Thus far more than 1,300 ballots have been cast since early voting opened on March 17. Early voting continues for the upcoming Consolidated Election at Village Hall through Monday, March 31. Village Hall will be open to suburban Cook County voters on Saturday, March 29 and Monday, March 31 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., and on Sunday, March 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Voters are asked to enter Village Hall via the courtyard entrance on Madison Street. Voters who park in the main lot will be directed to walk around the outside of the building to enter from the courtyard. On Election Day, April 1, residents must cast ballots at their designated poll place. Click here to find your polling place.

Police Chief Shatonya Johnson recently completed the Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Executive Development Association’s Trilogy Leadership series. The three-part program focused on leadership development in law enforcement, consisting of the Supervisor Leadership Institute (SLI), Command Leadership Institute (CLI) and Executive Leadership Institute (ELI).

Oak Park Police Department Sergeant Samantha Deuchler is participating in the 21st Annual Cycle Across Illinois, July 10-13, benefitting Illinois Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), an organization dedicated to supporting the families of fallen officers. Deuchler is riding in honor of Detective Allan Reddins, who was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 29, 2024. Donations made will help provide essential resources, counseling and support to families who have lost their loved ones in the line of duty. Please click here to learn more or donate today.

The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) hosted the latest installment of the popular Speaker Series on Thursday evening. Speaker Frank Heitzman, AIA, joined commission members and other attendees to provide a presentation on incentives available for historic homeowners to remodel or restore, rather than building anew. A recording of this engagement, as well as past Speaker Series events, is available online at www.oak-park.us/SpeakerSeries.

Village staff and elected officials gathered at the Post Office (901 Lake St.) Friday morning to celebrate the warmth, wit and charisma of Betty White by honoring the late actress and comedienne with a new stamp bearing her likeness. A 2^nd-day-of-issue event was held in the place where she was born in 1922. The ceremony featured remarks from USPS Illinois 1 District Manager, Jeff Drake, Oak Park Postmaster, Kenya Thomas, Village President Vicki Scaman and Frank Lipo, Executive Director, Oak Park River Forest Museum.

Members of the Village’s Development Services staff Development Services staff recently attended the Oak Park Area Arts Council (OPAAC) annual meeting, hosted at the Pleasant Home. At the meeting, OPAAC Executive Director Camille Wilson-White shared the success of the various programs the organization facilitates, including “Off The Wall,” a summer arts employment program for 16-22 year-old artists that are trained in mosaic tile and installation techniques using elevated and enhanced mosaic tiles, Styrofoam and other 3D elements. The meeting also announced the launch of “Off The Wall 2.0,” which will take place at the new OPAAC office and work-space location at 6216 Roosevelt Rd. The meeting’s keynote speaker was Kacie Smith, Senior Director of Programs and Special Projects at Arts Alliance Illinois. Smith provided attendees with an overview of what is going on in the arts community at a local, state and federal level, as well as information about programs and initiatives at each level designed to support local artists and arts organizations.

Artists are being sought to create murals that will continue the transformation of the railroad retaining walls along the Green Line corridor from dull, blank concrete into canvases as part of the Oak Park Area Arts Council's Mini-Mural program. Each artist selected receives $750 for materials prior to beginning the project and another $750 upon completion. The murals range in size from about 6-feet-by-8 feet to 6-feet-by-11 feet. The deadline to apply for the first round is April 5. A second round of submissions will be accepted through June 6. Click here to apply today.

The Village’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience has been busy planning for various celebrations of Earth Month, which begins next week. The first event on the schedule is the second annual Oak Park Eco-Extravaganza on April 5 from 10 a.m.  until noon at the Oak Park Public Library (834 Lake St.). Learn, play and connect with community groups working in the sustainability space while enjoying local treats. Registration encouraged; walk-ins welcome - Click here to register. The Eco-Extravaganza is hosted by the Village in partnership with the Oak Park Public Library, One Earth Local and Climate Ready Community Outreach Oak Park (COOP). Check out www.oak-park.us/SustainabilityEvents for a list of upcoming Earth Month events.

The Collaboration for Early Childhood is hosting two free events on Saturday, April 5 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Percy Julian Middle School (416 S. Ridgeland Ave.). At the Baby Expo, families who are expecting or have a child up to a year old are invited to connect with other new parents/caregivers, attend a resource fair and presentations, meet doulas, talk to experts about their own health and the health of their baby, and get the lowdown on cloth diapers, breastfeeding, and car seat safety. At the Community Screening Day, free dental, hearing, vision, social-emotional, and developmental screenings will be offered to children ages one month to five years old. This is an excellent opportunity for families to celebrate their child’s development and growth and to catch any barriers to that growth early. Registration is not required but is encouraged. Learn more at: collab4kids.org/events.

Pete’s has notified Public Works and Development Services staff, and adjacent property owners, that they are seeking to start constructing the vertical north wall of Pete’s, adjacent to the existing alley, on Mon., March 31. Click here to view the letter to residents. This work will require Pete’s to use scaffolding to construct the concrete block wall with the brick façade.  Pete’s crews will need to protect the scaffolding with concrete jersey walls for normal safety reasons. The Village has generated and distributed parking passes for the residents that have the eight garages at 429 Wesley to allow them to park on-street during this work. This portion of Pete’s construction work is anticipated to take about two weeks in this section of the alley; the Village has issued passes for at least 3-weeks in case there are weather-induced delays.    

The annual alley improvement project is expected to begin early next week. Work will start at the alleys between Randolph St. and Pleasant St., and between Randolph St. and Washington Blvd. Impacted residents in these areas have received parking passes from the Village. A total of 12 alleys are scheduled to be reconstructed. The project also includes curb, sidewalk and sewer replacement work.

New ComEd ducts were installed this week at Randolph St./Euclid Ave., and Euclid Ave./Adams St. Temporary concrete patches will be installed over the trenches to maintain traffic through the intersections. Trenching also began on Randolph St. between Euclid Ave. and Wesley Ave., and on the 500 block of S. Euclid Ave. Trenching and duct work on Randolph St. is expected to continue through to next week.