🌱 High School Tightens Security + Fire Department Plans Roof Repairs

Good morning! Thanks for checking the latest local headlines in Oak Park and River Forest. Let's get to it!

First, today's weather: Mostly sunny and warm. High: 85 Low: 68.

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

1. Heightened security measures are being implemented at Oak Park and River Forest High School this semester. School officials are restructuring security efforts and requiring students to wear IDs around their necks throughout the day. “It shouldn’t be that we should be this worried about violence at this level in an educational setting, but we have to be,” board member Ralph Martire said. “The world intervened.” (Wednesday Journal)

2. Village President Vicki Scaman is “still formulating a process” to appoint a replacement for Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla, who resigned last week due to health concerns. Her supporters are reflecting on Walker-Peddakotla’s legacy and their hopes for her replacement in a new Wednesday Journal feature. (Wednesday Journal)

3. The Village of Forest Park will use a portion of its American Rescue Plan Act funding to repair the roof of the Roosevelt Road fire station. Oak Park business CSR Roofing Contractors is expected to complete the project by late fall. (Forest Park Review)

4. The longtime owner of Centuries & Sleuths tells the Tribune the Forest Park bookstore is doing well despite pandemic challenges. Augie Aleksy made the front page of the paper’s Arts & Entertainment section Tuesday, saying “there was a hunger for reading” during the height of the pandemic. (Paid source: Tribune)

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• Bingo for Seniors at Oak Park Township. (10:30 a.m.)
• The Happy Lobster food truck comes to CVS. (4 p.m.)
• Kiwanis Club of River Forest-Oak Park meets. (6:45 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• An Oak Park hotel is repeatedly mentioned in testimony at the R. Kelly trial taking place in Chicago. (Paid source: Tribune)
• The Community Relations Commission is offering grants for local programming. The deadline to apply is Sept. 14. (VOP)
• Oak Park Country Club golfer Kyle Donovan is competing this week in the Illinois PGA Championship in Barrington. (Daily Herald)

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• Oak Park, River Forest offices of BHHS Chicago Sponsor Free Community Shred Event/Food Drive, Sept. 17 (Details)
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You're all caught up for today! See you tomorrow for more local stories.

— Georgi

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 Daily? Contact me at georgi.presecky@patch.com.