Freedom Hall presents Cold Blooded Creatures on the Village Green tonight at 7:00 p.m. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– Freedom Hall's popular Wednesday evening entertainment continues this evening with Cold Blooded Creatures and the Alan Gresik Swing Shift Orchestra. Performancs will take place in the Park Forest Downtown Village Green.

Beginning at 7:00 p.m., see and experience Cold Blooded Creatures, a unique program that entertains while educating the audience about reptiles. Audience members can see and touch four types of reptilians including Blondi, a python snake; Big Al, a giant Aldabra Tortoise; Godzilla, a large Black Thro...
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Lesliefaye Gogins of Park Forest was one of two recipients of Illinois General Assembly Scholarships. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)

Chicago Heights, IL—(ENEWSPF)—Two Prairie State College graduates are recipients of Illinois General Assembly Scholarships. Lesliefaye Gogins, of Park Forest, received a scholarship from Representative Al Riley (D-38th District) and Eric Marshall, of Chicago Heights, received a scholarship from Representative George Scully (D-80th District).

Gogins and Marshall will each receive one full year of tuition to attend the Illinois university of their choice. Gogins will attend the University of Illinois at Springfield to pursue a dual bachelor's and master's d...
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Park Forest Baseball hosts Sectionals for the Pony National Tournament this week. (Photo: Wendy Heise)

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– Park Forest Baseball has been selected to host the Sectional Round of the Pony National Tournament at Rich East High School from July 15 thru July 20. Five teams from the region will be competing, include squads from Midlothian, Ridge Beverly, Homewood, Blue Island and Park Forest.

The double elimination tournament will take place at the Rich East varsity field. On-street parking will be permitted along Indianwood near Rich East tennis courts during games to accommodate the attending families and spectators. Police will post the routes accordingly and provide the nece...
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The School District Board of Education will meet Monday. (Photo: ENEWSPF)

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– School District 163 has several personnel items on the agenda for the regular session board meeting, scheduled for Monday, July 14, 2008 at the District Office, 242 South Orchard Drive, Park Forest. The meeting will be held in the Board Room and will be called to order at 8:00 p.m.

The following individuals are scheduled to be hired by the district for the 2008-2009 school year: Kimberly Harris as a Social Work Intern at Algonquin Primary Center, Courtney Lee as a PRP Teacher at Beacon Hill Primary Center, Julia Czaja as a Social Worker at Beacon Hill Primary Center Christine Wi...
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Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– On a beautiful summer morning, in the beautiful setting of a Park Forest backyard garden, over 30 League of Women Voters of Park Forest Area members and friends heard a very enlightening talk by Ed Burnette, the Public Defender of Cook County, who is a Matteson resident.

Mr Burnette reported on the wide reaching responsibilities of his staff of over 700, including more than 400 attorneys. They are involved in three justice systems – criminal, civil, and juvenile. He said that his office represents 400,000 individuals a year and that in his career he has represented 2...
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PARK FOREST, IL–(ENEWSPF)– The Park Forest Commission on Human Relations will present the 2008 Good Egg Award to Danielle Gladstone of Park Forest and Sharon Minster of Flossmoor.

The Good Egg Award recognizes leadership and community service that has had a significant impact on fostering inter-group relations and equal opportunity in the South Suburbs. The first award was bestowed in 1973, on the late Harry Teshima, who laid the groundwork that ultimately attracted the first African American residents of Park Forest.

Like Teshima, the 2008 awardees have enthusiastically embraced the ideas of diversity and have made an extraordinary commitment to improving the quality of life in their communities through human relations and human rights advocacy.

The Good Egg Awards will be presented to the recipients on Monday July 21st during a ceremony in their honor at Village Hall at 7:00pm. The public is invited to attend.
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The Draft Strategic Planning Policies and Preferred Concepts include possible redevelopment of certain areas of Sauk Trail. (Graphic: VOPF)

Tuesday, July 15 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Village Hall Board Room

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– The Village of Park Forest is conducting a Strategic Planning Study to examine key areas within the community and to prepare plans for future development within those areas. Members of the public are invited to review and comment on the Draft Strategic Planning Policies and Preferred Concepts that have been developed for each of the key areas. There will be an opportunity to meet the...
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Chicago Heights, IL—(ENEWSPF)— Prairie State College is offering free General Education Development (GED) preparation classes for the high school equivalency exam. The classes are open to those at least 16 years of age who are out of school but have not completed high school.

Prairie State College offers classes both on-campus and at off-campus locations throughout the community. The classes prepare students to take the GED exam by covering the areas of study that are on the exam. Enrolling in GED classes requires an orientation and registration/placement assessment session, which takes approximately four hours.

Orientation and placement assessment for on-campus classes will be held on Monday, July 28 at 4 p.m.; Thursday, July 31 at 9 a.m.; Tuesday, August 5 at 4 p.m.; and Monday, August 11 at 5:30 p.m. On-campus classes begin Monday, August 25. Placement assessment and classes will be held in the Adult Training &...
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Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– Members of the South Suburban Emergency Response Team, SSERT, executed a search warrant on July 11, shortly after 5:45 a.m. at 57 Hemlock St.

When the team made entry into the unit, they detained four subjects in the family room. Detectives asked one of the men, TyJuan Davis, 20, 57 Hemlock St., Park Forest, if there were any drugs or weapons inside the house. Davis stated that there were drugs inside the refrigerator, according to police. All four subjects were subsequently transported to the Park Forest Police Department.

Police discovered 21 clear Ziploc bags containing a green leafy substance, suspect cannabis, in the refrigerator. Police also discovered a white plastic bag containing 18 small clear plastic bags containing a green leafy substance, suspect cannabis, from a cabinet in the kitchen.

According to police, Davis told them that he has been selling “weed” from the res...
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Commentary
By: Al Gore

There are times in the history of our nation when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. In such moments, we are called upon to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside. This is such a moment. The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk. And even more - if more should be required - the future of human civilization is at stake.

I don't remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously. Our economy is in terrible shape and getting worse, gasoline prices are increasing dramatically, and so are electricity rates. Jobs are being outsourced. Home mortgages are in ...
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Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail*

FALLUJAH, Jul 16 (IPS) - Security has collapsed again in Fallujah, despite U.S. military claims.

Local militias supported by U.S. forces claim to have "cleansed" the city, 70 km to the west of Baghdad, of all insurgency. But the sudden resignation of the city's chief of police, Colonel Fayssal al-Zoba'i, has appeared as one recent sign of growing unrest.

Authorities may have controlled the media better than the violence.

"Assassinations never stopped in Fallujah, but the media seems unwilling to cover the actual situation here," a human rights activist in Fa...
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Chicago, IL--(ENEWSPF)-- Faced with ever-rising costs, the loss of government funding, and an increasing demand for their services, charities are responding by asking for larger contributions from more donors--and they're asking more often than ever before. Donors would do well to plan their giving and demand accountability of the organizations soliciting their support.

“More than 80% of the money raised by charities in this country comes from individuals” says Steve J. Bernas, president & CEO of The Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. To help these generous donors make wise giving decisions, the BBB of Chicago and Northern Illinois offers the following tips on charitable giving:

The Basics

1. Do not give cash; always make contributions by check and make your check payable to the charity, not to the individual collecting the donation.
2. Keep records of your donations (receipts, ca...
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Commentary
Inside the First Amendment

By Gene Policinski
First Amendment Center vice president/executive director

At some point in history, America's Wild West became the Less-Wild West — with the rule of law taking over from the justice of the six-shooter, with codified norms of society replacing the often-unbridled ethics of frontier life.

We just may be seeing something of that kind of change beginning in the Wild West of the 21st century — the World Wide Web, with its Cyber Age pioneers who have been communicating freely for nearly 15 years. Such change would have dramatic implications for free speech, privacy and copyright laws.

The sign...
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