|
|
The Glenview Watch
|
|
LONG-TIME PARK COMMISSIONER LAID TO REST
A funeral service was held Friday for Catherine Crowley who died at the age of 87 after a short illness. Crowley served as a Glenview Parks Commissioner from 1973 through April 2003. She was active in the Friends of Wagner Farm, instrumental in the Wagner Farm Cook Books project, and will always be remembered by the Chicago media for her reaction to the controversy over Bart the Bull.
As Bart’s fate was being considered, some residents worried that school children visiting the farm might catch the resident bull mixing it up with one of the cows. Channel 5 sent a reporter to interview Crowley – the mother of 10, grandmother of 33 and great grandmother of 12. Always a cheerful and genteel soul, Crowley was reluctant to say anything about Bart and his barn-mates but finally obliged: “He’s very big, and he’s pretty lusty,” she said.
Crowley held a master’s degree in social work and had taught at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She was also a licensed pilot, and proved her love for adventure as the first resident to tackle the new water slide at Flick Pool.
When she retired from the park board, fellow commissioners voted to rename Huber Park after Crowley. Executive Director of the Park District Tom Richardson issued an e-mail saying Crowley would be missed by family and friends, but “we are all the better for having had her in our lives.”
The family placed bunting on the Crowley Park sign and requested donations be made in her memory to the Needy Family Fund at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church.
PARK DISTRICT BANS HOOPS TO PREVENT HOOPLA
Peninsula Park was built to serve residents of a trailer park called Sunset Village. That tiny facility is perhaps the most popular in town. On a summer night, the playground is jammed with small children and parents while the basketball court is crowded with older boys competing intensely for points. The problem – those two groups have very different values, and parents complain bitterly that the big kids are driving the little kids away with their foul language, loud music, drinking and drug abuse.
Residents of Sunset also report guys between the ages of 16 and 24 speed through the neighborhood and park cars blocking their driveways. When the trailer owners complain, they say the offenders swear at them. Police are summoned, but because Sunset Village is private property, they can’t tow illegally parked cars without a call from management, and young offenders quickly disappear when the cops arrive.
Last week, residents and police asked the park district to take down the basketball hoops. The request seemed, at first, to bewilder some board members. “We thought we were doing a good thing when we built [the basketball court],” said President John Winand.
“I’m troubled by the situation. We build recreational facilities for young people so they have something to do. Then we talk about taking those things away.”
“Board members could not have imagined what is happening there,” replied resident John Fahey. He contended young men urinate in the park, cut drug deals and have sex with their girlfriends. “Something’s got to be done!”
Commissioner Bill Casey wanted to hold a meeting with the entire community before announcing a decision. He thought the park district might try removing the basketball hoops in June, but Winand pushed for an immediate solution, proposing the hoops come down in May. The board agreed, and at 7:30 the following morning a crew of six park district maintenance workers arrived to do the job.
“It’s been so peaceful here,” said a satisfied John Fahey. “It’s beautiful.”
Editor’s note: This was a no-brainer. The park district has a large, lighted basketball court with plenty of parking northwest of the Heatherfield development. It should be easy for the big boys to play their games there. West Fork Park is a fair distance from any homes, so noise should not be a problem, and given its location along Willow Road, it should be easy for police to keep an eye on the action.
PARK BOARD OKAYS C.O.W.S PLAQUE
Citizens Organized for Wagner’s will be allowed to place a plaque at the farm the group helped to save, but historians and grammarians must first have their say. C.O.W.S had proposed the following language to the Glenview Park District:
“The Wagner Farm is a treasured part of Glenview’s history, having been settled by John Wagner from Trier, Germany in the 1890’s. When Rose, the last of the Wagner family, died in 1997, Citizens Organized for Wagners (C.O.W.S) joined with the Glenview Park District to preserve the last working farm on the North Shore. This effort led to a successful referendum in 1998, when the Glenview community voted to raise taxes to buy the farm. In 2000 the park district became the owner, making the historic farm a favorite Glenview destination.”
But last week Farm Director Todd Price said he had done a lot of research and determined that the Wagner family actually arrived here in 1855 from a different part of Germany. Park Board President Winand was also concerned about punctuation. “I see an awful lot of commas in there. I’d like someone with grammatical background to look it over. Let’s get it right before we get it permanent.”
The board’s new member, Mike Scholl, didn’t like the mention of raising taxes. “Why does it have to get into the nitty gritty?” he wondered. Commissioners Ted Przybylo agreed, but Winand, Doug Kaiser and M.J. Coulson thought the reference to taxation indicated a higher degree of community involvement in the acquisition of the farm, so it was agreed to keep the reference to taxes.
C.O.W.S is now asking the park district for documents that confirm the year when the Wagners arrived and the place from which they came.
MORE PARK NEWS AND NOTES
-- The park board has assembled a three-person team to help draft a new policy for the selection of art work to be displayed at Park Center. They are Chicago Art Institute Curator Martha Tedeschi, Norm Siegel, an art instructor at Park Center and the district’s graphic artist Julie Baran-Reilly.
-- When Bob Quill, the district’s director of leisure services, announced progress on two new swimming pools and a plan to open on time this summer, President Winand surveyed his stomach – then asked Quill to plan an event that would not necessitate wearing a swimsuit. “Do it for me and Ted,” he said – smiling at fellow board member Przybylo. “Not me!” said the unpretentious Przybylo. “I’m not worried!”
“Well you should be,” said a blushing Winand. Opening day for Flick will be June 17, while Roosevelt will open on June 18.
-- Restoration of the Wagner Farm house is nearly complete, and the district is planning an open house on May 4.
-- The park board presidency is a rotating office, bestowed on a new board member each year by the sitting president with the consent of the commissioners. Look for Doug Kaiser to assume the presidency in 2006 and for Bill Casey to be the board’s next vice president.
-- Volunteers are needed to help rid Sleepy Hollow Park of invasive weeds from 10 a.m. until noon Saturday, May 7 and from noon until 3 p.m., Sunday May 22. Meet near the bridge that leads to the park, and bring garden gloves if you have them. For more information, call 847-657-3215.
DEMOCRATS WANT GARRETT TO CHALLENGE KIRK
State Senator Susan Garrett, who represents most of Glenview in Springfield, says she’s thinking about running against incumbent Republican Congressman Mark Kirk in 2006. Garrett met with New Trier Democrats, who urged her to challenge Kirk if he seeks a third term. Garrett, whose current term ends in 2008, served two terms in the Illinois House before ousting incumbent Senator Kathy Parker in 2002.
HIGH SCHOOL CONTINUES COMPUTER HACK PROBE
Glenbrook South High School is still trying to determine how physics students hacked into an interactive program used to provide each student with a unique homework assignment. Known as Minds of Physics, the program produces a different test for each person in a class, making it pointless for students to compare answers.
After the student solves each problem, he or she is told whether the answer is correct. If it isn’t, the student is told to keep trying. Once the homework is completed without errors, the student is given a code which he or she provides to the teacher. Students apparently figured out how to get the code without doing the work.
Anyone shown to have cheated in this way will lose credit for the homework, but homework makes up less than 10 percent of a student’s grade. Kids say the problems are tremendously time-consuming – in some cases taking several hours per night, and one student told the Glenview Announcements she considered the online assignments to be “busy work.”
Associate Principal Brian Wegley defended Minds of Physics, saying the program offers animated movies to illustrate physics concepts and a virtual physics lab so students can make up work when they’ve been absent. “It’s a fantastic resource,” he told reporter Sara Loeb, “but along with that comes the added challenge [of preventing high-tech cheating].”
TWO COURTS SAY NO – GLENVIEW WILL APPEAL
If a resident of Glenview wants to sue the village, he or she must be prepared to pay twice. Under a local ordinance, Glenview can recover its legal fees from someone who sues the village and loses. Officials say they need the law to prevent frivolous lawsuits. They cite the case of a man who persisted in putting his trash on the parkway in front of his neighbor’s house.
Michael Zwick was trying to make a point – that the public parkway belongs to everyone. He lost and was forced to pay $9,300 in fines. Then, the village demanded he pay $36,000 more for Glenview’s legal fees. The village had collected $140,000 from losing plaintiffs in other cases, but Cook County Circuit Court struck the law down, saying it might keep people from challenging citations they felt were wrong.
Glenview appealed and, on March 31, lost again. Now, the village says it will take its case to the Illinois Supreme Court. If the court refuses to hear the case, the appeals court decision will stand.
Critics say the law was first invoked to punish former Trustee John Crawford who sued the village when its board met early one morning, without public notice, to approve the first bond issue for The Glen.
Editor’s note: What will it cost taxpayers to pursue this case to its conclusion? Can Glenview recover its legal fees from Village Attorney Jeff Randall if the Supreme Court rules against Glenview?
ZONING BOARD APPROVES PLANS FOR NEW CHURCH BUILDING
The Canaan Presbyterian Church has cleared an important hurdle to build a new worship center on the southwest corner of Lake Avenue and Greenwood. The facility would serve younger members of the Korean-American congregation.
Approval from the zoning board of appeals came despite concerns by the neighbors who feared increased traffic, light pollution and decreased property values. Using St. Catherine Laboure as a case study, Canaan persuaded the board that owners in the area would not see a decrease in the sale price of homes, and a traffic planner said cars would be entering and leaving the site during non-peak hours.
The plan to build a 26,000-square-foot building and 171-space parking lot behind the church’s education center must still win approval from the plan commission and village board.
DOWNTOWN GROUP SNUBBED BY VILLAGE OFFICIALS
About 20 downtown business owners and supporters met Monday night to discuss alternative ways to achieve goals outlined by Glenview’s official downtown development committee. The Strategic Plan Coalition invited committee members along with the village manager, newly-elected Village President Kerry Cummings, Plan Commission Chairman Howard Silver, Development Director Mary Bak and Village Planner Jeff Brady, but not one of the invitees showed up.
The coalition doesn’t like the process being used by the committee to plan downtown’s future and believes Glenview’s appearance commission should be involved. They say goals are vague and the means to reaching conclusions is confusing. Representatives plan to attend the next downtown committee meeting on May 12 to propose improvements.
GLEN RECEIVES AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
The Glen and Chicago’s Millennium Park were among 11 projects honored this year by the Urban Land Institute. The award went to consultant Mesirow Stein – a firm hired by the village to help develop a master plan for the former Glenview Naval Air Station and to market the property there.
Seventy-three projects were evaluated on the basis of financial viability, the resourceful use of land, design, relevance to contemporary issues, and sensitivity to the community and environment. The institute has more than 25,000 members representing all aspects of land use. You can learn more about it and the Awards of Excellence at www.uli.org (Click on "Awards" on the left side menu.)
Readers may also find this story from the San Francisco Chronicle of interest. It was sent to us by JA who thought it put The Glen Town Center in perspective: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/03/BUGN9CIU491.DTL
GETTING PERSONAL
-- Do you work for a company with a stingy sick leave policy or a firm that offers no sick leave at all? Was this something you grappled with in the past? Do you have a perfect attendance record on the job? A national radio show would like to have a confidential chat about that. Call Sandy at 847-291-7434.
-- Former radio talk show host and Glenview resident Catherine Johns is making new use of her melodious voice -- launching a business called Positive Changes. The firm offers hypnosis to help clients lose weight and make other improvements. Johns, whose dad headed Glenview's park district for years, will partner with another radio celeb -- former B-96 newscaster Karen Hand. For more information, e-mail catherine.johns@positivechanges.com or call 773-725-3200.
READERS WRITE:
MM wonders why the Glenview Announcements gave such little space to a story about hazing by members of the lacrosse team at Loyola Academy: “I was glad to see that the story finally ran in the Glenview Announcements -- a week after it appeared in the Wilmette paper, but I wonder why they buried it in the school section on page 33. The Pioneer Press does an excellent job covering Rambler sports, and it should. Loyola is very much a part of Glenview, with a significant number of Loyola students living in Glenview. OLPH is one of the largest elementary schools in the Chicago archdiocese, and many of its students matriculate at Loyola. The news editors also seemed to miss the newsworthy fact that Loyola’s lacrosse team is the defending state champ for the last three years. There was plenty of room in the news section upfront. The Announcements did not treat the Loyola story the same as it did last year’s GBS hazing story. Hazing is just as bad in the private school as it is in the public school. So why are the stories handled differently in Glenview?”
A long-time resident responds to our story about the park district’s foot-dragging over a plaque from C.O.W.S at Wagner Farm: “The plaque's tasteful wording seems fine to me! I personally do not see what the park district can object to.”
Several readers wrote about the child who was expelled for bringing a stolen BB gun to school. EH said: “It is not out of line to suspend a student for bringing a weapon to school. If you wait for the kid to ‘act out’ with it, someone has already been hurt. I am not an advocate of a one-size-fits-all punishment, but in this case the punishment does fit the crime.”
Howard Schneider found several points worth discussing: “I agree that Dick's should have better security, especially for guns. Regarding the third-grader with plastic BBs, this sounds like something that was sold as a toy. I don't understand that. Someone had to buy it for the child. An 8-year-old child doesn't go shopping. I think suspending a third- grader for 10 days is wrong. I think suspending the parents’ driver’s license for a year would be more appropriate. In addition, I think that the parents should be required to do volunteer work at the school. A third-grader belongs in the classroom. Finally, regarding Superintendent Gerald Hill's comment to the Pioneer Press, I think he was copping-out. I agree that there is a lot of violence in our culture. I agree that we tend to get desensitized. But that cannot be used as an excuse. If a child partakes in such behavior, then the parent should be involved in the punishment. Why not have the parents help the teachers during the day? Let the parent take a day off of work if necessary. Of course there will always be parents who think that they are so important that they shouldn't have to do such work. To them I would say, ‘Nothing should be more important than the welfare and education of your child.’”
KP applauds the school board: “Last year, the rear window of my car was hit by two pellets. It was costly to repair, took a lot of my time and was a very frustrating experience. Good for the school policy! And I don't shop at Dick's or any other stores that sell any type of guns. Period.”
“This is a tough one, for sure,” wrote DB. “I am in disbelief that we would expel or suspend a kid just for this event. If he is an otherwise decent kid, then we've just committed a huge error in judgment. We may have tarnished this child's future. Instead of expelling and suspending kids, we should be leveraging the schools' training environment to explain and educate the kids who break this rule. Community service at a hospital emergency room, or time spent helping in the sheriff's department would do so much more to help educate and explain the dangers of guns and, therefore, the reasons they are not allowed in schools. Sending the kids home to watch more TV is washing our hands of the problem and not taking the accountability and responsibility of helping to better the child and ensure that it doesn't happen again. So, is there anyone out there trying to coordinate a community service alternative to suspension and expulsion? Is there a different route we can explore to help out here? Wouldn't one of the following groups be interested in helping: The PTA? The Illinois Education Association? A local volunteer group? If there is any interest in getting something started, I'd be happy to participate.”
CMW was “very distressed to see TruGreen/ChemLawn warning signs on grassy areas surrounding Lake Glenview given all the wildlife that lives there and all the children's physical education and soccer games that regularly take place in these areas. In addition, I imagine there must be some run-off into the lake which could also adversely affect the fish. If a chemical with the abbreviated form ‘RD-2’ is being used in these areas, studies have indicated that this is a cancer-causing herbicide. Please let us know if this dangerous chemical is being used at The Glen.”
The Watch replies: The contractor for landscape maintenance at Gallery Park, recently applied a chemical to prevent dandelions and other weeds from sprouting. We’re still trying to determine what chemical was used and what risk, if any, it poses to wildlife and water quality. We’ll have a full report in our next edition. Thanks for asking.
Legal lady writes about term limits for members of the park board: “C.O.W.S proposed plaque for Wagner Farm accurately tells the story of Wagner Farm’s historical significance to Glenview and how it was saved by a tax increase referendum sparked by C.O.W.S’ initiative and supported by the Glenview Park District. So why did Park Board President John Winand worry so much about the wording of the plaque? Serving repeated six-year terms stimulates commissioner arrogance. Guys like John Winand come to see the park district as their personal fiefdom with entitlement to make decisions and policy based on proprietary rather than public interests, while claiming the latter. I think it’s time for term limits before the next park district debacle.”
John Viramontes wondered: “What is the status of the Illinois Attorney General's investigation into the Kristina Castro and Glenview Park District matter? It's my understanding that on January 20, 2005 a letter was sent by the Attorney General's office asking the Glenview Park District to explain why it had to make a distinction between someone who is a professional artist and one who is a student artist. I hope this is not a case of foot dragging on the part of the Attorney General's office.”
The Watch replies: The attorney general’s office has issued no formal report on the case, and it does not appear that the chief investigator found evidence of discrimination based on race. She did, however, feel Glenview’s policy discriminated against students and thought the park district should have a formalized process for selection of art, rather than leaving decisions to a single staffer.
YOUR TURN: Write to glenviewwatch@aol.com or 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60026. If you haven’t already done so, please consider making a contribution to support The Watch. Non-deductible checks should be payable to Glenview Watch. Thanks for your support and for reading. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors.