TP_041218

16 | April 12, 2018 | The tinley junction News
tinleyjunction.com
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Trustees open discussion about
reverting mayoral role to part-time
status
The days of a full-time mayor in
Orland Park may be on borrowed
time.
During the Finance Committee
meeting April 2, three Village
Board members forwarded on an
item — without a recommendation
— to the full Village Board
for discussion and possible action
that could revert the full-time Village
president position back to a
part-time position after the 2021
election.
The three members of the committee
are trustees Michael Carroll,
Dan Calandriello and Patricia Gira,
who asked for the item to be placed
on the April 2 committee meeting
agenda.
During the meeting, Gira said
there has been a lot of discussion
— and confusion — regarding the
role of the full-time position.
“It is very difficult without
clearly outlined parameters for the
full-time position versus the parttime
mayor’s position,” Gira said.
“We’re not clear on it, and I don’t
think anyone has a good understanding
of it.”
Carroll, the committee chairman,
said he checked with the Village
clerk’s office to confirm that Mayor
Keith Pekau was sworn in May
15, 2017. To give it a full year to
see “the effectiveness of our ordinance,”
Carroll suggested sending
it to the board level for discussion
on May 21.
Calandriello agreed with Carroll
about having the conversation May
21.
The committee members voted
3-0 to send the item on to the Village
Board without a recommendation
for discussion and possible
action May 21.
Reporting by Jon DePaolis, Freelance
Reporter. For more, visit OPPrairie.
com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
‘Every 21 Seconds’ to make public
debut
On Friday, April 13, “Every 21
Seconds,” the film based on Mokena
native Brian Sweeney’s struggle
with traumatic brain injury, will
make its public debut at Emagine
Entertainment’s Frankfort Theatre.
The film previously had been
screened by a private audience in
January.
“Every 21 Seconds” follows
Sweeney’s life after he was viciously
attacked outside of a bar in
Wisconsin in 1992. The attack left
Sweeney with a traumatic brain injury.
Since then, Sweeney has been
on a mission to share his story in
the hope that it will raise awareness
and spur action for the approximately
2 million people per year
who are diagnosed with and suffer
from a TBI.
“I spent the first five years trying
to convince people that there was
nothing wrong with me, and every
day since trying to get people
to understand what the challenges
are for folks who go through this,
what some of the deficits might
be,” Sweeney said in an interview
with The Messenger back in January.
“But, also, what you can do,
not what you can’t do. I always say
focus on the capabilities, not the
disabilities.
“I wanted to be the voice that
gave these people a voice.”
The movie is based on Sweeney’s
book of the same name.
The film recently was nominated
for several awards — including
Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading
Role and Best Ensemble — by
Festigious, a monthly online film
festival.
Reporting by T.J. Kremer III, Editor.
For more, visit MokenaMessenger.
com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Lockport native to compose piece
for Chicago Symphony Orchestra
For a final project in his summer
course at Northwestern, Jim
Stephenson was instructed to write
a bad piece of music. The course,
Adventures in Bad Music, had a
backward approach to helping students
discover what they do and do
not like.
The 24-year-old at the time had
never taken a composition course
before this one and, surprisingly,
wrote a “bad” piece that ended up
being enjoyed by his classmates. It
was that moment that encouraged
Stephenson to begin writing music
full-time.
“I was like, well, if I try to write
a bad piece and someone likes it,
let’s see what happens when I try
to write good music,” he said. “I
started composing at the age of 24,
and that grew and grew and grew.”
His talent and love for music
composition led him to receive an
invitation in November 2015 to
write a piece for the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra that will be premiered
during one of their concert
weekends in June 2019.
“It’s just one of those beautiful
things that you never expect,”
Stephenson said. “I mean, this is
literally the orchestra I grew up listening
to. My dream as a kid was
to someday play in the Chicago
Symphony. That’s not happening,
because I don’t play trumpet anymore,
but this about as close or
maybe even better.”
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
LockportLegend.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Frankfort dental hygienist helps
create a community with healthier
teeth
The dentist’s office is not most
people’s favorite place to find
themselves, but for those who cannot
afford a visit, it is even harder
to get themselves in that chair.
Dayna Mazurek, a dental hygienist
at Advanced Family Dental
in Frankfort, is not only helping
patients find their way to an office
but also finding her way to them.
After completing an American
Dental Association training to become
a community dental health
coordinator, Mazurek has increased
her involvement in the community
and on social media.
“I bring all my experiences out
in the public and to here where I
can educate the patients more oneto-one,”
noted Mazurek, who said
she is able to better talk to patients
and educate them about their oral
health, both in the office and at
public events such as health fairs.
Mazurek said it can be difficult
for those who are uninsured or
underinsured to find the resources
they need, but she is hoping to
change that by distributing information
on those programs more
widely.
“I grew up in a single-family
household,” Mazurek said. “As I
was a teenager and younger adult
I was on Medicaid. So, I have that
experience to help those less fortunate,
because I was in their shoes,
too.”
Reporting by Amanda Stoll,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
FrankfortStation.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Healthy Kids Running Series
returns to Homer for second year
The Esquivels from Lockport all
have one thing in common — running.
Robert participates in halfmarathons
and marathons, and
his wife, Rebecca, joins him on
Saturdays for their running club.
In the last year, their 5-year-old
daughter, Graysen, began to follow
in their footsteps and lace up
her own sneakers to participate in
the Healthy Kids Running Series in
Homer Glen.
The series, which features five
races over five weeks, began Sunday,
April 8, and will continue for
the next four Sundays at Stonebridge
Park.
“My husband was running marathons
and half-marathons, and
[Graysen] loved to go watch,” Rebecca
said. “She always runs with
him to get his medal, so she’ll run
the last 75 feet or so, whatever she
can. So when [the Healthy Kids
Running Series] came up, it was
like, ‘This is yours; you can do this
for yourself,’ and she loved it.”
Greysen participated in the series’
inaugural year in Homer Glen
in 2017, winning her division in
the 50-yard dash. Children in prekindergarten
run the 50-yard dash,
while kindergartners and firstgraders
run a quarter of a mile.
Second- and-third-grade students
run a half mile, with the fourth- and
fifth-graders running a full mile.
The series is held twice a year in
the spring and fall. In 2017, there
were 130 children that participated
between both. Currently, approximately
70 children signed up for
this year’s spring series.
Parents can register their children
online at www.healthykids
runningseries.org/race_locations/
homer-glen-il-2. The cost is $35
for the series, or $10 per race.
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
HomerHorizon.com.
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
Police: Phone charger may have
caused house fire that killed man,
dog
A 69-year-old New Lenox resident
died Friday, April 6, following
a house fire on April 3 that took
place in the 2200 block of Sanford
Avenue in New Lenox.
Larry Crabb Sr. reportedly was
removed from the burning house
by his son, Larry Crabb Jr., and a
utility line worker, who was working
nearby. The family’s dog died
during the fire, according to New
Lenox Deputy Chief Louis Alessandrini.
The elder Crabb’s wife
was not home at the time of the incident,
Alessandrini added. Crabb
Sr. reportedly was taken to Silver
Cross Hospital and was later transferred
to Loyola Medical Center’s
Burn Center in Maywood.
Alessandrini said Crabb Jr. was
out to take the family’s other dog
to the vet and came back at around
9:30 a.m. to find that the house was
on fire. He solicited help from the
aforementioned utility line worker
to help save his dad. The tri-level
home sustained “extreme” damage
before it was extinguished by the
New Lenox Fire Protection District
and several other fire departments,
including Mokena, Frankfort, Orland
Park, Homer Glen and Lockport,
according to a press release
from the New Lenox Fire Protection
District.
Alessandrini said the cause of
the fire is still under investigation,
but he was told by detectives at the
scene that an off-brand phone charger
may have been the source of an
electrical fire.
Reporting by James Sanchez, Editor.
For more, visit NewLenoxPatriot.com.