George Castle

George Castle is a freelance reporter for the Pioneer Press.

Julia Si, co-owner of the China Chef restaurant in Morton Grove, will be giving out cookies to sample at the Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce's first-ever Holiday Faire Oct. 29. Individuals are welcome to visit the Faire to see what local businesses can offer for catering and events, including food, venues, music, flowers, photography and more.

Morton Grove launches Holiday Faire to promote vendors for holiday entertaining, events

October 4, 2022 at 8:17 p.m.

If the year-end holiday season seems one uninterrupted string of celebrations, then the Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants the consumer to navigate the merriment efficiently and benefit...

Park Ridge’s Maine South Hawkettes remember Coach Bobrich, who led them for decades

September 20, 2022 at 10:16 p.m.

Dozens of former Maine South Hawkettes, dating back to the 1970s, gathered last week to pay tribute to a woman they called "Miss Bobrich," who whipped them into shape as...

Actor Chris Farley is shown in this undated photo made available by NBC. The Saturday Nigh Live funnyman died from a drug overdose in 1997 at the age of 33.

Chris Farley’s brother Tom speaks about the addiction that killed the comic actor, urges treatment

September 11, 2022 at 5:58 p.m.

In a quiet few minutes before he spoke to a full auditorium in Niles Thursday, Sept. 8, Tom Farley talked about the default emotion —humor— of his boisterous Irish-American family...

Bob’s Discount Furniture opens in Norridge; chose area for ‘strong retail market’

September 9, 2022 at 6:25 p.m.

Norridge's recently-opened Bob's Discount Furniture at 4215 N. Harlem Ave. is a furniture store that tries to sweeten the deal. The local outlet of the 164-store national chain has its...

Morton Grove will host a Sustainability Expo Sept. 10, featuring electric cars. In this file photo, electric cars are parked at a charging station in Sacramento, Calif., on April 13, 2022.

Morton Grove Sustainability Expo Saturday will feature electric vehicles, composting, solar, etc.

September 5, 2022 at 6:03 p.m.

Several ways of going green will be on display from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at the second annual Morton Grove Sustainability Expo at the Civic Center,...

Skokie Bonchon owner Zia-Ul-Ghani, left, and store manager Kevin Martinez are getting ready for a mid-September opening of the restaurant, featuring Korean fried chicken and other Asian dishes, on Touhy Avenue.

Bonchon, offering double-fried Korean chicken and other Asian food, set to open in Skokie

September 5, 2022 at 4:22 p.m.

If American palates are hungering for fried chicken beyond the classic Southern dish, then Zia-Ul-Ghani wants to be on the forefront of the next great trend. Having completed the approval...

Maine South High School's Hawks football offensive lineman Bennett Smith predicts the team will do well this year.

Maine South football revs for a winning season with 42-3 win over Stevenson

August 30, 2022 at 9:43 p.m.

Details are crucial for a winning football team, and as usual Maine South High School Coach Dave Inserra had his finger on all of them as he worked out his...

Vicki Scalzitti, who supported families through grief after losing her 5-year-old, retiring from ‘Good Mourning’

August 29, 2022 at 7:38 p.m.

Wherever she goes beyond her recent retirement from "Good Mourning," a bereavement program for children and families, Vicki Scalzitti will always take her son Joey with her. "Joey is with...

Community Service Officer Bob Mildenberger with the Niles Police Department talks to another officer before directing cars, that were neatly lined up about a mile long back to Oakton Street, into the bays at Cassidy Tire and Service, that are getting their catalytic converters spray painted with unique identification numbers to help deter theft at the Tat-A-Cat event at 8733 N. Harlem Ave., Niles, Saturday August, 20, 2022 (Michael Schmidt/Pioneer Press)

Niles catalytic converter anti-theft event gets big response; sponsored by Cassidy Tire, Niles police

August 22, 2022 at 9:18 p.m.

Motorists lined up for nearly a mile at times in Niles Saturday and waited an hour or more in hopes of getting their vehicles' catalytic converters protected from the rash...

Park Ridge child care director retiring after 44 years of molding the very young

August 15, 2022 at 4:45 p.m.

The first children Karen Black cared for 44 years ago as director of Messiah Lutheran Church Child Care Center in Park Ridge are nearing middle age, and she has been...

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