Community Corner

🌱 Patch AM: Which Oak Park story drew the most clicks in 2025?

And check out Saxophonist Tim Warfield's Brings Holiday Cheer to the Famed Jazz Showcase. on the Oak Park Patch calendar

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Friday December 19th Patch AM
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Morning Oak Park! We've got the scoop on the latest happenings in town. Read on to get looped in. ☀️

In today's newsletter:

  • Which Oak Park story drew the most clicks in 2025?
  • How much money did Oak Park schools just save on energy?
  • What will Roy Kinsey bring to Oak Park Public Library next year?

Also on today's calendar: Saxophonist Tim Warfield's Brings Holiday Cheer to the Famed Jazz Showcase. and 9 more events.

Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Today's riddle: What did one astronaut stranded on the moon say to another? 🤔 (Answer below!)

Weather forecast:

Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

  • Friday: Some sun; breezy, much colder, with a high of 27 and low of 25 degrees.
  • Saturday: Breezy, temps: high: 42, low: 15. ⛄️ Brr!
  • Sunday: Plenty of sunshine, with a high of 32 and low of 24 degrees.

📰 News we're reading

1. Wednesday Journal's Top 10 digital news stories of 2025 (oakpark.com) — Oak Park readers are revisiting the year’s biggest local stories, from a short-lived village finance director and a Metra takeover of the Harlem-Lake station to a tragic crash involving three children and a Frank Lloyd Wright home listing. The roundup also highlights OPRF staffing controversies, downtown Halloween chaos, and Oak Park’s cameo in The Bear.
   

2. Oak Park village and schools tout energy savings, sustainability efforts (oakpark.com) — Oak Park’s village government and both local school districts significantly cut energy use and costs this year through ComEd’s Strategic Energy Management program. Village Hall, Public Works, District 97 and OPRF High School together saved millions of kilowatt-hours, supporting the community’s push to cut municipal energy use 30% by 2030 and move toward carbon neutrality by 2050.
   

3. Chicagoan of the Year for Pop Music: Rapper Roy Kinsey is founder of the Rapbrary (chicagotribune.com) — Oak Park residents can look forward to special Rapbrary-inspired installations and events at the Oak Park Public Library in late January and during Black History Month, led by Chicago rapper and librarian Roy Kinsey. Recently named a Chicagoan of the Year for Pop Music, Kinsey is expanding his Rapbrary project, preparing a children’s book and documentary, and continuing to center storytelling, empathy, and community in his work.
   

4. Locals protest Thorntons for serving ICE (oakpark.com) — Residents connected through the Activate Oak Park Facebook group helped organize a protest at the Thorntons gas station on Harlem Avenue in Forest Park after federal immigration officials were seen there. About a dozen people gathered on Dec. 17 to oppose the station serving ICE agents, drawing honks of support from passing cars while Forest Park police monitored the peaceful demonstration.
   

📸 Around Oak Park

Show off your photography skills and the sights around town! Click here to submit your Photo of the Day to Patch AM!

🗓 Upcoming Events in Oak Park

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★ Featured events ★

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📣 Oak Park Shout Outs!

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Have we missed something on our calendar? Add an event yourself! As always, before attending confirm event details to ensure accuracy.

 

Thank you 👏👏👏 to the local businesses for making Oak Park PatchAM possible:

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🪧 Patch Classifieds

  • BHHS Chicago Collects Close to 1,000 During 2025 Toys For Toys Drive
    Diane Glass, CEO of Chicago real estate brokerage Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, is pleased to share that the company collected close to... (More info)

💬 Chatter

What your neighbors are talking about on social media

  • Not Ready to Move? You Can Still Start Planning —Laurie Christofano Read on Patch
  • December Songs comes to Brookfield December 23 to Support Food Pantry —Loretta Sawyer Read on Patch
  • The intersection of Butterfield and Wolf in Hillside was shut down due to a serious crash involving several vehicles, but has since reopened.
    1:36PM on Dec 17: Accident closes Butterfield Rd (Route 56) eastbound/westbound between Elm St and Wolf Rd. (Nextdoor )
  • Hello All.
    I'm looking for a local mechanic that has fair pricing near Oak Park, Forest Park, or Berwyn that takes walk-ins. There is something underneath my… (Nextdoor Middle East Oak Park)
  • ambercare posted a job opening for Caregiver - Bilingual Polish Speaker in Oak Park. Apply here.
  • Cold Stone Creamery posted a job opening for Crew Member in Oak Park. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Oak Park here.

Ok Oak Park! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!

-- The Patch AM Team

P.S. The answer to today's riddle: I don’t think you know the gravity of this situation.
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Send it to us!

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