PHOTOS: 14th Annual Benton Drive Chili Cook-off

For 14 years, the neighbors on Benton Drive in Frankfort Square have put their chili to the test.

It was Super Bowl Sunday 14 years ago. A group of neighbors living on or near Benton Drive in Frankfort Square gathered to watch the Denver Broncos take on the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII. One of the neighbors lamented that the Village of Frankfort was holding its annual chili cook-off that same day. "We should have our own chili cook-off," chimed in Ken Bucyk. One thing led to another and the Benton Drive Chili Cook-Off was born. More than a decade later, the event has taken on a life of its own. At the end of September or beginning of October, the previous year's winner plays host, which amounts to providing tables and electricity for the dozen or so crockpots that show up holding chili entries from neighbors. "We have had …

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Photo Gallery: Lincoln-Way North Homecoming Parade

Lincoln-Way North High School continued its Homecoming Week tradition with its annual parade through the community on Sunday.

Lincoln-Way North High School kicked off its annual Homecoming Week on Sunday afternoon with a parade through the Frankfort Square community. Hundreds of student athletes, academic teams, marching bands, elected officials and community organizations marched. Other participants were the Frankfort Square Wildcats Football Association, the Summit Hill Junior High School Marching Band, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and the Frankfort Jaycees. The Phoenix will play Thornridge High School in the Homecoming game Friday night.   Get News Alerts and Facebook Updates From These Patch Sites:

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DeVry University Tinley Park Campus-Community Outreach

9:06 am on Monday, October 1, 2012

Nice Job L-W North!   more ›

Fire Leaves Frankfort Square Woman Looking for New Home

Cindy Williams is looking for a place to stay after her minivan caught fire in the garage of the home she was renting on Hickory Creek Road.

With her belongings stacked next to her in four beat-up, cardboard boxes, Cindy Williams, her face soot-covered, sat on her front stoop Monday evening and held her cell phone in the air, exasperated that her phone lost its charge while she was talking with her insurance agent. "Now my cell phone's dead! Can you believe it?" she said. That minor inconvenience, though, underscored the larger tragedy of Williams' evening after her minivan caught fire in the garage of the Frankfort Square house she was renting, leaving her without a place to stay. READ: State, County and Local Fire Officials Investigate 3 Possible Arsons Williams said an electrical short in her 2004 Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan caused the blaze, which spread to the garage and…

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Pistol, Ammo Stolen in String of Possibly Related Car Break-Ins

Will County Sheriff's deputies are investigating a series of thefts from vehicles last week in Frankfort Square.

Will County Sheriff's deputies are investigating a string of possibly related vehicle burglaries that happen within a mile of one another in Frankfort Square, according to reports.  Three of the burglaries occurred in the 20000 block of South Acorn Ridge, and the remaining two were in the 7700 blocks of West Grovewood Lane and West Ivy Court. The crimes took place between the night of Thursday, Sept. 23, and the early morning of Friday, Sept. 24, said sheriff's spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer. Although there was no direct evidence at the crime scenes linking the burglaries, deputies are assuming they were related, Hoffmeyer said. In the West Grovewood Lane incident, a .25-caliber Beretta, including the pistol's magazine and six rounds of …

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Indiana Man Faces Sentencing for 2010 Frankfort Square Standoff

Richard Petrick could receive up to 35 years in prison after forcing his way into his ex-girlfriend's house and holding off sheriff's deputies with a gun.

An Indiana man who held off Will County Sheriff's deputies with a gun in Frankfort Square last year faces sentencing Wednesday, according to a press release from the Will County State's Attorney Office. Richard Petrick, of Merrillville, Ind., pleaded guilty in April to felony aggravated stalking, home invasion and aggravated assault charges after he forced his way into his former girlfriend's house in 2010. During the standoff with deputies, Petrick was shot in the eye. Petrick faces up to 35 years in prison.

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Thousands Lose Power in Tinley Park, Frankfort Square

A power outage knocked out electricity in Tinley Park and Frankfort Square from Interstate 80 south to St. Francis Road and from Harlem Avenue to 80th Avenue.

A power outage believed to be related to a powerful storm front that rolled through the Interstate 80 corridor about 8 p.m. last night left thousands of residents and businesses in the dark until power was restored shortly after 1 a.m. this morning. Emergency sirens sounded for a few minutes about 8:30 p.m. in the Frankfort Square area near Lincoln-Way North High School as high winds buffeted the area and lightning lit up the skies. Lights along Harlem Avenue were out from just north of Interstate 80 south to at least St. Francis Road. All of the store inside the Brookside Marketplace at 191st Street and Harlem, including Target, Best Buy and  Kohl's, were dark and emergency vehicles had flares in the roadway at the intersection. Nearby …

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Frankfort Township Set for New 25 MPH Speed Limit

After approval from the Will County Board, township highway department ready to drop speed limit to 25 miles per hour on many township streets.

Frankfort Township is about to see a reduction in the speed limit on several streets to 25 miles per hour. New speed limit signs could be seen sometime in the next six weeks. Cory Singer (R-District 1) said the drop in the township speed limit came about after a county study of traffic conditions and patterns by IDOT and the U.S. Department of Transportation. “At the request of the township, there were speed studies done on a number of roads,” Singer said. “The studies showed that we should lower the limits on those roads.” Although township roads are owned and maintained by the township, the county oversees speed limits. The Will County Board approved the change for County Districts 1 and 2 on May 19. Frankfort Township Highway …

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Parenting Parley

The Homeschool Trend

Is homeschooling the answer to dissatisfaction in institutionalized education?

Jennifer Woods told me over the phone that as she sat down to dinner with her family the other night, she asked her children what they thought she should say when I would inevitably ask her why they homeschooled. Her 15-year-old son, who attends two classes, band and choir at Lincoln-Way North, told her to tell me it's because there's no one to monitor the vulgar language at the schools. “You might label us as a functionally conservative family,” she said. Conservative I am unabashedly not, nor am I accustomed to teenagers who do not revel in, or experiment with, freedom to use with their peers slapdash colloquialisms at inappropriate times. But to label, I try not. I do not believe it's my right to dictate to another parent what, when or …

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Big Community Crowd Turns Out for Family Faire

Neighborhood, school and church organizations entertain families at celebration.

Even though Saturday's Family Faire was spread out between the Lincoln-Way East High School cafeteria and gym, crowds were thick, and it was getting cozy in the aisles and in front of the stage, where youth and professionals entertained. Thirty-six businesses, community organizations and churches manned activity booths, offering information to parents and games and crafts for the kids. "It's a great turnout," said Lauren Lotz, the communications and marketing supervisor for the New Lenox Park District. "We've got a lot of new entertainment this year and a lot of interesting stuff happening. It's going really well so far." At 10:30 am Saturday, Lotz said she estimated that the fair crowd had already reached 700 to 800 people in attendance. …

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Tony's Villa Rosa Pizzeria Is a Family Affair

Joe Disabato has been making pizzas since arriving in the United States from Italy in 1973.

It's definitely a family affair at Tony's Villa Rosa Pizzeria in Frankfort Square, Mokena and Chicago Heights. Family patriarch Joe Disabato has been flipping pizza dough since 1974 when he opened La Pergola at 63rd Street and Narragansett Avenue in Chicago less than a year after arriving in this country from his native Italy. He closed La Pergola in 1982 when he opened the first Villa Rosa at 82nd Street and Kedzie Avenue in Chicago. That one closed in 1996 but he had already expanded to Chicago Heights in 1990. A couple of years ago, Disabato converted his Lucia La Pergola restaurant in Chicago Heights to the 525 Grill and Bar, which also is a Tony's Villa Rosa location. Six months ago, Disabato expanded again taking over a storefront at…

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