Vol. VII No. 32 Salsa comes to Westchester, PAGE 4
AUGUST 17, 2022
vfpress.news
Meet Hillside painter Linda Bannon, PAGE 7
New round of cannabis licenses impacts Proviso suburbs Gov. Pritzker announced newest conditional adult use cannabis dispensary licensees in July and August By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) recently issued new Conditional Adult Use Cannabis Dispensary Licenses — and at least two of the awardees have Proviso Township ties. In a statement released Aug. 12, Pritzker said that the state issued 182 licenses in July and early August and that all of the most recent businesses to secure licenses qualify as Social Equity Applicants. Those are businesses that are majority owned and controlled by one or more people who have lived in an area that the state considers to have been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs in five of the past 10 years, among other criteria. Among the 182 conditional licenses in the second wave, two were given to Vill-Ops, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Viola Brands, a naSee CANNABIS on page 2
SHANEL ROMAIN/Staff Photographer
Rev. Teddy Matthews, the pastor of Empowerment Church, baptizes a young boy during the Annual Taste of Bellwood’s outdoor church service on Sunday, Aug. 14. See more photos from the Taste of Bellwood on page 4.
Major Proviso projects are in state’s $35B capital plan
Plan includes money for roadwork across township, including full paving of Washington Boulevard in Maywood, Westchester bridge repair
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois
The Illinois Department of Transportation on Aug. 12 laid out a $34.6 billion six-year spending plan for road, bridge, transit, rail, airport and port upkeep. It’s the latest multi-year plan backed by the state’s 2019 Rebuild Illinois bipartisan infrastructure law, which doubled the state’s motor fuel tax from 19 to 38 cents per gallon and scheduled it to grow
with the rate of inflation. That measure also increased driving-related fees, redirected a portion of the state’s sales tax on motor fuel to the road fund and authorized borrowing to pay for construction projects. “A little over three years ago, I signed our historic bipartisan infrastructure program into law,” Gov. JB Pritzker said at a news conference at the IDOT buildSee REBUILD ILLINOIS on page 8