🌱 Home Intruder + New Congressional Map + Dialogues On Race

Happy Friday, OPRF! Let's get to the news for Oct. 15.

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First, today's weather: Periods of rain. High: 64, low: 47.

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

1. A home intruder was reported in the 400 block of Home Avenue last week, according to the Oak Park Police Department’s weekly crime report. The intruder fled when confronted by the homeowner. (OPPD)

2. A new Illinois congressional map will be out “any day now,” the Sun-Times reports. Illinois Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park and other state leaders have been conducting listening sessions with House Democrats to get their thoughts on the new map, drawn from 2020 Census data. The state is set to lose a Congressional seat due to redistricting; Illinois will have 17 representatives instead of 18. (Paid source: Sun-Times)

3. Oak Park’s 2022 fiscal budget will maintain a three percent increase in the property tax levy, according to the Village board’s finance committee, which reviewed the budget plan at its meeting this week. Another committee meeting is set for Oct. 21. The budget will likely be approved in late November. (Wednesday Journal)

4. River Forest is taking more steps to become an eco-friendly community by adopting its Climate Action Plan. The Village voted Monday to award green energy contracts for the area’s streetlights and pumping station. (Wednesday Journal)

5. Oak Park nonprofit Race Conscious Dialogues is hosting a four-week virtual course for “people who are white to develop tools for anti-racism work.” Sessions begin Oct. 17, with a separate session for non-Black people of color. (Race Conscious Dialogues)

Today's Oak Park-River Forest Daily is brought to you by Verizon, a Patch Brand Partner. Learn more about online gaming relationships and how they've helped some children through the pandemic.

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• “Halloween Kills” is playing at Lake Theatre. (Noon and additional showtimes)
• Free meditation talk at Center Physical Therapy. (4 p.m.)
• Andy Broughton performs at Brewpoint Craft. (6 p.m.)
• Oak Park and River Forest High School football takes on Downers Grove North. (7 p.m.)
• Oak Park Festival Theatre presents “The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe” at Pleasant Home. (8 p.m.)

Oak Park-River Forest Patch Notebook

• Tonight’s “Haunted Hemingway: Ghost Stories” event at the Birthplace Museum has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. (Hemingway Foundation)
• The River Forest Park District is hiring. (Patch)
• The Oak Park Public Library invites patrons to submit photos of their late loved ones to be included in a Dia de Muertos/Day of the Dead art installation. (OPPL)
• The District 200 Board of Education updated its public comment policy for today’s meeting. (OPRFHS)
• The Cook County Sheriff’s Office is offering a free car light replacement clinic to Austin residents and neighbors. (Sheriff)

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That’s the news for this Friday! I’ll be away this weekend, but back Tuesday to bring you the news. Looking forward to it.

Until then, have a safe and healthy weekend, OPRF. (Don’t miss the Lyman Ave Bread pop-up at Whirlwind Coffee or Trinity High School Open House on Sunday!)

— Georgi Presecky

About me: Georgi is a Chicago-based reporter with seven years of experience writing for entertainment-based publications. She represented FF2 Media for five years at film festivals across the U.S., from Sundance to Austin. 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 campus newspaper, she earned honors from The Associated Collegiate Press Association and American Scholastic Press Association. She began working for Patch in 2019.