🌱 New Village Manager Begins Term + Parishes Prepare To Unify

Happy Monday! Thanks for reading today's Oak Park-River Forest Daily.

First, today's weather: Warmer with clouds and sun. High: 71 Low: 51.

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Here are the top 3 stories in Oak Park-River Forest today:

1. Kevin Jackson is expected to officially begin his role as Oak Park village manager today. He was approved for the position in late February. (Wednesday Journal)

2. Schools in Proviso District 209 are on spring break this week amid the ongoing teachers strike. Students are speaking out about how weeks of canceled classes are affecting their academics and extracurricular activities. (Forest Park Review)

3. Oak Park’s Catholic priests will meet with religious education leadership this week to determine how the program will move forward when the parishes restructure in July. Next steps include determining mass schedules and establishing “unification teams” to help each parish transition, according to a joint letter from the pastors. (St. Giles)

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Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• The OPRF Chamber of Commerce launches Meditation Mondays. (12:15 p.m.)
• Crafternoon at the River Forest Public Library. (3:45 PM)
• The Oak Park Village Board meets. (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Learn about plans for Keystone Park at a public meeting tonight at The Depot. (Patch)
• Fred Hampton’s childhood home is one step closer to becoming a historic landmark after a Maywood Historic Preservation Commission vote. (AWN)
• “Everyday activists” from Austin and Oak Park spoke during a library panel this week about their work to improve the West Side. (AustinTalks)

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That's all for today! 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.