Oak Park's village board was split across ideological and gender lines during its heated, emotional and, at times, tearful discussion on Jan. 19 of whether to include on the April 6 ballot a non-binding but controversial referendum: "Shall the village of Oak Park defund its police department?" 

Oak Park resident Sheila Nix has been appointed chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Education's secretary in the Biden-Harris presidential administration. 

Oak Park Public Library has announced that the lobby and parking garage of its main branch, 834 Lake St., will reopen with a limited schedule for returns and holds pickups Friday, Jan. 22. All staff areas have been disinfected and all library teams have completed quarantines.

The Oak Park Public Health Department has not yet progressed into the second phase of the state's multi-phased COVID-19 vaccination allocation program.

In the past year, the locus of power in the Illinois General Assembly has moved from the city of Chicago to the near west suburbs. 

In the early months of the pandemic Jimmy Chen, owner of Poke Burrito, did not know if his restaurant would survive.