THE WEEK >
Meetings
Flossmoor School District 161 Board of Education will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, in Normandy Villa, 41 E. Elmwood Drive, Chicago Heights.
- Find the agenda here.
- Highlights: The meeting will begin with a Truth in Taxation public hearing on the proposed 2023 tax levy, which the board will consider approving following the hearing. The board will discuss the possibility of adding assistant principal positions at Flossmoor Hills and Heather Hill schools.
Flossmoor Board of Trustees will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, in village hall, 2800 Flossmoor Road.
- Find the agenda here.
- Attend virtually here or call 312-626-6799. Meeting ID 880 8968 1026, passcode 60422.
- Highlights: The board will hold a Truth in Taxation public hearing prior to voting on the proposed 2023-24 tax levy and will consider an ordinance replacing the section of the municipal code regarding administrative adjudication in order to include building code violations, nuisance abatements and non-moving vehicle code violations as enabled by a state law enacted this year. The village also will honor William Murphy on the occasion of his 100th birthday later this month.
Homewood-Flossmoor Park District Board of Commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the Goldberg Administration Center, 3301 Flossmoor Road, Flossmoor.
- Find the agenda here.
- Highlights: The board will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on the proposed 2023 levy and is expected to adopt the levy during the regular meeting. Also on the agenda is a proposal to replace the boiler at the H-F Ice Arena, and consideration of recreation fees and charges for 2024.
Stuff to do
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Community book swap. Flossmoor Public Library, 1000 Sterling Ave., will host an opportunity from 6:30 to 8 p.m. for anyone ages 18 and above to trade books. There will be catered appetizers. Registration is not required. Send questions to [email protected].
Wednesday, Dec. 6
Children’s theater actors. The Homewood-Flossmoor Park District children’s theater program will produce “The Reluctant Dragon.” Open to kids ages 8 to 12. Auditions will be from 6 to 7 p.m. on Dec. 6 in Irwin Community Center, 18120 Highland Ave. Rehearsals will be on Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. through Jan. 31 except Dec. 27. The performance will be on Feb. 2. The cost is $120 to $140.
Bike Ornament Craft Night. GoodSpeed Cycles, 2125 183rd St., Homewood, will host from 6 to 8:30 p.m. an opportunity to “create funky and fun holiday ornaments and decorations from old, discarded bike parts, or just dive right in following your own muse. GoodSpeed will provide the bike parts, glue guns and decorative crafty bits.” Event will include drinks and snacks. There will be a $10 per adult minimum donation to World Bicycle Relief. Kids welcome. RSVP.
Thursday, Dec. 7
Flossmoor Commons holiday open house. Members of the Flossmoor Business Association will hold open houses in the business center at Flossmoor Commons, 3235-3345 Vollmer Road, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Menorah lighting. Flossmoor will host a menorah lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. in front of Park Place in Flossmoor Park, 2449 Flossmoor Road. The ceremony celebrating Hanukkah will be conducted at 5 p.m. each day through Dec. 15.
Children’s theater stage crew. The Homewood-Flossmoor Park District children’s theater program will produce “The Reluctant Dragon.” Open to kids ages 8 to 12. Stage crew members will meet from 6 to 7 p.m. on Dec. 7 in Irwin Community Center, 18120 Highland Ave., and on Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. through Jan. 25 except Dec. 28. The performance will be on Feb. 2. The cost is $100 to $120.
Friday, Dec. 8
Kayla & Mara’s Toys for Tots hot chocolate sale. Kayla 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 proceeds from the sale to purchase toys for the Toys for Tots program.
Christmas Movie Trivia Night. Flossmoor Community Church will host an opportunity to test your knowledge of popular Christmas movies. The event will start at 7 p.m. in the Community House, 847 Hutchison Road, Flossmoor. Come as a formed team or as individuals. BYOB.
“Harvey.” The Drama Group presents “Harvey” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8 and 9, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10. Additional performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14, 15 and 16, with matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16, and Sunday, Dec. 17. All tickets are available at dg.booktix.com, or by calling 708-755-3444. Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for senior citizens and members of the military, and $19 for students.
Saturday, Dec. 9
Nanny Nikki. Flossmoor Public Library, 1000 Sterling Ave., will host a holiday musical performance by Nanny Nikki at 11 a.m.
HF Suzuki Strings. Musicians will perform holiday music in the atrium of Flossmoor Public Library, 1000 Sterling Ave., from 2 to 3 p.m.entertaining with a selection of songs.
Sunday, Dec. 10
Santa Claus is Coming to Puppy Town. Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery, 1035 Sterling Ave., will welcome families and their canine friends to a buffet brunch from 8 to 11 a.m. Photos with Santa. Raffle with proceeds benefiting the South Suburban Humane Society. RSVP by calling 708-957-2739.
News & Notices
A newspaper saved. The great contraction of the newspaper business almost claimed another victim, but a dedicated teacher and a small group of students saved the day. The Lansing Journal reported on Nov. 28 that the TF South High School paper, the Thorntonian, might have expired this year when only one student signed up for the advanced journalism class that produces the paper. The class’s new teacher helped turn things around.
Day of Service projects. Flossmoor is inviting local businesses, non-profits, volunteer groups, neighborhood clubs and associations, friends and neighbors to host a project for the village’s 10th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 15. Make a suggestion for a volunteer project through this online form, or contact Stephanie Wright at 708-335-5472 or [email protected].
Heating bill help. The Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County can help income-eligible households in the area apply for LIHEAP assistance with heating and electric bills. Visit www.CEDAorg.net/Bills for more information or call 800-571-2332.
< THE WEEK
- H-F’s remodeling, building projects are on schedule (Nov. 26).
- County treasurer unveils online tool that shows where property tax dollars go as Dec. 1 tax due date looms (Nov. 28).
- Homewood trustees honor Misner, Deenik for service (Nov. 28).
- Flossmoor seeks projects and volunteers for MLK Day of Service (Nov. 29).
- 54 H-F High seniors named Illinois State Scholars (Nov. 30).
- Ink-N-Um Tattoos celebrates its grand opening in Southgate Shopping Center (Dec. 1)
- Big win in home, conference opener for H-F boys hoops (Dec. 2).
- Flossmoor celebrates the season (Dec. 2).
- Army reservists recycle boots for those in need (Dec. 2).
READER RESPONSE
A regional response to traffic safety issues, which I proposed in my October Page 2 column, has another detractor. Steve Buchtel, who knows a lot more about transportation policy than I do, had this to say:
Eric, you wrote in a comment on traffic safety that you thought safer transportation in Homewood would require a regional approach.
This is a cop out. Traffic safety is best tackled locally. A speeder eastbound on 183rd from Hazel Crest is going to have to slow down when 183rd Street drops from 4 through-lanes to two east of Dixie. That is a local solution.
There is so much more Homewood can do to protect people. Everything Hoboken has done to eliminate traffic deaths, Homewood can do.
Except bike share. But everything else!
Steve sent along a link to an article in Jalopnik (“a news and opinion website about cars, the automotive industry, racing, transportation, airplanes, technology, motorcycles and much more”) about a Hoboken, New Jersey, program to improve traffic safety. According to the main metric — how many people have died — the program seems to be a huge success. No one has died in a traffic accident in the city since 2017.
According to the article, “The plan boils down to a few simple changes in the tiny city on the Hudson; lower speed limits, protected bike lanes, improved crosswalks, and curb extensions. That’s it. Some signs, a bit of paint, and some concrete curbing has completely slashed road deaths in the city to zero.”
The article credit’s the city’s mayor, Ravi Bhalla, with fully committing to a “Vision Zero” approach to traffic safety. The cumulative result of implementing various relatively small changes has been fewer cars, more bikes and less speeding.
The Vision Zero website notes that the effects of traffic problems go beyond injuries and deaths in crashes. “Because so many fear for their safety on our streets, there is no true freedom of mobility, and, as a result, we compromise our public health with increasing rates of sedentary diseases and higher carbon emissions.”
Vision Zero flips the script on what it characterizes as traditional approaches to traffic safety: deaths are inevitable, safety is expensive and the goal should be to improve human behavior. Instead, Vision Zero suggests that deaths are preventable, costs can be kept low and human failings should be accounted for in the system.
I was struck by that last idea. I once thought improving traffic safety could use an approach similar to anti-smoking campaigns, which were fairly successful but took generations to achieve. If retraining humans is hard, slow and expensive, maybe a system that improves safety without trying to rewire the human brain is a better way to go.
Bad driving has certainly resisted our efforts so far.
I was leafing through Jim Wright’s book, “Homewood Through the Years” the other day and came across a mention of the community’s early misadventures with automobiles. The first car in Homewood was a 1908 model purchased by Dr. William Doepp II. By the teens, cars had become a problem, as Wright notes on pages 123-124.
“Frequently, motorists using the Dixie Highway sped through town with little regard to the citizenry.”
Village officials responded by installing a four-way stoplight at the center of the Dixie Highway/Main Street (now Ridge Road) intersection in August 1917.
“By the end of the year, the wooden post for the light had been struck so many times it had to be replaced, and the new light was mounted on a concrete base to prevent further damage. Curiously, a man named Howard Baxter of Kalamazoo, Michigan, even tried to recover $1,000 from the village for damages done to his car after he hit the post in October 1917. Rightfully, the village refused to pay.”
After 106 years, quite a few of us still drive like that.