Mike Nolan

4 days ago | chicagotribune.com | Mike Nolan |Samantha Moilanen

Dolton residents and officials say they hope a hometown hero elected pope will go a long way toward reversing the village’s tarnished image. Dan Lee, a longtime Dolton resident, said Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, brings a new-found pride. Lee has lived in the community since 1989. “This is a 180-degree turn from what we’re used to,” Lee said Friday.

5 days ago | chicagotribune.com | Mike Nolan

Tinley Park has joined the ever-growing number of Illinois towns adopting their own grocery sales tax with the state tax due to expire at the start of 2026. The village estimates the elimination of the 1% state tax would cost the village about $3 million annually in lost revenue. The Village Board voted Tuesday to approve the 1% tax, which will take effect Jan. 1. Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill last year repealing the state’s 1% grocery tax, saying it hit poorer families harder.

6 days ago | chicagotribune.com | Mike Nolan

Fresh off of the swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Jason House, the Dolton Village Board has approved several new appointments Wednesday, including cutting ties with the village administrator and bringing on a chief of staff. The board also agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a 2023 police shooting that resulted in a man’s death. The board also appointed a new public works director and hiring a public relations firm and media director.

1 week ago | chicagotribune.com | Mike Nolan

A handful of residents from unincorporated Orland Township came out Wednesday to a Cook County zoning hearing to oppose a proposed vehicle repossession business. The business is proposed for property at 17101 S. Wolf Road in unincorporated Orland Township. Asset Biz Corp. officials said the lot would have the capacity of nearly 300 vehicles, and would receive 25 to 30 cars daily. The company has similar lots in Crestwood and Lyons.

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Mike Nolan

As they consider a budget for the 2026 fiscal year, officials with the Tinley Park-Park District are working to estimate how much more state money they’ll need to complete a cleanup of formerly state-owned land. The 280-acre property, northwest of Harlem Avenue and 183rd Street, encompasses the shuttered mental health hospital and adjacent Howe Developmental Center. The Park District initially plans to redevelop 90 acres of the Howe center. The hospital closed in 2012.