Skokie Review

Chilly winter scenes play out at Emily Oaks

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:56:52 -0600

For many people, the middle of February means the clock begins to tick. Peering ahead in the calendar, they no longer think of spring as being so far into the future. In a few weeks, baseball teams will gather in Arizona and Florida for spring training. In a little more than a month, the season will officially change and winter will be over. The Skokie Park District every year sponsors a popular event that seems to cry out: “Not so fast.” The Park District not only refrains from this waiting game but embraces the dead of winter with its two-day …

Skokie Village Board Notes

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:12:00 -0600

The Skokie Village Board took the following actions at its most recent meeting. • Proclaimed Feb. 24 Hadassah’s 100th Anniversary Day. • Appointed Jay Pathak to a three-year term on the Appearance Commission. • Appointed Scott Berman to a four-year term on the Plan Commission. • Appointed Fernando Ronderos to a three-year term, one year as chair, on the Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission. • Reappointed Michael Lynk to a three-year term, one year as chair, on the Appearance Commission. • Reappointed Fran Young to a two-year term, one year as chair, on the Consumer Affairs Commission. • Reappointed Arlene C. …

Niles Township residents can appeal property taxes until Feb. 22

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:00:52 -0600

The Cook County Board of Review has opened Bloom, Hanover, Proviso, Niles and Schaumburg Townships for assessment appeals. Any property owner who believes their property is over-assessed or contains factual errors in their assessment may appeal at the Board of Review. Residents will have until Feb. 22 to file an appeal. For the first time, property owners may appeal online at www.cookcountyboardofreview.com. To date more than 45,000 online appeals have been filed. In addition the commissioners have scheduled Property Tax Appeal seminars across the townships. Consult the Board of Review website for a complete list. Contact the Board of Review …

Village takes steps to claim Oakton for its own

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:56:52 -0600

Village Trustees last week approved measures to take jurisdiction of a good chunk of downtown Oakton Street that officially has been under county authority. Skokie currently has a maintenance agreement with Cook County for the downtown section of Oakton from Long Avenue to Skokie Boulevard. The village already performs “substantial maintenance” of Oakton, village officials note, including snow plowing, street sweeping, litter control, landscaping, landscape baskets, street lights and street banners, sewer and water main maintenance, parking meter maintenance and enforcement. “With the current maintenance responsibilities and the upcoming roadway and sidewalk improvements planned for downtown in 2013,” Village Manager …

Voterama in Congress, week ending Feb. 10, 2012

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:20:02 -0600

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to bar members of Congress and their staff from using inside legislative information in personal stock trading. Members empowered presidents to veto discretionary-spending items providing that both houses of Congress then vote to approve of the rescissions. Members also required new rules for figuring the budgetary impact of federal loan programs. Senators, meanwhile, approved a federal aviation budget, and they advanced a bill to authorize federal road, bridge, transit and highway-safety programs through Sept. 30, 2013.

Snow, warmer temperatures expected this week

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:56:20 -0600

The bitter cold temperatures that hit the Chicago area over the weekend are expected to give way to snow Monday and then milder weather by the end of the week. Temperatures are expected to climb to 35 degrees on Monday, when there is an 80 percent chance of snow after 3 p.m., according to the National Weather Service’s website. About two inches of accumulation is possible by Tuesday morning. While the temperature is expected to climb from a weekend low of 10 degrees Saturday morning, wind gusts as high as 20 miles per will remain Monday afternoon, the weather service …

Local fuel tax extended for three years

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:37:05 -0600

Some Skokie gas station owners predicted serious losses in their business when Village Trustees in 2009 signed off on a new 3-cent per gallon local fuel tax. But before approving a three-year extension of the tax Monday, trustees heard from village officials that the tax has had no negative impact on these businesses. Drivers did not fill up in other communities to avoid paying the tax in Skokie as some feared, according to figures from the Illinois Department of Revenue. That information and the need for revenue to help pay for resurfacing streets throughout Skokie prompted trustees to vote unanimously …

Niles Township residents can appeal property taxes until Feb. 22

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:14:20 -0600

Kirk moved to Chicago rehab center

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:06:02 -0600

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, who suffered a stroke nearly three weeks ago, was transferred Friday to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

Making peace, piece by piece at Morton Grove Library

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:57:07 -0600

Children used Legos — and their imaginations — as the building blocks for a more peaceful world during a recent program at Morton Grove Public Library. The program was one of two events in recent weeks geared to remembering the works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday was celebrated last month. Using Legos, older children built structures for helping the world, said Mary Ann Rohn, library information assistant. The models were then placed on display at the library. “They’re wonderful,” Rohn said last month. “We have shelters, space stations. And a couple of peace signs.” She noted: “We …

District 69 partnership offers kids pizzas, parties as learning incentives

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:42:07 -0600

With the help of a couple of businesses, School District 69 has started a reading-and-mathematics incentive program. The district serves portions of Morton Grove and Skokie. The monthly program at Edison School started out as a way to create a partnership between the district and local businesses, Superintendent Quintin Shepherd explained. “I know there are ways our businesses can support our schools and in turn, we have a responsibility to support our businesses,” Shepherd said. “I’ve always believed this is what makes for a strong community relationship — a feeling of mutual responsibility to each other and for each other. …

Snow makes its way back to the area Friday

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:02 -0600

Feeling a chill in the air? Snow will be back as soon as Friday when lake effect snow could hit the city and Northwest Indiana with six inches.

‘Einstein’s Brains’ takes Old Orchard stage

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:47:26 -0600

Nearly a couple dozen students took to the stage last week for an original play called “Einstein’s Brains: A Relatively True Story” at Old Orchard Junior High School. One can gather from the title that the show had an inventive and playful side to it, which is no surprise coming from local playwright Philip Dawkins. Old Orchard Junior High first worked with Dawkins a couple of years ago when it staged “The Skokie Detective Charter School.” Like all of Dawkins’ plays, this one had a plethora of fun parts — roles with names like Einstein’s Brain, Dr. Frankenstein, Swamp Thing, …

Skokie makes hard grant decisions in reduced budget

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:46:53 -0600

Skokie would like nothing better than to have the same problem it had last year with community development block grant funding. Only in reverse. Last year, the village had to amend its annual grant budget when federal allocation of funds did not meet village projections. This year, the village is estimating a 10 percent cut in funding but holding onto the hope that the cut won’t be so great. The federal Housing and Urban Development provides CDBG funding to Skokie to allocate for village and outside agency projects. The CDBG program is intended primarily as a bricks-and-mortar program, which is …

Bon appetit: Downtown Skokie cooks up diverse restaurant scene

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:15:09 -0600

No one would ever mistake downtown Skokie for Walt Disney’s Epcot Center in sunny Florida — especially in the dead of winter — but they share at least one recipe for success. Walk a short ways in the heart of either one and a new and different international cuisine awaits. The Epcot Center serves its delicacies in the grandest fashion, of course — as part of a World Showcase area with a collection of global-themed pavilions. The more modest transformation of downtown Skokie is still in the making. But anyone paying attention can’t help but notice the changes that have …

Town hall meeting slated on mental health issues

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:46:46 -0600

Turning Point Behavioral Health Care Center will sponsor a town hall meeting to focus on mental health challenges and solutions from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Skokie Public Library, 5215 Oakton St. Expected to attend are State Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, D-9th, State Reps. Daniel Biss, D-17th, and Robyn Gabel, D-18th, and staffers from the office of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9th. They will join Turning Point staff, clients and the public to discuss mental health services in an era of financial constraints and opportunities. This is the 11th town hall meeting sponsored by Turning Point. Also expected to …