Vol. VII No. 47 Westchester holiday market shines, PAGE 6
NOVEMBER 23, 2022
vfpress.news YOUR LOCAL GUIDE
D209 teachers not fired but tensions still hot
Board voted to table Supt. Henderson’s recommendation to terminate four teachers of color accused of organizing student protest By Ankur Singh Contributing Reporter
Tensions were high on Nov. 15, when a packed Proviso Township High School District 209 Board of Education meeting held at Proviso Math and Science Academy in Forest Park was cut short by Board President Della Patterson during a heated public comment period during which two individuals were forced to leave by security. Nearly a hundred students, parents, teachers and community members were there to voice concerns about how the district is being run and to demand that the board not terminate four teachers who face allegations of encouraging student protests. As community members packed the hallways and cafeteria waiting for the public meeting to begin, the school board met for several hours in a closed-door session that included a catered dinner. When the meeting opened to the public, See D209 on page 8
TO A B ETTER WORLD
SHANEL ROOMAIN/Staff Photographer
Alec Stevens, a Broadview fifire reema mann, carries turkeys to a vehicle at McD Don onal a d’ al d s in Broadview Village Square on Friday, Nov. 18. The turrke keys yss were distributed thanks to the McDona n ld’s Ope peraatoorss of Chhic i agoland and the Blaack ack McDona McD Mc Donaaldd’ss Operators Assoccia iattion tion..
Police arrest suspect involved in 2019 crash that killed Maywood woman Gabriel Ruiz was arrested and charged last week with felony reckless homicide in connection to fatal crash that killed Ruth Johnson By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
The family of a beloved Maywood woman who was killed during a controversial police pursuit of a stolen vehicle on Father’s Day in 2019 has some closure after police arrested a man suspected to be the driver of the stolen vehicle. Maywood police arrested Gabriel Ruiz, 21, of Chicago, on Wednesday. Ruiz was charged with felony reckless homicide for his alleged role in the death of Ruth Johnson, 40. Ruiz’s bond was set at $150,000. The crash happened at around 11:30 a.m., June 16, 2019. At the time, former
Maywood Police Chief Valdimir Talley said an officer noticed that the vehicle had committed a traffic violation and activated his squad car lights. That’s when “the kids took off,” he said. Police said a group of juveniles were in the car and driving south when the vehicle they were in crashed into a car driven by Edward N. Owens near the 400 block of 1st Avenue, between Randolph and Pine. Johnson, who was on the passenger side of Owens’ vehicle, sustained fatal injuries while Owens, who was also critically injured, See JOHNSON on page 5