Western Springs Eyes Joining DuPage Drug Enforcement Group

May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

By: Steve Dwyer
Source:  The Doings Western Springs

The village is considering joining an area drug enforcement agency designed to combat drug trafficking.

Village Trustee Patrick Word said the village is exploring joining the DuPage County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, a 20-municipality group that is recruiting communities outside of DuPage County. Western Springs would be the initial town outside DuPage to join.

At a cost of $525 per enforcement officer in a community, DUMEG’s services would cost the village $10,500 per year, which caught the attention of some board members.

“We’re in the process of investing $11,000 in a new phone system, and my first knee-jerk reaction is what’s the value in becoming a member?” asked Trustee James Horvath.

Read the rest of the story here.

 

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Filed Under: DUPAGE COUNTY, WESTERN SPRINGS Tagged With: , , ,

Water main break nearly drains Western Springs water tower

November 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Reported by Annemarie Mannion, Chicago Tribune

A water main break caused a million-gallon water tower to drain Tuesday in Western Springs.

Village officials do not expect to lift a boil water order until sometime Wednesday, more than 24 hours after the break caused the water tower in Spring Rock Park to drain to nearly empty.

A public works crew was on the site Tuesday morning using a backhoe to dig into the soppy ground to find and repair the break underneath a baseball field south of the tower. The repair was completed by midafternoon, but the boil order affecting all residents will not be lifted until the tank is refilled and the water is determined to be safe.

Click here to read more

source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-western-springs-water-main-break-20121128,0,6061500.story?track=rss

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Filed Under: COOK COUNTY, FEATURED STORIES, WESTERN SPRINGS Tagged With: ,

Western Springs Firefighter Battling ALS Will Help Raise Funds

May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Doings Western Springs

By Carol Goddard

Dick Jacobson, consultant and paid, on-call firefighter, will lead Western Springs’ first ALS Tag Day this weekend, an event he said is as much about raising awareness, as it is about raising funds.

Volunteers will be all over the village, especially on Saturday, seeking donations to support research and other programs for the degenerative disease, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in which the motor neurons in the body gradually cease functioning.

Jacobson was diagnosed with ALS last year. A runner, he was having problems with a calf injury in February 2011 that wouldn’t heal.

“My doctor sent me to a neurologist,” Jacobson said, and after a variety of tests, the diagnosis was Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

“The disease is always fatal,” he said. “There is no cure. You lose muscle control slowly.”

But research at Northwestern University, funded in part by the Les Turner ALS Foundation, made a significant breakthrough in 2011 on a common cause. Researchers found patients with ALS are unable to handle a specific “bad” protein.

With a cause identified, a cure or control of the disease may be possible, but much more research will be needed. That’s where the Tag Days come in.

Although research funding is an important component of the Les Turner ALS Foundation, the group provides patients access to a number of specialists. Jacobson said he sees a clinical nutritionist, occupational therapist, social worker, pulmonologist and neurologist.

Click here for the full report from the The Doings Western Springs.

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Summer Job Outlook Better Than In 2011

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Doings Western Springs

By Chuck Fieldman

The summer job outlook for high school and college students appears to be slightly more promising than was the case a year ago.

“The sense I get is that things have improved somewhat,” said Steve Erickson, the first-year executive director of the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

“It seems to me there are jobs to fill out there. I get the feeling, personally, that there are more this year than last year.”

Steve Gustis, manager of the Career Services office at College of DuPage, said the summer job market looks a little bit stronger in 2012.

“A lot of seasonal places have been gearing up,” he said. “I personally think that the mild winter has helped both employers and job seekers with the job outlook because there seems to be a more positive mental attitude.”

Andrew Borg, a senior at Hinsdale Central, said he has a positive attitude despite no luck in the early going.

“I’m hopeful that I’ll find something and think there’s a good chance I will,” he said Monday. “I’ve only been looking for about a week. It’s the first time I’ve looked for a job; I’ve looked online and have gone to some places. I just want to find something pretty close to home so I can make a little money over the summer.”

Hinsdale Central junior Matt Vardas said he ended up returning to the same summer job he had in 2011.

“I’m going to be a lifeguard for the Burr Ridge Park District again,” he said. “I applied at about five or six other places, both online and in person, and actually got one of those jobs, but they were able to fit a schedule for me at the park district.”

Click here for the full report from The Doings Western Springs.

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Western Springs Considers Sending State After Debtors

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Doings Western Springs

By Nick Vogel

Western Springs village trustees want the state of Illinois to help with its debt collection by withholding tax refunds.

A plan discussed May 7 at the Village Board workshop meeting calls for an intergovernmental agreement giving the Illinois Office of the Comptroller the power to collect tax and non-tax debts owed the village. The state would then send the money to the village.

By its nature, the agreement would call for the village and the state to share information about individuals and village-based corporations subject to collections.

Known as the Local Debt Recovery Program, the agreement would allow the state to withhold money from annual income tax refunds as a way of collecting debt owed to the village. For its part the state would collect a fee.

“Probably 95 percent of the time it will be the state income tax (return) used to pay down the obligation,” said village attorney Michael Jurusik.

A draft version of the agreement pledges information shared about individuals will be used solely in connection with debt collection, and both the state and the village will safeguard the information.

Currently, the village pays its village attorney to collect debts.

“This will save attorney’s fees in those situations where there is a fee owed,” said Village Trustee Deborah Lyons.

Jurusik said the program would benefit the village most when used to collect smaller fees.

“It may, in certain circumstances, serve to be a very efficient way for the village to collect payment such as, you know, water bills,” Jurusik said.

Jurusik said he is waiting to hear more specific details about the fees, but that he believes the fees would be charged to the debtor.

State law allows the comptroller’s office to enter agreements with local governments, school districts and public colleges to help with debt collection.

Click here for the full report from The Doings Western Springs.

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La Grange And Western Springs Consider Backyard Chicken Rules

May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Doings Western Springs

By Jane Michaels

With a gentle curiosity, three colorful hens approached a visitor to their corner of a well-maintained Western Springs back yard.

Albie, a Buff Orpington, Rosie, a Rhode Island Red and Annie, a Speckled Sussex, strutted around but kept their distance. They quickly lost interest in the visitor when their owner, Wendy Vichick, held out a bunch of kale she picked from her garden.

“They love fresh vegetables and fruits,” said Vichick, who has raised the hens since they arrived at one day old in June through overnight express shipping. “I give them carrots and apples, and they love corn on the cob.”

Vichick, an avid gardener, and her husband, Greg, applied for a temporary use permit and are serving as a test case as village officials consider revisions to an ordinance allowing backyard chickens.

As approved in March 2011, the measure effectively precludes residents from owning chickens, which must be kept 75 feet from a neighbor’s property. Most lot sizes are narrower.

La Grange officials are watching the test case with interest after a homeowner asked for a change in the local law so that his family, too, could raise hens.

“I know people who already have chickens in town, and I’ve been thinking about it for five or six years,” said Jeff Cogelja of La Grange. “I started building a coop but one of my neighbors said that would make her back yard unenjoyable.”

After trying to respond to his neighbor’s concerns, Cogelja talked with other neighbors and gathered 60 signatures on a petition in support of allowing backyard chickens.

“I grow a vegetable garden, collect rainwater in barrels and recycle, including hauling Styrofoam out to Aurora,” Cogelja said after presenting the petition to the Village Board April 9. “I do things to be earth friendly, and this would be an extension of that.”

Village President Liz Asperger said three trustees objected to the proposal in an initial discussion about it. Two others wanted to hear what other communities do and a third wanted to learn more.

“They did not think it was a good fit for La Grange due to the issues of odor and health and what I would term nuisance-related issues for neighbors,” Asperger said. “There certainly wasn’t a groundswell of support.”

Asperger, who hasn’t yet formulated an opinion, said no action is imminent on changing the 1981 ordinance banning chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons and livestock. Residents should have a chance to weigh in on the matter, and trustees have been given more time to study.

Marty Scott, director of Community Development for Western Springs, said he’s received only one complaint about the Vichick’s hens, and that was due to noise.

Click here for the full report from The Doings Western Springs.

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Forest Preserve Wants To Borrow $70 million

April 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Chicago Tribune

By John Byrne

The Cook County Forest Preserve District moved ahead Wednesday with a plan to borrow up to $70 million to buy land and make repairs to buildings and picnic enclosures.

The new fund would be created by using $4 million in existing annual capital money to cover the cost of new bonds, forest preserve Superintendent Arnold Randall said. Property taxes will not be increased to cover the cost, Randall said.

Cook County commissioners, who double as the forest preserve board, agreed to advance the plan for further consideration, but not before debating whether borrowing money is the best course of action.

“We’re trying to challenge our financial team to go beyond … just debt issuance,” said Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman, R-Orland Park. “Because when you’re going to issue $70 (million) to $75 million worth of bonds, you’re going to end up paying anywhere upward from $110 (million) to $120 million to pay it back.”

The district hopes to boost the pot of new money for acquisitions and construction to more than $100 million by refinancing existing loans to reduce interest payments, Randall said.

Click here for the full report from the Chicago Tribune.

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Volunteers Sought To Clean Up Western Springs

April 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

TheDoingsWesternSprings

Scout troops, youth groups, clubs, families or individuals are invited to help cleanup Western Springs on Saturday, April 14 (or that Sunday if it rains).

The Neighborhood Environmental Appearance Team is responsible for the planning of this one-day event in which community groups help to spruce up parks, the Village Green, school yards, business areas, railroad right of ways and grounds around public buildings.

Click here for the full report from TheDoingsWesternSprings.

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Man Overcomes ‘Special Needs’ Label To Excel In Life

January 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

MySuburbanLife.com

By: Dave Heitz

Westmont resident Daniel Smrokowski has overcome a lot in his life.

He was born three months premature — giving him mental and developmental challenges, including a learning disability and a speech impediment.

But through it all, Smrokowski, 23, has achieved his goals.

In December, he plans on graduating from Roosevelt University with a journalism degree. And, despite his speech impediment, the Westmont man even works at a radio station and does podcasts, with hopes of going into the industry professionally.

He has been a writer, a public speaker and a blogger, and uses podcasts as a way to get his message, both words and his voice, out to the public.

“I believe that I can do anything that I can set my mind to,” Smrokowski said. “I want to get the word out there to help those who face disabilities and challenges the way I have.”

He also has excelled in athletics, and has participated in the Illinois Special Olympics. In his podcasts, he helps spread the word to other athletes about the Special Olympics, and how it can help anyone facing physical or mental challenges in life.

‘I want to give them a voice’
One of Smrokowski’s biggest challenges, he said, has been overcoming his fear of speaking, both in public and over the airwaves.

Click here for the full report from MySuburbanLife.com

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Western Springs To Look Into Invisible Fences Following Complaint

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Chicago Sun-Times

By Danny Camprione

Even though they are behind invisible fences, Western Springs resident Steve Greska said some people in the area have aggressive dogs, which can not only be startling, but intimidating to him and other residents as they pass by.

“These dogs run all the way down to the sidewalk and then they’ll stop because of this invisible fence,” Greska told the Village Board Monday. “It seems to me though that people should be able to walk down the street without fear of these dogs coming down.”

Greska said he is a frequent jogger around Western Springs and said the dogs are not on leashes, but are on the property. He said he also knows sometimes electric fences do not always hold the dogs.

Click here for the full report on Chicago Sun-Times

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