Still Unsure About Your Child's School? St. Joe's Says "Stop By This Sunday"

Parents of children ages 2 through 13--who are still not entirely certain about where their children will attend school this fall-- are invited to attend an open house from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, August 2 at St. Joseph School, 5641 South 73rd Avenue, Summit (a half block west of 57th and Harlem).

“We know that even in early August, there are many parents who still are undecided on where to send their sons and daughters in the fall,” said St. Joseph School Principal Lawrence Manetti. “There also are parents who have their children enrolled in a school, but may be having second thoughts, for various reasons. To them we say, ‘Our doors are open, and we welcome your interest. Please stop by and let's talk about how together, we can provide the very best for your son or daughter.'”

A number of moms and dads of current St. Joseph students will be on hand, as they make final preparations for the 2015-16 academic year.

Ice cream and other refreshments will be to served to prospective parents and children.

"St. Joseph School, with its smaller class sizes and strong track record of academic success, is something we are very proud of," stated Principal Lawrence Manetti. "Our school gives children an advantage that lasts a lifetime---a firm foundation that prepares boys and girls for the rigors of high school and beyond."

"St. Joseph School also provides a safe, friendly environment for our children to learn and grow," he added.

Information packets about the 2015-16 school year, including the Caritas Scholarship Program, will be available. Registration will be accepted.

St. Joseph School offers a Christ-centered education for boys and girls in kindergarten through eighth grade, as well as three- and four-year-old preschool.Before- and after-school care are offered to accommodate the needs of working parents.

Children at the school have access to a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, including basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, band, choir, chess club, Girl Scouts and more.

The school serves children and parents in St. Joseph Parish (which includes the northern section of Summit and the western section of Chicago’s Garfield Ridge neighborhood), and also welcomes children from a number of other areas, including Clearing (specifically, the St. Rene area), suburban Bedford Park, Bridgeview, Justice, Willow Springs, Lyons and other communities. Children and parents from all areas are welcome.

For more information, phone Principal Lawrence Manetti at (708) 458-2927.

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CPD Burglary Alert: West Lawn

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At 2:36 p.m. Thursday, July 30, Chicago Police issued a community alert relating to three burglaries that occurred earlier this month in West Lawn.

In each incident, the burglar(s) broken into a home or garage through a side or back door.

Police did disclose what, if anything, had been stolen.

Incident times and locations:

6000 block of South Komensky at about 7 p.m. Monday, July 20.

6200 block of South Tripp at about 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, July 22.

5900 block of South Karlov at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 28.

Offender Description:

White man age 21-28, 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds.

What you can do:

• Keep the perimeter of your property well lit.

• Report suspicious activity immediately.

• Keep doors and windows secured.

• Immediately repair any broken windows, doors or locks.

• If video surveillance is available, save and make a copy of the incident for

investigating detectives.

• Make an agreement with your neighbors to watch each other's homes for suspicious

activity.

• If you are a victim, do not touch anything, and call police immediately.

• If approached by a witness to the incident, request contact information.

If you have any useful information to share about these crimes, contact the Area Central Bureau of Detectives at (312) 747-8382.

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CPD Burglary Alert: Garfield Ridge

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At 2:31 p.m. Thursday, July 30, Chicago Police issued a community alert relating to three burglaries that occurred earlier this month in the west end of Garfield Ridge.

In each incident, the burglar(s) broken into a home or garage through a side or back door.

Police did disclose what, if anything, had been stolen.

Incident times and locations:

5500 block of South Normandy at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 11.

5300 block of South Natchez at 2 p.m. Friday, July 17.

5600 block of South New England at 2:51 p.m. Tuesday, July 21.

What you can do:

• Keep the perimeter of your property well lit.

• Report suspicious activity immediately.

• Keep doors and windows secured.

• Immediately repair any broken windows, doors or locks.

• If video surveillance is available, save and make a copy of the incident for

investigating detectives.

• Make an agreement with your neighbors to watch each other's homes for suspicious

activity.

• If you are a victim, do not touch anything, and call police immediately.

• If approached by a witness to the incident, request contact information.

If you have any useful information to share about these crimes, contact the Area Central Bureau of Detectives at (312) 747-8382.

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Crime News Update

Editor's note: The crime news reported by the Southwest Chicago Post---taken directly from Chicago Police Department incident reports---is not by any means an exhaustive catalogue of all crime reported in the Chicago Lawn (8th) District. For example, it typically does not include news of crimes committed in the eastern and southern sectors of the district---because the Southwest Chicago Post's coverage area is primarily the neighborhoods that border Midway Airport and secondarily because including the relatively large volume of crime news from elsewhere in the district would be a logistical challenge. We make this note to offer a little helpful perspective and remind everyone that while crime is definitely a concern in all parts of the district (as it always has been), crime remains relatively low overall in Sector 1. May all of us work together diligently to keep it that way. May all of us also remember that a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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An apparent burglary was thwarted at the door of a medical office in the 4400 block of South Archer at 8:40 a.m. Monday, July 13 when the offender was surprised to find a physician looking at him and asking, “Hey, what’s going on here?”

The doctor later told police that the would-be criminal then swung a hammer at him, missed and fled on foot. The suspect was described as a white boy age 14-16, 5-foot-1 and 100 pounds, brown eyes and short black hair, wearing a T-shirt with blue stripes and black pants.

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Want to work directly with Chicago Police to prevent crime in your neighborhood? If you live in Beat 813 or 833 (see map), come to West Lawn Park at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 28. Hear updates on crime in your neighborhood and learn how you can work with neighbors and police to make the community safer and better for all.

A 27-year-old West Elsdon man told police that he was robbed by a gun-wielding assailant in an alley behind 3636 W. 55th St. at 7:25 p.m. Tuesday, July 14. The victim said the offender pointed a handgun at him and said, “Give me your money and your phone, b~tch.”

The victim handed over his wallet, which he said contained $300 cash, and the robber sped away in an older Chevy pickup truck, blue in color, with a damaged passenger door and rear fender. The robber was described as a Hispanic man age 20-25, 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, brown eyes and short black hair, light complexion, wearing a maroon shirt.

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 A Chicago Park District employee sitting on a park bench with a co-worker had her cell phone--worth $600--snatched away by a pair of teen hoodlums when they ran away east. The crime occurred at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 16 at Hale Park, 6258 W. 62nd St.

The offenders are described as Hispanic boys age 16-18, 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, short black hair, wearing blue jeans.

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Burglars climbed a fire ladder, broke in through the roof of a warehouse at 4532 S. Kolin, and used a forklift to steal a pallet of computer-related items belonging to Rapid Displays, a manufacturer of retail merchandise displays. The crime was discovered at 9 a.m. Monday, July 13. The stolen materials are worth $30,000, a company representative told police.

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Burglars cut open the side fence of the A & M Intermodal trucking firm, 4043 W. 52nd Place, and stole six tires off three trucks. The crime was discovered at 9 a.m. Sunday, July 12 by an employee. The tires are worth a total of $6,000, according to a company representative.

Burglars forced open the service door of a garage near 53rd and Natchez and stole a snowblower and a bicycle. The crime was discovered by the victim, a 46-year-old man, at 2 p.m. Friday, July 17.

Get this free window sign and show your support for our 8th District Police! 

  Head over to Archer BP, Archer and Oak Park, for yours!

A 61-year-old Back of the Yards woman told police that someone broke into the garage of a house she owns near 52nd and Monitor. She discovered the crime at 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 10. Stolen were a 1985 Cadillac Deville, a lawnmower, a tree trimmer and assorted tools. The house had belonged to a recently deceased friend, who had owned the car and other stolen items.

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Burglars pried open the rear window of an apartment near 63rd and Austin and stole two TVs, a gold ring and prescription-strength pain relievers. The crime was discovered by the victim, a 45-year-old man, at 5 a.m. Tuesday, July 14. The crime may have been interrupted, because the victim told police he found a pillowcase containing some of his belongings, sitting by a door.

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A 62-year-old man told police that someone pried open the service door of his garage near 53rd and Kolin. The crime was discovered by the victim at 2 p.m. Monday, July 13. It was initially unclear what, if anything, was missing.

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Alderman Burke Leads Way to Ban Cell Phone Cases That Look Like Handguns

Cell phone cases that resemble handguns may soon be outlawed soon in Chicago,

according to 14th Ward Alderman Edward M. Burke (14^th).

Alderman Burke

Burke, along with Aldermen Ariel E. Reboyras (30th) and Willie B. Cochran (20th), will introduce an ordinance banning the cases on Monday, July 27, according to a press release from Burke's office.

If the ordinance is passed and signed into law, Chicago will be the first major city in the nation to outlaw the sale or possession of the product, Burke said.

The “gun grip” cases, which could be mistaken by police officers for an actual weapon, are new to the market and are made by a number of foreign manufacturers.

“Whether this case is sticking out of your pocket, or being held in your hand, it could be confused by law enforcement officers as a firearm,” Burke said. “Allowing these cases to proliferate in Chicago would be a threat to public safety and almost certainly lead to a tragic event. We must act now to ban this outrageous product and make it illegal in the city.”

Not only police officers, but Chicagoans legally sanctioned to carry concealed weapons, could find themselves reacting “in split seconds” to what they thought was a dangerous situation, Cochran said. “Carrying a cellphone case that simulates the appearance of a gun is asking for nothing but trouble,” he concluded.

“I don’t see these novelties being anything but dangerous,“ agreed Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, who endorsed the measure. “The only thing you see when someone is carrying this in their waistband is what seems to be a weapon, which is going to put an officer on a heightened level of self-protection.

“If I were on the street and approached an individual with one of these in their waistband or pocket, my weapon would be out. I would not take the chance that this is not a real gun,” Angelo added.

The New York City and New Jersey state police departments have already opposed

the product as “a terrible idea” and begun warning consumers not to buy the cases. The cases come in colors including black, white and pink, many of which are imported from Asia.

“Anything that looks like a real gun should not be in the hands of anyone out there,” Reboyras said. “It can be construed as the real thing.”

The proposal will be formally introduced directly to the Committee on Finance on would also prohibit other products shaped like guns, such as lighters or cameras. Violators would face fines of up to $750 per offense.

Introduction of the measure marked the second time in the past ten years that Chicago officials have enacted curbs on fake weapons. In 2005, Burke won adoption of a measure which imposed fines on anyone who sold, purchased or possessed fake “military-style weapons.”

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Patriots Day Parade Photo Highlights

The 2015 edition of the Patriots Day Parade is in the books.

The event was sponsored by Third District Congressman Dan Lipinski, 23rd Ward Alderman Michael R. Zalewski and the 23rd Ward Regular Democratic Organization. 

This was the fourth year that the Southwest Chicago Post was out there with a couple of cameras.

As we did last year, this year we paid at least as much attention to the children lining the parade route as we did to those in the parade itself. They are the face of Garfield Ridge, and their smiles reflect one of Chicago's very best neighborhoods.

Kind of curious to see a few boys and girls in hoodies on July 2, we know, but the weather was unseasonably cool.

That said, here are a bunch of photos in no particular order. Enjoy!

May your Independence Day be meaningful, joyful and safe.

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