Explosion At Berwyn Office Building + 'No-Fail' Policy At OPRFHS

Hello, Oak Park and River Forest! Thanks for reading the Thursday edition of the Oak Park Daily, Patch’s five-minute guide to what’s making news in your area.

In today’s Daily, learn about an Oak Park alum working in the White House, an explosion in a Berwyn office building and what the school board is doing about requests for a no-fail policy at Oak Park and River Forest High School.

First, today’s weather: Rain in the evening and overnight. Temps will top out at 58 and drop to 48.

Patch Pick: Former Wednesday Journal photographer Chandler West is now the deputy director of photography at the White House. West worked in Oak Park in 2014-2015, before photographing presidential campaigns for Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker. Now he helps a staff of six photographers document President Joe Biden’s administration. He told his former publication, “I’ve worked with staffers who have been here for 20 years or more and they say the same thing: It never gets old.” (Wednesday Journal)

Here are the top five stories today in Oak Park:

1. An explosion occurred Tuesday afternoon in Berwyn at an empty office building owned by MacNeal Hospital. Three people were injured in the blast in the 3300 block of Oak Park Avenue; all were released from the hospital the same day. Fire officials ask residents to avoid the area near Oak Park Avenue and Grove Avenue in the Depot District due to an ongoing gas leak. (CBS2)

2. A student group at Oak Park and River Forest High School has amassed more than 800 signatures asking school officials to implement a no-fail policy due to pandemic stress. The board held a special meeting Tuesday to consider the idea of lenience, but no decision was reached at the time of publication. Fox 32 reports that without the policy, 34 seniors will not graduate. (FOX32)

3. Former Village Manager Tom Barwin will not receive a pension for his years working in Oak Park government. Barwin sued the village, saying officials promised he would be able to purchase out-of-state pension credits after his 2012 resignation, but an April court ruling determined that the Village is not authorized to allow it. (Wednesday Journal)

4. Oak Park restaurateur Anthony Gambino has launched a new flat-fee dining delivery service. Delivery First charges a flat fee of seven dollars to help consumers and restaurants frustrated by unfair delivery fees. Restaurants like Victory Italian and Poke Burrito are already using the service, which employs 10 local drivers. (Wednesday Journal)

5. The Oak Park Village Board made plans at its Monday meeting to contract with a new waste-hauler. A request for proposals will be released some time in June, and trustees hope to approve a new service by January 2022. (Wednesday Journal)

Today in Oak Park:

• Learn ways to help butterflies in your own garden at Trailside Museum of Natural History. (2 p.m.)
• Local artists can attend a Critique Night to discuss their work with Oak Park Art League. (6 p.m.)
• The highly-anticipated follow-up to "A Quiet Place" opens at Lake Theatre. (5 p.m.)
• Creatives share works of art in 15-minute presentations with Oak Park Public Library. (6:30 p.m.)
• The Historical Preservation Architectural Review Committee meets. (7 p.m.)

Oak Park Patch Notebook:

• Kribi Coffee in Forest Park was named in the top 10 coffee shops in Chicago by the publication Chicago Social. (Wednesday Journal)
• Oak park native and University of Illinois at Chicago graduate Jonathan Banks II was featured in a story about how the state's schools can improve racial equity. (Chicago Tribune)
• Dominican University has announced its fall plans for in-person learning. (Dominican University)
• A new app allows people to rent private pools this summer across Chicagoland. (CBS2)

You're all caught up on what's new in Oak Park and River Forest today. Check back tomorrow for the Friday edition of the Daily.

-Georgi

About me: I'm a lifelong Illinois resident and Lewis University graduate with a passion for White Sox baseball, classic literature and local news.