Iraq War Veteran DeShaun Smith addresses the Community Celebration honoring veterans last Monday in the board room. (Photo: ENEWSPF)

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– The Village of Park Forest honored veterans last Monday evening with a community celebration in the board room. The ceremony began as members of the Bloom High School ROTC posted colors. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by students from St. Mary School in Park Forest, followed by a prayer for the military by St. Mary's pastor Father Jim Schwab.

Alyssa Cox of the First Apostolic Church of Steger sang. Senior Trustee Ken Kramer read a proclamation honoring veterans. Village Manager Tom Mick, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and a ...
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Deana Williams and Cheryl Locke with their winning science projects. (Photo: ENEWSPF)

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– Does laughter affect memory? Do organic vegetables spoil faster than non-organic? Deana Williams and Cheryl Locke, students at Marian Catholic High School, presented winning research projects to the Village Board last Monday night, demonstrating their acumen on matters scientific.

Deana Williams, daughter of Rickey and Alexis Williams of Park Forest, is a recent graduate of St. Mary School in Park Forest.  Deana participated in the Illinois Junior Academy of Science State Science Fair held at the University of Illinois in Champaign, IL on May 2-3...
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Attorney Heidi Keenan discusses Illinois Case Law with the League of Women Voters Sunday. (Photo: ENEWSPF)

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– Should a person be permitted to hold two public offices at the same time? The League of Women Voters of the Park Forest Area (LWVPFA) presented their findings of a year-long study of this question to the public Sunday in the Library. The presentation was geared toward members of the LWVPFA to aide their board in forming policy for the organization.

Many members did express their concerns during the meeting.

The study committee was chaired by Barbara Sturges and consisted of School District 227 Board President Tony Brunson, Attorney Heidi K...
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University Park, IL–(ENEWSPF)– New faculty members recently joined the College of Arts and Sciences at Governors State University.

Dr. Patricia Fu-Giles returned to GSU, her alma mater, as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry. She earned her master's degree from GSU and her doctorate from Ohio State University. “I am very happy to be back here, it's like coming home,” said Fu-Giles, who now lives in Palos Park. “My teaching interests are photochemistry and bioinorganic chemistry.”

Dr. Will Kelley joins the CAS faculty as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, he spent much of his youth living abroad and currently lives on Chicago's south side. His academic interests include how the cultural construction of identity affects gender segregation at work.
Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, by way of Poughkeepsie, New York, Dr. Elizabeth Johnson has taken the position of Assistant Pro...
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The Marian Catholic High School Marching Band. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)

Chicago Heights, IL–(ENEWSPF)– The Marian Catholic High School Marching Band, making its record 25thappearance in the Bands of America Finals Round on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis , captured fourth place as one of only 12 bands to earn berths in the Finals Round.

With its show,"Cosmic Speculations: On the Edges of Infinity,"the Marian Band earned first place in Class AA at BOA Grand Nationals, while garnering first place in AA for Outstanding Music Performance, Outstanding Visual Performance and Outstanding General Effect.

The lone Illinois band and only Catholic band to advance to Saturday n...
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Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– In celebration of the Winter Solstice on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008 from 4:40 pm. to 6:30 pm., the Unitarian Universalist Community Church , in Park Forest, will hold a candlelight labyrinth walk in the sanctuary.

All are welcome. For more information call the church office at 708-481-5339. The UUCC Church is located at 70 Sycamore Drive, 1/4 mile south of Steger Road, on the left, going south on Western Ave.

A labyrinth is not a maze. There is a clear way in and a clear path out. Historically they have been used in group ritual and private meditation. 12th and 13th centuries saw the height of medieval labyrinths such as the one in the grand Gothic Cathedral in Chartres, Frances. Here the symbol was the hard path to God, with a clearly defined center (God) and one entrance (birth) Recent years have brought a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol which has inspired modern labyrinth building such as the ...
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Chicago Loop Closed by Gay Marriage Supporters
Carbondale, Champaign, Peoria & Springfield Join in National Protest

Springfield, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Thousands of Illinoisans joined gay rights supporters in forty-nine other states holding simultaneous pro-gay marriage rallies Saturday. The rallies were organized to protest the California vote taking away the right of same-sex couples to marry in that state.

"Illinoisans joined people throughout the country to say no to ballot box bigotry," said Rick Garcia, public policy director of Equality Illinois and an organizer of the Illinois protests. "From one end of this state to the other people who believe in fairness and equality are standing up and denouncing any attempt to enshrine discrimination and hate in our Constitu...
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Grammy Winner Bill Miller will perform at Prairie State College. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)

Chicago Heights, IL–(ENEWSPF)– Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Bill Miller will be performing in honor of Native American Heritage Month at Prairie State College (PSC). The concert is scheduled for Monday, November 24, from 12 noon to 1:15 p.m., in the Barnes & Noble Reading Room, located on PSC's main campus, 202 S. Halsted St., Chicago Heights.

A Mohican Indian from northern Wisconsin, Miller is one of the most admired figures in Native American music. Miller, whose Indian name, Fush-Ya Heay Ka means “bird song,” has been performing since age 12. While he was a teenager, he ...
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Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– A Park Forest woman startled two burglars in the midst of ransacking her home last week.

The resident told police that when she returned to her home in the 100 block of East Sycamore Drive, she discovered that her front door was partially open. She attempted to push the door open and an unknown subject pushed the door shut from the other side. She reported hearing someone inside the residence yell, "Let's go!" She pushed the door open again and saw two subjects standing inside her residence. One was holding a brown pillowcase in his hand and the other was holding a blue pillowcase.

The first suspect dropped the brown pillowcase in the living room and ran past the resident out the door. The second suspect ran past the resident, still carrying the blue pillowcase.

Items reported missing include a gold and silver bracelet valued at $100, a pair of gold earrings valued at $80 and two gold rings val...
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The Park Forest Police Station. (Photo:Wendy Heise)

Park Forest, IL—(ENEWSPF)—Editor's Note: We continue our reporting on news from police reports. Besides covering the many stories from around Park Forest that otherwise might go unnoticed, we want to bring more complete coverage of police reports than is reported by other local media.

An arrest does not mean that a person is guilty. A...
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Commentary
Inside the First Amendment

By Gene Policinski
First Amendment Center vice president/executive director

village green has grown to include the village screen.

The 21st century dynamics of free press and free speech are an intriguing blend of traditional news media, new technology, personal messages and even entertainment programming.

And, considering the success of President-elect Barack Obama's use of e-mail, text messages and social-networking sites like facebook.com in his campaign, First Amendment scholars may be revising contemporary definitions of...
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