This week >
meeting
Flossmoor School District 161 Board of Education We will meet at Normandy Villa, 41 E. Elmwood Drive, Chicago Heights, on Monday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m.
- Please see the agenda here.
- highlight: The meeting will begin with a “Truth in Taxation” public hearing on the 2023 tax proposal, and the board will consider approval after the hearing. The board will discuss the possibility of adding assistant principal positions at Flossmoor Hills and Heather Hill schools.
Flossmoor Board of Trustees We will meet at the Village Hall, 2800 Flossmoor Road, on Monday, December 4th at 7:30 p.m.
- Please see the agenda here.
- Join us virtually here or call 312-626-6799. Meeting ID 880 8968 1026, Passcode 60422.
- highlight: The Board will hold a “Truth in Taxation” public hearing prior to voting on the 2023-24 tax proposal, and will review administrative rulings on municipal ordinances to include building code violations, nuisance abatement, and torts. We plan to consider an ordinance to replace the relevant section. Vehicle code violations made possible by a state law enacted this year. The village will also honor William Murphy on his 100th birthday later this month.
Homewood Flossmoor Park District Commission We will meet on Tuesday, December 5th at 7pm at the Goldberg Administration Center, 3301 Flossmoor Road, Flossmoor.
- Please see the agenda here.
- highlight: The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2023 levy at 7 p.m., and is expected to adopt the levy during its regular meeting. Also on the agenda is a proposal to replace the boiler at the HF Ice Arena and consideration of recreation fees and charges for 2024.
what to do
Tuesday, December 5th
Community book exchange. The Flossmoor Public Library, 1000 Sterling Ave., will host a book swap opportunity for anyone 18 and older from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Comes with catered appetizers. Registration is not required.Submit a question [email protected].
Wednesday, December 6th
Children’s theater actor. The Homewood-Flossmoor Park District Children’s Theater Program will produce “The Reluctant Dragon.” Targeted at children aged 8 to 12. Auditions will be held on Dec. 6 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Irwin Community Center, 18120 Highland Avenue. Rehearsals will be held from 6pm to 7:30pm on Wednesdays through January 31st, excluding December 27th. The performance is on February 2nd. Cost is $120 to $140.
Bike ornament craft night. GoodSpeed Cycles, 2125 183rd St. in Homewood, will be offering “Create funky and fun holiday ornaments and decorations from old and discarded bicycle parts, or follow your own muse,” from 6 to 8:30 p.m. We will hold an opportunity to GoodSpeed offers bicycle parts, glue guns, and crafty bits for decoration. ” The event includes drinks and snacks. Donations to World Bicycle Relief will be a minimum of $10 per adult. Children are also welcome. RSVP.
Thursday, December 7th
Flossmoor Commons Holiday Open House. Members of the Flossmoor Business Association will hold an open house at the Flossmoor Commons Business Center, 3235-3345 Vollmer Road, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Menorah lighting. Flossmoor will hold a menorah lighting ceremony in front of Park Place at Flossmoor Park, 2449 Flossmoor Road, at 5 p.m. Hanukkah celebrations will be held daily at 5pm until December 15th.
Stage staff at a children’s theater. The Homewood-Flossmoor Park District Children’s Theater Program will produce “The Reluctant Dragon.” It is intended for children from 8 years old to 12 years old. Stage staff will meet at the Irwin Community Center, 18120 Highland Avenue, on Dec. 7 from 6 to 7 p.m. He will also meet on Thursdays from 6pm until 7pm until January 25th, except December 28th. The performance he will take place on February 2nd. Costs range from $100 to $120.
Friday, December 8th
Kayla & Mara’s Tots Hot Chocolate Sale. Kayla Winfrey and Mara Winfrey will host their 20th annual hot chocolate stand from 4 to 8 p.m. at 1323 Hillview Road in Homewood. The sisters use the proceeds to purchase toys for the Toys for Tots program.
Christmas movie trivia night. Flossmoor Community Church is hosting an opportunity to test your knowledge of popular Christmas movies. The event will begin at 7 p.m. at the Community House, 847 Hutchison Road, Flossmoor. Participate as a team or as individuals. BYOB.
“Harvey.” The drama group will perform “Harvey” on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. Additional performances will be Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. All tickets are available at dg.booktix.com or by calling 708-755-3444. Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for seniors and military, and $19 for students.
Saturday, December 9th
Nanny Nikki. The Flossmoor Public Library, 1000 Sterling Avenue, will host a holiday musical performance by Nanny Nikki at 11 a.m.
HF Suzuki strings. Musicians will be playing holiday music and entertaining with a selection of songs in the atrium of the Flossmoor Public Library, 1000 Sterling Avenue, from 2 to 3 p.m.
Sunday, December 10th
Santa Claus is coming to Puppy Town. Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery (1035 Sterling Ave.) welcomes families and canine friends to enjoy a buffet-style brunch from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Take a photo with Santa. Proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the South Suburban Humane Society. Please RSVP by calling 708-957-2739.
News and announcements
The newspaper has been saved. A drastic downturn in the newspaper business almost claimed another casualty, but a dedicated teacher and a small group of students saved the day. The Lansing Journal reported Nov. 28 that TF South High School’s newspaper, The Thorntonian, may have expired this year after just one student enrolled in the advanced journalism class that produced the paper. A new teacher in the class helped turn things around.
Day of Service Project. Flossmoor invites local businesses, non-profit organizations, volunteer groups, neighborhood clubs and associations, friends and neighbors to attend the village’s 10th annual Martin Luther King Memorial Hall on Monday, January 15th. We invite you to host a project for Junior Service Day. Get involved in a volunteer project through this online form or contact Stephanie Wright at 708-335-5472. [email protected].
Utility expense subsidy. The Cook County Regional Economic Development Association can help income-eligible households in the area apply for LIHEAP assistance for heating and electricity costs. For more information, visit www.CEDAorg.net/Bills or call 800-571-2332.
< This week
Reader reaction
There are other critics of the regional response to road safety issues that I proposed in my October column. Steve Buchtel, who knows more about transportation policy than I do, says:
Eric, you wrote in your comment about traffic safety that you thought safer traffic in Homewood needed a regional approach.
This is a police dispatch. Traffic safety is best addressed locally. Speeders heading east on his 183rd from Hazelcrest must slow down as 183rd Avenue reduces from his four passing lanes to his two lanes east of Dixie. That’s the local solution.
There are many things Homewood can do to protect people. Everything Hoboken has done to eliminate traffic deaths, Homewood can do too.
Excludes shared bicycles. But everything else!
Steve sent a link to an article on Jalopnik (“a news and opinion website about cars, the auto industry, racing, transportation, airplanes, technology, motorcycles, and more”) about a traffic safety improvement program in Hoboken, New Jersey. . According to a key metric: how many people died, the program appears to have been a huge success. Since 2017, no one has died in a traffic accident in the city.
According to the article, “The plan boils down to a few simple changes to the small city along the Hudson River: lower speed limits, protected bike lanes, improved crosswalks, and longer curbs. And that’s it. Thanks to a few signs, a little paint, and some concrete curbs, traffic deaths in the city have been completely reduced to zero.”
The article credits Mayor Ravi Bhalla for being fully committed to a ‘Vision Zero’ approach to road safety. The cumulative result of implementing a variety of relatively small changes is fewer cars, more bicycles, and fewer speeders.
Vision Zero’s website says the impact of traffic problems extends beyond injury and death in accidents. “With so many people worried about their safety on the streets, there is no true freedom of movement, resulting in increased rates of sedentary disease and reduced carbon emissions. It is increasing and public health is being compromised.”
Vision Zero flips the script on what has been characterized as the traditional approach to road safety. Death is inevitable, safety is expensive, and the goal should be to improve human behavior. Instead, Vision Zero proposes that deaths are preventable, costs are kept low, and human failures are accounted for within the system.
I was struck by that last idea. I once thought that improving road safety could be done using a similar approach to anti-smoking campaigns, which have had considerable success but have taken several generations to achieve. If retraining humans is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, a system that improves safety without rewiring the human brain may be a better approach.
Our efforts so far have definitely been hampered by bad driving.
The other day I was flipping through Jim Wright’s book “Homewood Through the Years” and came across a reference to the community’s early automobile misfortunes. Homewood’s first car was his 1908 model purchased by Dr. William Doop II. As Wright points out on pages 123-124, cars became a problem in her teens.
“Drivers using the Dixie Highway often sped through town with little regard for citizens.”
Village officials responded in August 1917 by installing a four-way traffic light in the center of the intersection of Dixie Highway and Main Street (now Ridge Road).
“By the end of the year, the light’s wooden support had to be replaced because it had been hit so many times, and the new light was mounted on a concrete pedestal to prevent further damage.” Oddly enough, Howard of Kalamazoo, Michigan A man named Baxter even tried to recover $1,000 from the village for damage to his car after it hit a mailbox in October 1917. Naturally, the village refused to pay.
106 years later, many of us still drive like that.