This Just In | St. Joe's Sold, Starbucks Workers Walk Out And An Unlikely Mayor Gets To Work
The old Westchester high school was sold to West 40, a local education agency
West 40 buys St. Joe’s
St. Joe’s High School in Westchester, which recently sold to West 40. | File
The former St. Joe’s High School, 10900 W. Cermak Rd. in Westchester, has been sold to the West 40 Intermediate Service Center, one of the state’s networks of regional education agencies.
Acting Westchester Village Manager Dawn Wucki-Rossbach confirmed the sale in a statement released Friday. She said the property’s owner, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, sold the site to West 40. She did not disclose the price of the transaction and no one from West 40 or the Bishops’ conference was available for comment on Friday afternoon.
Wucki-Rossbach said the village and West 40 will meet next week to discuss plans for the property. West 40’s acquisition of the high school comes a year after they bought the old Lexington Elementary School in Maywood. The agency houses programming for at-risk students and professional learning activities for teachers, among other things, in the Maywood space. It’s unclear what they plan to do with the Westchester high school site.
Workers at area Starbucks picket Friday
At least one Starbucks in the near west suburbs opened without workers today. Employees at the Starbucks at 711 Lake St. in Oak Park instead took to the picket lines in solidarity with workers attempting to unionize.
There was a lot leading up to the Friday action, some of which you can read about here. Meanwhile, read here for details on the slew of union-busting allegations lodged against the coffee chain. And click here to read a recent complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board complaint against Starbucks.
Westchester Mayor Greg Hribal takes office after an improbable write-in campaign
The new Westchester village board at its first meeting in office on May 9. | Westchester/Facebook
Greg Hribal, the newest Westchester village president, officially took office on May 9. Hribal, a 30-year employee of Westchester who retired last year after a stint as acting village manager, ran as a write-in candidate.
Hribal said as soon as he was certain of his election victory, he started working, namely meeting with other elected officials to help secure money and resources for the village.
“As soon as I found out that I was certified, I began, I went right to work,” Hribal said. “I went to Springfield and spoke to several legislators and their staff.”
New Westchester Trustees Gia Marie Benline, Victoria Vann and Peter Marzano, and new Clerk Sophia Collins were also sworn into office.
You can see the video of the May 9 meeting here.