Riverside-Brookfield Landmark

09/11/2026

“I can remember exactly what I was doing 25 years ago. I got a call from my daughter, and I could tell from her voice there was something going on.”

That was Dale Michelic’s story, and most Americans have one: a story of where they were when they heard the news on Sept. 11, 2001, that planes had struck the World Trade Center in a terror attack that would claim the lives of nearly 3,000 people.

Michelic, the president of Brookfield’s Joshua Harris VFW Auxiliary Post 2868 shared his story in a speech given the morning of Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at a memorial event held at Veterans Memorial Park, at the intersections of Grand Boulevard and Sunnyside and Grant avenues, at 11 a.m.

Read more: https://www.rblandmark.com/2026/09/11/9-11-memorial-brookfield-vfw/

09/08/2026

As they begin their fourth varsity girls tennis seasons, Riverside Brookfield High School senior sisters Paige and Brooke Zavorski again will make big contributions in their own ways. The twins often practice with each other, but probably won’t play as a doubles team.

“I don’t know. (Paige) is just better at singles,” Brooke said.

The pair are among five returning starters for the Bulldogs, who have won back-to-back Upstate Eight Conference East Division championships and three straight conference titles counting their Metro Suburban Conference finale in 2023.
The Bulldogs’ new head coach is Elise Husemann, also the girls lacrosse varsity head coach.

“I just feel like it’s a pretty close community and we’re supportive of one another. It’s really easy to work with everyone,” Paige Zavorski said. “I feel like I’ve been working hard over the summer. My serving has gotten a lot better. I’ve made a lot of improvements from practicing.”

Read more: https://www.rblandmark.com/2026/09/01/bulldogs-determined-to-net-another-tennis-title/

09/07/2026

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.

Cindy Kellogg, one of the co-chairs of the Olmsted Society’s landscape committee, described Guardi as a quietly devoted member of the group.

“He came to all of our workdays, and I told you he loved digging up buckthorn,” Kellogg told the Landmark. “He was quiet, an accountant, so there you go. But he was so kind to everybody. He would just do things. If you said, ‘Oh, I need to think about taking that tree out,’ [he would say], ‘Well, you want it out? I’ll take it out,’ and it was out.”

Read more: https://www.rblandmark.com/2026/09/01/olmsted-society-remembers-tom-guardi/

09/07/2026

Riverside’s ongoing project to bring a floodwall to Groveland Avenue is getting a massive boost in federal funding.

Village Manager Jessica Frances on Aug. 20 announced the village will be receiving an additional $5 million in funding from the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the project due to an increase in the maximum amount of funding it can give.

“The village was notified by Army Corps that the cap for the federal contribution has now been increased from $10 million to $15 million,” Frances said before the village board. “That means the costs that we were seeing increase, that essentially the village would have to contribute less. If you recall the last budget we received, we were going to have to contribute in addition to [the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago].”

Read more: https://www.rblandmark.com/2026/09/01/floodwall-army-corps-5-million/

09/06/2026

For her recent birthday, Alex Jacobucci, of Brookfield, received quite a useful gift. She just recently earned three gold medals at Level 5 as one of four Riverside Brookfield age group gymnasts who competed at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics, Aug. 4-7, in Des Moines, Iowa.

“My aunt gave me a new medal display hanger so I plan to hang (the medals) in my bedroom. When I look at them, I am still shocked that these achievements are mine,” Jacobucci said. “This was my biggest achievement (in gymnastics). It surprised me to make it to Junior Olympics but it shocked me even more that I did as well as I did.”

Harper Coffelt of North Riverside, who won one title, Clara Giardini of Riverside and Bea Coyle of Brookfield also competed. Matilda Yanz of Riverside and Evelina Black of LaGrange Park also qualified via nationals, June 18-21 in Knoxville, Tennessee but did not compete.

Read more: https://www.rblandmark.com/2026/09/01/rb-youth-gymnasts-capture-aau-jo-titles/

09/05/2026

Senior defender Max Kaplan is among several returning Riverside Brookfield High School boys soccer players who learned plenty from the 2025 season. The Bulldogs suffered two one-goal regulation losses and three others decided on penalty kicks in finishing 5-13-2 overall and 0-4-2 in the Upstate Eight Conference East Division.

“We were competitive in a lot of games. I think that once we went down, we found ourselves in a hole mentally and we struggled to get back as a team,” Kaplan said. “This year we feel really strong and like we can compete in those games again and come out with a win.”

The Bulldogs already did that Saturday, outlasting Andrew in the consolation bracket of the Reavis Windy City Ram Classic, winning 7-6 on sudden-death penalty kicks to settle a 1-1 tie.

Read more: https://www.rblandmark.com/2026/09/01/bulldogs-returnees-learned-from-2025/

09/05/2026

While summer’s end is still on the horizon, it’s never too soon to start looking ahead. Riverside officials are doing just that as they consider the village’s capital improvement plan for 2027 ahead of the start of the official budget process for the year.

The capital plan has a total cost of about $11.2 million across all of the village’s funds, with about $7.5 million in the water and sewer fund, $1.78 million in the motor fuel tax fund and $1.5 million in street improvements.

A majority of the costs in the water and sewer fund, about $4 million, will be dedicated to leaded water service line replacements, though the project is dependent on Riverside obtaining zero-interest loan funding for the full $4 million price tag from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Village Manager Jessica Frances said on Aug. 20.

Read more: https://www.rblandmark.com/2026/09/01/budget-review-2027-riverside-begins/

09/05/2026

Brookfield police arrested a 25-year-old Chicago man on Aug. 17 for driving drunk.

Around 4 a.m., police responded to the intersection of 47th Street and Plainfield Road on a report of a suspicious automobile after dispatchers reported a silver Honda was parked on the side of the construction lane with a traffic horse under the car. At the scene, an officer observed a scene matching the report and initiated a traffic stop.

As they approached the car, which was still running, the officer observed two men sleeping in the driver and passenger seat and smelled a “strong odor” of alcohol. They also saw several open containers of alcohol within the vehicle. The officer reached into the car to place it into park and remove the keys from the ignition.

Read more:

Brookfield police arrested a 25-year-old Chicago man on Aug. 17 for driving drunk. Police reports from Aug. 17-24.

09/04/2026

A new resale shop in Brookfield is dedicating its revenues toward benefitting BEDS Plus, the LaGrange-based nonprofit fighting homelessness.

Budget Box Resale opened for business on Thursday, Aug. 20, at 3441 Grand Blvd. just off Eight Corners. The shop features second-hand treasures from clothing and jewelry to home goods, wall decor and the kind of lovely miscellanea you find in the bargain bin. The space is accessible through a side entrance rather than the front door.

Nancy Lisowski, the owner and operator of Budget Box and one of several vendors selling goods, said the store came about in the wake of the sale of the building where her business previously operated out of the LaGrange Park Antique Mall.

Read more: https://www.rblandmark.com/2026/08/28/resale-shop-brookfield-beds-plus/

09/04/2026

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 to identify, interview and hire Ryan-Toye’s replacement, ideally by January 2027.

A community forum is slated for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 8 in the Hauser Junior High School library, which will be in a roundtable format, according to Dave Barsotti, chair of the board of education’s personnel committee. Visitors should enter through Door H in the rear parking lot.

Read more:

D96 community forum to help identify new superintendent characteristics. Decision on who will replace Ryan-Toye should be announced in January