🌱 Oak Park Trustees OK License Plate Cameras + Olympic Meet-And-Greet

Good morning, Oak Park and River Forest! Here's today's quick guide to the news.

First, today's weather: A bit of rain in the morning. High: 60 Low: 43.

Shoutout to our premier local sponsor:

Do you have the right amount of home, auto and life insurance? Jeffrey Hines is a local State Farm agent here in Oak Park who offers free insurance reviews to help others in the community assess their current coverage and identify opportunities for savings. There's no obligation — and Jeffrey will buy the coffee or soda. To set up a call or appointment, email Jeffrey at jeffrey@hinesinsures.com.

Want to see your business featured in this spot? Click here to get started.

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

1. Three adults and a toddler were severely injured in a South Austin fire early Monday morning. It damaged three floors of an apartment building in the 500 block of north Central Avenue. (CBS)

2. Oak Park officials voted 4-3 to install eight license plate-reading cameras in the village. Their locations have not yet been determined. Village President Vicki Scaman said she was "not comfortable" with the original plan to install 20 cameras. (Wednesday Journal)

3. Olympic athlete Emery Lehman is returning to Oak Park for a meet-and-greet. The speed skater will speak this Friday at Ridgeland Common Recreation Complex. He and his teammates won the bronze medal in Beijing earlier this year. (Park District)

4. Housing Forward will officially close its Oak Park office today and relocate to Maywood. Homeless Prevention and Employment Readiness programs will resume in the new location on April 13. (Housing Forward)

From our sponsor:

Where should you invest as an Oak Park-River Forest resident with a $149,000 nest egg? Thanks to a change in the legal code, there’s a new investment Oak Park-River Forest residents need to know about. In fact, Bloomberg asked experts where they’d invest $100,000 right now and many of them chose it. This may surprise you, but it’s fine art.

Growing your nest egg with art isn’t new. Wealthy families like the Rockefellers have done it for centuries.

Here’s why:

• Low correlation to stocks according to Citi
• Contemporary art historically returns 23.2 percent when inflation is >3 percent
• Contemporary art prices outpaced the S&P 500 by 164 percent (1995-2021)

Translation: Art could be one of the best investments for uncertain times.

Luckily for you, we found Masterworks. This revolutionary platform lets you invest in art by Warhol, Monet, Picasso without spending millions.

The best part? Anyone from your area can skip their waitlist*.

*See important Reg A Disclosures

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• Oak Park Public Library offers a virtual lesson on resume writing. (2 p.m.)
• Kinga Lipinska gives a virtual presentation about Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louise Glück. (4 p.m.)
• Wednesday Night Yoga returns to Oak Park Temple. (7 p.m.)
• The Kadampa Meditation Center presents a public talk on “The Joy of Compassion.” (7 p.m.)
• The park district offers a free telescope night at Lindberg Park. (7:30 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled his 2022 State of Illinois Overdose Action Plan last week on the West Side. (AWN)
• Lincoln Elementary School Principal Casey Godfrey was honored with a “Those Who Excel” Award by the Illinois State Board of Education. (Wednesday Journal)
• Trinity High School will host a “Parent Preview” event today. (THS)
• Oak Park Public Library is celebrating Autism Acceptance Month. (OPPL)
• The River Forest Fire Department is offering safety tips in conjunction with spring cleaning. (VRF)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Featured businesses:

• Focus Point Training — (Visit website)
• Laurie Christofano, Realtor | RE/MAX In The Village — (Visit Website)
• Add your business here

Events:

• Must live in Chicago area to qualify (April 7)
• Chicago Artisan Market (Spring Market) in Ravenswood — Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10 (April 9)
• Add your event

Loving the Oak Park-River Forest Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

• Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe
• Become a supporter (there are perks!)
• Get your local business showcased in front of readers
• Send me a news tip or suggestion at georgi.presecky@patch.com

That's all for Wednesday! 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.