W E D N E S D A Y
October 8, 2025 Vol. 46, No. 15
1980 - 2025
$2.00 @wednesdayjournalinc
J URNAL WJ45
@wednesdayjournal
@oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
‘ICE is the aggressor,’ says President Scaman By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN and DAN HALEY Staff Reporter and Interim Editor
See ICE on page 4
Page 5
Dutch Bros coffee eyes old KFC site on Madison
‘ICE out,’ say elected officials after township trustee detained Oak Park elected officials across branches of government held a press conference in the parking lot of the township offices at 103 S. Oak Park Ave. Monday night. Village President Vicki Scaman, Township Supervisor Timothy Thomas, Juan Muñoz, the township trustee detained and released by ICE, and several Oak Park village trustees and Oak Park Public Library trustees addressed the gathered reporters and residents to call for an end to ICE’s deportation campaign in Chicagoland and to violent crack downs on protestors. “I’m here to unequivocally state that ICE is the aggressor,” Scaman said. “There is no emergency here, we do not need ICE or the national guard. What I need from our federal government as a municipal village president is dollars for housing, mental health, physical health, support for transgender individuals, school programs and food.”
Oak Park Village Board says no to QuikTrip
Coffee chain makes pitch to Zoning Board of Appeals By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter
ZOË TAKAKI
Protesters resist the presence of federal Border Patrol agents at the detention facility in Broadview. See Juan Muñoz’s opinion piece in Viewpoints, page 24.
A popular nationwide coffee shop chain has targeted a defunct fast-food site in Oak Park as its potential first Cook County location. Oak Park’s Zoning Board of Appeals will hear a proposal from Dutch Bros, an Oregon-based chain with more than 1,000 locations primarily on the West Coast, at its next meeting Oct. 8. The chain is looking to repurpose the site of the former Kentucky Fried Chicken at 316 Madison St. as part of an early foray into Chicagoland. The property sits near the intersection of Madison Street and Ridgeland Avenue in Oak Park, adjacent to Percy Julian Middle School. The company would construct a new 1,236 square foot building on the site, featuring two-drive through lanes and a walk-up window for pedestrian customers, according to the proposal. See DUTCH BROS on page 16
A Collective Giving Group of the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation Celebrating 30 Years of Philanthropic Giving to Our Community Learn more at www.oprfcf.org