🌱 Hit-And-Run In Austin + Oak Park Author Makes Best-Seller List

Georgi Presecky
Updated ·4 min read
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Happy Monday, Oak Park and River Forest! Let's get to the news on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

First, today's weather: Mostly cloudy. High: 31 Low: 23.

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

1. The Cook County Crime Stoppers are offering a $1,000 reward to anyone with information about a fatal hit-and-run in Austin. Andrew Wells, 75, was struck and killed Jan. 11 on Laramie Street. (CBS)

2. The Illinois legislature will not meet in Springfield this week due to the surge in COVID-19 cases. “This is not the time to bring hundreds of people together inside the Capitol,” Oak Park Senator Don Harmon said. “Through our remote committee process we have proven that we can get work done.” (State Journal-Register)

3. Oak Park author Jessamine Chan’s first novel “The School for Good Mothers” became a New York Times Best-Seller in its first week of publication. “I wish I could go back and tell 25-, 30-, 35-, 40-year-old me that the first week of my first book would turn out this way,” Chan wrote via social media. (Instagram)

4. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County is hosting service events across the area. The Elmwood Park Garden Club will help clean up Evans Field from noon to 2 p.m. (Elmwood Park Garden Club)

5. Betty White was born in Oak Park on this date in 1922. More than 100 people attended the Betty White Centennial Celebration Saturday on Lake Street. The full 30-minute ceremony is available on the Wednesday Journal Facebook page. (Wednesday Journal)

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Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

  • Magical Minds Studio hosts a “What’s Your Dream?” art workshop inspired by MLK Day. (8 a.m.)

  • Donate blood at a Community Blood Center drive. (12:30 p.m.)

  • Stern Glass Works hosts an open studio event. (1 p.m.)

  • Students ages 5-12 can learn about architecture, design and building at a Park District of Oak Park workshop. (1 p.m.)

  • Make a square for the Oak Park Public Library’s peace quilt project. (2 p.m.)

From my notebook:

  • Pearl Harbor survivor Everett "Jim" Schlegel was laid to rest in Norridge this week. He died on New Year’s Eve at the age of 102. (ABC)

  • Jan. 17 is now recognized as Muhammad Ali Day in Illinois. (WTTW)

  • The Oak Park Public Library is displaying a “Dream Hands” exhibit in honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this month. Patrons are encouraged to write their dreams for the future on construction-paper hands in tribute the late civil rights leader. (OPPL)

  • Oak Park nonprofits interested in applying for federal Community Development Block Grants are required to attend a virtual village workshop on Jan. 25. (VOP)

  • Actress Kelly Schumann is reflecting on her experience working with fellow Oak Park natives John Mahoney and Betty White on “Hot In Cleveland.” (Wednesday Journal)

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That's all for today, OPRF. See you tomorrow for more local news!

— Georgi Presecky

This article originally appeared on the Oak Park-River Forest Patch