Suburban Cook County voters can cast an early ballot for the April 1 Consolidated Election at Village Hall starting March 17 through March 31 – including weekends – at Village Hall, 123 Madison St. Voting hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Voters are asked to enter Village Hall via the courtyard entrance on Madison Street. Grace-period registration is also available during early voting hours for individuals who missed the registration deadline. Voters can view a sample ballot based on their address on the Cook County Clerk’s website. More information about early voting is on the Village website at www.oak-park.us/earlyvoting25. 

Denise and William Scholtens recently acquired the shopping center at the southwest corner of Ridgeland Avenue and South Boulevard and have been restoring this historic commercial property. The Scholtens received a $20,000 C-FIP grant, the largest single C-FIP ever awarded by the Village, to assist with the rehabilitation and improvement of four storefronts in this important commercial center. Already, the Scholtens’ architectural firm, Elements Architectural Group, has moved into one of the center’s available spaces. Look for more news about other tenants in the near future. The Village’s successful Commercial Façade Improvement Grant Program (C-FIP) helped to reinvigorate the facades of nine commercial businesses in 2024, matching the previous record for most projects completed in a year. A total of almost $60,000 was provided to those nine businesses in the form of C-FIP grants. Over the past seven years, this grant program has helped fund 36 commercial façade improvements, with more than $175,000 paid out in grant assistance for improvements totaling more than $760,000. The C-FIP program assists local business or property owners with improvements like new signage, awnings, lighting, windows, doors and tuckpointing. For more information about the C-FIP grant program, please contact either Cameron Davis or Noemy Diaz at business@oak-park.us.

The Village’s compost program recently got even greener when LRS began using its first Mack electric rear loader refuse truck for Oak Park’s compost collection routes. The all-electric refuse truck is one of the first in use in the United States. Media Production Manager Joe Kreml recently worked with Environmental Services Manager Erica Helms and LRS Area Vice President George Strom to produce a video highlighting the new electric refuse truck. Click here to watch the video, which will be shared across the Village’s social media channels.

The Village’s Office of Sustainability & Resilience is joining the Oak Park Public Library and West Cook Wild Ones in presenting Native Gardening for the Neighborhood from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 16 at the Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake St. Professional green landscape design experts will share tips on basic design principles, plant recommendations, site preparation and general maintenance of a native garden. The presentation hour will be followed by a Q& A with the speakers and Village Forester Grant Jones. In-person participants are welcome to stay after the presentations for refreshments prepared by a local eco-friendly chef and informal discussion with the panel as well as local gardeners and community organizations. Registration to attend the event is full but individuals can still sign up to participate virtually.

The Village is partnering with Greater Chicago Legal Clinic to host a series of free workshops on immigration issues in and around the community. The second workshop in the series is being held in partnership with the Community of Congregations and will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19 at River Forest United Methodist Church. The workshop is open to the public and no registration is required. More information is at www.oak-park.us/knowyourrights325.

To help supply local community blood centers, the Public Health Department is partnering with the Oak Park Township to host a blood drive from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25. The blood drive will take place at the Oak Park Township office at 130 S. Oak Park Ave. More information and a link to register are available at www.oak-park.us/blooddrive.

While Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors, is being celebrated around the world today, the Village will host its second annual Holi Celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 5 on the south lawn at Village Hall. The entire community is invited to participate in the event, which will feature music, dancing, food for purchase and the throwing of brightly colored powders. More information is at www.oak-park.us/holi2025.

With the 2025 spring and summer travel season approaching, the CDC has issued a health advisory for those traveling to either Texas or New Mexico in response to a multi-state measles outbreak that has caused more than 200 cases. Public health officials are highlighting that immunization is the most effective prevention measure to stop the spread of this highly contagious virus. For those planning on traveling to these two sates, it is best to be up-to-date on the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Of special concern are children 24 months old and younger. Please reach out to your health care provider about an accelerated MMR vaccine schedule for young children and infants who may travel to these areas. Community members can contact the Oak Park Public Health Department with questions at 708-358-5480 or health@oak-park.us. Information about measles and other communicable diseases can be found on the Village website at www.oak-park.us/communicable-diseases.

Police Chief Shatonya Johnson and Assistant Village Attorney Rasheda Jackson attended Ase Production’s 5th Annual Uniquely You Tea Party held March 9 at Oak Park’s Nineteenth Century Club. The event serves as a social and emotional workshop where Black and Brown elementary and middle school girls are surrounded by reinforcement to be proud of who they are and that being Black or someone of color is a beautiful and special thing.

Visit Oak Park helped coordinate four segments on the CBS Chicago morning show’s Jumpstart with Jackie feature highlighting businesses in Oak Park on Monday. Reporter Jackie Kostek visited Spilt Milk Pastry, Lively Athletics, Ciro and Anfora Wine Merchants. Click here to watch the segments.

Metra is launching a survey and scheduling public outreach events to ask riders what they think about potentially renaming lines to make the system easier to understand for new and occasional riders. This includes the Union Pacific West line that runs through Oak Park. The effort is spurred in part by the coming transition to Metra of the operation of the Union Pacific North, Northwest and West lines. Take the survey at metra.com/LineNames. Find more information about the initiative in a news release posted on the Metra website.

Work continued on ComEd’s conduit installation project for the USPS facility in Forest Park. Trenching and conduit installation began on Euclid Avenue between Randolph Street and Washington Boulevard, while pavement saw-cutting started on the 600 block of S. Euclid Ave.