Lake Forester

‘Tis the season for garage sales in Lake Forest, Lake Bluff

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:21:17 -0500

Sometimes a mom’s got to do what a mom’s got to do. For Kirsten Maxwell of Lake Forest, it meant lugging some of her kids’ extra stuff outside for her first garage sale of 2012. “I scheduled it today because the kids are out of school soon,” Maxwell said while standing in her sunny driveway Friday afternoon. “I can clear everything out when they’re not looking.” But that’s not the only reason she put together a two-day sale on Friday and Saturday. “I sell a lot of stuff on eBay, but if I can sell it at a garage sale, …

Lake Bluff’s Twilight Criterium to draw scores of bikers

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:35:15 -0500

Lake Bluff will host its first Twilight Criterium, a short-course professional bike race on closed-off downtown streets, a kids race and the Village Block Party on the Village Green on Friday, June 1. More than 130 bikers are expected to race. Here’s the day’s schedule: • 2:30 p.m. Two bike races for the elite men racers • 4 p.m. Annual Lake Bluff Block Party on the Village Green begins featuring live bands, entertainment and refreshments for the whole family • 4:40 p.m. Women’s pro race • 5:45 p.m. Kids’ Fun Races for ages 4 to 13 on the same course …

Lake Forest Girl Scouts earn Silver Award

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:56:00 -0500

Lake Forest Girl Scout Troop 40980 celebrated achieving its Silver Award at an end-of-the-year picnic May 20. Meredith Gregory, Elizabeth Moorman, Kailey Hetler, Kari Myers, Mallory Gregory and Katie Constantine all were awarded the second-highest award in Girl Scouts. For the Silver Award project, the troop partnered with Lake County Cares to help run its annual Heart to Heart event to support women in need in Lake County. The Girl Scouts orchestrated a monthlong toiletry drive, publicized the Heart to Heart event and planned all the details from start to finish. More than 300 “spa bags” of donated cosmetics and …

Deerpath Golf Shop makeover boosts sales

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:58:00 -0500

Walking into the Deerpath Golf Shop is different these days. The glass and chrome counter that bisected the store, for one, is gone. In its place are upscale wood display cases, fresher colors and a new traffic flow that doubled the display area to showcase more merchandise. “When I walk in now, I feel proud to be part of the club,” said Ron Hirasawa, a Lake Forester who has called the Deerpath Golf Club his club for the past 35 years. The look extends throughout the clubhouse, but it’s the shop that’s the first stop for day golfers, who enter …

News Briefs: Mental health workshop June 7 in Lake Forest

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:36:00 -0500

Mental health workshop June 7 A Lake Forest and Lake Bluff community wellness task force has retained a research team from Johns Hopkins University to conduct a workshop June 7 to assess the communities’ mental health resources in the wake of local teen suicides this year. To be held at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, the workshop will include invited representatives from community groups, educational staff from local schools, representatives of Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, students and parents. Community members are asked to send recommendations, feedback and suggestions to the task force at communitytaskforcefeedback@lflbwellness.org. All information will be …

1.5 million people to use Midway, O’Hare this holiday weekend

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:24:01 -0500

About 1.5 million people are expected to pass through Chicago’s two airports this Memorial Day weekend, city aviation officials say.

Chicago Sun-Times owner Wrapports buys the Reader

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:15:36 -0500

The owners of the Chicago Sun-Times said May 23 that they have acquired the Chicago Reader, bringing an enduring part of the alternative press under the same corporate umbrella as daily and weekly papers -- including the Lake Forester -- that span the Chicago region.

Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital plan moves ahead; will cost hundreds of millions of dollars

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:52:31 -0500

Preserving open space has been a key concern of John Sentell, president of Lake Forest Open Lands, since the start of discussions on creating a new master plan for Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital. As the final master plan for the campus heads to the City Council for its consideration on June 18, Sentell is feeling pretty good about what aldermen will see. “We’re optimistic that the recommendations from the Plan Commission will help create a plan that can further minimize the impact of this development to our community, save meaningful open space, yet allow the hospital to build a first-class …

Former FCC chairman believes presidential debates far from ‘a vast wasteland’

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:26:08 -0500

For those who yawn at the thought of this fall’s presidential debates, Newton Minow offers a reason to watch and learn. “(John) Kennedy told me, ‘I never would have been elected except for the presidential debates,” said Minow, the co-vice chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, who shared his insights at The Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy in Mettawa this month. Minow, a Chicago lawyer who became head of the Federal Communications Commission after Kennedy’s narrow election in 1960, was present at the founding of the Commission on Presidential Debates, an independent body launched in 1988 to take over …

Local beaches, pool poised to welcome Lake Forest, Lake Bluff residents

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:42:00 -0500

At Forest Park Beach in Lake Forest, lifeguards will be on duty daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. during Memorial Day weekend, May 26-28, and from Saturday, June 9 through Sunday Aug. 12. After Aug. 12, lifeguards will be on duty weekends only through Labor Day. Lake Bluff Park District’s 50-meter Olympic-sized Blair Park Pool opens Saturday, June 2 and will remain open through Labor Day. Lifeguards and monitors will be on duty at Lake Bluff’s Sunrise Beach from Saturday, June 4 through Sunday, Aug. 13 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 7 …

Study says Chicago traffic congestion actually got better

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:50:34 -0500

Drivers in the Chicago area were stuck in traffic an average of 36 hours in 2011, 12 fewer than the 48 wasted in traffic in 2010, according to INRIX, a company that studies traffic patterns.

Lake Forest man barely skirts train catastrophe

Tue, 22 May 2012 16:25:19 -0500

A Lake Forest man’s decision to gun his car at the last minute saved his life Tuesday morning after he accidently found himself on the Metra railroad tracks when he made a wrong turn in a construction zone. “It was probably just a second, but it was just enough to get out of harms way. This is a very lucky man,” said Bannockburn Police Chief Ron Trice of Michael Bungert, 57, of Lake Forest. He was given two tickets in the incident. All of the air bags in his 2010 GMC Terrain activated, and he was taken to Highland Park …

LFC working to decrease underage drinking

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:20:20 -0500

A recent graduate of Lake Forest College, Matt DeMaris has seen a change on campus away from underage drinking and toward more healthy living. “The whole culture of drinking is changing,” said DeMaris of life at the 1,500-student liberal arts private college. “There’s a lot more promotion of living a healthy lifestyle.” From the construction of a new student fitness center to a Students for Non-Alcohol Programming (SNAP) group launched two years ago, attitudes are changing. Rob Flot, dean of students, said the facts support that. In 2004, the percentage of LFC students who reported drinking in the last 30 …

Lake Forest’s Deborah MacKenzie remembered for positive spirit, genuine nature

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:21:25 -0500

Deborah Williams MacKenzie, a lifelong Lake Forester, was committed to preserving open lands and brought her infectious positive spirit to everything she did, her friends and family said. MacKenzie died May 11 at the age of 74. An early member of Lake Forest Open Lands, where she eventually served as president, MacKenzie had a “passionate ambition” for preserving open space, said Howard Simpson of Lake Forest, who knew MacKenzie most of his life. “Debbie had an abiding spirit. She would greet everyone with an absolute encompassing and inviting way about her,” Simpson said. MacKenzie used her warm personality to connect …

Newsmakers: Lake Forest American Legion offers flags for sale

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:19:51 -0500

American Legion offers flags for sale The Lake Forest American Legion offers the national standard flag in a 3 x 5 foot size delivered with sewn stars. Larger sizes can be ordered. With the standard flag, there are flags for each of the services: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard. To order your flag, please call Dave Burgess at (847) 234-4872 or Bill Gretz at (312) 696-7639 during the day. If unavailable, leave a message and they will call you back. Memorial Day is Monday. Flag Day is Thursday, June 14, and the 4th of July this year …

Forest Park Master Plan passes unanimously

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:19:59 -0500

The Lake Forest City Council unanimously passed the Forest Park Master Plan at its meeting Monday night, directing the city manager and city attorney to prepare an agreement on implementing the plan so that fundraising can begin. The reworked master plan for the historic lakefront park, applauded by all the aldermen and Mayor James Cowhey, passed following comment from half a dozen members of the public and discussion by the City Council that wrapped up two years’ worth of public forums and consideration by the Parks and Recreation Board, the Historic Preservation Commission and the development of a Forest Park …