🌱 Police Shoot Teen After Oak Park Carjacking + COVID Cases 'High'

Good morning, Oak Park and River Forest! Here's a quick guide to what's making headlines.

First, today's weather: Warm; a stray p.m. t-storm. High: 86 Low: 61.

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Here are the top 5 stories today in Oak Park-River Forest:

1. Chicago police shot a 13-year-old boy Wednesday night after he jumped from a stolen car in Austin. The car had been reported stolen in an Oak Park carjacking the day before. The boy is currently in critical condition at Stroger Hospital. (NBC)

2. The Oak Park Department of Public Health reported 399 new cases of COVID-19 in the village this week. More than 20 percent of last week's cases were in children between five and 13 years old. (VOP)

3. Officials broke ground this week on construction at Elmwood Elementary School. Upgrades include new classrooms, a courtyard and updated air conditioning and plumbing. The project will cost about $25 million and is the result of a 2020 referendum passed by voters. (Paid source: Elm Leaves)

4. The Village of Forest Park approved U-Haul’s plan to build a new six-story storage facility on Harrison Street. The company currently uses the lot at 7209 Harrison Street to store trucks. (Forest Park Review)

5. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law this week banning unregistered ghost guns in Illinois. At a bill signing Wednesday, the governor referenced an Oak Park and River Forest High School student who brought a loaded ghost gun onto school grounds earlier this month. (WTTW)

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Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• Oak Park Public Library offers “Exam Cram” for students in need of study space. (3 p.m.)
• Make pop art at Dole Center. (6 p.m.)
• Sample wines at Cheney Mansion to raise funds for the Oak Park nonprofit New Moms. (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Oak Park Township is offering free transportation to the farmers market every Saturday through October. (Patch)
• The Triton College softball team is heading to the national championships next week. (Paid source: Elm Leaves)
• Local organizations recognized National Fentanyl Awareness Day with a five-mile bike ride from Oak Park to Maywood. (Wednesday Journal)
• Oak Park’s new rules for short-term rentals go into effect June 1. (VOP)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Featured businesses:

• Laurie Christofano, Realtor | RE/MAX In The Village — (Visit website)
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Events:

• Vintage Fashion and Home Goods Pop Up Shop (May 21)
• A Taste of A House In Austin (May 22)
• Meet Me in Manhattan, An Old Fashioned Way to Beat Cancer www.scoreboardcharities.com (June 10)
• Add your event

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.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Oak Park-River Forest Daily? Contact me at georgi.presecky@patch.com