Oak Park, River Forest presidents offer thoughts

OAK PARK — The outgoing village presidents of Oak Park and River Forest gave their final State of the Village address Friday, Feb. 22 at the annual League of Women Voters fundraiser.

David Pope of Oak Park and John Rigas of River Forest were joined …

River Forest village president hopeful has passion for track

RIVER FOREST — Before River Forest trustee Mike Gibbs discovered his passion for the workings of local government, he had a long-established love for track and field.

State Rep. LaShawn Ford pleads not guilty in court

State Rep. LaShawn Ford pleaded not guilty to bank fraud charges Tuesday morning as he made his first appearance in federal court.

Davis up in 7th Congressional

CHICAGO — Democratic incumbent Danny K. Davis held a large lead and was set to retain his seat in the 7th Congressional District Tuesday.

With 577 of 593 precincts reporting, Democrat Danny Davis had 225,787 votes, versus 28,938 for Republican Rita Zak and 11,711 votes …

Gutierrez holds lead in 4th Congressional

CHICAGO — With nearly all precincts reporting, Democratic incumbent Luis Gutierrez held a commanding lead over Republican challenger Hector Concepcion in the 4th Congressional District.

With 433 of 434 precincts reporting, Gutierrez had 129,165 votes versus Concepcion’s 26,170.

Gutierrez is in his 10th term in …

County commissioners give preliminary OK to new district map

A proposed map redrawing boundaries for the Cook County Board of Commissioners districts received overwhelming preliminary approval Friday. Fifteen of the 17 commissioners signed off on the plan, which is slated for a final vote Tuesday. The lone dissenting vote came from Commissioner Earlean Collins …

Final House primary totals delayed until April

The Democratic nominee for state representative in the 7th District will not be named until at least April 3, according to county officials. Fifteen votes currently separate Rory Hoskins from Emanuel “Chris” Welch in the too-close-to-call Democratic primary. There was no candidate in the Republican …

Final House primary totals delayed until April

The Democratic nominee for state representative in the 7th District will not be named until at least April 3, according to county officials. Fifteen votes currently separate Rory Hoskins from Emanuel “Chris” Welch in the too-close-to-call Democratic primary. There was no candidate in the Republican …

Lilly landslide in 78th state rep race

Incumbent Camille Lilly cruised to reelection against challenger Michael Nardello in the 78th District state representative race. Unofficial vote totals said she took more than 77 percent of the vote: Lilly 5,558; Nardello, 1,654 (with 54 of 55 precincts reporting as of press time). Nardello …

Welch leads by 15 votes

Emanuel “Chris” Welch is leading Rory Hoskins in 7th District state rep. race, according to unofficial vote totals. With all 87 precincts reporting, Welch has 39 percent; Hoskins has 38.87 percent; Beyonca Johnson has 13.68 percent and Princess C. Dempsey has 8.45 percent. But both …

Welch votes to hire boss’s son-in-law

Emanuel “Chris” Welch helped to hire his boss’s son-in-law as principal of Proviso East High School. Tony Valente, hired by Proviso High School District 209 in May 2011, is the son-in-law of Manny Sanchez, a founding partner of the law firm Sanchez, Hoffman Daniels, Forest …

Newspaper wins appeal for Welch 2002 police report

Hillside Police Department must turn over a 2002 police report describing the arrest of Emanuel “Chris” Welch for domestic battery, the Illinois attorney general ordered Friday. Forest Leaves has been seeking the report since January, but Hillside police refused a Freedom of Information Act request, …

GOP leader endorses Democrat in primary

Democrat Emanuel “Chris” Welch got an unusual endorsement last week for his state representative bid: It came from a Republican. Illinois State Rep. Angelo “Skip” Saviano, R-77th, of Elmwood Park, isn’t just any Republican. Besides being Republican State Central 5th District committeeman, Saviano is also …

Welch campaign invoking Obama name

A U.S. president usually doesn’t endorse a state rep candidate in a primary election. But that doesn’t prevent some candidates from trying to ride on the president’s coattails.

Obama-Welch campaign signs are promoting Barack Obama running for president and Emanuel “Chris” Welch running for state …

Proviso politician secures jobs, raises for friends, family

With statements like “Make it happen. I need her to be hired,” Emanuel “Chris” Welch has kept at least 19 close friends and relatives in good-paying jobs at Proviso High School District 209 where he is school board president. Most noteworthy is Welch’s brother, Billy …