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MatchMaker details inside on page 32
W E D N E S D A Y
November 19, 2025 Vol. 46, No. 21
1980 - 2025
$2.00 @wednesdayjournalinc
J URNAL WJ45
@wednesdayjournal
@oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
Actor Mariel Hemingway makes surprise visit to Oak Park Page 19
St. Giles, Ascension schools Blue Ribbon good
Unity Temple leads Oak Park protest of AT&T-ICE deal About 70 protesters gathered in Downtown Oak Park to demonstrate against the telecom giant’s contracts with ICE and Border Patrol
Governor’s Blue Ribbon Schools program supplants national award
By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN
By GREGG VOSS
Staff Reporter
Contributing Reporter
About 70 people gathered in Downtown Oak Park over the weekend to protest AT&T’s contracts with ICE, Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security. The protest staged outside the AT&T store at 425 N. Harlem Ave. in Oak Park was organized by the congregation at Unity Temple, one of 20 Unitarian Universalist congregations in Illinois See PROTEST on page 12
TODD BANNOR
Anti-ICE/AT&T demonstration at the northeast corner of Harlem Avenue and Lake Street on Sunday, Nov. 16.
Oak Park is home to not one, but two, state Blue Ribbon Schools, and both are parochial. St. Giles School and Ascension Catholic School were recently awarded the distinction from the Illinois Governor’s Blue Ribbon Schools program, which came into being after the Trump administration abruptly cancelled the U.S. Department of Education’s longtime nationwide program in August. A total of 28 See BLUE RIBBON on page 15