🌱 River Forest Traffic Study Results + New 'Mascot' For Dominican

Good morning! Let's get to the news for Tuesday in Oak Park and River Forest.

First, today's weather: Partly sunny and pleasant. High: 79 Low: 70.

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

1. A gunman opened fire in Columbus Park last week during a Shakespeare in the Park event, the Austin Weekly News reports. No one was injured and no arrests have been made. The Chicago Shakespeare Theater canceled the remaining weekend performances due to the shooting. "I’ve never been through anything like that before, and I hope never to go through it again,” said photographer Keith Yearman, who captured the gunman running away on camera. (AWN)

2. Oak Park police are continuing to investigate a weekend shooting which left one man dead in the 100 block of Lake Street. “Our detectives will work hard to identify the individuals responsible for this shooting and bring them to justice,” Interim Police Chief Shatonya Johnson said. (Wednesday Journal)

3. Chicago health officials issued a travel warning late last week as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the region. Cook County remains in the high transmission category as the BA.5 subvariant causes a new surge of infections. (NBC)

4. Dominican has a new "mascot" — a 6-month-old puppy adopted by university president Glena Temple. The lab mix is named Rosie Bea after the school’s mascot from the 1970s, the Rosary Beads. (Wednesday Journal)

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• Explore the discovery garden at Oak Park Conservatory. (10 a.m.)
• Sample Whirlwind Coffee at Cheney Mansion. (7 p.m.)
• Oak Park Public Library hosts virtual Adult Improv. (7 p.m.)
• The River Forest Traffic and Safety Commission reviews its Northeast traffic study. (7:30 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• CTA safety remains a concern after another passenger was stabbed Monday on the Red Line. (Patch)
• The Oak Park Public Library now offers online subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. (OPPL)
• The upcoming Earth Mother concert in Scoville Park made WBEZ’s list of best free things to do in Chicago this summer. (NPR)

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That's all for today, Oak Park and River Forest. Thanks for taking the time to catch up on your local news.

— 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.