🌱 CTA Passenger Smashes Windows + Dominican Receives $1.5M Grant

Good morning, Oak Park and River Forest! I'm happy to bring you a quick guide to today's local news.

First, today's weather: Mainly cloudy and much colder. High: 32 Low: 31.

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Here are the top 5 stories today in Oak Park-River Forest:

1. A CTA Green Line passenger was caught on surveillance video smashing 14 train windows with a hammer on Feb. 26, according to an Oak Park Police Department report. The vandal left more than $5,500 in damage. (OPPD)

2. Health director Theresa Chapple-McGruder was quoted in an Atlantic article Wednesday about the CDC’s new COVID-19 guidelines, which she says puts the most vulnerable at higher risk. “It is public health’s job to protect everybody, not just those people who are vaccinated, not just those people who are healthy,” she said. (The Atlantic)

3. The Oak Park sustainability incubator led to arguments among village board members at this week’s meeting. Stacey Sheridan of the Wednesday Journal reports tension between Village President Vicki Scaman and trustee Ravi Parakkat “upstaged” the actual project. (Wednesday Journal)

4. District 97 will require masks until March 17, superintendents announced this week. Masks will remain “highly recommended” in school buildings after that date. (D97)

5. Oak Park author Jessamine Chan appeared on the “Today” show plaza Wednesday morning in honor of Read Across America Day. Her best-selling novel “The School for Good Mothers” was Jenna Bush Hager’s January pick for her national book club. (Today)

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Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• “The Batman” opens at Lake Theatre. (3 p.m.)
• Learn to grow you own food with a presentation from Oak Park nonprofit Deep Roots Project. (6 p.m.)
• Catch vinyl night at Beer Shop. (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• The Oak Park Health Department will host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic today at Cheney Mansion. Additional clinics are set for March 10 and March 15. (VOP)
• Dominican University received a $1.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to help build a network of campus ministries. (Chicago Catholic)
• Dr. Ngozi Ezike will step down March 14 after three years as head of the Illinois Department of Public Health. (Patch)
• The Oak Park Public Library is celebrating Women’s History Month with virtual events, a scavenger hunt and women-centric book selections. (OPPL)
• Tickets are on sale for this weekend’s productions of “Sister Act” at OPRF and “Matilda” at Trinity. (OPRF/Trinity)

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Thanks for reading! 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.