🌱 Chicago Mayor Sworn In + UIC To Assist With Equity Assessment

Hello! In today's Oak Park-River Forest Daily, Patch's quick guide to the latest local headlines:

• An Oak Park police investigation led to a prostitution arrest, a Chicago news network reports.
• Heather Mack will face conspiracy to commit murder charges at her upcoming trial.
• A food drive will be held outside the River Forest Jewel store tomorrow.

But first, today's weather: Clouds breaking and warmer. High: 80 Low: 49.

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Here are the top 4 stories today in Oak Park-River Forest:

1. Brandon Johnson was sworn in Monday as the next mayor of Chicago. “We don’t want a Chicago that has been so overwhelmed by the trauma of violence and despair that our residents felt no hope or no choice but to leave,” he said at the inauguration. The Austin resident previously served as Cook County Commissioner representing Oak Park. His wife Stacie Johnson was an assistant to Sen. Don Harmon. (Paid source: Sun-Times)

2. FOX reports a Chicago woman was arrested for prostitution at an Oak Park spa. According to FOX, an “unlicensed massage” was conducted at a spa at Garfield and Harlem. (FOX)

3. A judge blocked an attempt by Heather Mack’s attorneys to dismiss conspiracy to commit murder charges from her upcoming trial, the Wednesday Journal reports. Mack could face life in prison for the murder of her mother in Bali in 2014. The former Oak Park resident previously served seven years in an Indonesian prison. (Wednesday Journal)

4. The Village of Oak Park will use $300,000 of ARPA funds to conduct a racial equity assessment, the Wednesday Journal reports. It will be conducted by the Great Cities Institute of the University of Illinois at Chicago and is expected to continue through September. (Wednesday Journal)

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• Celebrating Seniors Week continues with multiple events. (10 a.m.)
• “Write your own story” at Dominican University as part of Celebrating Seniors Week. (10 a.m.)
• Oak Park Public Library presents a virtual program on “Mamah Borthwick & Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park.” (6 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• The Greater Chicago Food Depository will be outside Jewel in River Forest tomorrow for its “Fill A Bag, Fill A Bus” event. (GCFD)
• New Trier High School baseball coach Mike Napoleon now has the most wins in IHSA history, surpassing the record previously held by Jack Kaiser of OPRF High School. (Daily Herald)
• The Main Library is launching a new “Oak Park Creates” collection featuring local makers. (Instagram)
• School District 97 was honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for the fourth year in a row. (D97)

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You're all caught up! See you tomorrow for more local stories.

— Georgi Presecky

About me: Georgi is a Chicago-based newsletter writer and partner content curator. She spent five years on the entertainment beat for FF2 Media covering film festivals across the U.S. Her feature articles have been recognized with awards from the Illinois Women's Press Association and National Federation of Press Women. As editor-in-chief of the Lewis University newspaper, she and her staff earned honors from the Associated Collegiate Press and American Scholastic Press Associations. She began working for Patch in 2019.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Oak Park-River Forest Patch newsletter? Contact me at georgi.presecky@patch.com.