🌱 Details Emerge In Oak Park Murder + New Chamber On West Side

Happy Monday, Oak Park and River Forest! Here's the news for Presidents Day.

First, today's weather: Cloudy and breezy. High: 46 Low: 44.

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

1. Richard Chavez will be held without bail for the murder of 20-year-old Charisma Ehresman, a judge ruled Saturday. Prosecutors said the two corresponded on social media and met at his home in Oak Park five days before her body was found in South Austin. (Paid source: Tribune)

2. All COVID-19 safety mitigations will remain in place at Oak Park and River Forest High School this week, including mandatory masks. The board will consider altering its rules at a meeting Thursday. (OPRFHS)

3. Village Halls in Oak Park and River Forest are closed today in observance of Presidents Day. Refuse collection won’t be affected by the holiday. (VOP/VRF)

4. The Community Blood Center will host a blood drive today at Oak Park Public Library. Appointments are required to allow for social distancing. Blood supplies nationwide are at critical lows, according to the Red Cross. (OPPL)

5. The executive director of the Austin Chamber of Commerce has stepped down to start a new chamber on the West Side. Tina Augustus announced the launch of the new organization on Feb. 16. (Austin Weekly News)

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From my notebook:

• Oak Park nonprofit Sarah’s Inn is providing resources during Teen Dating Violence Action Month. (VOP)
• Resident registration opens tomorrow for spring and summer camps at River Forest Park District. (Park District)
• Fenwick alum Franklin Taylor founded a Chicago nonprofit to promote literacy. (Fenwick)
• This week in local history: the Oak Park Conservatory faced demolition in 1970 before activist Elsie Jacobson stepped in to help raise funds to save it. Now, 50,000 people visit the conservatory each year and it is part of the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. (OPRF Museum)

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That's all for today, OPRF! See you tomorrow for another Daily.

— 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.