Rock Valley Publishing
Thursday, March 27, 2025
469567
Page 1
KNIGHT OF JEWELS
SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER, DICK VITALE, COLLEGE BASKETBALL ANALYST, ABC SPORTS AND ESPN WWW.ICCATHOLICPREP.ORG
TAKE ONE
Addison
All Around the House
Independent VOL. 22 • NO. 15
QUILT SHOW
Quilt Exhibits
Quilt Appraisals by
Bar n Sale
Appointment
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. | Ap
WWW.THEINDEPENDENTNEWSPAPERS.COM
Fischer Farm, 16W680
ril 5 and 6
Old Grand Ave., Bense
nville
For more infor matio
n visit
BvilleParks.org/Qui
ltShow
469198
FREE
SCAN FOR TICKETS & MORE
THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2025
Addison Trail, Willowbrook Muslim Student Associations host Fast-A-Thon to recognize Ramadan On March 4, the Muslim Student Associations (MSA) at Addison Trail and Willowbrook came together to host a joint Fast-A-Thon to educate students and staff members about Ramadan. According to www.bbc.com/ news/explainers-56695447, “Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is during this month that Muslims believe the first verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book,
were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. During this period, Muslims are required to fast and to give to charity, to show kindness and patience and to strengthen their relationship with God.” Ramadan falls on a different date every year, due to the cycles of the moon. This year, with Ramadan starting on Feb. 28 and having an expected end date of March 29, Eid al-Fitr (the festival of break-
ing the fast) is expected to fall on March 30 or 31, depending on the sighting of the moon. About 40 people attended the event at Addison Trail, where they enjoyed an iftar meal (a fast-breaking meal eaten by Muslims during the month of Ramadan). The dinner included items such as rice, salads, lamb, chicken, pita and desserts. Following Muslim tradition, participants broke the fast by
SUBMITTED PHOTO-EMILY AGUILAR Rock Valley Publishing
Earlier this month, the Muslim Student Associations (MSA) at Addison Trail and Willowbrook came together to host a joint Fast-A-Thon to educate students and staff members about Ramadan. During this period, Muslims are required to fast and to give to charity, to show kindness and patience and to strengthen their relationship with God.
Inside:
Opinion.............................4 Police Reports �������������������8 Speak out..........................5 Sports......................... 16-18
eating a date and having a drink of water. Staff members and students shared their experiences with the group and reflected on the significance of Rama-
dan. For more information about Addison Trail’s MSA, contact adviser Shane Cole at: scole@ dupage88.net. For more infor-
mation about Willowbrook’s MSA, contact advisers Ayesha Rizvi at: arizvi@dupage88. net and Nadia Malik at: nmalik@dupage88.net.
Illinois human trafficking bill focuses cross-agency coordination, victims Leaders expect human trafficking numbers in state are higher than reports indicate By Bridgette Fox and UIS Public Affairs Reporting A Senate committee passed a bill last week that would give specialized training on human trafficking and establish coordination across multiple state agencies and partners. Human trafficking is defined by the U.S. Justice Department as “a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts.” Senate Bill 2323 follows multiple recommendations from the state Joint Human Trafficking Working Group formed in 2023. The recommendations included victim screening, multi-agency coordination, victim-focused training and more. Advocate and Chicago-native Brenda Myers-Powell, who was a victim of human trafficking for 25 years starting as a child, spoke at the state Capitol in support of the bill. “I wish someone had recognized the signs when I was vulnerable,” Myers-Powell said. “The expanded screening for youth in state care could have identified my situation before it escalated. The creation of standards of care means survivors like me won’t have inconsis-
tent, sometimes retraumatizing responses I encountered.” If the bill is implemented, multiple state agencies would have to make new units that work across jurisdictions and have specialized training to work with victims and potential future victims. “As a transportation hub, Illinois ranks among the highest in the number of human trafficking cases in the whole United States,” Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield, the bill’s lead sponsor, said last week. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, one of the agencies involved in the bill, would be required to maintain a human trafficking unit, which has the main goal of helping victims with case management and other services. In a Senate committee hearing Tuesday, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said there were fewer than 600 victims of human trafficking reported to state agencies between 2021 and 2023. Another 966 possible cases of child trafficking were reported to DCFS over the same period. But Kelly said the reported numbers are likely only a fraction of the actual cases. “We know that human traf-
ficking exists in our state but is sometimes unrecognized, as victims aren’t identified, and underlying crimes are unreported,” Kelly said last week. Kelly said law enforcement knows how to recognize “the bad guy” but is not always as good at recognizing that the person with a perpetrator might be being victimized. “We have to have a comprehensive approach to this so that … when we encounter someone who’s a victim, that there is a handshake between law enforcement and all these social service providers because it’s simply not enough just to hand them a pamphlet or a phone number or just go on to the next bad guy,” Kelly said. “We have to break the cycle but making sure we’re better serving victims.” The bill also repeatedly mentioned improving “victim-centered, trauma-informed” responses from law enforcement and other agencies. Kelly said training on the complex trauma of human trafficking and taking input from survivors like Myers-Powell will make combatting the problem easier. The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote.
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID ROCK VALLEY PUBLISHING LLC