Original News, Features & Opinion on local and regional news you won't find anywhere else
Top 10 tips that help homeowners better understand their property taxes By Maria Pappas Homeowners have taught me a few things about property taxes while I have served as Cook County Treasurer. One lesson is that the property tax system is complicated. Many people unfamiliar with the process have told me that they wished there…
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Pekau builds re-election campaign on anti-Muslim bias By Ray Hanania (Originally published in the Southwest News Newspaper Group newpapers): True to his colors, Orland Park’s beleaguered Mayor Keith Pekau is turning to racism and community division to base his re-election campaign. In a recent letter to “supporters,” Pekau launched his campaign using the racist slogan,…
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Many good candidates on March 19 Democratic primary ballot By Ray Hanania I can’t support Congressman Sean Casten this time because he betrayed a campaign promise to maintain an open door on local issues. So, I would recommend a vote for Mahnoor Ahmed, who previously worked for former Congresswoman Marie Newman who was a phenomenal…
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Pappas: When it comes to voting on referendums, the few decide for the many By Maria Pappas If you’ve ever voted, you’ve probably seen one. It’s a referendum, usually asking you to approve some numbers. A referendum is a proposed law on a social or economic issue on which the people can vote, even as…
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Pappas: How a few voters control the fate of more than $1 billion in new spending Statement from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas This election season, voters throughout Cook County will decide whether to repair aging schools, improve a lake front beach, shut down a fire department and give local politicians new powers to tax….
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Garmin 67 W Dash Cam has serious App and installation issues Garmin’s 67 W Dash Cam is a waste of money that is difficult to use and not made for everyday people. The system has flaws. The Garmin App does not work. And there are no good instructions on how to use the system. An…
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Word of mouth helps homeowner get $6,805 refund for missed exemptions By Maria Pappas Word of mouth helped chef Gabriel Miranda of Hickory Hills obtain a $6,805 refund for missed homeowner exemptions. Miranda said he and his wife deposited the money into their savings account. Their monthly bills include private high school tuition for the…
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Lonely fathers need to take steps to end epidemic and provide good examples to their children By Jeffery M. Leving Male loneliness is a problem in this country that you may not have heard of but some experts are now calling it an epidemic and saying it is not only hazardous to mens health, it…
A tribute to Tom Skilling and all meteorologists in Chicagoland By Ray Hanania Meteorology, or the science of guessing the weather on television, has been an entertaining segment since humans began watching “tele-vision.” Oftentimes, the “weather reports” were the least frightening to handle, compared to the growing domination of crime news that has filled up…
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Hanania’s columns: Dune review, Pekau’s disrepect in Orland, #AbandonBiden and Best Middle East Bakeries By Ray Hanania My new syndicated column at www.Hanania.com or www.RayHanania.com has touched on a lot of topics this past week. I write four to six columns every week now, driven by what provokes my mind and I share them through…
Pay your property tax bill online to avoid risk of check-washing fraud By Maria Pappas As the March 1 due date approaches for Cook County property owners to pay their First Installment 2023 tax bills, I encourage people to pay online. It’s more convenient — and much safer. People who still pay their bills by…
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Senators address cyberbullying but avoid blaming parents Ray Hanania A bipartisan panel of Democrat and Republicans members of the U.S. Senate held a public hearing on Wednesday Jan. 31, 2024 in which they accused the owners of social media platforms not doing enough to prevent cyberbullying of children. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee found common…
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Right from the Middle: Real estate industry problems weaken Communist China By William O. Lipinski The enormous economic Red Dragon of the far East, the People’s Republic of China, that had plans to control all the countries on this planet because of its great economy has fallen victim to its own excesses. The world’s second…
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The battle for justice in the Chicago City Council, ceasefire and release the hostages Jan. 31 Posted are three columns looking at the hypocrisy of a Chicago aldermen who is more concerned about a foreign country, Israel, than with morality, principle or what’s best for the City of Chicago. The first column looks at the…
Democrats desperate to undermine Trump’s strong primary election polling leads The DNC tried to manipulate the primary election process that has been in place for the past 50 years to weaken Trump and strengthen his Republican rivals. It didn’t work By Ray Hanania Free/Sunday Jan. 28, 2024/ https://Hanania.substack.com In a vote on December 2, 2022,…
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Right from the Middle: Programs based on Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness undermine merit in America By William O. Lipinski “Diversity, Equity, Inclusive,” or DEI, is another program of Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination wrongly imposed upon American people. DEI has been around for about 25 years. But until the United States Supreme Court struck down…
Armed Oak Lawn teen championed by Arab Muslim activists arrested again An Arab American teenager arrested with a semi-automatic weapon was championed by his ethnic community, accusing the Oak Lawn Police of “racism.” Later, the same teenager was arrested again. By Ray Hanania An armed teenager who had a run-in with police in Oak Lawn…
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Illinois program lets senior citizens defer up to $7,500 per year in property taxes Your Property Taxes column with Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas By Maria Pappas Illinois offers senior citizens a property tax relief program that works like a loan. The Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral program allows qualifying seniors to defer up…
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