🌱 Rush Oak Park's COVID Milestone + Garden Club Plans Clean-Up

Georgi Presecky
Updated ·3 min read

Hello, OPRF! Let's get to the latest local news.

First, today's weather: Sunny to partly cloudy. High: 30 Low: 23.

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

1. A Berwyn resident has been charged with aggravated driving under the influence after he struck and killed an Oak Park man in November. Humberto Sanchez’s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit when he struck James Miller on Wisconsin Avenue. (Paid source: Oak Leaves)

2. Rush Oak Park discharged its one thousandth COVID-19 patient last week. Staff gathered to applaud for Annie Wright as she left the hospital after 12 days. (Rush Oak Park)

3. Former Oak Park Public Library board member Christian Harris “makes the case for reparations” in a new interview with Crain’s Chicago Business. “As a Black person who grew up in Oak Park, I was never taught that Black people lived here before Percy Julian moved here in the 1950s,” the co-founder of grassroots equality group Walk the Walk said. (Crain’s)

4. The Forest Park Village Council voted to purchase and install 11 surveillance cameras “in some of the village’s busiest areas.” Four license plate readers will also be installed, with a total cost of more than $182,000. (Forest Park Review)

5. A community blood drive will be held tomorrow at Oak Park Public Library. Appointments are available but required to account for social distancing. The Red Cross declared a national crisis this week due to the extremely low U.S. blood supply. (OPPL)

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

  • Join Trailside Museum's family winter scavenger hunt and campfire. (1 p.m.)

  • Join Oak Park Temple for a winter walk through Fullersburg Woods to celebrate Tu B'Shvat. (2 p.m.)

  • Miss Barbara Clifford & Shakin' Tailfeathers perform at FitzGeralds. (2:30 p.m.)

  • Soprano Christine Steyer sings the work of women artists in a concert at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. (3 p.m.)

  • Join the Sunday jazz jam session at the Eastgate Cafe. (3 p.m.)

From my notebook:

  • The Elmwood Park Garden Club is hosting a trash clean-up at Evans Field tomorrow in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Elmwood Park Garden Club)

  • Kevin Campbell will be the next head coach of the Oak Park and River Forest High School baseball team. He has worked in the school program since 2016. (Wednesday Journal)

  • The Village of River Forest announced it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30 percent over the last 15 years, according to the sustainability commission. (VRF)

  • Scott Harris Hospitality opened Fiore Pizzeria & Bakery this month in Forest Park. (Patch)

  • Sugar Fixé Pâtisserie was featured in Bake Magazine this week for its “Stay Golden” cookies honoring Betty White. (Bake Magazine)

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That's all for today, OPRF! See you tomorrow for an MLK Day edition of the newsletter.

— Georgi Presecky

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