WednesdayJournal_070225

JOURNAL

of Oak Park and River Forest

e Bear’ meets Frank Lloyd Wright

By LACEY SIKORA

Contributing Reporter

Season four of the popular Hulu series

The Bear dropped last week, and Oak Parkers were thrilled to find their hometown featured in episode 5. Chef Carmy stops by the Frank Lloyd Wright Home &

Studio and tours the home, which Wright completed in 1898.

Lourdes Nicholls, a longtime Frank Lloyd Wright Trust volunteer and employee of Growing Community Media, was excited to see the show. The avowed fan of The Bear noted that during the episode, actor Jeremy Allen White gained

access to places that are normally offlimits in the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio, including the kitchen and balcony of the drafting room where artist Orlando Giannini and sculptor Richard Bock (who designed the “horse fountain”

Oak Park ’s Fourth: Parade, yes Fireworks, no Page 3

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

A consultant’s re port on racial equity in Oak Park was set to go before the village board July 1 presenting suggestions on how the village can better address residents’ experiences of racism and inequality.

The Racial Equity Assessment Re port was prepared by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Great Cities Institute, a university agency that’s worked on a number of high-profile consulting projects with governments around the state. With help developing the re port from village staf f, UIC was expected to present a variety of suggestions for village policy, including updates to its messaging around

See RACIAL EQUITY on page 8 See THE BEAR on pa ge 9

Celebrating Cameron Davis

Assistant Director, Development Services Department Village of Oak Park

Working with you for the last eight years has been a pleasure and an honor!

Happy retirement and best wishes for the future!

Independence Day parade set, but no reworks for Oak Park

Several Independence Day events are scheduled for July 4, but there will be no rockets’ red glare

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s Independence Day celebrations are set for this week, but it will be another year without a fireworks display, according to village staff.

While Oak Park will host its annual Fourth of July parade Friday morning, this year will mark the fourth straight year without a fire-

works show marking the holiday. In 2022, the village cancelled its fireworks display in response to the mass shooting that killed seven parade-goers in nearby Highland Park that 4th of July morning and no village firework show has been scheduled since.

Issues around finding a sponsor for the fireworks and a suitable location for the show have made planning the displays difficult, according to previous Wednesday Journal reporting.

Still, Oak Park’s annual Independence Day Parade will start rolling at 10 a.m. on Friday from Longfellow Park at Ridgeland Avenue and Adams Street. The parade marches north on Ridgeland to Augusta Street, turning east to disperse near Whittier Elementary School at Harvey Avenue, according to the village.

“Among the entries typically scheduled to march are social and special interest groups, community groups, athletic teams, politicians, businesses and service organizations, children’s groups, animal lovers with their pets and musical groups,” the village said.

Roads near the parade route will be closed as early as 8:30 a.m. Friday, according to the village.

The Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce will also host a street festival on Chicago Avenue between Lombard Avenue and Humphrey Avenue. The festival begins at 11 a.m. and will run until 2 p.m. and will feature entertainment including a brass band, family friendly games and activities, vendors, food and a beer tent, according to organizers

Paul Harvey’s estate sues Paramount alleging it told ‘ e Rest of the Story’ inaccurately

Clip of Harvey’s 2008 broadcast featured in ‘Landman’ series

By DAN HALEY Interim Editor

The estate of Paul Harvey, a legendary River Forester and iconic radio broadcaster across decades, has filed a federal lawsuit against Paramount Global. The suit alleges that Paramount illegally used a 90-second clip from a 2008 “The Rest of the Story,” broadcast in a segment of its “Landman” series.

Further the suit alleges that the show’s producers edited Harvey’s piece to suggest he was supportive of big oil. Jaime Wolf, a partner at Pelosi Wolf Spates LLP and the attorney for the estate, was quoted in a press release saying, “Paramount not only grabbed a long, copyrighted audio clip without our client’s permission, but they also twisted the intent of Mr. Harvey’s words by editing his original broadcast.”

The suit says that Harvey’s unedited copy from the original broadcast quoted multiple news stories and suggested that oil was at the core of virtually every major problem the world faces. Harvey went on to say that these problems could be readily solved through the development of alternative fuels. But the edited clip appeared to communicate a different message, according to Wolf.

“The producers had no right to falsify the late Mr. Harvey’s message and turn him into an unwitting shill for big oil,” said Wolf.

out the estate’s permission to use the clip. He said the estate offered a possible settlement in March but never heard back.

Landman is set in the oilfields of West Texas and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore and Jon Hamm. The Harvey clip led the finale of the show’s first season and was broadcast in January. The series has since been renewed for a second season.

The suit said the series had a first-season budget of more than $150 million. Wolf called it “baffling” that the producers did not seek

Paul Harvey and his wife Lynne moved to River Forest in 1944. His twice daily radio segments were, at the peak, broadcast on 1,200 radio stations plus 400 Armed Forces stations. In Chicago, his programs were a mainstay on WGN radio.

In his 2009 obituary in Wednesday Journal, Bruce DuMont, an Oak Parker and, at the time, head of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, was quoted as telling the Chicago Tribune that “Paul Harvey was the most listened to man in the history of radio. There is no one who will ever come close to him.”

Paul and Lynne Harvey, together with their son Paul Jr., were a notable part of the River Forest and Chicago social scenes. The couple was married for 67 years. Both Lynne Harvey and Paul Harvey Jr were actively involved in the radio productions

WEDNESD AY

of Oak Park and River Forest

Interim Executive Director Max Reinsdorf Senior Audience Manager Stac y Coleman

Sta Repor ter Brendan He ernan

Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor

Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora

Contributing Editor Donna Greene

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

Shrubtown Cartoonist Marc Stopeck

Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead

Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea

Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza

Senior Media Strategist Lourdes Nicholls

Marketing & Adver tising Associate Emma Cullnan

Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan

Circulation Manager Jill Wagner

Operations Associate Susan Babin

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

PAUL HARVE Y

Davis says West Side safety-net hospitals at risk with Trump bill

It will cut Medicaid and Medicare funding, a ecting underser ved patients at 5 hospitals

By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter

Congressman Danny Davis (D-7th) spoke out against federal health care cuts and urged senators to reject such reductions on Monday, holding press conferences at five safety-net hospitals on Chicago’s West Side.

Davis renounced President Donald Trump ’s Big Beautiful Tax Bill, as it’s being discussed in the United States Senate, saying its passing would affect resources and services at hospitals like Loretto Hospital and West Suburban Medical Center, possibly to the point of their closures

“Of all of the draconian cuts in the ‘Big Ugly bill,’ nothing is more devastating than the cuts that will devastate healthcare delivery in this country – as evidenced by the impact on these safety-net hospitals, not only in urban America, but even worse in rural America,” Da in a statement.

S tarting at Loretto Hospital –serves over 90,000 Austin residents annually and with and 85% of i ts patients on Medicaid or Medicare – Davis then tr eled to West Suburban Medical Humboldt Pa rk Health, Ascension Sain Mary Hospital and Mt. Sinai Hospital. T hose five safety net hospitals ser

CUTS: West Suburban Hospital CEO Dr. Manoj Prassad, with Congressman Danny Davis at right, speaks dur ing a press conference at the hospital regarding proposed drastic cuts to West Side safety-net hospital federal funding.

tal role in providing health care to c ommunities that have historically b een underser ve d, li ke those on Chicago’s West Side. Wi thout them, Chicagoans are li ke ly to see wo r sening health disparities in neighborhoods that are already v ulnerable.

According to Davis, these five safetynet hospitals serve 80% of African Americans on Chicago’s West Side, and many of their patients are either on Medicaid or Medicare. Because the hospitals rely on Medicaid and Medicare funding, if the Big Beautiful Tax Bill passes, thousands of West Siders could be left without adequate access to health care.

If decreased funding doesn’t force these hospitals to close, behavioral,

maternal and women’s health services would likely be reduced. For example, with federal budg et cuts, Loretto Hospital anticipates a $9 million loss in revenue, 25% fewer primary care visits and delays in access to care.

“This isn’t just about dollars, it’s about lives,” Tesa Anewishki, president and CEO of Loretto Hospital, said in a statement. “When safety-net hospitals are threatened, so are the people who rely on them for care every single day. I firmly believe that eliminating vital services not only threatens the health of our patients but also undermines the very fabric of our community. We must ensure that access to essential healthcare is available and accessible for those who need it the most.”

TODD BANNOR

UNKIND

TODD BANNOR

Congressman Danny Dav is objecting to the bill.

ECHO, Oak Park’s alternative police response, hires new program manager

Oak

Park native Naughton has background in mental health, homelessness issues

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

The village has hired an Oak Park native to help lead one of its key initiatives.

Mary Naughton star ted this week as the new program manager for the Engaging Community for Healthy Outcomes program, otherwise known as ECHO, according to the village. ECHO was launched earlier this year with the hiring of two care coordinators — Maxie Moses and Kimberly Smith — and is managed within the village’s Community Services division led by Vanessa Matheny.

“An Oak Park native, Mary brings a deep commitment to community well-being and a wealth of experience in behavioral health and homeless services,” the village said of the hiring in its village manager’s re port earlier this week. “She joins the village with a strong background in both direct service and leadership roles in the social services sector.”

Most recently, Naughton served as the director of an alternative community treatment program, where she led a multidisciplinary team providing community-based behavioral health services to individuals living with severe and persistent mental

illness, according to the village.

“Her leadership emphasized collaboration, crisis response, and a trauma-infor med approach to care, ensuring highquality support for some of the community’s most vulnerable residents,” the village said.

Oak Park’s village board first approved the launch of the ECHO program a year ago with a unanimous vote. Trustees gave the greenlight for the pilot program to enter its first phase. The program was billed as providing alternative responses to issues without involving police officers amid “community calls for a reimagining of public safety,” according to last year’s board presentation.

es in Oak Park

Since the program has gotten of f the ground following Moses and Smith’s hiring, the two care coordinators have responded to a variety of nonemergency calls for service.

While ECHO is still in its first phase as a pilot program, village leaders have spoken to its potential for supporting Oak Parkers experiencing struggles like mental health issues and housing insecurity. In an interview with Wednesday Journal earlier this year, Matheny said that ECHO has strong potential to work with people in the village experiencing homelessness.

The program’s development followed a 2022 study by consultant group BerryDunn that the village commissioned to help outline a vision for alter native police respons-

“We have ECHO here that can support them,” she said. “So I think that people should feel more comfortable with communicating with us so that we can help them help the community as a whole.”

MARY NAUGHTON

Senior BenefitsLiving YOUR BEST LIFE withLisaCapone

Senior living communities offer a myriad of benefits that enhance the quality of life for older adults. One of the primary advantages is the opportunity for social interaction. Residents can participate in a variety of activities, from arts and crafts to group outings, fostering friendships and reducing feelings of isolation.

Senior living communities also free residents from the burdens of home maintenance and chores. Housekeeping, laundry services, and meal preparation are typically included, giving residents more time to enjoy their hobbies and interests. Moreover, senior living communities often provide various levels of assistance, from independent living to full-time care, allowing residents to age in place comfortably. This flexibility ensures that as needs change, the appropriate level of care is always available.

What should Roosevelt Road look like ? Villages seek resident input

Open discussion planned July 9 for Oak Park and Berw yn residents

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Community members will soon have a chance to learn more about local leaders’ vision for the future of Roosevelt Road

Oak Park’s village gover nment and the Berwyn Development Corporation will host a joint open house providing information on the Roosevelt Road Corridor Plan that the two bodies are developing together. The plan will look to guide economic development along the road, which serves as a defining border for suburban Oak Park, Berwyn and Cicero. The event will take place Wednesday, July 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Salerno’s Pizza & Pasta of Oak Park, 7128 Roosevelt Rd. Attendees will receive free pizza and refreshments while sharing insights with the planning team, ac-

cording to the village.

In March, Oak Park’s village board approved a contract worth $100,000 for The Lakota Group, a project management and urban design firm that had helped develop Oak Park’s Pleasant District streetscaping project, to help develop the plan. Oak Park’s planning and urban design division sought a large increase to its annual budget for this year in part to cover the work on this plan.

In the firm’s project proposal, Lakota Group staff said that the Roosevelt Road plan must help the corridor develop a stronger identity, encourage local entrepreneurship, fill storefront vacancies and bring both communities’ zoning into alignment.

“Our team relishes the opportunity to immerse ourselves in this process and work with the Oak Park and Berwyn communities to create an exciting vision forward for Roosevelt Road,” wrote Scott Freres, The Lakota Group’s CEO. “As you will see in this proposal, we are passionate about planning and design and we love engaging people to help them improve their sense of place.”

Next month’s informational event will serve as an early step ahead of more community engagement efforts planned for the summer, as project leaders also hope to conduct resident surveys and hold other community workshops this summer, according to the project’s website.

The Roosevelt Road boarder between Oak Park and Berwyn has long been a target for development, as this plan comes 20 years after the communities jointly-adopted the “Plan for the Redevelopment of Roosevelt Road” in March 2005. That plan, which took four years to finalize, was “the first-ever comprehensive redevelopment study of this corridor,” according to Oak Park documents

Several other communities in the area have started projects focused on economic development surrounding Roosevelt Road, including a joint plan between the villages of Glen Ellyn and Wheaton, development efforts on the near west side of Chicago and a recently announced collaboration between the Village of Maywood, the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Agency and the RTA.

A pair of public hearings to discuss bike plan

Two public discussions solicit feedback from residents on the proposed Oak Park Bike Plan

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s village government announced plans to hold two public hearings to get community feedback on its proposed bike plan.

The listening sessions will give members of the public the opportunity to weigh-in on the village’s plan for becoming more bike friendly through a series of infrastructure projects including new bike lanes, increased e-bike access and new neighborhood greenway signage. The public hearings will take place on Monday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Park District of Oak Park’s Community Recreation Center at 229 Madison St.

The hearings will serve as another opportunity for the village to gather feed-

back before village trustees must vote on the plan. Meeting attendees will be speak for three minutes at a time, with the comments recorded for village trustees to review after the fact.

These sessions follow a spirited debate over the plan by community members the June 3 village board meeting, stretched to four and-a-half hours following dozens of public comments

Many residents opposing this bike plan live on or near Harvard Street, which would have on-street parking on both sides of the street removed in favor of striped bike lanes.

lage leaders being unresponsive to them voicing concerns.

These opponents have questioned why Harvard Street would receive bike lane updates that remove all of its parking, rather than other traffic calming measures. Many of them have also complained about vil-

Proponents of the current plan have said that Harvard Street is a great choice for new bike lanes because of the access it offers to local parks and schools.

Davis the latest to dep art Oak Park’s development team

After more than 30 years in municipal government, Cam Davis retires

By DAN HALEY Interim Editor

Another member of the economic development team at Oak Park’s village hall has departed. Cam Davis, a seven-year veteran of the turmoil ridden department, announced his retirement in the spring and was feted at a retirement party on June 26.

In remarks at the event hosted by Anfora Wine Merchants, 128 S. Marion St., Davis described his seven years at Oak Park’s village hall. He said the first five years when he worked for Cara Pavlicek, the for mer village manager, and Tammie Grossman, the now retired head of Development Services, were great. Davis said a lot was accomplished in that era and pointed to the role he was assigned to improve relationships with various business district associations in Oak Park and with individual small businesses

Davis gave a shout out to John Melaniphy, recently hired as assistant village manager for economic vitality. He said he had known Melaniphy for many years and described him as a “great professional.”

Emily Egan and Sean Keane were both in attendance at the event. Egan worked as the village’s head of development services for a year before resigning from the village in February. In her exit interview with Oak Park’s human resources staff, a copy of which was obtained by Wednesday Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request, Egan described village hall as a “toxic work environment.” Keane, who an municipal parking administration for the past four years, resigned from village hall in June and also described the work envionment as “toxic.”

Egan took up a post as North Suburban Wilmette’s economic elopment director after leaving Oak Park She has since recruited Keane to join her in Wilmette’s municipal gover nment.

The retirement party for Davis was organized by the leaders of three Oak Park business districts. Downtown Oak Park, the Arts District and the Hemingway District coordinated the party.

However, Davis said the past two years “have been very hard.” He did not mention Village Manager Kevin Jackson or Brandon Crawford, the recently fired economic vitality administrator, by name.

“It has felt like I’m the last man standing,” he said. “I hope I’m the last departure from village hall.”

In closing his remarks to the large crowd Davis said, “Keep paying attention to what is happening at village hall. Keep reading what is reported. The article on Emily Egan got almost everything right.”

He said that he expected Wednesday Journal would obtain a copy of his exit interview from village hall. “Everything I said came from my heart.”

CA M DAVIS

RACIAL EQUIT Y

Divisions noted from page 1

racial justice, internal policies and data transparency.

The equity re port was a major item on the board’s July 1agenda. Wednesday Journal will re port on that discussion later this week.

“Even with that awareness of the need for equity and inclusion, Oak Park today is still not a welcoming place for all, and not all residents feel a sense of belonging in the community,” UIC staf f wrote in their re port. “There are significant economic divides, including by household income, between homeowners and renters, and in quality of life or social vulnerability. These can have cascading impacts on which resources and opportunities are available to Oak Parkers, and which residents feel a deep sense of belonging in the community.”

UIC received a contract worth $150,000 from the village in May 2023 to produce the re port. Work developing the re port over the last two years included community surveys, interviews with village staf f and stakeholders and research to create a “snapshot” of equity issues in Oak Park, according to UIC.

The re port is one element of a broader village plan to ensure equitable access to government services, address historical equity failures in Oak Park, support inte gration and diverse community entry points in the village and enhance cultural competency among village staf f, according to the village

UIC’s re port will support the village as it works to develop and implement a “Racial

Equity Action Plan,” according to village staf f.

The consultant’s re port said that Oak Park must “acknowledge harms” and “change the narrative” surrounding racial issues in the village.

“Village officers and leaders, as well as the village trustees— perhaps together with cogovernments and community anchors — can begin to foster more trust and goodwill among nonprofit partners, volunteer commissioners, and, not least, community residents, explicitly by publicly acknowledging two things,” UIC staf f wrote in their re port. “One, racism exists and manifests in Oak Park. Two, while no one individual either inside or outside government is responsible for perpetuating racism, individuals in Oak Park re gularly experience racism and discrimination.”

Within its report, UIC staff encouraged the village to address two persistent “narratives” the consultants came upon during their community surveying — first the perceived divide between North and South Oak Park and second the idea that while Oak Park is broadly perceived as a diverse, welcoming community, it does not acknowledge the reality of community divisions and disparities, according to the report.

UIC staf f wrote in their re port. “Internally, current village leaders can open dialogue with volunteer commissioners and nonprofit partners about harms caused during previous administrations or by previous village employees in order to gain goodwill and focus on the future.”

“Talking openly about these narratives can also contribute to all Oak Parkers feeling a sense of inclusion in the community because it makes them feel visible and validates their being part of the community.”

UIC STAFF

“Talking openly about these narratives can also contribute to all Oak Parkers feeling a sense of inclusion in the community because it makes them feel visible and validates their being part of the community,”

BREAKING

The most common response to the UIC survey’s question asking residents to describe Oak Park based on their personal experiences was “divided by class,” according to the consultant report.

“The data show that any ‘geographical’ divisions are more likely based in household income and homeownership status,” the report said.

The re port also called on the village to use data transparency to help it work better with its community partners on racial equity issues.

“Reciprocity in data sharing with external partners can improve decision making, and a shared re pository can inform decisions across the village,” the re port said. With good data, the village and others can establish feedback loops to continuously update and adapt policy and decision making. Datadriven decision making can drive goodwill when it leads to adaptations and pivots in existing policy, especially when residents and others who are asked to share their opinions are able to see those opinions reflected in outcomes.”

The village is developing a “racial equity dashboard” tool to support that goal, according to village staff.

The report also sets village staf f goals for improving the cultural competency of both its internal and external communications

In its presentation submitted to the board alongside the re port, village staf f also relayed its opinion on the viability of a municipal re parations program in Oak Park, saying that it does not see a traditional re parations program making sense for the village at this point.

“To date, staf f’s analysis is that Oak Park does not meet the strict scrutiny standard that would serve as the basis for a municipal re parations program,” staf f wrote in its board presentation. “While the village may not meet the standard for a traditional re parations program, that does not mean that the village cannot acknowledge harm and offer re parative justice-based programs in line with Oak Park’s vision for racial equity. Staf f hope to begin facilitating community eng agement and education sessions in fall of 2025.”

Village staf f said it published a request for proposals earlier this year looking for a consultant to assist with research on historical documentation to support a municipal re parations program, but that the RFP received no responses.

Pending village board feedback, work on a new “Racial Policy Audit” authorized in light of nationwide pushback to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives brought on by President Donald Trump will also go forward this summer. Consultant group Keen Independent Research is conducting that audit, according to village staf f. In their presentation, village staf f also pointed to the recent hiring of Kellye Keyes as the village’s new DEI chief and the passing of an updated Community Relations Commission work plan giving the volunteer body greater funding for community work and influence on the village’s human rights ordinance process.

THE BEAR

On location in Oak Park

from page 1

at the entrance to Scoville Park) worked.

“He touches the wood and furniture,” Nicholls says, “which is a big ‘no-no’ on tours. I think they must have filmed the shots at 7 a.m. because Chicago Avenue has no cars driving on it, which is unusual.”

After visiting the Home & Studio, Carmy walks down the block and pauses in front of Wright’s Arthur and Grace Heurtley House, which he designed in 1902. The home, with its horizontal bands of bricks is considered one of Wright’s earliest Prairie designs and remains one of his most celebrated houses.

Patty Hunt, Heurtley House owner and vice chairman and executive director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust Board, said they didn’t even know about the cameo of their home until the show dropped last week.

“It’s unbelievable how many emails and texts I’ve gotten. I knew people loved the show, but I had no idea how popular it was,” said Hunt, noting that residents of the street received a notice in late March that the street would be closed for filming of a television series called “Four Sea-

sons.” She later learned from her ne phew, who is an aficionado of The Bear, that the film crew is very secretive and uses a code name when announcing filming locations.

Filming took place on March 27, and Hunt said she was surprised how quickly the show aired after filming. While she hasn’t had the opportunity to watch the entire season yet, she noted that in the clip that features the Heurtley House, Carmy “stops in front of the home on the sidewalk, and it seems like a moment he made a decision.”

Over the years, Hunt said, they’ve had many inquiries about using the home as a filming location, but nothing has ever materialized.

During the episode, Carmy halts before another Oak Park architectural icon, the Nathan G. Moore House. Built in 1895 in an English style with half-timbered uppers stories and a pitched roof, Wright redesigned the home after a 1922 fire damaged the top two stories of the house.

Nicholls, who enjoyed seeing Oak Park shown of f in one of television’s most popular programs, said, “I love how Paul Simon’s song, “Let Me Live in Your City,” historic photos of the Home & Studio, and Jeremy Allen White’s tour came together. It’s magical! Of course I need to watch it again to really ‘dig in,’ but it’s a beautiful piece that really spotlights Oak Park in the best way imaginable.”

Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio

Field Center construction plan nears completion

Construction on rec center could begin next week

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

The Park District of Oak Park said it is finalizing plans for the construction of a new building at Field Park and that the work will start next month, staff said this week.

Last week, Oak Park’s park district board approved a contract for a Lake County based construction firm to build the new building at Field Park, located near Horace Mann Elementary School at 929 Berkshire St. in northwest Oak Park, park district staf f told Wednesday Journal.

The current building at the park is 99-years-old and park district leadership has told residents that it’s now long outdated with clear, critical flaws in the building’s infrastructure. But neighbors have questioned how the construction project will change the character, topog raphy and tree coverage of the park as well as impact traffic in the area.

Another point of issue for some residents has been the reduction of the berm located on the northwest corner of the park where the new center will be built.

Park district staff will finalize the construction plan for the new center at a July 1 meeting with the construction firm, accord-

ing to Ann Marie Buczek, the park’s marketing and community engagement manager.

“Last Friday, June 27, the park board approved a construction contract for the new Field Center,” Buczek told Wednesday Journal. “The contract was awarded to Liebe Construction Services, LLC of Mundelein, for an amount not to exceed $3.98 million. Staf f have a meeting scheduled for July 1 to develop the final construction timeline, but work will commence in July. We will publish the final timeline once it has been developed and approved.”

The park district had allocated $2.8 million for Field Center building improvements in its 2025 capital improvement plan and $1 million in overall Field Park improvements in that plan’s 2026 budget forecast.

The new center will be used for after school programing for Mann Elementary students, summer camp activities and children’s preforming arts events, Park District Executive Director Jan Arnold said at a January community meeting about the project.

The building will be 4,600 square feet, with dance classrooms, a stage and considerations to make pre-school and after-care pick-up and drop-off easy, according to the park district.

The current field center building will remain open through the construction. The current building was designed by celebrated Oak Park architect John Van Bergen.

TaskForce leads Pride Parade, a historic moment for West Side LGBTQ+ community

Celebrating 35 years of ser vice, TaskForce Prevention and Community Ser vices champions LGBTQ+ youth and community care

By HECTOR CERVANTES Contributing Reporter

TaskForce Prevention and Community Services led Chicago’s Pride Parade on June 29 as the first Out Front Leader, marking a historic moment for LGBTQ+ organizations from the West Side.

The 54th running of the Pride Parade served as the grand finale for Pride Month’s celebration, with 15,000 people in floats marching through the North Halsted neighborhood. The theme for this year’s parade was “United in Pride.” Organizers said it’s a call to action and a chance for the community to come together to embrace diversity and fight for equality.

TaskForce Prevention and Community Services has been serving Chicago’s West Side since 1990, offering vital programs that support LGBTQ+ youth and the broader commu-

nity. Their services include a Vo gue School for creative expression, a food pantry, HIV/ STI testing with medical referrals, mental wellness initiatives and advocacy for equity and inclusion.

Denise Cunill, a pediatrician from Humboldt Park who is starting to get involved with the organization to support its medical programs for youth and young adults, marched with the organization during the parade.

She was mentored by two of the organization’s founding physicians, Dr. Margo Bell and Dr. Elisa Henry Reid, who helped shape its mission.

When asked what message the group is sending by being in the parade and being named the Out Front Leader of the 2025 Chicago Pride Parade, Cunill said it feels empowering to celebrate diversity and life.

As a child in the 1980s, Cunill grew up with ballroom culture, from which voguing later emerged and gained prominence in the 1990s. Cunill described voguing as an expression of art and an expression of sexuality.

“As you vogue, you’re expressing what you feel — and that can be through mind, body, and soul movement. It’s a cohesive way of identifying who you can actually merge with. Voguing isn’t just one person; it’s multiple people merging together in similar movements. It’s kind of like a synchronous way of sharing energy,” Cunill said.

Reyna Ortiz, the group’s program director, got involved with TaskForce because she has been advocating for the transgender community for over 20 years and found that the organization’s approach closely aligned with her own advocacy style, making it a perfect fit for everyone involved.

“I’m very excited for more people to understand the beautiful work that we do, and for more LGBTQ+ youth to be reco gnized for the work we’re doing with them. We want more youth to come to our space. It’s a safe space on the West Side of Chicago,” Ortiz said.

When asked how events like Pride complement the yearround work in prevention, outreach, and community care, Ortiz emphasized that it’s about

acknowledgment.

Re garding TaskForce leading the parade and performance, Ortiz expressed pride and gratitude that the city reco gnized their impact. She described it as a testament to the dedication and work TaskForce Prevention and Community Services has done and continues to do, appreciating the acknowledgment from the community.

Jair miah Melendez is a staff member at TaskForce Prevention and Community Services who supports the organization by handling tasks such as setting up food trays, organizing back-to-school drives, cleaning, painting and general maintenance.

“We’ re starting of f the parade, so we’re making a lot of noise. So everybody behind us has to have the same energy. We’re turning up the crowd and showing that we love the crowd,” Melendez said.

Melendez’s initial reaction to learning that TaskForce Prevention and Community Services was leading the parade was shock and disbelief, feeling it was a significant accomplishment.

“We know how hard it is to actually be labeled as her when you’ re really him. We’re helping the community. We’re loving the community,” Melendez said.

Melendez emphasized that the more years TaskForce Prevention and Community Services is involved and invested in the community, the bigger the organization will become.

Photos by Hector Cervantes

Car the s and aggravated assault investigated

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park police investigated several incidents related to stolen cars in the village last week. On June 29, an Oak Park resident reported that their 2014 Subaru Impreza was stolen. The vehicle had been parked overnight in the 1100 block of South Taylor Avenue, according to police. An apple computer and baseball and bowling equipment were inside the vehicle when it was stolen. The total value of the stolen items was estimated at $11,300.

Oak Park police also arrested two male juveniles from Chicago in connection with another car theft investigation. The boys were charged with motor vehicle theft, criminal damage to property and possession of burglary tools. They were processed on the charges at the Oak Park police station and released to their parents. The theft reportedly occurred in the 600 block of Humphrey Avenue

Aggravated assault investigation

Oak Park police were called in response to a reported assault incident involving co-workers at a local bank on Lake Street, according to police

service matter that took place earlier that day. During this dispute, the other employee allegedly threatened to shoot the victim with a firearm they reportedly had stored in thei vehicle, according to police

The victim filed a complaint with Oak Park police and with bank management.

Assault arrests

■ A 30-year-old man was arrested on charges of assault and resisting a peace officer in connection with an alleged altercation in the 100 block of Madison Street on June 26. The man was processed and released from custody with a notice to appear in court, according to police. The victim in that incident was a Chicago resident.

■ A 41-year-old Chicago man was arrested by Oak Park police on assault charges in connection with an incident in the 500 block of Garfield Street on June 29 at 3:15 p.m. The victim in the incident was also a Chicago resident, according to police.

These items were obtained from Oak Park’s Police Department reports dated June 25-30 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a se-

Grant from CN Railway boosts tree planting in River Forest

Since 2012, railroad has planted 135,612 trees across the country

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

River Forest officials marked the receipt of a CN Railway tree planting grant with a ceremonial tree planting at the public works pumping station June 23.

The $13,500 EcoConnexions From the Ground Up grant will help fund the village’s annual spring and fall tree planting programs. The EcoConnexions program provides grants to municipalities and organizations to promote the greening of communities situated along the CN Railway network, which serves Canada and the Midwest and Southern United States, including River Forest.

Since 2012, the program has funded 253 projects and contributed to planting approximately 135,612 trees. Known as CN Railway, the full name of the railroad company is Canadian National Railway Co.

awarded EcoConnexions grants, thanked CN Railway for funding the program and praised the sustainability commission.

“Great things happen when volunteers step forward,” she said.

Dr. Marvin Miller, America in Bloom treasurer and member of the organization’s board of directors, spoke of the environmental benefits of the program in particular and the “power of plants” in general.

Susan Charrette, River Forest’s sustainability commission co-chair, cited the tree planting program as “one example of the village’s commitment to sustainability.”

“I’m so proud of our public works department and the sustainability commission.”

CATHY ADDUCI VILLAGE PRESIDENT

On hand for the ceremonial planting of a Princeton elm were village officials, Sustainability Commission members and re presentatives from America in Bloom, an Ohio-based organization of horticulture industry professionals that administers the program.

Laura Kunkle, America in Bloom executive director, congratulated the village for being one of only 10 organizations to be

She was joined at the ceremony by commission members Gary Lennon, co-chair, Jamie Hayley and Manolo Avalos.

Brian Skoczek, public works superintendent, said 90 different species of trees are on the village’s parkways and cover 51 percent of the tree canopy, which he said is highest among Chicago area municipalities. Also on hand for the ceremony were Cathy Adduci, village president; Matt Walsh, village administrator, Jack Bielak, director of public works and engineering; and Seth Jansen, management analyst.

Jansen said staf f members applied for the grant in the fall and received notification the village had been awarded the grant in December.

The public works department manages the care of more than 8,000 parkway trees through re gular inspections and trimming and plants roughly 120 new trees each year. Over 80 parkway trees were planted in spring 2025.

“I’m so proud of our public works department and the sustainability commission,” Adduci said.

America in Bloom promotes nationwide beautification through education and community involvement by encouraging the use of flowers, plants, trees and other environmental and lifestyle enhancements. According to the organization’s website, the group envisions communities across the country as welcoming and vibrant places to live, work, and play – benefiting from

colorful plants and trees; enjoying clean environments; celebrating heritage; and planting pride through volunteerism. CN is Canada’s largest railway, in terms of both revenue and the physical size of its rail network, spanning Canada from the Atlantic coast in Nova Scotia to the Pacific coast in British Columbia across approximately 20,000 route miles of track. In the late 20th century, CN gained extensive capacity in the United States by taking over such railroads as the Illinois Central.

ROBERT J. LIFKA

A BLOOM BROOM: At the tree planting are (from le ) Dr. Marv in Miller, America in Bloom; Manolo Avalos and Jamie Hayley, Sustainabilit y Commission; Cathy Adduci, village president; Laura Kunkle, America in Bloom; and Susan Char rette and Gary Lennon, Sustainabilit y Commission co-chairs.

Enrichment is the key for District 90 summer school

Ever ything from Make and Bake to high-tech Stop Motion Animation

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Friday’s heat was stifling, but nevertheless, teacher Val Smart and her group of first and second graders made their way into the fenced garden on the south side of Willard Elementary School, 1250 Ashland Ave.

“Today we’re supporting our milkweed,” she told her Gardening Club youngsters, encouraging them to take pieces of twine and tie the stalks of milkweed to the outside of the fence. “They get kind of top heavy.”

A small ruler showed much the milkweed has grown since the start of summer Roughly two feet, with a riot of vibrant leaves.

“Hopefully we have a lot of pollinators coming this way,” Smart said. A nearby sign said the garden is a monarch butterfly waystation, a pollinator habitat and a wildlife habitat

Welcome to River Forest School District 90 summer school, where learning that began during the 2024-25 school year continues, with plenty of enrichment activities.

Back inside school, where it was about 15 degrees cooler, a group of third and fourth graders in Jill Kruger’s Make and Bake class

were hard at work making dirt pudding in the faculty lounge.

Not real dirt from the garden, of course

Two students spent time smashing Oreos in quart plastic bags while two others were hard at work stirring pudding mix. Kruger offered help as needed, such as measuring how much milk went into the bowl, but it was clear this was the kids’ gig. After a while, the group rotated to different tasks

“You’re going to be in charge of your own cups,” Kruger said, handing out clear-plastic cups to students, who then filled them with pudding. The next step is to let them cool in the refrigerator before adding the crushed Oreos and gummi worms.

Don’t forget, it’s dirt pudding, and what would dirt be without wor ms?

During summer school, which runs from June 12 to July 11, the students in Make and Bake also made pizza and granola bars, along with crayons, and Play-Doh.

Summer school runs on weekday mornings at Willard for elementary school students and at Roosevelt Middle School for the older students.

The latter are offered opportunities like Book Club for fifth and six graders and seventh and eighth graders, fifth through

PROVIDED

PROVIDED

GARDENING

CLUB: Val Smart helps students nd weeds to pull.

eighth grade Writing Lab, Basketball Skills for seventh and eighth grade boys and girls, and Wellness Warriors, where students play hoops, soccer, tag, dodgeball and more, learning sportsmanship, teamwork, leadership development and respect.

Nancy Mueller is the summer school principal for both campuses. During the school year she is the math specialist at Roosevelt. This is her third year as summer school chief.

“All students can benefit from continued learning over the summer, but there are some that we’ve identified that this really keeps them working at grade level,” Mueller said. “We built a program so that students don’t hate coming to summer school.

“We have students that could be lots of other places, but they choose to be here, because we really have fun things happening.”

In addition to Gardening Club and Make and Bake, the younger students – both from Willard and Lincoln Elementary School –can participate in a class hosted by Aimee Conrad titled Stop Motion Animation Studio.

In this room, there were several “stations” of rolled green construction paper – a green screen. A tablet computer was affixed direct-

ly over the paper. One student was coloring pieces of a character he called Brainrot. He’d color in a section of the le gs, a section of the arm and other body parts, and take an image with the tablet, being careful not to get his hands in the way.

What happened when he ran back the tape?

Brainrot essentially “built” on the screen, a cool effect.

There is no curriculum for Stop Motion Animation Studio per se, but that’s not really the point.

“This is completely free floating,” said Conrad, a first-grade teacher during the school year. “They are following their creative instincts and all I’m giving them is tech support every day.”

Robert Bachar, the District 90 summer school student services coordinator, helps guide class placements and ensures kids get the support they need

“The summer school team has been strategic when we place kids in lab classes to receive academic support by making sure we account for each student’s individual skill level, grade level and individual need,” he said. “Our program models school year small group class sizes.”

MAKE AND BAKE: Jill Kruger and kids making ‘dirt’ pudding.

SMALL BITES

Small Bites – Summer tidbits and homegrown tomatoes

By RISE SANDERS-WEIR Eats Reporter

July is picnic, parade and celebration times. I can’t claim to know a lot about poetr but one of my favorite lines is from a Ro Frost poem, “The Death of The Hired Man.”

“Home is the place where, when you ha to go there, they have to take you in.”

To me, the meaning is kindness – a claim we make on each other that binds us into community, if we are willing to open our hearts to each other. It’s a reminder that we don’t have to ag ree in order to love each other. Good food can help us find common ground:

m. to 7 p.m. inside Distro Music Hall, 6815 Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn. The event features music and dishes from nine local restaurants, as well as a fully stocked cash bar. For the $50 cost, you receive two food coupons (additional coupons available on site). Youngsters under 16 eat free with a ticketed adult. Each year part of the proceeds go to a local This year it is Our Future Reads, rk’s new nonprofit bookstore.

When purchasing a ticket, you can add on a Takeout 25 Community Cookbook. The book will include recipes and stories from 25 local restaurants.

Cucina Paradiso, 814 North Blvd. in Oak Park, is celebrating its 30th anniversary by giving a lucky diners presents. The grand prize is a trip to Italy; second is a Vespa scooter; and weekly $100 gift cards.

Pure Green juice bar has opened the doors on a new location at 703 Lake St. in Oak Park Franchise owners Tangelia and Anthony Ward were drawn to return to the area for their first retail business after meeting while working at the nearby Mars factory earlier in their careers.

“We are excited about the cookbook and now you can be part of this special publication by reserving your copy,” said Takeout 25’s Ravi Parakkat. “Cookbooks will be available by our anniversary, Nov. 17, just in time for the holidays.”

“We became a little bit more health conscious,” Anthony Ward said. “And when I ran across Pure Green I just loved the product so much. No added sugar. No added preservatives. It’s just 100% naturally organic. So, I brought the idea to my wife.”

The menu includes smoothies, acai and oatmeal bowls and bottled juices that are high-pressure, coldpressed.

“All the nutrients are still locked in there. Each bottle has 5 lbs. of fruit inside,” Tangelia Ward said. “Our most popular smoothie has spinach, kale. You’ll think it’ll taste more like ve ggies, but it’s actually pineapple, banana. You taste that fresh fruit and its love.”

Takeout 25 is back with its fifth annual Taste the Town on Saturday, July 19 from 4

Crumb Crusher, 805 North Blvd., has just been certified “Illinois Made” along with only 25 other bakeries statewide. According to Enjoy Illinois, the state’s of fice of tourism, businesses with this certification source materials or expertise from other locals, demonstrating what makes the state unique. Layering onto that mission, the bakery has summer colle ge interns learning to bake and decorate cakes, and a high school student, Lucy Horkavy, participating with the OPRF Chamber of Commerce’s NEXT progr am, which is a youth internship program that bridges the gap between education and realworld experience.

A new location for authentic Mexican ice cream and snacks shop, La Flor Michoacana, is opening soon at 1023 Lake St. in Oak Park

Blackout Baking Co, 210 S. Marion St. in Oak Park, is celebrating Pride, by selling a boxed rainbow of sugar cookies this month with 20% of the proceeds going to Howard Brown Health.

Vote for Anfora, 128 S. Marion St. in Oak Park, as the USA Today Best Wine Shop. Currently our vino vendor is number two on the leader board. Help push them into the top spot! Voting closes July 21.

While I wait for the first tomatoes ripening off my vines at home, far mers markets are in full bloom:

■ Riverside Farmers Market, Wednesdays 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 10 Pine Ave. in Riverside

■ LaGrange Farmers Market, Thursdays 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 53 S. La Grange Rd. in LaGrang e

■ Austin Town Hall Farmers Market, Thursdays 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 5610 W. Lake St., Chicago

Pure Green ow ners Tangelia and Anthony Ward

■ Oak Park Farmers Market, Saturdays 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 460 Lake St. in Oak Park

■ Brookfield Farmers Market, Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 8820 Brookfield Ave. in Brookfield

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

RISÉ SANDERS-WIER

Taco Mucho hot dogs at 2024 Taste the Town

Build CEO Adam Alonso moves on to YMCA

After over a decade with the violence prevention nonpro t, he’s starting as CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago in July

By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter

Adam Alonso – CEO of Build, a nonprofit focused on violence prevention, gang intervention and youth development – announced in June that, come July, he’s moving on to be CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.

As Alonso takes the next step in his career after over a decade with Build, he’s anticipating lots of changes.

For one, Alonso said, the budget YMCA of Metropolitan Chicag covers the city and surrounding suburbs, is about four times that of Build while that covers YMCA offerings in addition to youth violence prevention services, Alonso is excited to bring his expertise to that area of the organization.

Alonso’s predecessor, Dorri McWhorter, became CEO in 2021 and led the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago’s transition to a community hub model. While the YMCA still offers sports programs and early services, the new model better addresses local needs. YMCA community hubs offer financial literacy and mental health services, food banks, and partner with other organizations to provide their services to YMCA attendees.

“There are growing needs abov yond what the Y’ currently offers,” Alonso said. “The city needs as many institutions supporting neighborhoods [as possible] –not just kids, but their families.”

“I’d never done it at this scale before and this level of fundraising. To raise $28 million [for renovations] while also raising your $20 million operating budget, that was huge,” Alonso said.

He also notes Build’s mobile mental health vans, which launched amidst the pandemic and continue to offer inte grated behavioral healthcare to locals around the West Side.

“I’m proud of the work that we do to be responsive in the community,” Alonso said.

Alonso joined Build as CEO in 2015, and within the first year or two of his leadership, noted several initiatives he’s proud of.

Soon after Alonso came aboard, Build repurposed its space in a small building that

tin Response Team, through which, in collaboration with the Chicago Police Department’s 15th District, nonprofits and faith-based organizations, Build re gularly sets up on a street corner to provide resources, like counseling and healthcare, to those who have been impacted by violent crime. The Austin Response Team also sends outreach workers into affected neighborhoods.

“In response to shootings, we would go out and meet with communities on the blocks where we were anticipating some sort of retaliation,” Alonso said. “We were able to drive down rates of violence by 2017, and there weren’ t any incidences of retaliation once we did responses.”

It’s a mindset that Build has had since it started in 1969. Today, the nonprofit provides free services to over 6,500 youth and their families annually.

As Alonso reflects on Build’s biggest successes since he’s been at the helm, perhaps the most recent was the opening of Build’s renovated and expanded Austin campus in February 2023. The construction took the 10,000-square-foot campus to over 50,000 square feet and marked the first time Alonso had led a capital campaign of such a size.

used to house a bank, opening a renovated teen center for Austin youth.

“Gun violence was on the rise, particularly in Austin,” Alonso said of that time.

According to the city’s violence reduction dashboard, in Austin, there were 274 shooting victimizations in 2015. The following year, that number nearly doubled to 521.

In 2017, the number of shooting victimizations in Austin decreased to 447, possibly in part because of the Austin Response Team.

Alonso was part of the inaugural Aus-

that attracts around 3,000 people, Alonso estimated. This year’s bash is Aug. 8 at 5100 W. Harrison St.

Alonso, though, reco gnizes that Build’s successes didn’t come from his actions alone.

As Alonso moves on, Build’s interim CEO is Bradly Johnson. Most recently, Johnson, a West Side resident, has served as Build’s chief community officer. Alonso said they’ve worked together for eight years at Build, and Johnson is just as much a part of the organization’s accomplishments.

Also in 2017, Build launched its am Building Girls 2 Women after then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced citywide funds for male mentoring. After Alonso met with his team and donors, they decided to launch their own mentorship initiative for young women.

“Our young girls are struggling with a whole bunch of other bullshit that the ’t ever manage or deal with, and they really need support,” Alonso said. A private donor and the Chicago Foundation for Women helped fund Building Girls 2 Women.

It was in 2017 that Build and dozens of other nonprofits held the first Summer of Opportunity, a festival in Columbus Park with a parade, performers and organizations with resource tables and job offerings.

“That was just the start of knowing how important it was to mobilize in the community, knowing that there were so many of us who really cared about our community and young people,” Alonso said. Now, Build puts on an End of Summer bash every year

“Bradly’s been a part of all of these initiatives that have launched,” Alonso said, in addition to other Build leadership team members. “From meeting constituents to being in meetings around the community, talking with donors, trying to find space for other partners so we can figure this out together, collectively – that’s work we have all done.”

“My focus will be on ensuring stability, supporting our incredible team, and continuing to build a strong foundation for the future,” Johnson said at a June 10 press conference announcing Build’s leadership change. “I also want to extend my deepest thanks to Adam for his outstanding leadership and unwavering dedication to Build. He leaves behind big shoes to fill, and I’m truly humbled by the opportunity to lead as we carry the work forward.”

Alonso added that, as he’s leaving Johnson in charge, Build is in a solid financial situation. As Build’s next fiscal year starts in July, Alonso said leadership expects the organization to plateau a bit in the coming months. After nine years of consecutive growth and recent federal funding cuts, “We knew that for fiscal year ‘26, and probably for the next three years, Build was going to be in a position to be leveled of f and maintained,” Alonso said. He added that Build will continue responding to community needs while building its donor base in case of reduced government funding.

“I’m grateful to our board and Build, which supported me and trusted me in my leadership,” Alonso said. He’s also thankful for Build staf f, elected officials who campaigned for much of Build’s funding, and the Austin community. “They’ve been very welcoming, and we’ve been able to learn and grow together.”

“And the young people who show up every day,” Alonso added to his list of gratitudes.“It’s just great to see their smiles and to see them feel safe here.”

LEGAL NOTICE

COOK COUNTY REAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS FOR 2025

ThispublicationconstitutesofficialnoticeofthechangesinassessmenttoallownersofrealpropertyinOakParkTownship.The2025assessmentchangesaspublishedhereinarethosedeterminedbythe AssessorofCookCounty.

ItisthedutyoftheAssessortoappraisealltaxablerealpropertyin CookCountyatitsfaircashvalueasofJanuary1,2025.Faircashvalue isdescribedaswhatthepropertywouldbringatavoluntarysaleinthe normalcourseofbusinessortrade.TheAssessorisrequiredbylawto assesssaidpropertyinafairandjustmanner.

TheAssessordoesnotdeterminepropertytaxes.Propertytaxesaredeterminedbythespendingneedsandrequestsofmunicipalities,school boards,parkdistrictsandotherlocalgovernmentagencieswhichprovidepublicservicestopropertyowners.TheAssessor’ssoleresponsibilityistoestimatethevalueofrealestateproperty.

InCookCounty,realpropertyisclassifiedaccordingtoitsuse.Theclassificationsystemisusedtodeterminethepercentageofthefaircash valueatwhichtherealpropertyisassessedforpurposesoftaxation. Accordingly,realpropertyisassessedatonlyafractionofitsfaircash value,dependingonitsuseandclassification.

Changesinassessmentforlandandimprovementsarelistedseparately.Thedimensionsofthelandarealsolisted:

A-Acres

B-BackLot

N-IrregularLot

S-SquareFeet

CookCountyusesaPermanentIndexNumber(P.I.N)systemasameans toidentifyindividualrealestateparcels.ThePINconsistsofa14-digit number.Thefirsttwodigitsidentifytheareaorsurveytownship;the secondtwodigitsidentifythesub-areaorsection;thenextthreedigitsidentifyblocks.

Note:

Blocksaredefinedasfollows:

Blocks100to199arelocatedintheN.W.Quarter

Blocks200to299arelocatedintheN.E.Quarter

Blocks300to399arelocatedintheS.W.Quarter

Blocks400to499arelocatedintheS.E.Quarter

Thenextthreedigitsintheseriesidentifythespecificparcelorlot.The lastfour,(whereapplicable),identifyindividualcondominiumunits,nonoperatingrailroadparcelsorleasehold’sofexemptparcels.

Wheneverpossible,theassessmentlistwillbelistedbythestreetname andthestreetorhousenumberoftheparcel.However,theCookCounty Assessor’sOfficeofficialrecordsrelyonpermanentPropertyIndex Numbers(P.I.N.)only.Noassessmentofrealpropertyshallbeconsideredinvalidduetoanincorrectlisting.

Ifyouhaveanyquestionsregardingtheassessmentofrealproperty youshouldvisittheOfficeoftheAssessorofCookCounty,118N.Clark Street,Room301,Chicago,Illinois60602,orcall(312)443-7550.

FRITz KAEGI ASSESSOR OF COOK COUNTY

TOWNSHIP OF OAK PARK

AUGUSTAST

KURTBLOWES1166187S804329130 ALLENLPARCHEM43814847S1930190929

LAURA&DANSULLIVAN72314840S15582548 JOHNFWOITEL73512706S1778873312

CAROLDOHR10284633S602334323

BEVERLYSSUBER11275350S695556441

AUSTINBLVDN

JOERUGGIRELLO3128600S12040115270

AUSTINOAKPARKREALE4163687S516254838

AUSTINOAKPARKREALE4166792092830

MACNEALHOSPITAL50088491S7079283562335

MACNEALHOSPITAL60030482S243856291496

MACNEALHOSPITAL6145413S4330480412

MACNEALHOSPITAL6165404S4323280412

MACNEALHOSPITAL6185392S4313680412

MACNEALHOSPITAL6205384S4307230154

MIKEQUAID7228550S11115262043 NEOCEANLONG8208550S10995510

MOHAMMEDAZAMHUSSAIN8208550S10995510 “TURNER,SUSANC”8208550S10995510

LYDIAESTES8208550S10385204

CTLTC0080023802908208550S10385204

DONNAEVANS8208550S10385204 VIVIANANNLAMPKIN8208550S10385204

BLANCHEWILLIAMS2NE8208550S10385204 “THOMAS,LILLIE&OTIS”8208550S11305663

ROSEANNCWEISMAN8208550S14967499 COREYSHUMATE9249071S1179238696 DRIKODUCASSE12264250S552566975 RHONDALWATTS13204125S536335378

AUSTINBLVDS

AMYMBELTEMACCHI1283336S467070587 OAKPARKRESIDENCECRP4049286S13000515471 MARYPAPPAS10125950S833025130 BELLEFORTEAVE

JEFFREYRANDALLJACOBS5377450S968566315 TERRENCEROCHE6335811S755448787 BARONGERDEVLLC7119222S1198963208 DANETTEDAME7209744S1266738892 MILDREDJCHERONIS9008460S1290237494 SRIVASTAVA&GANGOPADH9246090S928747217 A&VCASTELLANOS9467769S1184844295 SAMADHEDAYAT10378750S1334428680

BERKSHIREST

STEPHENGREEN4008729S1331244076 JOHNBERARDINO4085217S795638579

CARPENTERAVE

BRYANKELLY5163600S504036450 RASAMEECHOONTHONG8632304S322624775

CHICAGOAVE

TOXMONITORLABS314132S3305640659 TOXMONITORLABS334132S3305640654 NETWORKCONNECTIONLLC533874S503633504 BROWNCHICAGOINC2563000S2400044578 BROWNCHICAGOINC2643360S2688050269 BENSON92111000S1540069759 FRANKLLOYDWRIGHTTRU92511000S1540069600 KARIAMARX10186372S828441782 1101CHICAGOAVELLC110116835211820

CLARENCEAVE

REIDLANG6196300S882044101

TIMOTHYKALITA7164166S583236016

ROBYNZIEGLER7184166S583231581

KEVINJOMARA8115000S700050701 TODDDWALKUP9414725S661546152 JOHNWCHENEY10023150S441033590 LEERFRITZ10103150S441035229 JCHRISTENSON&LKESS10443937S551233006

MARYZAUSTIN11404032S564526106 CLEMENTANDOH11744725S661529657

CLINTONAVE

FREDERICKMMORSE2348050S1207561831 NIESLUCHOWSKINIELSEN3128000S1200049178 JESSEWHATHAWAY4128000S1200054702 ANDREAMKOVACHTRUSTE4218050S1207551595 LYNNALLEN5116000S840042702 MHOROWITZSPOOLE6057500S1050050469 KEYESFAMILYTRUST6115625S787559903 ANGELOLABRIOLA6357650S1071049498

WILLIAMEGGERT7095625S787556169

MR&MRSRBOARDMAN7225625S787538940

GERRYMAGUIRE8085625S787540594 DANIELMCNEILLY8115625S787536868 THOMASKINDLER8135625S787561805 DAVIDADAMS8395625S787564625 JERRYSJOSTROM10224110S575435361 RICHARDCFISCHER10254110S575428000 DANIELRJOYA10434110S575432775 ANNEDILLON11434110S57543625

COLUMBIANAVE

LYLE&KLDALY8276200S806052953 DONALDBRIANBOLTE&L9306200S945558304 COLINFINLEY10246200S945555151 LAURAWALTON11415091S776458990 DEANESCHRAUFNAGEL12166200S945546001

CUYLERAVEN

THOMASAREZEK15010260S1436463934 DONALDHCOGAN3286840S957657149 JOSEPH&JULIEFOURNIER4098550S1111546828 EDWARDWYNN4286412S833637297 PHILIPPATSTON4346412S833654891 FIUME001LLC5248550S111151500 CATHERINECORNELL6357240S941248930 NIKOLAYDMITRUK7395643S733640645 CAROLJEELLS8096300S819045843 NINA&JASONPOPE8294725S614333519 RICHARDWOJTOWICZ8306300S819039032 KARLWILLIAMVOLZ8374199S545935964 CUYLERAVES

KARENKVAM1266020S842836711

MARTINBRACCO1286020S842840970 CHINTON2235160S722429776 TAXPAYEROF2368299S1161939934 FRANKAJAEGER3217568S1059547754 TONDAHUGHES8006846S958429778 CHRISREBSTOCK8033780S529227463 TAXPAYEROF8043150S441020586 JOHNJACOBNOTINDIVID8083150S441058090 RHONDAEHARRISON8144725S661536082 CHADBOHLMANN8184725S661543667 840SCUYLERLLC8404725S661550885 SEAN&JESSICAFLANNER10233780S529224580 ATULKMOHLAJEE11123150S441022383 CHRISTOPHERBBOGZEVIT11503453S483430636 DIVISIONST

MELINDAPATTERSON101554S202025361 ANNETTEHUGHES10236160S800834399 EASTAVEN

LACEYSIKORA&JOHNJ3219960S1394458189 PETERISAAC3259130S1278264582 BIPANCHAND33014625S20475108843 DOROTHYHOULIHAN5188600S12040114960 RAIJJGANDHI6028084S1131865029 THOMASCWOLFORD&MIC6108600S1204095460 DONALDROESENWINKEL62317300S2422083980 CHRISTOPHERGARY63317300S24220134764 BRIAN&TAMARASHER73611100S1554083460 CONALDUFFY8068900S1157059747 AKLASS&CSHOSS8108900S1157039533 JOELABRAMGRUBER8196200S806054440 KUNALNARENDRAKARMALI9076200S945561536 GREGORY&ANGELATOPEL93010324S1574466571 PETERAHUGH9436200S945540780

JONATHAN&JOANNEBIAG11076200S945561091

ALPITAARVINDSHAH12347800S1189538573

EASTAVES

TRUSTEETHEARTALEJOH1308850S1239059676

WAYNETSTILLS2168850S1239069880

LITJENTANLARAPULLEN7456250S875066919 MIX&SIEGEL10206300S882039500

HUBER&JOLIE10214725S661580885

JSMILEY10303150S441041914

ROBERTMPIPKE11593906S546830532

KENTDEAN11783150S441034634

EDMERAVE

CL&LFCOOPER11375440S829638535

ELIZABETHCT KEELIMICKUS118250S1155058523

continued from previous page

ELMWOODAVEN

RALLENBERGGREN1558600S1118064193

DEANNYANNIAS1748600S1118064429

SAMIRGUPTA&JWOHRLE21514620S1900692063

WILLIAMGBEASLEY&AN2338600S1118068585

MATTHEWMORONI3118600S1118065739

RK&PRMUTHARASAN5198600S1118064755

NCLIPSTONE&RABREU5348600S1118041247

C&TMELCHER5478600S1118089357

BRUCEFMARTIN6428600S1118059770

TUANANHNGUYEN7107906S1027846870

ZACHJANUSH8238550S1111543447

ERWINGERRITVREEMANA8388550S1111544885

CHASTAIN&VELASCO8398550S1111554663

EFRIENDMAN&JAUSTIN9157891S1203490534

CDSLUYS9278550S1303970710

EDWARDJGARVEYDECLAR9318550S1303964134

LUCASKYLELAUREL11177850S1197154704

ELMWOODAVES

LEVIAHOPPSZALLERN1104770S667838528

JOHNHAUSER2188750S1225053750

JAMESR&JENNIFERHALL3078750S765651543

MATTHEWJAMESHOULIHAN5165320S744839164 PLIGGE6156543S916042874

ALEXHARRIS&SGLOVER70111970S1675881288

CLYDE&CAROLLUNDGREN7155320S744845854

BFITZGERALD7205320S744855395

CONRADPEREZ8055320S744837525

NIXABLAIR9513175S444533048 FRANCOISHENRY11163780S529227364

ELIZABETHLAURENKUSZA11394725S661526800 STEVEN&ANNEENDRES11504847S678630754

ERIEST

A&BGRIFFIN10306265S877152618 SERGIYZAMULA11119200S11960133537

EUCLIDAVEN

VICKIDECKERT52915390S2154639954 MARCUSDAVIS53017500S24500132852

MARCCMARTINEZTRUST6388750S1225039850

MARKWELCH8416200S806074349

THOMASCANE9166250S953154595

CHRISJANNING9216200S945548882

THOMASPUNIHOALE&ANN10166200S945552244

CHRISTIANRKADLEC10456200S945540163 ANTHONY&LISAKIRK11366200S945561341

EUCLIDAVES

RICH&KATRINAVIGSNES2178735S1222963483

GILLETHENRI2295832S816545800

VANHORN23710500S1470041065

DEANGSARANTOS3018700S1218055878

SEANBKELLEY33010500S1470095000

MILESEJACKSON5254199S587933264

MICHAELJGOODRICH7166300S882052541

DAVID&NALLELYGASS10374575S640537271

WILLIAMAMCNEILL11005670S793835275

FAIROAKSAVE

GEORGE&DONNASRAJER5098600S12040104107

PERRYYOUNGER5127740S1006274379

DREWGEORGEPEEL5209460S1229852578 ANTHONYBANOUT5218600S1204064714

EDWINCMCGEEJR5408600S1118088135

MVTHOMAS7107431S966069673

JOHNBRAWLEYREISHMAN8439307S1209964901

JORDANPOWELL9298500S1296367536

THOMASGDOLAN94810727S1635963106

LORI&ANTHONYEIGEN103610990S1676052998

MARINOVMARINOVA104710205S1556362022

ZVI&DIANAKREMER11047350S1120962868

FORESTAVE

OAKPARKVILLAGE150EX00

MCREFOAKPARKLLC15069472S1665246547493 19THCENTURYCHARITABL17814455S9251230245

GAYLERIEDMANN2063009S240727005 ISELICRAIG20914625S2047584225

JAMESWLAUDERDALE22824750S2598877213 PAULEHAMER3251526S213635025

KARIMARX5115040S655237856

JEFF&FRANARNOLD5477450S968564106 ANDREWWKOWALCZYK6317450S968556815

WILLIAMJDONNELLY70810726S1394498556 RKALISH&DNABWANGU7189515S1237056256 MATTHEWJARQUETTE7199744S1266746438

KARRY&MICHAELBUHMANN8375394S701230544 FRANK&MARIAZELKO9149222S1406459200 DGUILLO&CMELIN10318300S1265844694

LEGAL NOTICE

CRAIGROSS10438300S1265885008

GARFIELDST

DIMITRISKASIMATIS7335043S706047320 HJMOHR&SONSINC11175120065351 HJMOHE&SONSCO11176400S512001777 HJMOHR&SONSINC111726176S209408106622 GREENFIELDST

BKARLSON&KLAMBERT4195937S905449946 GREENFIELDST

UNITEDLUTHERANCHURCH409EX00 MARKJSEGAL4437100S1082844424 GEOTROUMBOSTR4517100S1082847407

GROVEAVEN

JAMESJSANYETRUSTEE3197353S1029473537 TIMOTHYGCOZZENS3329918S1388549346 RITAMKAMAN3437946S1112468876 SETHKAUFMAN4128928S12499101000 DIANNEZIMMERMAN6036280S816446470 COLLEENKITCH6053925S510353721 DAVIDJOHNSTON6286150S799528416

MATTHEWJSOUKUP6456400S832035494 ADAMKNIGHT7286357S826455360 TODD&CHERYLHOVER8056300S819058280 KURTROBINSON8068150S1059561866 DARRELLDBINNING8318400S1092037779 JAMESPANGELL10228150S1242956085 JENNIFERCOLBURN10348150S1242963224 JESSICAANDDOUGPEER11228150S1242956383

GROVEAVES

ROBERTGWEBSTER1154794S719148751 MR&MRSAMSTUTZ1399870S14805132890 DOUGLASWMACMILLAN2395640S846064364 JAMESKEBINGER3287050S1057553605 CONSTANTINEDUSSIAS4217050S1057545817 MICHAELJAWE&CYNTHI5173663S512839649 CARASBLESCH5314950S693053530 STEPHENCRAIG6004750S665033726 BRAD&ELLENFARRAR6014950S693043722 MICHAELTCONSIDINE6246250S875038610 PHILIPJDIVITO6406250S875042645 SEANMCMAHON6446195S867329240 VINCENT&DBRAY8086250S875054661 EDWARDJGARDNER8513500S490033001 MARYELLENHOSSINI9245137S719228289 DAVE&LAURAGANSCHOW9274110S575434336 WANFAMILYTRUST10364041S565740254 SLAWOMIRLESNY11025754S805681944 BRETTBARRETT11064521S632963671 CAROLLYNNALDOUS11604566S639239830 MICHAELDSTEWART&MO11875137S719230080

GUNDERSONAVE

PETERWALTERS6034199S587934865 D&KTANNER6236300S882046332 SARAHSCHRIBER6305320S744846824 CAMPILLO6425320S744837650 ROBERTPATERA7105320S744846152 BRYANFRANZ8094410S617483366 ALBERTJMCLAUGHLIN8105320S744844941 JOANASLANINA10336300S882026678

KEN&RHONDACROWLEY10383175S444528680

HARLEMAVEN

HARLEMREALESTATELLC6114830S38640649314

HARLEMREALESTATELLC6157300S58400649314

HARLEMREALESTATELLC62525009S2000721945417 HARLEMASSOCIATES151548552S3884161061769

HARRISONST

221HARRISONLLC2196300S5040083126 PAULHAMER35010527S1473886864

HARRISONSTW

335HARRISONLLC3356250S875061250

HARVEYAVEN

PEGGYSTEWARTWILSON16710260S1436442190

CATHLEENBIMMERLE1748550S1197051450

LEIGHANNHUGHES1798550S1197046796

MICHAELPTOWNSEND2075514S772035536 LINDAMSCOTT2248550S1197050564 JONMGORHAM3117695S1077348841

KATHERINESTOHR3208550S1197056827

VIJAY&RAJANIRAGHAVA3217695S1077350646

CHRISTOPHERSCLARK4158550S1111539790

DOUGLASFREERKSEN4185643S733651931

KATHLEENREUTER4246412S833647664

JHAY6166032S784233645

ROBERTBCHAMBERS8356300S819026152

ELIZABETHANNFUENMAYO10044578S595138500 CATHERINEBENDOWITZ10184550S591530357 MLEON&AJONES10223900S507043243 NICHOLASJAMESLEVALLE11164080S530434696 FRANKJOHARA12255000S650042209

HARVEYAVES

DEVADSONLIVINGSTON3395732S802540493 DAVID&ADDIEHUSBANDS5313125S437528366 WILLIAMHUDSON5343125S4375106337 LHILLMEADAMEAD6193125S437527104 MICHAELSCHINDLER6243125S437531020 IRENEFHANSEN7204687S656233667 MGERACI&JPRE7284062S568733642 B&DGRIGG7464680S655244500 JEFFREYLMCCALLJR8314125S577592225 PAUL&ELIZAMANDES10163600S504022963 THOMASAHERBERT11083600S504023960 DANIELLATTANZI11153150S441024251 THERESALOCELSO11303600S369027629 BRADLEYARNOLD11603025S423538265 KRISTENREZNY11653150S441028990 HAYESAVE

RYANASHEPHERD7174158S540524189 ANDREWNICODEM7314158S540540367 CHRISEMURRAY8074158S540547135 CHICAGOMUTUALREALES9204646S604024541 JAYSPETERSEN10084125S536328156 V&SNMINIBAPIEL10114125S536330694 HOLLYKRUEGER10284125S536329461 ALEXANDERWEBER10414125S536330272 JAMESMORGAN12294658S605536893

HIGHLANDAVES

KAREEM&JENNIFERPRICE7383125S437535971 GERALDECOAMEYJR7424671S653928538 CATHALEENMRICH8063750S525040290 GRANTBUNKER8384687S656231529 NEUROTHMATTHEW11223780S529230179 GRACENORBERG11503609S505330350 LENNOXJBLOOMFIELD11823150S441020671

HOMEAVE

ANNABIANCHIASTRUSTE1042625S393834568 MARYBIGONGIARI23713068S1960233323 THOMASJBAGGIO2528450S760553485 NICOLASLEON3045760S864043339 R&EPARENTI6154166S583227956 MICHAELJEGGER7154375S612547875 REBECCALDAVIS7355000S700043652 DAVIDHYDE8023450S483040367 REBECCACHESSER8053125S437538088 SUZANNEMCFARLIN8133125S437538493 MATTHEWJBAUER10075625S787545550

HUMPHREYAVEN

MACNEALHOSPITAL138967S1607391628165

MACNEALHOSPITAL138967S3117361252131

MACNEALHOSPITAL526515S521202342

JFUNK&ADROSENTHAL1638550S1197025329

MACNEALHOSPITAL2007271S58168415831

MACNEALHOSPITAL2018885S71080269

MACNEALHOSPITAL2057739S619122615

MACNEALHOSPITAL2067641S61128519788

MACNEALHOSPITAL2076769S5415253353

MACNEALHOSPITAL2075288S4230413337

MACNEALHOSPITAL2107645S61160337863

MACNEALHOSPITAL2117827S62616166732

MACNEALHOSPITAL2127641S61128155935

MACNEALHOSPITAL2131318S1054413337

MACNEALHOSPITAL2147641S61128519788

MACNEALHOSPITAL2156980S55840100040

MACNEALHOSPITAL2167641S61128519788

MACNEALHOSPITAL2173618S2894453353

MACNEALHOSPITAL2196988S55904166732

MACNEALHOSPITAL2217231S57848100040

MACNEALHOSPITAL2235072S405761206

MACNEALHOSPITAL2275405S432401340

MACNEALHOSPITAL2295691S455281423

MACNEALHOSPITAL23214741S1179281333

MACNEALHOSPITAL23311690S935203233

MACNEALHOSPITAL30115397S1231764188

MACNEALHOSPITAL3038560S684802413

MACNEALHOSPITAL30526127S209016150773

continued on next page

continued from previous page

MACNEALHOSPITAL3066423S5138410089

MACNEALHOSPITAL3078609S688722402

MACNEALHOSPITAL30810962S87696100516

MACNEALHOSPITAL3118650S692002402

MACNEALHOSPITAL31510177S814162977

MACNEALHOSPITAL31618885S151080180928

MACNEALHOSPITAL3176423S513841972

MACNEALHOSPITAL3216423S51384579

LEON&PHOTCHANYLI3325985S837934700

GERALDRBUTTERSJR7224284S556926959

WALTERALINDSEY7346300S819040810

ELLENAPLEASANT9233875S503844966

HUMPHREYAVES

R&MBAIMAN2058600S1204067960

ROBERTJOHARA3037396S1035443627

WILLIAMCOATSRFSB3158600S1204046403

RICK&KELLYPOLLOCK3357709S1079341966

PAULPUNKE4276192S866951092

SIMONAROE6296250S875032317

MARY&GREGORYVIVIRITO6444166S583230456

THERESACARILLI8006196S867428787

JOHNTCONCANNON8216300S882048860

RICHARDESMITH10284158S582134179

DAVIDWACHTEL11004243S594046560

PATRICKJKLETTE11224284S599822059

FRANKLINMAYS11434158S582122728

AMYTREILLY11713983S557638994

MURRAYFAMILYTRUST11774725S661544460

IOWAST

TOM&CATHYJOYCE2404000S520048639

CHRISTIAN&LEAHPEREZ2565125S666348338

JACKSONBLVD

CHRISTOPHERPETERKA&5029829S1376148144

KENILWORTHAVEN

A&KWILEY23113000S1820078751 ANDREWHOOG40731632S44285141531

JUDYSEALS42313562S1898770682

PAULFORD42712689S1205576015

SCOTT&KARENANDERSON60111760S15288117712

SAMANTHALOTTI61113440S1512062515

KERRYOBRIEN6267480S972444963

DAVID&TAKYUNGPOTTER6478400S1092033752

JOHNGBRUUN7018320S1081641894

EKAWAI&AARCIUCH8268400S1092050709

MICHAELJBRADY8308400S1092067525

L&MACARLSTROM9427900S1204854872

SCHNEIDERHUDGINS10117400S1128560580

PETERBOVEY10147900S1204852731

CANDACEBUTERA10227950S1212452578

DIANACMATIGIAN11437400S1128563380

TAXPAYEROF12308050S1227651615

KENILWORTHAVES

BYEONGOKCHEON1009165S6965480724

BARONGERDEVELOPMENT1147050S1057556425

MATEUSZMISKOWICZ2347200S1080059559

GARYPPAICE6145625S787570125

AVOLCKENS&SJOHANSEN8006000S840043032

MCCARTY&STIEGLITZ9224110S575432518

JOSECASTANEDA9416850S959050551 AMYSTANIS10176850S959046134

JOHNLOGERQUIST10365137S719239863

BRAD&DEANNAKRISCHKE11553425S479552707

WILLIAMKINNAIRD11636850S959029661

LAKEST

LAKETONLLCCOM&MP31623621192776

USBANKFACILITYMGMT83319720S631041139393

USBANKFACILITYMGMT83517850S571201139393

ICONCLARKLLC85515730S20449776705

ICONCLARK85712300S1599018

ICONCLARK861850S110587

RPFOX&ASSOCINC10237994234946

JAMESSIDERISTRUST10348925S1160356733

MalnatiOrganization10406199S49592246086 1120RETALFORSITE112034748S17461489321

1140LAKESTREETLLC114019200S1536001412814

WATERTOWERRLTYMGMNT11449650S77200974047

TAXPAYEROF115010036S802881002612

LEMOYNEPKY

STEPHENWROGERS2134375S568851013

LENOXST

DEANNABARNES4104794S731146002

GBOLAHANAMUSA4605680S866246762

MICHELLEWSTARKS4645680S866248610

LINDENAVE

WOLSKI&OWEN40116560S2318489209 DVBOMAR60517500S24500156450 SADAFELAHI64716724S23414119230 N&SROBERTS9146200S945565283 MARIONSHEEHAN11006400S976044032

JOHNCHARLESYAGER110110120S1543344196 MELBOURNEANOELJR11286200S945546170 TONYFLETCHER12056200S945545139 SUSANERHOMBERGTRUST12184712S718640800 LOMBARDAVEN

LINDSAYWOODS1516327S885844142 BLAKE&MNOVOTNY1548550S1197071676

ROSHANMAWANI1658550S1197023677

ANNABIANCHIDECLARATI1788550S1197047306

GIL&DIANASEEBER2006669S933733047 JAYJINGST2118550S1197030627

TRUSTEEFORTHEJUREWI2278550S1197068557 GOODMAN3167695S1077350874

BENEDICTGIERLMD3208550S1197050583 EMILYNMEYER8293150S409530274 BRADLEYRMONTANA8353150S409545905

ERIKJACOBSEN&NABIHA9104646S604031488

JCZAJKA&JAYRANZ9454646S604054058 JOHNWELLEN10444125S536322000 ALTUSGROUPUSINC11104110S534324118

LOMBARDAVES

ANDREWCMAYCHRUK5153125S437523605 NORLING&KALINOWSKI5276250S875052488 JNAFFZIGER&KWALZ5414687S656237306 WILLIAMSKODA6204650S651026116 ADADOLPH6336250S875047249 MCDONALD10193125S437527110 CAROLYNMEERS10373125S437528759 J&RLOPEZ10393125S437525484

LYMANAVES

TIMPOMAVILLE5004104S5746139028

CIMPARINVESTMENTS5018157S11420166625 TIMPOMAVILLE5044588S6423139028 TIMPOMAVILLE5064588S642352963 CIMPARINVESTMENTS5074306S6028874 TIMPOMAVILLE5084588S6423754 CHARLESDUNN5244588S642335684 PAULMSCHROECK5314588S642334096 SALVADORBOLANOS8104725S661528731 RWARRENREXFORD8214880S683235268 CARLREK8424725S661529380 JULIOESCALONA11144725S661539414 EDWARDWISEJR11414158S582143179 RACHAELTELLEEN11434284S599829184

MADISONST

BENJAMINTATE263125S437539625 STEPHENJMUDJER4359544396345 STEPHENJMUDJER43511743S16440736071 MIDWESTPROPGROUPOPH5029563S13388100721

AHOAKPARKADELAWARE71137380S523322082420 OAKPARKMADISONSTREETLLC72218450S14760014150 AHOAKPARKLLC7257334S10268231380 OAKPARKMADISONSTREETLLC72812300S984007248

MIDWESTPROPGRPOPH8391956S273825180 TIMOTHYJARADO11473500S490042100

MAPLEAVN

DECARIONTRUST10412318S400116480

MAPLEAVEN

RICHARDAGENGE3244700S611034295

MAPLEAVES

RPFOX1178840S7072010475 RPFOX1268840S70720147583

RPFOX1309350S74800134610

VILLAGEWALKASSOC32010984S11

STACEYTURNERHILL34030490S67514546

ASHULLC40910163S15245119752

THEODORE&MARIEPAUL7028500S1190037653

ANNELKWEIST11564250S595033165

JOHN&CHRISBLAKEY11628500S1190030350

MAPLETONAVE

JOHNRWILSON9284646S604027430

MARIONAVES

RPFOX&ASSOCINC1178840S7072012222

CARLETONHOTEL1238500S68000561839

RPFOX13918297S1463761137776

MARIONST

109NMARIONSTREETPR1095507S440634965

MARIONSTN

LAVERNECOLLINS1017930194381 PAUL&PERLITATAYLOR1053757S3005689367

RPFOXANDASSOC110118661451124

KIERANJPHELANJRTR1194846131163

K&A&AHUMAYUN1256404S51232270932

OXFORDBANK&TRUST1385134135010

ADAMDTROWBRIDGE&JE4129240S142217046 EDWARD&ITACOSTELLO4129240S142217046

CASSANDRADWILSON4129240S142217047 MICHAELCMCGONIGALTR4129240S144517320 PAMELALEHNER4129240S144517320 COURTNEYCARTER4129240S144517320

ROSEAHERMANNSTRUSTE4129240S144517320 SERGEICANILOV4129240S144517320 ANGELAJMOORE4129240S144517320 SARALBUEHLERTRUSTEE4173600S468037820 CHICAGOTITLELAND4208125S1137594612 SARAHCMATHEW5227800S1014034196 ALEXANDERJLUCAS7146960S904836986 MARTINHOFFMANN7389222S1198974361 ANASTASIAVALENTINE7427739S100611850 S&JMCMILLIAN7466960S904825140 MARKBKNICKELBEIN9009034S1377754955 BYRONTAYLOR9097304S1113953957 EVELYNLNELSON9268700S1326836125 MERRYLEEMDODEN11398450S1288644065 MARIONSTS

RPFOX&ASSOC2198840S7072014061 RPFOXASSOC2205412S432967651 244MARIONOPLLC2448250S12375116625 NORTHAVE

CRAIGVOLPE65413125S250002862 CRAIGVOLPE65433125S250001717 FABRICASSELECTASPROP65473125S25000100798 WOODBINENURSING690931250S2500001320724 CHIVANUTH69516249S953066421 RUN36COUNTERINC7001484819904 RUN36COUNTERINC7003475219904

NORTHBLVD

JOHNDTOOMEY8185819S46552188751 USBANKCORPRE82210000S320006989 GOLDMANINVEST930NB93026728S34746779637 OAKPARKAVEN

NICKELINVESTGROUPAN10514996S410313700 AJAYBHATIA10714996S1932796122 GARYCOLLINS115115484698609 HF-BROADVIEWLLCANDHOUSINGFORWARD21111970S431574045 CHARLESCOZETTE40311020S1542867724 JEROLIMJURAVIC42710089S1412567975 ANNLSTRAW51610750S1505089868 THOMAS&HEDIBABBO52414190S19866103000 ROBERTAHARRIS53214405S2016772594 TD&NEBILYK54614562S2038778313 NEILRENZI60515390S2000770024 RMICHAELPING6198550S1111557378 BBERRY&DKERSEY70211618S1626548222 JENNIFERBUCKLEY7389006S1260859942 MATTHEWABEINLICH8278150S1059557776 NATHANJRIEGLER9126250S953150255 EDNAGREEN11085580S851036412

ROBERTB.ROWEJR.11158150S1242955056

XAVIERRWILSON12005976S911351169

OAKPARKAVES

WENESDAYJOURNALBLDG13720979183270

GREENPLANSOAKLLC17120985217667

ANNABIANCHITRUSTEET2214699S704935958

EMMALAQUINO2377050S1057547292

TIMOTHYKINCER3089250S1295043154

NEILBORG3226290S880641595

MICHAELBARON5206300S882032842

RALPHLOZANO5304567S639434434

ALBERTDUMAR277795443780S529244590

JOHNBRADLEY6175000S700035368

DRCOLATHURPALANI82312531S9824187018

continued on next page

continued from previous page

TRAXREALTYLTD90014944S20922134678

KENNETHDCALLERO10394830S676252238

ROSALIEKERRINS11014692S656963481

ONTARIOST

HCPAMILLINOISLLC11117584S9859398959

HCPAMILLINOISLLC111132150S417951595836

PLEASANTST

915919PLEASANTLLC9176120S9180100820

ALROSSELL10144270S640551021

203SOUTHMARIONCORP11058500S27200941025

203SOUTHMARIONCORP11058500S27200941025

203SOUTHMARIONCORP11058500S27200941025

203SOUTHMARIONCORP11058500S27200941025

RIDGELANDAVEN

GEOFFREY&TRACIPRATT1757725S1004344958 JAMESADENUCCIO&COR2046840S957640345 J&MCOHEN2138600S1118073556 MARCLUNARDINI2258600S11180136340 HENRYEREID3236020S782659174

MICHAEL&JESSICAFOUS5187500S975044916 ANDERSONFAMILYTRUST5318600S1118049120

THORMARTIN5328550S1111533830

SUSANREICH7159050S1176538473 M&CACKERMAN9344960S644844079 STEPHENSMITHBENNETT10156086S928141686

DAVIDSKUPPERMAN11325000S650021879 OBUMNEMEEOSINEME11385343S694640204 ANDREWAKAMPHUIS12125000S650041472

RIDGELANDAVES

MICHAELOLEAVY4365712S3519134724 EROSSBACHJR&LKRIE6275040S705622242

KELLYNOONAN&WKOCH8196199S867946716

RICHARD&BETHWINKLER8244725S661538385

JENNIFERROMAN11153780S529231600

EDWARDJPAWLOWSKI11313150S441036232

STEVENBYRD11394199S587935612

ADAMGILL11763150S441033290

PATRICIAKENT11813780S529242108

ROOSEVELTRD

HIEPXLE60323125S437526643

FMALLINC61366250S2343891789

ASSOCIATEDTIRE&BATT62086250S5000051334

ASSOCIATEDTIRE&BATT62106250S5000042851

DEICUGINILLC65306287S4371022756

DEICUGINILLC65343150S219019743

DEICUGINILLC65363150S2190116641

WENMIAOLLC66008487S1188283267

ROOSEVELTRDW

MJCERMAKLLC612010176S1424661548

ROSSELLAVE

BRYANWEBSTER11176800S1037047080

SCHNEIDERAVE

DAVIDLEVY11254166S541642201

SCOVILLEAVEN

A&AMORRIS1587310S950348341 STEVEN&DANANASRALLA2168944S1162761726 MARKTHOMMA4297740S1083674794

SCOVILLEAVES

DAVIDSILVERSTEIN1228750S1225057635

HARRYASHTONIV2048750S1225090250 ALLANLIBUNAO2207000S980046945 PAUL&NICOLERAIDL3258750S1225072970 KARENKILPATRICK3268750S1225067750 THEESPOSITOLUNDQUIST7164410S617451523

CHRISTOPHERAHALL7313780S529244596

KATHLEENMPEARCE10464693S657036307 MARIAKURTZ11713150S441028734

SOUTHBLVD

RICHMOND&STATIONCON3054320S604825718 WESTCERMAKREALTY40114999S20999124858 717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL715631S504825488 717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S111157630 717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S108556258

717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S127165928

717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S109056519

717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S129066908

717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S114859525 717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S110657369

717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S130767758

717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S154380042 717SOUTHBOULEVARDLL7158999S164885465

TAYLORAVEN

SHIRLEYMAXWELL1314420S618843812 KARLLAUGER1648550S1197042816 VIVIANSKLEINKOPF2178550S1197045080 THETKATCHUKFAMILYTR3325634S788841558 SUSANCABBOTTTRUST&5308550S1111533409 OPTROSPROPERTYINVEST5388550S1111536885 SCOTT&SHAUNAWEBB6086787S882344610 KATHLEENROLFF6186787S882337949 SABRENAWETZEL6455985S778135968 DENNISABONNER7276300S819045166 CHARLESWHITTY8353780S491423326 SARAHMARTINEZ8404536S589719626 J&MFREIBUR9064725S614330318 JACKA.WELLS9234687S609328558

MARTINVTORRES9474625S601330399

NICOLEKLOSOWSKI10013750S487541825 WMD&MARYMRICE10114125S536320038 THELMABROWN10314125S536348051 KEINOROBINSON10404125S536330097 MARYJETER11154795S623431345

JESSE&WENDYCOFFELT11164795S623427327 IVANBRESCHNEV12154658S605562616 HCORWIN&DCLAYTON12194658S605544372

TAYLORAVES

MICAHJHUGHES1096120S856853290 GUPTA&BYER1346880S963261571 MRCANNON1416880S963241868 BALANZAFISHER2167052S987347156 ABRAMILLMAN3167310S1023445234 JESSEBWILLIAMS5264158S582135888 JENNIFERKOWALL6224410S617430531 MATTHEWDBARBER7233720S520831892 DARROW&RYAN7423150S441036050 KA&AABALES7436200S868055790 DEUTSCHEBANKPHHMTG8303937S551229501 EDITHKAUSE9213075S430528987 CAROLYNFERRARO11436128S857937259 THOMASSTW

MARYLOUCIVIDINO112018017S140327456 STEPHEN&BFORWARD112018017S140327456 SUJAYSHARMA112018017S128125073 JOHNPWARD112018017S131225669 CANDICEBROCK112018017S136626723 LORNEJBROWN112018017S146428648 JANICEMYERS112018017S134226265 JERRYJU112018017S122023881 CALVINANDRUTHGRAY112018017S124424340 VICTORIASCHNUREATRUS112018017S152229794 CDEEGAN&LAGGARWAL112018017S146428648

SHEILARTRAINOR112018017S134226265

TRUSTEEFORTHEFELICE112018017S138227044 HARSHAL&PALAKJANI112018017S149429244

LORNEJBROWN112018017S661283 LORNEJBROWN112018017S661283

SUJAYSHARMA112018017S1172292

SHEILARTRAINOR112018017S1172292

STEPH&BEVRLYFORWARD112018017S1172292

JANICEMYERS112018017S1312567

CANDICEBROCK112018017S1172292

CANDICEBROCK112018017S1172292

JANICEMYERS112018017S1312567

JOHNPWARD112018017S1172292

CDEEGAN&LAGGARWAL112018017S1172292

CDEEGAN&LAGGARWAL112018017S1172292

CALVINANDRUTHGRAY112018017S1172292

CALVINANDRUTHGRAY112018017S1172292

STEPHEN&BFORWARD112018017S1272475

JERRYWU112018017S1172292

JERRYJU112018017S1172292

HARSHAI&PALAKJANI112018017S1172292

MARYLOUCIVIDINO112018017S1172292

FELICEEMACIEJEWSKI112018017S1172292

VICTORIASCHNUREATRUS112018017S1172292

FELICEEMACIEJEWSKI112018017S1172292

VANBURENST

OAKPARKHOUSINGOWN80112500S40000342292

WASHINGTONBLVD

CHICAGOTITLELANDTRU107500S10500489493 DENNISMARANI26111758S37626419067

OPMANAGEMENTLLC4288550S11970105230

WENONAHAVE

CARLOSMUNOZ5246250S875030001 ALEX&JESSICAKUMAR6055000S700039758 ROBERTJMCANDREWS7166250S875053039 ANDREWSIMMONS7293750S525042582 MATTHEWDEAN10035625S787537358 FIGELJOHN10245625S787544727 ANDREW&SHARONBYRNE10274500S630031624 M&CFENSKE11135625S787534004 MARYTHERESEDOHENY11145625S787531506 FLOYDMOHLER&KRISTEN11185625S787552614 DAVIDTHOMASON11385625S787538755 JIMEGEBERG11415850S819045668 STEVENBROMLEY11425625S787538405 PAULCOLLINS11465625S787536973

WESLEYAVE

THOMPSONDAWSON11211783S1649657776 JJENKS&DBROUSSARD2188600S1204076000 WAYBACKINN416EX00 JESSICAMONTANEZ5123150S441036120 STEPHANIEMUNLEY6156300S882045755 JOELWOSTRANDER6174725S661531913 ERICRJOHNSON7403125S437533586 CHARLESCKOHLER8206250S875040507 DENISOKEEFE11016300S882047931 JOSHUAANDERSSON11044725S661543158 IRWIN&JANICELOUD11464221S590932236 CAROLYNMARCH11544725S661530724

WESLEYAVES

MARKFRENDEN7074714S660034119

WISCONSINAVE

1STUNITEDMETHODIST414EX00 LESLIESANCHEZ7004162S582728560 IRVINCERNAUSKAS7124687S656244569 JOHNCLILLIG9183900S546032344 WILLIAMJKEARLEY9364500S630034148 ANDREWSFREER10358550S1197082236 MARIANSALDANA11794788S670333475

WOODBINEAVE

527WOODBINELLC5277667S996762533 PATRICK&SARAHSCHOTT5486720S873648650 VERHAGENMETMANFAMILY7266240S811241040 RANDHARLOW8118950S1163562858 M&VDESIDERIO10067696S1173665142 SANDEEP&CAROLYNSOOD10278950S1364964742 JROSENTHALLROSENTHAL10347400S1128562428 RHPRATHER11039350S1425947655 ALBERTJIAMMARTINO11047716S1176759934 TFIN&JHARDENFIN11398950S1364962552 PETER&LDALESSANDRO120117098S26075114434

River Forest’s lost subdivision

Glorious but cursed, Edgewater Park’s homes flooded, burned

By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

Drive down Thatcher Avenue near Division Street, look west and you see the forest stretching down toward the Des Plaines River.

But for a sometimes shining but, too often, soggy moment, that patch of Thatcher Woods was known as Edgewater Park, a River Forest subdivision with a dozen or more homes.

Built in the late 1890s, Edgewater Park had its attractions. Frank FioRito, a local historian has been researching the subdivision since he first came upon famed photographer Philander Barclay’s images of the area from the turn of the last century.

FioRito points to the river setting, the available land, a nearby rail line and a picnic spot called Central Grove as lures to new residents. But he notes that unlike many other parts of the area now inhabited by River Forest and Oak Park, this parcel had never been home to Native Americans because “they had the good sense not

to live there.”

FioRito is a long-time volunteer and current board member with the Oak Park River Forest Historical Society and frequently contributes to the society’s newsletter. A self-proclaimed history buff with a bent for researching, he is always on the lookout for untold tales about the villages of Oak Park and River Forest.

A topic he first covered in the fall of 2021 garnered enough interest that he turned the article into a presentation and has been sharing it with standing-room-only crowds at both the OPRF Museum and the River Forest Library.

FioRito, who grew up in the area, is not sure how he first heard about Edgewater Park. But when he stumbled upon some photos taken by the legendary and eccentric Philander Barclay at the turn of the 20th century, he knew he had a topic he could sink his teeth into.

A Barclay photo in FioRito’s presentation shows the Wisconsin Central train line’s bridge over the Des Plaines River in 1890. The end of the line locally was an

and, finally, were bulldozed

area past Thatcher’s Park, known as Central Grove, where there was a train station that was used only for events.

Central Grove was established as a gathering spot around 1888 and used for church and school picnics. River Forest was established in 1880 as a dry town, but it wasn’t uncommon for visitors to Central Grove to enjoy a bit of alcohol.

FioRito found reference in the Chicago Daily Tribune to a September 1888 picnic in Central Grove for over 5,000 labor picnickers who were said to have enjoyed some beer on the train out from the city. An

1891 Anarchists’ picnic in Central Grove to raise money for the Martyrs’ Monument Fund after the Haymarket affair failed to raise much money after funds were diverted for the purchase of beer.

Beyond the Central Grove gathering spot, Edgewater Park was also becoming a residential area at the end of the 1800’s, likely for the first time.

The land was purchased by George Fadner around 1890, and the subdivision was filed in the Cook County Book of Plats in December 1892. The subdivision ran west

PROVIDED BY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST

UNDER WATER: The Des Plaines rose and the homes flooded at Edgewater Park. PROVIDED BY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST

& FRESHLOCAL

“Quality,

A ordable, Independent Housing for Seniors”

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

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

LOST SUBDIVISION

‘Returned to nature’

from page 21

of Thatcher to the river. The railroad was to the north, and the southern-most lots ran along Division Street.

By 1897, when the Des Plaines River flooded, five to six feet of water went through Edgewater Park. Philander Barclay was on hand to photograph the homes surrounded by water. The flooding was re gular enough that people called the area Little Venice.

FioRito says it must have been a challenging place to live. As more villages developed upriver from Edgewater Park, their sewage flowed directly into the river. A sewage interceptor wasn’t installed until the 1930s. With a river that averaged three feet high in normal times but as high as 13 feet when flooded, that was a disaster for nearby homes.

Frequent flooding was also coupled with another hazard: frequent fires. A water tank for train engines to refill was located

at the entrance of Edgewater Park. When trains parked there to refill, sparks could land on the nearby homes. From 1903 to 1905, three of the neighborhood’s 13 homes were destroyed by fire, and the general store caught on fire in 1903.

During his presentation, FioRito shares the stories of several families who lived in Edgewater Park, including John B. Nendrick Jr., who grew up in the area and drew a map of the area based on his memories of the houses.

At some point in the 1930’s, the initial attractions of the area had faded away according to FioRito. “The train went bust. There was flooding and fires. The Central Grove picnic area closed.”

In 1938, the subdivision was closed by order of the Village of River Forest. Any remaining homes were bulldozed. In 1957, Edgewater Park was officially removed as a subdivision of River Forest. FioRito notes that the area is now subsumed by the Forest Preserve near Thatcher Woods. He says that you can walk into the woods where Division crosses Thatcher and try to imagine where it all once was, but when he did so for his research, he wasn’t able to find a trace of Edgewater Park

VIEWPOINTS

Living with intention

Kudos to my friend, colleague and editor, Ken Trainor, for his column in last week’s Wednesday Jour nal titled, “What my 83-year-old says.” Just the fact that he wrote about that topic is, in and of itself, worthy of compliment. It is an example of not fearing and denying the inevitable. It is an example of trying to live with intention, not just out of habit

Ken’s “conversation” with his 83-year-old self helps all of us live with intention. He writes of the elephant in the room that most of us ignore, either by choice or out of habit. Thank you, Ken.

MARC

BLESOFF

I especially like his paragraph: “Between 73 and 83, how many funerals will I attend, how many dear friends and family will I lose? Will I be a fuller human being despite the suffering I may have to endure … or maybe because I suffer? Will I become kinder, more understanding, more patient, wiser?”

This is the key to conscious aging. Realizing the opportunities that can be available to us as we age. In this one paragraph, Ken gets to the heart of the matter. The rest of his column emphasizes a different point of view, which can be summed up by his 83-year-old saying, “You’ve got 10 years. It’s a gift. What are you going to do with it?” Yes, it’s a gift. To me, the important question is, “How are you going to be with it?”

This is the difference between a human doing and a human being.

Since 1900, we’ve added more longevity to our lifespan than all previous human existence. We are in a new phase for our species and we are figuring it out as we go. Our increased longevity gives us the opportunity to get closer to being the person we’d like to be. Of course, in order to do that, we have to have some idea who that person we’d like to be is

Our third stage of life, no matter how many years it may last, is not only about “doing it now” or accomplishing a bucket list. It’s also about allowing our bucket list to change or to grow or to unfold. We have no idea what might be possible as we age. Let’s allow whatever it is to emerge. Our third stage of life gives us that opportunity if we are open to it. Yes, our time here is a gift. Purpose is an important part of life. For many of us, purpose is expressed as getting things done

As we age, what’s really important to us often changes. Let’s not hold with clenched fists to our middle-age “to do” lists. As William Martin writes in The Sage’s Tao Te Ching, “There is loss in growing older

But if you can manage not to cling, your hands will remain open, ready to receive new gifts of contentment, wisdom and depth of soul.”

Thank you, again, Ken, for putting this discussion on the table and for raising very good points. One thing we have in common is that our columns are all perfectly imperfect

Sixty years ago, I said “Right On!” Today I say to you, “Write On!”

Our

We’ve never needed to read this more than now:

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America:

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — That to secure these rights, gover nments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the gover ned — That whenever any form of gover nment becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new gover nment, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness Prudence, indeed, will dictate that gover nments long established should not be changed for light

and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the for ms to which they are accustomed

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such gover nment, and to provide new guards for their future security — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of gover nment. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Gover nors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

Yes, to the bike plan

Oak Park has been working for far too long to craft a master plan to grow the safe use of bikes in the village. Now there is a plan and it is teed up for a village board vote in the weeks ahead.

We are talking years in development. We are talking about a serious plan that alters how we view our public streets, sees them as more than exclusive pathways for cars, focuses hard on safety and making biking a true option for kids and elders and not just for highly skilled bike riders with their spandex shorts and pricy bikes.

This is a foundational change in how Oak Park will consider transportation. And it is overdue. It is fine, maybe, that Oak Park officials have set two public hearings on the proposed bike plan just weeks before this long-in-creation master plan is potentially adopted by the village board. The public will arrive and largely those who live along Harvard Street, an east-west artery south of the Ike, will object to the plan because it would eliminate parking on both sides of the street.

Hopefully, some of their concerns can be ironed out thoughtfully through the upcoming feedback sessions before the plan is voted on. As it stands, the board expects to vote on the bike plan on July 22, hot on the heels of these public meetings.

Certainly elected officials should listen to the concerns of constituents. But this isn’t the moment to go wobbly and water down this bold, but not really that bold, idea that streets are not by right auto-centric, and that parking two-ton machines directly in front of your home does not come with the mortg age.

Why Harvard as the first step in building out a genuine bike network in Oak Park? As we have explained before, Harvard connects most of the vital public spaces in South Oak Park. Bar rie Park Car roll Park. Lincoln School. Irving School. Almost Rehm Park and its playground and pool. It has the critical virtue of already installed stoplights at Oak Park and Ridgeland avenues. And, because it is an east-west street there aren’t as many homes that front on the street.

Our bigger concer n is that Oak Park is prone to talk a good game about climate and sustainability and safety and equity, but that it can go mushy when the time for decisions arrives.

The time to launch a le git plan for biking in this town is right now. Don’t water this thoughtful plan down. Absorb some criticism but don’t cave. This plan is a true and vital change that will make most Oak Parkers proud.

Celebrating America on the 4th

When Francis Scott Key penned the words to what became our national anthem, he ended it with a question. Some think the question is, “O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave?” It certainly does wave, and hang, from flagpoles and stadium rafters across this vast land. But that wasn’t his question. What he asked then, and challenges the rest of us to ask every year hence, is: Does the flag still wave over “the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

The answer is … complicated, especially in 2025 when most Americans are much less free and far less brave

There are exceptions. Millions of us as are freely and bravely condemning this Abominable Administration, this Co majority, this Spineless Senate and this Horrific House of Re presentati

As our nation turns 249, it’s hard to feel celebratory, but we the majority who didn’t v Donald.

In his first inaugural address, Bill Clinton, back when we dents, said, “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured right with America.” I belie than I did in 1993, but my patriotism still has a pulse. A patriot is someone who loves the flag only for what it symboliz who hates when phony patriots stars and stripes but oppose for.

A patriot understands that the idealized version of the United States. I love America. I have mixed feelings about the United States. In 2025, the gulf between the ideal and the real has never been wider.

TRAINOR

America is that compelling.

I love the America that, in spite of our deeply ingrained racism, elected a Black president — twice! I love the America that was willing to fight a war to preserve the Union and abolish slavery, suf fering staggering losses to make it happen. I love the America that produced an extraordinary leader, and human being, like Abraham Lincoln.

I love that Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr. try to hold us to our creed — and Bernie Sanders refusing to accept widening economic inequality, and Joe Biden understanding that government is not just of the people and by the people but also for the people — and proving it, though too few noticed.

The ideal can be found on the Statue of Liberty in a poem by Emma Lazarus, which describes a compassionate, open, welcoming America. I love the America that embraces the wretched and tempest-tossed from other shores, yearning to breathe free. I’m not so thrilled by the United States when it kidnaps people of color on our streets and depor ts them to foreign lands without due process of law. I don’t love depriving the poor and middle class to give massive handouts to billionaires.

America has never realized its ideals — democracy has always been more virtual than real — yet despite frustrating setbacks, patriots are still working hard to close the gap between the United States and America.

I love the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th and 14th amendments, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Title IX, Obergefell v. Hodges and other ef for ts to close the gap. Despite concerted ef for ts to prevent or reverse progress, we keep inching forward because the ideal of

our national parks. I love FDR’s ich defeated the Depression, Poverty, which raised the life for many Americans. I love Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and fordable Care Act, incremental ste ps rsal health care system

the moon landings and the national pride it generated. I love the courage and generosity of the American people in the wake of disasters like 9/11 and Hurricane the federal government when it tames a raging pandemic and rnment works when it’s in the hands of competent people (i.e. when Democrats are in charge).

freedom of speech when it involves actual speech, not money, and individuals, not soulless corporate entities. I love freership — and freedom from the “worship” that justifies discrimination, harms the poor and the planet, and denies women their re productive rights.

I love uncensored public education and public libraries, public transit, public health, public art, the public domain, and the public sector. I love anything that goes beyond greedy, short-sighted, self-interest and shores up the public good.

On July 4th each year, I quietly celebrate an America with malice toward none and charity toward all, an America that is neither slave nor master, an America that lifts its lamp beside our golden door, an America where what’s right about us will eventually cure what’s wrong with us, an America that will someday live up to its creed: that all people are created equal and everyone is judged by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin.

July 4th is our day to celebrate the dream. The day after, we go back to the hard work of closing the gap between the United States and America.

Living up to our values is hard

Iworry we are skipping over the careful reasoning that got us the proposed bike plan. Instead it seems we are reacting only to the change of use to a public space.

How we treat Harvard Street is a test of whether Oak Park is willing to live up to the values we already say we hold: sustainability, safety, equity, and access These are our values, found throughout many different plans. They shaped the Climate Plan. They shaped the Vision Zero Plan. And they gave rise to the Oak Park Bike Plan.

STEPHEN STASSEN

One View

On page 7 the Bike Plan states a specific objective to meet our values:

“This is an All Ages and Abilities plan, meaning we are focused on a network where old residents, young residents, and less-confident cyclists see bicycling as a safe and comfortable option.”

To my knowledge, no one has argued against this objective. Some seem to not realize that this objective has implications on use of spaces. The plan doesn’t just try to “improve safety or access.” It defines what kinds of treatments are needed to reach that objective. There is clear research behind the recommendations, and the summary of that research is laid out starting on page 27 of the plan.

Not all bike infrastructure is equal, and the plan explains why certain designs are more appropriate to meet the objective of all ages and abilities seeing biking as a safe option. The Harvard design reflects the infrastructure standards laid out in the Bike Plan to meet its All Ages and Abilities objective. Diluting the design means falling short of that objective. But meeting that objective requires reallocating public space, and that can be difficult, especially when the change is expected right outside your front door.

Some say Harvard feels safe to bike as is. That is true for them, but not true for all. We heard directly from kids at the board meeting who said they don’t feel safe biking to school because of Harvard. The plan doesn’t aim to “make biking feel safe for most people.” It says “all.” Their statements alone should tell us we are not meeting the objective. We also know, because of research, what is needed to make that street feel safe for all. That is the proposed solution on Harvard, and every other intervention in the plan. Living up to our values is hard. I think we can all empathize with that. But we should not abandon those values when they become inconvenient. The Bike Plan is how we start to live some of our values out in a public space.

Harvard’s design is one step. But it matters. Let’s not back away from our values now.

Stephen Stassen is an Oak Park resident.

e Madleen can’t compare with D-Day

I am writing in response to Joe Harrington’s letter “What the Madleen and D-Day have in common” [Viewpoints, June 18].

The letter diminishes the sacrifice of 160,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought for the Allies on D-Day to bring about a crushing defeat of Nazi Ger many. Comparing their

sacrifice with anything done by Greta Thunberg and friends on the Madleen demeans the memory of those who died on the beaches of Normandy, and those who lived with their losses.

Among those, I include my father, who landed in France on D-Day+2, his brother, and many of the men of their generation who I knew when I was

young.

It’s a letter full of innuendo. Harrington talks about blockades, genocide and parties guilty of (his words) terrible acts without ever naming the “guilty party.” Does Harrington not know? Is he being crafty?

Alan Peres Oak Park

Wouldn’t it be nice?

D-Day observation. Come and gone. No Kings national protest. Come and gone. Juneteenth. All of these events, going back 81 years or as recent as two weeks ago, relate to one segment of humanity in conflict with another segment. D-Day helped stop Nazi Ger many from further inflicting its evil intentions. No Kings protests hope to stop our current domestic slide into authoritarianism. Juneteenth is notable in the context of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.

Clearly these struggles are still ongoing. Fascism. Authoritarianism. Racism. Perhaps they will never be per manently resolved. Why? Human

beings are obviously not inclined to work for a common good. Feel free to convince me otherwise. That is, beyond a personal opinion, prove me — and tomes of historical records — wrong That is not to say we should give up. I’ve been around long enough to feel pretty cynical about humanity. I served during Vietnam and still don’t understand why we were there. Well, I do understand post-WWII geopolitics, and why Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon went along with that quagmire — until national politics compelled them to be pragmatic. The betrayal of those who died in that conflict! Now, sadly, but not shockingly, we’re about to help embroil the Middle East

with increasing carnage. Bombs in their bunkers on alert. And racism is absolutely still a fact of life for Black people and Brown people are getting ICED. The working class as a whole is in the crosshairs of our current reckless and nefarious administration. Maybe we should call every month “Teenth.” Coming up: JulyTeenth. Then AugustTeenth and so on. Hang in there. Keep the (some?) faith. Practice critical listening and thinking. In the immortal words of Rodney King: “Can’t we all just get along?” In the immortal words of Brian Wilson, “Wouldn’t it be nice?”

Joseph Harrington Oak Park

Harmon continues to diss ‘fair maps’

Monday evening, June 23, state Senator Don Harmon held the annual summary of last year’s legislative session, with his cohort state Re presentative Camille Lilly. After reviewing the state’s new budget, Harmon and Lilly took questions, with his response partially attributing the session’s disappointments to the “two chamber” problem; bills get passed in the House but not the Senate, and vice versa, which set up my question.

In 2020, after the Illinois House passed a bill to create an independent legislative mapping commission and forwarded it to the State Senate, Don Harmon pocket-vetoed the Senate version, never letting it get to the

floor for a vote. A lot has happened since then, specifically last November’s election included a “fair maps” referendum for the creation of a state independent legislative mapping commission. The referendum passed with an 81% majority of Oak Park Township voters. So with the 2030 U.S. Census looming, I asked Sen. Harmon if he was going to rebu ff the will of his constituents by continuing to block “fair maps” in Illinois. His short answer was “Yes.”

As he has done when I previously asked him about “fair maps,” Sen. Harmon defended the existing redistricting procedures, including the redherring argument that if gerryman-

dering is still allowed in Red States across the nation, he would not stand for a threat to Illinois’ version. However, it was another part of his argument that should strike a nerve for the thousands last November who voted “Yes” to the creation of an independent legislative mapping commission. Harmon dismissed the value of advisory referendums as no reason to change things in Illinois.

In light of the current investigation of his possible campaign finance violations, my final rebuttal was that, during the next district community meeting, we could discuss ethics.

Chris Donovan Oak Park

SHRUB TO WN by Marc Stopeck

A sad day for

Farmers Market

I want to share my lamentation for the loss of one of my favorite features of the Far mers Market: the lovely tree under which the musicians of the Far mer Market Band (& their fans) found shaded comfort. This photo was taken Mond mor ning. Given the weather so far this summer, we need all the shade we can get!

Jack Bizot

Oak

Rallies in the alley

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. A esult, we will do our best not to publish pieces that e 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 tend to be used as a platform for misinformation. Your ces for fact-checking are a critical step in keeping the rse honest, decent and respectful.

As it had been more than 45 years since our alley received any attention, the 200 South blocks of East (east side) and Scoville avenues (west side) held a celebration and ribbon-cutting to acknowledge the repair of our wonderful new alley. This may be the first one of these events held in Oak Park and was well attended by our alley mates, many of whom we had never for mally met. In fact we had such a good time, we will be holding future “rallies in the alley.” Thanks to the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce for loan of their huge scissors and to Oak Park for good use of our tax dollars.

Sue Boyer (Scoville) & Deb Wess (East) Oak Park

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

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

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

■ 350-word limit

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

‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY

■ 500-word limit

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

■ Signature details as at left

anks for supporting e Day Nursery

On behalf of The Day Nursery, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to President Vicki Scaman, the village trustees, Village Manager Kevin Jackson, and the hardworking village staff for working with us to secure a loan during a time of ongoing challenges. We would also like to thank state Senator Don Harmon and his staff for securing additional funding for The Day Nursery for the coming year

Like many early childhood providers, The Day Nursery has faced significant financial

Do we really need bike lanes?

My contribution to the bike-lane controversy in general is prompted by the sudden appearance of a bike lane for a block or so on Fillmore, in southeast Oak Park Perhaps this has been asked in the past, but has a study been done on the need for bike lanes in Oak Park, or is the village operating under the assumption that “if they paint them, they will come”?

If the latter, we already have an answer: In the several years since elaborate bike lanes were constructed on Madison, I have seen seven total bicyclists riding in them. Admittedly, I don’t drive or ride on Madison on a regular basis; however, a friend who does says he has never seen a cyclist using those lanes. On the other hand, I have often seen small groups of cyclists out for mor ning rides on streets without such lanes. They might group together a bit for a time, but they stay aware of their surroundings and form a single line when cars approach. They seem happy to be biking. They don’t look terrified.

Steven Kvaal Oak Park

hardships since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these difficulties, our dedication to the values of equity and inclusion — values we know are shared deeply by our community — has never wavered. From our founding in 1912 to the present, The Day Nursery has supported working families in our community, and we are confident that the financial support provided by the village and the state will continue to allow us to do so, well into the future.

The support from the village and the state

is not only an investment in our institution, but in the families we serve in our community and surrounding areas. We are undertaking a thorough assessment of every aspect of our program to ensure The Day Nursery will thrive despite the challenges that many early child education providers are facing. We are committed to using these funds responsibly to strengthen our long-term sustainability, ensure continuity of care, and maintain the high-quality inclusive early education that every child deserves.

Correcting the numbers

In “Falsehoods of the Harvard bike plan” [Viewpoints, June 25], Rich Pokorny wrote, “Upward of 40 of us have shown up to meetings to make our case Rarely have even 10 people shown up to support the plan.”

If you look at the minutes of the June village board meeting where the draft bike plan was discussed, there were 15 people speaking in favor, 17 against the bike lane. It is not surprising that more

spoke against, given the fact that only those with frontages on Harvard got a letter from the village announcing the meeting. In transportation committee meetings, there were never more than 20 speaking against the bike lane and in one meeting, more were speaking in favor than against.

Justin Vlasits Oak Park

Go plastic free this July

OK, neighbors, Plastic Free July is here! Show off what you’ve been doing all year to avoid plastic — like remembering to take reusable tote bags when you shop at stores and to Far mers Markets. (And don’t bring just one!) Like grabbing those empty clamshell containers for blueberries, strawberries and the like. Like refusing vendors’ offers of non-compostable plastic for their food. And like remembering your own take-home container for

left-over restaurant food. Or, if you forgot it, asking that your food be wrapped up in tin foil. And tur n down those straws if you can still drink from a cup!

Show off your plastic-free habits. You can do this!

And watch here for more tips during Plastic Free July. Go Plastic Free!

Phyllis Rubin River Forest

Codify River Forest term limits

In late December 2024, residents filed a petition for a ballot initiative to limit the River Forest Village Board to two terms in office. No River Forest resident filed an objection to the petition to prevent the referendum question from appearing on the April 1, 2025, ballot. Residents voted 52.51% to approve the measure.

At the village board meeting on June 9, the village attorney publicly shared that, despite having no legal objections to the petition, his office advised our village clerk last December not to certify the question, thereby attempting to prevent the question

We thank the village for reco gnizing the importance of early childhood education and for partnering with us in building a stronger, more equitable future for all.

Scott Dolezal & Aisha Dalley Co-presidents

Catherine Eason Executive director On behalf of The Day Nursery

Turn Pride Month into Pride Year

Especially during Pride Month when the LGBTQ community, and particularly the trans community, have been under attack, it has been very reassuring to see the many Pride flags displayed by Oak Parkers. In particular, I wanted to give a shout-out the 700 N. Lombard Ave. block for their display of Pride. To keep my spirits up, I’ve begun to document the Pride flags I see during walks in my neighborhood and have opened an Instagram account to capture it, @PrideFlagsofOakPark. I encourage us all to keep the LGBTQ community in our hearts and minds during June and throughout the year. Consider making a donation to an organization doing the important work of protecting the community while also flying flags to keep up our neighbors’ spirits.

Deborah Levine Oak Park

from appearing on the ballot.

It appears the village attorney represents only the wishes of our village president and not the village’s citizens, and yet our tax dollars pay the fir m’s legal fees.

The citizens voted in a free and fair election on April 1. Our village attorney’s re-

sponse should not be “do nothing.” Our legal representative should facilitate codifying the vote of the majority of River Forest citizens If you agree, please contact the River Forest Village Board.

Patty Henek River Forest

Do your job, River Forest Village Board

Since the people of River Forest have spoken and voted for ter m limits of elected officials, one would think the village board would move to ratify the vote. Or perhaps going on three months isn’t enough time? After all, it would probably take all of five minutes to do so

Ironic that, coming up on Independence

Day when the colonies made it very clear to Great Britain that they would no longer chafe under the boot heels of a foreign power and created the notion of a moder n democracy, a tiny little village by comparison would feel free to flout the will of the people

Vote? Why bother?

Honoring Frederick Douglass

What was American slavery actually like?

I trust scholars and actual slaves for the truth.

Frederick Douglass wrote three autobiographies that are easily available for anyone. How was he able to beat up his slave master without repercussions? Who paid for his freedom? How big was his influence in ending American slavery? How did he trick the white kids into teaching him how to read?

Why did he say the Irish were worse off than American slaves?

Frederick Douglass was the most photographed person of his time. To this day, people have a picture of him on their wall, even in Oak Park. Why hasn’t a movie been made about his life along with other important Americans?

Robert Sullivan Oak Park

How many opportunities has the River Forest Village Board had to ratify the vote? Doesn’t matter, really — one should be enough.

Stop sitting on your hands, Board, and do your job.

Michael Dickson River Forest

DEI is reverse racism

I thought DEI was dead. It is straight-up reverse racism. Your article with mention of a DEI chief was disappointing. Such positions across the country have been removed due to the obvious racism DEI embraced. The Journal needs to step up with the rest of the country and remove its racist lingo, racist way of thinking.

statue

DOOPER ’S MEMORIES

Domestic challenges

My mother, like mothers of was a stickler for proper beha say nothing of a world-class expert on was good for me eat my spinach because it was good for me, or if I had some piece of uneaten food on my plate, she would remind me of people starving in Asia. When I was a small bo spent some time trying to figur out how to get my lefto Asia until it dawned on me that there was no way I could do it.

My mother also held the view that good manners made life more pleasant, which is true. The phrase “mind your manners” echoes in my mind every time I sit down to eat in a restaurant or at someone’s home and look for the proper fork and remember not to talk when I am chewing food. I was also taught to stand when a lady comes to the table.

My cousin Linda visited us for six weeks

each summer for 10 years, durwe had the customary disputes that seem to be endemic to kids of opposite ho are close in age. were cleaning up after a meal, for instance, frequently argued over the ho would wash and who would dry the dishes r some reason, drying was vity. If Linda re drying, she would now ain deliberately return a lean dish to be re-washed, thus guaranteeing a halt in operations … and another argument.

My cousin never wavered in her claim that my mother spoiled me, but this false claim was balanced by the fact that my grandmother and all of the male members of the household believed that I was mean to her and they showered adoration on her.

I never met a guy who liked domestic chores, but they did them without argument and without pay.

The 14-year-old girl who lived next door

swept the family patio twice a week for a fee. One day I heard her visiting aunt ask her to sweep the leaves off the driveway, and the girl told her aunt that she didn’t do driveways. That remark wouldn’t have worked for me.

I and the guys I knew, including my best friend Eddie, did lawns with push mowers, and also pulled weeds — a miserable job. Eddie and I also dusted furniture, polished silverware, and vacuumed carpets. He told me that if he complained about doing chores, as penance, he had to drop a coin in the slot of the Jewish Relief Fund box at his temple of worship.

When my mother took out the throw rugs and hung them on the clothesline, I would beat the dust out of them with a wire beater, shaped like a large tennis racquet. This was great therapy for releasing bad moods, and it also increased my batting average.

As a consequence of the frequency of my chores, I believe that I became one of the most skilled unpaid teenage domestic workers in my neighborhood.

Meg Lenzey Ganter Oak Park

Second installment tax bills will be mailed late

When Cook County’s second installment property tax bills are sent on time, tax bills hit mailboxes in late June and are due around Aug. 1. This year, however, the mailing and due dates for tax bills will be delayed by at least one month. This means that second installment tax bills will be due no earlier than Sept. 1, and the due date could be later.

For decades, the county agencies involved in preparing property tax bills have been using a 1980s-era mainframe computer system. The county has been phasing out the old mainframe for the last few years, but 2025 marks the first year in which the old system will be phased out completely. This year’s tax bills will be calculated in their entirety under the new system.

The problems associated with the final transition to the new system are the reason for the delay in this year’s tax bills. Hopefully, however, the new system will make it easier for the county to issue tax bills on time in future years.

Ali

STOCK

Frederick Douglass

ElSa ar Oak Park Township Assessor

Remembering

Ed O’Brien

We’ve lived in the Chatterton, the condo building we shared with Ed O’Brien, for over 20 years. I got to know Ed early in our residency when we discovered we both were birders. Large old elm trees stand in front of the building. In spring and fall the trees are way stations for migrating birds. Early on, I’d call Ed, or he’d call me, with news of warbler sightings in our elms. And I discovered that Ed was a remarkably funny man.

In 2013, Henry Griffin, then 13, started bird walks near his home in nor th Oak Park, at Thatcher Woods, Columbus Park and Miller Meadow. Ed was often unable to join those walks because of his work schedule. Eventually he got to go on a few of them. Ed appreciated Henry’s exceptional talent for birding.

When Henry went of f to colle ge, he asked me to take over administering the birding group, I needed capable leaders. Ed and our friend Lisa Spellman were obvious choices. When I recruited them, they g raciously agreed to be our eyes and ears. In fact, early in Ed’s tenure as one of our leaders, he expressed to me how glad he was that our walks would get him exercise that he was not otherwise getting. He recently joined with a subgroup of our birding cabal and went on frequent expeditions all over the area with them, increasing his activity in ways that really energized him. Ed was a great spotter and had a prodigious memory for bird markings and calls. The real fun in walking with Ed was his running commentary, which was always anywhere from droll to hilarious. His humor was often self-deprecating, but the social observations he wove into his ongoing nar rative were often laugh-out-loud funny. Nothing was offlimits in his comic sense, including the LGBTQ community of which he was a part.

Ed McDevitt River Forest

Send letters to the Editor

Ken Trainor, Wednesday Journal

141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

E-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com

Fax: 708-524-0047

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

DECLARATION

Abuses and usurpations from page 24

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly fir mness his invasions on the rights of the people

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their of fices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swar ms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing ar mies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

He has combined others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world

For imposing taxes on us without our consent

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary gover nment, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most

valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our gover nment

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated gover nment here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people

He is at this time transporting large ar mies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear ar ms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the must humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

WE, THEREFORE, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the name and by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all the other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a fir m reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor

David Cwik, 70

Estate and probate attorney

David Leonard Cwik, 70, of Chicago, died on May 21, 2025 after a brief illness. An attor ney of the first rank, he built a successful estate planning and probate practice from his of fice on Nor th Avenue, where he served the people of Galewood and the Nor thwest Side of Chicago for almost 30 years. The son of Olga (née Budzinski), a bookkeeper and homemaker, and Leonard Cwik, a postman and veteran of the Second World War, he grew up in the Belmont-Cra gin neighborhood with his brother Tom and sister Judy, attending public school and graduating from Lane Tech. As an undergraduate at Nor thwester n, he commuted to classes from his parents’ bungalow near Fullerton and Central and worked nights to help pay for his education. After earning his de gree, he went to Notre Dame Law School, and then on to the firms of Pretzel & Stouffer and Ber nie Nevorral & Associates before opening his own practice. He was a true “neighborhood lawyer” of the old school, but also an adventurous and innovative attor ney who took on cases that stretched around the world.

He was a man of many passions – food, travel, friends, family, the Notre Dame

Fighting Irish football team, business biking, pickleball, and his hometo of Chicago. He was a suppo eng aged father and relished the role of “Grandpa Da was generous with his time and accu mulated knowledge to those he beli in, and a benefactor of se the Chicago area. He was generous and g entlemanly, never stinting in praise for those who met his standards

He is survi and her sons, Piotr and children, Bryan, Marissa, Stef Jesse; his brother Tom and sister many gr andchildren; and many associates and friend as family.

A memorial visitation will be held on F riday, July 11 from 4 to 9 Elms Funeral Home 7600 W. Grand Ave. (tur n nor th at 76th Ave.), Elmwood Park

He will be dee ply missed and fondly remembered by his family and friend s.

te bird watcher and a dedicated , he grew the best tomatoes and peños in the neighborhood

An avid motorcycle enthusiast, he took eat pride in his beloved low-rider Harley vidson, often hitting the road with the wind in his hair and rock-and-roll in his soul, his legendary playlist, Led Zeppelin, ush, and Steely Dan, blaring through the ers as he rode with joy and freedom.

A diehard Chicago sports fan, he somew managed to cheer for both the Cubs and the White Sox and never missed a ame. Animals were drawn to him with unexplainable ease. Whether it was a cat or a nervous dog, they all seemed to find comfort in his presence.

He was the life of every gathering, ys cracking jokes, pulling har mless , and making everyone laugh until they cried. His sense of humor, contagious laugh, and ability to bring joy to any room. He was unapologetically Mel.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be gin at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 12 at St. William Church, 2600 N. Sayre Ave., Chicago. Inter ment will be private at the Budzinski/ Cwik family plot in St. Adalber t Cemetery, Niles

In lieu of fl owers, please mak donation to Dom Samotney Matki/Holy Family Single Mother’s House. 2456 Newcastle Ave., Chicago, IL 60707 or to a charitable cause of your choice, or just pick up the check the next time y dinner, to keep the spirit of his generosity and hospitality alive (“since you ha been my guest, beneath my roof need not wander anymore. Y dured enough: you will get home ag Homer, Odyssey 13.4-6)

Mel Gear y, 64

Bird watcher, gardener, low rider

Daniel Joseph “Mel” Geary, 64, died on June 23, 2025 in Schaumburg. Mel was truly one of a kind. He attended Oak and River est High School d life on his ms, filling enture. A

Mel Geary was the father of Taryn; the brother of Mary Kate (Blair); the uncle of Sarah and Nickalas; the great-uncle of Vincenzo and Franco; the son-in-law of Karen Krebsbach; and the friend and neighbor to many. He is preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Carolyn Geary, and Kila Geary.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, July 2, from 4 to 7 p.m., with a Celebration of Life service be ginning at 6:30 p.m. at Michaels Funeral Home and Cremation Care, 800 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation made in Mel’s honor to the Wild Bird Sanctuary by visiting www.worldbirdsanctuary.org and click Donate Now.

To run an obituary

Please contact Ken Trainor by e-mail: ktrainor@wjinc.com, or fax: 708/524-0447 before Monday at noon. Please include a photo if possible.

SPORTS OPRF boys basketball has a strong summer

Huskies begin anew, minus Gossett and Vincent

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

For high school basketball programs in Illinois, summer is a time for developing chemistry and preparing for the start of the season in November. While victories in competitions against quality teams is always nice, that is not the primary goal. It is about determining what progress the team is making.

It’s with this mindset that the Oak Park and River Forest High School boys basketball team entered the Romeoville Live Event this past weekend. While the Huskies won just one of their four games, coach Phil Gary liked the ef fort.

“It was good competition,” he said. “Our guys did really well defensively. I think we caught a lot of teams by surprise; with us no longer having Big Al (Alex Vincent) and (Alex) Gossett, teams think OPRF is going to be down. But we have a scrappy team.”

On June 28, OPRF won its opener against Washington Community, 50-47. Rising senior Jerome Delaney, entering his third varsity season, led the Huskies with 23 points. In the afternoon, rising senior Cameron Woods poured in 24 points, but it wasn’t enough as OPRF fell to Fremd 61-53.

On June 29, OPRF dropped a pair of hard-fought contests: 56-50 to Marian Catholic, and 57-53 to Plainfield East. Delaney and rising junior AJ Enyia each scored 14 points ag ainst Marian Catholic, while Enyia had 17 points and rising sophomore Trent Williams 12 versus Plainfield East.

“Our team is a very hardworking team,” Delaney said. “We put a lot of ef fort into all of our games [this weekend].”

Gossett, now at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Vincent, at Case Western Reserve University, led the Huskies for the last three seasons. While their presence is undoubtedly missed, both Gary and Delaney feel the team is making strides.

“Those two were our big men. This year, we have a smaller team,” Delaney said. “We’ve got to be hustlers and have really good effor ts for the g ames.”

“[The transition] is really going well, honestly,” Gary said. “It’s been easier than I thought with the younger guys stepping up into new roles. The plan for June was to become better defensively, and we were able to push the tempo.”

Delaney and Enyia are OPRF’s returning starters, and Gary likes how they’ve played this summer.

“Jerome, this being his third year on varsity, is our elder

OPRF’s Cam Woods (0) drives to the basket against Marian Catholic dur ing the Romeoville Live Summer Shootout

statesman,” he said. “He was phenomenal this month, as was A.J., who picked up another inch and is 6-7 now.”

OPRF’s players will spend the rest of the summer with their AAU and club teams, honing their skills and getting ready for the upcoming season.

“Of course, we would’ve loved going 3-1,” Gary said, “but getting these guys experience in close games was impor-

tant. The mistakes made are correctable, and by the time winter gets here, those will be fixed. We’re excited.”

“Going forward, we’ve got to keep building up our team chemistry,” Delaney said. “And keep getting in the gym to work on our games and improve our conditioning. It’s definitely heading in the right direction, and we’ve got the potential to be dangerous this season.”

STEVE JOHNSTON

Superconference coming for Catholic high schools

Three Chicago-area leagues will merge next year

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

Founded in 1912, the Chicago Catholic League has been in operation longer than any other high school athletic conference in Illinois. Beginning next fall, the 17-school conference will get even bigger.

In a joint press release on May 5, the CCL along with the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference announced a merger with the East Suburban Catholic Conference, beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

“Both leagues are extremely competitive,” said Thomas Schergen, principal of De La Salle Institute and an executive representative of the CCL and GCAC. “With the addition of these tradition-rich East Suburban Catholic Conference (ESCC) institutions, we have set our respective conferences on a continued path of success and continue to strengthen these premier Catholic athletic

organizations. We look forward to having these new members under the Chicago Catholic League and Girls Catholic Athletic Conference banners, both athletically and academically.”

“The ESCC’s legacy of academic and athletic success, as well as our standards for competitive excellence, align closely with the heritage of the Chicago Catholic League and Girls Catholic Athletic Conference,” said Dan Tully, principal of Niles Notre Dame and chair of the ESCC Board of Control. “Bringing our schools together will expand competitive opportunities based on geography and parity, while also maintaining longstanding rivalries for the benefit of our communities, teams, and studentathletes. As faith-based institutions, we strive to offer a comprehensive educational experience, along with high-quality, co-curricular programming. The ESCC’s history of achievement dovetails with the rich traditions of the CCL and GCAC, and we look forward to furthering our partnership.”

Current ESCC schools Benet Academy, Carmel Catholic, Joliet Catholic Academy, Marian Catholic, Marist, Nazareth

Academy, Notre Dame, St. Patrick, and St. Viator will join the CCL. Benet, Carmel, Joliet Catholic, Marian Catholic, Marist, Nazareth, and St. Viator will join the GCAC, along with current CCL member Marmion Academy, which will turn coed starting next fall.

When the merger is completed, the CCL will have 26 schools, and the GCAC 24.

Locally, Fenwick joined the CCL in 1930.

Coach Matt Battaglia doesn’t anticipate the merger having much impact on the football program because the CCL and ESCC have been playing as one league since 2019.

“CCL/ESCC football has only become stronger and more competitive because of the two leagues competing together,” Battaglia said, “and I hope we see that translate to all sports now with the merger.”

For Fenwick’s girls programs, the merger means a re-familiarization with the ESCC.

The Friars were ESCC members from 1992 to 2015, before moving to the GCAC

“The merger will have a significant impact,” said Fenwick girls volleyball coach Tee Pimsarn. “I’m sure there’ll be division realignment so our conference schedule

will be a lot more competitive. I’m all for competition because we’re essentially playing for October.”

Trinity athletic director Ken Trendel wasn’t surprised by the upcoming merger, telling Wednesday Journal such a possibility had been discussed for some time.

“I think the groundwork was most likely laid with football when the CCL and ESCC merged a few years back. In hindsight, it seems like that was a trial run to see if the philosophies and personalities in the room could all mesh.”

Trendel added that the GCAC will only get stronger as a result of the merger. He foresees new rivalries being fostered, which should bring excitement to the league.

“While the addition of these schools will hopefully grow that passion and excitement, I would be lying if I didn’t share that the unknown is always scary,” Trendel said. “Change can be difficult to accept at times, but we understand that bringing in more schools solidifies the conference and offers the opportunity for even more parity, a pillar of the GCAC throughout its history.”

STEVE JOHNSTON

OPRF’s Matt Halper (le ) puts up a shot.

STEVE JOHNSTON

OPRFs AJ Enyia (23) drives to the basket against Marian Catholic.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Notice is hereby given by the Pres-

ident and Board of Trustees of the Village of River Forest, Cook County, Illinois, that sealed bids will be accepted for:

FY 2026 Tree & Stump Removal

This project consists of the removal of designated parkway trees throughout the Village in addition to stump removal and area restoration.

The bidding documents are available for download starting Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at: www.vrf.us/bids

Bids must be submitted by Thursday, July 17, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. at:

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

River Forest, IL 60305

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

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

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

Published in Wednesday Journal July 2, 2025

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: M25000637 on June 26, 2025 Under the Assumed Business Name of THE PINWHEEL LAB with the business located at:1545 MONROE AVE APT 2, RIVER FOREST, IL 60305. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: JESSICA MO 1545 MONROE AVE APT 2, RIVER FOREST, IL 60305, USA

Published in Wednesday Journal July 2, 9, 16, 2025

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Village of Oak Park will receive bids for Microsoft Windows Server 2025 Datacenter Edition for one hundred sixty (160) cores, excluding Software-Assurance. The full bid document can be obtained from the Village website www.oak-park.us. Bids will be accepted until July 15, 2025 5PM Central.

Published in Wednesday Journal July 2, 2025

PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE OF MINOR CHILD

STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY

Request of Laura Cadden to change the name of Minor Child Case Number 20254000863

There will be a court date on a Request to change the name of the minor child from: Aisha Omar to the new name of: Aisha Mairéad Cadden-Ocampo.

The court date will be held: On August 19, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at the Maywood Courthouse, 1500 Maybrook Drive, Maywood, Illinois 60153 in Courtroom # 0111

June 25, July 2, 9, 2025

LEGAL NOTICE

State of Illinois County of Cook

PUBLIC NOTICE ID HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing on the adoption of the proposed Annual Budget and Appropriations Ordinance of the Park District of Forest Park, County of Cook, Illinois for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2025 and ending April 30, 2026 will be held at the Administration Building, 7501 Harrison Street, Forest Park, IL 60130 on July 17, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.

Jackie Iovinelli Park District Board Secretary Dated this June 25, 2025

Published in Forest Park Review July 2, 2025

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

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

FY 2026 Tree Trimming Program

This project consists of the trimming of designated parkway trees throughout the Village.

The bidding documents are available for download starting Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at:

www.vrf.us/bids

Bids must be submitted by Thursday, July 17, 2025 at 10:15 a.m. at:

Public Works Department, 2nd Floor

Village of River Forest

400 Park Avenue River Forest, IL 60305

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

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

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

Published in Wednesday Journal July 2, 2025

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.

The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis. Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.

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

PUBLIC NOTICES

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

WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND

SOCIETY, FSB, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE ON BEHALF FOR CSMC 2018-RPL12 TRUST Plaintiff vs. THOMAS EVANS, VEORIA EVANS, STATE OF ILLINOIS, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC.

Defendant 19 CH 13708

CALENDAR 57

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 August 6, 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. 15-10-123-039-0000.

Commonly known as 316 22ND AVE., 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, Law Offices of Ira T. Nevel, 175 North Franklin Street, Suite 201, Chicago, Illinois 60606. (312) 357-1125. 1904973

INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3268790

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION PARAMOUNT RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE GROUP, INC. Plaintiff, -v.-

SABRINA MCDADE Defendants 2024 CH 06544 1014 GARDNER ROAD WESTCHESTER, IL 60154

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on April 22, 2025, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on July 24, 2025, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at public in-person sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate:

Commonly known as 1014 GARDNER ROAD, WESTCHESTER, IL 60154

Property Index No. 15-16-416058-0000

The real estate is improved with a single family residence. The judgment amount was $258,302.82. Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to

The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g) (4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1).

IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 151701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

For information, contact CHAD LEWIS, ROBERTSON ANSCHUTZ SCHNEID CRANE & PARTNERS, PLLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 6400 SHAFER CT, STE 325, ROSEMONT, IL, 60018 (561) 241-6901. Please refer to file number 24-224197. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc. com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.

CHAD LEWIS ROBERTSON ANSCHUTZ SCHNEID CRANE & PARTNERS, PLLC 6400 SHAFER CT, STE 325 ROSEMONT IL, 60018 561-241-6901

E-Mail: ILMAIL@RASLG.COM

Attorney File No. 24-224197

Attorney ARDC No. 6306439

Attorney Code. 65582

Case Number: 2024 CH 06544

TJSC#: 45-1129

NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Case # 2024 CH 06544 I3268586

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

Friends of the Oak Park Public Library

Book Fair

MAIN LIBRARY, 834 Lake St. 834 Lake St., Oak Park | 2 hours free parking

Friday, July 11: 9 am-5:30 pm

Saturday, July 12: 9 am-4:30 pm

Sunday, July 13: 2-4 pm

Everyone invited to fill up a grocery bag with their choice of items for just $10 a bag!

Teachers, Little Free Library Stewards, local nonprofits can select free items!

50,000+ books on all subjects

Mystery, history & sci-fi

Sections for kids & teens

3,000+ DVDs & 2,500+ CDs

Thank you.

This year’s Spring Fundraiser brought in over $150,000, and we are overwhelmed with gratitude for every donor who helped us get there. Your support sends a powerful message: that local news still matters.

We know you’re asked to give often. And we know it’s not always easy. That’s why your generosity means so much to us. Every dollar, every donor, every note of encouragement all add up. And it all helps keep the lights on.

But we have to be honest with you: while this fundraiser is over, our financial challenges are not. We’re a lean operation, facing high costs, shrinking ad dollars, and years of industry headwinds.

Your News. Your Community. Growing Community

Media Spring Fundraiser 2025

$5/book treasures room

Everything else $2 or less

Cash and credit card

No entrance fee

Truly.

The need is real. The work is urgent. And the future is uncertain.

That’s why we say it clearly: if you didn’t give, please consider doing so now. If you already gave and feel compelled to do more, we welcome your continued support. This newsroom depends on you. There is only us, and the community we serve.

We’ve been here for 45 years. With your help, we’ll be here for 45 more.

Thank you.

Let’s keep going. Together.

Yes, you can still donate!