Samuel Lisec

Robert Fitzpatrick was raised around barbecue. It was his father’s trade for 53 years. As the pitmaster of a barbecue joint he owned and operated outside of Dallas, Fitzpatrick’s father regularly cooked and smoked cuts of beef brisket, pork rib and chicken breast over logs of hickory until he finally retired in 2004. Fitzpatrick went […]

“It is the year 2000. Last weekend there was a Peace and Harmony Rally at Niles West High School. It was in response to a Ku Klux Klan demonstration. It was wonderful to see so many community members come together and discuss the value of one another and to celebrate their differences.” Those were words […]

A new bandshell and all-accessible playground. Outdoor restrooms, walking paths, lighted soccer and cricket fields. A field house with two golf simulators, and a gymnasium for pickleball and basketball courts. These are just some of the facilities the Skokie Park District hopes to build by issuing $53 million in bonds in what would be the […]

Joaquin and Patricia Mejia began renting out rooms in their house after they became empty nesters in 2013. The “Skevanston” couple, who live in a portion of an Evanston zip code governed by Skokie, figured the extra income they gained from Airbnb could help during retirement. More than a decade and 600 bookings later, the […]

Somewhere in the Chicago Transit Authority’s records, there reportedly exists a study on the viability of extending the Yellow Line train route farther into Skokie. The CTA is now “dusting that (study) off” to better understand opportunities and challenges for extending the rail line; though actually implementing an extension would take years, maybe even decades, […]

In 2025, Prospect Heights collected more than $390,00. Morton Grove reaped more than $442,000. Wheeling secured more than $679,000, and Niles has pulled in more than $1 million. Skokie presumably stands to benefit from a surge of new revenue within that range each year if it were to permit video gaming terminals, or electronic slot […]

Standing onstage before a crowded audience in the Skokie Public Library this spring, members of Orchard Village’s theater program sang about Chicago, acted out riding the bus, and waved ribbons to simulate fireworks bursting over Navy Pier. The show was the latest performance put on by the local nonprofit that provides support for individuals with […]

A recent audit of Skokie School District 73.5 revealed its system for tracking students with disabilities produces inaccurate records and its lack of written special education plans may break the law. Yet parents of D73.5 students with disabilities — many of whom advocated for the audit after alleging the district was responsible for a pattern […]

We open on a crowded Jeep rolling to a curbside stop in Skokie as Daniel Biss, wearing a red bandana, safari hat and aviator sunglasses, looks out with a stunned affect. The Democratic candidate for Congress (IL-9th) nudges Kat Abughazaleh, his former opponent in that race’s primary, and the camera pans to Niles Township’s brand […]

A Yellow Line train struck a car in downtown Skokie on Tuesday afternoon that had ignored railroad crossing signals and driven onto the tracks, a spokesperson for the Village of Skokie said. No one was reported injured, officials said. Skokie emergency personnel responded to a collision involving a Chicago Transit Authority train on the Yellow […]