Gap narrows for third seat in Wheeling board race

With some mail ballots counted Wednesday, candidate Mary Papantos has closed the gap between herself and write-in candidate Joe Vito, as they vie for the third and final seat on the Wheeling village board. The winner is likely to be determined on Tuesday, April 14, when a Cook County clerk's office canvass of votes is held. At the moment Papantos has 865 votes; while the number of write-in votes cast for Wheeling village board is 875 - but the clerk's office won't verify until April 14 who those write-ins were cast for. As well, mailed ballots will continue to be counted for two weeks. As a Cook County clerk's office spokeswoman advised candidates on Wednesday, "don't overanalyze." Wheeling trustees Ray Lang and Dave Vogel were re-elected handily Tuesday evening.