Palm Card Passers and Payments for Parents: Weekly Recap

Ah, the week that was. Chicago Heights Patch was all over the place last week, with stories about early voting and a multimillion-dollar education experiment.

In taking a look at the Griffin Early Childhood Center in Chicago Heights, we asked the question, "" Some readers had strong opinions on this topic. It's worth noting this story was also published to AOL News, where several other readers weighed in on the debate.

Last Monday a group from Ford Heights showed up at City Hall for . Seems perfectly normal, right? Wrong. According to officials and Chicago Heights residents, this group was just outside – and even inside – the council chambers, where voting was taking place.

Speaking of the council chambers, things got tense at the Chicago Heights City Council meeting, where alderman and mayoral candidate Joseph Faso voted "no" to on the City's annual Independence Day fireworks display.

This past Friday, we found another Remarkable Resident in . Dorothy lost her son, Allen Schindler Jr., 18 years ago when he was killed by Navy shipmates for being gay. Since then Dorothy has fought to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy in the military and was rewarded for her efforts when she saw it repealed.

Last, but certainly not least, we did follow-up stories about the shooting death of Marian Catholic graduate Hayley Pelock. Readers had a about Pelock's death and even though Patch has tried to find answers, there are still plenty more facts to uncover. The Chicago Heights Police Department gave us the of what allegedly happened in Ryan Fantasia's bedroom, but there are still lots of other questions to be answered.

So, are you bummed out yet? How about we leave this Weekly Recap on a positive note. Did everyone see this week's Whiz Kid? I won't spoil the awesomeness of with a blurb. Just read about him. He's headed for high places.

Next week we'll be continuing our election coverage and talking to candidates about the issues. It'll be great to hear what they have to say. We'll also be re-launching the Historic Heights column, starting with a look at Olympia Gardens, the unincorporated part of Chicago Heights.

Thanks for stopping by!