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W E D N E S D A Y
November 5, 2025 Vol. 46, No. 19
1980 - 2025
$2.00 @wednesdayjournalinc
J URNAL WJ45
@wednesdayjournal
@oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
River Forest cop used pepper balls on teens in Halloween crowd
500 teens crowded Downtown Oak Park; gun shot, fights on Lake Interim Editor
See PEPPER BALLS on page 15
INSIDE
OPRF boosts score on state report card
Illinois Report Card again ranks school as Commendable
By DAN HALEY It was a River Forest police officer who deployed multiple rounds of pepper balls in two locations on Lake Street on Halloween evening as police from that village and other neighboring forces turned out to assist Oak Park police in dispersing a crowd of some 500 teens who had gathered in Downtown Oak Park. There were reports to police of fights on Lake Street near Harlem around 8 p.m. on Oct. 31. A gunshot was reported at Lake and Forest that left a bullet hole in a nearby apartment. There were no reported injuries from that shot. Oak Park police closed Lake Street to auto traffic and began working with officers from other communities to move
SPECIAL INSERT
By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter
SCREENSHOT
PROVIDED BY EDWARD TORPY
CROWD CONTROL: A River Forest police officer (inset) used pepper balls to disburse groups of teens in two locations on Lake Street on Oct. 31.
When it comes down to it, the key statistic in the 2025 Illinois Report Card for Oak Park and River Forest High School District school board president Audrey Williams-Lee is freshmen on track for graduation. The Illinois Report Card, released Oct. 30 by the Illinois School Board of Education, showed 94.1% of OPRF’s ninth graders were on track in school year 2023-24. That’s up from 89.8% for 2024. “It’s good to see movement on that number,” Williams-Lee said. “It’s been a bit stubborn over the last couple of years. “There’s been work on how do we help students recover credits,” she said. “We’ve seen See D200 REPORT CARD on page 9