Ivan Martinez of Classic Landscaping, based in West Chicago, lays a patch of sod on Tuesday in the yard of a new home at Settlers Parkway and Seekonk Avenue in the new Providence development being built southwest of U.S. 20 and Randall Road in Elgin. Home building in the area is ahead of schedule, but landscapers are suffering from the long drought. According to the company's foreman, only 10 to 15 percent of its employees are working.
Drought can be both boon and bane to area builders
The summer's countless days of soaring temperatures and scorching sunlight are leaving their mark on the area's construction industry.
While days of clear skies typically assure timely completion of construction projects, those in the business said this year there may just be too much of a good thing. MORE...
Poisoned fish sickens five people: GENEVA - Five people were poisoned accidently in late June after they ate grouper tainted with a rare toxin that was served in a Kane County restaurant, officials said Tuesday. Kane County Health Department officials said the five showed symptoms of ciguatera fish poisoning from eating grouper. MORE...
Space program roars back into life: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - America's manned space program roared back to life Tuesday with the launch of Discovery, and engineers immediately began analyzing video of debris falling from the shuttle, hoping to rule out a problem like the one that doomed the last flight 2-1/2 years ago. National pride and the future of space exploration itself hung in the balance as Discovery and its crew of seven rose from the launch pad at 10:39 a.m. MORE...
MARIANNE MATHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Teen dead after car hits pond: AURORA - A 19-year-old woman died Tuesday when her car careened off the tollway and sank in a retention pond near the Chicago Premium Outlets mall. Kimberly Cohen, of Lisle, was driving west on Interstate 88 at 2:55 p.m. when her car left the roadway for reasons that were not immediately apparent, Illinois State Police said. MORE...
Why the space race matters: So you think the space program has no relevance to your life? Think again. NASA innovations are at work every day in places ranging from tollbooths to ice-skating rinks to local hospitals. They cover your eyes, propel your golf ball and clean your house. Products derived from the NASA space program are practically everywhere. MORE...
Body found in nature area: LOCKPORT TOWNSHIP - A Midwest Generation worker checking the power plant's railroad tracks stumbled upon the body of a dead woman lying in the weeds near the entrance to the Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve on Tuesday afternoon. Officials said the body belonged to an adult white female and had no further information. No identification was found on or near the body, said County Coroner Patrick O'Neil. MORE...
Elwood sets goal for construction: ELWOOD - Plans to construct a new village hall and revamp the village's two parks are moving along. Village President Bob Blum said the board has set a goal to start construction of the new village hall/police station by Oct. 1. A service agreement with Wight Construction was agreed on during last week's village board meeting. MORE...
ROBERT SUMNER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Extending Arms' reach: JOLIET - With the Joshua Arms high-rise complex towering over their heads, dignitaries began a project Tuesday that will convert 56 apartments there into units offering assisted-living services. Also, a new commercial kitchen and dining room will be built at the facility for elderly and disabled people. MORE...
Man walks into fatal ambush: JOLIET - A pair of gunmen lying in wait to pull an ambush shooting in the Forest Park neighborhood killed the wrong man Tuesday morning, police said. Charles Harris, 31, of Markham was shot in the face and the back about 1:30 a.m. near McKay Street and Garland Court. Harris was taken to Silver Cross Hospital, where he died within a half-hour of his arrival. MORE...
Milne-Kelvin Grove parents hit with fines: LOCKPORT - Milne-Kelvin Grove School District officials plan to get tough with parents who don't pay school fees and fines. But while board members are considering a measure to send people to collections for not paying up, a few parents are balking at fines officials charged at year's end. MORE...
Morris area group seeks tax answers: MORRIS - A group of homeowners in eastern Morris that calls itself "The Bass Lake Tax Team" is on the warpath, battling rising property taxes. About 30 residents in the Bass Lake subdivision, just west of Jugtown Road, have been holding meetings in neighborhood garages for a few months with the aim of educating themselves as to why their property taxes have been rising so much, so quickly - and finding out what they can do about it. MORE...
Parents say new school is a bad idea: TINLEY PARK - Building a high school exclusively for Summit Hill Grade School District students could impede their social development and generate a greater rift between communities, a number of parents warned Lincoln-Way Community High School District administrators Tuesday night. "Our kids are already segregated," a Summit Hill parent told Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie during a community meeting at Hilda Walker Intermediate School in Tinley Park. MORE...
Plainfield reviews plan for demolition: PLAINFIELD - The house at the corner of Oak Street and Illinois 59, commonly known as the Quinn house, likely will fall to a developer's wrecking ball. The house's exact age is a topic of discussion. It was built either between 1935 and 1936, said Michael Lambert of the Plainfield Historic Preservation Commission, or in 1940, said John Argoudelis, attorney for the developer. MORE...
Probe targets teachers' pensions: SPRINGFIELD - Federal prosecutors are investigating investments by the pension system that manages retirement funds for downstate Illinois teachers, an official said Tuesday. Jon Bauman, executive director of the Teachers' Retirement System, said the agency is cooperating with the investigation. "We are very confident the system suffered no financial loss due to the matters under investigation," he said. MORE...
Retail center construction planned: NEW LENOX - If all goes as planned, work on a new retail center anchored by a local grocery chain could begin soon. Berkot's Super Foods plans to open its fifth store in Calistoga Plaza, which would be part of a 155-acre commercial and residential development east of Cedar Road between Laraway and Delaney roads. MORE...
School leader remembered in Morris: MORRIS - James Feeney was always the first to give praise and brag about another's success. "He would always slap me on the arm and say 'good job,'" said Patrick Halloran, the Morris Community High School principal who worked with Feeney, a school board member. "When you talked to him, he made you feel like you were the most important thing going on," Halloran said. MORE...
Discovery liftoff has NASA back in space: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA skipped the customary post-launch party Tuesday. The celebrating will have to wait until Discovery and its seven astronauts are safely home. After all, Columbia looked as if it was home free until it shattered on its return to Earth in 2003. MORE...
Doubt cast on Provena plans: ELGIN - Provena St. Joseph Hospital cut eight beds from its expansion proposal after the staff of the state agency that oversees Illinois hospitals recommended rejecting the project because it was too large. On Tuesday, the same staff said that was not enough to merit a full endorsement. MORE...
Fish sickens five in Kane restaurant: GENEVA - Five people were accidentally poisoned in late June after they ate grouper tainted with a rare toxin that was served in a Kane County restaurant, officials said Tuesday. Kane County Health Department officials said the five showed symptoms of ciguatera fish poisoning from eating grouper. MORE...
MICHAEL SMART / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Hot and bothered: The summer's countless days of soaring temperatures and scorching sunlight are leaving their mark on the area's construction industry. While days of clear skies typically assure timely completion of construction projects, those in the business said this year there may just be too much of a good thing. ''I don't think the drought is slowing down development - the impact is on the final completion of projects. MORE...
U46 lawsuit moves ahead: ELGIN - Families who filed a federal class-action bias lawsuit against Elgin School District U46 marked a victory when a U.S. district court judge rejected the district's request to dismiss the suit. MORE...
All work and all play: Every year, 600 guys vie for a place in the Cavaliers, coming from as far away as Japan and Italy. Just 135 make it. They come for the chance to learn from a group of instructors that spawns band directors like they've patented an assembly line. Kids like Kevin Devany, baritone and horn sergeant and just hired as director at Centralia High School in Illinois. MORE...
sun file photo
AT THE FAIR: What: The DuPage County FairWhen: Today through Sunday. Gates open at 8 a.m.Where: DuPage County fairgrounds, 2015 W. Manchester Road in Wheaton.Cost: Admission is $6 for adults and children ages 9 and older; $3 for seniors ages 62 and older; $1 for kids ages 3 to 8; and free to children age 2 and younger. A five-day pass costs $20.Park: Free. Take Route 38 (Roosevelt Road) east to County Farm Road. MORE...
Experts: Tougher standards make better students: Representatives from some of the Chicago area's community colleges and public universities say if employers want a better work force in the future, higher education standards and procedures are needed from kindergarten through high school. MORE...
Union pharmacists back at Walgreens without deal: Unionized Walgreens pharmacists, on strike since July 6, returned to work Tuesday without a new contract. Some of the pharmacists had already returned to work since the strike began. On Tuesday afternoon, National Pharmacists Association officials announced that the NPhA has developed a relationship with the United Steelworkers union. MORE...
Classes put dent in crime: GRAYSLAKE - Grayslake police don't just catch the bad guys. The department also offers various community programs at all age levels on crime prevention, gang awareness, safety, violence in the workplace, Internet security, drug identification for parents and the DARE (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) program in the schools. MORE...
Monster mall for fair site: GRAYSLAKE - Although concept plans and the identity of the potential developers remain under wraps, the massive scope of the development proposed for the Lake County Fairgrounds is beginning to emerge. Officials and consultants confirmed Tuesday that the size of the proposed retail development would be between 1 million and 1.2 million square feet, roughly the size of Hawthorn Center shopping center in Vernon Hills. MORE...
NASA, Discovery return to space: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - America's manned space program roared back to life Tuesday with the launch of Discovery, and engineers immediately began analyzing video of debris falling from the shuttle, hoping to rule out a problem like the one that doomed the last flight 2½ years ago. National pride and the future of space exploration itself hung in the balance as Discovery and its crew of seven rose from the launch pad at 10:39 a.m. MORE...
Ben Smidt / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Queen Mary of Mundelein to reign at fair: GRAYSLAKE - Mary Arzer of Mundelein begins her reign today after being crowned Miss Lake County Fair on Tuesday night at Grayslake High School. Arzer, 19, a sophomore at Carthage College, Kenosha, bested the other pageant contestants for this year's crown and will represent the county at the Illinois State Fair next month. MORE...
Strip clubs lose round in court: The Illinois Appellate Court has upheld the constitutionality of Lake County's adult entertainment ordinance, an action which could drastically change two strip clubs. Attorneys for Dancers and Baby Dolls are attempting to convince the Illinois Supreme Court to consider an appeal, but they're scrambling to overcome a filing snafu. Their initial filing was too long and the shortened version missed the court's deadline. MORE...
