Jacob Joseph "Joe" Levin, 82, of Oak Park, died in his home on June 8, 2013. Born in New York City on Aug. 15, 1930, he married his wife, Doris, in 1949, and they then moved together to upstate New York to attend school.

John Edward Kelly III, 70, formerly of River Forest and Hanover Park, died in Punta Gorda, Fla. on April 27, 2013. He grew up in River Forest and attended Oak Park and River Forest High School, where he played football and wrestled his junior and senior years.

Jane E. Hockstein-Netter, 89, of Oak Park, died on June 16, 2013. Visitation will be held on June 20 from 3 to 8 p.m. at Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home, 203 S. Marion St., Oak Park. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Edmund Church at 10:30 a.m., June 21, followed by private interment at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.

River Forest has a flooding problem. And it is not just the Des Plaines River. Basements in the village, particularly on the north side of town, flood regularly during heavy storms; they have for years. They will continue to flood because the century-old storm sewer system just doesn't have the necessary capacity.

Oak Park likes a good symbol. We're not nuclear free for nothing. On Monday night the Oak Park village board was expected to pass a symbolic resolution urging villagers to enjoy Meatless Mondays.

Two weeks ago in this space we urged the two local school districts and the village to open discussions about ways to share human resource services. In a weird circumstance, all three entities are without, or about to be without, personnel directors.

I spent Father's Day afternoon with my son. Nothing fancy, a movie and dinner. Going to movies is one of the things we've always enjoyed doing together. Simple and relaxing. I wish I had a list of everything we've seen over the years.

Two views of a longstanding tradition - and controversy - from two former editors of the OPRF High School newspaper, Trapeze.

Most mornings at the Marion Street/Harlem el station, I get on the same CTA train. The conductor is usually the same too, a pleasant, chatty woman, an extrovert. Every morning she has a big hello for people entering her train.

In fits and starts, I've come late to the debate on immigration reform. For seven months, I housed a political refugee who had been arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Because he had legal asylum, ICE released him with nowhere to go.