English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Joliet, IL

Christina says Dr. Adam Youseff's quick help made all the difference when her cat, Sandman, needed urgent care.

Joliet, IL — Thanksgiving is the perfect time to pause and reflect on what brings us joy — from family and friends to meaningful traditions and everyday moments. This year, Patch has partnered with T-Mobile to spotlight the thankful moments that bring our communities together.

Here’s what Christina in Joliet shared. Want to tell us what you’re thankful for? It could be a person, a tradition, or even a small everyday joy — just answer a few questions, and let your community know what matters most to you this year.

What are you most thankful for this year?

Dr. Adam Youseff and Essington Road Animal Hospital staff.

Why does this mean so much to you?

I was so thankful for them helping me out with my cat, Sandman.

How has this made a difference in your 2025?

Having fur babies makes it so real —I didn't think I would have the feelings I had when I noticed Sandman (my cat) was very ILL and needed help!

What do you wish others knew about what you’re thankful for?

I'm thankful for Dr. Adam Youseff!

What are you thankful for this year — a business, a community organization, a place, or a person who’s made a difference? We want to hear from you! Click here to answer a few questions, and your response could be featured on Patch.

This content is brought to our community in partnership with T-Mobile.

We are thrilled to welcome families and visitors to Downtown Joliet for a day filled with joy, entertainment, and holiday magic.

(The following edited press release is from Vicki Sanchez.)

Joliet, IL – The Joliet City Center Partnership is proud to host the 27th Annual Light Up the Holidays Festival and Parade, sponsored by Bays Tower, in Downtown Joliet. This beloved tradition will take place on Friday, November 28, with free activities beginning at 10 a.m. and culminating in the annual parade at 5:30 p.m.

Emmanuel Lopez, Executive Director of Joliet City Center Partnership states: "We are thrilled to welcome families and visitors to Downtown Joliet for a day filled with joy, entertainment, and holiday magic. I invite everyone to enjoy all this free event has to offer while visiting our local stores and restaurants along the way.”

Sponsors of these activities include Bays Tower, City of Joliet, Old National Bank, Midland States Bank, Adler Roofing, D'Arcy Motors, First Secure Community Bank, Chicagoland Speedway, Harrah's Joliet, Busey Bank, Todays Dental Joliet, Elliott Electric Inc., Emediate Cure, Stantec Consulting, The Flooring Guys, AMS Industries, Arkas Restaurant Group, Hella Obscura, and Committee to Elect Richard Raasch.

Event Highlights

Join the Joliet Central Choir before the City of Joliet’s tree lighting ceremony, which will take place for the first time in the new City Square at 5:15 p.m., followed by a fireworks show.

The 27th annual parade steps off at 5:30 p.m. at Benton and Chicago Streets. CCP is excited to announce the 2025 Grand Marshal: Mike Veeck of the Joliet Slammers.

After the parade, families can continue the holiday fun and visit Santa at an afterparty hosted by Bays Tower located at 311 N. Ottawa.

Recommended viewing areas include Chicago Street from Benton to Jefferson Street and Jefferson Street between Chicago and Scott Streets. The parade will feature up to seven bands including six marching bands.

Parents can enter children 11 and under for a chance to ride on Santa’s float by visiting www.jolietccp.com/santa. The deadline is November 19.

Street Closures & Parking:

Chicago Street and Jefferson Street will close at 3 p.m. for the duration of the event. Free parking is available throughout downtown, including the Ottawa Street parking deck (110 N. Ottawa) and the Old Will County parking lot (Jefferson & Scott Streets). A downtown City Shuttle will run from 1–5:15 p.m. between Chicago & Scott and the Renaissance Center. Handicap parking is available in the Ottawa Street Parking Deck and on Clinton Street between Chicago and Ottawa Streets.

For more information, visit www.jolietccp.com/holidays.

Mayor D'Arcy and City Manager Beth Beatty raised property taxes, allowing Joliet to use funds to help downtown businesses amid construction.

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet City Council's Land Use and Economic Development Committee will hold a special meeting next Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. and there is only one topic on the agenda: downtown Joliet restaurant operator Bill Dimitroulas is asking for another Business Continuity Grant, this one totaling $63,734 for his CUT 158 restaurant, next to the Rialto Square Theatre.

If the city approves the grant request, CUT 158 would remain the highest Business Continuity Grant recipient since the Joliet City Council established the program last year. The taxpayer-funded payments to CUT 158 alone would now total at least $141,505.

Dimitroulas owns three of the downtown Joliet restaurants and bars that have received significant taxpayer funding through the Business Continuity Grants. In addition to CUT 158, Dimitroulas operates Juliet's Tavern and Mousa Greek Tavern.

Last December, Joliet Patch reported the Joliet City Council approved an initial allocation of $250,000 from the general fund to establish the Business Continuity Grant, where funds of no more than $100,000 will be disbursed to qualified applicants, under the program parameters and meeting approval from the Council or City Manager Beth Beatty. For grants of more than $25,000, Beatty has authorization to fund the first $25,000, city reports show.

Joliet Patch has not produced any stories on the downtown Business Continuity Grants for the past several months. Back on Aug. 22, following a Freedom of Information Act request, Joliet City Clerk Lauren O'Hara provided Joliet Patch with all of the downtown Joliet businesses that had received Business Continuity Grants and how much money each business had received since the program was set up last December:

According to the city clerk's response, Joliet had funded $240,554 in Business Continuity Grants for fiscal year 2024 to a total of 10 recipients, all businesses on North Chicago Street.

As of late August, only one fiscal year 2025 grant had been awarded, totaling $5,215.

The following list constitutes the Business Continuity Grants that Joliet's taxpayers had funded as of Aug. 22:

Internode Greenery and Home, a garden and house plant store, 81 N. Chicago Street, FY 2024 Award: $13,107 approved on Jan. 22; FY 2025 award: $5,215 approved on July 31.

Chicago Street Pub, 75 N. Chicago St., FY 2024 Award: $33,034 approved on July 15.

CUT 158 Chophouse, 110 N. Chicago St., FY 2024 Award: $77,771, approved March 31.

Mousa Greek Tavern, 158 N. Chicago St, FY 2024 Award: $9,024 approved on March 31.

Juliet's Tavern, 205 N. Chicago St., FY 2024: $57,748, approved March 31.

AmaLove, 152 N. Chicago St., described as charming clothing store FY 2024: $5,542, approved March 31.

Kula's Jewelry & Loan, 174 N. Chicago St., FY 2024: $20,664, approved March 31.

Prison City Vintage, 72 N. Chicago St., FY 2024: $5,786, approved March 31.

Yura Nuna, 221 N. Chicago St., FY 2024: $8,804, approved June 4.

Blue Taco, 79 N. Chicago St., FY 2024: $9,073, July 31.

Abrego will oversee all aspects of the City's human resources operations, including employee and labor relations, recruitment and retention.

(The following edited press release came from Joliet's media relations director Rosemaria DiBenedetto.)

JOLIET, IL — Joliet City Manager Beth Beatty announced on Wednesday that Elizabeth Coronado Abrego, a human resources executive and military veteran, has been selected as the new human resources director for City Hall. Her starting salary will be $165,000, city officials told Joliet Patch.

With more than 20 years of experience in human resources management — including 11 years of service with the City of Aurora — Abrego brings expertise and a proven record of leadership to the city’s executive team, DiBenedetto said.

Abrego will oversee all aspects of the City’s human resources operations, including employee and labor relations, recruitment and retention, training and development, compensation and benefits, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. She will also play a key role in strategic planning, policy development, and fostering a positive and productive workplace culture for the City’s workforce.

“Elizabeth’s extensive background in HR leadership, combined with her service as a military veteran and more than a decade of municipal HR experience in Aurora, makes her an outstanding choice to lead our Human Resources Department,” Beatty announced in the press release. “We are confident that she will strengthen our organization, support our employees, and help us continue to deliver high-quality services to the residents of Joliet.”

Prior to joining Joliet, Abrego served in senior human resources leadership roles with the City of Aurora, where she implemented workforce development initiatives, modernized HR systems, and enhanced employee engagement programs.

“As the Human Resources Director, my vision is to strengthen government transparency, modernize our practices through the efficient use of technology, and create a people-centered HR department that empowers employees to thrive,” Abrego said. “By aligning innovation with accountability, we will build trust, enhance services, and ensure that the City of Joliet remains a model of excellence and inclusion for both employees and residents.”

Abrego is a military veteran who holds multiple professional certifications in human resources and leadership development. She will assume her new role on November 24, following the retirement of Human Resources Director Kathy Franson, who retired on Halloween after eight years at Joliet.

For several years, USF President Arvid Johnson and Bernie the St. Bernard helped light the Christmas tree to kick off Joliet's parade.

JOLIET, IL — In October, the city of Joliet and Joliet Chamber of Commerce celebrated one of the downtown's greatest success stories in years, the grand opening and ribbon-cutting for John Bays and his new 140-unit Bays Tower Apartments at 311 North Ottawa Street.

Now, Bays will be back in the public spotlight later this month for one of Joliet's biggest special events of the year, the city's annual Light Up The Holidays Festival and Parade. The event takes place the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, Nov. 28.

This year's parade returns to its long-time parade route, North Chicago Street. The city of Joliet's new City Square is almost finished, and the City Square is where the new Christmas tree lighting ceremony will take place at 5:15 p.m. now that the old Van Buren Plaza and fountain has been demolished.

The hour-long parade, which typically features about 80 floats and entrees, begins at 5:30 p.m. and it's followed by a short fireworks show. For more event details, visit the Light Up the Holidays list of activities on City Center Partnership website.

On Tuesday, Emmanuel Lopez, who became executive director of the Joliet City Center Partnership in August, told Joliet Patch how he's thrilled that Bays Towers is the new presenting sponsor for the major event.

This month's parade grand marshal will be Mike Veeck, who along with his son, Night Train and Hollywood comedian Bill Murray are the owners of Joliet's Slammers baseball team of the Frontier League.

"This year’s event will include a North Pole Market, North Pole Park, horse-drawn carriage rides and the always spectacular parade and firework show," Joliet's City Center Partnership website proclaims.

Joliet's City Center Partnership has 21 major sponsors for its Light Up The Holidays festival, according to Lopez. One of the major sponsors Lopez is thrilled to have back is the Chicagoland Speedway. In July, NASCAR racing will return to Joliet's Chicagoland Speedway after a five-year absence. The NASCAR event in Joliet draws people from all over the country and draws world-wide TV coverage.

Midland States Bank will sponsor the fireworks show and Old National Bank will sponsor the downtown carriage rides.

Prior to the addition of Bays Towers Apartments as the presenting sponsor, the University of St. Francis in Joliet served as the Light Up The Holidays parade sponsor for several years.

At last year's event, which was moved to Ottawa Street in front of the Joliet Public Library due to the street repairs along Chicago Street, Mayor Terry D'Arcy was joined by long-time USF president Arvid Johnson for the ceremonial tree-lighting ceremony.

This year, however, USF is not one of the 21 event sponsors, although there is still time for USF to enter a float in the Nov. 28 parade, according to the City Center Partnership.

Johnson retired in June, and new USF President Ryan Hendrickson announced in October that the University of St. Francis was eliminating at least 36 faculty and staff positions due to the university's newly discovered financial deficits, totaling in the millions of dollars.