This week was a doozy. Between a full day of internal meetings last Wednesday and a prescheduled day off on Monday, I not only posted five stories online yesterday but actually wrote them all yesterday, too, which isn’t how things usually go, but it did make me feel quite galvanized (and then quite tired).
The most meaningful story this, at least to me, is about the workday that the Olmsted Society had over the weekend at Riverside’s Scout Cabin. While the group has regular workdays throughout the year, this one had a special purpose: to memorialize Tom Guardi, who was a longtime member and wore different hats on the board throughout the years. Guardi’s friends and colleagues said he went to every workday he could, so it only felt like the right way to remember him.
Elsewhere, we have an update on Robert Held, the lawyer and activist an ICE agent pushed to the ground in December at a Brookfield gas station. Yesterday, Held filed a lawsuit against the village of Broadview as well as its mayor and police chief, saying they’re unlawfully restricting where he and others can protest outside of the ICE detention facility on Beach Street.
Closer to home, Riverside had an announcement related to the Groveland Floodwall project, with the United States Army Corps of Engineers agreeing to pony up $5 million in additional federal funding for the project. In Brookfield, a new resale store near Eight Corners is dedicating its profits to benefit BEDS Plus, increasing regional access to housing and food for people who have guarantees of neither.
I hope you’re all staying as cool as physically possible in the horrible heat Chicagoland has found itself in this week!
Stella Brown
Staff Reporter
The Lead
Olmsted Society remembers Tom Guardi
Members of the Olmsted Society of Riverside took to the Scout Cabin this past weekend to memorialize one of their own.
From 9 a.m. to noon, volunteers dug holes, removed weeds and shoveled wood chips in memory of Tom Guardi, a member of the group for more than two decades and an active board member. Guardi, 78, died July 13 from pancreatic cancer.
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Army Corps coughs up $5 million more for floodwall
Riverside’s ongoing project to bring a floodwall to Groveland Avenue is getting a massive boost in federal funding.
Robert Held, battered by an ICE agent, sues Broadview
Robert Held, who was pushed to the ground by ICE agent Adam Saracco in December 2025 at a gas station in Brookfield, filed a lawsuit against the village of Broadview to prevent it from enforcing a designated protest zone outside the federal detention facility in that community.
Brookfield resale shop benefits BEDS Plus
A resale shop in Brookfield is dedicating its revenues to BEDS Plus, the LaGrange-based nonprofit fighting homelessness.
Riverside begins 2027 budget review
Riverside officials are considering the village’s capital improvement plan for 2027 ahead of the official budget process.
D96 community forum to help identify new superintendent characteristics
Community members will have multiple methods of providing feedback regarding the search for a new superintendent for Riverside School District 96. This will be current superintendent Dr. Martha Ryan-Toye’s final school year as superintendent, after more than a decade at the helm. The board of education is working with BWP & Associates, Ltd., in Libertyville […]
Boutique gift shop opens in Riverside
A one-stop shop for all your gifting needs is now open for business in downtown Riverside: June & Lark at 39 E. Burlington St.
Trial date set for ‘Jane Doe’ case against RB and retired teacher
A trial date has been set for a lawsuit alleging that former RBTV director Gary Prokes groomed and sexually abused a Riverside Brookfield High School student, and that school officials failed to act on warning signs. The case against both Prokes and RBHS District 208 will proceed to trial in April 2027.
Sports
🏅 RB youth gymnasts Jacobucci, Coffelt capture AAU JO titles
⚽ Bulldogs’ returnees learned from close 2025 contests
🎾 Bulldogs determined to net another UEC East tennis title
🏈 Bulldogs offense finds groove in win over Hinsdale South
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