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Articles by Floyd Mittleman
Austin Coming Together: Thrive 2025 - Quarter 3
Austin Coming Together: Thrive 2025 - Quarter 3Thursday, July 27th, 2017 2:00 PMShare on FacebookShare on TwitterEmailPrintBy Advertising Department
Restorative justice court opens in North Lawndale
Elected officials and people who worked on the creation of the first restorative justice court in Illinois cut a ribbon to celebrate it's opening on July 20. | William Camargo/Staff Photographer Court officials and North Lawndale community members gathered Thursday at the Nichols Center, 3605 W. Fillmore St., to cut the ribbon on a new type of court that doesn't hand down prison sentences: Illinois's first Restorative Justice Community Court.
Streetbeat | Articles | News | AustinWeeklyNews.com
Two years ago, I interviewed activist Tio Hardiman, who at the time was contemplating a run for Congress against U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (1st). This time, the former head of CeaseFire Illinois, is running for governor. His thoughts on the roots of the city's violence, however, haven't really changed. You can take the police off the street for thirty days, including all the violence prevention programs, and I guarantee you [it won't have a measurable impact on the amount of violence].
Divercity, July 30
On Tellin' Tales Theatre and Bodies of Work will present Divercity, a series of solo performances - some funny, some serious, all engaging by people with disabilities. There will be a reception at with light bites and refreshments, the performance starts at and a talk back with the actors at . Tickets are $10 for adults $7 for students, seniors, and people with disabilities. Order tickets on line at tellintales.org or contact Theresa at 773 946-7540 . St. Martin's is located at 5700 W.
W. Side groups get grants for arts, financial literacy
Longtime West Side resident Arnold Julien heard "the most touching and horrific" thing a few months ago when a 6-year-old approached him during a dinner conversation he was moderating at the Austin Library. "He came up from the other side of the room and said, 'Can you save me?'" Julien says about the On The Table event sponsored by The Chicago Community Trust.
Residents celebrate Mandela Road anniversary
The July 18 ceremony outside the Westside Health Authority headquarters, 4800 W. Chicago Ave., was about more than marking the fourth anniversary of dedicating the section of Cicero Avenue between Grand Avenue and Roosevelt Road as "Nelson Mandela Way." It was a way to get the community out and about, doing something positive. It was a way to show what the local community organizations have accomplished over the past year.
Arts & Biz | Blogs | Community | AustinWeeklyNews.com
Our next public discussion on Blues, Arts, Culture and Community will be Wed. Aug. 9 , 6 to 8 p.m.at Gone Again Travel and Tours, 5940 W. Chicago Ave.
Former West Sider makes his last run for governor
Illinois voters will go to the polls next year to elect a governor and a former Austin resident, who is among the candidates, is hoping to make history as the first African American to serve in the state's highest office. Community activist Tio Hardiman, 54, is among the candidates running to unseat Republican Governor Bruce Rauner. For Hardiman, a Democrat, it's his second and last run for governor.
For Oak Park teen, philanthropy is a way of life
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Sadie Briggs is a member of the philanthropic Shakers of Oak Park. | Photo submitted Inside their Oak Park home is a change jar in the kitchen that the family's oldest child, 15-year-old Sadie Briggs, says symbolizes the legacy of her great-grandfather, Joseph R. Shaker. "It's always in my head that if you have extra change, it goes to St. Jude," Briggs said, referencing the Memphis, Tennessee-based pediatric hospital that Shaker was influential in founding.
Equity in English
Odds and ends with some a bit odder than others: English, please: Wrote an editorial for today's issue lauding District 97 for its intense focus on equity (aka: the achievement gap). Had to work my way through a three-page memo to the school board from Supt. Carol Kelley seeking approval of a new administrative position tied to equity. Have to say this was the most jargon-bound, hard-to-connect-with piece of writing I've been forced to digest in a good long time.
Six students get 209 Together awards
Ulyces Gutierrez, a recent Proviso Math and Science Academy graduate and Melrose Park resident, spent his time in high school waking up at 6 a.m. to head to school early before leaving to go straight to his job at Chipotle, where he would work until around 11 p.m. After, he'd go home, do his homework and go to sleep at around 2 a.m. Then, he'd wake up at 6 a.m to do it all over again. "It was rinse and repeat," he said in a recent phone interview.
Edible Garden tour this weekend
The work of some of the best green thumbs in the village will be on display this weekend during Sugar Beet Food Co-op's 6th Annual Edible Garden Tour. Sugar Beet says the self-guided tour gives residents "an insider's peek into the edible gardens of our neighbors in Oak Park, River Forest, Austin, and more." The tour runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. "into beautiful private and verdant community gardens" in an effort to inspire gardeners to grow their own food.
Big Week Aug. 1-8
Join the Historical Society of Forest Park for an hour long tour of Haymarket Martyrs Monument & Radical Row Tour. Learn the story of the Haymarket Affair, the monument and those who choose to be buried near this monument to the 8 hour day and those who died for it. $10 donation is requested to be split between HSFP and ILHS. Six Proviso graduates will each receive $1,000 scholarships. Free hot dogs, sweet corn, watermelon and chips.
About that assessment list in today's paper
This issue of the Forest Park, distributed in Proviso Township, contains a supplement of the Real Estate Assessment List for Proviso Township. This list is prepared by the Cook County Assessor's Office (CCAO), under the direction of Assessor Joseph Berrios. The assessor does not set tax rates, levies or the state of Illinois Equalizer, nor does he decide the dollar amount of your tax bill. Tax rates and levies are determined by municipalities and other local taxing bodies such as school districts.
D97 creates new equity director position
The District 97 school board approved the hiring of a new Senior Director of Equity and reassigned two administrators during a regular meeting on July 18. The personnel moves are just the latest in a series of central office readjustments that have been made by D97 Supt. Carol Kelley since the end of the 2016-17 school year.
Inconvenient, but timely, sequel
Al Gore is back! The first of, we're sure, many popular-vote winners who will lose presidential elections this century (if we make it that far) has returned with a sequel to his well-received (yet largely ignored) documentary, An Inconvenient Truth (2006). Gore's latest, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, will be at the Lake Theatre starting Friday, Aug. 4, "on limited release," which means it might not be around long if enough people don't go to see it.
Big Week July 26- Aug. 2
Savor food, wine, music, dance and all things authentically European. See the "Salon de Paris" art exhibit on Westgate as well as numerous other artists along Marion. Can-Can dancers, mime, French lessons, crepes, a poodle parade (all dogs welcome) and more. Info: downtownoakpark.net/signature-event/art-dans-la-rue/. Marion St. between Lake and North Blvd. Start your weekends early by dining out and soaking in free live entertainment every Thursday through Aug. 31.
Lynn Allen has left the building
During a regular District 97 school board meeting last month, Lynn Allen, the newly retired director of the district's Multicultural Center, gave something of a farewell address to the board. Her brief remarks, delivered during the public comment portion of the meeting, chastised district officials for what she felt was their less than vigilant approach to multicultural education in recent years.
'Ezra & Mike' tells the story of another time
After six years, our film, Ezra & Mike, is finally ready for a sneak preview. The documentary focuses on the family of Ezra Buckner purchasing a home here, only to be harassed for their skin color, and a stranger named Mike who came to their aid.
Big Week | Articles | News | AustinWeeklyNews.com
An Austin Community Summit will be held on Saturday July 29, from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm., at By The Hand Club, 415 N. Laramie. A light breakfast will be served. Join us for the first of three community summits that will result in a plan for the Austin community, by the Austin community. The purpose of the first community summit is to bring hundreds of community leaders together to reach consensus on the highest priority actionable opportunities in the Austin community.
Music Fest 2017 photo gallery
Music Fest 2017 photo galleryTuesday, July 25th, 2017 2:51 PMShare on FacebookShare on TwitterEmailPrintPeople enjoy a nice day at the Forest Park Music Fest on Saturday July 22, on Madison Street. | William Camargo/Staff Photographer The singer of Black Diamond, a cover band. | William Camargo/Staff Photographer Children cooling off during a hot Saturday. | William Camargo/Staff PhotographerLauren Justice and Sophia White race down a slide.
Dog attack spurs River Forester to go on months-long hunt
River Forester Lee Neubecker was walking his greyhound, Roxie, in mid-April about a block from his house when a pit bull came bounding toward him and his dog, knocking the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Neubecker into a bush, scratching his chest through his shirt. The 44-year-old Neubecker got up, grabbed a tree branch as protection, and ran toward his fenced-in backyard with Roxie, where the pit bull caught up to the pair and began attacking Roxie, who by then was trying to crawl under the locked gate.
To my temporarily able-bodied neighbors ...
I've been on full disability for the last 10 years with a disorder called Primary Lateral Sclerosis, so I felt quite at home at the dinner dance on July 15 hosted by the Progress Center for Independent Living.
Trustees consider new police station
Setting the agenda: Oak Park trustees are working to set their priorities for the next two years and decide on which projects to focus. | File photo The Oak Park Board of Trustees began discussing its goals for the next two years at a planning meeting held Monday night in the offices of the Oak Park Public Works Department. Trustees took a broad look at the village in an effort to prioritize competing needs in the village, including everything from fair housing to economic development.
'Like living in a war-torn country'
West Side residents, activists and elected officials rallied at a local church on July 19 to exchange safety tips and discuss ways to curb gun violence in a neighborhood that once was the most populated in the city. "Austin is no longer the largest neighborhood in the city of Chicago," Commissioner Richard R. Boykin told about 40 people who attended the "state of emergency" meeting he convened last Wednesday at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, 116 S. Central Ave.
River Forest drafts a Welcoming Resolution
The River Forest Village Board is currently working on a so-called "welcoming resolution" draft to spell out its policies toward undocumented village residents and visitors. As reported by Wednesday Journal, nearby communities, including Oak Park, have adopted similar measures in recent months. At its July 10 meeting, village trustees discussed a working draft of the resolution and took public comment.
Forest Parker lands Fulbright scholarship
Forest Park resident Brooke Reavey was sitting in a plane on a tarmac in Mexico City in March, anxiously checking her email while her phone reoriented and searched for a cellular signal. Reavey, a professor of marketing at Dominican University in River Forest, had applied for a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship about a year earlier and had made it through the first round of selections in December 2016. She and her husband were in Mexico on a spring break trip.
Cheap reads! | Blogs | Community | OakPark.com
It's that time of year again, bibliophiles. The Friends of the Oak Park Public Library host the 47th Annual Oak Park Book Fair in the air-conditioned comfort of the OPRF High School cafeteria, 201 N. Scoville, beginning Friday evening, Aug. 4 from 6 to 10 p.m. Since this is the "first crack," they charge a $5 admission. When the doors open, bargain hunters recreate the Oklahoma Sooner land rush. It's something to see. No one has been trampled yet (that we know of). On Saturday, Aug.
Redevelopment on Van Buren moves forward
Renderings of the townhouses approved July 24 by the Forest Park Village Council. | Courtesy Forest Park Village Government The Forest Park Village Council unanimously approved a planned redevelopment agreement at its July 24 meeting for 17 new three-story townhouses along Van Buren Street, just east of The Altenheim retirement home and Concordia Cemetery.
Alcuin Montessori to expand to Roosevelt Road
Alcuin Montessori School, which holds the title of being the second Montessori school to open in the nation, is growing and could soon have a new facility in the 6900 block of Roosevelt Road. The school was founded by six Oak Park families in 1961 with one classroom of 24 students at the old Lowell School at the corner of Lake and Forest; it has grown over the decades to include classes for 140 students' preschool through 8th grade and 30 employees.
Council approves appropriations ordinance
The Forest Park Village Council approved an appropriations ordinance at its July 24 meeting. Commissioners authorized spending $27,976, 018 in the general fund, an increase of 4.8 percent over last year. The overall appropriation is $49,073,563, an increase of 4.6 percent over last year. The general fund covers the village's working budget and day-to-day expenses. Other funds are special revenue funds, debt service funds, the enterprise fund and the public library fund.
Forest Parker lands Fulbright scholarship
Forest Park resident Brooke Reavey was sitting in a plane on a tarmac in Mexico City in March, anxiously checking her email while her phone reoriented and searched for a cellular signal. Reavey, a professor of marketing at Dominican University in River Forest, had applied for a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship about a year earlier and had made it through the first round of selections in December 2016. She and her husband were in Mexico on a spring break trip.
Soda pop tax: fizz or fizzle?
How are you feeling about the "soda pop tax?" The tax is currently on hold, but the judge in the case is supposed to deliver his permanent ruling on July 28. I love my Pepsi. And I will keep buying it. But should the tax go through, I will not be buying pop, tea or even water in Cook County. And I am asking others subject to paying the tax to do the same thing. It is time that, as taxpayers, we have our own version of the Boston Tea Party.
Whatever became of the Haase clan?
Ben and Clarissa Brooks stand in front of the Haase family monument in Forest Home Cemetery on June 8. Ben is the great-great grandson of Ferdinand Haase, Forest Park founder. | Courtesy Ben Brooks Ben Brooks is the family historian of an illustrious local clan. He is the great-great-grandson of Forest Park's founder, Ferdinand H. Haase. He feels a heavy responsibility to preserve his family's saga for future generations.
Local Catholic parishes group up for shared support and ministry
The Archdiocese of Chicago has placed Forest Park's St. Bernardine Catholic Church in a so-called "grouping," with two other River Forest Catholic parishes and four more in Oak Park. St. Bernardine's pastor, Fr. Stanislaw Kuca, said the initiative, called "Renew My Church," is designed to give parishes in each grouping an opportunity to build relationships, support one other and collaborate on programing as mass attendance and church membership continues to fall.
Edwin John Connelly, 92
Edwin John Connelly, 92, of St. Charles, passed away Monday, July 17, 2017, at River Glen of St. Charles where he has resided for the past three years. Edwin was born November 25, 1924, in Chicago, IL the son of Edwin and Ruth (nee Heagney) Connelly. Edwin was united in marriage to Jeanne C. Swanson September 22, 1951. Edwin was a 1943 graduate of St. Mel's High School in Chicago.
Food pantry burglarized at First United Church
Six iPads, a docking station and charging cables were stolen from the Oak Park-River Forest Food Pantry at First United Church of Oak Park, 848 Lake St., between 2 p.m. on July 15 and 10 a.m. on July 17. The thief gained entry by unknown means to a locked closet door in the basement. The estimated loss is $4,000. An Oak Park woman was robbed in the 6100 block of West Roosevelt Road at 8:05 p.m. on July 17.
Austin site eyed for West Side history museum
The West Side Historical Preservation Society is looking for a permanent museum home in Austin. The organization is raising funds for the project as it looks to acquire a sprawling vacant parcel on Madison Street just west of Cicero Avenue, said its CEO, Rickie Brown. A West Side museum honoring the area's people and history has long been a dream of Brown's. The two-acre site at Madison and Lavergne is the desired location, but Brown said he's open to other sites.
D97 will use extra taxes to pay down debt
Nineteen thousand Oak Park property taxpayers who collectively paid an extra and unexpected $2.6 million in taxes to Oak Park District 97's will have to wait a little longer to get that money back.
A leap of faith ... that paid off!
Last year, in what can be described as either a mid-life crisis or a leap of faith (or a combination of both), I quit my day job, packed my bags and went to Hollywood to seek my fortune as an actor. Though I've been a professional actor here in Chicago for the past 30 years, I've never quite been able to make a living in the arts here. Plenty of work, sure, but ... it wasn't enough to pay the bills.
Car thief caught by car's owner- Forest Park police reports July 17-23
Christopher Brooks, a 38-year-old Chicago man, was charged with felony aggravated assault and possession of a stolen vehicle after he tried to steal a 2010 Blue Ford XLT around 5:20 p.m. on July 21. According to the police report, Brooks allegedly got into the running Ford, idling in an alley on the 7400 block of Madison Street. The car's owner had just gone inside a business nearby when he heard car tires screeching and rushed out into the alley.
St. B's future | Articles | News | ForestParkReview.com
St. Bernardine's, Forest Park's Catholic church, has now been joined into a group of seven local Catholic parishes by the archdiocese. The ostensible purpose of the "Renew My Church" group is to find ways to collaborate and seek efficiencies among these churches serving Forest Park, Oak Park and River Forest. That's a fine thing in an age when priests are aging and Mass attendance is badly sagging. Rev.
A tangled mess | Articles | News | OakPark.com
Knit knot: Dozens of designers are claiming their patterns were sold by Fiberista Club without their permission. Corrine Walcher, a designer from Towson, Maryland, said her Working Title sock design (not pictured) was sent to Fiberista Club members without her consent or payment in July of 2016. "I don't need the money; that is not the point," she said. "He stole from me and dozens of other people.
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