WednesdayJournal_100125

J URNAL

Police station cost estimates now

Finance committee evaluates building projec

hall r police station costs

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN

Oak Park thick of budg

cussion on the costs of the police station and tions are still at least a month

At a meeting of the nance committee Sept. 25 ager Kevin come back to the in November to talk and provide some cost estimates. Obviously, this ed once you make some decisions on those facilities.”

While no final cost estimate police building

By GREGG VOSS ontributing Reporter

Walking gingerly with a wooden cane, George Bailey stepped to the podium ThursPark and River Forest High School District 200 Board of Education meeting and spoke to the reason dozens of his fellow community members were sitting in the

“There are a lot of people here working for ” said the Oak Park resident. of those community members were holding signs that read “Imagine Educafor ALL our OPRF Huskies,” Things That are Best for ALL.” At points during the seven public comments, speakers, including Bailey, held up their signs See EQUITY on page 13

ICE ‘making war’ Broadview, says mayo

Protests continue into weekend with pepper bullets and tear gas used against protesters

By ZOË TAKAKI Contributing Reporter

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson said in a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday that ICE agents operating an immigrant detention center in her village “are making war on my community. And it has to stop.”

She reiterated Broadview’s demand that a security fence which extended the perimeter of the Beach Street facility be dismantled. She said that without a proper permit the fencing had been “illegally constructed.” Fire officials in Broadview said the fence would make it impossible for the department to access other buildings within the industrial area of f of 25th Avenue.

The Sun-Times re ported Sunday that federal agents had told Broadview police that “there would be a shitshow” at the facility in response to Thompson’s letter.

can citizen who proudly on her car, having ICE her home makes her feel “on edg Maria said, “They (ICE) started of ing that this is based on getting the criminals. Okay, fine, g make everything safe and stuf but you’ re not doing that anymor agenda tur ned to something else.”

“The agenda became racial. It became the whole ‘you look a certain way. You’ re getting taken in.’ It’s like, do I need to start walking around with my passport? I live here, and I’m constantly in this area,” she said. She did want her last name published.

WHO ARE THOSE MASKED MEN?

e presence of ICE causes more problems than they solve, say protesters at the detention center in Broadv iew.

In her letter to Russell Holt, field office director for homeland security, the mayor wrote, “The relentless de ployment of tear gas, pepper spray, mace, and rubber bullets in the vicinity of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in the Village of Broadview is endangering nearby village residents and harming Broadview police officers, Broadview firefighters, and American citizens exercising their 1st Amendment constitutional rights.”

Thompson wrote that the tear gas is impacting the Broadview police, firefighters, and ambulance personnel and preventing them from doing their jobs.

Maria, a Broadview resident since 1989, said in an interview with Growing Community Media, that as a Mexican Ameri-

“I would see things on the news and social media, and I was just like, ‘Wow, these protesters, they’re antagonizing these agents that are just trying to do their job.’ That’s how I was thinking at first,” said Maria.

“But then, an incident happened,” she said. Maria alle ged that while driving in the neighborhood, an ICE vehicle cut her of f and “swerved into me to put me into oncoming traffic. That just made me so mad. And next I came over here (to the Broadview protest) and was like ‘how can I help?’”

While she was at the Broadview detention center, she said, “I just started filming. I went live on Facebook and then started seeing other things. I started seeing how they (ICE) were just, you know, pushing their weight around, being aggressive.”

When asked about her community receiving national media attention, Maria said, “It’s kind of the wrong attention. ... Now we’re Broadview, the place that had all the detainees and all that ICE stuf f and everything. So that’s what I feel like we’re going to be known for, instead of something positive.”

Protests continued Saturday evening with continued provocations by ICE officers using tear gas and rubber bullets against protestors. At least one journalist was arrested and a Sun-Times journalist was hit with rubber projectiles and was teargassed, the newspaper re ported on Sunday.

After ICE agents were spotted Friday on the Chicago River, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said, “This administration is only committed to intimidating people and working to strike fear into the hearts and into the minds of the people of this city.”

The processing center, which was originally a Federal Immigration Facility, is being used as a headquarters for operation Midway Blitz and has been the subject of continuous protests for at least two weeks.

Thompson told Holt in her letter that “Beleaguered Broadview residents are begging for relief from your center’s siege of our neighborhood. They are texting me. They are calling me. They are streaming into Village Hall looking for help.”

Thompson ended her letter saying, “As mayor, my governing approach is to de ploy love and kindness to achieve Broadview’s objectives. You should try it. It cannot hurt. It might help.”

Thompson received largely positive responses from her constituents after the letter was posted on Facebook.

Karen Coley wrote, “So proud to be a part of this community. Mayor Katrina defines leadership and compassion for all!!! WE ARE BROADVIEW STRONG!”

Some complained about problems they have had since ICE has come into the Broadview community. Eric Tolley wrote, “The helicopters over my house is getting annoying.”

Elena Mtz Ruiz wrote, “I want to know if the village has taken DHS to court over the fence?”

WEDNESD AY

k Park and River Forest

Interim Executive Director Max Reinsdorf Senior Audience Manager Stac y Coleman ter Brendan He ernan

ewpoints Editor Ken Trainor

Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora

ntributing Editor Donna Greene Marc Bleso , Nicole Chavas, ncent Gay, Mary Kay O’Grady, anger, 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

Social Media and Digital Coordinator Maribel Barrera

Special Projects Manager Susan Walker

Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

Senior Advisor Dan Haley

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

EMAIL Dan@oakpark.com

ZO Ë TA K AKI

KATRINA THOMPSON Broadview mayor

Safe Steps for Fall Day YOUR BEST LIFE withLisaCapone

Autumn brings crisp air and colorful leaves — but also new safety risks. A few simple steps can help keep you and your loved ones safe at home:

Clear outdoor paths: Sweep or rake wet leaves from steps, driveways, and walkways to prevent slipping.

Improve lighting: Replace dim bulbs, add motion-sensor lights outside, and keep indoor hallways and entryways well lit.

Secure floors inside: Remove clutter, tuck away cords, and use non-slip pads under rugs.

Wear safe footwear: Choose shoes with firm, non-skid soles instead of socks or loose slippers.

Use support when needed: Keep railings sturdy and add grab bars in high-risk areas like bathrooms.

Taking these precautions helps reduce fall risks and keeps your home safe and welcoming all season long.

Visit Cantata.org for more senior living advice or call (708) 387-1030

A er 200 years, beloved tree sees its last autumn

Celebrating the life of a dying burr oak on Forest Avenue

By JESSICA MACKINNON Contributing Reporter

Oak Parkers love their trees. For some, the trees that adorn their yards are like members of the family, bearing silent witness to celebrations including children’s birthday parties, high school prom photos and colle ge send-offs.

That is certainly the case for Jim and Sally Prescott, who have raised five children in a house on Forest Avenue shaded by a stately, old bur oak. Sadly, the 200-year-old tree has become so fragile that it must soon be taken down. On Sunday, Sept. 28 the Prescotts held a celebration of life to honor the venerable old tree.

“The tree needs a little love from people,” said Sally. “I wanted it to be reco gnized. I didn’t think it was fair to the tree to cut it down before people had time to mour n it.”

Over the past five years, the Prescotts made a valiant ef fort to save the tree, which was weakened when a substantial branch broke of f several years ago. They had the tree treated, at great expense, by an arborist who injected nutrients into the ground around its base.

“Our block is so well-traveled by residents and international tourists. I remember once several years ago a young couple approached me when I was doing yard work and thanked me for not cutting down the tree like so many people do. It was a reminder of how much people appreciate big, old trees,” said Sally.

But this summer when they saw that the tree’s foliage was very thin and it was prematurely losing leaves, they knew their

ep it standing.

They consulted with Grant Jones, Oak Park’s forestry superintendent, who is responsible for caring for the village’s more than 18,000 trees. He confirmed that the tree was so diseased that it could no longer pull enough water from the ground to nourish its canopy.

The Prescotts’ next-door neighbor, Carollina Song, will mourn the tree’s loss. “I am just gutted,” Song said. “Our daughter and the Prescotts’ youngest daughter used to run back and forth between our yards in the shade of that tree. I know how hard it is to lose it because we’ve lost a couple of our own trees.”

When Carollina and her husband, Alex Harris, lost a magnolia tree a few years ago, Sally gave them a glass remembrance

buds, a priceless reminder of their beloved tree.

Jim Prescott said they intend to get cuttings from their tree and use them to make furniture, such as bookcases and chairs, for their home

They are planning to re place the tree as soon as possible. Their son, Will, is a landscape architect and is giving them ideas. They expect to have a new tree in the ground before it gets cold . Trees are testaments to a past we cannot know and investments in a future we typically don’t live to see. During Sunday’s celebration of life, Sally handed out acorns from the bur oak and invited people to plant them.

“It makes me feel better to know that the tree will live on,” she said.

TODD BANNOR

Jim and Sally Prescott with their daughter, Emma, in front of their 200-year-old bur r oak, scheduled for removal this week

Execu -RF Chamber resigns

Chicago Tribune reports he was the subject of tw discrimination complaints

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

The executive director of the Oak River Forest Chamber of Commerce signed days before The Chicago re ported that he was the subject of discrimination complaints.

Darien Marion-Burton told Wednesday Journal he stepped down from his position as leader of the local business organization on Friday, Sept. 19. The Chicago Tribune published a story Wednesday, Sept. 24, saying it had obtained information from the Illinois Department of Human Rights that two women - one current and one for mer chamber employee – had re ported MarionBurton to the state for discrimination.

Wednesday Journal is awaiting a response to a FOIA requests for documents

Darien Marion-Burton

related to the matter at the IDHR and the Illinois Departmen of Labor.

The Tribune story also anonymously quoted one of employees who filed a complaint, who told the newspaper MarionBurton made sexually charged comments in the workplace.

Marion-Burton said he has no knowledge of any discrimination complaints.

“I am aware of a recent article re garding my resignation as Executive Director,” Marion-Burton said. “While I deeply value our community, I chose to step down

Win order to focus on other projects that align with my personal and professional goals. I look forward to sharing more soon the launch of a new venture. I cannot comment on the Tribune’s statement IDHR complaints, as I have not seen any such complaint. I remain committed rk and to upholding our shared values of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

The chamber had planned to hold its annual meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 24 but announced on Monday that it had postponed the meeting until Dec. 3.

Marion-Burton, an Oak Park native, had served as the chamber’s top staffer since 2023. He succeeded Liz Holt, who now serves as director of the Oak Park-based youth philanthropy organization Three Pillars Initiative.

Rob Guenthner, the chamber’s president, confir med Marion-Burton’s resignation in a statement provided to Wednesday Journal.

Guenther said that the chamber expects to appoint an interim executive director soon.

Marion-Burton’s resignation comes after Oak Park’s gover nment had ramped up investment in the chamber earlier this year.

In Fe bruar y, the village b oard approved more than $250,000 to suppo rt new c ommunity-focused initiatives at the chamber including a youth i nternshi p progr am, the F irst F ridays street f estiva l series and a Black and Latine Business Suppo rt Network.

“The Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce acknowledges the recent media coverage re garding the resignation of our for mer executive director, Darien MarionBurton,” Guenthner said in the statement. “We confirm his resignation from the organization effective September 19, 2025 and extend our best wishes for his future endeavors. Our primary focus remains on maintaining continuity of service and actively supporting the local business community. To this end, the Board of Directors has promptly secured resources to ensure uninter rupted Chamber operations This includes sustaining our member programs and providing essential support to help our members serve their customers, clients, and communities effectively.”

Sponsored Content

Women Leaders in Philanthropy Celebrates 30 Years of Giving

omen Leaders in Philanthropy (WLIP) is celebrating 30 years supporting the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation in 2025, and 10 years as a collective giving group.

“Women have always been leaders in philanthropy; WLIP provides an avenue for us to collectively contribute to causes in our community,” said Kristin Carlson Vogen, vice chair of WLIP.

WLIP is a volunteer-run giving group founded in 1995 by Carolyn Saxton, then executive director at the Oak ParkRiver Forest Community Foundation, to empower and recognize women as philanthropic leaders. Six prominent local women gave establishing gifts, pooling resources to invest in and support our community’s needs in perpetuity.

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, founded in 1959, has built lasting, impactful connections among

residents and local service programs. The Foundation’s mission is to unite community members and mobilize resources to advance a racially just society and equitable outcomes for residents of Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding neighborhoods in western Cook County. Learn more about the Foundation’s programs and services at oprfcf.org.

WLIP members have contributed significantly to the Foundation, donating over $3 million in 30 years. In 2015, the mission of WLIP evolved into an active collective giving group. A separate

Women Leaders Fund was created, and today members choose the causes and services to support with their donations.

“I love being a part of Women Leaders, being with interesting and accomplished women,” said Linda Conway, chair of WLIP. “I value what comes from collective giving and what we can achieve together. I learn a lot about what is happening in our community. With the grants we make, we directly support our community, our people, and our local services.”

In the past 10 years, Women Leaders in Philanthropy has granted over $491,000 to 34 different community organizations in Oak Park, River Forest and the greater West Side. The group is simultaneously growing an endowment fund, currently valued at just under $290,000, to support members’ educational programs and grantmaking in perpetuity.

In honor of the 30th anniversary, WLIP’s fundraising goal for 2025 is $125,000,

allowing grantmaking to exceed $100,000 in 2026.

“There is power in collective action, and this is a resourceful group of women channeling money to make a difference in our community,” Conway said.

To join the group, members donate $5,000; contributions can be made over time, and memberships are for life. 80% of every contribution is granted to local nonprofits the year after the gift, with the remainder added to the endowment and to support Foundation operations. Learn more about WLIP at oprfcf.org/womenleaders.

Oak Park fire departmen is understaf fed, conclude village and union studies

Union-led town hall scheduled for Oct. 3

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

A pair of studies analyzing Oak Park’s fire department found that the village must hire more firefighters.

Oak Park’s village government commissioned Baker Tilly to study its fire department. The re port was published earlier this month, shortly after the labor union for Oak Park’s firefighters released a study it had commissioned.

Oak Park’s consulting firm submitted its re port after touring fire department facilities, interviewing staffers, analyzing department statistics and surveying a few dozen firefighters. The firm’s survey found that well over 90% of Oak Park firefighters feel that the department’s staffing levels leave them overworked and impact their safety on the job.

“The survey highlights the dedication and professionalism of staf f who are welltrained and have access to professional development opportunities,” the re port said. “However, the survey results suggest the department is facing significant challenges related to leadership, staffing, adequate apparatus, and resource allocation. Respondents expressed a need for more

proactive leadership from the department administration and consistently co concerns about being understaffed and overworked, given the high and the amount of overtime they working. T he survey suggests concer ns are taking a toll on morale

Nearly 70% of survey respondents also said that the department’s staffing levels sometimes delay fire department sponse times, according to the re port also found that Oak Pa costs for firefighter overtime exceed $1 million each year due in part to the staffing shor tage.

Other Baker Tilly recommendations include hiring a full-time de puty chie f to oversee training, exploring funding for a new two-person squad vehicle and moving forward with plans to either renovate or re place OPFD’s outdated Station 2. The so-called North Station is located at 212 Augusta.

Oak Park’s village board expects to review the re port at its meeting on Tuesday Oct. 14, according to the village.

Several Oak Park trustees have weighed in on the re port’s findings, saying that the village must develop a strat eg y to address OPFD’s staffing challenges.

T he village-commissioned study was published shortly after Oak Park Firefighters Local 95, the labor union that re presents OPFD firefighters, released results

from a study it commissioned with the International Association of Firefighters Headquarters, which also identified staffing as a major issue for the department.

“Additional staffing would make the department less reliant on mutual aid to assist with fire incidents,” the union’s study said. “It would also decrease the time to perform fireground tasks at the scene. This makes conditions safer for fire fighters and decreases the risk of injury or death to fire fighters and citizens of Oak Park.”

The union study’s recommendations included ensuring that each OPFD fire apparatus is staf fed with at least 6 firefighters.

Local 95 will host a town hall meeting to share its recommendations with residents at 2 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the Oak Park Public Library on Lake Street.

“The results of the study are clear: based

on national standards, the Oak Park Fire Department is insufficiently staffed and action is needed to keep pace with the demands of today’s emergencies,” the union said in a statement.

The immediate recommendation from the union study is that Oak Park should hire 9 new firefighters. That added staffing, the re port said, would bring Oak Park closer to 4 firefighters per fire apparatus, up from a current level of only 3 firefighters.

“This will help ensure that when you or your family call 911, the right number of trained firefighters arrive quickly and ready to protect lives and property,” the study concluded.

According to the re ports, OPFD responded to more calls for service in 2024 than it had in any year since at least 2019.

JAVIER GOVEA

Village sta tell Oak Park board to block QuikTrip development

Gas station giant’s proposal went to village board Sept. 30

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s village gover nment staf f has recommended that the village board block the proposal to build a large g as station on the village ’s last large plot of open industrial real estate

T he staf f encouraged the board to affirm a previous r uling by the Oak Park Plan Commission, which voted to block the permit applications related to plans to build a major g as station and convenience store at the long-vacant for mer Mohr concrete site along Harlem Avenue at the Eisenhower. T he g as station wouldn’ t be a good fit for the neighborhood, and denying the permit applications would “retain the site for a more compatible development,” staf f wrote in supporting documents for the agenda item. The board discussion was set for Sept. 30 after Journal press time.

“Approving the special use (is) inconsistent with the adjacent residential area and a day care facility,” staf f wrote Oak Park’s village board will vote to either reject the proposal, approve the proposal or send the matter back to the plan commission.

Oklahoma-based QuikTrip is looking to redevelop the for mer H. J. Mohr & Sons

Concrete site which sits along Maple Avenue, Harlem Avenue, Garfield Street and Lexington Street just south of the Eisenhower Expressway in Oak Park, as first re por ted by Wednesday Journal in July

The proposed site would include a 6,445 square foot convenience store building and 16 fueling positions. There would be no diesel fueling for trucks on the proposed site, according to the proposal documents.

T he proposed site would have three entrances — one on Harlem Avenue, one on Garfield Street and one on Lexington Street.

In the proposal, QuikTrip would take over most of the for mer industrial site but would create a second lot that could be developed by another entity on the south end of the site.

T he proposal was the subject of an Oak Park’s Plan Commission hearing in early Se ptember. Commissioners voted 7-2 to recommend that QuickTrip’s applications for alley vacation, plat of subdivision and special use permission be denied at the end of a four-hour meeting

Ahead of the meeting, the village received 16 letters arguing against the planned development and commissioners heard from a large group of residents who opposed the g as station concept for a variety of reasons

BREAKING

A Chang e.org petition asking village leaders to block the proposed development has over 1,200 signatures

T he old concrete plant has sat r usting since the Mohr company closed its doors in 2018 amid financial woes. Once home to one of the longest r unning businesses in Chicagoland, the vacant site is among the only large plots of land available for development in Oak Pa rk.

Prior to QuikTrip’s publicized interest,

Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman told Wednesday Journal that she’d like to see the village consider purchasing the property

“I as one elected official would be supportive of purchasing the land,” Scaman told Wednesday Journal in March. “When it’s a situation that the land would otherwise go on developed without the assistance of government, then it absolutely is appropriate.”

JAVIER GOVEA

QuikTrip is interested in the former Mohr Concrete site on Harlem in Oak Park

Adduci discusses River Forest term limits issue

Board has held ‘productive, friendly conversations’ on the topic, she says

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Cathy Adduci, River Forest village president, has been at the center of the ongoing debate about the possibility of term limits for the village board.

She’s heard plenty from the residents about the issue – some in support, some in opposition, and many asking for clarity on when ter m limits would apply to elected officials. What’s her key message to the community?

“We have a seven-member board, and until we have come to a decision on this, I ask for the community’s patience,” she said. “I can say with certainty that we have enough time to discuss this issue, and ultimately, we will come to a decision and our residents will be heard.”

The exact wording used in a citizen group’s

petition that placed the referendum on the April 1 election ballot has caused confusion about whether that referendum is binding or advisory. The Yes votes totaled 53.15%, compared to 46.8% for the No votes

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

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

“The village board is working toward ensuring that the ambiguity in the petition paperwork doesn’t create a situation where term limits could be challenged in the future,” Adduci said. “It is critical that prior to changing any village code, legal due diligence is needed

“Although the referendum was initiated by residents, the role of the village board is to ensure term limits are implemented in a way that should withstand any future legal challenges.”

While some have said that the process has taken a fair amount of time, Adduci said she believes “this process has moved at the right pace.

“At our Sept. 8 meeting, trustees raised additional legal questions,” she said. “We will now revisit the matter and hear from our attorney on Oct. 13, ensuring discussions continue to move forward.

“It’s important to take the necessary time to fully consider the legal implications of any decision – whether residents supported or opposed the referendum. While we’ve had to work around board members’ and summer schedules, there is still ample time to resolve this matter so that term limits can be in place for the 2027 municipal election.”

Lance Malina, village attorney, said at the Sept. 8 board meeting a binding referendum could be placed on either the November 2026 general election or the April 2027 municipal election ballot.

But further insights aren’t readily available. A Wednesday Journal Freedom of Information Act request for any confidential memos delivered by Malina to the board regarding term limits was denied last week.

Adduci said the board will continue discussions about term limits at the Oct. 13 village board meeting. Does she feel the board is forming consensus on the matter?

“The board has held productive, friendly conversations on the topic, and I am optimistic that will continue as we approach a decision on how to move forward,” she said. “We are working toward a resolution to the legal questions about the petition sheets.”

Discussion and scrutiny is crucial, she said, because implementing term limits will have a lasting impact on River Forest residents for generations to come.

“So we need to get it right,” she said, adding that residents can call the village hall with questions at 708-366-8500 or email the village board through vrf us/contact-board. aspx. Visiting vrf us/termlimits provides more information about ter m limits

Vending machine at Harlem CTA Green Line stop stocked with

Station is one of 5 included in public health pilot program

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park will be included in a Cook County and CTA-sponsored pilot program putting overdose-stopping drugs in train stations

The Harlem/Lake Green Line stop in the village is one of five CTA stations that will have a vending machine stocked with Naloxone installed in a collaboration between the transit agency and Cook County Health. Naloxone, also commonly referred to as the trademarked name Narcan, is a safe nasal spray medication that works to reverse the effects of an overdose from opioids such as heroin, prescription painkillers and fentanyl, according to the village

“Ensuring the Naloxone is accessible in communities impacted by opioids will undoubtedly save lives,” said Dr. Erik Mikaitis, CEO of Cook County Health in a news release. “By working with the CTA, we can reach people where they are, and also remove barriers and stigma from accessing this lifesaving antidote. This reflects Cook County Health’s public health approach to the opioid crisis impacting this country – reducing barriers, expanding access and helping to support healthy and safe communities.”

The vending machine program’s pilot phase is expected to last six months. Cook County Health has earmarked $100,000 to maintain the machines, including some federal funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, according to the county

The Harlem/Lake Green Line stop is the only suburban train stop included in the first phase of the initiative The stations were chosen based on community input and data that zeroed in on areas with higher opioid-related emergencies, according to the CTA.

“Our partnership with Cook County Health is a powerful and innovative way for public transit to support the communities we serve,” said CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen. “CTA rail stations are often hubs in Chicago communities, and we believe that

A showcase and fundraiser to support Palestinian, Immigrant and LGBTQ Human Rights

Thursday, October 9, 2025 • 6-9pm The Nineteenth Century Club 178 Forest Ave, Oak Park, IL 60301

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these vending machines have the potential to help save lives and support the health and well-being of those in need of Naloxone.”

The vending machine joins seven locations around the village where boxes are stocked with the drug and instructions on how to use it to administer first aid to someone experiencing an opioid overdose.

Those locations include several street corners, the Oak Park Public Library Main Branch and the restrooms at Maple Park

Several Oak Park residents have died as result of opioid overdoses since last year, with the overdose deaths coming mostly as result of exposure to fentanyl, according to finalized case reports from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Fentanyl is an opioid that’s 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. The substance, which is often found laced into other drugs, has been considered the “primary driver” of drug overdose deaths in the United States in recent years, according to the CDC.

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Remembering Bruce Sagan

Last week brought the hard but inevitable news that Bruce Sagan died. He was 96.

Bruce was the smartest, kindest, most determined person I’ ever known in the local news business. Our paths intersected multiple times over the years on shared industry boards, in an ill-timed but bold partnership to sa last of the old Lerner papers in the city, and then in a turnabout, our giving Bruce advice on how he might steer his beloved Hyde Park Herald into the hands of a nonprofit venture. Long before I ever met him though, Bruce’s ef for ts to build his Southtown Economist newspaper into a legit daily paper, following the closing of the Chicago Daily News, set in motion, a few years later, the launch of Wednesday Journal.

Suburban mayors gather for climate collaboration

Here’s how that happened.

Bruce owned the Hyde Park Herald, the Southtown and then a string of other neighborhood papers, including one he launched in Oak Park and River Forest in the early 1970s. It was called The World. Like his ef for ts in Hyde Park where the Herald drove the agenda and tackled tough issues of race and urban renewal and the ever-presentness of the University of Chicago, The World was a strong read. Lots of hard reporting around issues of Oak Park’s ef for ts at inte gration, smar t politics coverage, a genuine point of view. It outstripped the then-dominant Oak Leaves which was in determined white wine at the country club

PROVIDED

Bruce Sagan, news entrepreneur

social page mode. rld was a eat local newspaper. But to focus his ts to make the Southtown a ChicagoBruce sold the weeklies, except for the Herald. T he d was purchased Pioneer Press, owner of the Oak It was promptly gutted and turned into a weekend rag. That led to a leap by the publisher of the OWL Shopping News to turn it into the Oak Park News and to hire a kid re porter to be its editor. Along with two colleagues, we did a lot of good work, answered the failing publisher’s plea to find him a buyer, and when that plan cratered, we departed in the spring of 1980 to start dnesday Journal. Same plan as The World. Hard porting on tough issues. Everything local. Features that wed we lived in town. And, pretty much like now here at our nonprofit owing Community Media, we turned to people across the villages and sold them shares of stock in our unlikely venture. It’s what you do when you’ re 24 and really want to re port on your hometown.

If you saw the obits last week you know Bruce also saved the Joffrey and brought it to Chicago, and was central to building the new Steppenwolf. He also helped save the Sun-Times a couple of times, and the Reader, too. This was a good man who understood the power of local news. It was my great honor to know him.

Leaders discuss sustainability e or ts amid loss of federal grants

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

L ead ers from more than a dozen west suburban Cook County communities gathered last week to discuss how they can collaborate to advance climate policy across the re gion.

Founded in 2022 by Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman, Broadview Mayor Katrina T hompson, River Forest Village President Cathy Adduci and sustainability policy consultants Darnell Johnson and Gary Cuneen, The Cross Community Climate Collaborative now includes 14 local municipalities. Participants are committed to sharing resources and pursuing funding opportunities to help the re gion reduce carbon emissions, increase access to green technolo gy for communities of dif ferent income levels and reach other sustainability benchmarks.

Oak Park President Vicki

Mayor Katrina ompson and River Forest President Cathy Adduci spearheaded the Cross-Community Climate Collaborative (C4).

“As C4 looks ahead, our mission remains clear: to expand our network, develop shared data systems to track greenhouse gas reductions, strengthen workforce pathways for young people and adults in the green economy, deepen commitments to equity and sustainability and continue building a road map for thriving, climate-ready communities,” the group said of its work in materials supporting the event.

T he group also touted a goal of cutting regional carbon emissions by 45% by 2030.

T he group, refe rred to by its members as C4, held a for um at T riton Colle ge on Friday, Sept 26 where the group’s founders discussed the collaboration’s accomplishments and goals. In addition to T hompson, Scaman and Adduci who spoke on a panel at the event, leaders from Forest Park, Berwyn, River Grove, Westchester, Riverside, North Riverside, Brookfield, Bellwood, Maywood, La Grange Park, Hillsdale and Gary, IN were in attendance.

T hompson said that the collaboration has brought a new level of unity and teamwork to the re gion as communities work to g ether towards common climate goals.

“We’ve worked in so many silos,” T hompson said. “Climate change does not stop at city borders or ask about political af filiation.”

Participants said that collaborations like

these are even more important amid federal cuts to funding for climate sustainability effor ts that Johnson said amounted to “an attack on environment and sustainability work overall.” Cuneen told attendees that the group had seen $2.3 million in federal grants for solar energy rescinded since President Donald Trump took office this year

A $20 million proposal sent to the EPA earlier this year also received no response, Cuneen said. Cutbacks on the state gover nment’s financial support for climate ef for ts are also expected.

Scaman said that Oak Park’s status as a home r ule community has been a major help to its climate ef forts. A home r ule community is a municipality with over 25,000 people that has the freedom to enact any taxes, take on debt and pass any re gulations it wishes so long as they don’ t conflict with state law.

Scaman suggested that the state legislature look at lowering the population requirements for home r ule status so that communities can have more freedom over their financial strateg y, in the light of lost state and federal funds.

“Oak Park has a real advantage being a home r ule community that not all of our members have,” Scaman said. “You have limitations as a non-home rule community on what you can do with your budget. ”

Illinois State Sen. Kimberly Lightford was also in attendance at the meeting, and said that she will take that f eedback back to the legislature.

FILE/SHANEL ROMAIN

Scaman, Broadv iew

SMALL BITES

ey’re here! New places to go as the season turns dark and orange

I’m a word nerd. I’m sure that’s not a shocker. thrilled when I disco a new-to-me word. Just in time for spooky season, I learned “eldritch.” It means strange or unnatural, especially in a way that inspires fear; weird; eerie. Seems right for this time of the year, but don’t worry all this food news is wonderful and will inspire hunger.

Cue the haunted house music, but you are going to want to walk through these doors:

Alice & Friends, an all-veg an outpost with two other Chicagoland locations has been renovating the old Munch space at 104 N. Marion St., Oak Park Word

is that they should have their final inspection and be open ly October.

Get cooking with ing re dients from a new grocery

40 Acres Fresh Ma at 5713 W. Chicago Av in Austin. This full-service, independent, Black woman owned business is open 8 p.m. daily. They also offer fully cooked entrees to go. Support this meal-maker with a mission to increase access to fresh, healthy, afford able food on the West Side

A new ‘za place is coming to 6606 W. North Ave.: Golden Pizza. No clue when the dough will start rising.

Gyumon, Japanese BBQ, is looking at a soft open at the end of October. Those who have taken a look inside say it is stunning You’ ll find it on North Marion Street.

At the corner of Ridgeland and South Blvd, in the old Pieritz Brothers spot, a sign on the door says, “3 fold. a Bakery, coming soon.” This is a venture by Chef Dimitri Fayard, who won at the World Pastry Team Championship in 2008. He says they hope to start laminating dough in late October. The tagline for this viennoiserie (French breakfast pastries, savory & sweet) is: crafted croissants, curated coffee. If the photo of their croissant on social media is any indication of their output, I’ll be in flaky layer heaven.

Dutch Bros Coffee, a java chain that originated in Oregon, has requested a Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing (on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in room 201 at Village Hall, 123 Madison St, Oak Park). They want to make use of the existing drive-through in their renovation of the Kentucky Fried Chicken building at 316 Madison St. in Oak Park.

In response to our Eats magazine article about favorite coffees in the area, a vigilant Brookfield reader wrote in with their own hot take. They felt disappointed that we didn’t include their favorite coffee stop, Loco Moco at 8858 Burlington Ave. inside the Brookfield Metra station. The gelato machine on their Facebook page is mesmerizing.

Soft serve flowing right into a coffee cup. I’m intrigued and will certainly check it out.

If you’ re thinking that the new exterior on the Mr. Beef and Pizza location at 123 N. Harlem in Forest Park makes it look like it’s high. Well, you are sorta right. It’s the second location of a savory concept from the people who brought us Wake ‘n Bakery, called Pretty Original Thing. The idea is that savory dishes can be infused with THC and CBD too. My colleagues at the Forest Park Review have had little luck determining what is ke eping it from opening. Perhaps it already thinks it is.

On Sept. 23 the burgers started flipping at Bobby’s Eastside or should we say Bobby’s EAT-side? More importantly, do you wanna go out to eat there with me?

On Oct. 22 you can Eats-out there. For the first seven people who RSVP to the email below, I’ll save you a place at the table. The crew at Bobby’s will serve us a meal, all included for $30 (non-alcoholic drink, but you can buy something from the bar, if you would like). Connect with local, fellow food-lovers!

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

TODD BANNOR

Dutch Bros Co ee plans a dr ive-thru at the old KFC location on Madison Street PROVIDED

Loco Moco’s iced vanilla bean gelato latte

PROVIDED

3 Fold’s croissant

CAPITAL PROJEC TS

Police station costs

from page 1

the document suggests that construction is expected to begin next year.

“Current funding amounts are place holders to be further defined as part of the design process that will start in the fall of 2025 and continue into 2026,” staf f wrote in the plan. “Construction is currently expected to begin on a possible first phase including construction of the police station in the 2026 construction season. ”

Plans to release both costs and financing options as well as architectural drawings for the village hall campus projects have been delayed since being promised in the spring.

do z ens of line items but laid out no cost estimates related to the planned renovation of Oak Park Village Hall and construction of a new police station on village hall’s south lawn. Jackson said the plan will need revisions once costs for those projects are discussed

Still, the building improvement plan lays out more than 20 Village Hall improvements that would be completed before a larger renovation begins at the facility. Some of the most significant upgrades in the 2026 fund include re placing the control system for the Village Hall campus’ HVAC system, overhauling the building’s electrical system and adding an electric vehicle charging station to Village Hall’s parking lot.

Meanwhile the draft of the capital improvement budg et for 2026 includes spending nearly $900,000 over the next two years to re place or upgrade HVAC and electrical systems within village hall. Rob Sproule, public works director, told the finance committee that these upgrades will be necessary re gardless of other renovations decided on for village hall. He said the plans have been vetted with the village’s chosen architecture fir m.

“All the projects included in 2026 for the Village Hall facility are all improvements that need to be done and will be maintained through any future renovation,” Sproule said. “It’s wor th putting in the improvements now.”

T he finance committee includes Village President Vicki Scaman, Trustees Brian Straw, Jim Ta glia, Derek Eder and former Trustee John Hedges. It met for the final time Sept. 25 before the entire village board reviews the village’s Capital Improvement Plan at its Oct. 7 full board meeting. T he board will discuss the plan at that meeting before it is expected to adopt the CIP at the Oct. 14 meeting, said Jackson.

2026 budget discussions will continue at the village board table through the rest of the year, according to prospective meeting topic calendars published earlier this month.

T he finance committee discussed items related to two funds, one the building improvement fund covering village-owned facilities improvements and another fund laying out budg et expectations for all other projects.

T he building improvement fund covered

That new control system, which would shift the building’s HVAC system from pneumatic controls to digital controls, is expected to cost $600,000 between 2026 and 2027, according to the plan. T he new charging station is expected to cost $155,000 and the building’s electrical upgrades are expected to cost $275,000 between those two years.

Other key village facility projects in the building improvement fund include structural renovations to all three of the Oak Park Fire Department’s fire stations and extensive renovations at the village’s Public Works Center

T he Public Works Center updates include installing solar panels and a new roof compatible with the solar panels. T hose upgrades combined are projected to cost the village roughly $3.8 million, according to the plan.

T he village would look to have the solar renovations completed in 2027, before federal tax breaks that measure up to 30% of the village’s investment are phased out. T he Public Works Center is already an allelectric building, according to the village “The system will significantly reduce the facility’s reliance on g rid-supplied electricity, lower operational costs, and support the village’s sustainability goals,” staf f wrote in the plan. “To maximize efficiency and minimize disruption, the installation will be strategically coordinated with the scheduled roof restoration project. This inte grated approach ensures optimal system performance, protects roof inte g rity, and leverages construction timelines to reduce overall implementation costs. Once operational, the solar array is expected to g enerate substantial annual energy savings and contribute meaningfully to the village’s long-ter m climate action initiatives.”

so board members could see them.

“We are asking you as the District 200 board to create an authentically independent curriculum equity advisory group that sets and monitors time-sensitive goals to ensure ongoing improvements in the Freshman All Honors curriculum,” said another speaker, Jim Schwartz, a future OPRF parent and member of the Committee for Equity and Excellence in Education (CEEE).

Other community members present were from African American Parents for Purposeful Leadership in Education (APPLE), including President Melanie McQueen, along with representatives of Activate Oak Park and Congregations Networking for Social Justice.

“This curriculum equity advisory group would be made up of students, f amilies, teachers, community members and OPRF curriculum leaders such as Dr. (Jennifer) Hester,” said Schwartz, refe rring to the new associate superintendent of student lear ning.

Schwartz said the group would be charged with reviewing the effectiveness and responsiveness of curriculum and instruction at OPRF by looking at instructional data like grades, test scores and classroom observations, studying research on best practices, and engaging in conversation with students and families

“The curriculum equity advisory group would build and maintain a connection with students and families – especially those who have been and still are marginalized by the school’s practices,” he said.

With the help of Superintendent Dr. Greg Johnson, Hester and Kristen McKee, district coordinator of learning analytics and supports, presented key data regarding access and achievement outcomes for the freshman curriculum change instituted three years ago, called detracking.

The pair noted that over 80% of freshmen are enrolled in honors classes in English, history and science, compared to no more than 47% in the years before detracking.

One chart showed that while an increase of freshman honors students has occurred across all ethnicities since students who graduated in 2022, Black students are significantly behind. About 60% of Black students in the class of 2026 are enrolled in honors classes, compared to over 80% for

all other ethnicities.

It was a similar story with another chart that showed sophomore enrollment in Advanced Placement and honors courses. Just under 40% of class of 2026 Black students are enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses; all other ethnicities are at 60% or higher.

“When you think about 80%, 85% of our students coming into the honors curriculum, that’s not the case for our Black kids,” said board president Audrey Williams-Lee. “Our Black kids are coming in at about 60%. So, our kids are not starting at the same starting point.”

CEEE member John Duffy said that while the three-year report delivered Thursday was heavy on quantitative data, he felt something was missing: qualitative insights.

“Experts in school program evaluations know that when quantitative and qualitative methods are used in tandem, evaluations can offer insights and understandings either approach alone cannot meet,” he said. “Tonight’s quantitative data again shows positive results continuing across all demographics, with honors enrollment and AP participation on the rise.

“Still, regarding the district’s racial equity priority, striking disparities also persist,” he said. “We now must place this data next to multiple reports calling for more support resources to achieve equity for all students, but especially our Black and brown students.”

Equity will continue to be a key part of the board’s approach this school year, according to member Dr. Jonathan Livingston, who said that while the data is substantial, he quickly pointed out that “it’s not enough.”

At that point, someone in the gallery said audibly, “Thank you.”

“Nobody would disagree with that,” Livingston said. “It is not enough. We know we have significant work to do. Mr. Bailey asked the question earlier tonight: Do we re-

ally want the change? And I just wanted to speak to that.

“Please do not doubt the commitment of the board and the administration to continue to address the achievement path, to continue to address the needs of all of our students, to continue to enhance access for all of our students. We’re 100% committed to that … all of us.”

Williams said, and Bailey agreed postmeeting, that the discussion was robust. “I felt that there were people in there who

were beginning to hear us,” Bailey said, “about what we see in the real world, boots on the ground, not filtered through what teachers are going through, though that’s important.”

Added McKee: “I was hearing that we have a very involved, active community that wants the best for students. They believe the best way to approach education is through partnership, and they have a lot to offer the school in terms of the community’s sort of involvement.”

Hester, who joined OPRF this school year, said the next steps are to hear from more stakeholder groups.

“I really do think all stakeholders have to get around the table,” she said. “Being new, I’m just starting to really get to know our teachers, I’m getting to know our division heads. I really want to hear from the teachers. They’ve done a lot of work on the curriculum.”

The conversation may have been robust, but it was also collegial. In the hallway after the meeting, Bailey approached McKee and had a special message for her.

“Thank you,” Bailey said. “And again, thanks for all the work you guys do.”

“Appreciate you, and appreciate the community activism,” McKee responded. “It always helps.”

PROVIDED

D200

Oak Park police arrest man suspected of armed robber y

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Police ar rested a man b eli eved to be responsible for an ar med robbery in Oak Pa rk last December

Police ar rested the 33-year- old Chicag o man on charges of armed robbery in c on-

nection with an incident that o ccu rred in the first block of Madison Street on Dec. 30, 2024, according to Oak Pa rk police.

During the incident, the suspect repor tedly entered a vehicle o ccupied by two Chicago r esidents, drew a handgu n with an extended magazine and d emanded money. He then struck b oth victims

in the face with the g un and f led from the scene with the money, a ccording to p olice.

T he man is cu rr ently being held in C ook C ounty Co rr ections c ustody in Chicago and is next scheduled to a ppear in c ourt on Oct. 6, a ccording to c ounty records.

Assault and battery arrests

Oak Park police have arrested several in connection with violent altercations over the last week.

On Sept. 26, police arrested a 21-year-old Oak Park man on charges of domestic battery and criminal damage to property, according to police records. The man first appeared in court Sept. 29, according to county records.

On Sept. 25, police arrested a 25-year-old man on battery charges in the first block of Erie Court for a re ported attack on an Indiana resident. The man was processed and released from the station with a notice to appear in court, according to police.

Can local journalism survive? Thrive?

An important discussion sponsored by the League of Women Voters Oak Park and River Forest and Growing Community Media

The internet killed off many newspapers and other legacy publications are struggling to survive. Meanwhile a new wave of young online publications is attempting to fill the vacuum and cover their communities. If democracy is to survive, voters need to know the candidates running for office and their positions. Readers, local donors and foundations have stepped into the fray, but will their philanthropy be enough?

Join the discussion

Tracy Baim

Executive director of Press Forward Chicago, a pooled fund helping local journalism

Max Reinsdorf Interim executive director, Growing Community Media

April Alonso Co-founder of Cicero Independiente

Amethyst Davis Founder of the Harvey World Herald

Thursday, Oct. 9 • 6 p.m.

Oak Park Public Library • 834 Lake St, Oak Park Admission is free and open to the public

Judith Crown Co-president, League of Women Voters Oak Park and River Forest, will moderate the discussion

On Sept. 23 police arrested a 33-year-old Chicago man on charges of assault and theft in connection with an incident that occur red in the 200 block of Clinton Avenue. The man was also found to have active warrants for his arrest out of Cook County and Kane County.

Oak Park police also arrested a 33-yearold Berwyn man on a warrant for charges of domestic battery on Sept. 24.

These items were obtained from Oak Park’s Police Department re ports dated Sept. 24-29 and re present a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these re ports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We re port the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed a description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.

TODD BANNOR

A ermath of major re with multiple re departments responding at 314 Park Ave. in River Forest on Sept. 27.

Several towns respond to River Forest house re

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Firefighters from several local agencies responded to a house fire in River Forest over the weekend.

On Saturday, Sept. 27 at approximately 2:45 p.m., River Forest firefighters responded to a fire at a single-family residence in the 300 block of Park Avenue

T here was no one inside the home when firefighters arrived. T here were no injuries re ported as result of the blaze as firefighters ke pt it contained to the home’s attic space, according to River Forest

Firefighters Local 2391.

“The River Forest Fire Department is typically staffed with five firefighter/ paramedics.” the union said of the incident. “At the time of this call, the ambulance, which is staffed with two members, was committed to another call. T he initial River Forest Engine arrived on scene with only two members. T he initial River Forest Truck arrived on scene with only one member “

Firefighters from Oak Park, Berwyn and Forest Park responded to the scene to assist the RFFD and g et the fire safely under control.

October 5

11am-1pm

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Renaldo Domino and the Heavy Sounds per formed.

e perennially popular cucumber race.

Another satis ed cotton candy customer.

A happy youngster wins the bell ring game

Mother and daughter build a cucumber hot rod.

PHOTO S BY TODD BANNOR

Tales from the front

Local home inspector on why you should never ever skip the inspection

By LACEY SIKORA Real Estate Reporter

Steve Nations has been inspecting homes for 21 years. As a veteran home inspector and Oak Park resident, he has plenty of experience in evaluating vintage homes for clients. He has two crucia l pieces of advice: Even in a f ast-moving real estate market it’s never a good idea to skip the home inspection, and experienc e matters when it comes to choosing someone to inspect a home

Nation emphasizes that no matter where you are in the ne gotiating process, home inspections are extremely important. “This is likely to be the biggest purchase of your life – so take the time to explore it with an expert,” he said.

“I don’t want to just hand my clients a list of problems without putting them into perspective. All houses have problems, and even most very nice houses have lots of problems.”

STEVE NATIONS Home Inspector

OLDER HOMES NEED INSPECTIONS: Steve Nations, an Oak Parker and a home inspec tor, is passionate that a thorough inspection is critical protection for all home buyers.

According to Nations, there’s not a lot of training required to become a home inspector – j ust a two-week c ourse followe d by a multiple-choice exam. Nations, wh o has a master ’s de gree in mechanical engineering, said that back ground experience matters when you’ re asking someone to evaluate wh at is most li ke ly your biggest asset.

What to expec t

When clients hire Nations to do a home inspection, he makes sure they know what

to expect. A typical local inspection takes 3-5 hours, de pending on the size and condition of the house.

Nation explained it this way: “A buyer should expect to get a fair bit of exercise during the inspection – you’ll want to follow the inspector as much as possible. I understand that for some people the literal nuts and bolts of a house just aren’t very interesting, but this is your best chance to learn about the house from a knowledgeable professional, and you should take advantage of that opportunity. You should ask questions, and your home inspector

should be telling you about some of the important features of the house. If your home inspector doesn’t want you to ask questions during the inspection, then I think you’ve chosen the wrong inspector.”

Nations said a good inspector knows how to put everything into the proper perspective.

“I don’t want to just hand my clients a list of problems without putting them into perspective. All houses have problems, and even most very nice houses have lots of

Guided by Experience, Driven by Results

STEVE NATIONS

problems. So, the question often times isn’t really ‘What are the problems?’ The question is ‘How does this house compare to other houses in this area of this type and vintage?’ The buyer needs to understand that if they don’t buy this house, they will find most of the same problems at another house for sale in the area.”

Particularly for older homes, like the housing stock in Oak Park and River Forest, Nations said, it’s important to have an understanding of how much the original plumbing and electrical systems have been re placed, and how that compares to neighboring homes.

He noted that this is a skill that comes with experience. “An inspector who just got their license can’t answer these questions, and they don’t have any perspective,” he said. “It can take a long time to see enough houses to have this perspective.”

Important areas

A home inspection should be a thorough examination of the entire house, and Nations said that clients want to know about any possible financial outlays they may be facing with repairs. In older homes, it’s important to look at all of the major systems to see what has been updated or replaced, and it’s also important to consider red flags.

Electrical systems and windows are one big area that buyers should look at in older homes, as upgrading these areas can be a major expense

“I always tell my clients, water is your home’s number one enemy,” Nation said. “I am always looking for any evidence of any kind of water problem – plumbing leak, roof leak, or foundation seepage.”

He also assesses the age and condition of the HVAC system, looking for any kind of safety problem with the venting systems of the gas-fired appliances

Other areas of focus include the condition and ages of the major appliances, overall safety issues and even small annoyances, like a door that won’t latch.

Old house issues

Two areas of concern that pop up frequently in old housing stock are asbestos and lead paint. Nations said that all home inspectors disclaim both items because

you cannot know for sure whether an item is asbestos or contains lead paint without lab testing. That said, he tries to make sure clients know if items are likely to contain asbestos or lead paint so that they can make the safest choice going forward.

A good home inspector will also know about codes. Many older homes will not meet modern code standards. Nations said inspecting things like water pipes, electrical wiring, glass and stair dimensions are key in older homes so that clients are willing to accept these issues or prepared to spend the thousands of dollars it might take to fix them.

Tools of the trade

Historically, Nations says that home inspections are “visual inspections,” and tools were limited, but he has a few in his toolbox that give him added insight.

An infrared camera helps him find problems with insulation and water problems. A borescope helps him look through very small holes behind walls and above ceilings and he can use a drone to inspect some roofs.

The importance of the report

While a good home inspection re port can allow a buyer to negotiate for a reduction of the purchase price of the home, it can also be a great resource to refer back to. “It can be a roadmap to re pairs that should be made or maintenance items that should be addressed,” he said.

Surprises for the inspector

Nations has his share of stories of interesting finds in old houses and says they keep his work interesting.

“I was in a crawl space one time and saw that the main beam of the house was being supported by a car jack that was sitting on a piece of flagstone,” he recalled. “It was kind of scary being under there.”

“Some of my most memorable moments have been watching water gush into a basement through the outside door during a heavy downpour, and seeing the look of hor ror on my clients’ faces.”

There was also the time that he got shocked when inspecting transformers that had their hot and neutral wires reversed.

Luckily, not every inspection has surprises like these, but when they do, it just adds to his knowledge base, which is a valuable part of being good at his job. “It can take a long time to see enough houses to have this perspective,” he said.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION

(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)

1.Publication Title: Wednesday Journal

2. Publication no.: USPS 0010-138

3. Date of filing: October 1,2025

4. Frequency of issue: Weekly

5. No of issues published annually: 51

6. Annual subscription price: $65.00

7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: P.O. Box 6670 River Forest, IL 60305

8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business office of publisher: (same)

9. Names and complete mailing addresses of publisher, editor and manager editor:

Publisher: Max Reinsdorf, P.O. Box 6670 River Forest, IL 60305

Editor: Dan Haley, P.O. Box 6670 River Forest, IL 60305 Managing Editor: Dan Haley, P.O. Box 6670 River Forest, IL 60305

10. The owner is: Growing Community Media NFP P.O. Box 6670 River Forest, IL 60305

11. Known bondholders, mortagees and other security holders owning or holding one percent or more of the total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities are: None.

12. N/A

13. Publication name: Wednesday Journal

14. Issue date for circulation data below: September 24,

Total no. copies printed (net press run): 3955

Mailed outside-county paid subscriptions stated on Form 3541: 53 B2. Mailed in-county paid subscriptions stated on form 3541: 3012 B3. Paid distribution outside the mails including sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales and other paid distribution outside USPS: 206 B4. Paid distribution by other classes of mail through the USPS: 0

Total Paid distribution: 3276

D1. Free or nominal rate outside-county copies included on PS form 3541: 0

D2. Free on nominal rate in-county copies included on PS Form 3541: 323

D3. Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other classes through the USPS: 0

D4. Free or nominal rate distribution outside the mail: 185

E. Total free or nominal rate distribution: 508

F. Total distribution: 3782

G. Copies not distributed: 172

H: Total: 3956

I. Percent paid: 95.6%

15. No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing

Shrubtown: Who are those masked men?

Dear Pope Leo XIV …

As one Chicagoan to another: Help!

I know you have a lot to do running a church with over a billion faithful, and you are just getting your feet wet in the new job. But I also know that you support the plight of the immigrant.

JACK CROWE

And right now, in my neighborhood, there are bands of masked ICE gunman rounding up undocumented immigrants

It happened at a bus stop in River Forest. It happened to roofers in Naperville (roofing is one of the most dangerous jobs and in Chicago mostly done by low paid immigrants).

They even shot and killed a migrant on Grand Avenue in Franklin Park.

Frankly, I don’t believe ICE’s version of why they shot the man.

I’ve heard through the Melrose Park grape vine that he had just dropped his kids off at school and that his only outstanding crime was a ticket. Whether or not that is true, a father is dead and his widow is grieving and afraid.

It’s strange asking how you can help us. As if you are some kind of deus ex machina. I guess I’m really asking what you think we should do. And I can imagine your suggestions:

Pray Yes, of course that. But what else?

Be like the Good Samaritan and aid the foreigner whose world has been rocked and is hurting

At a more theological level, you might quote a person who many whites in the U.S. once reviled, who then became a national icon after his assassination, and in some Christian nationalist quarters is again reviled. I mean Rev. Martin Luther King.

Growing up in the ’60s in south suburban Dolton, you must remember King moving to Chicago one summer. He marched peacefully (always peacefully) in Marquette Park on the South Side and white gangs threw rocks at him.

You might ask us to remember things he said, such as “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice,” which doesn’t seem true at the moment.

You would also probably ask us to remember the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice

Our Christian nationalist cousins, and many others in our country, seem to have forgotten the Beatitudes. And me too I need to do a better job living them day to day.

Thanks for your attention to this matter. I hope we get to see you in Chicago sometime during your pontificate. And when you visit, let’s grab some deep dish.

Sincerely.

Jack Crowe, a Catholic Oak Parker, is a longtime, if irregular, Wednesday Journal columnist

VIEWPOINTS

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M.

Call Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at 613-3310 ktrainor@wjinc.com

A God who makes sense to me

The following is based on a sermon delivered at Unity Temple on Aug. 3:

OROGER

ne of my favorite books of poetry is an obscure little book called Bucolics by Maurice Manning. The 78 poems in the volume are grounded in a rural setting. The voice of the poet seems to be that of a farmer. Some of them are praise songs for the beauty of nature and farming, but there is also a lot of wondering about life’s questions and meaning, doubt, and even a fair bit of quarreling and complaining. The farmer/ poet reminds me of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof

BERTSCHAUSEN

One View

this possibility called God. Here’s a representative poem from Bucolics. It’s a praise song to Boss: boss of the blue sky boss of green water boss of rain with thunder out in front of it boss of the flatland bottoming the hill O Boss you’ ve got a hundred marvels underneath your belt so tight you’ll have to poke another hole if you keep bossing

All of it is addressed to someone called “Boss.” As one of the testimonials in the front of the book puts it: the poems are “a postmodern conversation with a version of a higher power [called] ‘Boss.’” They aren’t exactly conversations though, because Boss never says a word.

Picturing God as a boss is an intriguing angle on the divine. The image probably doesn’t work for everyone, especially if their own boss is considerably less than divine. But the image works pretty well for me. I guess I’ve generally had good bosses

When it comes to the divine, I’m decisively agnostic. I’m not sure whether there is such a thing as God or Goddess or whatever name we give the divine for this thing. I usually favor the more ambiguous, non-human, non-gendered “divine” for this thing I decisively may or not believe in. But for this ser mon, I’m going to use “God” for that thing

If there is God, then count me a polytheist. This is because if there is such a thing as the divine, it makes good sense to picture “It” in a multitude of ways. The more pictures, the merrier. No one image of God can ever possibly exhaust the truth about the mystery of the divine. So I’m delighted to include Boss (as depicted in these poems) to the many names and images I use for

The picture that emerges of God/Boss in Bucolics is complex (like any boss). The characteristics Manning depicts resonate very well with my pictures of God First, Boss is everywhere. “O everywhere I go you’re there/before me Boss,” the poet writes. Boss is in the world, the world is in Boss, the world is Boss. If we’re looking, we can see Boss in the simplest of things. And Boss is not just part of good things that happen to us, but also bad (and who’s to say for sure what’s good and what’s bad?):

whenever there’s a to I know a fro is coming after it Boss you sender of the sun you rain for rivers

Maybe most amazing of all, Boss is even in you and in me: “Are you in my chest Boss?” the poet asks, and the answer plainly is yes.

I like the idea of God having some human qualities like occasionally being sorry. This makes God so much more relatable than some perfect being who is far away from my imperfect human life on this little, out-of-theway planet.

Another thing about Boss is that Boss has a keen and sometimes even devilish sense of humor. If there is

OUR VIEWS

Coming home humbled Fire department sta ng

In an unusual confluence of consultants’ reports, two studies of the Oak Park Fire Department – one funded by the firefighters labor union, the other by village hall – arrived at similar conclusions. The department is understaffed and morale is lower as a result.

The village-funded study said its survey of department staff made clear that firefighters feel overworked as service calls rise and overtime is necessary, that it wants more active leadership, and that nearly 70% of those surveyed believe low staffing levels are slowing response time on calls

The study funded by the firefighters union echoed those concer ns but was more specific in calling for village gover nment to hire nine additional firefighters to increase the number of staff riding on fire trucks to calls.

Oak Park’s village board will review its consultants’ work later this month. Meanwhile, in an unusual public outreach, firefighters will hold their own town hall meeting this week at the main library. Over recent years, attention at village hall has been on its inability to bring police staffing up to budgeted levels. This is a new and likely expensive front as the village balances tight finances with these calls to increase firefighter hiring.

Good that these two studies align as hard decisions need to be made.

OPRF and equity

Another positive alignment took place last week when Oak Park and River Forest High School administrators made their annual report to the school board on headway and stalls in its defining equity effort – the all honors curriculum for freshmen.

Three years in, the data on this bold detracking effort is mixed to encouraging. No one thought this effort was simple or magical. And it has not been.

We’re gratified to see a deter mined core of citizens, who have been pushing academic equity at OPRF for so many years, and the administration have what was described as a “robust” conversation at this meeting. There is concur rence that more, stronger academic support efforts need to be made for Black students starting in freshman year and moving forward.

We’re interested in the citizen view that the school needs to look more at qualitative data and not just quantitative data in assessing progress being made. There are complex issues here that need wide review.

Most foundationally, we are encouraged to see OPRF continue its focus on this program. We have said many times that the school has a history of abandoning equity projects that don’t produce immediate results. The reality on equity is that we are in this challenge for reasons ranging from our education systems to the systemic racism in America, from families to community

Stay aligned, stay critical, and stay hopeful.

For the first time, following a trip overseas, I returned home reluctantly. After a week in Ireland, I looked forward to coming back to my life in Oak Pa rk, of course, but not to the U.S., which feels wrecke ruined. The prevailing culture here does not reflect my values; in fact it is ag sively hostile to those values. In Ireland, on the other hand, I felt much more in synch — a superficial impression, perhaps, based on an 8-day trip (though consistent with my three previous trips over a half-century span).

TRAINOR

As I said in my column last week, Ireland feels more eg alitarian with less evidence of economic inequality and a greater commitment to free speech. The noise and partisan toxicity levels are much lower there. Addressing climate change and economic disparity are demonstrated priorities, judging by the well-produced public service announcements I saw during a brief sampling of Irish television — and even in the B&Bs where we stayed on the West Coast. The Irish go out of their way on these issues. We do it half-hear tedly or with corporate lip service, if at all. In Ireland, g as-guzzling automobiles are not the dominant mode of transportation. Communitarian values are more openly espoused there than in our country, where hard-core individualism and hyper-competitiveness still reign.

rest of the world.

In Ireland, they were kind about it, consoling even. “We know it wasn’t your fault,” we heard more than once. They could have rubbed it in, but they ’t. They know it’s embarrassing a joke as president, so they ’t bring up politics unless you do. But once they realize you have a clue, they let down their guard a little and commiserate. From such a distance, it’s en possible to laugh a bit about the sheer absurdity of it all. Harder to do that back here.

Traveling Americans, I suspect, have to fight the urge to apologize for this, our un-finest hour. But when I’m abroad, though it happens rarely now, I don’t feel the weight of “representing my country.” It would be impossible to explain our national insane asylum to them anyhow. One can only shrug and say, “We are a cauldron of irrationality.” The Irish, if anyone, would understand. It is, as we Irish-American Catholics like to say, “the cross we bear.”

Moving to Ireland is not an option, but taking a break from our national sh*tstorm was a welcome respite. Minus email and the internet, I was happy to be removed from the madness, though it’s impossible to escape altogether. Coverage of the murder of Charlie Kirk made the front page of the Irish Times, as did ef for ts by the political-corporate complex to censor Jimmy Kimmel. But those wormholes didn’t lure me in. They just made me all the more appreciative of spending time in a place that felt so much saner.

I haven’t traveled abroad since 2019 (also to Ireland). I don’t know how other Americans feel voyaging these days, but since last November, we Yanks, as they call us, travel with an albatross around our necks, bearing the embarrassment of having re-elected a laughing-stock in the eyes of the

But I didn’t think about it much while I was there. America was once a saner nation, so it felt familiar being in Ireland. Maybe even a little homesick for those days. When I travel, I like to find the things that other countries are doing better. That wasn’t hard on this trip. We have a lot to learn from other lands. Too bad we’re so hard-headed. I doubt there are as many “ugly Americans” out and about these days, exuding ar ro gant bravado And that’s a blessing. I felt more like a citizen of the world, and that helped me cope with living in a country with its head so far up its butt. A little humility right now may be good medicine for the national soul.

And if Ireland is any indication, there is hope elsewhere. The world may even extend a hand to help us get over ourselves. And say, with a clap on the back, “Hey, Yank, it’s good to see you back in the land of the living.”

One thing the Irish know how to do, from long experience, is to laugh it of f.

Someday, maybe. Someday

Raise hats, connect dots, stand in solidarity, take action

Last week’s Wednesday Jour nal was such an outstanding example of the importance and power of community journalism. In its brief 36 pages, we had stories about the attacks on our immigrant community, our village gover nment’s quick and strategic response to the federal gover nment’s incursions into our town, and the cancelling/ postponing of multiple events celebrating Latino culture and heritage due to heightened fears of attack in our increasingly xenophobic country. As we watch our mainstream media buckling under pressure from Washington, our support of local, on-the-ground journalism is going to be increasingly important in getting reliable and accurate data and information to us

These and other attacks on civil and human rights are connected. Our movements for justice, human rights, the environment, democracy – all of them – must work together, strategically, to achieve all that needs to happen. So many of us look around and are overwhelmed by the enormity of what is confronting us, and don’t know what to do, where to put our efforts. While every individual act may be helpful, working in coalition and across communities will make our ef for ts far more effective. Pick an issue – any issue that is compelling to you – and reach out to organizations that are already doing work in this area, and join up with them. Support folks as they are doing the work in

other areas as well that are critical to our communities

When these cancelled events are rescheduled and others are created, show up in solidarity and strength. We need to engage and to support each other.

To this end, on Thursday evening, Oct. 9, the Committee for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel (CJPIP) is hosting Art As Resistance, what promises to be an exceptional fundraiser for three movements: the movement for Palestinian Survival and Human Rights; the movement for Immigrant Safety and Human Rights; and the movement for LGBTQ+ Safety and Human Rights.

The evening will be a landmark event of art performances and exhibits unlike

Welcome to Woke Park, neighbor!

Hi there, new neighbor! Let me introduce myself: My name is Mark, and my wife and I have lived in Oak Park for 37 years, where we raised our family. Let me tell you a few things about our village:

MARK KNICKELBEIN

One View

First, I hope for your sake that you are politically left-leaning. Oak Parkers take pride in their progressiveness, and many are eager to let you know it by displaying lawn signs and flags announcing their virtuous beliefs. Our elected village board places diversity, equity, and inclusion above all other considerations when making decisions. In fact, Oak Park is now a sanctuary city for transgender people, in case you were concer ned about this issue. And the village recently blocked some of the entrances to the village hall parking lot, so as to impede ICE incursions (now ICE agents wanting to visit village hall for any reason will have to park their vehicles on Lombard Street). And years ago, Oak Park declared itself to be a nuclear-free zone, in case you were worried about that.

Of course we have a public library, although it has changed to reflect the cultural and societal needs of the community. Back in the old days the library was a place where you would go to check out books, study, or do research. Now it is primarily a gathering place for political activists and a day care facility for homeless people. I’ve noticed that there are still some books there — a carefully chosen selection of them are displayed in the lobby to inform you of the socially relevant literature the library staff thinks you should be reading.

I see that you have young children. Before you moved to Oak Park, you undoubtedly researched the

quality of our public schools. They are pretty good. In fact, when your kids reach high school, they are guaranteed to be enrolled in honors classes, because at OPRF High School, there is an “honors for all” policy for freshmen. We’re proud that OPRF is ranked by the Illinois Report Card in the second-highest category (“commendable”) among the state’s high schools. OPRF used to be in the top category (“exemplary”) but “commendable” is still pretty good, I guess

Police protection? Well, we do have a police department, but not everyone in Oak Park is keen on having a police presence. A few years ago, nearly one third of voting Oak Parkers voted to defund the police in a non-binding ballot referendum. We have a sort of compromise whereby the police are housed in a cramped, outdated facility in the basement of village hall, and the force itself is understaffed. So I guess we tolerate our police, but don’t want too many of them around, or for them to be too comfortable.

By the way, I see that you have a gas-powered leaf blower in your garage. Well, you can’t use it here because the village has banned their use due to the huge volumes of greenhouse gases they produce. I have an extra leaf rake in case you need one.

Of course all of these wonderful things come at a price. Our property taxes are among the highest in the area, so you may want to put off buying furniture and accessories for your new home and instead put that money aside for when property tax time comes around

Well neighbor, that’s my two cents’ worth on what to expect living in Oak Park. Maybe I’ll see you Saturday at the Far mers Market. Bring your dog and be sure to tie a kerchief around their neck!

anything we have done before. Many artists from around the Chicago area are lending their talents to this event because they believe this event is meeting this moment. The event will take place at the historic and beautiful Nineteenth Century Club. Please come. Here is an opportunity to do something – to support organizations that are on the front lines of resistance. Buy your tickets now (last year’s event sold out) or donate if you cannot attend. Links to ticket sales and donations are available at http:// tinyurl.com/artasresist.

Please direct any questions to artasresistance2025@gmail.com.

e damning stats that can’t be found

What exactly are we to think when the Department of Justice (DOJ) quietly pulled down its own re port confirming the uncomfortable truth the Trump administration is afraid will get out?

The re port showed that for the past three decades, far-right violence has been the leading driver of domestic ter rorism in the United States. Not a close second, not an occasional spike. More than radical Islamist terror, more than the fringe left, more than any other cate gory. And this was over a period that includes 9/11 and the full weight of the Trump administration exploiting a tragedy for its own cynical political gain. Even with decades of headlines, mass surveillance, and trillions spent on overseas wars, the bigger threat here at home came from our own homeg rown cowards That is what made the re port so dangerous. Because once you admit the numbers, you admit that our security theater has always been political theater. We poured resources into fighting a foreign threat while ignoring the extremists down the hall,

in their basement. And now the data showing that failure has left us vulnerable.

The DOJ’s own figures told the story. Since 1990, far-right extremists committed 227 attacks that took more than 520 lives in the United States. By comparison, far-left extremists carried out 42 attacks that killed 78 people in the same period. The numbers were clear, and they cut through the mythology we built around the war on ter ror. That is why the re port had to disappear.

Oak Park residents, like communities across the country, deserve honesty about what really drives violence. If the DOJ can erase its own work when it points in the wrong direction, then every speech about law and order is as credible as an episode produced by Dick Wolf.

We were war ned a thousand times that democracy doesn’t collapse all at once. It rots slowly, deal by deal, but a 404 er ror saying this page cannot be found is just insulting when everyone knows the Wayback Machine exists.

Rebekah Levin Oak Park

Joshua Cooper Oak Park

SHRUB TO WN by Marc Stopeck

Breaking down ageism

Iencourage anyone reading this column to come out to Pilgrim Congregational Church on Thursday, Oct. 9 to hear Dr. Becca Levy, author of the book Breaking The Age Code. Oct. 9 also happens to be Ageism Awareness Day.

Dr. Levy will speak about how your beliefs about aging determine how long and how well you live. She will also talk about her current research project in Oak Park, and she will answer your questions.

She might also talk about the contradiction between fearing and denying something that is inevitable

MARC

BLESOFF

Modeled after the United Nation’s Inter national Day of Older Persons (Oct. 1), Ageism Awareness Day provides an opportunity to draw attention to the existence and impact of ageism in our society. Ageism refers to stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel), and discrimination (how we act) toward others or ourselves based on age. Ageism negatively impacts our health and well-being, our financial security, and the economy. It exists in many forms, influencing everything from personal interactions to public policy, and impacts us at

every age.

Has anyone ever called you “sweetie” just because of your age? Have you ever lost out on a promotion just because of your age? Has a doctor ever told you, “What do you expect at your age?”

Have you ever bought one of those “old age birthday cards” at the super market or hardware store? You know the ones: not even close to funny, rather shaming us for being old.

Unconscious bias is just that – unconscious. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that half the world’s population is ageist against older people

The village of Oak Park’s Aging in Communities Commission is sponsoring the Ageism Awareness Day program (I am chairperson of the Commission). Like last year, which featured Ashton Applewhite, Becca Levy is a world-famous ageism speaker, researcher and activist. Why not take advantage of her appearance in Oak Park? Come on out to the Ageism Awareness Day program at Pilgrim Congregational Church on Thursday, Oct. 9.

The program is free. It starts at 6 p.m. with finger food for everybody

WEDNESD AY

of Oak Park and River Forest

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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.

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e need for an equity advisory committee

Two weeks ago, this paper published a petition [A call to support the Freshman AllHonors Curriculum, Viewpoints, Sept. 17] led by our group, asking the District 200 school board to:

■ Require the district to provide more effective assistance to students in the Freshman All-Honors program, co-designed with impacted students and families

■ Create an authentically independent Curriculum Equity Advisory Group (CEAG) that sets and monitors time-sensitive goals to ensure ongoing improvements to the Freshman All-Honors curriculum.

Today, we want to expand on the second request. Some community members might ask, “Why do we need a Curriculum Equity Advisory Committee?” Yes, there are a plethora of board committees, citizen gatherings, and student groups that give input to the board and administration on various matters. But in an effort as large and vital as the curricu-

lar and instructional refor ms involved in the Freshman All-Honors program, consistent review, input, and insight are essential.

The Curriculum Equity Advisory Group we envision would be composed of students, families, teachers, community members, and OPRF curriculum leaders. The group would review instructional data — grades, test scores, classroom observations, student feedback — to deter mine the effectiveness of OPRF curriculum and instruction efforts, analyze research, and engage in conversation with students and families to determine how instruction could become more effective. The CEAG would maintain a direct connection to those students and families, especially those most marginalized by the school’s past and current practices, to ensure that their thoughts and ideas are incorporated into OPRF’s instructional efforts.

Successful schools develop from the collaboration of elected school boards, educators,

students, and families. Students are experts in their own interests and what makes learning most accessible and engaging for them. Families have strong opinions based on their relationships with their young people about what cur riculum would be beneficial and how their children lear n. Educators have expertise in the art and science of lear ning as well as content. We must do more to institutionalize conversations and decisionmaking across these groups, especially about the areas that are most vital to the success of an academic institution.

It is time for us to take the next step with OPRF’s curriculum across all grade levels. We ask the D200 board to improve Freshman All-Honors supports now with student input, and then systematize input from all groups going forward by creating the Curriculum Equity Advisory Group Committee for Equity and Excellence in Education and community allies

One-time-only property tax relief

Follow the leash law

My dog suffers from severe anxiety after being attacked by another dog 10 years ago. When walking her (on a leash), I am often confronted with dogs not on a leash in the parks or people who walk right up to me with their dog on a leash who say, “My do g is friendly.” Great. So is mine … with people only. When I re ply, “My dog is not,” (because the real reason I don’t have time to explain), I get horrified looks. The irony always mystifies me. You approached me.

Please just approach dogs you know.

And follow the leash law please.

Laura Font

Oak Park

Between Sept. 29 and Oct. 10, Cook County’s new Homeowner Relief Fund will be accepting applications for property tax rebates of $1,000. Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

1. Owners of single-family homes, condominiums, and small apartment buildings must have experienced a year-over-year property tax increase of 50% or more in tax year 2021 (paid in 2022), tax year 2022 (paid in 2023), or tax year 2023 (paid in 2024).

2. The combined 2024 income for all members of the applicant’s household cannot exceed the Area Median Income For a single person, the maximum income is $84,000, and it is $119,900 for a family of four.

3. The property must be the primary residence of the applicant.

The Homeowner Relief Fund only has enough money to issue rebates to 13,600

households in Cook County. Since it is expected that there will be more than 13,600 households eligible for the program, a lottery will determine who among the qualifying households will receive the rebate.

Oak Park residents were most likely to have experienced annual tax increases of 50% or more in tax year 2023. This is because Oak Park was reassessed in 2023, and many taxpayers experienced significant tax

Maybe QuikTrip’s not so bad a er all

I want QuikTrip.

Not that I don’t appreciate the beauty of a defunct concrete factory.

Harlem Avenue is a ridiculously perfect site for a convenience store and gas station. I’m sure QuikTrip sees how many cars drive up and down Harlem every day and drools to get in on that action. I too see dollar signs, only mine are tax dollars flowing into Oak Park

Gasoline is still the most common car fuel. People are going to need gas for their cars for decades into the future, and they’ ll buy it in Oak Park, or they’ ll buy it somewhere else. We’re not protecting the environment at all by refusing to sell gas.

Also, convenience stores have their place, selling things all of us need, like food, toiletries, over-the-counter medicines, diapers. Not glamorous, but necessary.

I’m no QuikTrip expert, but I’m told by a friend that the stores are clean and well run. Successful businesses bring traf fic. More people, more cars, more money spent. I’d hate to see that in a residential neighborhood, but I’d love it on Route 43, Harlem Avenue Oak Park is great at saying “no.” No to Aldi in the now-demolished Foley-Rice dealership, no to Taco Bell at Roosevelt and Austin.

Sidebar: Let’s hear it for Roosevelt and Austin, former bank site reduced to cracked asphalt, broken glass, and leftover bank parts! Extra points for squatting on prime real estate that could be bringing in the bucks. OK, back to QuikTrip. Let’s learn how to say “yes” to a strong business on Harlem Avenue.

increases when the 2023 tax bills came due in calendar year 2024.

Taxpayers interested in applying can do so online at https://hrf.cookcountyil.gov/ apply. Taxpayers may also call the Oak Park Township Assessor’s Office at 708-383-8005 to ask questions about the program and to get help applying for it.

Ali ElSa ar Oak Park Township Assessor

Anne Jordan-Baker Oak Park Could QuikTrip look any worse?

Advisory? Binding? Stonewalling on term limits

It’s hard to understand why the River Forest Village Board continues to debate whether the April 1 Term Limit referendum voters approved was advisory or binding – it makes no practical difference. I don’t know if our village attorney is telling our elected officials in executive session what the village president, who vigorously opposed to the referendum, wants to hear (the default in all too many Illinois communities) rather than what she and the board need to hear.

It would appear they need to hear that the plain language of the state constitution allows term limits approved by referendum, advisory or binding. They need to hear that the River Forest Village Board is perfectly free to pass an ordinance to establish the ter m limits approved in the April 1 referendum. Unless there are other factors at play that the village board is not disclosing,

why does the village president continue to stonewall the will of the voters while keeping us in the dark for six months as to the advice the village attorney is giving the board?

DAN LAUBER

One View

First, the Illinois Constitution grants municipalities the power “to provide by referendum for their of ficers, manner of selection and terms of office.” –

Article VII, Section 7(3)

Second, as best I can tell without being privy to what the village board is secretly discussing in executive session instead of being transparent with the voting public, the state statutes allow local municipalities to adopt term limits by ordinance as long as they are prospective — namely, current office holders are not subject to the forthcoming term limits:

Sec. 3.1–10–17: … (a) The imposition of

Iter m limits by referendum, ordinance, or otherwise must be prospective. … [There’s no question that the River Forest referendum met this requirement.]

(b) The imposition of ter m limits by referendum, ordinance, or otherwise shall only apply to terms for the same office or that category of municipal office. … [The statute does not distinguish between advisory or binding referenda.]

(d) This Section applies to all term limits imposed by a municipality by referendum, ordinance, or otherwise passed on or after November 8, 2016. – (65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-17)

It sure looks like the statute’s plain language frees the River Forest Village Board to adopt term limits by ordinance whether or not the April 1 referendum was advisory or binding.

Finding money to improve our schools

’ve been reading with interest the various letters from the River Forest community about the District 90 teacher union negotiations and the need to pay teachers properly. I support the fact that teachers ought to be paid appropriately, as I think we all do. However, I will leave those ne gotiations to the union and the school board.

Overall, the consensus seems to be that the schools have improved in the past few years, so kudos to the teachers and staf f who made this happen, despite COVID and the kindergarten and phonics fiascos. Now all the River Forest schools have been deemed exemplary under the state of Illinois proficiency standards (because of the politics involved in setting such standards, many people feel the standards are weak). However, the fact remains that approximately 1/4 of our students do not meet reading, and 1/3 students do not meet math state set proficiency standards. In language ar ts, the result for students from low-income families is significantly worse, as only about 25% meet state standards. This information is on the D90 website. We can and should do better for our community and our children, and that will take

resources.

As I understand it, the River Forest Schools have been operating at an annual operating deficit of about $500,000 per year for a few years now. In addition, a new teachers contract is obviously going to cost more money, so the question is: Where is the money to come from? Realistically, there are three potential sources. Bor rowing/spending reserves, tax increases, or tax revenues from increased commercial development.

Personally, I am opposed to borrowing more, or using too many of our reserves, to fund yearly operating deficits. In this state, we have all seen, unfortunately, the results this leads to long-term. On the second option, tax increases, if the community wants to fund the schools through tax increases, personally, we are absolutely fine with that and would be happy to pay our share.

While it can be a controversial topic, it seems to me that the village board, and the school board need to have a discussion with the village about what we do about commercial development in this town, including multifamily developments.

Like all River Forest residents not on the village board, I’m in the dark re garding what the village attor ney is telling our elected officials about this spring’s referendum. I’m especially at a loss since the plain language of the state statutes and constitution appear to authorize enacting the ter m limits even if the referendum is deemed to be advisory.

If our village president and the village trustees actually respect the will of the people, it’s time to stop stonewalling and enact an ordinance to establish the future term limits that the majority of voters favored in the April 1 referendum, without continuing to battle over the irrelevant question of whether the referendum was binding or advisory.

Daniel Lauber is a longtime River Forest resident.

The practicality is that more commercial development leads to increased local tax revenues. For example, I would think that our largest two individual sources of tax revenues are the Jewel, and the stores at Harlem and Lake, especially Whole Foods.

When I compare River Forest’s level of building and activity in commercial development in recent years to other towns that surround us, while there’s been a little commercial development in River Forest, we have had significantly less, and that’s not just a function of our smaller size.

What this means, economically, is that the village is fore going the opportunity for significant incremental tax revenues for all areas, including our schools. For example, if we could get the vacant properties developed at Park & Lake, Lathrop & Lake, and on Madison between Ashland & Lathrop, my guess is that development of those properties alone could generate tax revenues significant enough to wipe out most, if not all, the current $500,000 per year deficit for the schools.

In addition, if you look around town, there are lots of opportunities for redevelopment.

Jim Lynch is a resident of River Forest.

Looking for integrity

Dear Historic Preservation Commissioners,

Your dedication to the protection of Oak Park’s architectural history is deeply appreciated by those of us who value preservation. Your mission to balance preservation and development in accordance with a set of architectural guidelines has been essential to Oak Park’s re putation as a destination for those who appreciate carefully preserved structures of the rare and ir re placeable kind.

The fact that Oak Park’s Board of Trustees disagrees with your carefully considered assessment of a proposed 10-story tower attached to a historic landmark in the Pleasant District is disheartening. Their failure to respect your analysis of this proposal does not in any way minimize the opinion of the vast majority of Oak Park residents who will continue to appreciate all you do to not be swayed by political priorities.

In the enduring words of Frank Lloyd Wright, “What is needed most in architecture today is the very thing that is most needed in life: integrity.”

Lisa Marquardt Oak Park

FAV ORITE THINGS IN OA K P ARK

Our downtown sculpture walk

If you have walked through downtown Oak Park recently, you may have noticed that some of the outdoor pieces of art have changed. Organized by the Oak Park Area Arts Council, these eight new sculptures, joined by nine additional sculptures in the Harrison Arts District, will be on display until May 2026. All the downtown pieces are an easy stroll from one to the next.

JOY AARONSON

One View

The sculptures are all original and unique. John McNamara, a sculptor and jour neyman of the Sheet Metal Workers Inter national Association, created “Lantern” by hand, using traditional math instead of a computer-generated program to create his piece. Located in front of Oak Park Jewelers on South Boulevard, you’ ll find a large lanter n with doors that open.

“Mars” by Emanuel Arturo Zarate Ortiz, is a colorful heron that stands in front of the Lake Theatre. Zarate Ortiz specializes in monumental art and whimsical animal sculptures that honor his Mexican heri-

Shrubtown swings and misses

I think Marc Stopeck’s batting average is pretty low, but I found last week’s Shrubtown especially misinformed [Viewpoints, Sept. 24]. Could we get a short list of the times that “jackbooted ATF thugs [were sent] into red states in the 1990s”? David Koresh in Waco? Maybe, although there were plenty of credible reports that he raped a number of the teens who were there. Or maybe this is a reference that Timothy McVeigh was treated unfairly? It’s hardly comparable to masked men in unmarked vehicles abducting people of f the streets or out of businesses to be locked up with no recourse.

Jim Peterson Oak Park

tage. He uses recycled materials in his work. The large bird looks as if it is ready to take of f and fly high over Oak Park

My favorite is “Safe Haven” at the cor ner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue, in front of Byline Bank. It consists of three children’s silhouettes in blue, turquoise, and purple on a merry-go-round with birds, squirrels and leaves above them. The children are chasing each other. It was done by Norther n Illinois University sculpture professor Shenceng Xu, who has lived in China and the United States. He blends traditional and contemporary elements to show the connection between nature and humanity. The artist tells us that he is trying to convey the “universal longing for peace, safety and a hopeful future.” Looking at this creation, I feel hopeful and uplifted.

As a writer, I love the “story behind the story.” And if you do too, I encourage you to download the free OtoCast app and go to Oak Park, IL – Oak Park Sculpture Walk.

BERTSCHAUSEN

A di erent kind of ‘Boss’

from page 20

God, it seems to me that God must possess a sense of humor. There’s just too much that is laughable in life for God not to have a hand in it, or at least to appreciate it. Even in the worst times, there can be glimpses of humor. I have so often seen and experienced the human capacity to laugh even in bleak moments. Laughter frequently punctuates the tears and pain.

I once had a congre gant in a hospice unit who confided that she stopped eating a few days earlier. When an aide came to check on her, she said, “Oh, Roger, the milk shakes are terrific here.” She looked up at the aide and said, “Two milkshakes, please.” She was a person of many contradictions, and I think she quietly understood and enjoyed this one. We toasted her good life as we drank our milkshakes. Her family and I laughed so hard about this when I shared the story as we planned her celebration of life

Click on the blue bubbles on the app’s map to find the sculptures, the name of each piece and the artists’ names. When you click on the photo of the sculpture at the bottom of the screen, the artist will speak briefly about who they are, the materials they use and what the artwork means to them. It’s like having them next to you as your personal guide

If you don’t have a smart phone or would like to read about the pieces, you can also find information at https://www. downtownoakpark.net/take-astroll-through-downtown-oakparks-2025-sculpture-walk/ I encourage you to explore these outdoor sculptures and find your favorites

Joy Aaronson is an Oak Park resident who previously contributed to Chicago Parent and wrote the Kids’ World column for the former Logan Square Free Press.

Where does this capacity to laugh come from? I’d like to think it has a divine origin. I’d go as far as to say that if God doesn’t have a sense of humor, then move me over to the atheist column. I could never believe in a humorless god. Another characteristic of Boss is that Boss is rather distant and reserved. This clearly is a source of unending irritation to the far mer/poet. He keeps on talking to Boss, asking questions, and never hears anything back. “My ears get lonely I wish/you’d let me hear from you,” the poet whines

It even feels sometimes like Boss tries to run away — especially when the poet inches closer to truths about Boss. You’re like “a funny little horse” who runs away, the poet says. “I ought to tie you to a tree.” But you can’t tie Boss to a tree. This picture of a rather distant Boss matches my experience of the divine. I’ve never heard God speak directly to me. When I pray, it’s always a one-sided conversation. Now sometimes I feel like I get answers, but never directly. I must look for clues. And whenever I seem to inch a tiny bit closer to glimpsing the truth about God, God seems to inch backward. How I wish I could tie God to a tree like a funny

little horse!

I don’t think anyone can completely figure out the mystery called “God.” Anyone who thinks they have God all figured out has a god who is way too small.

Another characteristic of Boss is that there are limits to what Boss can do. Boss is in charge as much as any boss, which is to say: not very much. Boss needs the workers to get the work done; Boss cannot do it all on Boss’ own. Of course, each worker can only help Boss in small ways. But when you add together the little bit that each of us does, it adds up

This totally squares with my understanding of God. If there is God, I don’t believe that It is all powerful. It relies on all of us. We are God’s hands and head and heart. We all must do our part to make real Love at the center. Creating a more just and peaceful world is not God’s work; it is our work Working together, we can bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice

I still believe this, even at this moment when it feels like the moral arc has sprung skyward.

Roger Bertschausen is developmental lead minister of the Unity Temple Unitarian/ Universalist Congre gation.

My dad grew up in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago. He lived with his widowed father, three brothers, and his dad’s sister. His dad was a traveling salesman for a shoe company, so my dad and his brothers were raised primarily by their aunt, a person who brooked no nonsense from the boys.

Every day after school and on weekends, my dad sold newspapers on a street cor ner in his neighborhood, and in 1917, he enlisted in the Ar my, and after basic training, he was sent to France where he was engaged in heavy fighting against the Ger mans He was discharged in early 1919, and when he returned to Chicago, he got a job with the Tribune loading newspapers on delivery trucks, but it wasn’t long before he was promoted to driving a delivery truck. His route covered the same neighborhood where his family lived, plus the nearby neighborhood where he moved after he was hired by

DOOPER’S MEMORIES

e making of a newsman

the newspaper R. McCormick, the owner and publisher of the Tribune, mad a point of promoting people had served in the ar as had he.

My dad’s next promotion was to travel Illinoi

Wisconsin in order to find men who could be trained to Tribune newspaper agencie

The Colonel sent my dad and other interested personnel to night school at the lakefront campus of Nor er n University, where these men and women studied newspaper management.

When my dad completed the course of study, he was promoted to the circulation department, and in 1937, he became circulation manager. My mother and dad met in 1937

Rthrough a mutual friend, and they married in 1938. heir pride and joy arrived in

My dad told me many stories amous and infamous people he met during ears at the paper. For the Colonel lived in heaton [Cantigny] during the summer months and on Belden Street during the rest of the year the fact that he was often threatened by thugs ue to his strong law-and-order stance, he arrived at the Tribune each morning in an ar mored limousine driven by his armed chauffeur

After the chauffeur parked the car in front of the Tribune Tower, he manned his post in front of the Colonel’s office on the top floor of the Tower.

Trump belongs in a Memory Care Unit

e: “Trump assails UN and praises himself,” Chicago Tribune, p. 1 (Sept. 25)

Anyone who listened to Trump’s harangue at the United Nations this week cannot avoid the comparison with Joe Biden. Democrats are being harassed for not seeing the mental deterioration of Biden in time to dissuade him from r unning for a second ter m. First, Trump openly insulted the leaders of all world nations (“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell.”) Then he ranted nonstop about his favorite topics, all of which are based on lies. 1) Carbon footprint concepts are “a hoax,” climate science was developed by “stupid people,” and a “green energy scam” has ruined countries. “Energy is another area where the United States is now thriving like never before. We’re g etting rid of the falsely named renewables.” “By the way, they’re a joke. They don’ t work. They ’re too expensive. … Most expensive energy ever conceived.” [Absolutely false. Clean energy is now cheaper than fossil fuel-based, which Trump plans to subsidiz e.]

TOM DECOURSE Y

One View

2) “Under my leadershi p, energy costs are down, g asoline prices are down, grocery prices are down, and inflation has been defeated.” [all false, verifiable by anyone who has mastered third grade arithmetic]

3) “Now, after ending all of these [seven] wars ... everyone says that I should g et the Nobel Peace Prize for each one of these achievements.” The seven include four wars that continue (e.g., Israel, Ukraine), two non-wars, and one where India negotiated directly with Pakistan). (1)

4) Any sentence that included numbers was exaggerated many-fold

5) “But we have a border, strong, and we have a shape, and that shape doesn’t just go straight up. That shape is amorphous when it comes to the atmosphere. And if we had the most clean air, and I think we do, we have very clean air, we have the cleanest air we’ve had in many, many years. But the problem is that other countries, like China, which has air that’ s a little bit rough, it blows. And no matter what you’ re doing down here, the air up here tends to get very dirty because

The Colonel also kept two guard dogs in his office.

Various politicians frequently visited the circulation department, where they complained to my dad that the Colonel was constantly maligning them in his editorials. Over the years, my dad met athletes, entertainers, politicians, and shady types who visited his department, some to complain and others to say hello

He told me that the finest visitor he ever met was Jimmy Durante

Many of the visitors wanted to meet the Colonel, but none of them were granted an audience because the Colonel was not one to discuss trivial (to him) matters with anyone.

My father was a kind, mild-mannered, quiet man who believed in devotion to family, God, country, friends, and work. He taught me many things, but the greatest lesson was to live a life of brave unselfishness

To me, this is a lifelong job.

it comes in from other countries where their air isn’ t so clean and the environmentalists refuse to acknowledge that. Same thing with garbage.”

6) “Let us defend free speech and free expression.” [This from the man who or dered his FCC lackey to ban all late-night comedy that he doesn’t like.] “Let us protect religious liberty, including for the most persecuted religion on the planet today. It’s called Christianity.” [This from the man whose Supreme Court puppets just le g alized ar resting anyone who looks Hispanic.]

After point #5, you feel you are listening to someone who has escaped the Memory Care Unit of their retirement home T he laughter of over 100 re presentati of the world nations who were trapped for an hour listening to this drivel should tell Americans something! Trump cannot continue to be given infinite power. Put this grotesque mockery of a leader out to pasture already! Our world is far too precious.

(1) https://www.nytimes. com/2025/09/23/world/trump-un-sevenwars.html

Tom DeCoursey Oak Park

SPORTS

OPRF field hockey stays close

Despite record, Huskies have been competitive

By MELVIN TATE

Contributing Reporter

Entering this week, the Oak Park and River Forest High School field hockey team, usually one of the state’s top programs, had an uncharacteristically upside-down record of 4-9-1. But ninth-year coach Kristin Wirtz feels the Huskies have improved since the start of the season.

“I don’t believe our scores reflect our development this season,” she said. “From day one to today, our team has made massive strides defensively and offensively. We’ve competed in almost every game this season, and I think our battle right now is playing at that competitive level for all four quarters. Each game, we’re getting closer and closer to reaching that goal.”

OPRF returned eight players from last season’s team, including junior forward Maeve Carmody, who verbally committed to Kent State University last week, and senior defender Natalia Aguilar-Ripley, who made last year’s All-West Suburban Conference Team. Carmody has a team-high 14 points this fall (nine goals, five assists).

“Maeve does a great job of getting shots and finding ways to get the ball in the circle,” Wirtz said. “Nat is quick to the ball and does a great job seeing the field.”

Senior midfielder/forward Maisie Hoerster (four goals, three assists) and senior midfielder Claire Moroney, both of whom are captains, have played valuable roles for the Huskies

“Maisie has done a great job of getting

movement up the field and creating opportunities for us,” Wirtz said. “Claire is a great distributor and has been a calming presence in the defensive middle holding the line.”

Both Hoerster and Moroney, who are in their third varsity seasons, accept the responsibility of being a captain and say it’s something they appreciate

“It pushes me to stay composed on the field when games get intense,” said Hoerster, whose father is OPRF football coach John Hoerster. “I use my leadership to create an environment where everyone feels valued and that their contribution to the team is noticed.”

“Knowing that my teammates look up to me both on and off the field motivates me to set a good example and never settle for less,” Moroney said. “I try to encourage my teammates at all times, especially during games, to keep our energy and confidence high.”

OPRF has also received contributions from several varsity newcomers, including junior defender Lissie Avalos, junior forward Ivy Schottler (eight goals) and sophomore forward Annelise Hartin.

“[Hartin and Schottler] have done a great job on the forward line in getting shots off and finding good space,” said Wirtz. “[Avalos] has done a wonderful job at center back. She sees the field well on outletting and has grown each game in her defensive organization.”

Like Wirtz, Moroney sees the progress OPRF has made and feels that with continued improvement, the desired results will come “Each game teaches us something new,”

she said, “and we’ve shown that we can apply those lessons in the next matchup. Our team chemistry is strong, and we play with a lot of heart in every game.”

Moreover, Hoerster adds that an improved focus can be of great benefit as the Huskies near the postseason.

“We have been pushing as a team for mental toughness this year,” she said, “which we’re continuing to work on when the physical toughness starts to fade as the game goes on. To continue using our brains even more critically when our legs start to give up on us.”

Wirtz said that the goal of OPRF down the stretch of the regular season is establishing more consistency and maintaining it in every contest.

“We have played some amazing hockey, but we haven’t quite brought that for all 60 minutes of the game,” she said. “I believe that this team will be competitive in the postseason and I’m looking forward to seeing all we can achieve.”

The captains agree with their coach’s assessment.

“As we move on to the second half of the season, we want to continue to play as a whole and not just individually on the field,” Hoerster said.

“Our goal is to keep playing to win while pushing each other to improve every day,” Moroney said. “I want to see all the work we’ve been putting in, both defensively and offensively, come together so we can go as far as possible.”

Rogala keeps tennis relaxed, focused

Junior Louderback and senior McCarthy pace resilient Friars

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Ron Ro gala is a funny guy. Funny how? Well, funny enough to keep his Fenwick

girls tennis charges relaxed but simultaneously focused, which is paying of f in the win column and has his players poised for bigger things with the IHSA Class 2A playoffs looming, where they will be in the Oak

Park and River Forest sectional.

“If they are laughing and loose, it helps them perform better,” said Rogala, in his second year at the helm. “Sometimes it’s the silliest thing ... asking them if their cat

died. I have to try to get to kno w my players, what’s important to them.”

It might sound like a sitcom, but the Friars are dead serious about winning, sitting at 9-6 overall and 3-2 in the Girls Catholic

COURTESY OF MARK C. REGAN

OPRF senior defender Natalia Aguilar-Ripley looks up eld dur ing a eld hockey game against Lake Forest this season.

Stein soars for OPRF girls tennis

Leads the Huskies as they enter back half of the season

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

Oak Park and River Forest High School junior Lucy Stein has qualified for the IHSA Class 2A state girls’ tennis singles finals in each of her first two seasons, including a sixth-place finish last fall. If this season’s results are any indication, she has the potential of finishing even higher this fall.

Stein entered the week with a 20-1 record, the only loss coming back on Sept. 9 to CJ Coan of York. At the Prospect Invite, Sept. 27, she won the #1 singles title, defeating Elizabeth Boege of Glenbrook North 6-0, 6-1 in the final. It marked Stein’s third invitational championship this season, adding to titles she won at Buffalo Grove and Deerfield.

“She played a lot over the summer and did a lot in terms of building her game,” said OPRF coach Fred Galluzzo. “She wanted to do some different things on the court, and she’s obviously done that.”

Galluzzo added that it would not be a surprise if Stein and Coan met again in next

Athletic Conference. The team had a nice stretch in mid-September, beating league opponents DePaul Prep and Providence and winning the York Duke Quad in the space of four days. That was shortly after winning the Niles West Invitational, which Rogala said was “a pleasure” to secure.

Here’s how versatile Fenwick is: Junior Emma Louderback at No. 1 singles and senior Katie McCarthy at No. 2 cruised easily to win their matches against DePaul Prep and Providence, then joined forces to win No. 1 doubles at York 6-3, 6-1.

The Friars can win the close ones, too Consider the DePaul Prep 3-2 victory and the same score a week earlier over St. Francis. In both cases, the No. 3 doubles team of senior Olivia Perez Zuleta and junior Maeve Bonakdar were the last ones off the court and recorded wins that propelled the Friars to victory.

So who’s in the limelight for the Friars, the players who may have been in the back-

month’s West Suburban Silver tournament, which will take place at OPRF

“They know each other’s game so well,” Galluzzo said. “It’s kind of crazy because they’re playing themselves each time they’re out. Lucy will get another shot at her, but regardless, she should get a good seed in the [state] tournament, based on sectional results.”

As a team, OPRF is having another solid year, posting an 8-5-1 record in duals. The Huskies have gotten contributions from sophomore Ella Rangsithienchai (9-11) at second singles, as well as junior Ava Lebovitz and seniors Tess Cronin, Clara Lau, and Zoe Panton in doubles.

“Ella has been doing better since she struggled a little bit early, playing some big names,” Galluzzo said. “Ava and Clara have played together quite a bit (as number one doubles). They’ve had some good results, but also some not-so-good. They’re playing a little better every time out, and I hope we can get them qualified for the state tournament.

“Our second doubles team has Zoe and Tess,” he added. “I’m a little bit more confident in their chances of qualifying for state.”

The Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, and Prospect invitationals are loaded with a lot of the

ground on a senior-laden team a year ago but have stepped up this fall?

For Rogala, there is no doubt.

“I would award that to the entire varsity team,” he said simply. “You can put all eight faces and they have all been successful. We have done very well as a team.”

Jokes aside, Rogala has been a tennis coach for 35 years, including at Elmhurst College and leading United States Tennis Association teams that were wildly successful.

“My approach is simple,” he said. “Who do I have in front of me, emphasize their strengths and their weaknesses and make them laugh. Every player on the court has strengths and weaknesses

“It’s my job to help them recognize opportunities,” he said. “Sometimes players on the other side are becoming frustrated and angry, so they are playing against themselves and an opponent. I point it out to my players and emphasize with all of them that

Stein returns the ball against Lyons Township dur ing a West Suburban Conference match, Sept. 25, in Western Springs.

state’s players and schools participating. Galluzzo entered the Huskies in those tournaments so they could prepare for the WSC Silver meet and a Class 2A sectional, the latter of which the school will host again this year.

“We like those tour naments,” he said.

In regard to the WSC Silver, Galluzzo says Hinsdale Central is likely to win the title

whatever they have that day, they’ve got.”

The Friars’ schedule won’t be easy head ing down the stretch of the re They travel to Mother McAuley on (after deadline), then go crosstown to pa ipate in the OPRF Invitational on Saturda

The following Saturday is the GC nament, and the week after that is sectional competition.

Bear in mind that Fenwick 1A state championship two years poised to make a lot of lives miserable tionals and beyond

That’s fine by Rogala. He’ll be watching intently and probably cracking a few timed jokes.

“I have to listen and watch and frankl during the match, [I say], ‘Tell me you’re doing well,’” he said. do is focus on the moment. Just What I tell them all is, try to place your first serve into their weakness.”

again. He’s hoping that his team’s steadily improving play will show in the postseason.

“We’re about where I expected to be,” Galluzzo said. “We’re struggling a little bit, but we’re learning and generally getting better every weekend. We’re just going to do the best we can with our lineups and hopefully

STEVE JOHNSTON

STEVE JOHNSTON

Emma Louderback

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE

The Village of Oak Park — Office of the Village Engineer, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, IL 60302—will receive PDF proposals via email, at christopher.welch@oak-park. us, until 4�00 P.M. on Friday, October 24, 2025, for the following: Permit Plan Review and Inspection Services. The Village is in need of engineering services to perform plan reviews for private permit projects within the public right of way �ROW� and inspection of these permit projects within the ROW for 2026. The Village retains the right to renew the initial agreement under the same terms and conditions upon mutual agreement with the consultant. Renewals are to be done on a yearly basis for no more than two additional terms of approximately one year each.

The Request for Proposals may be obtained from the Village’s website at http://www. oak-park.us/bid starting on Wednesday October 1, 2025. For questions, please email Christopher Welch, Assistant Village Engineer, at christopher. welch@oak-park.us.

THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK Bill McKenna Village Engineer

Published in Wednesday Journal October 1, 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: M25000918 on September 23, 2025 Under the Assumed Business Name of RUBEN EDITS with the business located at: 434 S LOMBARD AVE #3, OAK PARK, IL 60302. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: RUBEN VELA, II 434 S LOMBARD AVE #3, OAK PARK, IL 60302, USA.

Published in Wednesday Journal October 1, 8, 15, 2025

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

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: M25000902 on September 17, 2025 Under the Assumed Business Name of ERROL JAY KIRSCH ARCHITECT with the business located at: 1046 FAIR OAKS, OAK PARK, IL 60302. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: ERROL JAY KIRSCH 1046 FAIR OAKS, OAK PARK, IL 60302, USA.

Published in Wednesday Journal September 24, October 1, 8, 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: M25000916 on September 22, 2025 Under the Assumed Business Name of S&S NEW MAGIC TOUCH with the business located at: 4519 W LAKE ST, CHICAGO, IL 60624. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: LYSTRA BEARD 4519 W LAKE ST, CHICAGO, IL 60624

Published in Wednesday Journal October 1, 8, 15, 2025

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

Plaintiff, -v.-

FELICIA DEGRAFFENREID, NEIGHBORHOOD ASSISTANCE CORPORATION OF AMERICA, ILLINOIS HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

Defendants

20 CH 01174 1540 N. ROHDE AVE. BERKELEY, IL 60163

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIV-

EN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on January 6, 2023 and amended on June 12, 2025, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on October 30, 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 1540 N. ROHDE AVE., BERKELEY, IL 60163

Property Index No. 15-08-113050-0000

The real estate is improved with a single family residence.

The judgment amount was $137,055.10.

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.

DANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW.

You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

For information, contact HEAVNER, BEYERS & MIHLAR, LLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 601 E. William St., DECATUR, IL, 62523 (217) 4221719. Please refer to file number 403024.

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.

HEAVNER, BEYERS & MIHLAR, LLC

601 E. William St. DECATUR IL, 62523

217-422-1719

Fax #: 217-422-1754

E-Mail: CookPleadings@hsbattys. com

Attorney File No. 403024

Attorney Code. 40387

Case Number: 20 CH 01174

TJSC#: 45-1639

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.

I3273985

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION MIDFIRST BANK Plaintiff, -v.-

ANNETTE MUNGUIA; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants.

to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year

OakPark.com RBLandmark.com ForestParkReview.com AustinWeeklyNews.com PublicNoticeIllinois.com

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 ACCOR-

24 CH 4165 1316 S 8Th Ave, Maywood, IL 60153

NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on 7/30/2025, an agent of Auction. com, LLC will conduct the Online Only auction at www.auction.com, with the bidding window opening on November 3, 2025 at 10:00 A.M. CDT and closing on November 5, 2025 at 10:00 A.M. subject to extension, and will sell at public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate.

LOT 11 (EXCEPT THE PART COMMENCING AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF SAID LOT, THENCE SOUTH ON THE WEST LINE OF SAID LOT TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER THEREOF, THENCE EAST ON THE SOUTH LINE OF SAID LOT TO THE SOUTHEAST CORNER THEREOF, THENCE IN A NORTHWESTERLY DIRECTION THROUGH SAID LOT TO THE PLACE OF BEGINNING) ALL OF LOT 12 AND THE SOUTHERLY 1/2 OF LOT 13 IN BLOCK 158 IN MAYWOOD, A SUBDIVISION OF PARTS OF SECTION 2, 11, AND 14, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 12, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

Commonly known as 1316 S. 8th Ave., Maywood, IL 60153 Property Index No. 15-14-124012-0000 The real estate is im-

proved with a Single Family Residence. The judgment amount was $218,383.29 Sale Terms: Full Sale Terms are available on the property page at www.auction. com by entering 1316 S 8Th Ave into the search bar. If sold to anyone other than the Plaintiff, the winning bidder must pay the full bid amount within twenty-four (24) hours of the auction’s end. All payments must be certified funds. No third-party checks will be accepted. All bidders will need to register at www.auction.com prior to placing a bid. 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)(l) 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(g1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701 (C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. For information, contact Plaintiffs attorney: LOGS Legal Group LLP (847) 291-1717 please refer to file number 24-101043-FC01. Auction. com, LLC 100 N LaSalle St., Suite 1400 Chicago, IL 60602 - 872225-4985 You can also visit www. auction.com. Attorney File No. 24-101043-FC01 Case Number: 24 CH 4165 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. I3273840

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

U S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE, SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO BANK OF AMERICA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE, SUCCESSOR BY MERGER TO LASALLE BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR STRUCTURED ASSET INVESTMENT LOAN TRUST MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2003-BC11 Plaintiff, -v.SERGE CADET A/K/A SERGE P. CADET

Defendants 24 CH 8493 237 SOUTH 20TH AVENUE

MAYWOOD, IL 60153

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on July 15, 2025, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on November 3, 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 237 SOUTH 20TH AVENUE, MAYWOOD, IL 60153

Property Index No. 15-10-305012-0000 and 15-10-305-0130000

The real estate is improved with a single family residence. The judgment amount was $142,506.47.

Sale terms: If sold to anyone other than the Plaintiff, 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 The sales clerk, LOGS Legal Group LLP Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 2801 LAKESIDE DRIVE, SUITE 207, Bannockburn, IL, 60015 (847) 291-1717 For information call between the hours of 1pm - 3pm.. Please refer to file number 24-100782. 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. LOGS Legal Group LLP 2801 LAKESIDE DRIVE, SUITE 207 Bannockburn IL, 60015 847-291-1717

E-Mail: ILNotices@logs.com

Attorney File No. 24-100782

Attorney Code. 42168

Case Number: 24 CH 8493 TJSC#: 45-1871

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 # 24 CH 8493 I3273762

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION NEWREZ LLC D/B/A SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING Plaintiff vs. AMIR MOHABBAT, AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR LINDA J. THOMPSON, REGINALD THOMPSON, UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF LINDA J. THOMPSON, UNKNOWN OWNERS GENERALLY, AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS Defendant 24 CH 9859 CALENDAR 58 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 October 28, 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. 15-15-308-034-0000. Commonly known as 1905 S. 25th Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153. 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, Altman, Strautins & Kromm, LLC d/b/a Kluever Law Group, 200 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1880, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (312) 236-0077. SMS001265-24FC1

INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3273418

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THE ANNUAL CAESAR AND PATRICIA TABET POETRY READING

AND PATRICIA TABET POETRY

READING

Ross Gay

Ross Gay

October 9, 2025

THE ANNUAL CAESAR AND PATRICIA TABET POETRY READING

October 9, 2025

7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Ross Gay

SIGN UP FOR

$15 (Free for Students and Faculty)

$15 (Free for Students and Faculty)

7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

October 9, 2025

$15 (Free for Students and Faculty)

The author of four acclaimed poetry collections—including Be Holding: A Poem, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award—Ross is as beloved for his warmth and humor as for his extraordinary craft.

The author of four acclaimed poetry collections—including Be Holding: A Poem, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award—Ross is as beloved for his warmth and humor as for his extraordinary craft.

The author of four acclaimed poetry collections—including Be Holding: A Poem, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award—Ross is as beloved for his warmth and humor as for his extraordinary craft.

The author of four acclaimed poetry collections—including Be Holding: A Poem, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award, and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award—Ross is as beloved for his warmth and humor as for his extraordinary craft.

His bestselling essay collections, The Book of Delights, Inciting Joy, and The Book of (More) Delights, invite readers to find beauty and connection in the everyday. In this special evening, Ross will share selections from his work and offer reflections that linger long after the last line is read.

His bestselling essay collections, The Book of Delights, Inciting Joy, and The Book of �More) Delights, invite readers to find beauty and connection in the everyday. In this special evening, Ross will share selections from his work and offer reflections that linger long after the last line is read.

His bestselling essay collections, The Book of Delights, Inciting Joy, and The Book of (More) Delights, invite readers to find beauty and connection in the everyday. In this special evening, Ross will share selections from his work and offer reflections that linger long after the last line is read.

His bestselling essay collections, The Book of Delights, Inciting Joy, and The Book of (More) Delights, invite readers to find beauty and connection in the everyday. In this special evening, Ross will share selections from his work and offer reflections that linger long after the last line is read.

Join us for an unforgettable celebration of poetry, joy, and the power of paying attention:

Join us for an unforgettable celebration of poetry, joy, and the power of paying attention:

Join us for an unforgettable celebration of poetry, joy, and the power of paying attention: