W E D N E S D A Y
May 28, 2025 Vol. 45, No. 47
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JOURNAL
@wednesdayjournal
@oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
Special Advertising Section
Day in Our Village 2025
WHAT’S BLOOMING ON HARRISON
Day in Our Village Page 21
Page 17
Oak Park rallies for Charlotte Melcher, 2017 OPRF grad
Resignation and a firing undo Oak Park’s economic development efforts
Hit by car while running, suffered traumatic brain injury *** Proceeds from June 4 FitzGerald’s concert to aid recovery
Two top development officials depart within two months By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter
Oak Park fired one of its senior staff members not long after one of his peers resigned citing a toxic workplace environment. Brandon Crawford, who served as the village’s economic vitality administrator, was terminated from his position April 25, according to documents obtained by Wednesday Journal via a Freedom of Information Act request. Crawford did not respond to a message requesting comment for this story through his professional social media last week.
By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter
At Oak Park and River Forest High School, Charlotte Melcher starred in soccer, tennis and track before graduating in 2017 and heading off to the University of Wisconsin. In Madison, she decided to walk on to the women’s rowing team, but she had some disadvantages, according to her husband, Alex PROVIDED
See MELCHER on page 4
Charlotte Melcher and Alex Marett at their wedding last September.
Building Community since 1993
See CRAWFORD on page 16
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