GLENVIEW TEEN DROWNS AT INDIAN RIDGE

Glenview police found the body of a 16-year-old boy Sunday morning in a pond behind his home in the 2300-block of Mohawk Drive.  Friends last saw Joseph Tyrpak on Friday night at a small party in the area, and officers started their search Saturday night when the boy’s mother reported him missing.  They found no signs of foul play but continue their probe pending word from the Cook County Medical Examiner.  Witnesses said Tyrpak was one of several teens who had been drinking alcohol on Friday night. Police had been called to the home of a neighbor to deal with another matter, and officers think the youngsters may have scattered, fearing the officers were after them.  They say Tyrpak may have been trying to hide in the pond. 

DOWN AT THE HALL

-- Members of the village board appear ready to ban right turns on red at the northeast and northwest corners of Waukegan and Glenview roads.  Such turns are already illegal on the southeast and southwest corners, and traffic planner Tim Doron says banning right-on-red in the other locations should improve safety.  Based on recent traffic counts, he says 3,700 cars pass through the intersection each hour on Saturdays, and on weekdays when children are heading for school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, about 55 pedestrians pass through the crosswalks.   

-- Thomas Place, the least expensive apartment building for seniors at The Glen, will get a bridge loan of $1.4 million from the village.  The loan is to be repaid at 5 percent interest after 20 years. The money is not in this year’s budget, but will come from The Glen’s tax increment financing (TIF) fund. Glen Redevelopment Chief Don Owen said the loan would extend the life of the TIF by about one month. Trustee White wondered if Thomas Place would be generating any property taxes.  Owen said it would not.  Moments later, one of the developers corrected him, saying the new apartment building would pay taxes.

-- The trustees awarded a lease to Tim and Lucy Burke, former vendors of coffee and snacks at the downtown Glenview Metra Station.  They’ll now be doing business at The Glen of North Glenview (GONG) stop. 

-- The trustees have delayed a decision on replacing the east door of the GONG station that was vandalized in July.  Because replacement doors are made by just one company, the projected cost for a new one is $12,245.  Glenview’s newest trustee, Philip White, put his foot down.  “I have a problem with a $12,000 door,” he said.  “What if the supplier went out of business?” he asked.  “If we had to do something about the door, what would we do?  Twelve thousand dollars for a single door is not spending the taxpayers’ money wisely,” he said.  Village Manager Todd Hileman said he would look into the costs of repairing the door or having a new one made.

PARK DISTRICT PATTER

-- The Glenview Park Board has voted to let a three-person jury select art for the public spaces at Park Center.  Norm Siegel, who teaches art at the community center, Julie Baran-Reilly, the district’s graphic designer, and Glenview resident Martha Tedeschi, a curator at the Art Institute, will review examples of work from would-be exhibitors and decide which artists merit exhibition.  Those selected will be able to hang work in the entryway, second-floor lobby and second-floor hallway, with a new artist on display every three months.  The district says it will give top priority to high school artists from April to June.

-- Nan Hinchslif, 70, and Vachee Loughran, 33, were the only Glenview residents to post wins at the fourth annual park district triathlon.  Three hundred people took part – nearly twice as many as last year, and 12 people – half men and half women – received awards for their winning times.  Loughran completed the running, biking and swimming segments in 47 minutes and 29 seconds.  Hinchslif took 1 hour and 27 minutes to complete the course.   

-- The park district reports the sale of 9,411 pool passes for the summer – far fewer than Director of Leisure Services Bob Quill predicted when new facilities were first proposed.  Roosevelt continues to function as a neighborhood pool, drawing swimmers from the immediate area, while Flick is drawing from all over Glenview.  Top complaints come from people who actually thought “lap pools” would be available for people who wanted to swim laps, and residents who discover that their out-of-town guests must pay the non-Glenview rate of $12 per day.

ANNOUNCEMENTS GOES GLEN CRAZY

Last week’s edition of the Glenview Announcements delivered an overload of coverage about The Glen with not one but five stories based on reporters hanging around the shopping center, talking with shoppers and merchants.  There was a sixth story about Glenfest, and a surprising slip.  The online headline for a report on funding for special education programs read, “First Glenfest Packs Them In.”

The articles were generally positive, and reporters did not question the stats that OliverMcMillan shared.  The developer claims the property is more than 90 percent leased, although the space once occupied by Market Foods remains empty, and there are large storefronts available on the far north and south ends of Town Center. 

OliverMcMillan also says 92 percent of the luxury apartments have been leased. 

SUSHI HEADED FOR THE GLEN?

The developer isn’t saying which sushi restaurant plans to open at The Glen Town Center, but Benihana Inc., says one of its new RA Sushi restaurants will do business in Glenview. 

“RA Sushi is a fast-growing chain, built around a vibrant restaurant concept and offers popularly priced sushi and other Asian menu items,” says a company press release.  RA restaurants are already open in eight locations, and five more are on the drawing board, including the Glenview eatery, set to open next spring – possibly next to Ted’s Montana Grill.  For details on the chain, go to www.rasushi.com . 

LIBRARY LOBBY GROUP KEEPS NAME, CHANGES MISSION

Last year, citizens who wanted a new or renovated library at the current location formed an organization called Save Our Library Downtown (SOLD).

Now that the trustees have committed to the current location, the group is shifting its focus to fiscal matters – demanding the village board be responsible in spending for a new facility. The SOLD acronym will remain the same, but the letters now stand for Save Our Library Dollars.

For more information, e-mail  SOLDGlenview@aol.com.  And mark your calendar for 7 p.m. Wednesday, August 17.  That’s when village trustees and the library board will hold a joint meeting at Village Hall to discuss plans for a new building.

NEWS FROM THE NEIGHBORS

-- A twin-engine Cessna with a man and his teenaged son on board crash landed near Palwaukee Airport shortly after noon Friday.  The pilot reported engine trouble and had been cleared to land on the runway, but the aircraft couldn’t make it – clipping the side of an office building as it came down on Chiddick Drive.  Both men were conscious and talking as they were taken to Lutheran General Hospital.  Both were said to be doing well. 

-- Congress has approved a $286.4 billion transportation package that includes money for extension of the Skokie Swift.  New stations could be built at Oakton Street and Old Orchard.

-- When the Deerfield Village Board pressed ahead with construction of a sidewalk – failing to notify residents of the neighborhood in question – one of those residents showed up at Village Hall to accuse the trustees of sandbagging residents.  Mayor Steve Harris may have taken offense.  He apparently went to a contractor from Comcast and asked him to edit the tape of that night’s meeting before cablecasting it.  “The guy’s going to edit the sandbag comment,” he told a colleague during a break. “I went back there and talked to him.”  The Comcast employee said he did, in fact, edit out the resident’s remark, but when that fact became public, Harris claimed he had been joking. 

-- Wilmette is preparing to open bids for a lease of the 1873 train depot that sits in its downtown.  The property hasn’t generated rent since a fire struck last year.  Operators of the Old Ouilmette Depot had hoped to reopen and are protesting the decision to let their lease lapse.

SCHOOL NEWS AND BLUES

-- Charles Terry, who served as principal at Springman and Attea Middle Schools for eight years, appears to be heading out.  He was assigned to a new, one-year job working on “special projects” for the superintendent, after which time he plans to retire.  Dodging controversy, Superintendent Gerald Hill said, “This was a mutual agreement between Dr. Terry and me and is the best way for Dr. Terry to serve the district in 2005-06.”  Barbara Ramsey was appointed interim principal, and a search for Terry’s permanent replacement should begin this fall.

-- The new assistant principal at Springman is also stepping down after a few weeks on the job.  Mike Keeney plans to attend the Chicago Police Academy.  District 34 hopes to choose his successor at its August 15 meeting.

-- The 51-year-old athletic director at Niles North High School appears to be off the hook after an arrest in Glenview early this year for speeding and driving drunk.  Police stopped Karl Costello on Milwaukee Avenue for allegedly doing 68 miles per hour in a 40 m.p.h. zone at 2 a.m.  Police said his blood alcohol level exceeded the .08 legal limit.  The DUI and speeding charges were eventually dropped, and Costello plead guilty to a single count of reckless driving.  He was given supervision and was fined more than $2,000.  He’s still employed by Niles North.

-- Dr. Jeffrey M. Silver was named to the District 31 school board, replacing Ron Koretz who resigned.  Silver has served as caucus chairman – screening candidates for the school board last spring.  His wife is active in raising funds for the district, and the couple has three children in Winkelman School.  Silver said he’s concerned about future finances, given that Allstate Insurance has successfully appealed past property taxes. The district is expected to refund Allstate $1.5 million.

-- District 30 projects a $733,000 shortfall in next year’s budget, but Assistant Superintendent for Finance Chris Young isn’t worried.  He says the district usually collects more money than expected and spends less than it budgets.  Last year, for example, a $433,000 deficit turned into a $680,000  surplus.

Editor’s note:  Should somebody send this guy back to accounting class?  If this miscalculation is happening year after year, you have to wonder why the district bothers with projections at all.

FORMER GBS PRINCIPAL DIES

Dr. William H. Schreiner, who became principal of Glenbrook South High School in the late sixties, died at his home in Manistee, Michigan after an extended illness.  He was 71.  He and his wife Sally left Glenview in 1996 so she could serve as pastor of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Manistee. 

Under Schreiner’s leadership GBS was named one of the top high schools in the nation by the U.S. Department of Education, and in 1983 U.S. News and World Report featured the school in a cover story called, "What makes great schools great?"  Schreiner received many professional honors in the course of his career.  Glenview named him Citizen of the Year, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals honored him as an outstanding principal in 1984.     

Throughout his life, Schreiner was interested and involved in the arts. He loved music, art, theater and people. He was a member of the Glenview Art League and the Glenview Historical Society. He also was a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Glenview Rotary Club, former treasurer of the Glenview Volunteer Bureau and a former member of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

He is survived by his wife; daughter and son-in-law, Susan Schreiner and Stuart Wolf of Wilmette; son William J. Schreiner II of Manistee; and grandchildren, Julia and William. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be directed to "Our Church's Wider Mission," an outreach program of the United Church of Christ, which supports the church's various programs throughout the world: http://www.ucc.org/ocwm/ .

GOVERNMENT WATCH

-- Cook County Commissioner Gregg Goslin has been appointed chairman of the Large Urban Counties Caucus of the National Association of Counties.  Members of that group represent about half the nation’s population.  Goslin has also announced selection of Terri Graham to serve as his chief of staff.  Graham is former communications director for Northfield Township.

-- State Senator Susan Garrett reports passage of two bills designed to improve nursing care in Illinois.  

SB 2064 clears the way for nurses trained outside of the U.S. to enter the work force faster.  With the nursing certification test only offered four times a year, it was virtually impossible for hospitals in Illinois to successfully recruit foreign trained nurses.

SB 201 eliminates mandatory overtime for nurses except in an unforeseen emergency. “We want to make sure we don’t put patients at risk,” said Garrett.  “This law gives nurses working long hours much needed relief from the grind of too much overtime so they can do their job at a peak level.”

-- Working to remove the stigma placed on children of unmarried parents, State Representative Beth Coulson introduced a bill to strike the term “illegitimate child” from all Illinois statutes.  The measure, which won approval last month, substitutes the expression “child out of wedlock.” Coulson credits a concerned grandmother in her district for the idea.

-- Coulson’s also celebrating the passage of her bill to stop hurried hospital discharges before families can arrange for proper care. The law requires 24-hours notice.  And she hails passage of another bill she co-sponsored to keep doctors in the state.  It allows the state to help pay off up to $25,000 in medical student loans – making one payment for each year a doctor practices in the state.  

-- State Representative Elaine Nekritz hosts a benefit for the Cook County Forest Preserve District’s River Trails Nature Center from 6:00-8:30 p.m. August 26 at the Golf Center in Des Plaines.  Participants can play nine holes, be entered in a raffle and enjoy a post-game reception with cash bar and appetizers for $40.  For details, call 847-257-0450.

SAVE THE DATE

-- A garage sale to benefit Glenview Youth Services will bring dozens of families together from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. August 11 and 12 at 1358 Bennington Ct. in The Glen.  (Directions from Lake and Patriot: Go North to Independence. Turn left and go one mile west to Bennington Ct. Turn left.) You can get a special preview of the loot – furniture, strollers and other baby equipment, toys, books, exercise equipment, electronics and much more from 7 to 9 p.m. August 10 at a wine and cheese party!  Admission is $10.  For details, contact Julie Shechtman at 847-647-7066 or e-mail

JulieShechtman@comcast.net

-- Drop off household chemicals from 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Saturday, August 13 at Wolters Athletic Field, 1080 Park Avenue West in Highland Park.  You can get rid of unwanted paint remover, drain cleaner, pesticides and more, but leave your latex paint at home.  For a full list of acceptable items, go to http://www.co.lake.il.us/swalco/events/hcw.asp.

-- Art at The Glen will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, August 13 and Sunday, August 14.  The Town Center event will feature about 175 art vendors, and organizers predict 30,000 people will visit.

AN INTERNATIONAL ADVENTURE AT HOME?

An international group called Youth for Understanding is looking for Glenview families willing to host a high school student for 4-12 weeks this fall.  A half dozen boys from Germany and Switzerland have signed up for the chance to experience life in a typical American town, but so far no families have offered to take them in.  All of them speak English.  For more information, call 866-493-8872 or go to http://www.yfu-usa.org/.

RANKING OUR HOMETOWN

Can you guess where CNN/Money.com recently ranked Glenview among the 100 best places to live? In the top 10?  Top 25?  Top 50?  Top 75? In fact, Glenview wasn’t even ranked. The only Illinois community to make the top 100 was Naperville, which garnered the No. 3 spot, behind Moorestown, N.J., and Bainbridge Island, WA. Of Moorestown, CNN/Money wrote: Top schools. A Main Street made for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Good jobs. Nice homes at reasonable prices.  The town, founded by Quakers, bans the sale of alcohol, but there's plenty of night life in Philadelphia, just 15 miles away. As for the schools, the district had to hire another Latin teacher -- yes, Latin -- because the language is so popular. Summer's big event is the town play. Mayor and local lawyer Kevin Aberant will play a marshal in this year's production of "Oklahoma!"

Moorestown was also “a good place to work. Lockheed Martin's radar-systems division is based there, and Computer Science Corp. and PNC Bank are big local employers. About half the work force commutes to Philadelphia.    

“Easy access to highways means a trip to the Jersey Shore takes less than an hour, and New York City is 90 minutes away in the opposite direction. But because no major road runs through Moorestown, sprawl stops at the town line. That's not to say growth doesn't present challenges.

“On the border with Mount Laurel, a shopping center anchored by Costco and Target opened last year, increasing traffic through town. And much of Moorestown's farmland has been lost to subdivisions.

“Home prices are up about 50 percent in the past five years, but compared with the suburbs of many big northeastern cities, Moorestown remains affordable. A four- bedroom home within walking distance of town goes for $400,000 to $500,000, and starter homes can be had for much less. 

CNN/ Money shared these impressions of Naperville:  “Take a summer night's walk through the center of Naperville and you'll find small-town peace. Along the River walk, a five mile brick path that follows the DuPage River, everyone from young parents to teens and senior citizens stops to chat with everyone else. Yet Naperville -- with its six-figure population, every kind of shopping you could want, first-run theaters and restaurants to suit every taste -- is a real city.

“The seamless coexistence of big-city and small-town life drew Bruce and Amanda Hanson, 38 and 37, to Naperville from the D.C. area almost five years ago.

“You have all the advantages of a city without any of the stress," says Bruce, now father to 17-month-old twins Nathan and Anneliese. The twins will attend top-ranked schools that recently won first place in an international math and science competition.

“The city library has been named the best in its population category six years running. There's a six-acre swimming area located in a former rock quarry, and for adults a thriving bar scene downtown, plus city-sponsored concerts and other events nearly every weekend.

“The big negative: Drive for two minutes out of town in any direction and you're likely to be sitting in traffic on an ugly highway. Home prices have risen sharply with Naperville's popularity. Expect to pay at least $350,000 for a three-bedroom starter home; many of those are being torn down for million-dollar spectacles.”

What do these communities have that Glenview lacks?  What does Glenview have that the other two don’t have?  Does Glenview deserve top 100 ranking?  Or is it better for Glenview to be under the radar of national rankings? Write glenviewwatch@aol.com a short note and let us know.

GLENVIEW MAKES THE FASHION GRADE 

This month's "Best of Chicago" issue of Chicago Magazine highlights Glenview  boutique Fire and Ice. Founded in Chicago more than 16 years ago, their newly-opened Glenview store offers clothing for women 18 - 80 and provides wardrobe consultation by personal stylists Lois Lipkin and Stephanie Wolf in their chic Carillon Square shop.

Also featured in the August "Best of Chicago" issue is an impressive full-page profile of prominent plastic surgeon and 1972 Glenbrook South graduate Peter Johnson, DDS, whose offices are in Des Plaines.

POSSUM TYPO MAKES RESIDENTS SMILE

In this week’s e-newsletter, Communications Director Janet Spector Bishop corrects a typo from the latest Village Hall mailing.  It informed residents that, “Opossums are nocturnal, using their sense of smell and hearing to forage for grass, fruits, insects, mushrooms, earthworms, small mammals, birds' eggs, amphibians, and snakes.  Growing to the size of a big car, they are North America's only native marsupials.”  Bishop assures residents that she meant to write “cat,” and notes she’s been getting some pretty funny mail over the mistake.

“One resident asked, ‘How would you catch such an animal?  I have a pick-up truck.  Maybe that would help.’ Another concerned resident noted, ‘I'm picturing a possum the size of a Jeep Grand Cherokee in my backyard.  If this is the case, I think I'm going to leave the Midwest, because the idea scares me to death!’” A third resident checked in to say giant opossums would certainly "make me more cautious when driving to work,” and Watch reader Tom Sochowski writes, “Perhaps a proposal should be drafted to replace the bear on the village seal with this formidable creature.”

READERS WRITE

BP thinks it’s time to widen Willow Road: “It seems like Northfield has had their head in the sand for a long time. Willow Road should have been widened years ago.  It is impossible to get to the businesses there during a good part of the day.  The area is nothing but a bottleneck. We live in an area that a lot of people need to get thru to get to their homes and work.  Why make it so impossible?  Willow is a mess.  Winnetka Road is impossible – especially between 3:30 and 6 p.m. as residents try to avoid Willow Road.  What about putting in a 4-lane road on Willow with left turn lanes?   That did wonders for traffic movement on Lake Street! Last election, I made it a point of telling pollsters and politicians that I no longer will vote for any candidate who does not support widening  Willow Road through Northfield. And given  Northfield's attitude, I no longer will support any business in that community.”  

On the other hand, BFFF is a former Northfield resident who remembers “back when The Glen, Heatherfield and other Techny developments were being discussed. The Village of Northfield asked Glenview and Northbrook to cut back on the size of these developments because of traffic safety concerns. Glenview and Northbrook told Northfield to mind its own business.  I have to laugh now that Glenview and Northbrook are crying about Willow Rd.  Northfield is listening to its residents who object to widening Willow.  Maybe Glenview and Northbrook should stop worrying about Northfield's business and mind their own business. I was and still am for widening Willow, but in Northfield, I was in the minority.”

WE agrees with Mary V about the intersection of Lehigh and Chestnut: “Traffic at the intersection was bad enough before Glenview added the No Turn on Red rule.  That’s totally unnecessary.  The village should get rid of all Red Left Turn Arrows.  They do nothing but impede traffic.  If your light is green, and there is no oncoming traffic, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to make a left turn.  With gas at $2.50 per gallon, how much money and energy is wasted on Red Left Turn Arrows?”

TAS is still wondering what’s happened to Harley Davidson on Willow Road: “I made an inquiry about a year ago as to why the delay in completing the Harley Davidson building.  Here we are a year later and another building in the same area has been started and completed, but no progress or completion on the HD property.  I thought the village had recourse on stalled projects like this.”

The Watch replies: The rule is that any progress counts.  The village can't step in as along as a developer is inching along -- and that's what's happening with Harley Davidson.  They install a window here or there, and they're good for a few more months.  They claim to be opening this summer, but we'll believe it when we see it. .

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.

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