora Cathleen Amey (née O’Connor), 48, a ifelong resident of Oak Park, died on une 4, 2025. Bor n on May 7, 1977, she was a classically trained pianist who shared her talent teaching piano to many children She touched countless lives with her warmth, generosity, and love of She spent 20 y rking with the American Friends of Versailles, where she developed a deep appreciation for the country of France. She was proud of her Irish Catholic heritage and spoke to her mom every day, even though they lived only eight blocks apart. She was also close with her five siblings and maintained lifelong friendships from her childhood on Wisconsin Avenue, including her best friend, Liz McNeilly. She was married for 17 years to Mark, the love of her life and loved being a mother to her four children, Fiona, O’Connor, Sean, and Ginny. Nora was preceded in death by her father, Martin O’Connor Jr.; her father-in-law, Ralph Amey; and her sister-in-law, Cynthia Claypool. She is survived by her husband, Mark Amey; her mother, Maureen O’Connor; her siblings, Brigid (James) Sciaccotta, Maureen (Brian Schabow) O’Connor, Alana O’Connor, and Brendan (Kelly Diaz) O’Connor; her

Wilmer Mellinger Rutt, 90, died on May 26, 2025, in Chicago. Bor n on Aug. 20, 1934, in ancaster County, ennsylvania, an 11th generation utt in America, escended from Mennonites given land to settle on from William Penn, Wil grew up on a family farm, which planted a lifelong love of gardening and horticulture. He graduated from Goshen College (’56) and Jefferson Medical College (’60). He married Lois Swartendruber, a nurse, in 1958. Between medical school and his residency in Internal Medicine, they took their toddler, John, and in utero son, Dan, to serve for several years in Haiti as medical missionaries with the Mennonite Central Committee. Son Joe was born in Haiti as well, their experiences informing much of their life thereafter. He helped found the Oak Park Ten Thousand Villages nonprofit store featuring fair-trade crafts from around the world.

He set up the first dialysis unit in Gratiot County, Michigan, created a comprehensive model program for smoking cessation, and served as founding director of the Center for Clinical Effectiveness for the Henry Ford Health System. After moving into health-care management and research, he always maintained a patient practice to keep grounded in and centered on improving patient care and outcomes. His management philosophy was, “You can get a lot done if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

His family life included sit-down family dinners, church, visits to out-of-state family, theater and symphony/opera outings,

and backpacking vacations. He was always involved in social justice activities and community service. Some of his favorites were Bread for the World and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. He even served as president of the Gratiot County Players, a local theater group in St. Louis, Michigan. In retirement, he hosted grand family reunions every other year Gardens got bigger every year, “lawns” got smaller. He owned 15 acres of rolling rural land, “Rocky XV,” which served as his horticulture playground. After his son John’s death in 1982, he and Lois created a memorial garden at their church, Central United Methodist Church, in Detroit, the final resting place of John, Lois, and Wil. In retirement, Wil came out as gay/bisexual. He and Lois had dealt with this for decades. They sent a letter announcing this, and their divorce, to a large circle of friends. They eventually became known as the most amicably divorced couple Wil had a partner, Leslie, a symphony conductor, for 10 years, making Annapolis, Maryland, and Berwyn their home.

And he was delighted to be Dean Peerman’s “September romance.” Dean was a juggernaut of an editor at The Christian Century for 62 years, as well as a perennial actor. Wil and Dean married in 2011. They were founding residents at the new Admiral at the Lake in Chicago, a senior living highrise overlooking Lake Michigan. Wil served as an infor mal resident.

Raised a Mennonite, he spent much of his life as an United Methodist, and lived the last quarter of a century as a Quaker/Friend, most recently a member of Northside Friends in Chicago.

Wil Rutt was preceded in death by his parents, Ira and Rhoda Rutt; his husband, Dean Peer man; his for mer wife, Lois (Swartzendruber) Rutt; his brothers, Ken and Don; and his son, John. He is survived by his children, Dan (and Maryjo Gavin), Joe (and Paula), and Susan Rutt Phillips (and Stephan); his grandchildren, Josh (and Tiffany), Kate, Will (and Elizabeth), John (and Gabby), Matt, Vinda, Kara (and Joe), and Connor (and Melissa); and his great-grandchildren, Olivia, Lulu, Iggy, Jack, and Joanie.

Those desiring to honor Wil’s life can make a donation to the Friends Committee on National Legislation (fcnl.org), or simply pass the light on.

There will be a memorial gathering on Thursday, June 19, from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Admiral on the Lake, 14th floor Lighthouse Lounge, 933 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, IL 60640. Another gathering and tribute sponsored by Northside Friends will be scheduled later.

OPRF so ball shocks Loyola late, wins in extra innings

Huskies head downstate for the second time in three years

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

Things seemed dire for the Oak Park and River Forest High School softball team in its IHSA Class 4A supersectional game against Loyola Academy at the University of Illinois Chicago Flames Field. The Huskies trailed by a run in the last inning and were down to not only their potential final out of the game and season, but also their last strike.

OPRF needed a hero, and Sofia Ayala played the role perfectly, lacing a two-out single in the top of the seventh to tie the game and ultimately force extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, the Huskies’ bats went to work in a big way, scoring seven runs. OPRF defeated Loyola 10-3 and punched its ticket to the 4A semifinals for the second time in three years.

“I’m so happy for these eight seniors,” said OPRF coach J.P. Coughlin. “They’re incredible, and they’ve left a le gacy in a softball program with a lot of le gacy. They want their own story, and I’m blessed because I get to coach them two more games.”

Loyola (18-16), entering the game with a 12-game winning streak, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a tworun homer from Hunter Lewis.

OPRF (29-8) used aggressiveness on the basepaths to tie the game in the second as Lyla Austin, the courtesy runner for Anna Topel, stole second and third and scored on a throwing er ror by Loyola catcher Chloe Takacs.

Then Leia Hammerschmidt walked, stole second, moved to third on a Lewis wild pitch, and came in on a passed ball by Takacs.

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the sixth. Moira Divane led of f with a single. After Lewis was intentionally walked, Emilia Bar tholomew singled to bring in Divane and give Loyola a 3-2 lead

With one out in the seventh, Julia Henderson walked

SPORTS

PLAYING IN PEORIA: e Oak Park and River Forest High School so ball team w ith the supersectional plaque follow ing their 10-3 victor y in eight innings over Loyola Academy at the University of Illinois Chicago, June 9.

and Laila Rosenthal came in to pinch-run. With Hammerschmidt batting, Rosenthal was thrown out by Takacs on a steal attempt, leaving OPRF down to its final out.

But Hammerschmidt and Charlie Terry drew walks to keep the Huskies alive, then with two strikes, Ayala lined a single to left to bring home Hammerschmidt and tie the game 3-3.

“I’m not playing softball in colle ge, so I was thinking this was going to be the last at-bat of my career, and I didn’t want it to be,” Ayala said. “It was me and the ball, and I wanted to give it all for my team. ”

“All of us, we never stay down,” Topel said. “The ener gy stayed up the whole game and that’s what persevered us all the way.”

Topel retired the Ramblers in order in the bottom half, forcing extra innings.

“We were telling ourselves, “we want this so bad, and we can’t beat ourselves,’” Ayala said.

In the eighth, Elyssa Hasapis worked a walk after a tenpitch at-bat, then scored on a double by Maura Carmody to give OPRF a 4-3 lead.

Carmody advanced to third on a passed ball, and Julie Mattiace walked. Then Topel hit a line drive of f Lewis’ leg for a hit, which plated Carmody and gave the Huskies a 5-3 lead. Lewis left the game after the injury, and Mary Mc-

Quillen came on in relief for Loyola.

Henderson greeted McQuillen with a single that scored courtesy runner Bella Saylor. Hammerschmidt then hit into a fielder’s choice on which Loyola didn’t get the out, loading the bases. Then a walk to Terry brought home Austin to raise the OPRF lead to 7-3.

McQuillen got two outs on a fielder’s choice and a popup, but Hasapis (4-for-4) put the proverbial nail in Loyola’s coffin with a bases-clearing double.

Topel went the distance in the circle, allowing three runs (one unearned) on five hits over eight innings. She walked two and struck out one.

“I challenge anybody to find a better story in the state than Anna,” Coughlin said of his ace, who missed much of the season with an injury.

“After I got injured, I was told I most likely wasn’t going to return this season,” Topel said. “This is unreal, I can’t believe it, being here right now and pitching for my teammates.”

Up next for OPRF is Oswe go, winner of the Benedictine University Supersectional over Marist, in the semifinals at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria. The g ame is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., June 13.

“It feels amazing,” Ayala said. “I’m super-excited and proud of everyone.”

COURTESY OF MARK C. REGAN

Remeniuk takes the reins of Fenw ick boys soccer

Assistant coach replaces Craig Blazer

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

In a press release issued June 2, Fenwick High School introduced Adrian Remeniuk as the new varsity boys soccer head coach. He replaces Craig Blazer, wh guided the program the previous five seasons. In a text message to Wednesday Journal, Blazer sai he will remain as head coach of the Friars’ varsity girls socce team.

Remeniuk, who has seve years of coaching experienc spent the past season as an assistant coach for both the boys and girls soccer teams at Fenwick. He also spent time at Glenbrook South as an assistant on the varsity girls team and as head coach for the boys sophomore team.

a personal goalkeeper coach at Krosner Keeper Academy and at Camp Shutout, “focusing on technical training and decisionmaking skills essential to the position,” according to Fenwick.

A for mer goalkeeper, Remeniuk was

Remeniuk enjoyed an excellent playing career. He spent his youth playing days with the Chicago Fire Academy and Sockers FC Chicago Academy. He then played ollegiately at the University of Wisconsin, helping the Badgers to the 2017 Big Ten Conference tournament championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Concurrently with his Wisconsin career, Remeniuk was a part of the Fire’s developmental program. He played for Chicago Fire SC of the Premier Development League from 2013 to 2016.

A school counselor at Fenwick, he begins as head coach immediately.

Sandburg spikes OPRF boys’ state tournament hopes

Inexperience catches up with young Huskies in close loss

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

Coming off a dramatic three-set victory over Lyons Township in the semifinals of the IHSA Hinsdale Central sectional, the Oak Park and River Forest High School boys volleyball team looked to keep the momentum going and punch its ticket downstate when it faced Sandburg in the sectional final, June 3.

Although the Huskies fought hard, the more experienced Eagles prevailed 22-25, 26-28.

“[Sandburg] is a good team. They didn’t make many errors,” said OPRF coach Justin Cousin, who added that Sandburg used experience to its advantage against a young OPRF team, which committed multiple uncharacteristic errors

“We beat [Sandburg] when they were juniors last year in the sectional semis,” he said. “Their backs were up against the

wall, and they had no choice but to win [this year]. Those are the moments you find out what you’re made of, and I think we fell just short of our goal.”

Henry Ohlhoff led OPRF (31-5) with seven kills. Jimmie “Trayce” Chrusfield III had six kills, Henry Hullinger five kills, Matthew Proskey four kills and 15 assists, Finn Kiefer seven digs, Gus Leman five assists and six digs, and Gavin Martin two blocks for the Huskies.

Cousin said OPRF had a great season, especially given that Martin and Stuart Lippincott were the team’s only seniors.

“We definitely had a successful season,” he said. “We brought the [West Suburban Silver] title back [for the first time since 2010], we had three players [Chrusfield, First Team; Proskey, Second Team; Leman, Honorable Mention] named All-State, four players named All-Conference. We definitely had a great experience this year and have a lot to look forward to.”

OPRF baseball ousted in sectional semi nal thriller

Huskies lose in walko fashion to the state’s top team

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

The Oak Park and River Forest High School baseball team was the underdog heading into its IHSA Class 4A Reavis Sectional semifinal against Brother Rice, the top-ranked team in Illinois according to MaxPreps.

Yet thanks to a sensational effort on the mound from Dino Pantazopoulos, the Huskies were in position to pull off a major upset. However, the Crusaders rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 2-1 victory.

“The game went kind of exactly how I thought it was going to,” said OPRF coach Kevin Campbell. “It was a back-and-forth matchup, and whoever got the biggest strike was probably going to take it. Our guys did awesome; they did everything we prepared

for, but luck wasn’t on our side at the end.”

OPRF (27-11) got two runners aboard against Brother Rice (34-3) and starting pitcher Brady Cunningham in the top of the third, but Brady Green flied out deep to right, ending the threat.

In the bottom half, Timmy Leark made a brilliant defensive play. Playing centerfield, he grabbed a fly ball hit by Gavin Triezenberg, then threw a strike to third baseman Johnny Nelson, who tagged out Josh Torres, trying to advance to third, for an inning-ending double play.

Oliver Puntillo reached on an error to start the fourth for the Huskies. With one out, Joseph Leshnock executed a hit-and-run perfectly to right, sending Puntillo to third. After George Holland was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Zach Goldberg hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Puntillo and give OPRF a 1-0 lead

The defense helped Pantazopoulos again in the fifth as Ethan Moore, Green, and Holland teamed up for a 6-4-3 double play. Meanwhile, Pantazopoulos allowed just two hits over the first six innings.

“If Dino is not on a lot of radars,” Campbell said, “then I don’t know baseball. That kid has pitched his butt off in a bunch of big games for us. He’s a competitor, and he was happy to get this game.”

With the way Pantazopoulos was pitching, it looked like OPRF’s 1-0 lead going to the bottom of the seventh would hold up. But Cunningham led off the frame with a double to right-center, then Aidan Nohava doubled to left-center, tying the game and ending Pantazopoulos’ day.

Cam Barnes came on in relief, but the first batter he faced, Jackson Natanek, singled down the left-field line to bring home Nohava and end the Huskies’ season.

Despite the disappointing ending, Campbell called the year as “a great success.” The 27 victories are the most he has had in his four years leading OPRF. The Huskies also shared the West Suburban Silver championship with Downers Grove North – the first conference title in three years – and won a regional for the first time since 2021. Barnes, Green, Moore, and Peter Farren made the All-WSC Silver Team. While the latter three are lost to graduation, Barnes and Pantazopoulos, both juniors, return to helm what Campbell feels will be a strong pitching staff next year.

“These guys are laying bricks on a foundation. That’s all you can ask fo r,” he sai d. “We’ re going to have a lot of arms coming back next year. Pitching will be our strong suit.”

ADRIAN REMENIUK

LEGAL NOTICE

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS

Case Number 2026-0002

Public Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) of the Village of River Forest, County of Cook, State of Illinois, on Thursday, June 26, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. in the First Floor Community Room of the River Forest Village Hall, 400 Park Avenue, River Forest, Illinois on the following matter:

Diamond in the Ruff of River Forest, Inc. is seeking a Special Use Permit to establish a facility for Pet care (except veterinary) services in the C-1 Commercial District, in the existing building at 7355 North Avenue, in River Forest, Illinois.

Section 10-18-4 of the Village Code provides the Zoning Board jurisdiction to hold public hearings and offer recommendations to the Village Board concerning applications for a Special Use Permit.

The legal description of the property at 7355 North Avenue is as follows:

LOT 3 IN BLOCK 3 IN ROSSELLS

BONNIE BRAE ADDITION TO RIVER FOREST, BEING A SUBDIVISION OF THE NORTH HALF OF THE EAST HALF OF THE NORTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 1, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 12, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, (EXCEPTING FROM THE WEST 33 FEET AND THE SOUTH 33 FEET THEREOF DEEDED TO THE VILLAGE OF RIVER FOREST FOR STREET PURPOSES) IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS

All interested persons will be given the opportunity to be heard at the public hearing. For public comments to be considered by the Zoning Board of Appeals and Village Board of Trustees in their decision, they must be included as part of the public hearing record. Interested persons can learn more about how to participate in the hearing by visiting www.vrf.us/guides/guide/ DevelopmentGuide

Sincerely,

Clifford Radatz Secretary, Zoning

Board of Appeals

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

CALENDAR NUMBER� 11�25�Z

HEARING DATE� July 2, 2025

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

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

APPLICATION� The Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”) will conduct a public hearing on an application filed by the Applicant, The Economy Shop, seeking a variance from Article 7�7�15�D� �3� of the Oak Park Sign Code allowing a sign to be painted directly on the building’s north exterior façade located at the premises commonly known as 103 S Grove Avenue, Illinois, Property Index Number 16�07� 305�012�0000 �“Subject Property”) in the DT�2 Sub-District of Downtown.

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

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

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

Published in Wednesday Journal, June 11, 2025

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

CALENDAR NUMBER� 12�25�Z

HEARING DATE� July 2, 2025 TIME� 7�00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits

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

APPLICATION� The Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”) will conduct a public hearing on an application filed by the Applicant, Andrew R. Vidikan and Lia H. Daniels, seeking a variance from Section 4.3 �Table 4�1� Residential Districts Dimensional Standards) of the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance requiring that the maximum building coverage for the lot shall not exceed 1635 square feet �40%� to construct a two-story addition to the existing residence and construct a coach house on the property.

The proposed building coverage is 1,845 square feet �43.67%� at the property commonly known as 308 S Kenilworth Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index

Number 16�07�319�003�0000

(“Subject Property”), in the R�5 Two-family Zoning District.

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

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

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

Published in Wednesday Journal, June 11, 2025

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS 24-14982 SCHROEDER PARK SPLASH PAD

Notice is hereby given to potential Bidders that the Broadview Park District will be receiving sealed bids for the Site Improvements at Schroeder Park Splash Pad located at 2600 South 13th Avenue, Broadview, IL 60155. IDNR Project # OS 25-2581. The Project is being financed, in part, with funds from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, “Open Space Lands Acquisition & Development” (OSLAD) grant program.

The scope of this project is as follows and identified in the document.

1. Demolition/Removal

2. Grading/Drainage/Water Service

3. Electrical and plumbing

4. Concrete

5. Splash Pad Development

6. Site Furnishings

7. Fencing

and rejected. The Owner will require the successful bidder to furnish a satisfactory Performance and Materials Bond for the total contract amount. Once submitted, no bids will be withdrawn without written consent from the Owner’s Attorney.

MBE/FBE PARTICIPATION

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION

8. Landscape Plantings & Restoration

9. Alternate: Synthetic Turf

Specifications may be obtained beginning at 10:00 AM on June 11, 2025 through the BHFX planroom, https://www.bhfxplanroom.com between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday. A non-refundable fee will be charged for each requested bid package. See BHFX’s planroom for the cost of both a printed copy and PDF download, or $65.00 for only a PDF download.

Each bid must be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked “Sealed Bid: Schroeder Park Splash Pad” and addressed to the Broadview Park District, 2600 S. 13th Avenue, Broadview, IL 60155, Attention: Darion Hills, Executive Director. Bids will be received until 2:00 P.M. on June 10, 2025, at which time the bid proposals will be publicly opened and read aloud at 2600 S. 13th Avenue, Broadview, IL 60155.

The Park District Board of Commissioners reserves the right to waive all technicalities, to accept or reject any or all bids, to accept only portions of a proposal and reject the remainder. Failure to make such a disclosure will not result in accrual of any right, claim or cause of action by any Bidder against the Broadview Park District. Bids shall not include federal excise tax or state sales tax for materials and equipment to be incorporated in, or fully consumed in the performance of, the Work.

The Broadview Park District encourages minority contractors to submit bids for this project. The successful contractor is encouraged to utilize minority businesses as sub-contractors for supplies, equipment, services, etc.

Questions will be answered in the form of written addenda and provided to all Bidders, as per State of Illinois statutes. Submit questions regarding the bid in writing to sarah.dreier@jsdinc. com, no later than 3:00 p.m. on June 20, 2025

Published in Forest Park Review June 11, 2025

US BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR VRMTG ASSET TRUST

Plaintiff

vs. UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF WILLIE G. HENRY; FLORENCETTA HENRY; TCF NATIONAL BANK; ANITA HENRY; COURTNEY HENRY; EBONEE HENRY; MERCEDES HENRY; TIARA HENRY; JACK LYDON, AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF WILLIE G. HENRY; UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF FLORENCETTA HENRY, IF ANY; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON RECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendant 17 CH 13529 CALENDAR 61 NOTICE OF SALE

An Exemption Certificate will be furnished by the Broadview Park District on request of the Bidder, for use in connection with this Project only.

The Work of this Project is subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, 820 ILCS 130/0.01 et seq. A prevailing wage determination has been made by the Broadview Park District which is the same as that determined by the Illinois Department of Labor for public works projects in Cook County.

A Certified or Cashier’s check payable to the Owner, or a Bid Bond in an amount equal to Ten Percent (10%) of the total bid amount must accompany each bid. In addition, each Bidder shall submit a proof of insurance demonstrating the Bidders insurability. Failure to provide a Bid Bond or proof of insurance shall render the bid incomplete

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on July 21, 2025, at the hour 11:00 a.m., Intercounty’s office, 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, IL 60602, sell to the highest bidder for cash, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-09-315-063-0000. Commonly known as 635 Rice Avenue, Bellwood, IL 60104. The real estate is: 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: At sale, the bidder must have 10% down by certified funds, balance within 24 hours, by certified funds. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.

For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Codilis & Associates, P.C., 15W030 North Frontage Road. Suite 100, Burr Ridge, IL 60527. (630) 794-5300. 14-23-01315 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3267950

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION ATHENE ANNUITY & LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY Plaintiff vs. UNKNOWN HEIRS OF JOYCE A. ROBINSON, CITY OF CHICAGO, CAPITAL ONE, N.A. SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA), N.A., MIDLAND FUNDING LLC, RONALD ROBINSON, JUVONA ROBINSON, AMIR MOHABBAT AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS Defendant 23 CH 1793 CALENDAR 59 NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on July 21, 2025, at the hour 11:00 a.m., Intercounty’s office, 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, IL 60602, sell to the highest bidder for cash, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-17-113-013-0000. Commonly known as 236 N. FOREST AVE., HILLSIDE, IL 60162. The real estate is: 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: At sale, the bidder must have 10% down by certified funds, balance within 24 hours, by certified funds. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.

For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Law Offices of Ira T. Nevel, 175 North Franklin Street, Suite 201, Chicago, Illinois 60606. (312) 357-1125. 2300555

INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3267963

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

Wine Down WITH

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18 | 4:30 – 5:30 P.M.

We’re popping the corks, and you’re invited! Join us for an evening of wine, appetizers and great conversation. It’s the perfect opportunity to “wine” down, meet residents and team members, and discover how life at The Sheridan at River Forest can really sparkle.

We look forward to welcoming you.