Friday, October 31, 2008

Proviso Math & Science Academy Ranks Among Illinois' Top 50

The Chicago Tribune reported on Friday, October 31, 2008 that the Proviso Math and Science Academy in Proviso Township High Schools District 209 ranks in the top 50 of Illinois High Schools. The Proviso Math and Science Academy opened in August 2005 after Board President Emanuel "Chris" Welch led the Board in the development of the school. In July 2004, the Chicago Sun-Times gave the Board critical acclaim and praised Welch and the Board for their vision. Congratulations Proviso!!!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Election Endorsements!!!

Barack Obama President
Joe Biden Vice President
Dick Durbin U.S. Senator
Danny K. Davis Congressman, 7th District
Dan Cronin Senator, 21st District
Eugene "Gene" Moore Cook County Recorder of Deeds
Anita Alvarez Cook County State's Attorney

Vote YES for a State of Illinois Constitutional Convention. Help Illinois mandate better funding for our schools. Currently, Illinois ranks 49th out of 50 in how we fund our schools. This can change by changing the Illinois Constitution.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Congratulations to the Proviso East Pirate Football Team!!!

Congratulations to the Proviso East Pirate Football team. They finished the 2008 season with a win over Proviso West on Saturday, and a 7-2 record. Wow! The Pirates are headed for the IHSA playoffs, and will host Steinmetz on Saturday, November 1, 2008 at 1:00pm at Pirate Stadium in Maywood.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Free Money Available To Proviso Township Residents!!!

According to the Proviso Herald, free money is available to area residents. West suburban residents have until 5 p.m. Friday to apply for disaster food stamps at the Illinois Department of Human Services office, 2701 W. Lake St., Melrose Park.

The aid is available to any resident affected by the September flooding.

Applicants must reside in one of the following towns to apply at the Melrose Park site: Bellwood, Broadview, Brookfield, Lyons, Maywood, North Riverside, Oak Park, River Grove, River Forest, Riverside, Schiller Park and Willow Springs.

The one-time food stamp amount is usually between $300 and $600, said IDHS spokeswoman Marielle Sainvilus.

Applicants must be the head of household and bring identification, documentation of other family members living in the household and proof of flood damage, such as a letter from an insurance company or from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Sainvilus said.

IDHS is focusing on the seven-county area hardest hit by the flood and declared by President George Bush to be a federal disaster area, according to an IDHS press release.

The aid was first offered between Oct. 9 to Oct. 17, then extended to Oct. 22 before the most recent extension to Friday.

The extension was due to the extremely high demand, Sainvilus said.

At the Melrose Park location, the line often stretched one to two blocks long. Applicants waited several hours before they were able to enter the building.

As of Oct. 21, the state had accepted applications from more than 11,000 households, representing more than 43,000 individuals, Sainvilus said.

The turn-out, Sainvilus said, "is a testament to the current state of the economy we're in, coupled with a natural disaster."

For more information, call (708) 338-7600.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Proviso East Marching Band To Lead Thanksgiving Day Parade!!!

The Proviso East Marching Pirates, one of the top bands in the state of Illinois, has been chosen to lead Chicago's McDonald's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 27, 2008.

After a five month long search, McDonald's Owners of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana and the Chicago Festival Association announced that Proviso East High School's marching band will be the official McDonald's® Thanksgiving Parade Band.

The band was surprised with a visit and presentation from world-famous Ronald McDonald during halftime at Proviso East's homecoming football game on October 11th. Proviso East is only the second high school band to ever be selected as the official McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade Band.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Maywood Mayor Has Heart Surgery!!!

According to the West Surburban Journal News, Maywood Mayor Henderson Yarbrough had double bypass heart surgery recently. Specifically, L. Nicole Trottie writes in her weekly paper that Mayor Henderson Yarbrough underwent double-bypass
heart surgery at Loyola Medical Center last Thursday, Village Manager
Jason Ervin confirmed.

Yarbrough, who is in his 60s, is listed in stable condition, according to a brief
press release by village officials. “Resting comfortably and on the mend,
Mayor Yarbrough is expected to be released early this week,” Ervin said.

The procedure was scheduled in advance and was not as a result of a
medical emergency. No further details were provided.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Early Voting Starts For Presidential Race With Record Turnout!!!

According to the Pioneer Press, early voting has started with a record turnout. Pioneer Press reporter Liza Roche writes that Record voter turnout is predicted on Nov. 4 and Cook County Clerk David Orr said his office is ready for it.

Orr's office tallied more than 1.4 million registered voters in suburban Cook County, with still more new voter applications to process.

"We're clearly breaking records," he said.

That was the case on Monday, the first day of early voting. Orr's office reported a total of 7,689 votes cast on Monday, compared to 1,591 on the first day of early voting before the Feb. 5 primary.

The previous one-day record was 7,497, set on Jan. 31, the last day of early voting before the primary. The office also reported that in the first 90 minutes of early voting on Monday, 1,086 suburban Cook voters cast ballots.

More and more voters are showing a support for touchscreen voting terminals, Orr said. Waiting lines for the touchscreen devices could result at times, but Orr noted that voters can always use the more traditional paper ballots.

And the county clerk noted that thanks to an investigation and subsequent improvements, the slow uploading of voter returns that the public endured in 2006 should be history. Expect to see most returns reported around 7:30 p.m. or 7:45 p.m., he said.

Of course, polling places can't run themselves. Orr said so far his office is happy with the amount of volunteers it has trained for Nov. 4. In the past, some volunteers have fallen away from their duties a week or so before election day, but Orr said the office is working to mitigate those sort of problems by keeping some volunteers for the sheer purpose of heading to under-staffed polling places.

Special attention has been paid to training volunteers as equipment managers, or "EMs" as they are called at polling places. The office's idea is that by having more people trained to trouble-shoot the machines, Nov. 4 should go relatively smoothly.

The easiest way to avoid Election Day worries is to vote early. This spring's election brought a record number of early voters in suburban Cook County, and those numbers are only expected to grow this month.

Sites are typically open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Some sites offer early voting hours on Sundays, as well. A complete list can be found at: www.voterinfonet.com

For those voting on Election Day, Orr suggests heading to the polls between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

"The bigger lines tend to be after 4 p.m. when people come after work," he said.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

SD88 Superintendent Rosemary Hendricks Resigns, Interim Named...

According to David Pollard of the Proviso Herald, Bellwood SD88 has a new superintendent. Bellwood School District 88 named an interim superintendent Monday after accepting Superintendent Rosemary Hendricks' resignation.

The school board voted unanimously in accepting Hendricks' resignation. School board member Daphne Walker was absent.

Kyle R. Hastings, acting superintendent was named interim superintendent Monday. He will serve as interim superintendent until the search for a new superintendent is completed.

Hastings has served as acting superintendent since mid-August. Hendricks was on family medical leave since June.

Hendricks was supposed to return to work Sept. 22, but the School Board called a special meeting Sept. 19, the weekend before she was to return to work, and voted to put her on paid administrative leave.

Hendricks said she wishes the district well. She said her goal as superintendent was to do what was in the best interest of the children.

"Hopefully the board can come together and do what's best for the children," she said. "I wish them (the board) good luck and much success and I hope they find a superintendent who will meet their needs."

Prior to her resignation an investigation into Hendricks performance was being conducted by Arlington Heights-based law firm Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer Rodick and Kohn. She was placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation.

When asked if the law firm's findings were the result of Hendricks' resignation School Board President Tommy Miller said the board accepted her resignation Oct. 6 and there is no longer an investigation. He would not elaborate as to what the firm was investigating, saying it was a personnel matter.

The school district has paid the law firm $18,000 since July when the investigation began.

Prior to the board's vote, Hastings was paid $744 a day to come into the office a few times a week to sign off on district materials. Now he will work full time and receive the equivalent of Hendricks' annual salary of $140,000, until the search for a new superintendent is completed. Hastings will be responsible for organizing the search of a new superintendent.

The board voted 4-2 in favor of making Hastings interim superintendent. Board members Althea Busby and Ronald Anderson voted against it. Board President Tommy Miller, Maria Casterjon, Yvette Ramirez and Marilyn Thurman voted in favor.

Busby said she voted against making Hastings interim superintendent because there are employees currently working in the school district with a superintendent certification who could step in. "We have people in the district who know the district and are not learning it," she said.

Hastings said he plans to bring the district into compliance with the Regional Office of Education in the areas of technology, finance and district policy and procedures.

Miller said the regional office did their audit of the district in 2007. "They found that there were things in the district that were in compliance and there were things that were not in compliance and we had to correct them," he said.

He said there policies and procedures in the district that were either outdated or needed to be revised. Miller said there are various deadlines to bring things into compliance, but he wants the superintendent to work toward compliance.

"All we have to do is show them that we are moving in the right direction to bring these things up to date," he said.

Hastings said as interim superintendent he hopes make improvements in the district.

"We're going to do a lot of great things this school year," he said. "We're going to bring the district into the new century. A lot of things will be new and improved."

Sunday, October 05, 2008

The Rock Is Staying! The Rock Is Staying!

The Proviso Insider weblog has received an email at provisoinsider@hotmail.com which indicates that the Rock of Ages Baptist Church will be staying in Maywood after all. The had announced two weeks ago plans to relocate to another City due to problems frequently encountered with Maywood Village officials. However, sources report that the church's longtime pastor, Rev. Marvin E. Wiley, announced plans to stay. The church's new plan involves relocating its 9:30am service to Bolingbrook, but will continue to serve the community with worship services at 7:30am and 11:30am in Sundays. This is good news for the Maywood community!!!