La Grange Today

Video: Opening night at the La Grange Carnival 2009

The La Grange Carnival continues today with the 63rd Annual Pet Parade beginning at 9:30 a.m. along La Grange Rd and Burlington Ave.

Midway rides and attractions reopen at noon and run until 10 p.m. tonite. Sunday hours are noon until 7:00 p.m.

Carnival midway opens to revelers at 5 p.m. tonight

The 2009 La Grange Carnival will begin Friday, May 29, at 5:00 p.m. with the opening of the midway along W Harris Ave, featuring rides, amusements, food vendors and a beer garden.

Workers set up rides for La Grange Carnival 2009
Click photo for larger image

Saturday morning brings the 63rd annual Pet Parade along La Grange Rd and Burlington Ave. The midway will reopen Saturday at noon with unlimited carnival rides until 4:00 p.m. with the purchase of a $20 bracelet. 

The midway will close on Friday and Saturday nights at 10:00 p.m. Sunday hours are noon until 7:00 p.m.

Radio Disney will host an interactive play area  in the parking lot behind Palmer’s Place, 56 S La Grange Rd, to promote “G-Force,” a children's spy movie being released to theaters in July.

Also, the Radio Disney Road Crew will perform a special 90-minute show on Saturday beginning at 2:00 p.m.

Special village meeting on 47th St safety planned

La Grange village officials will hold a special "neighborhood" meeting Tuesday, June 2, to address residents concerns regarding safety along 47th St. The meeting will take place in the gymnasium of the Seventh Ave School beginning at 7:00 p.m. Anyone may attend.

Concerns long expressed about the danger in crossing 47th St east of La Grange Rd grew louder last week when Cari Lyn Cook, a young mother fr0m Countryside, was struck and killed last week as she crossed the roadway near 8th Ave while walking with her two children and the family dog.

In a letter mailed only to addresses in "certain areas" of the village, presumably near 47th St, Village President Elizabeth Asperger and Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn said, "While we can't reverse the consequences of this tragedy, we can meet together to discuss what occurred and examine what role the village might play in providing enhanced pedestrian safety along the 47th Street corridor."

Village officials recently said they are negotiating with the Illinois Department of Transportation to take control over the roadway from the state. A proposal to reduce the four-lane thoroughfare into a two-lane road with a center turn lane also has been discussed.

Two years ago, in response to a petition from resident Melinda Levato, the village added a marked pedestrian crosswalk at 9th Ave that included a special curb cut on the south side of the road because the streets and sidewalks that intersect with 47th St are not aligned from one side to the other.

The absence of a similar crosswalk and curb cut at 8th Ave, one block to the west, may have played a role in last week's tragedy. Police said Cook was struck as she bent over and lifted onto the curb a stroller in which her two-year-old daughter, Ellie, was sitting.

Ellie was not harmed in the accident, but Cook's four-month-old son, Carson, who was strapped to his mother in a front carrier, suffered a fractured leg.

Police are still investigating the accident and have not as yet filed any charges against a 45-year-old woman driving a gray minivan, who allegedly struck Cook.

Related story:

• Fund established to help children of Cari Lyn Cook

Click here to read full coverage of both the accident and the aftermath.

Fund established to help children of Cari Lyn Cook

A fund has been established to cover future expenses for the children of Cari Lyn Cook, the Countryside woman who died May 19 after being struck by a vehicle while crossing 47th St in La Grange.

The children, two-year-old Ellie and four-month-old Carson, were with their mother at the time of the accident. Carson suffered a fractured leg; Ellie was unharmed.

Monies collected by the fund will be used to provide "education, child care, medical needs and any other costs related to the needs of the children," according to information posted on the Cari Lyn Cook memorial website, cookfamilyfund.com.

"Although Carson and Ellie will have the love and support of many friends and family, life will not be easy as [Cari's husband] Matt tries to raise two young children while providing for his family," the website said.

The website also contains a guest book and photo album where visitors can share their thoughts, stories and pictures of Cari.

Click here to read full coverage of both the accident and the aftermath.

Man gets 15 years for 2006 shooting death in village

A Brookfield man today was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-murder in the shooting death of village resident Howard Howell in Dec. 10, 2006, La Grange police said.

Jordan Marshall, 21, entered his plea before Judge Colleen McSweeney Moore at the Cook County courthouse in Bridgeview.

Moore ordered that Marshall also serve two years of mandatory parole upon his release from prison.

Marshall in his plea admitted firing a single gunshot that struck and killed Howell during an altercation between the men outside the La Grange Community Center at Washington and Lincoln Aves.

Related story:

• Brookfield man charged in eastside shooting death

Video tips to enhance pup parade performance

Many dog owners will be among the hundreds of participants in Saturday's 63rd Annual La Grange Pet Parade. Chances are a few of them will be challenged to keep their canine companions in check during the nearly one-mile march along crowded downtown streets.

Below is a brief video excerpt of a free dog training seminar presented last week at the La Grange Library. It featured "dog whisperer" Alex Brooks of DesPlaines, who has been working his craft for some 30 years.

While the video clip won't substitute for the hour and a half Brooks spent revealing his methods to the seminar's two dozen attendees, it still may provide a tip or an insight to help improve a pup's parade performance.

By the way, Brooks' canine sidekick in the video, Whisper, has been deaf since birth. Her obedient manner underscores Brooks' contention that yelling at a misbehaving dog is never the answer.

Family Fest may be livened by beer, wine, fireworks

The Park District of La Grange board of commissioners tonight approved the concept of selling beer and wine at it Family Fest, scheduled for July 31.

Executive director Dean Bissias said he also will meet with village officials to discuss obtaining a permit to display fireworks at the event.

The location for Family Fest is being moved from Waiola Park to Sedgwick Park to accommodate the larger crowds likely to be drawn by the new attractions.

Trustee Rob Metzger asked Bissias to study and propose ways to insure that alcohol consumption does not get out of hand.

Two vans in 47th St fatality, but only one hit victim

La Grange police have determined that two vehicles were involved in the accident that claimed the life of a Countryside woman who was struck Tuesday morning while crossing 47th St with her two small children. But only one of the vehicles hit the victim, police said.

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Police Lt. Chris Noel said today it was uncertain if any charges would be filed against an unidentified woman who was driving eastbound and struck Cari Cook, a 30-year-old mother, as she was lifting her children's stroller onto the southside curb of 47th St near 8th Ave. Cook was in the southern outside lane of the four-lane roadway.

A second vehicle involved in the accident also was traveling eastbound in the inner lane alongside the first vehicle. Noel said the first vehicle sideswiped the second one, possibly as its driver attempted to avoid striking Cook.

Full results of an investigation La Grange police are conducting in conjunction with Illinois State Police and the State's Attorney's office will not be available until next week, Noel said.

In the early stages of the investigation police had explored the possibility that Cook had been struck by two different vehicles, based on accounts provided by witnesses to the accident. There also had been a report that one vehicle left the scene without stopping. But neither scenario was supported by the evidence, Noel said.

He added that there were no indications that the drivers involved were impaired by alcohol or drugs, nor was there evidence that either driver was distracted by using a cell phone or other device at the time of the accident.

Radio station WBBM reported today that Cook's sister, Maggie Stevens, "believes the 45-year-old woman who was driving the vehicle that hit Cari must have been distracted by something [and] wants answers about the accident." 

Noel said the driver whose vehicle struck Cook stopped immediately after hitting Cook and provided assistance.

Cook was transported to Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital where she died from her injuries at 1:20 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

Cook's four-month-old son, Carson, who was secured in a front baby carrier worn by his mother, was treated for a fractured leg. Her two-year-old daughter, Ellie, who was seated in the stroller, escaped harm in the accident.

Police at this time would not identify the makes or models of the vehicles involved, but the vehicle that struck Cook was described as a gray minvan by Jeff Madix, who resides in the home on the southeast corner of 47th St and 8th Ave where the accident occurred. Madix also described the second vehicle as a full-sized commercial van with a rack on its roof.

Madix said he did not witness the accident but arrived home only minutes later as police and rescue workers were responding.

Madix said Tuesday's accident was the second time a traffic-related fatality has happened literally on his doorstep since he and his wife, Cheri, moved into their home nearly 25 years ago.

In the late-1980's, a girl riding a bicycle on the sidewalk across 47th St from their house was struck and killed by a car when she suddenly veered down a driveway onto the road's westbound lanes, Madix said.

The girl's lifeless body landed at the foot of Madix's own driveway, mere feet from the spot where Cari Cook lay dying Tuesday.

Click here to read full coverage of both the accident and the aftermath.

Services set for Cari Cook, victim of 47th St accident

A wake for Cari Lyn Cook, who died Tuesday after being struck by a vehicle while crossing 47th St in La Grange with her two small children, will be held Friday from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, 4727 W 103rd St, Oak Lawn, according to a funeral home spokeswoman.

Cook's funeral will be held Saturday beginning at 10:15 a.m. with prayers at Blake-Lamb. Services will follow at 11:00 a.m. at Queen of Martyrs Catholic Church, 3550 W 103rd St, Evergreen Park. Burial will be at Chapel Hill Gardens South Cemetary in Oak Lawn.

No information regarding flowers or donations was available, the Blake-Lamb spokeswoman said.

Click here to read full coverage of both the accident and the aftermath.

Suburban Life joins Tribune and Doings in demanding release of theater documents denied to LG Today

In an editorial published in its May 20 edition, the Suburban Life newspaper said that La Grange officials should make public documents they refused to release last summer related to the village's decision to extend $1 million in financial assistance to the owners of the La Grange Theatre.

The documents—which include reports prepared by McKenna & Associates, a financial services firm that specializes in municipal and economic development financing and planning, and Holland & Knight, the village's law firm—were among several requested in May 2008 by La Grange Today publisher Thom Rae under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

In taking its stance, Suburban Life becomes the third area newspaper to publicly support Rae's request. The Chicago Tribune May 3 ran a front-page story critical of village officials and also compared an unredacted copy of an executive memorandum written by village manager Bob Pilipiszyn regarding the theater-financing proposal that it obtained with a version provided last year to Rae that had 15 of 19 paragraphs blacked out. The Doings newspaper last August also published an editorial criticizing the village's refusal to release the documents.

As Suburban Life points out, Rae was able to specifically request the documents only because they had been clearly identified by village president Liz Asperger during a public workshop in which she also encouraged trustees to discuss them openly. (The Tribune coverage also referenced the workshop disclosure in a video interview supplement to the online version of its story.)

In a letter from Asperger published in last Sunday's Tribune, she wrote, "[T]here are occasions when the best interests of the community are served by allowing its elected officials to confidentially consider a proposal, review proprietary financial information or discuss preliminary recommendations regarding a sensitive matter."

In a news story that accompanied Monday's editorial, Suburban Life Rae said, "I figured by the time you’re discussing documents in a public setting, they’re no longer preliminary drafts and not necessarily confidential."

Related stories:

• Asperger Responds to Tribune story on FOIA flap
  
• Trib story looks at battle to obtain theater documents