For 11-year-old Nathan Dombrowski, the weed-eaten ballfield in his Morgan Park neighborhood was a second home.

So after the well-liked, speedy second baseman for the Merrionette Park Red Sox died in a freak accident last month, his parents accepted a state lawmaker’s offer to try to overhaul the field and name it in Nate’s honor.

Little Liam Bonner’s story is tragically similar. The 4-year-old from West Morgan Park loved to ride his training-wheel bike to a playground a block from his house.

So when Liam died from a form of brain cancer last month after a struggle that included surgery on his 3rd birthday, his parents sought to refurbish the Kennedy Park playground near 113th and Western and name it after him.

State Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Chicago) spearheaded both endeavors, earmarking money for them in the state budget and setting up matching dollars from the Chicago Park District.

But the projects have been put on hold by Gov. Blagojevich — a casualty of the governor’s decision last week to veto hundreds of community initiatives from the budget, projects he characterized as non-essential “pork.” Continue Reading

-Chicago Sun-Times

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