politics

Though difficult to track statistically, the illicit drug business in Lake County shows signs of growth that have enforcement agents scurrying. Neither the Lake County state’s attorney’s office nor the Illinois State Police keep records on the number of drug cases from year to year, but figures from the Metropolitan Enforcement Group, or MEG, composed

Two state representatives have joined forces in Lake County to push for a moratorium on the construction of high-voltage transmission lines. In announcing their cooperative effort over the weekend, State Reps. John Matijevich (D-Waukegan) and Robert Churchill (R-Antioch) both cited concerns over the safety of a new high-power line that Commonwealth Edison Co. plans to

A Lake County court has been asked in a lawsuit to let Skokie Valley Asphalt Co. operate its plant in Grayslake. The lawsuit filed Friday seeks to enjoin the village from enforcing a zoning ordinance that requires a special-use permit for the plant. The village refused last week to grant such a permit. Read full

The Grayslake Village Board has unanimously voted against a special-use permit that would have allowed the Skokie Valley Asphalt Co. to operate an asphalt production plant and recycling facility. The vote Tuesday night followed months of protests by residents near the dormant plant at the south end of town on Lake Street. Read full article

State Rep. Robert Churchill (R-Lake Villa) will appear next month before an Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission hearing to answer allegations that his law firm`s involvement in a 1990 land deal represented a conflict of interest. In an interview Tuesday, Churchill denied the charges, calling them “old news“ and “dirty campaign“ tactics that the

The scores of youngsters outside Waukegan High School on Monday afternoon weren`t talking about where they would hang out in the warm weather. They were talking about how late. Monday was the first day of school since Waukegan Mayor Haig Paravonian announced Friday that the city would begin strict enforcement May 1 of a nightly

In the face of another challenge from a local government, the Illinois Commerce Commission reaffirmed Thursday its right to determine where public utility lines can be strung under a 79-year-old Illinois law. But an commerce commission spokesman said the courts may ultimately determine the legality of a precedent-setting Lake Villa ordinance passed Wednesday night that

Grayslake High School District 127 will cut staff members, reduce equipment costs and significantly boost fees as a result of financial setbacks, including last week`s defeat of a tax increase proposal. Supt. Ray Novak said across-the-board state cuts in school funding, the state-imposed cap on local property tax increases and the defeat of last week`s

One day last month, 80 percent of the 200 faculty and staff members at Antioch High School got up and left for the day. They weren`t walking out on strike, but their actions were planned. They went looking at eight other north and northwest suburban high schools, all known for educational achievement, so they could

Disappointed that Antioch had failed to derail Commonwealth Edison Co.`s plans to build high-voltage power lines, residents of the unincorporated areas surrounding East and West Loon Lakes are pinning their hopes on Lake Villa to stop the utility`s plans. Residents there can see the foundation of a substation where construction began this month just east

Officials in Grayslake Elementary School District 46 are recommending cuts, user fees and more than $4 million in short- and long-term borrowing to dig their way out of a budget deficit. “It`s not a very encouraging position we`re in this year,“ Supt. David Duffy said in presenting a “doom and gloom“ view of the future

Antioch voters said no to building a new high school in November, so school trustees don`t plan to ask them again in March. “We need more time for fact-finding“ instead of another referendum right away, member Alice Gantar said at a meeting of the High School District 117 board recently. Read full article at the

Lake Villa village trustees will soon begin discussing whether to increase impact fees that home builders are required to pay to school districts because of the additional students the developments bring. “Basically, the idea is to get developers to pay for what it costs to provide new facilities,“ said Donald Skidmore, superintendent of the Antioch

A taxpayers group was so angry with the Gurnee Park District this fall that it didn`t want to just vote board members out of office. It proposed voting the entire government out of existence. That group`s unusual referendum proposition received only 35 percent of the vote in the Nov. 5 election. But despite the failure