Week →

The Homewood School District 153 Board of Education will meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15, in the the James Hart School wood floor gym, 18220 Morgan St. in Homewood. 

• The meeting agenda can be found here.
• Highlights: The meeting will begin with a presentation on the proposed property tax increase that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. The Chronicle has posted two stories on the issue, one on July 12 and one on Aug. 13. The board will also consider proposals from two engineering firms for work on Willow School.

The Flossmoor Board of Trustees will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15, in village hall at 2800 Flossmoor Road and by videoconference. 

• The meeting agenda can be found here.
• Highlight: The board will consider a recommendation from the Flossmoor Public Art Commission to approve the installation of a sculpture from artist Sam Spiczka on the east side of Flossmoor Public Library.

The Homewood-Flossmoor School District 233 Board of Education will meet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16, in the library of the South Building at 999 Kedzie Ave. in Flossmoor. 

• The meeting agenda can be found here.
•  Highlights: The board will consider an intergovernmental agreement with Flossmoor School District 161 to share student records and information. 

The Homewood Public Library Board of Trustees will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17, in the large meeting room at the library, 17917 Dixie Highway.

• The meeting agenda can be found here.
• Highlights: New business will include meeting room policies, off-site program offerings and strategic planning/community surveys.

Skating all weekend

• The Chicago Knockouts Roller Derby presents the Horrific Haunters vs. Punk Rock Punishers at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, in Homewood Auditorium, 2010 Chestnut Road, Homewood. 
• For ticket information, click here.
• Roller skating lessons from the Free-Wheeling team returns on Sunday, Aug. 21. Skates provided. Click here to register for classes.

← Week

Pop-up newsrooom
Marilyn Thomas, Randall Weissman, Carole Sharwarko and I had a great time at the Homewood Farmers Market on Saturday, Aug. 13. We got to chat with a number of readers, heard some good ideas, heard a couple of complaints and learned some specifics about mail delivery problems.

We were especially interested in hearing whether people are receiving the Chronicle regularly. Some do, but there are areas in Homewood and Flossmoor that seem to get missed quite often. We took notes so we can provide a report to the new postmaster for our area and see what can be done to make delivery more consistent.

One complaint was about the Chronicle’s practice of sharing the monthly print edition at no cost to readers but charging a subscription fee for full access to most stories on the website. I get it. It might seem counterintuitive, especially to folks who remember the early days of newspapers moving online.

Quite a few papers gave away content online while continuing to charge for print subscriptions. I think consensus these days is that approach was a mistake.

Mailing a copy of each edition to every residential carrier route in Homewood and Flossmoor helps us meet two goals: We believe everyone in our community should have access to local news, and print is actually better than digital tools in that regard because no equipment is required of readers, and the broad reach increases the value to advertisers.

Subscribers to our website are members of the Reporter Supporters Club, a name that underlines the purpose of increasing reader revenue. It helps us do a more thorough job of covering our community. Advertising alone does not cover all our costs for production, mailing, services and staff.

The more subscribers we have, the better your newspaper will be. Please help spread the word and encourage friends and family to sign up. 

Thank you to everyone who stopped to chat!

Signs of change

A number of new businesses are in various stages of preparation for opening their doors in Homewood. Here’s a glimpse of the signs that change is coming to the local business scene.

Also, we mentioned last week that the Homewood Planning and Zoning Commission would consider a plan for new businesses in the former Discount Tire location at 810 Maple Ave. According to Economic Development Director Angela Mesaros, the commission approved the plan with recommendations that the business owner seek access to additional parking. 

The plan calls for the former tire shop to be converted to two retail businesses, probably a beauty supply store and a tobacco shop. The site does not have enough parking spots to meet village requirements for those uses, but there is ample parking in the area, Mesaros said. The plan goes next to the Board of Trustees.

What do you think?

This is the newsletter formerly known as “Here First.” For a few months in late 2021, early 2022, we ran the more-or-less weekly post with lists of upcoming local government meetings and events; local, regional and state news briefs; and a look at the biggest stories from the previous week.

The new name is intended to better reflect the look forward/look back format. We’d be interested in your views on the project. Is it something you like reading? Do you have suggestions for improving it? Would it increase or decrease the likelihood you would pay for a subscription to the Chronicle? To help us shape the newsletter, please take our survey.

To help you make up your mind, we’ve made several past issues available for free. The news is old, but the old posts will give you an idea where we’ve been. You can help us decide where we go from here.

• Here First | April 8 (free)
• Here First | April 1 (free)
• Here First | March 25 (free)
• The Weeks | Aug. 7 (free)