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Oak Park and River Forest

Hundreds gather on Oak Park bridge to protest Minnesota Border Patrol killing

A few hundred protesters marched from Lincoln School to the Home Avenue bridge after CBP agent fatally shot man in Minneapolis

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

A few hundred protestors braved single-digit temperatures in Oak Park to take part in a demonstration following news that a Border Patrol agent had shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Protestors marched several blocks from the campus of Lincoln Elementary School to the Home Avenue pedestrian bridge that arches over Interstate

Skeptical questions, mention of shared access with Forest Park

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

About 100 people, many of them skeptical, attended an hour-long public information session Jan. 22 on the proposal from the Park District of Oak Park to re place the Ridgeland Common outdoor swimming pool with an indoor aquatics facility.

The $40 million March 17 tax hike referendum to pay for the new pool will be the focus of two additional 7 p.m. information sessions: See PARK POOL on pa ge 20

WEDNESD AY

Tensions rise in D90 as petition gains 700 supporters for teacher pay hikes

of Oak Park and River Forest

Interim Executive Director Max Reinsdorf

Senior Audience Manager Stac y Coleman

Sta Reporter Brendan He ernan

Petition calls for minimum pay raise of 10% in ers 7%

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

An online petition demanding salary increases for River Forest School District 90 teachers provides a wind and ongoing contract neg the district and the River Association.

The Change.org petition titled D90 to Increase Teacher had over 700 verified supporter signatures as of Jan. 27.

The petition comes ahead of pated public posting of b through the Illinois Education Labor tions Board. The district said it the public posting process after a negotiation session failed tative agreement. In response, RFEA indicated it would move forward with plans for a strike, though it was clear that doesn’t mean teachers will indeed strike.

PROVIDED

Ed Condon, superintendent of River Forest Public Schools

members over four years, including shift ing compensation for curriculum work and Thursday meetings that previously had to be earned independently to base salary at the full amount.”

ealization that I could ear n $10,000 more in neighboring districts was as illuminating as it was alarming , I told myself that love for colleagues and devore enough. And they assion does not pay the It does not cover rising costs.” ess Martin, said the disfinancial numbers show an be increased meaningreferendum, allowing it oughly 11 to 12 months of operating es using only the education fund.

“That is exceptionally strong liquidity any standard,” she said. “So this is not financial capacity. It’s a quespriorities – how we choose to use the ve to support the people in our classrooms.”

The district and RFEA had come to a tentative ag reement on a new contract late last year but it was voted down by RFEA membership.

“Since 2010, D90 teachers have experienced a 21% decrease in inflation-adjusted salaries,” the petition said. “In 2025, D90 teachers earned an average salary of $77,679, placing them below the Illinois state average teacher salary of $78,500.

“The state of D90 teacher’s (sic) salary is threatening the stability of our school system, causing challenges in retention, low morale and academic functioning,” it said.

The petition calls for a minimum pay increase of 10% in Year 1 of a new contract, with a target of a 20% overall increase by Year 4. It also calls for “closely matching D90 teachers and administrator’s (sic) state average salary percentiles, with no more than a 15% difference in percentiles between average teacher pay and average administrator pay.”

At the Jan. 20 school board meeting, Supt. Ed Condon detailed aspects of the district’s offer.

“As requested by the RFEA negotiating team, the greatest annual salary increase is front loaded, with a greater than 7 percent

He also noted increases in district health insurance contribution amounts, retirement benefits and more inclusive language for issues like sick leave use and bereavement leave. Along with that, teachers who were not yet employees when the negotiations began in April 2025 would receive a $3,500 payment.

“The district remains committed to finding a solution in partnership with our teachers to compensate them fairly while demonstrating financial stewardship, supporting both the current and future success of our students and school community,” Condon said in a statement Monday night to Wednesday Journal. “While we cannot verify the accuracy of any of the specific calculations in the Change.org petition, we agree wholeheartedly that the teachers bring tremendous value to the school community and should be compensated fairly.”

River Forest resident Amy Driscoll has taught at Willard School for 21 years and is also parent of a Lincoln School third grader. In her own statement to the Journal, she said she works two jobs to support her family

“Reviewing the data provided during this process was, quite honestly, a gut punch,”

In his statement at the Jan. 20 board meeting, Condon said the district has continued to bargain in good faith and continues to make concessions and compromises aimed at meeting the RFEA requests. He also said that he would be willing to meet individually or in small groups with RFEA members that have questions about district ter ms

“The RFEA ne gotiating team has been very effective in their ability to secure numerous and increasingly generous terms,” he said. “These terms are the most generous by far that District 90 has ag reed to in any collective bargaining process in the last 20 years.

“As part of the tentative agreement that was reached in November, the terms represent a significant increase from the salary compensation levels that have been bargained in previous contacts, which is a point that merits emphasis. That is, that the current salaries and benefits the teachers earn have not been set arbitrarily or at the whim of the board of education or administration. They have bargained and negotiated between RFEA and District 90 every time within the last series of ne gotiations.”

Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor

Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora

Contributing Editor Donna Greene

Columnists Marc Bleso , Nicole Chavas, Jack Crowe, Vincent Gay, Mary Kay O’Grady, John Stanger, 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 & Advertising 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

Oak Park garbage hauling likely going out to bid in 2027

Village board will formally vote on contra ct strategy this spring as Trustee Taglia wants return to raking leaves into the street

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Re presentatives from Oak Park’s waste hauler met with the village board for a perfor mance review earlier this month, as village leaders said Oak Park will likely pursue a “competitive bid process” before the contract expires next year.

Before any bidding process begins the Oak Park board and village staf f will discuss how leaf collection and composting will be addressed in any request for proposals on the garbage, recycling, leaf collection and composting project.

The board heard from Lakeshore Recycling Systems’ Area Vice President George Strom during the meeting, as the Maywoodbased waste hauler is “very interested” in renewing its contract with Oak Park

“I’m here tonight to reflect on what we’ve done, and what we can do better,“ Strom said. “A lot of times people look at our in-

dustry as creatures of habit, but we should always be trying to improve. Whether its improving engagement with the residents, whether its improving the units we’re using, whether it’s signage on our carts, we should always be looking to improve.”

When the village awarded the hauling contract to LRS in 2022, LRS was the only

company to bid for the contract besides Waste Management, who’d held Oak Park’s garbage hauling contract for well over 20 years by that point. At the time, Waste Management was seeking a rate increase for Oak Park customers while LRS was not looking to increase rates.

Village trustees said they hope the village can receive bids from a larger number of contractors as the current deal expires. Trustee Brian Straw said that one of the benefits of switching Oak Park’s leaf collection model to require leaf bagging in 2024 was that it would potentially put smaller waste hauling companies in a position to bid for Oak Park’s business.

“We should go through a competitive bid process,” said Straw. “My understanding is that the bid process we had fewer bids than we otherwise would’ve had because of our leaf program, as a lot of smaller waste haulers weren’ t able to accommodate that program. I want us to go to market and see

what the options are out there, because that was one of the benefits we talked about with our constituents as a benefit of moving to a bagging program.”

Trustee Jim Taglia was on the board that voted to award LRS the contract, but said that resident complaints about the hauler have made him reconsider that vote.

“I get a lot of complaints,” Taglia said. “At the time I thought I made a good decision, but now I’m wondering if I did.”

Taglia also said he hopes that as the village evaluates its waste hauling contract that it considers going back to its previous model of fall leaf collection, where waste haulers swept up leaves that had been raked into the street.

The village board is expected to vote for mally on a strateg y for its waste hauling contract in March, according to village documents. After that vote, village staf f will likely begin work on a request for waste hauling proposals.

River Forest resident Sheba Chiplunkar points out a feature on a render ing of the proposed development of a v illage-owned parcel at 7620 W. Madison St.

PROVIDED

Residents mull proposed River Forest development

Building on Madison and Ashland would include apartments, retail

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Kathy Corcos had plenty of questions. That’s what made Saturday a fact-finding mission for her.

Corcos was one of a handful of River Forest residents who dropped by an open house Jan. 24 at the River Forest Civic Center to get a look at renderings of a proposed development of a village-owned parcel at 7620 W. Madison St

While no agreements or approvals have been made, over the last year the village considered seven development proposals, selecting two finalists before ultimately choosing Chicago-based Five Thirty-one Partners, which submitted a plan for a five-story mixeduse building. The development would feature 72 high-end apartments and first-floor retail space, along with 87 parking spaces

“I’m hearing frustration because there is a lack of information,” Corcos said. “We need development. We want development. But people want development that they think is going to fit into their neighborhoods.

“We all know there is this development

company that they’ve hired, but they have no online presence. Nobody can look them up, Five Thirty-one What is their track record as far as getting projects done on time, on budget. How are they funded? We don’t want another debacle like Lake and Lathrop,” said Corcos

A keyword search on Google for Five Thirty-one Partners revealed no website for the company, though the firm is referenced at vfr us/Madison, the village’s Madison Street Development webpage. That page noted there would be two open houses – Saturday’s, and one at Roosevelt Middle School on Jan. 22, where village administrator Matt Walsh said about 35 residents attended. Walsh added that village trustees would be for mally introduced to the project at its Jan. 26 board meeting. At that meeting Walsh also announced a third open house with developers. It will take place Feb. 5 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at village hall.

“There are a lot of steps and a lot of opportunities for public feedback,” Walsh said. “There are several points where notices are

See DEVELOPMENT on page 22

Inside Scoop on local fun and get out ofyour house, too

Journal and Review invite you to a casual mixer at Rober t’s Westside

Looking to meet new neighbors? Want to find out more about entertainment options in Oak Park, Forest Park and River Forest? Need something fun to fill your pre Super Bowl Sunday?

Well, then, our Inside Scoop event is made for you.

Growing Community Media, publisher of Wednesday Journal and the Forest Park Review, will host our first Inside Scoop event on Sunday, Feb. 1 at Robert’s Westside in Forest Park. Drop in. We’ll go from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 7321 Madison St. It’s fun and it is free (you will have to buy your own drinks, though).

Three local arts and fun venues will be on hand to provide the entertainment.

Free Memory Screens

Comedy Plex in Downtown Oak Park will offer comedy. The Forest Theatre Company will perform a scene from a recent show. And Donnie Biggins, our Robert’s Westside host, will take a Name that Tune twist. The snacks are on us. It is fully casual. And you’ll find more reasons why living here is so great while meeting neighbors you really ought to know.

More Inside Scoop events are in the works. We’ll cover the voracious food scene, summer in the villages and the best things to do in the villages with your kids.

Study Area & Surrounding Communities

Roosevelt Road Corridor Plan progress presente d to Oak Park commission

Consultants report on new redevelopment e ort

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park’s plan commission took a peek into the future of Roosevelt Road earlier this month.

The commission heard from consultants working on the Roosevelt Road Corridor Plan, the new economic development and streetscaping plan that Oak Park’s village government and the Berwyn Development Corporation are developing together. The plan will look to boost residential development, support local businesses and improve road safety along the thoroughfare, which serves as a defining border for suburban Oak Park, Berwyn and Cicero.

Last March, Oak Pa rk’s village board approved a contract worth $100,000 for The Lakota Group, a project management and urban design firm that had helped develop Oak Park’s Pleasant District streetscaping project, to help develop the plan.

“It’ll help encourage investment along the corridor and bring momentum to the process of revitalizing the corridor,” said Alexis Stein of the Lakota Group. “The plan is to create a more cohesive corridor with a greater sense of identity, one that people want to walk down, a safer corridor. We also wanted to focus on economic vibrancy, addressing the vacancies, supporting a more diverse set of businesses. Finally, we wanted to focus on collaboration and communication, making sure the two communities have the tools they need to work together going forward.”

“We’re making sure this is a place where people really want to spend time.”

Engagement ef for ts since work on the project began have strived to get equal input from Berwyn and Oak Park residents, as the Lakota Group conducted 17 focus group interviews and held two open houses for the project.

Construction on Oak Park Ave. streetscape delayed until Feb.

Work on business district infrastructure delayed amid polar vortex

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park will not break ground on its newest major streetscaping ef fort until at least early next month due to weather Construction on the “Renew T he Avenue” Oak Park Avenue streetscaping project had been scheduled to begin Monday, Jan. 19, but freezing cold temperatures stopped the work from g etting started this week. Project leaders announced T hursday morning that the work will not begin until at least Monday, Feb. 2 as polar vor tex conditions are expected to set in across the re gion through the end of January.

In the meantime, Oak Park Avenue will

remain open to all vehicle traffic and street parking will be permitted on Oak Park Avenue from Lake to Ontario and Randolph to Pleasant until the closures go into effect on Monday, Feb. 2, according to project leaders.

T he Oak Park Avenue project is set to redesign the streetscape by adding ar t installations, curb bump outs and other above ground improvements while overhauling the century-plus-old water and sewer systems that r un underneath Oak Park Avenue between Ontario Street and Randolph Street through the village’s Hemingway Business District.

T he project is scheduled to be completed by Thanksgiving 2026.

T he area is expected to see its coldest temperatures since 2019 during the incoming c old snap. Oak Park and River Forest High School, Oak Park Elementary District 97, the Chicago Public Schools and do z ens of other area schools announced plans to close on Friday, Jan. 23.

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE PROJEC T

Trains, trees and vaulted sidewalks

By DAN HALEY Interim Editor

With work on the major water, sewer and streetscape project on Oak Park Avenue in the Hemingway District delayed by freezing temperatures, we’re going back into our notes from a recent interview with Oak Park’s village engineer and the project manager hired by Oak Park to oversee the project. Here are a handful of sidebars on the project:

Can’t raise the bridge so they’ re lowering the road: Have you ever been delayed on Oak Park Avenue when a tootall truck shreds its lid by ramming into

the Green Line el bridge? It has been a re gular occurrence over the decades and even the day before our mid-January conversation.

Bill McKenna, Oak Park’s village engineer, said that as part of the project crews will dig out the current roadway under the bridge and lower the road by 6 or 7 inches. He’d li ke it to be mor e bu t said going deeper might weaken the foundation walls of the CTA/Metra/ freight tracks running over the bridg e.

This will result, he said, “in a few less vehicle strikes” but will not fully solve the problem.

What’s a vaulted sidewalk?: When you are working in a business district

with more than century old commercial buildings you might r un into vaulted sidewalks. T hese are sidewalks with open space beneath them once used for fuel deliveries into buildings, or to house mechanical systems. Such sidewalks exist outside the Scoville Square Building and the Billy Bricks building at Lake Street and Oak Pa rk Avenue.

T he vaulted sidewalks create both a le g al tangle over easements and an engineering challenge to either create a structure to support the new sidewalks or to fill in the spaces. Ne gotiations continue with building owners.

T he village solved this problem during major streetscaping in Downtown

Oak Park a few years ago with vaulted sidewalks just outside the Marshall Field’s/soon-to-be Barnes & Noble building.

So long Bradford Pears: A harbinger of spring for the past 40 years have been the blossoming Bradford Pear trees on the 100 block of South Oak Park Avenue. All those trees will come down soon as part of this project. Not long after they were planted, village staf f concluded they were the wrong trees in the wrong place. T hey grew too big, there wasn’t adequate space for their roots. New trees will be planted though as the project moves forward.

Listing for dilapidated Wright home in Austin is a scam

Home now owned by Fannie Mae, a federal agency

By LACEY SIKORA Real Estate Reporter

A recent Zillow listing for Frank Lloyd Wright’s J.J. Walser Jr. House in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood for $350,000 is a scam according to Barbara Gordon, executive director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.

The fake listing hit the internet last week, causing consternation among preservationists We covered the home in 2024 (https://www. oakpark .com/2024/07/25/ frank-llo yd -wrights-walser- house-in-austin-looking-for-a-new-lease-on-life/) amid its foreclosure proceedings.

On Jan. 21, the Building Conservancy posted the following on its website:

“On Jan. 15, Zillow listed the Walser House ‘for sale by owner’ for $350,000. After being alerted to the listing and beginning to promote it, we became suspicious after attempts to contact the ‘seller.’ On Tuesday, Jan. 20, thanks to the ef for ts of our community partner Austin Coming Together, we learned that the listing was not genuine.

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The house is owned by Fannie Mae, which is not currently offering it for sale. This fake listing, possibly aiming to defraud a well-intentioned potential purchaser, highlights the critical vulnerability of this important house. We removed the listing from our Wright on the Market page immediately on learning this and are making ef for ts to stop the dissemination of the false listing. We urge Fannie Mae to negotiate with interested parties that have the vision and resources to restore the Walser House and return it to productive use.”

Austin Coming Together has expressed interest in buying the home, but the organization was sidelined as the foreclosure process wound its way through the court system.

The home is currently owned by Fannie Mae, and Gordon says that Fannie Mae confirmed they have not listed the house for sale and are still the legal owners. Previously, the Building Conservancy has said that the Walser House is desperately in need of saving after years of being uninhabited and ill-maintained.

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OPRF students stage a walkout to protest Trump’s rst year

Approximately 200 students march and speak out about ICE, other issues

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

Approximately 200 students at Oak Park and River Forest High School walked out of school at around 2 p.m. on Jan. 20 to mark the one-year anniversary of the inauguration of Donald Trump as president. The walkout was part of national movement to stage walkouts at the same time on Jan 20 to protest Trump and the current administration in what was called Free America Walkout.

The organizer of the protest at OPRF was senior LJ Hickman. The week before the walkout an Instagram post about the national plans to stage walkouts at 2 p.m. on Jan 20 led her to organize one at OPRF

“I saw it and I felt very inspired because I know a lot of time a lot of students and young people don’t feel like their voices are important or powerful but I want to make it super known and so widespread that is absolutely a powerful thing because the future is in our hands,” Hickman told Wednesday Journal.

The students, who were marked absent for the class time that they missed, braved cold temps to protest. They were accompanied by about 20 adult marshals who were local activists not connected with OPRF. Among them were Oak Park Village Board member Jenna Leving Jacobson and Scott Sakiyama, who was arrested by ICE officers as he was following those officers in Oak Park in October.

“I just mentor the young organizers,” said Lisa who just gave her last name as P.V. “They said they wanted to organize a walkout and I just want to keep them safe.”

Oak Park and River Forest High School students march in protest of ongoing ICE operations on Jan. 20.

“We call it the Gardening Club because we are sowing the seeds for justice,” Hickman said.

“I know a lot of time a lot of students and young people don’t feel like their voices are important or powerful but ... that is absolutely a powerful thing because the future is in our hands.”

LJ HICKMAN Protest organizer

Lisa advises a group of young activists, including Hickman, who have for med what they call the Gardening Club.

The students, accompanied by the marshals first walked around the exterior of the school. Then they listened to approximately 10 student speakers. The speakers addressed about 100 or so students who still remained. They spoke about what they were protesting about which mostly involved ICE and immigrants but also included other issues. The F word was heard in chants and some of the speeches

“F--- Israel, f--- Trump, f- Netanyahu,” said one speaker

During the marching students chanted slo g ans such as “Hey hey, ho, ho immigrants are welcome here and F--- Ice.”

A helicopter hovered high above Oak Park during the march and rally.

One student, OPRF senior Grace Zoloto, criticized the way Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has spoken about autism.

“Hello. My name is Grace, and I’m autistic,” Zoloto be g an her nearly7 minute typed out speech. “I’m also a lot of other things. I’m an artist, a writer, a poet, an activist, and a big sister. I like dystopian fiction, long car rides and cookie dough ice cream. I don’t like hor ror movies, loud noises or fascist imperial gover nments taking aim at our most precious rights and liberties.”

Zoloto said autism takes many forms.

“Autism looks different in all of us and affects all of us differently,” Zoloto said. “Some cannot speak, some speak more than necessary. Some cannot move through their lives without constant support, and others blend fairly well into the general public We are your next door neighbors, your classmates, and your teachers. We are all different, all incredible, and none of us are broken, diseased, or a burden to

PROTEST

Witnesses for the prosecution

from page 1

290 while carrying signs, banners, me gaphones and musical instruments and calling for an end to the intensified federal immigration enforcement operations seen first in Chicagoland and now playing out in Minnesota. Motorists and truck drivers traveling on the expressway honked their horns in support of the demonstration, as did a few CTA Blue Line train conductors who blew their whistles and waved to the protestors from their windows.

This protest was organized quickly following the news that a border patrol agent had shot and killed a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis Saturday mor ning

The man was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse at the Veterans Administration, according to the Associated Press. The officer who shot Pretti is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials told the AP.

The shooting happened amid widespread daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good, who was killed when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fired into her vehicle. Pretti was killed just over a mile

be eliminated.”

Zoloto said that the problem lies less with autism but with how people with autism are treated.

“I am not going to act like all autism looks like mine,” Zoloto said. “I am not going to deny that people with higher support needs, the sort of people RFK Jr. talks about, struggle more than I do, and that caring for them is more of a challenge. I am not going to deny the pain these individuals and their families may feel. But what people in power do not consider, what they never seem to think of, is that some of this pain is caused not by the autism itself, but by a society that does push autistic people to its margins.”

After that a remnant of 20 or 30 students marched on the Lake Street sidewalk to the Target store on Lake Street to protest Target’s recent elimination of its DEI program. About 10 or so students entered the Target store and quietly walked around or stood in a group with their signs. They were left alone by Target security but asked to not block the entrances. The students complied.

away from where Good was shot, according to the AP.

Illinois 7th District Congressional candidate Anabel Mendoza and other local activists coordinated the protest in about two hours following the news of Pretti’s killing

“This is a critical moment where we cannot stay silent, we need leadership that has a spine, that is going to make sure that they are fighting for our communities, fighting for

Freshman Aniyah Lattanzi said she heard about the walkout during lunch and decided to participate.

“I’ve seen what ICE has been doing to the people here, it’s terrible and I want to stand against it so that’s why I walked out today,” Lattanzi said.

When it was over Lattanzi, who did not stay to listen to the student speakers, said that she thought the protest was successful.

“I think we accomplished a lot,” Lattanzi said. “We showed the public that we stand for every single person who sets foot on American soil and that they belong here and are welcome here. We saw a bunch of cars and they were honking and supporting us.”

Hickman said that the walkout sent a needed message

“I honestly just think it’s going to inspire a bunch of students and young people to, like, use their voices for good and to feel like they have the power to do good even if they can’t vote yet,” Hickman said. “They can still get themselves infor med and use their voices and inform others.”

because that’s where Oak Park attorney Scott Sakiyama had been arrested by ICE agents in October after he tailed them for several miles as they drove from the Broadview Detention Center to Oak Park. He was charged with impeding federal agents, but his case was dropped earlier this month.

Sakiyama said that seeing two people killed by immigration enforcement agents while doing community watchdog activities similar to what he had been doing in the lead up to his arrest is scary, but that it also strengthened his commitment.

“We always knew that something like this was possible, but seeing it actually happen is enraging, terrifying, devastating,” said Sakiyama, who also helped organize the protest. “I think it’s also going to strengthen people’s resolve. It’s a reminder of how lawless and how cruel this federal gover nment is.”

our safety, fighting for our money to actually protect our communities and not terrorize them,” Mendoza told Wednesday Journal. “People are channeling their rage into action, and that is the type of solidarity we need right now from Chicago to Minneapolis. People are taking action. They’re taking a stand and saying not a single neighbor more should be shot down.”

The march started at Lincoln Elementary

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” according to the AP

Several bystander videos of the shooting emerged soon after. Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand, but no videos appear to show him with a visible weapon, according to the AP

Elders also walkout in ICE protest

On the same day and same hour that 200 students at Oak Park and River Forest High School staged a walkout protesting the actions of ICE and the Trump administration, many residents of Brookdale Senior Living also walked out into the cold in protest of the administration’s immigrant de portation actions Holding protest signs, the elders at Brookdale, 1111 Ontario St., objected to the violent enforcement being carried out by the Trump administration.

Teaching about the Holocaust in the age of AI

Fenwick teacher: ‘We have to help our students interrogate what they see’

By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter

Teaching about the Holocaust is a very sensitive and multi-layered topic.

But for today’s teachers, there is a new wrinkle in imparting the truth about the Holocaust, that being the rise of artificial intelligence and the real potential of misinformation and distortion.

Julie Klein, a Fenwick social studies teacher, is well aware of that, and even more so, after participating in the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous 2026 Advanced Seminar on Holocaust Education, held Jan. 17-18 in Newark, N.J.

“Teachers shy away from teaching this subject because, ‘Am I prepared to teach this type of material?’” Klein said. “There is such potential to cause emotional stress to our students.

“If we didn’t provide opportunities for teachers to really learn this content historically from experts in the field, it’s very frightening for a teacher to be entrusted with emotionally charged content.”

Now add AI, which Klein said Fenwick has spent considerable time addressing and showing how students can use effectively.

She pointed to the example of a photo of a concentration camp or ghetto during World War II.

“Do (students) know if it’s been AI-generated?” she said. “There is no sign on it that says it is AI. We have to help our students inter ro gate what they see and it’s a challenge. I don’t think we’re there yet.

“People know much less than they think they know.”

For example, she said that as many as 10% of Millennials and Generation Z members think Jews were responsible for the Holocaust. Or consider the diminishment of the Holocaust or even outright denial.

“How am I going to unpack this and do it in a safe space?” Klein said. “Especially for younger teachers, it’s overwhelming.”

Klein was one of 23 middle and high school teachers and Holocaust center staf f from eight states to participate in the 2026 Advanced Seminar, which focused on future teaching of the Holocaust, including the impact of AI in Holocaust education, historical research of the Holocaust and the overall impact on antisemitism.

Speakers included renowned Holocaust

historian Paul Salmons and Prof. Noah Shenker of Colg ate University.

Stanlee Stahl is the executive vice president of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. She said teachers have a responsibility to ensure that what they are teaching is factual … or not. Because if it’s not, that can lead Holocaust distortion.

“Teachers who have so much on their plate as it is, (they have to have) an understanding when you present information

to your students, you have to make sure it is factual,” Stahl said.

One of the things Klein learned at the seminar is there is an overwhelming ag reement that the Holocaust needs to be taught in schools.

“And yet, there seem to be more misconceptions than ever,” she said. “How can we get better, how can we make sure our students have the correct information? There were great conversations about troubleshooting and brainstorming solutions.

“We have to be meticulous in our approach, teaching and assessment. Can they name a concentration camp? Do they know where the Holocaust happened? A lot of times because of the imagery that populates social media, it’s completely inaccurate.”

That’s why Klein said it’s crucial for teachers who would teach about the Holocaust to immerse themselves in the resources they have available to themselves, like the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie. Another is the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, and so is the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

“Just as we ask our students to do, we need to make sure our teachers are thinking critically,” she said. “There are challenges to teaching the Holocaust – teaching them to think critically, evaluate resources and think mindfully.”

In other words, know your subject matter, Stahl added.

“My experience is teachers do not teach what they do not know, and it can cause problems for the students,” she said. “Know the historio graphy. Take the time to understand the basics of what you’re teaching. It is complex.

“They do n’t have to be scholars, but they have to be knowledgeable.”

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How the Bears got wings

For the second season, Surf ’s Up ser ves up at Soldier Field

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Eats Reporter

The owners of Forest Park’s Rhythm & Blues Café are also the brains behind area fried seafood chain Surf ’s Up. In 2024 that restaurant started serving its brand of southern, beachside specialties at Soldier Field for Bears home games

The location is in the United Club, a premium seating area on the east side of the stadium that features an indoor lounge and restaurant area. That’s where fans quickly became fans of Surf ’s Up.

“They’re like, ‘Wow, you guys sell shrimp? Shrimp in the concessions? What? Shrimp in the stadium?’ They get excited about that,” owner Denise Roy said.

It wasn’t until the 2025 season that Surf ’s Up’s signature wings made their downtown debut. Roy was confident that it would make a difference … for the Bears.

“I said that when we get these Hennessy wings in the stadium, the Bear’s about to do something. I’ve been laughing at that. I’m like, I told y’all these Hennessy wings got them going,” she said.

Sweet or savory fried biscuits

tor in defining the sports and entertainment hospitality experience. And this collaboration brings together Chicago institutions to create a dynamic and unforgettable gameday atmosphere for Chicago Bears fans throughout the stadium.

Surf ’s Up was invited to Soldier Field by its official food and beverage partner, Levy. According Levy the company is: the disrup-

“Levy found us and asked us to be a part of their team,” Roy said. Surf ’s Up has a contract for three more seasons at Soldier Field

They also have their own kitchen at the stadium. Most vendors use a shared kitchen. Its game-day menu includes Hennessy wings, buffalo wings, plain wings, cheese fries, regular fries, fried shrimp and fried biscuits.

“Those are better than beignets,” Roy

“That’s pretty good foot traffic. In one day you making what you make in four days at a regular store. It’s a constant flow,” she said. Good news: the Bears will have those Hennessy wing next season too! PROVIDED

said. She also said that they are hoping to expand into other parts of the stadium.

“People are really scrambling around because they’re seeing people walking around with our wings. But if you’re looking for our wings and you don’t have that [United Club] seat, now you’re just you’re wingless.”

As it is, more than 10,000 people flow past their stand during each game

7TH DISTRIC T DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Anthony Driver Jr. runs for Congress in 7th District

He’s led the SEIU and Chicago ommission for Public Safety and Accountability

By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter

Editor’s note: Ahead of the March 17 primary, Growing Community Media is profiling the candidates running in the 7th congressional district in Illinois. Whoever wins the November election will succeed Rep. Danny Davis, who is retiring after nearly 30 years in the position. This week, GCM talked to Anthony Driver Jr.

Anthony Driver Jr. is a lifelong Chicagoan whose career as a political strategist and organizer has led him to drive change across municipal, state and federal levels of government.

Driver is for mer executive director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest labor council in the Midwest, and for mer president of Chicago’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, where he is now a commissioner so that he can give his community his all in running for Congress.

A Bronzeville resident — who is buying a home in the Back of Yards neighborhood, down the street from where he grew up — Driver was inspired to run to improve daily life for his community. He was further motivated after running ground operations for Operation Swing State to mobilize Democratic voters. Driver lived in Milwaukee for five months ahead of the last presidential election, leading door knocking and phone calling ef forts.

“I saw how we missed the average working-class voter,” Driver said. “That’s the same thing that’s happening in the state of Illinois, where I think we’re missing people.” So, Driver is running to unite the 7th congressional district, which stretches from Englewood, along the Eisenhowe r, to the western suburbs.

“I’m a labor organizer. I build coalitions. I bring people together,” said Driver, who was political coordinator of SEIU and the executive director of the SEIU Illinois State Council, where he led policy initiatives, legislative and political strateg y for the common good. “I’ll be a person who brings the rest of the Illinois dele gation together and fights for things that are going

Currently, SEIU is working on reversing the freeze that the Trump administration has put on child care funding in Illinois, pushing state legislation that would help unionize 100,000 rideshare drivers, and that which would provide basic protections to workers in extreme heat.

As SEIU’s political coordinator, Driver helped successfully advocate to raise Chicago’s minimum wage to $15 an hour; create the Fair Work Week ordinance that requires certain employers to give workers predictable schedules and compensation; pass a paid leave ordinance that requires Illinois workers to get at least an hour of paid leave for every 40 hours working; pass the Workers’ Rights Amendment that updated the Illinois Constitution to guarantee workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain in the public and private sector; and create Chicago’s first civilian oversight structure of the Chicago Police Department.

“I was a big part of that, so much so that, once the ordinance passed, I was tapped to

said of his role at Chicago’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. CCPSA works to increase police accountability and violence prevention by advocating for policing refo rms.

As president of CCPSA, Driver led the ef fort in residents having a say in the next Chicago Police Department superintendent, Larry Snelling. He also successfully fought to eliminate the Chicago Police Department’s gang database. He said the database had about 130,000 people in it — many who were wrongfully included, like his own father — who would be denied employment at a government agency. The list was also shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which the CCPSA is aiming to restrict from joining municipal police forces with future reforms.

Driver would have similar public safety initiatives if elected to congress. He promises to pass meaningful gun legislation, expand expungement and reentry services, and increase funding for community-

based safety initiatives, like violence interention and trauma recovery services.

When it comes to housing, Driver has been fighting to lift the ban on rent control, equitable development and transpublic money is spent. As a congressman, he would aim to increase federal funding for af fordable housing, public housing and homeowner programs for first-time owners.

dvocate for free, universal health care, capping the cost of prescription drugs and increasing investments in mental health and Black maternal health. He’ll do this following his successes in expanding public health resources and challenging policies that undermine access to care in Illinois. Driver added that those in the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries should be banned from donating to campaigns, or at least have a cap on how much they can donate.

“The only way we ever get to universal we ban people from buying our politicians,” Driver said. iver plans to have three district satellite offices and bring together a council of community leaders, mayors and elected of ficials to help push forward le gislation. He also aims to bring the 7th district congressional office into the digital age.

“We are missing young people in large swaths,” Driver said. So, he aims to make the office more accessible and have a portal for residents. “There needs to be a constant feedback loop that doesn’t just consist of lobbyists and special interests, which is kind of how things go in D.C. right now.”

Driver’s endorsements include SEIU, Rep. Jesus Chuy Garcia, state Sen. Lakeisa Collins and nine aldermen — nearly 40 community leaders from all across the district.

Other Democratic candidates who have thrown their hats in the ring for Davis’ seat include Richard Boykin, Kina Collins, David Elrich, Melissa Conyears-Ervin, Dr. Thomas Fisher, La Shawn Ford, Jason Friedman, Rory Hoskins, Danica Leigh, John McCombs, Anabel Mendoza, Jazmin Robinson, Reed Showalter, and Felix Tello. Republican candidates are Chad Koppie and Patricia Easle y.

Mitts, Harrell lead in endorsement and cash in 8th IL House race

By BILL DWYER Contributing Reporter

The Illinois State Board of Elections has released fundraising figures for the 4th quarter of 2025 for the four candidates seeking to replace La Shawn K. Ford as 8th District Illinois State Representative

The four candidates, Jill Bush, Shantel Franklin, John Harrell and Latonya Mitts, have each exhibited different ways and sources of raising money and spending it — or not spending it. There is also a significant gap in key endorsements among candidates.

The 8th House District covers parts of north Austin and Garfield Park, as well as parts of Oak Park, Forest Park, Berwyn, Broadview, Cicero, Countryside, Hodgkins, LaGrange, LaGrange Park, Westchester and Wester n Springs

Mitts, a community activist and daughter of long-time alderwoman Emma Mitts, and Harrell, a community activist and pastor to congregations in both Chicago and Proviso Township, appear to have the broadest bases of political support, with numerous endorsements and hefty contributions from numerous unions. However, the other two candidates — Bush, the director of community engagement for 29th Ward Alderman Chris Taliaferro, and Shantel Franklin, a real estate agent and for mer legislative liaison for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul — have their supporters and power bases as well.

Latonya Mitts’ filing papers list the same address as her mother’s 37th ward organization, and she has benefitted from access to a wide political circle. She has also clearly not taken that for granted, working throughout last summer and into the fall establishing a presence on the West Side

“Every day is a work day,” her campaign posted in August on its Facebook page. Mitts spoke at a recent press conference alongside Cong. Danny K Davis, Alderman Emma Mitts and State Representative La Shawn K. Ford. In September she was on a panel with Alderwoman Mitts and 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett Jr., speaking to youth about the importance of voting

Besides her last name and her mother’s 37th ward organization, Mitts, who took in $41,300 in the 4th quarter, enjoys strong support from unions. She received $31,000 from the well-funded Laborer International Union of North America’s District Council PAC, and $2,500 from IBEW Local 134. Unlike other candidates in the race, Mitts has spent just $1,400 of what she raised so far, mostly $1,000 for Democratic voter contact software.

Mitts has been endorsed by for mer Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, as well as, significantly, officials outside her West Side powerbase, including Riverside Township Democratic Committeeman Mike Zaleski and Lyons Township Democratic Committeeman Steve Landek.

Mitts is also supported by numerous

powerful, influential and politically acti unions, including the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Chicago Laborers District Council (LIU the International Union of Operating neers Local 399, Mid-America Carpenters gional Council, IBEW Local 134 and Chicag Jour neymen Plumbers Local Union 130. No candidate had a better 4th quarter than Harrell. He had already loaned his paign $44,195 in the 3rd quarter to pay expenses. Between October and January he took in $69,800.

Like Mitts, Harrell has been endorsed by numerous people and organizations beyond the West Side, including several west suburban mayors, half a dozen Chicago alderpersons, three Cook County commissioners, three state senators and Senate candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi. He’s also been endorsed by the statewide Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and SEIU Local 73 sent him $30,000. Another $5,000 came from perennial Chicago candidate Willie Wilson.

That cash haul allowed Harrell to spend $65,073 for such campaign essentials as website design, legal fees and computer software, as well as staf f and consulting. Harrell has spent heavily for campaign help, including $24,000 on consulting, $12,000 of that to for mer 5th District State Senator Ricky Hendon, who has been paid a total of $23,000.

Those sums pushed Harrell’s total spend to just under $100,000 so far.

Bush raised $35,433 the last three months of 2026, more than half of it from a total of $19,818 she loaned to her campaign. She ed $1,000 from her boss, 29th Ward Alderman Taliafer ro, and $500 from 7th Congressional candidate Jason Friedman. Franklin raised $34,567 in the 4th quarter, from 50 donors, including $5,000 from The Cook County Colle ge Teachers Union, Local 1600 and $5,000 from for mer boss Attorney General Kwame Raoul. She spent more than $26,000 of what she raised, much of it for what appears to be two full-time campaign staffers and numerous part-time staf f, and related expenses.

Franklin saw a nice infusion of additional cash on Jan. 20, when Raoul sent her $25,000.

District 90 chooses new superintendent

Pavelonis comes to River Forest from downstate Carbondale

By GREGG VOSS ontributing Reporter

rest School District 90 has a new superintendent. At its Tuesday meeting, the board unanimously approved velonis to re place Dr. Edward Condon, who will retire June

ently in her fifth year as superintendent of downstate

Carbondale Elementary District 95. She has a doctorate in education leadership from Southern Illinois University and a master’s de gree in education administration from Murray State University.

“We had a large number of applicants,” said Katie Avalos, school board president. “This was a very competitive process, and there were many strong candidates. For me, Janice rose to the top certainly be-

cause of her amazing experience, but also what came through was her leadership style – a real commitment to working collaboratively, prioritization of clear communication and a focus on relationship building.”

Pavelonis will inherit a high-performing district.

With a score of 85.36, Lincoln Elementary School earned Exemplary status for the third year in a row according to the Illinois Re port Card

released last November by the Illinois State Board of Education. Willard Elementary School (86.17) was declared Exemplary for the fourth straight year, which are schools that rank in the top 10% of the state. The next 67% are considered Commendable, which is what Roosevelt Middle School earned.

However, the district is also mired

OPRF goes on ‘Hold’ a er unfounded bomb threat

Two other suburban high schools received same threat

By BOB SKOLNIK

Contributing Reporter

Oak Park and River Forest High School was placed on what is called a Hold Monday, Jan. 26 for approximately 100 minutes because of what turned out to be an unfounded bomb threat in what seems to have been a swatting incident in which f alse threats or fake distress calls are made to illicit a response.

“We received an anonymous phone call of a bomb threat and immediately contacted law enforcement” said an email sent out to parents by the school at 9:40 a.m. on

PARK POOL

District makes its case

from page 1

Feb. 4 and Feb. 25 at the Community Recreation Center

If voters approve it, the park district

Monday. “While the threat does not appear to be credible, out of an abundance of caution, local and county authorities are on site to conduct an inspection. We are limiting movement while this occurs.

“During a Hold, teachers close and lock their doors and continue with class and we stop movement in and out of the building until the release of the Hold is announced. We will share additional information as we are able,” said the statement to parents.

T he Hold was lifted around 11 a.m. after a search of the school by a bomb squad from the Cook County Sherif f’s Depart-

the park district’s bond attorneys and that it is too late to change the language She said that the park district is committed to informing the community of all aspects of the referendum.

“We are working diligently to make sure all of our residents have the information they need to make an infor med decision,” Ar nold said.

At one point, in response to audience reac-

ment found nothing. Oak Park police officers initially responded to the school and called in the bomb squad to conduct the search

According to an email sent out by the school two other suburban Chicago schools also received bomb threats today that were unfounded

“During our investigation we learned that other districts in the area had received the same message, and all indications are that this was a swatting event,” said Karin Sullivan, school spokesperson, in an email.

A spokesman for the Village of Oak

that having only one outdoor pool in Oak Park would cause problems in the summer.

Iovinelli told the Forest Park Review, the Journal’s sister paper, that she and Arnold have a working relationship that includes discussing projects they are working on.

“I said, ‘If you guys are talking about an indoor aquatic facility, can we have a seat at your table?’” said Iovinelli. “We wouldn’t be being fiscally responsible by both building indoor pools, but our residents want one just as much as Oak Park.”

ry preliminary discussions, Iovinelli said that, if gets an indoor pool place the Ridgeland Common outdoor pool, Oak Pa residents would likely still want an outdoor pool option, like the rk aquatic center.

“What I like about the oppo tunity is, instead of Forest Pe has only this for us and Oak has only this for us, work together so that it for all?” Iovinelli said. “We’ two communities trying to come together for the good of everybody.”

Wiser, an Oak Park that he found the information

Park confirmed that it appears to have been a swatting event and gave a few more details on the investigation.

“Just before 11 a.m., Cook County ended the search of the building at the request of the school when it was learned that additional schools in the Chicagoland area received the same voicemail, which was tracked to a VPN overseas,” said Dan Yopchick, a spokesman for the Village of Oak Park. “Normal operations resumed at the school at that time and officers cleared the scene.

T he threat and message are being investigated. No arrests have been made at this time, said Yopchick

Ridgeland Common outdoor pool.

“Many people would like an (indoor) pool but if they’re going to tear up Ridgeland their answer would be different,” said Hess. “I’m leaning a little bit ne gative right now even though I love to swim. There’s a lot of financial fear in our country right now. I don’t know if now is the time to do another expensive Oak Park project even though people would like an indoor pool. I just always thought it would be here at the CRC.”

’t believe that they’re trying to ramrod anything through,” said Wiser. rk resident Nancy Hess said that she has yet to make up mind as to how she will vote on the referendum. She said she has concerns about the wording of the referendum and doesn’t want to lose the

If the referendum is approved the park district is estimating that the owner of a $430,000 home would pay an additional $160 annually in property taxes the next 20 years to pay of f the bonds. The owner of a home rth $800,000 is projected to pay an additional $309 annually in property taxes.

Arnold said that Oak Park could manage with just one outdoor swimming pool.

“Having two outdoor swimming pools in a community of 54,000 is a luxur y,” Arnold

Arnold said it makes sense to build an facility at Ridgeland Common because the shell of the outdoor pool at Ridgeland Common is nearing the end of its useful life and is due to be re placed in about five years at a cost of approximately $10 million.

After Arnold made her presentation she answered questions, that were submitted on note cards, for more than an hour

Woman mugged on Oak Park Avenue

By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park police are investigating after a woman was mugged while walking on Oak Park Avenue over the weekend.

T he woman was re por tedly attacked by a man wearing a hood and black clothing while she walked in the 1000 block of South Oak Park Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. F riday, Jan. 23. T he man tackled her from behind and kicked her in the le g before demanding the woman’s purse, according to police

T he man fled the area on foot after taking the woman’s purse. T he woman’s cellphone had been inside the purse but was recovered on Harvard Street at the mouth of the Ridgeland/Cuyler alley, according to police

The stolen purse is valued at $50, according to police.

Domestic battery arrests

Oak Park police arrested two people on domestic battery charges last week.

Just before 11:15 p.m. F riday, Jan. 23, Oak Park police ar rested an 18-year-old woman from Homewood in the 900 South Euclid Avenue on charges of domestic battery, according to police. T he woman was also charged with criminal damage to property and held for bond hearings, according to police.

Oak Park police arrested a 22-year-old Chicago man on domestic battery charges in the 200 block of South Maple Avenue at 5:25 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21. The man was held for bond hearings, according to police.

These items were obtained from Oak Park’s Police Department re ports dated Jan. 21–27 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.

DEVELOPMENT

from page 5

sent out to neighbors to invite them to public hearings, including the development review board and then the village board. T here is an additional neighbor meeting which is hosted by the developer.”

Present Saturday while residents meandered with clipboards with feedback for ms were Five Thirty-one co-owners Viktor Jakovljevic and Chuck Westphal. Jakovljevic is listed as the founder and principal for V3 Development Group, a Chicago fir m. Walsh confirmed Five Thirty-one Par tners does not have a website.

“We think this a great opportunity for the village and for the residents of River Forest, to bring a new product, a quality product, to the neighborhood,” Jakovljevic said.

“We are custom builders, so basically everything we build is between four and five stories, custom rental properties, but

D90 SUPT.

A change at the top

from page 19

in teacher contract ne gotiations with the River Forest Education Association. The sides were unable to come to terms on a new contract at a mediation session last week after coming to a tentative ag reement in December that was not ratified by RFEA membership. As a result, the district said it will begin the public posting process with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.

The public comment section of Tuesday’s meeting included RFEA co-presidents Cindy Crannell and Lauren Ortiz, who noted that “our educators want to settle a contract. They want stability, closure and the

ROOSEVELT ROAD

from page 7

“Community eng agement during this process has been incredible, there’s been so many eng aged residents, business owners, property owners that are excited

high-end. We put a lot of ef fort and design and investment into a finished product. We think this project will absorb all sorts of different levels of tenancy in River Forest.”

Added Westphal: “It’s a structure that fits with River Forest, so we tried to design something that was more classic than modern, and we focused on quality in the units. We are really putting the money in the units.”

T he key questions from the Jan. 22 open house revolved around traffic and parking, he said, along with unit pricing.

“We had some immediate neighbors that were concerned about shadowing, the proximity to their particular property and whether there would be a shadow cast, and what time of year there might be a shadow,” Westphal said.

“We’ re roughly 70 feet from the nearest property line,” he said. “The north side of this building, the residences are roughly 70 feet from the nearest property line, which is quite a distance. It shouldn’ t be an issue. T he closest it will come to shadowing will be in the dead of winter, the

ability to fully focus on their students.”

Pavelonis reco gnized the issue in her comments later in the meeting.

“(I) definitely have a lot of experience that I hope is helpful as we navigate this sense of healing together, which is clearly obvious in tonight’s comments and the current state of things,” she said. “I look forward to bringing my expertise to the table and getting to know all of you, the district, the community, the amazing teachers and, of course, the students.”

According to a district press release, Pavelonis served as the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in District 95, along with director of professional learning for the Re gional Office of Education No. 30.

Additionally, she advised hundreds of statewide school district leaders on maximizing student outcomes for the Illinois Center for School Improvement. Earlier in

about this process,” Stein said. “That just tells us that when this goes to be implemented the community is really going to be behind you.”

Ideas that consultants have presented to residents for the project include adding more crosswalks on Roosevelt Road, building curb bump outs at busy intersections, adding flashing lights to new pedes-

winter solstice, when the sun is lowest in the south.”

As far as traffic, Westphal said there is access to parking from the north, the west and east.

Residents like Tim Divis tended to spend plenty of time with the renderings and speaking with village personnel like Walsh, along with Jakovljevic and Westphal.

“In terms of the size and the nature of the building (it) is consistent with what’s on the other side of Madison, in Forest Park,” he said. “There is always the issue of the height. That’s always going to be an issue. In trying to build something that’s going to be viable, you probably do need the height.”

What about traffic? Any concerns for Divis?

“No,” he said. “Madison Street is a busy place. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

Sheba Chiplunkar lives two blocks nor th of Madison Street, on Ashland “I would like to see something built there for sure, I’m excited,” she said. “Fi-

her career she also served as a classroom teacher for kindergarten, third, fourth, fifth and eighth grades.

“I am excited that Janice Pavelonis will become the next superintendent of District 90,” said board secretary Dr. Eric Isenberg. “She not only brings the experience as a classroom teacher and an administrator, including as superintendent of an elementary district in Illinois, but also has the valuable experience of having spent four years implementing data-driven, researchbacked improvement plans for 130 Illinois districts, and continues to keep herself current and on the cutting edge of education research.

“She will be an extraordinary superintendent for District 90.”

Last August the board hired Libertyvillebased superintendent search firm BWP & Associates to kick off the process for mally. There were about 50 applicants for the post.

trian crossings, adding trees and public art to the corridor, utilizing vacant lots for re gular events and supporting “Main Street style” mixed use development along the road

T he Roosevelt Road border between Oak Park and Berwyn has long been a targ et for development, as this plan comes 20 years after the communities jointly-ad-

nally, we have more designs. We need more proper ty tax coming in, for sure.”

Still, Corcos said many questions are being asked on social media channels in particular. One of them appeared on a Facebook page titled River Forest Neighbors and said, “The proposed development at Madison and Ashland has 72 units. On other Five Thirty-one projects with larger footprints (more land) they have done 32-40 units. Why such density here? Too much for the space.”

“I was pleased to be able to walk around the room, look at drawings, renderings, and ask questions of village staf f and the builders,” Corcos said Monday. “I liked most of the answers I got. I’m not crazy about the height of the building – five floors high. T he builder set it as six floors but ag reed to bring it down to five. That is still very tall for our area.”

But she also added, “Is this company and its principals in any way connected personally or professionally with the (River Forest) board, or past board of trustees or staf f?”

“The board approached the search with great care and purpose, beginning early, gathering input from staf f and families, and devoting many hours to interviewing a strong pool of candidates,” Condon said. “Their thoughtful process led them to an outstanding new superintendent who will continue to build on the district’s many strengths.”

Of course, the beginning of a new chapter marks the end of another.

“It’s obviously bittersweet and a big transition for the district, but it is one of those times it is exciting and I do feel like you’re going to be a great fit for us,” Avalos said to Pavelonis.

Board member Josh Ehar t ag reed.

“Change is always good if it’s done well,” he said. “I have no doubt you’ll bring all of yourself and your experience to the district. I think it provides us a new opportunity to really reset.”

opted the “Plan for the Redevelopment of Roosevelt Road” in March 2005. That plan, which took four years to finalize, was “the first-ever comprehensive redevelopment study of this corridor,” according to Oak Park documents

T he full re port is expected to go before Oak Park’s village board in the coming weeks.

What you get for the money: $350,000 edition

Pickings are slim as high interest keeps sellers o the market

By LACEY SIKORA Real Estate Reporter

Real estate prices in the near west Chicago suburbs have been on an uptick since the pandemic, and interest rates have kept many home sellers on the sidelines, restraining the inventory of available homes for buyers.

In spite of the bitterly cold weather and the reduction in inventory, there are still signs of life in the local market.

According to real estate lore, the spring market begins in earnest following the Super Bowl. We aren’t quite at Super Bowl Sunday on the calendar, but with the Bears out of contention, there’s no harm in seeing what’s on the market right now.

According to data from Redfin, the median price of housing, both single-family and multi-family, in Oak Park was $395,000 last month. There are currently 8 houses on the market listed between $325,000 and $425,000 in the village

At $345,000 1165 S. Humphrey Ave. offers a two-unit opportunity. Each unit has two bedrooms and one bathroom, with the first-floor unit also including a basement with another full bathroom. The units share a yard. The home is bank-owned, meaning it is in the foreclosure process. Taxes in 2023 were $11,410.

See HOMES on page 24

HOMES

from page 23

In River Forest, fewer homes hit the market, skewing monthly median sales prices, but median price points are high er at $600,000-$700,000. River Forest currently has 6 units on the market listed between $325,000 and $425,000. All of them are units in multi-family buildings.

Listed at $349,900, 414 Franklin, unit 3A is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom condo with 1,500 square feet of living space. The two-level unit has a second-floor balcony and stainless-steel appliances. In 2024, proper ty taxes on the unit were $6,750.

In Forest Park, December 2025 median home prices were at $351,000 according to Redfin. T here are currently 6 properties for sale in the $325,000 to $425,000 price range in the village.

At 7753 Van Buren, unit 401 is currently listed for sale for $349,900. T he two-bedroom unit at the Grove is on the fourth floor. T he kitchen has granite countertops, and there are two heated garage parking spaces. In 2023 property taxes for the 1,160 square foot home were $8,137.

$325,000 and $425,000.

According to Redfin, the median sales price of a home in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood last month was $363,000. T here are currently 28 homes listed in the

at price points between

A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 1120 N. Lockwood is currently listed at $349,900. The single-family home has a fireplace and an updated kitchen and measures roughly 4,400 square feet. The 2023 property taxes on the home were $2,538.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M.

Call Viewpoints editor

Ken Trainor at 613-3310

ktrainor@wjinc.com

VIEWPOINTS

Making our streets safer

Last month, my friend shattered her leg when she was hit by a car at the notorious Ridgeland and Van Buren intersection. She was walking home from dropping off her first-grader at Longfellow School, returning to her 9-monthold baby at home. The driver was speeding down Ridgeland, with snow on their windshield blocking visibility.

She now faces 10 weeks in a wheelchair, a year of intense physical therapy and a likely knee replacement in her 40’s. A community organizer who works face-toface at the neighborhood level, she’s now on short-ter m disability. She’ll miss milestones she was looking forward to as her baby becomes a toddler: walking with her as she takes her first steps, stroller trips to the park, summer days at Rehm Pool, by ice cream at Hole in the Wall.

CHAVAS

he irony is, she moved to Oak Park for its walkability, and now she has no choice but to be driven everywhere she needs to go — just another car on the road.

he best I can say about this terrible situation is that, thankfully, she was hit by a sedan. At 35 miles an hour, the ight and height of an SUV would certainly have pushed her forward and run her over

I’m sick and tired of hearing about my friends and ommunity members being victims of traffic violence. I use that term intentionally; crashes like these are rarely “accidents.” They are the predictable outcome of street esign that prioritizes speed and a car culture that conditions drivers to center their own convenience over the lives outside their vehicle.

Change can happen; the Netherlands proves it’s possible. In the 1970s, they were just as car-centric as America, until rising child traffic deaths sparked a movement called “Stop de Kindermoord” (Stop the Child Murder). They transformed their streets through protected bike lanes, traffic calming and policy change that prioritized people over cars Culture followed infrastructure. We can use those same tools here in Oak Park

Last year we adopted Vision Zero and the Bike Plan Update — our road maps for transformation. The village is already moving forward with bike and pedestrian signals along Ridgeland, which is great. Now we need to keep the pressure on to ensure full implementation. Because right now, while we wait for these solutions, we remain vulnerable

So what can we do while infrastr ucture catches up? Report close calls, dangerous driving, and infrastructure failures like broken beg buttons or faded crosswalks through the village’s “Report an Issue” tool. Your reports help prioritize both immediate fixes and long-term investments.

Organize through PTOs around bicycle education and safe routes to school walking, school buses, bike trains, the works. When more families walk and bike, we reduce car congestion at pickup and drop-off while demonstrating demand for better infrastructure.

We also need to keep the pressure on the village to make safe streets a priority. Ask our elected officials: what would it take to accelerate implementation of these plans? What if we talked about funding traffic safety as much as we talk about funding pools? Forty million dollars for a new indoor pool is a non-starter for me, but I’d gladly pay $140/year for accelerated implementation of safer streets

Oak Park’s walkability is one of its defining features. It’s why my friend, like so many of us, chose to live here. Let’s make sure our streets live up to that promise. Nicole Chavas is an urban planning nerd and member of the board of Bike Walk Oak Park.

Shrubtown: p. 27

OA K P ARK ’S HOUSING HIST

e long journey to inclusionary housi

Today we are beginning a series on the history of Oak Park housing as it relates to racial diversity and equity in the village

Over the last several years, village trustees, candidates for office and various community advocates have addressed housing development, housing affordability and their connections to equitable socio-economic and racial diversity. To better understand where our community is in this dialogue on housing policy reform, it is essential to know where we have been. To that end, I offer a series of articles delving into the history of how fair and inclusionary housing came to Oak Park in the Civil Rights Era and how we have sought to preserve that ideal since.

This series honors and builds from the extraordinary history of rich personal narratives and compelling events told in Suburban Promised Land: The Emerging Black Community in Oak Park, Illinois, 1880-1980 (West, Sinko, Lipo, and Hughes: 2009), and from the recent work of local Jewish historians like Michael Zimora. The series starts with a reminder that the land we live on was for centuries the home of the Potawatomi Indian tribe. They were the first people in 1833 to be unjustly dispersed and excluded from what would later be Oak Park.

Much of the forthcoming series is tied to the concept many historians and economists call racial capitalism — the body of economic and social history that narrates and interprets American history as being shaped from the beginning by white racism. Whether you

pt or reject this perspect ts presence is sadly re Oak Park’s history of housing assert this is not to ignore the etter angels of our nature the idealistic ci faith-based individuals and groups ho fought for racial inclusion in the ’60s and ’70s. As we regularly emind ourselves, Oak Park does vide a worthy, but still flawed, counter-narrative of courageous actions by Oak Parkers who have persistently struggled to create a racially diverse, culturally and religiously inclusive community. Recently we have witnessed a resurgence of America’s legacy of racism in so many painful ways in this country. We watch the purging and rewriting of the history of race at all levels of education, the intentional suppressing of the Black vote, the Supreme Court’s greenlighting of racial profiling and ICE agents invading our community and kidnapping our Brown immigrants and residents. As our community resists these developments, we must remain vigilant about how national trends can, as they have done in the past, either undermine or bolster inclusionary housing and our local, rather newborn efforts at racial equity, inclusion and diversity in housing policies and programs

To that end, successive Viewpoints articles will revisit key events, significant individuals, and volatile times from the past. It includes how local developments, national policies and popular beliefs influenced what happened in

OUR VIEWS

ree pools, two villages

Public swimming pools, whether indoor or outdoor, are a high-value asset. They cost a lot to build, a lot to maintain, and in a landlocked village, space for them is at a premium.

That’s likely why the Park District of Oak Park is proposing to subtract one outdoor pool to construct an indoor facility it claims the public wants and needs. Well, voters will decide on March 17 if they are ready to take on yet higher taxes to pay for a $40 million project that eliminates the outdoor pool at Ridgeland Common.

District officials faced some skepticism at a public meeting for residents last week. There were fair questions about the wording of the referendum question, which does not specify a location for the indoor pool and concerns about losing one of the two outdoor pools. Credit to the park district for answering those questions.

Most interesting to us was the out-of-the-blue comment from Jan Arnold, the park district’s executive director, that she has had informal conversations with Jacki Iovinelli, her counterpart at the Park District of Forest Park, about some level of collaboration that would allow Forest Parkers access to the proposed indoor pool in Oak Park at resident rates while allowing Oak Parkers to access Forest Park’s quite wonderful aquatics center on Harrison Street.

Over the decades, this page has been enthusiastic about creative collaborations between local governments to save taxpayer money while upgrading services. Why can’t Oak Park and River Forest merge into one fire department? Why can’t village governments in Oak Park and River Forest absorb the services provided by township government? There are lots of missed opportunities.

Perhaps the most notable failure to communicate was between Oak Park’s park district and Oak Park and River Forest High School many years back when the parks wooed and nearly be gged OPRF to join them in jointly building a shared pool and indoor rec center at Ridgeland Common. This was near the end of the school’s era of supreme arro gance and led to the painful decades-long fight over how to finally replace the obsolete twin pools at OPRF.

We like the pool in Forest Park. It’s spacious, re gularly updated and works for all ages. There are already Oak Parkers paying the non-resident rate to enjoy the facility. We’ll need to see the equivalency of sharing resident rates between the two villages while Oak Park taxpayers are still paying the tax hike over the next 20 years to build an indoor pool.

So for now a distraction to the question on the table: How will Oak Parkers vote and how strong a case can the park district make over the next seven weeks?

You never k w

Conventional wisdom has long advised against conversations on politics and religion. But the more conventional the wisdom, the greater my desire to prove it wrong. Politics is a minefield, but I believe it’s possible to have mutually enriching co sations on religion. First though, everyone has to be willing to admit what they don’ t know.

The ultimate questions, “What happens after we die? Is there a God? Is there life after death? Is death final?” are best approached with humility. The only thing we know for sure is that we don’t know anything for sure. It’s a curious paradox. No one knows if there is an afterlife and no one knows if there isn’t. We won’t find out till we die — and only then if consciousness endures.

TRAINOR

Great certainty is professed on both sides of the question, but that’s belief, which is different from “knowing.” Belief is a powerful force that deserves respect, but it’s not proof. Some who have had “near-death” experiences claim glimpses into the unknown that are tantalizing but rise only to the level of “possibility.” Others contend there are different kinds of knowing: intuition, altered states of consciousness, vivid dreams, visions, even divine revelation. And some testify that they have been visited by loved ones who have died. None of this should be dismissed.

Jesus and Lazarus from the New Testament of the Christian Bible are the best known accounts of rising from the dead — though not everyone accepts the Bible as literal truth.

Still, all of this qualifies as “evidence,” which shores up our dearest hopes — that there is something beyond death, that we might meet loved ones again and encounter a divine entity of ultimate “goodness.” I have similar hopes.

However certain we might be in our beliefs, we won’t know for sure until we die … yet that is our common ground on these ultimate questions, which everyone wonders about — because it’s impossible not to.

The good news: humbly acknowledging that we don’t know frees us to honor the wide range of human “hypotheses” about life beyond death and what that might look like. No one taking part in such a conversation would have to feel defensive or threatened about their most cherished speculations. Having established that no one knows for sure, we can share our respective scenarios with the assurance that no one can dismiss them or try to “impose” their belief systems on us because we all stand, shoulder to

shoulder, before this great mystery on the same firm and equal footing of not knowing.

do this, obviously, is a stretch one who clings tenaciously to the notion that they possess “the truth” or belong to the “one true faith” or that their conception of God is superior to anyone else’s — or rsely, that there is no God or life at all and what’s the point of wondering?

what’s the point of curiosity? Curiosity drives us. We can’t help wondering. Besides, it’s great fun. Faith has inspired human beings to do much good work in the world, but also to commit acts of awful cruelty, resulting from the need to be “right,” branding those who believe differently as dangerous. When belief combines ar ro gance with pride, it brings out the worst in human beings. Humility, on the other hand, brings out the best.

Humbly admitting we don’t know does not undermine anyone’s beliefs. On the contrary, it affirms them and allows all of us to share our spiritual, or non-spiritual, journeys and how we came to our beliefs, including atheism, which is also a belief. Everyone can join this conversation simply by saying, “I don’t know, but here are the stepping stones that forged my belief and this is how it affects the way I live.” Or “I don’t have a fir m faith, but here are my hunches.” We can learn much from one another.

It is the antidote to ar ro gance. It might even end religious warfare. You never know.

We have lear ned so much from science about the complicated and mysterious universe we inhabit, but scientists only “know” things about it until their admirable pursuit of knowledge forces an adjustment. The practitioners of science are regularly humbled by new discoveries. They know how to let go of what they knew for a deeper, better knowing.

Religious practitioners likewise could loosen their grip on “divine revelation” enough to allow for “ongoing revelation,” the process of gradual growth known as evolution, which the Creator set in motion — if there is a Creator. And if evolution is that Creator’s modus operandi, then what if God, too, is evolving — or at any rate our conception of God? Something fascinating to wonder about if we can free ourselves from the chains of dogma.

“You never know” could be our universal mantra, and the rock on which we build the convergence of a new cosmology-theology.

Really, we should talk.

SHRUB TO WN by Marc Stopeck

Camino de Minneapolis?

This is the first in a series of reports from Minneapolis by our column contributor Jack Crowe. More reports will be available at oakpark. com, and we will print as many as we can.

After the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by ICE agents, I decided it was time for a road trip from Oak Park to the Twin Cities.

US 94 is the highway that connects Chicago and Minneapolis, but my ties go deeper. My mother, Gertrude, grew up in South St. Paul. Her mother, my grandmother Anna, was an immigrant from Poland. She worked at the Cudahy and Swift meat packing plants along the Mississippi River. That was after my grandfather, an immigrant from Ukraine, died young of cancer, leaving my grandmother widowed and raising five children. He was known as John

Fisher but his Ukrainian name family in the Twin and in a call on Saturday, killing at the hands of masked federal phew in Minneapolis asked a question I couldn’t ’t Chicagoans id this fate

ring that question is one reason for the trip.

And then there is my gallows is ending, I’d like to be there to see it. But maybe also it’s a pilgrimage.

To pay my respects at the scene of the murder of both Pretti and Renee Good at the hands of ICE.

A Camino de Minneapolis?

So Monday morning, I hit the road.

WEDNESD AY

of Oak Park and River Forest

Viewpoints Guidelines

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.

We reser ve the right to edit submissions. We do not have time to allow the writer to review changes before publication. We also do not have time to do more than super cial fact-checking, and because of our national epidemic of misinformation and conspiracy theories, when writers include statistical evidence to support their opinions, we require them to include the source of that information, such as credible websites, print publications, titles of articles and dates published, etc. Be as speci c as possible so that we and our readers have some way of assessing the credibility of your claims. Links may also be included for the online version. We follow the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics: seek the truth and report it and minimize harm. As a result, we will do our best not to publish pieces that espouse doubtful or debunked theories, demonstrate harmful bias, or cross the line into incivility. While we will do our best not to engage in censorship, we also do not intend to be used as a platform for misinformation. Your sources for fact-checking are a critical step in keeping the discourse honest, decent and respectful.

All submissions must include your rst and last name and the municipality in which you live, plus a phone number (for veri cation only). We do not publish anonymous letters. One View essays should include a sentence at the end about who you are.

If we receive your submission by 5 p.m. on Sunday, you can expect your opinion to be included in that week’s paper (and online), space permitting.

Pieces can be submitted through our online form at oakpark.com or directly to Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor, ktrainor@wjinc.com. For the latter, we prefer attached Word les or plain tex t included in the email.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

■ 350-word limit

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‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY

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Slow down on AI chatbots

Oak Park’s trustees are right to pause before adopting an AI chatbot as part of the village’s renewed Granicus contract. The proposed “Gover nment Experience Agent” is being sold as a way to provide accurate answers to residents while saving staff time. That promise sounds appealing, but it rests on assumptions that have not been proven in municipal settings.

Other cities offer cautionary lessons. New York City scaled back several automated response tools after residents reported confusing or incomplete answers on housing and benefits. Los Angeles found that chatbots worked only for narrow tasks like office hours, while complex service questions still required staff intervention. Boston and several UK local councils have similarly treated public-facing AI chat tools as limited pilots rather than core service infrastructure, citing ongoing maintenance demands and quality-control concerns

Even the village’s own memo concedes that errors occur when source information is incomplete or outdated — a common condition for gover nment websites. In that scenario, a chatbot does not invent information, but it can still deliver confident, incomplete, or misleading answers. For residents navigating taxes, permits, fines, or elections, that is not a minor risk.

There is also the cost. With onboarding fees,

annual subscriptions, and a contract extending through 2031, Oak Park would be committing to a long-term vendor relationship without clear benchmarks for success or a clearly defined problem the tool is meant to solve.

Technology can improve gover nment services — but only when adopted deliberately, not because “the world’s changing.” Being cautious here is not resisting progress; it is protecting residents from becoming test cases for an unproven solution.

Works cited:

City of New York. “Automated Decision Systems Task Force Final Report.” Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, 2019.

Katz, Josh, and Matthew Haag. “When Algorithms Decide Who Gets Housing, New York Asks: Who Decides the Algorithm?” The New York Times, 21 Nov. 2019.

City of Los Angeles Information Technology Agency. “Customer Service and Digital Tools Assessment.” City of Los Angeles, 2021.

City of Boston Analytics. “Responsible Artificial Intelligence: Municipal Use Cases and Limitations.” City of Boston, 2022.

UK National Audit Office. “Challenges in Using Artificial Intelligence in Public Services.”

National Audit Office, 2020. Bob Milstein Oak Park

Sneave is even worse than dreck

I applaud Ken Trainor’s diatribe on what he refers to as “leaf dreck” [No thank you very mulch, Viewpoints, Jan. 14], but I take issue and am disappointed with the aesthetic underpinning of his argument. As an aside, I think the term “sneave” (snow + leaves) is more appropriate that “dreck “as the forcible plowing of the snow with street leaves is responsible for much of the issues we are experiencing. After the snow melts, “dreck” is certainly a reasonable term.

Aesthetics is a purely patriarchal western viewpoint. More fitting for the Oak Park community would be focusing on the collective safety and environmental issues imparted by sneave. As speeding e-bikes, scooters, and cars encounter sneave piles, loss of traction may occur, leading to the inability of these vehicles to comply with village traffic-calming measures As such, they may not be able to stop at the various stop signs and lights. I wonder if micro-deposits of sneave that coat the road cause this to occur in seasons other than winter?

Sneave piles impair the newly deployed

village-wide street markings and murals. As such, mid-street morning walkers may not be able to discern village bike boulevard markings and as such may impede bike traffic as they obliviously walk in the bike boulevard lanes. Confusion may develop among the bikers as they may not be able to discern the appropriate lane due to sneave

Furthermore, sneave piles are an attractive nuisance for “fort-building children,” who may hide in the sneave, potentially leading to a dangerous encounter with a vehicle or various amebic diseases.

Finally rotting piles of dreck … after the snow melts will produce methane, which will negatively impact the various green initiatives undertaken in the village, such as the highly successful gas leaf blower ban.

In short we need a collective, village-wide, multidisciplinary, rethinking of our current leaf strategy, which is not based solely on aesthetics.

Ed McGee Oak Park

A very senior walkout

We saw the report this morning (Jan. 21) in the electronic Wednesday Journal of the walkout of 200+ students at OPRF High School and we “elders” are so proud of these youngsters. It bodes well for our nation that so many of our youth are standing tall and ready to take on the negative forces that have been driving our great nation to new lows in world esteem and distraction. It gives us new hope that the perpetrators we now see destroying so much of our democracy and freedoms will be contained

But we, Oak Park’s “very senior citizens” (median age 86+), had our own Free America Walk Out at 2 p.m., Jan. 20. We had expected 15-20, or fewer given the 18-degree temperature, but 62 of us showed up, with signs, whistles and pots and pans, to walk out of our war m and comfortable Brookdale apartments, with walkers, canes, and even wheelchairs, to stand along the street as traffic went in and out of the Trader Joe’s shopping area. We yelled and waved and most of the cars honked

and beeped back. In the cold we only lasted about a half-hour but ... it was great! So, whether young or old, or somewhere in between, we all need to show our opposition to Mr. Trump, his wild policies, threats, tariffs, and temper tantrums. Say no to the Hegseths, Noems, Vances, Homans, and others he has named to rule over us We all need to work to save our democracy and our nation. God Bless America!

Jeanné Schulte Matthews Oak Park

Make polluters pay

While the fossil-fuel industry tallies up record profits, we taxpayers are saddled with the real downstream costs of their products in climate disruption and pollution. Communities across the country are paying nearly $1 trillion per year for extreme heat, floods, wildfires, and rising seas.

Now there’s a growing movement to make polluters pay their fair share for the messes they’ve made and their deceiving the public for decades. Ver mont and New York have already passed “climate superfund” laws, modeled on the legislation that held Big Tobacco and opioid manufacturers accountable in the past. More than a dozen states are pursuing climate superfund legislation, and Illinois will be one of them with a new bill being introduced during this session of the General Assembly

The fossil-fuel industry understands the threat these superfunds and lawsuits pose to their profits and business-as-usual practices. Not surprisingly, oil and gas lobby-

ists are currently urging Congress to give fossil fuel companies total legal immunity from any laws or lawsuits that could hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis. State-level immunity bills for the fossil-fuel industry have already been introduced in Utah and Oklahoma as part of the larger coordinated effort to strip communities of their right to take Big Oil to court.

What can you do? Call or write your state reps and let them know you support the creation of an Illinois climate superfund to hold the industry accountable, and ask them to contact our federal delegation. And immediately contact your members of Congress, especially senators Durbin and Duckworth, to tell them you oppose any legal immunity for the fossil fuel industry. Spread the word about why we taxpayers must push back against the polluters. It’s time.

Pamela Tate Oak Park Climate Action Network

Growth and contracts in River Forest

The Madison Street development and the District 90 teacher standoff may look like separate issues, but they are symptoms of the same failure to plan responsibly.

As River Forest considers the proposed Madison Street development, it is time to stop pretending these decisions exist in isolation. They don’t. This development, our school-funding choices, and our teacher contract crisis are deeply connected — and the consequences are already unfolding. D90 teachers are currently working without a contract. Mediation has failed. Final offers are being prepared for public posting. All 145 teachers in the union are participating at 100%, not because they want conflict but because they are being asked to accept less in a community that depends on their excellence. These are the educators who make families move here, who sustain our reputation, and who hold our schools together every day.

That excellence is measurable. U.S. News & World Report named all three D90 schools among the “Best Elementary and Middle

Schools” in Illinois for 2025, ranking them within the top 64 schools out of more than 2,800 statewide — a distinction made possible by the very teachers now being asked to accept less. The numbers make the problem impossible to ignore.

KELLY ABCARIAN

One View

According to the 2024-2025 Illinois Report Card, the average River Forest teacher earns $77,700, slightly below the state average of $78,500. At the same time, River Forest administrators earn an average of $158,605, roughly 28% above the statewide administrative average of $123,642. When leadership is rewarded far above average while teachers fall below it, that is not fiscal restraint. It is a double standard.

And now the most telling fact of all: D90’s FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report shows the district holding $34.3 million in unrestricted, unassigned reserves — money fully available for teacher compensation and classroom needs. That reserve alone equals more than three full years of base salary for all 145 union teachers combined

Using conservative, fully loaded cost estimates that include benefits and pensions, it could fund a raise equal to half of the administrators’ above-average pay premium for more than 10 years, or match the full 28% administrative premium for over five years, without raising taxes or cutting programs. The district is not facing a financial emergency — it is manufacturing one by choice, and asking teachers to pay the price.

This is the moment residents decide whether they stand with the educators who built D90’s excellence — or with policies that quietly dismantle it

Now layer on the Madison Street development. The village is advancing a large residential project that could bring new students into our schools, yet the proposal includes no enrollment projections, no capacity analysis, and no funding plan for districts 90 or 200. This is growth without accountability. Worse, the project sits in a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, meaning new property tax revenue will not flow to schools

Village must x the leaf mess

I am writing in response to Ken Trainor’s thoughts about “leaf dreck”

[Thank you very mulch, Viewpoints, Jan. 14]. Our local government caused this problem and it is theirs to fix. A service we had for years, which was covered in the village budget, was discontinued and the tremendous amount of time and expense transfer red to property owners, while eliminating it from the budget. This was justified based on a villager parking his hot car on leaves and starting a fire as well as concerns over child safety, although no events were cited to support this.

When this service was provided, homeowners and lawn services deposited leaves along the curb and village services removed the debris. It was efficient and we were much cleaner. Bagging leaves by the homeowner is more time-consuming, less ef ficient, has less participation and has resulted in less complete cleanup. Lawn services will carry the leaves away, but at a significant upcharge to the homeowner. Some homeowners have chosen

to do nothing with the leaves rather than spend the time or money. Much of it migrates to the street. In spite of the village’s suggestions, homeowners will not be cleaning our streets and the village has not done so either. Another contributing factor is global warming. Bag pickup ended in early December when the trees were still full. This was complicated by a large early snow. The old service wouldn’t have addressed this, but we would have been in better shape. Going forward, fall cleanup may need to extend into late December or early January. Many lawn services don’t work past late November but a few were working in December and January, once the snow cleared.

For those of us who use lawn services, their time and expense has been impacted and passed on to us. They will not bag leaves but will load them into their truck and take them away as part of a single fall cleanup. Last year it cost us an additional $100 above our previous fee and this year they wanted $150 more, close to doubling

our expense, to provide this service. Their services for the year were also impacted by outlawing gas leaf blowers in the name of environmental protection. While I don’t dispute the intent, it is low-hanging fruit and contributes minimally compared to the gas riding mowers or our cars. This required new equipment purchases. The battery-powered blowers aren’t as strong and therefore less effective and add to their time. All was passed on to the consumer.

I believe the village plan is a failure, is the cause of our beautiful village being an embarrassing mess and eroding the pride we have had in our appearance. Our drains are clogged and snow removal has been impacted by the buildup along the curbs. What will happen in the spring?

I strongly urge the village to return to what works and increase service time to address seasonal change. Do it now while contracts for 2026 can be put in place.

Michael Goodman Oak Park

during the life of the TIF. Students arrive immediately. Funding does not. The strain lands on classrooms

So the choice before us is clear. River Forest can continue rewarding administration far above average, approve development that shifts costs onto schools, and tell teachers to wait — or it can act like a community that actually values the excellence it advertises There is no shortage of money. There is only a shortage of will.

Telling teachers there is no money while sitting on years of unrestricted reserves is not leadership — it is a deliberate decision with real consequences.

A community that can afford excellence but refuses to fund it will eventually lose both.

Sources:

District 90 2025 financial budget: https:// www district90.org/about/finances?

Data for salaries: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/District.aspx?source=te achers&source2=teachersalary&District id=06016090002

Kelly Abcarian is a proud River Forest resident and District 90 parent

Voting ‘No’ on the pool proposal

I was dismayed to learn of the Park District of Oak Park’s plan to demolish the beloved, 50-meter outdoor pool at Ridgeland Common (RC) in order to build an indoor 25-yard pool on the same site.

I am an avid swimmer, both indoors and out; I would love to have an indoor park district pool, but if it comes at the cost of getting rid of the Ridgeland Common outdoor pool, it is not worth it.

Anyone who has been to the RC pool on a summer day knows it is a special place. It’s a true community good where young and old enjoy the sunshine and water. Swimming outdoors in warm weather is more fun, more inviting to non-swimmers, and generally better for your lungs.

The park district claims that the Ridgeland Common pool shell is “nearing the end of its use.” Is it their understanding that, like an aging 1950s starlet, once a pool passes 60 it must fade away? Pools age — but that’s why we maintain them. We don’t just bulldoze old structures, especially in Oak Park

This referendum is a plan to take away swimming space from village residents rather than add to it. I’m going to vote “No” on March 17. Victoria Bolf Oak Park

Pool referendum is misleadin g

As you contemplate whether to commit $40 million of our tax dollars to build a new indoor aquatics facility , make sure you read exactly what the ballot will say:

“Shall the Park District of Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois, build and equip an indoor aquatics facility and issue its bonds to the amount of $40,000,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof ?”

Now look at the PDOP website or the FAQs that will be provided to attendees at info sessions on Jan. 22, Feb. 4, and Feb. 25,

and see what the ballot does not say:

Where will the new facility be located?

“The proposed indoor aquatics facility would be added to the Ridgeland Common Complex site at 415 Lake St. in Oak Park, replacing the current outdoor pool.”

Many voters will complete their ballots without having seen those five important words: “replacing the current outdoor pool”.

The real referendum question is whether we want to spend $40 million of our tax dollars to rip out the popular, much-used,

existing outdoor pool at Ridgeland. The new pool would not be in addition to, but instead of the outdoor pool.

Is this omitted language an oversight, incompetence, or intentional voter manipulation?

I encourage you to attend one of the two remaining information sessions: 7 p.m. on Feb. 4 and Feb. 25 at the CRC on Madison Street and submit your own questions

I plan to vote No on March 17.

Ellen Edwards, Oak Park

Indoor pool = high operating costs

The proposed indoor pool at Ridgeland Common comes with a $40 million construction price tag but would operating costs be similar to those of the existing pool? Indoor pools use a lot of energy for heating, ventilation and de-humidification. Recent Energy Star analysis from EPA puts the energy demands of an indoor pool from 7 to 11 times the energy costs for an outdoor pool of the same size (Google “Swimming Pools and the Energy Star

Score in the United States and Canada”).

The new indoor facility may be presented with a new green label but past experience shows that the designs do not necessarily pan out to the wished-for result. For instance, the Community Recreation Center’s “Net-Zero” building is such in name only. Current data from the CRC’s education screen suggests that the building has consumed some 140,000 KWh of electricity in the past 12 months, in excess

of what the solar panels have produced. This is electricity that we purchased amid rising electricity rates

The price tag for operating an indoor pool would be much greater. In Energy Star’s analysis, indoor pools in buildings with ice rinks consume the most energy of any category of pool. Given these realities, building a new indoor pool next to an ice rink is not sensible.

Susan Subak, Oak Park

Sink the park pool proposal

Oak Park residents are being asked once again to shoulder the burden of an unnecessary, overpriced capital project — this time a $40 million indoor pool that would raise property taxes and eliminate one of our two outdoor pools. At a moment when af fordability is already a crisis, this proposal is astonishingly out of touch.

Property taxes in Oak Park are high, and families are feeling the strain. Instead of focusing on ways to make the village more af fordable, we’re watching leadership entertain yet another tax-hiking project that does nothing to address the issues residents face daily. The justification for this pool is flimsy at best. T he park district is leaning on a

survey that only a small percentage of residents responded to, and even that tiny group asked for more lap-swimming options. Yet the proposed facility is a 25-yard pool, which doesn’t even meet re gulation length for lap swimming. We’re talking about a $40 million project that doesn’t solve the problem it claims to address.

Meanwhile, the price tag has ballooned because the village insists on a net-zero design, re gardless of cost.

Sustainability matters, but not when it becomes an excuse for runaway spending on a luxury amenity.

All of this comes on the heels of last year’s multimillion-dollar village hall proposal, another example of leader-

ship pushing massive, unnecessary projects while ignoring core needs.

Residents are asking for investment in safety, homelessness support, and community stability — not another tax increase for a redundant indoor pool. At a recent public hearing, it was overwhelmingly clear that this proposal is deeply unpopular. The question now is whether our elected officials are listening, or whether they intend to push this through and leave taxpayers holding the bill.

Oak Park cannot remain a desirable, af fordable place to live if leadership continues down this path. This pool proposal should be rejected immediately.

Nick Currier, Oak Park

And the hatred prize goes to

President Trump earns the AHA - Anger Hatred Award. It is made of rust and can be sold for two cents. Hurray for pennies. Naomi Hildner Oak Park

Oak Park

JOHN DUFFY Housing justice

from page 25

Much of this history will be disturbing. Hopefully it can help us bridge the gap today between our greatest ideals and the economic and social reality that still hinders us from realizing those ideals. A fuller understanding of that history may aid us in finding paths forward with equitable inclusionary housing policy and programs It may help us transcend the ongoing paradox of what we rationally insist public policy should do, as we wrestle with persisting individual and collective hopes and fears, just as we have done in the past.

Along the way, this series will tell a history familiar to some Oak Parkers, but it is especially intended to freshly inform those living here for decades as well as newcomers to our community For all of us, this history can be a reminder of the lesson James Baldwin poignantly counseled during the Civil Rights Era — “We don’t begin again as if there is nothing behind us or underneath our feet. We carry that history with us.”

The second part of this series will visit the 1920s when a resurgence of oppressive beliefs about race, culture and housing opportunity played out in Oak Park

John Duffy is a longtime resident of the Longfellow School neighborhood, a retired teacher historian, and a member of Oak Parkers for Affordable Housing and the Committee for Equity and Excellence in Education.

Eminent domain smacks of Trump

Wednesday Jour nal re por ted that the village of Oak Park plans to use eminent domain to acquire the U.S. Bank branch building to redevelop into a new police station. But the bank says no, we might be selling the building, but we still intend to keep on doing business there. And the village says no — eminent domain. We are taking it over. Get lost.

I am a relatively new resident of Oak Park (18 months), but I find the hypocrisy here staggering. The liberal, woke, progressive village government acts like Donald Trump. It’s mine, and I want it. Someone, please explain to me.

John Malott Oak Park

OBITUARIES

District 97 woes

Did you note that “The OPRF Connection,” delivered last week provided evidence that OPRF suffered some seriously bad performance scores on its 2025 State Re port Card?

However, reading between the lines, the problem may not lie with the high school. The latest re port card is de pressing for those of us who have children in District 97. Relative to “11 high schools with exemplary status” OPRF was graded 12th, and last, on the measure of “9th Graders on Track.” Even worse, relative to “8 other Large, Diverse High Schools with Similar Per Pupil Spending” we are seventh: next to last!

Why is this? It would seem to be related to an exceptionally poor performance by OPRF’s predecessors in D97. It seems that our elementary and middle schools are doing a poor job of preparing students for further education.

I think that Oak Park taxpayers will only be satisfied by an immediate, impartial investigation into the failure of D97 to deliver students who are ready to advance their education.

Where is D97 failing? Is it that the remnant of the “Five plus Five” initiative is still paying retirees to do nothing for years, while their students struggle on without the help that they so desperately need? Sinecures seem to be endemic here. Are we excusing underperforming kids from homework, which helps to obscure poor grades and along with it to obscure D97’s failure to support the entire student body?

I really don’t know. But as an Oak Park taxpayer I propose that an independent investigation should be made without any further delay. Let’s identify the problems within D97 and fix them before we pour ever more of the taxpayer’s money down a deepening hole in the ground.

Neil Taylor Oak Park

John Rogers, 75 or and storyteller

ohn T. Rogers, 75, died peacefully on an. 7, 2026, in Chi, surrounded by . Born on Feb. 1, 1950, he was the son the late George and Marie Rogers, ho instilled in him the values of hard rk, integrity, and generously of

his faith was a quiet ut constant source of strength, gratitude, and compassion. His many career paths , resilience, and shaped his lifelong commitment to service and partment of Labor from 1985 to 1996, he was responsible amusement rides across the state. He spent the next ears at the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority at Navy Pier, overseeing maintenance operations and facilitating major exhibits.

In 2004, he was hired by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) as manager of General Services, until his retirement in 2019. He oversaw all facilities management and operations.

Through his work as a Ride and Safety inspector and his proud membership in NAARSO and the Showmen’s League, he was widely respected. He was also a familiar presence as a Chicagoland referee. He was trusted, respected, and relied upon.

A loyal Chicago Bears and Norther n Illinois Huskie fan, he was an unforgettable storyteller, who could fill a room with laughter. John had a rare gift for bringing people together and creating moments and memories.

John is survived by his wife, Teresa Rogers; his son, Matthew Rogers; his daughter, Katherine Rogers; his brothers, Peter Rogers, Paul (Robin) Rogers, and Jamie (Cindi) Rogers; and his many dear nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held at Peterson-Bassi Chapels, 6938 W. North Ave., Chicago, on Wednesday, Jan. 28 from 4 till 8 p.m. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Edmund Church, 188 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, on

Jan. 29 for 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made in John’s memory to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation at: https://give.lungcancerresearchfoundation.org/JohnTRogers

Virginia Madden, 97

Made sleeping bags for the homeless

Virginia T. “Ginni” Madden (nee Cagney), 97,

Queen of Heaven Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations made to Ray Graham Association. Donations can be made online at //www. raygraham.org/donate or by check mailed to: Ray Graham Association Attn: Development 901 Warrenville Road, Suite 500 Lisle, IL 60532 Memo line: In memory of Virginia T. Madden.

Arrangements were handled by Peter B. Kennedy & Co., Funeral Directors.

Ed Niewierowski, 67

can University). She taught elementar school prior to her mar raised a large family in Oak Pa cherished role in life. An acti and mother at St. Giles Parish, she ser as a room mother, scout leader, and substi tute teacher and was a parent v with the Ray Graham Association and the Jeanine Schultz Association, org for persons with developmental disabilitie She also served as a suppo Cook County Victim Wi was active later in life as a member of the St. Giles Senior Group and in various book clubs. She enjoyed making slee the homeless

She was the wife of the late Dr Madden; the mother of Madonna (Daniel) Conway, Michael (Laura) Madden, J Novotny, Mary Frances (Mik ski, Padraic Madden, the late den, Angela Madden, and Kathleen (Bill) Stepan; the grandmother of Julie Madden, Kaitlin (Rh Conway, Michael Jr. and Quinn Madden, Thomas III, Christopher (Laura Mr and Matthew and the late Sarah Novotny; great-grandma of Emerick Novotny; sister of James (late Arelyn) Cagney and the late Joseph Philip Cagney; and the aunt of many. Visitation was held at Conboy-Westchester Funeral Home, 10501 W. Cermak Road, Westchester on Jan. 25. Funeral Mass was celebrated on Jan. 26 at St. Giles Church, 1045 Columbian Ave., Oak Park. Inter ment

(John) Alcock, and Amy (Dan) Klaibor. He was the uncle of several nieces, a nephew, and three great-nephews, and was preceded in death by his father, Robert Niewierowski Sr. and his beloved hunting dog, Beau. Services will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. at St. Scholastica Parish, 7800 Janes Ave. in Woodridge.

Please join us for a get-to gether afterward.

SPORTS

Fenwick football alum reaches Super Bowl

Rober

t Spillane helps Patriots win AFC championship

By MELVIN TATE

Contributing Reporter

Fenwick High School football alum Robert Spillane, Class of 2014, is on his way to Super Bowl LX after his New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the American Football Conference title game, Jan. 25, in Denver. Spillane, a linebacker who is one of the Patriots’ defensive captains, finished with one tackle recorded.

He left the game early due to an ankle injury, but was optimistic afterward about playing in the Super Bowl, which takes place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, Feb. 8, at 5:30 p.m. The Patriots face the Seattle Seahawks, who defeated the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 for the National Football Conference championship.

Spillane, whose grandfather is the late Johnny Lattner, a 1953 Fenwick graduate who won the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame, signed with the Patriots as a free

OPRF

agent during the offseason. Despite battling injuries throughout the season, he leads the team in tackles with 97 in 13 games played.

Spillane, an Oak Park native, came to New England from the Las Ve gas Raiders, where he spent two years. Prior to that, he played four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, 2019 through 2022.

Spillane’s first NFL experience came during the 2018 season, when he made the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Western Michig an University.

Spillane has maintained close ties with Fenwick since graduation, and both Friars’ athletic director Scott Thies and head f ootball coach Matt Battaglia told Wednesday Journal via email that they were thrilled about his special achievement.

“I am so proud of Robert and all he has accomplished,” Thies said. “Rob has a super-high football IQ and is as tough as

they get, but it is his love for football that is unmatched. He has made every team better because he is on it. Congrats to Robert and we will be rooting for him and the Patriots in the Super Bowl.”

“Although I was not lucky enough to coach Robert directly, he has stayed closely connected with our program by returning each summer for his youth camp and

mentoring our players,” Battaglia said. “His journey from a (Mid-American Conference) player to an undrafted free agent to a Super Bowl team captain makes him a tremendous role model for our athletes. We’re extremely proud of him and excited to watch him compete in the Super Bowl while re presenting Fenwick on the biggest stage in football.”

boys wrestling wins WSC Silver, ready for postseason

Miller wins 140-pound title for OPRF girls

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

The Oak Park and River Forest High School boys wrestling team brought Jason Renteria’s re gular-season debut as head coach to a successful end last weekend

T he Huskies claimed another perfect record in the West Suburban Silver with a 49-23 home win over Lyons Township, Jan. 23, then finished second in the Arkin Invite they hosted, Jan. 24. OPRF’s 231 team points were just two behind champion Glenbard West.

“I thought it was a great weekend,” Renteria said. “It was really good to g et some guys from out of town and scrap with us before the postseason star ts.”

OPRF had five individual champions at the Arkin Invite. Junior Michael Rundell wrestled at 113 pounds and improved his season record to 30-3, pinning Mason Moody of Ar rowhead (Wisconsin) in 1:11. At 126, junior Jamiel Castleberry (27-3) notched a sudden-death victory in overtime against Ar rowhead’s Zahn Beal, 5-2, in the final. Junior Alex Cohen (24-12) edged past Brayden Bergemann of Ar row-

head in the 132-pound final, 3-2. Senior Aiden Noyes (24-7) scored a 19-6 major decision victory over Carter Skof f of Morris to win the 150-pound title, and senior David Ogunsanya (23-3) pinned Jondelle Malunay of Glenbard West in 3:50 for the title at 157.

T he Huskies had seven other wrestlers who placed. At 106, junior Jordan Dezara defeated a teammate, sophomore Jacob Macedo, in the third-place match. Sophomore Zach Chasson finished sixth at 120; senior Zev Koransky was third at 144; junior Zach Michaud was sixth at 165; and

junior Lucas Albrecht took fourth at 215 while his teammate, senior Pier re Nelson, was fifth.

Winning the WSC Silver did not come easy for OPRF this year. Host Glenbard West pushed the Huskies in a dual, Jan. 15. OPRF trailed the Hilltoppers going into the final two matches, but received pinfall wins from Nelson and Albrecht respectively to pull out a dramatic 36-35 victory.

“It really didn’t hit me until afterwar ds that we won conference,” Renteria said. “[Glenbard West] definitely gave us a run

De La Salle rains on Fenwick’s spe cial night

Meteors come into Lawless Gym, rout Friars

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

The weather might have been frigid outside, but the atmosphere inside Fenwick High School, Jan. 23, was warm and pleasant. After all, the Friars’ boys basketball team was playing in historic Lawless Gym for the first time since 2020, welcoming De La Salle. The game was played in Lawless to honor the school’s 1974-1975 team, wh was the first to participate in the IHSA state tournament and pulled of f one of the most memorable upsets in the history of America’s Original March Madness, edging past heavily favored Lyons Township in the Class AA sectional semifinals at Hinsdale Central.

The vast majority of the ’74-75 team turned to Fenwick and were honored with a halftime ceremony. Leo Latz, one of the players, organized the event and was the master of ceremonies. Captain Mike “Moon” Mullins and Neil Bresnahan spoke on behalf of the team, along with Fenwick athletic director Scott Thies. Also on hand were family members of late head coach Ed Galvin, who guided the team.

e cur rent Fenwick boys basketball team (white jerseys) with members of the 197475 team during a hal ime ceremony at Lawless Gym, Jan. 23.

from the floor, hit five of 10 free throws, and committed 18 turnovers against De La Salle’s intense pressure defense. Dae’lon ord led the Friars in scoring with eight points.

On Jan. 26, Fenwick lost to visiting North Lawndale 63-52, extending its losing streak ve. The Phoenix scored the final six points of the first half for a 23-17 halftime lead, then started the third quarter with an 11-2 run.

enwick, which didn’t hit a three-point shot until 6:30 remaining in the contest, couldn’t come closer than nine the rest of the way. Corey Griffin had nine points and rray and Wofford eight apiece for the Friars, who finished 4-of-27 shooting from three-point range.

rgerson is doing everything he can to help Fenwick snap out of its skid but admits there are no easy solutions.

“I don’t know. I’m at home trying to think of everything, trying to light a fire under my guys,” he said. “The only thing left is to just continue to put one foot in front of the other, and just think there’ll be better days ahead.”

“That was awesome,” said Fenwick coach Dave Fergerson. “To see those guys was really cool. It was my first time meeting some of them, it was great. I just wish we could’ve put on a better performance.”

While a victory certainly would have been an appropriate finish to the evening, it was not meant to be as De La Salle spoiled the party by jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and never looking

for our money; it was a great dual overall. If we see them again in the postseason, we need to be re ady.”

Renteria said he appreciates the challenges OPRF has faced and feels that the experiences gained from them will be helpful going forward.

“The boys have made some big gains,” Renteria said. “Now it’s the postseason; it’s time to tighten up some screws before we get into the big matches.

OPRF competes in the IHSA Class 3A Lane Tech Re gional, Jan. 31. The IHSA adjusted the wrestling calendar, so now the team dual sectionals take place Feb. 5,

back in its 53-26 Chicago Catholic League Blue victory.

“We just couldn’t get going. It was a tough outing tonight,” Fergerson said.

De La Salle (9-13, 2-3 CCL Blue) came out hot, hitting three consecutive three-point shots for a 9-0 lead just 90 seconds in and forcing Fergerson to call a timeout. Fenwick (8-13, 1-4) had only one basket in the first quarter, a three-pointer by Ryan Murray with :57 left. The Friars trailed 17-6

followed by the individual sectionals Feb. 13-14. The individual state finals are Feb. 20-21, and the team state finals, Feb. 27-28.

The Huskies are hosting a team dual sectional, and Renteria says that’s a big plus.

“It’s a big advantage for us. The boys definitely compete better when we’re at home,” he said.

OPRF girls

At the West Suburban Conference girls wrestling meet hosted by Addison Trail, Jan. 24, OPRF senior Isabella Miller won the 140-pound title. Miller, a sectional

after eight minutes, and any hopes they had of getting back into contention were dashed late in the second quarter as the Meteors ended it with a 10-0 run to go up 29-10 at halftime.

“We scored 10 points in a whole half. Not good enough to play in the Catholic League,” Fergerson said. “We finished with 26 points, and you’re not going to beat any varsity team with that.”

Fenwick went 10-of-32 (31%) shooting

qualifier last year, defeated Gia Cozzani of Glenbard West via technical fall and improved her record to 9-2.

Seniors Nerissa Blue, Caliyah Campbell, and Michelle Kpekpe also placed for the Huskies. At 170, Campbell (10-2) took second, losing in the final via pinfall to Morton’s Anali Wilson. At 155, Blue (12-13) finished fourth, as did Kpekpe (11-11) at 125.

Sophomore Ellianna Martinez, junior Riley Rogers, and senior Maggie Herman also competed. Though they did not place, OPRF interim coach Nyles Pascasio felt the Huskies fared solidly.

“We did pretty good,” said Pascasio, who

Lyons 65, OPRF 38

In a West Suburban Silver contest at Lyons Township, Jan. 23, Matt Halper scored 15 points, and Owen Towne had six points and eight rebounds. But their ef for ts weren’ t enough in the Huskies’ 65-38 loss to the Lions.

OPRF (6-14, 1-6 WSC Silver) visits York at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 30.

is filling in for Phylli Nash, currently on leave. “Everybody was fighting hard.

“They have improved a lot since the start of the season. It’s good to see they’re able to use what they were taught and put it to work in the matches.”

OPRF’s final re gular-season match is a dual at Leyden Township, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m.

The Huskies will then have the IHSA Regional at Rickover Naval Academy in Chicago, Feb. 7.

“We’re looking to make sure our girls are doing 110 percent, being able to fight and leave it all on the mat, and getting some wins,” Pascasio said.

NOTICE

ADVERTISEMENT OF BIDDING

Request for bids for the Field Center Building Demolition at 935 Woodbine Ave., Oak Park.

Owner: Park District of Oak Park 218 Madison St, Oak Park, IL 60302

The Park District of Oak Park will accept sealed bids for the Field Center Building Demolition at 935 Woodbine Ave., in Oak Park. The project consists of the removal and disposal of the building, and of all appurtenances relating to electrical, plumbing, fixtures, heating, cooling, boilers, waterheaters, and all other remaining related building appurtenances.

Also includes the select demolition of the foundation walls, basement slab break-up and final grading.

The Park District of Oak Park will receive individual sealed Bids until 10:00 a.m. (Central time) on Wednesday, February 25th, 2026, at 218 Madison St., Oak Park, IL. A Mandatory pre-bid walk-thru is scheduled for Thursday, February 12th at 10am (Central Daylight time) at 935 Woodbine Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302. Bid bonds will be required by bidding contractors.

Bid Documents and specifications will be available on the DemandStar Website as of Thursday, February 5th, 2026, at 4pm, under “Active Bids”, at the following link.

pdop.org/rfps-bids

For additional information, contact Bill Hamilton at bill.hamilton@ pdop.org or by phone at (708) 725 2052. Only bids prepared in compliance with the bidding documents will be considered. This project must adhere to the Prevailing Wage Act of 2025.

The Park District of Oak Park encourages minority and women owned business firms to submit bids for this project.

Park District of Oak Park

By: Chris Wollmuth, Parks and Planning Committee, Park District of Oak Park 218 Madison St. Oak Park, IL 60302

Published in Wednesday Journal January 28, 2026

NOTICE OF MECHANIC’S LIEN

Notice is hereby given under the Illinois Labor and Storage Lien Act (770 ILCS 45/1) that the undersigned holds a lien in the amount of $19,200 for unpaid charges related to storage, labor and/or materials for the watercrafte described below:

Boat Description:

1992 Fountain 38 Sport

Hull Registration FGQ38614G192 White/Teal/Pink

Registered Owner: Frank Esposito 7211 Division, River Forest, IL 60305

The watercraft is currently located at: Ben Watts Marina Inc., 116 S. Route 12. Fox Lake, IL 60020

Unless full payment is made within 30 days of this notice, the vessel may be sold at public or private sale to satisfy the lien, pursuant to 770 ILCS 45/1.

Lienholder: Ben Watts Marina Inc. 116 S. Route 12, Fox Lake, IL 60020

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 28, February 4, 2026

PUBLIC NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE BOARD OF FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSIONERS OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS

The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners of the Village of Oak Park, Illinois have adopted Rules and Regulations for the Village of Oak Park’s Police Department. The Rules and Regulations may be obtained at the Human Resources Department, Village of Oak Park, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302 during the regular business hours of 8�30 a.m. to 5�00 p.m. The Rules and Regulations shall take effect ten �10� days from the date of publication of this notice.

Published in Wednesday Journal January 28, 2026

LEGAL NOTICE

THE LAW OFFICE OF LINDA EPSTEIN

Attorney for Petitioner 722 W. Diversey Parkway, Ste. 101B Chicago, IL 60614 STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss

Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division.

In re the Marriage of: Daniel E. Perez, Petitioner, and Marian Java Maloloy-On Respondent, Case No. 2025D007668

The requisite affidavit for Publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, Marian Java Maloloy-On, Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, Daniel E. Perez, for Dissolution of Marriage and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent file your Appearance and Response electronically to said Petition with the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on or before February 11, 2026 default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage Entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

Mariyana T. Spyropoulos, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 21, 28, 2026

LEGAL NOTICE

The Village of Oak Park ��Office of the Village Engineer, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302�� will receive electronic proposals until 10�00 a.m. on Thursday, March 5, 2026 for Project: 26�4, 2026 ALLEY IMPROVEMENTS. Bids will be received and accepted, and bid results posted via the online electronic bid service listed below. In general, this project will consist of improvements to various alleys throughout the Village of Oak Park. The alleys are located within the portion of town bound by North Ave on the north, Austin Blvd on the east, Harlem Ave on the west and Roosevelt Rd on the south. There are approximately twelve �12� different alley segments which are planned to be constructed as a part of these improvements.

Plans and proposal forms may be obtained via the electronic service starting on Thursday, January 29th, 2026 at 10�00 AM. Plans and proposal forms can be found at https://www. oak-park.us/Building-Business/ Request-for-Proposals or at www. questcdn.com under login using QuestCDN number 9963233 for a non-refundable charge of $64.00. The Village of Oak Park reserves the right to issue plans and specifications only to those contractors deemed qualified. No bid documents will be issued after 4�00 p.m. on the working day preceding the date of bid opening. The bidder is specifically advised that the Village is a Subgrantee of a Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago �MWRDGC� grant, pursuant to an agreement entered into and between the MWRDGC and the Village. Each bidder is required to comply with the MWRDGC’s Affirmative Action Requirements and Affirmative Action Ordinance,

PUBLIC NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF RULES AND REGULATIONSOF THE BOARD OF FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSIONERSOF THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS

The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners of the Village of Oak Park, Illinois have adopted Rules and Regulations for Fire Department Entry Level Appointments. The Rules and Regulations may be obtained at the Human Resources Department, Village of Oak Park, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302 during the regular business hours of 8�30 a.m. to 5�00 p.m. The Rules and Regulations shall take effect ten �10� days from the date of publication of this notice.

Published in Wednesday Journal January 28, 2026

of which are as follows: 1� $88,000 for Women-Owned Business Enterprises �WBE� and/ or Minority-Owned Business Enterprises �MBE� 2� $13,200 for Veteran-Owned Business Enterprises �VBE� The DBE requirements listed within these Contracts are requirements, not goals.

The MWRDGC requires that contractors entering into contracts shall have a performance bond and a payment bond. The Contractor shall furnish a satisfactory performance bond in the sum of the amount of the contract in dollars guaranteeing the proper completion of the work and the maintenance of the work during the period of one �1� year from and after the date of the completion and acceptance of the same. The Contractor shall furnish a satisfactory payment bond in the full amount of the Contract guaranteeing payment of all material used and for all labor performed.

This project is also financed with local Village funds and federal Community Development Block Grant �CDBG� funds and thus is subject to all federal rules, regulations and guidelines, including Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, Section 3, and Equal Opportunity requirements. Locally funded phases of the project are subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, 820 ILCS 130/0.01 et seq. Please note, this Contract will be subject to the requirements set forth in IDOT Circular Letter 2023�30 “BUILD AMERICA / BUY AMERICA ACT �BABA� � FINAL RULE.” This law requires certain materials to be manufactured and produced in America.

THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK Bill McKenna Village Engineer

Published in Wednesday Journal, January 28, 2026

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: M26001248 on January 15, 2026 Under the Assumed Business Name of NEXT SEASON WELLBEING with the business located at: 604 LYMAN AVE, OAK PARK, IL 60304. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: LORI JANU-CHOSSEK 604 LYMAN AVE OAK PARK, IL 60304, USA.

Published in Wednesday Journal January 21, 28, February 4, 2026

DOCKET NUMBER� PC 26� 03 � Planned Development Application

HEARING DATE� February 19, 2026

TIME� 7�00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the agenda permits

LOCATION OF HEARING� Room 201 � Council Chambers, Village of Oak Park, 123 Madison Street Oak Park, Illinois 60302

PETITIONER/APPLICANT� John Trent Stoner, Sachem Building LLC.

OWNER OF RECORD� Sachem Building LLC., 1033 South Boulevard, Oak Park, IL 60302

SUBJECT PROPERTY

ADDRESS� 1031 � 1035 South Boulevard, Oak Park, IL 60302

LEGAL DESCRIPTION� Lot 6 in Scoville’s Addition to Harlem, A Subdivision of Lots 8 to 11

Inclusive, 19, 20, 29, 34, 35, 44 and 45 In Dentons’ Subdivision in Section 7, Township 39 North, Range 13 East of the Third Principal Meridian, in Cook County, Illinois

PROPETY INDEX NUMBER� 16� 07�302�003�0000

REQUEST� The Plan Commission will conduct a public hearing on a planned development application �The Boulevard Arcade Homes) for a ten �10� story 24-unit multi-family building addition to the existing landmark building located in the DT�3 Pleasant Sub-District of Downtown. The Petitioner seeks four �4� allowances from the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance associated with the Planned Development application as follows: 1� Article 5 � Table 5�1 Commercial Districts Dimensional Standards - an increase in height from a maximum of 60 feet to 117.5 feet; 2� Article 5 � Table 5�1 Commercial Districts

Dimensional Standards - a decrease in the minimum lot area requirement from 750 square feet per unit to 473 square feet per unit, an increase in density from a maximum of 15 dwelling units to 24 dwelling units; 3� Article 10 � Table 10.2 Off-Street Vehicle and Bicycle Requirements – a decrease in the minimum parking requirements from 40 parking spaces to 35 parking spaces; and 4� Article 9 Site Development Standards, Section 9.2 Exterior Lighting, B. Maximum Lighting Regulationsan increase from the maximum allowable footcandles at the lot line from one �1� footcandle to 3.7 footcandles abutting the alley and 1.3 footcandles along the southwest corner of the lot. The Plan Commission may also consider any related and additional relief that may be discovered during the review of this docket.

A copy of the application and each of the applicable documents are on the Village Website at www.oak-park.us and also on file and available for inspection at the Village Hall, Development Services Department, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, between 9�00 a.m. and 5�00 p.m. The Plan Commission may continue the hearing to another date without further notice by public announcement at the hearing setting forth the time and place thereof. Anyone with questions about the application may contact the Village by phone at 708�358�5441 or by email at planning@oak-park.us. People with disabilities planning to attend who need special accommodation should contact the Village Clerk’s Office at 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, or call �708� 358�5670. ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN THESE PROCEEDINGS ARE INVITED TO BE HEARD

Michael Sturino, Chairperson, OAK PARK PLAN COMMISSION, Sitting as a Zoning Commission, Oak Park, Illinois 60302

Submit events and see full calendar at oakpark.com/events

Moving to a new area can be tough. Come for a casual mixer, brought to you by Growing Community Media, and get the inside scoop on what makes living here so great. Grab a drink and meet other folks new in town.

Join us at Robert’s Westside

7321 Madison St., Forest Park Sunday, February 1, 3:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. FREE admission!

RSVP at events@growingcommunitymedia.org, scan the QR, or just come over!

Cash bar, FREE snacks, lively fun. Everyone welcome - even longtimers.

Learn about ALL that’s going on in the Forest Park/Oak Park/River Forest area in entertainment with performances and fun from:

• Comedy Plex

• Forest Theatre Company

• Robert’s Westside

Watch for other upcoming INSIDE SCOOP events throughout the year, including INSIDE SCOOP on Food, on Sports, on Kids, on Summer and other ways to make the most of living in the area.