Vol. VII No. 33 Maywood’s Susie Lewis turns 111, PAGE 8
AUGUST 24, 2022
vfpress.news
Forever chemicals in water, PAGE 5
Westchester to put clamps on absentee landlords The village board wants to shore up ordinance and tighten enforcement procedures regulating residential rentals By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
The village of Westchester is looking to put the clamps on the absentee owners of problematic rental properties. The Westchester village board discussed the matter at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Aug. 9. Westchester Trustee Tracy Jennings, a nearly 30-year resident of the village with a background in real estate appraisals, said he’s been talking about the properties since he started noticing them several years ago. The problems include lawns with uncut grass, driveways full of cars, and frequent police complaints. Jennings said they all share a common source. “I started noticing certain properties, just from an aesthetic perspective,” the trustee said on Aug. 9. “I then would take that address and go to the [Cook County] Treasurer’s website, put the address [into the Property Index Number search] and those properties I suspected were rental properties. These are owned by a lot of LLCs now.” See LANDLORDS on page 8
SHANEL ROMAIN/Staff Photographer
The Proviso East High School boys’ varsity soccer team practices inside of the school’s new football stadium on Aug. 11. The team started its season this week under first-year head coach Antonio Gonzalez. Read the story on page 2.
Maywood hoping to lure ‘Living Fresh Market 2.0’ to town Forest Park grocery interested in establishing second location in the old Maywood Market building By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
A Forest Park grocery store has expressed interest in setting up a second location in Maywood, which hasn’t had a grocery store since Aldi left town in 2016. Living Fresh Market, 7520 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park, is exploring opening
its second location inside the old Maywood Market at 615 S. 5th Ave. in Maywood. Representatives with Living Fresh Market were at a Maywood village board meeting on Aug. 16 to discuss their intentions. “If we come into the Maywood area, I believe we can do some fantastic things,” said James Buford, who manages the Forest Park grocery store, which is currently undergoing renovations. In 2021, Living Word Christian Center, the Forest Park megachurch that owns the sprawling commercial property on which Living Fresh Market sits, took over ownership of the store from Ken
Casaccio and his team of partners. The Casaccio family owns the Leamington Foods string of grocery stores. Melody Winston, the CEO of Living Fresh Market and the daughter of Rev. Bill Winston, the founder and pastor of Living Word Christian Center, called into Tuesday’s board meeting. “It has rung loud and wide throughout Maywood that we need a grocery store,” said Maywood Mayor Nathaniel George Booker, a longtime member of Living Word. Mayor Booker said Maywood is constrained by various factors when attractSee GROCERY STORE on page 7