The latest news from Wednesday Journal http://www.oakpark.com Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:06:54 UTC http://www.oakpark.com http://www.oakpark.com/ShareLogo.jpg http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22421/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS The Trinity and Fenwick girls basketball teams haven’t played each other since 2007, but in the opening round of the Class 4A Lyons Township Sectional on Tuesday night the rivalry returned in a flash. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22421/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:55:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22420/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Oak Park Village Manager Tom Barwin announced at a village board meeting Tuesday that he's resigning from his post after five and a half years on the job. Village President David Pope said after the meeting that Barwin had told the board last week that he would resign. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22420/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:32:31 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22419/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS To many of the Thursday night guests at First United Methodist Church in Oak Park, they are Mama and Papa Bear. Patti and Phil Sheehan take the nicknames as signs of love and respect, earned through the weekly volunteer shifts they've been doing for almost 20 years. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22419/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22418/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Henry Huizar, a 15-year old Chicagoan, stood at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Lombard Avenue Monday evening, his eyes darting back and forth at the oncoming traffic. With just a flick of a button a mere foot to his right, some flashing lights would've started going off, theoretically parting the speeding cars like the Red Sea. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22418/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22417/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Oak Parkers hoping to get no-strings-attached payments from the village to help flood-proof their basements might instead have to pay that money back, elected officials said last week. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22417/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22416/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS It was by all accounts an ambitious art project for Longfellow Elementary School, one that took four years, hundreds of Oak Park students and thousands of pounds of cement. But more than a decade later, the mosaic, which depicts the village's history dating back to the Stone Age, is sitting in one mom's basement, rather than being displayed in all of its splendor. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22416/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22415/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22415/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22412/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS The grownups in Oak Park may be visiting District 97 schools to cast their votes come Election Day this November. But they won't find any children in attendance. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22412/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22411/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Odds and ends, with some a bit odder than others ... Stick to the script: When last we heard of His Excellency The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D, S.T.D., Bishop of Belleville, Illinois he was a mere Rev., pastor of St. Catherine-St. Lucy's over at Washington and Austin boulevards. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22411/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22410/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Indigo Smith got a front row seat in her preschool class Feb. 15, the day her dad was scheduled to read a book to the kids at West Suburban Temple Har Zion. Smith, 4, sat calmly on the rug as she and her classmates listened to her dad read one of her favorite stories, "Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed." Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22410/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22409/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Due to the complexity of the Ridgeland Common renovation project, staff from the Park District of Oak Park will be assisted by an owner's representative service that will oversee the project's planning, design, construction and financial administration. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22409/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22408/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Mann and Whittier schools in Oak Park will undergo renovation this summer to create secured entrances for each building, District 97 has announced. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22408/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22407/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS The number of students suspended from Oak Park middle schools in District 97 so far this school year has crept up but only slightly compared to the previous school year. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22407/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22406/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Marz Timms hopes to be eating "prize-winning chili" at Hattie Dortilus's house warming party sometime soon. It's her dream too, and Dortilus is working diligently with Timms, her counselor at the West Cook Homeownership Center in Oak Park, to make her transition from renter to first-time homeowner. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22406/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22405/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Do you have some free time to read this feature story on Emery Lehman? Yeah? Great. Settle in, get comfortable, but note, spare time? It's overrated. Chances are Lehman himself won't have the time to read his own feature story. Or maybe the 15-year-old sophomore at OPRF High School will pick up this article and read it on the way up to Milwaukee, where he goes three times a week. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22405/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22404/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS It all started when someone left the imagination open. Magic Tree Bookstore, the dean of independent shops in Oak Park (27 years in business, 23 on Oak Park Avenue), displays a rotating array of seasonal children's books, pegged to the next holiday or visiting author. But their latest display is altogether different. A worn, multi-paned window frames the words, "It all started one day when someone left the window open." Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22404/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22403/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Circle Theatre's new production is an uproarious revival of the 1975 comedy, The Ritz. Set in a gay bathhouse, this rollicking show garnered huge laughs on opening night. Director Bob Knuth's large and lively cast of 20 serves up a very entertaining evening. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22403/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22402/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Dr. Robert John Baldauf, 89, died on Feb. 12, 2012 at Oak Park Place in Madison. Born in Fond du Lac, WI on Feb. 10, 1923 to Edward John and Florence (Daleiden) Baldauf, he served his country in the U.S. Army. Robert received his Doctorate degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder. He worked as a clinical physiologist and was the interim superintendent of School District 97 in Oak Park. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22402/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22401/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Lauretta Schultz Regan Darre, 89, known best as "LALA" died peacefully in her sleep on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2012. Born in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin to Laura and Fred Schultz, she attended Trinity High School in River Forest and Northwestern University. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22401/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22400/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS William "Bill" McGlynn, 77, died Feb. 16, 2012. He was born on Aug. 2, 1934 and was a former Oak Park resident. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22400/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22399/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Andrea G. Delaney, 61, an Oak Park resident, died suddenly on Feb. 12, 2012. Born in Chicago on March 25, 1950, Andrea grew up in LaGrange and later Oak Park. She attended St. Cletus Elementary School, St. Edmund's, Oak Park and River Forest High School, and the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22399/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22398/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Raymond A. Sadowski Jaroc, 81, died peacefully at his Oak Park home on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. While illness had recently slowed him, Ray enjoyed a full and happy life among his friends and family. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22398/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22397/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22397/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22396/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS The nadir of the housing decline is a fine time to consider the necessity of finally strengthening the historic preservation ordinance in River Forest. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22396/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22395/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Let's see now, Berwyn has the Culver's, Capri in the old Wishbone space, Autre Monde, which gets more mentions in Chicago magazine than Rahm, a hot new Thai place, the gay/Mexican nightclub, and, as we reported last week, an intriguing new music club/school in an Teamsters hall called WIRE. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22395/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22394/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Sunday is the annual Oscar extravaganza, an obligatory observation for hopeless film buffs like me. I'm no good at handicapping the awards, though I'm guessing either The Artist or Hugo will pull in Best Picture. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22394/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22393/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS District 200 is about to take on their largest construction project in almost 50 years — rebuilding of the aquatic facilities at OPRF. The high school pools were built in the 1920s and they are ready for a major restoration. It will be a significant public works project to be sure but the board is facing costs to do maintenance and small capital improvements that are arising every year. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22393/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22392/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS The window between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the end of February, for me, is the unofficial alpha and omega of Black History Month, its official celebration time. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22392/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22391/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS We were part of the 125th Anniversary committee, and recently read that the monies we raised were going to be used to fund a surveying project in River Forest. We object. We do not want to see the money we raised directed toward a surveying project. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22391/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22414/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS The family of an 80-year-old man who died of a head injury in what is being called a murder last week at an Oak Park nursing home plans to file a lawsuit against the facility in the next couple of weeks, according to an attorney representing them. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22414/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:55:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22413/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS A gridlocked stretch of roadway that passes through Oak Park and River Forest is about to get even more bumper-to-bumper this spring. The state of Illinois is planning to resurface about six miles of Harlem Avenue, from 26th Street all the way north to Cullom Avenue, starting likely in May. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22413/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:45:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22390/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Before the Fenwick girls basketball team took on area-rival Trinity on Tuesday night (after print deadline) in the Class 4A semifinal of the Lyons Sectional, the Friars slipped past St. Ignatius 70-69 to win their 17th-straight regional championship. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22390/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:55:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22389/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS With the Class 3A state playoffs looming, the Fenwick boys basketball team was desperately in need of a momentum-builder. That spark culminated on Saturday night with the Friars handing Nazareth a 60-49 loss to push their win-streak to six games. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22389/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:55:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22388/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS A weekly roundup of The Book Table's bestseller list and Lake Theatre's top attended movies of the weekend. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22388/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:41:32 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22387/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Even a quick glance of the Fenwick Swimming Sectional score sheet clearly reveals that the host Friars, hometown rival OPRF, Lyons Township and Riverside-Brookfield dominated the action during Saturday's intense eight-team competition. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22387/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:05:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22386/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Two grapplers from different high schools in Oak Park added to their collection of individual state wrestling title trophies by winning their respective weight classes at the IHSA Individual Wrestling State Meet held at Assembly Hall in Champaign on Saturday. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22386/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:03:06 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22385/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS District 97 has received more than 100 applications for the Percy Julian Middle school principal position. Another soon-to-be open D97 position, the human resources director, has garnered more than 60 candidates. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22385/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:00:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22384/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS It was the Trinity basketball team that handed OPRF a 63-33 loss in the season opener and it was the Blazers who officially ended their area rival's season with a 67-38 win in the Class 4A River Forest Regional at Sister Michele Germanson Athletic Facility on Thursday night. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22384/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:05:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22383/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS River Forest schools have a lot to be proud of, but the unpredictability of state aid and new assessment standards in the next couple years will force District 90 staff to keep planning for the long term. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22383/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:45:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22380/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS The PTOs at Oak Park's two middle schools long ago discovered that selling food to hungry teens is their top fundraiser. Now protecting that franchise by seeking an extension of a state waiver is the goal. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22380/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:50:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22382/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS For the first time since the Great Recession hit in 2008, a handful of employees at Oak Park Village Hall are getting raises. Since Jan. 1, 2008, about 85 workers who aren't in labor unions — including the chief financial officer, police chief and village planner — have had their pay frozen. But this year village hall decided to loosen its belt a little, giving those employees a 2-percent pay boost. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22382/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:05:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22381/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Months after Oak Park Village Hall ended its legal battle with the local public high school, village officials are still feeling reverberations, in the form of a $220,000 budget hole. Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22381/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:45:00 UTC http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22379/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Both the fifth and sixth grade girls and boys basketball team's at Grace Lutheran in River Forest opened their seasons with victories.   Read More...


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]]> http://www.oakpark.com/3_2_22379/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:44:10 UTC