Wednesday, January 8, 2025

These license plates aren't Bichin, Secretary of State Giannoulias Says


A bit of fun from Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias:


Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office rejected more than 300 vanity and personalized license plates in 2024.
 
The office received 60,537 requests for vanity and personalized plates last year, including the 335 that were denied because of their inflammatory or offensive nature or because they were difficult to read.

The rejected plate requests this year include: HOKTUAH, GYATT, MUNCH, BICHIN, JAGWEED, BADARSE, AXEHOLE, ILLCUTU, HOHOHOE, ABADMF, WEENIE, DUCKOFF, SHIDDED, UGEWANG, and THICCAF.
 
“Illinoisans consistently display a great deal of creativity when choosing their customized license plates, but the plates that hit the road must meet the standards of good taste and decency,” Giannoulias said. “Our team are well-versed in lecherous language and sneaky swearing, all of which are rejected and placed on our permanent prohibited list.”
 
The Secretary of State’s Office oversees the process that allows Illinoisans to request specific vanity or personalized license plates for their vehicles. According to state law, the office has the authority to reject any application for personalized or vanity plates that “creates a connotation that is offensive to good taste and decency” as stated in Illinois’ Vehicle Code.
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias


The office flags combinations of letters and numbers that can be construed as lewd or offensive, including expletives, racial epithets, sex and drug references and allusions to violence. In some cases, like MWMWMWM or OOQQOO, plates were rejected this year because they are difficult to read and could pose problems for law enforcement.
 
The Secretary of State’s office maintains an ever-growing rejection list, which currently stands at more than 8,015 license plate combinations.
 
Illinois vehicle owners pay an extra $94 for a new vanity plate, which contains all letters. They pay an extra $47 for a new personalized plate, which is a combination of letters and numbers.
 
Currently, a total of 811,351 vehicles are registered in Illinois with vanity or personalized license plates to Illinoisans. Of this number, 294,324 are vanity plates and 531,035 of the plates are personalized plates.
 
Most Illinoisans use the office’s popular Pick-a-Plate feature on the website – apps.ilsos.gov/pickaplate – which allows the applicant to type in different combinations of letters, or letters and numbers, to see if they are available for purchase.
 
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Thursday, January 2, 2025

Lopez Wants Beefed Up Security at Streets Fairs, Fests in the City

Just released by 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez:

In light of the New Years Day terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and the December attack at the Christmas Market attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Alderman Raymond Lopez (15th) is calling on the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events to require all street fairs and festivals permitted in 2025 to have mobile vehicle barriers instead of the Type III wood/plastic barricades currently used to close off streets.
Alderman Raymond Lopez


“Yesterday America woke up to the carnage in New Orleans that killed fifteen people and injured dozens more,” said Lopez.  “In Germany, five people were killed and two hundred injured because a lunatic with a vehicle decided to attack people enjoying outdoor spaces. We must take measures now to prevent Chicago from joining this list.”
 
Currently, the DCASE Special Event Permit application lists Type III barricades as the standard option for event organizers applying to close off streets for various events.  In the New Orleans attack, Type III barricades could be seen as the individual drove around them onto Bourbon Street.
 
Outdoor dining areas and al fresco locations throughout Chicago often times have concrete barricades or cement/water-filled jersey walls used for added protection.  Lopez believes stronger measures like these need to be enacted now to protect attendees while allowing organizing time to factor in the new safety measures.
 
According to Lopez, “Time is not on our side when it comes to terrorists looking to exploit weaknesses within our planning.  We must learn from these events and plan accordingly if we want these hundreds of neighborhood events to continue in the most American of American cities.”
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Friday, December 13, 2024

‘A Great Guy With a Can-Do Spirit’

Power is the MCC’s 2024 Police Officer of the Year

By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post

CPD Officer Michael Power is no stranger to accolades.

In 14 years on the force, he has earned 80 honorable mentions, one Life Saving Award, one Chicago Police Officer of the month award and six Department Commendations.

Officer Michael Power

And this month he adds the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Police Officer of the Year honor.

He is a deserving recipient of the award, said Garfield Ridge business leader Al Cacciottolo, who nominated him.

“Officer Power is an excellent combination of a highly effective law enforcement official and a down-to-earth regular joe,” he said. “He’s a great guy with a can-do spirit. We’re fortunate to have him here.”

Power grew up in the Canaryville neighborhood, attending St. Gabriel School and then going on to St. Rita High School, where he graduated in 2002. He then attended Eastern Illinois University, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology.

He still lives in Canaryville with his wife, Erin, and their children: Michael, 13, Martin, 8, and Molly, 6.

He has spent his years on the force in the Chicago Lawn (8th) District, on various shifts and in various capacities.

He enjoys it here.

“One of the best parts of the job is the camaraderie [among police officers],” Power says. “In some ways the 8th District is like a big family.”

In 2021 he became the district’s liaison to the business community—a tall order in a big, diverse district with as many as 3,000 licensed businesses.

“A lot of business owners live outside the community, so it’s valuable to them that Officer Power is around to keep them up to date on crime in the area,” Cacciottolo adds. “He is an important ally of business owners.”

Power is quick to return the compliment, especially relating to the Midway Chamber of Commerce, which has grown in recent years—quite a feat in a time when many city neighborhoods have chambers that are shadows of their former selves or gone altogether.

“The Midway Chamber is phenomenal,” he says. “I’ve never
seen anything quite like it. Their meetings are well attended, and their members appear active and involved [in Chamber affairs].”

MCC President Mary Ellen Brown says the Chamber’s members “feel safer and more secure knowing that police officers like Officer Power stand on guard for us. Day in and day out, our police work to alert us to crime patterns, offer useful advice on how to protect our employees and our property, and encourage business owners and managers to get more involved in helping make the community a safer and better place. That’s why we established the Police Officer of the Year award. We recognize that and want to encourage that by saluting people like Officer Power.”

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Thursday, December 12, 2024

‘Good People Live Here Among Us’

Moroko is the MCC’s 2024 Firefighter of the Year

By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post

Garfield Ridge resident Lisa Moroko was taken aback when she learned she is the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Firefighter of the Year.

“I said, ‘Are you sure? I’m fresh, I’m just four years on the job.’”
Lisa Moroko and her son, Lucas.


The man who nominated her, Garfield Ridge resident Mike Doherty, the MCC’s 2022 Firefighter of the Year, was sure.

“She’s a good kid…smart, capable, the type of person who can get the job done,” he says. “I see her career moving forward in the years ahead. I have no doubt she’ll be a success…she is proof that good people live here among us in the neighborhood.”

Moroko is a lifelong resident of the community. She attended St. Symphorosa School and then went to Mother McAuley High School, where she graduated in 2006.

For a handful of years, she worked as a hair stylist, but she decided to go to school to train as an EMT with an eye on eventually going to nursing school.

“But I wanted to be a paramedic. I really wanted to be a paramedic,” she says. “I started doing ride time in the suburbs (with the Summit Fire Department) because I had to do it for school, and I was like, ‘I love this.’ It was awesome, just so different—and that’s when I decided to take the [Fire Department] test for Chicago (in 2014).”

Back home, her dad, Rick (a city Water Department employee), was skeptical.

“I was saying, ‘I’m going to be a fireman. I’m going to be a fireman.’ And my dad’s like, ‘Uh huh. Uh huh.’ A hair stylist going to be a fireman. Crazy, right? So he’s like, ‘I don’t know. Really? Really?’ And I said, ‘This is amazing. I’m doing this.’”

And do it she did.

It took a few years for her to get the call, but it came. She went through the CFD academy, and she started on the job on July 22, 2020.

Currently, she works as a part of Engine 13, Battalion 1, downtown near Columbus and Wacker.

The camaraderie impresses her.

“I’m so glad I’m there,” Moroko says. “I am so lucky with the guys I work with. They are the most respectful. I mean, I played sports (water polo) in high school. It’s not like I was some kind of girly-girl.

“I enjoy spending time with them. We’ve all become friends. We hang around outside of work.”

While she acknowledges the value of helping people in emergency situations, in their time of need, she also mentions the rush.

“It’s the excitement, the adrenaline,” she says. “When you roll out of that firehouse, you never know exactly what you’ll find when you arrive at the scene [of the emergency call]. You never know what you’re going to get. You may wind up saving someone’s life, or you may be in a position where it’s not going to go so well.

“Not everything [about being a firefighter] is exciting, of course. But when it’s exciting, it’s exciting.”

MCC President Mary Ellen Brown says the Chamber’s members “are grateful for the role firefighters play in saving lives and protecting property. We take comfort in the wealth of firefighters, police officers and other public-safety workers living among us here in the Midway area. They help make this part of Chicago a better place for everyone. That’s why we established the Firefighter of the Year award. We recognize that and want to encourage that.”

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Tuesday, December 10, 2024

‘Her Passion Radiates From Her’

Gabriela Torres named MCC’s Teacher of the Year

By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post

Ask any parent whose son or daughter is taught by Gabriela Torres at Hancock High School, and you’ll hear stories illustrating why she has been named the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

“Ms. Torres is very passionate. Her passion radiates from her,” says Garfield Ridge resident Cindy Patino, whose daughter, Alondra, is a special needs student at Hancock. “(Torres) goes above and beyond for her students.”
Gabriela Torres, MCC Teacher of the Year 2024.


Patino nominated Torres for the award.

Before enrolling at Hancock, Alondra (who is autistic) “could be sluggish, a kid who didn’t really want to do much and who often kept to herself. But since starting at Hancock with Ms. Torres, she has changed for the better. Now she goes to school happy every day. She hardly ever misses a day of school. She’s making friends. She’s participating in sports (via Hancock’s connection with Special Olympics). It’s wonderful to see.”

In fact, “the whole school has been amazingly great for Alondra and for her education--not only Ms. Torres, but the other teachers, the classroom assistants, gym teacher, caseworker--everyone has been very supportive. They’ve fostered an inclusive environment for Alondra and the rest of the students.”

Midway-area roots

Torres grew up in West Elsdon, attending Pasteur School and Curie High School, where she graduated in 2011. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois.

From an early age, she knew she wanted to teach. In fact, she was chosen as a Golden Apple Scholar—a statewide program that provides tuition assistance to talented high school students, in an effort to steer them into careers in education.

Torres recalls that she was “very surprised” when she heard she had been nominated for the MCC Teacher of the Year award.
Gabriela Torres, MCC Teacher of the Year 2024.

 
“When I found out, it was right around report card pick-up. I learned that I was nominated by a parent of one of my students. That was very gratifying. The award means a lot, but even more when I think the nomination came from a parent.”

At Hancock, she teaches children with low-incidence disabilities, such as autism or Down syndrome. Her classes focus on teaching life skills like shopping, cooking and doing laundry. The goal is to move her students towards living as independently as possible as they approach their adult years.

Her classes are small by design. Just 13 boys and girls are in her program, ensuring quite a bit of individual attention.

Torres is assisted by four paraprofessionals, and she is quick to credit them with having a hand in her students’ success in school.

While Torres acknowledges that her work can be life-changing for her students, she says they change her life for the better, too.

“I learn from them. I’m inspired by their resilience,” she says. “They love going to school, and that helps make me love going to work every day.”

She says the MCC award “may help raise awareness about our [special needs] students, perhaps especially among businesses in this area. These kids have a lot to contribute—and often that can mean as employees—whether now or in a few years, when’re they’re adults.”

She adds that Hancock has a wealth of “phenomenal teachers. I think one of our teachers should be nominated every year for this award.”

When she accepts the Teacher of the Year award at the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner-dance this month, she will be accompanied by her husband, Omar, as well as her parents, Agata and Jose.

MCC President Mary Ellen Brown says the Chamber’s members “are pleased to know that such an inspiring, effective educator is right here in the community. Schools are an important part of the Midway area. Not only do they help educate and motivate children who will one day be our community’s workforce, but good schools help make the Midway area attractive to people looking to buy a home, as well as business owners looking for a good place to set up shop. That’s why we established the Teacher of the Year award. We recognize that and want to encourage that.”

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