It’s spring in our backyard and that’s always cause for joy and hope. All of our trees are heavily budded and pregnant with the possibilities of leaves, seeds, flowers — a once-a-year treat for the human senses. Buds on the maple are bursting into tiny whirly seeds. On our[Read More…]
Opinion
Commentary: Why blackface carries the weight of history
One common theme in the community reaction to the recent blackface incident — four Homewood-Flossmoor High School students who posted a video online of themselves in blackface — was that this is a teachable moment. It sure is. One thing I’m learning is why blackface is so offensive. Almost everyone[Read More…]
Column: Nuances of nationalism, illusion of diversity must be faced in H-F
I was still half-asleep, and fully-cursing the rising sun when national headlines of Homewood Flossmoor High School students in blackface came across my screen. I wish I could say that the news of suburban white boys painting their faces black left me anything more than disappointed. I wish I could[Read More…]
Hobo Night crowd misses stories by Hobo Joe
Hobo Night in Homewood on Oct. 13 was the first without Hobo Joe, aka Joe Krol. Krol died Sept. 2 at age 75. He had been a mainstay and driving force for the Hobo Night event since 2009. He was appointed to the village Rail Committee in 2004, according[Read More…]
After four years of the Chronicle, and looking toward the future
A couple of years ago, I went to a wedding and, as is often the case, was seated at dinner next to someone I’d never met before. He seemed like a nice enough guy and said he was from somewhere in the Wheaton area. I told him I lived in[Read More…]
Page 2: Youngsters pitch ideas for redeveloping former Brunswick Zone building
The former Brunswick Zone bowling alley has been vacant since January 2015, but another section of the building is still occupied, so the property doesn’t count as vacant for the purposes of using redevelopment tools. (Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle) Maggie Gosselin’s twin sons have identified a problem. Most entertainment options for[Read More…]
The places that make Homewood Homewood
Local history is one of those things, like air, that is all around us every day, shaping our lives without being noticed much. It’s more likely to be noticed when a bit of it goes missing, like the death of a community leader or loss of a cherished building. Or,[Read More…]
Russ Bensley is still a newsman
He’s still a newsman. When I interviewed Russ Bensley at the start of November, he detailed his years as a senior producer for CBS News during what is generally considered the golden age of broadcast journalism. Bensley, who lives in Flossmoor, was the producer of the “CBS Evening News” when[Read More…]
Facts? We don’t need no stinkin’ facts. Fake news is here.
Did you hear about the Chicago White Sox winning the 2016 World Series? It’s true. And how about that rocket-powered Metra train that that, at a slick 120 mph, will get Homewood-Flossmoor area commuters to downtown Chicago in 10 minutes flat. I hear the rocket trains will be ready to[Read More…]
Plodding along as the electoral roller coaster spins out of control
I come from a family of plodders. My father, Arthur Houlihan, was one of eight kids who grew up above a saloon on Chicago’s South Side. His father, an Irish immigrant, worked as a laborer for the street railway before marrying my grandmother, who inherited the saloon from her uncle.[Read More…]
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