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Far Northwest Side Year in Review: The Biggest Stories of 2015

By Heather Cherone | December 28, 2015 5:29am

FAR NORTHWEST SIDE — With elections that reshaped the political landscape and the announcement that two century-old Jefferson Park Catholic schools would close, 2015 was an eventful year on the Far Northwest Side.

Below is a list of some of the most notable moments.

Ald. Tim Cullerton (38th) holds a picture of his father, Ald. Thomas Cullerton, who represented the 38th Ward from 1973-93. [DNAinfo/Heather Cherone]

1. Elections Reshape Political Landscape
Across the Far Northwest Side, this year's elections ushered in a new era of political leadership. In the 38th Ward, Ald. Nicholas Sposato beat six other candidates to replace Ald. Tim Cullerton, whose retirement ended the 144-year history of his family on the Chicago City Council. In the 45th Ward, Ald. John Arena beat back a repeat challenge from Chicago Police Lt. John Garrido. In the 41st Ward, Ald. Mary O'Connor lost her bid for re-election, despite the backing of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, to former firefighter Anthony Napolitano, who was elected with the help of the Chicago Republican Party. Napolitano was the only Far Northwest Side alderman to vote against Emanuel's 2016 budget, which included the largest property tax hike in Chicago's history. But in the 39th Ward, Ald. Margaret Laurino staved off a challenge that would have ended her family's 50-year reign on the Northwest Side.

A map from 1968 shows the six-acre cemetery which could be disrupted by the rebuilding of Oak Park Avenue. [Northwest Chicago Historical Society/Matt Schademann(l.); DNAinfo/Heather Cherone]

2. Discovery of Human Remains Delays Roadwork
In August, city crews discovered bodies buried in a long-forgotten Dunning cemetery underneath Oak Park Avenue, putting an indefinite hold on plans to rebuild the roadway. DNAinfo Chicago first reported in April that as many as 10,000 bodies could be buried under what is now Oak Park Avenue in a six-acre cemetery on the grounds, based on the work of Barry Fleig, the former cemetery chairman of the Chicago Genealogical Society. The road cuts through what is now the heart of Dunning, but was once the grounds of a Cook County poorhouse and later an asylum for mentally ill men and women. The cemetery holds the remains of Chicago's poorest and sickest residents who died between 1890 and 1912. The discovery of human remains could also complicate plans to build a multisport athletic field on the property, where many residents also want to see a new high school built.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel [c.] celebrates a ceremonial ribbon cutting with Secretary of State Jesse White, former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood [l.] and Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans. [DNAinfo/Heather Cherone]

3. New Runway at O'Hare Opens — and Jet Noise Complaints Continue to Soar
Mayor Rahm Emanuel celebrated the opening of the latest east-west runway at O'Hare Airport in October, but it did little to quiet complaints from Northwest Side residents angry about the hundreds of planes flying over their homes every day. That anger intensified when city aviation officials closed the diagonal runway on the east side of the airport, despite objections from residents who said it is the only way to reduce jet noise over the Northwest Side. Instead, city officials said they would develop a plan — which is still in the works — to rotate the runways used at night in an effort to spread out the noise that many residents say keeps them from getting a good night's sleep. However, the leading anti-O'Hare noise group said that solution would offer only limited relief.

Many Prussing parents waved signs and placards denouncing CPS' response to the carbon monoxide leak at the Jefferson Park school throughout the meeting. [DNAinfo/Heather Cherone]

4. Prussing Elementary School's Faulty Boiler Sickens 80 Students; Prompts Citywide Changes
Parents of students at Prussing Elementary School on Oct. 30 lived their worst nightmare when the Jefferson Park school's boiler malfunctioned, flooding the school with carbon monoxide gas, sickening nearly 80 students and nine teachers. Although Chicago Public Schools officials initially rejected demands from parents that the heating system be replaced, district officials changed their minds after CEO Forrest Claypool attended a meeting filled with angry parents. In addition, the district installed 5,900 new carbon monoxide detectors at schools throughout the city. When the boiler at Prussing malfunctioned, the school building had no carbon monoxide detectors, which are not required by state law or city ordinance.

The newly created regional academy that will merge the schools of four Far Northwest Side Catholic churches will be named for Pope Francis, Archbishop Blase Cupich said. [DNAinfo/Heather Cherone]

5. Archdiocese Announces Closure of Two 100-Year-Old Northwest Side Catholic Schools; To Be Replaced by Pope Francis Global Academy

The Archbishop Blase Cupich announced in November that Chicago will be home to the first Catholic elementary school named after Pope Francis. The pontiff's namesake school will merge the schools of four Far Northwest Side Catholic churches in an effort to reinvent parochial education in a time of declining enrollment and massive budget deficits. Cupich has said a regional approach is needed to ensure the future of Catholic education in Chicago is "sustainable." The school buildings at Our Lady of Victory and St. Cornelius in Jefferson Park will close in June, after the 2015-16 school year. The future of those buildings — which have been home to students for 100 years each — is unclear. While announcing that the new Northwest Side regional Catholic school would be named for the pope, Cupich acknowledged that its opening of a new school would mean "the end of an era."

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