The Park District of La Grange tonight will mark its 80th anniversary, and its 8th annual Family Fest with a fireworks display at 9:30 in Gordon Park. Also new this year is a beer garden.
The free event, which begins at 5 p.m., offers something fun for everyone, according to park district officials, such as raffles, face painting, a petting zoo and dunk tank. Other offerings include:
Bingo, 5:30 - 7:30
DJ, 5:00 - 7:30
Beer Garden, 5:00 - 8:00
Kids Carnival Games, 5:00 - 8:00
Food Vendors, 5:00 - 9:00
Fun Jumps, 5:00 - 8:00
Pony Rides, 5:00 - 8:00
Dueling Pianos, 8:00 - 9:30
The entrance to Gordon Park is located on Ogden Ave east of La Grange Rd. Free parking is provided.
La Grange officials should allow pawnbroker Andrew Grayson to open for business in a vacant storefront next to Village Hall in order to avoid paying a quarter-million dollars or more as a consequence of outlawing downtown pawn shops just weeks after issuing Grayson a business license, the Suburban Life newspaper said in an editorial published in this week's newsstand edition.
"Snobbery definitely has its price, and La Grange officials seem eager
to pay that expense in lieu of living by their own rules," the
newspaper said.
Grayson and his landlord, John Brannen, in a letter to La Grange officials June 25 proposed the village pay them each $125,000 or face a "likely lawsuit" if officials proceeded with their effort to amend the downtown zoning code to prohibit pawn shops and a half-dozen other newly undesirable businesses.
The village board of trustees July 13 formally approved the amendments upon the recommendation of the plan commission, which held a public hearing on the matter June 29.
At that hearing, Grayson said he felt "misled and duped" by village officials who initially embraced his plans to open All-Star Jewelry and Loan at 71 S La Grange Rd and issued him a business license May 21.
Suburban Life said Grayson "acted in good faith" and "had met the legal requirements for opening a legal business."
"Rather than accepting the reality that the town's zoning permitted such businesses downtown, village officials caved in to the gripes of local merchants," the newspaper said. "And now they will probably have to shell out at least $250,000 because they have refused to stand up for Grayson's right to operate a business."
Instead of blocking Grayson's plans, the village "should let the free market decide if La Grange is fertile soil for a pawn shop," the newspaper said.
Reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, Grayson said he was unaware of the editorial, but welcomed the support. He declined to comment on the status of any discussions with village officials other than to say, "My attorney is handling that."
Village officials also have made no public comment on the matter. However, it is assumed that the "probable or imminent litigation" cited by the village board of trustees for meeting in closed session July 7 was in reference to the letter sent by Grayson and Brannen.
In a related legal action, the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan July 15 asked the village's attorney, Mark Burkland, to explain the basis for citing that exception to the Open Meetings Act.
The Attorney General's action was taken in response to a request from La Grange Today publisher Thom Rae, who said he believes the closed session may have been improper as the board had not yet formally taken any action upon which the litigation could be based.
Rae cited a 1983 opinion from then-Attorney General Neil Hartigan who determined that a closed session held by the Springfield city council following threats of litigation over a proposed land annexation was "premature" because the council had not yet approved the annexation.
Burkland's response to the Attorney General is expected by Aug. 14.
La Grange police are investigating the
burglary of six homes that occurred early Monday morning, according
to a press release issued by the department.
The homes are located in the 200 and
300 blocks of 7th Ave, and in the 100, 200 and 300 blocks
of 8th Ave.
The burglaries occurred between
midnight and 3 a.m. In most cases, cash was taken, while in one incident jewelry and a credit card were reported missing, said police
investigator Robert Wardlaw.
Residents were home during some of the
burglaries. One resident reported seeing a shadowed figure who could
not be identified, said Wardlaw. Others reported hearing noises during the time of
the burglaries.
In all cases but one, entry to the
homes was through either an unlocked door or window.
Police also are trying to determine if
the incidents are related to two similar burglaries reported July 18
by residents in the 200 block of 6th Ave. In those cases,
entry was made through a window. Jewelry and electronic items were
stolen.
Anyone with information on these crimes
is asked to call the La Grange Police tip line at (708) 579-0688.
The La Grange Library Monday night (July 27) is offering Staying Sane in an Insane Economy, a free financial planning workshop conducted by Brad Lazarus of Omega Advisors of Chicago. Lazarus recently was hired as a personal finance instructor at De Paul University.
Managing personal finances has become a priority for many consumers in the face of the current economic downturn. Homeowner equity has declined along with housing prices and many consumers also have found that their unused credit lines have been revoked. Even if one still has a job, rising unemployment figures are a reminder that having a financial contingency plan in place is a good idea.
Lazarus will discuss managing debt, positioning an investment portfolio and assessing how the 2009 federal stimulus may affect individuals.
Registration for the program is strongly encouraged. Click here to register. For more information, call the library at (708) 352-0576.
La Grange has the "best downtown," according to the August edition of Chicago Magazine, which annually ranks the best things to be found in the region.
Noting that La Grange was not unlike many suburbs whose downtowns had attracted "appealing restaurants and stylish boutiques" in recent years, the magazine found it unusual that "tried-and-true old-timers like the hardware store, the art league and the camera shops have stuck around, too."
Kudos also were given to the weekly farmers market and police patrolling on Segways.
"It all feels like a Mayberry for the 21st Century," the magazine wrote, echoing a description often invoked by Village President Elizabeth Asperger.
Ed. Note: A hat tip to reader Barista...Kook for the heads up on this story.
Local residents who take classes at the Terra Incognito clay studio and gallery in downtown La Grange know the joy of sharing one's work with family and family. Clay bowls and sculptures make lovely gifts.
But after several months of taking classes, their creative output was accumulating while their lists of likely gift recipients was dwindling. Who else might appreciate their clay craftwork? they wondered.
They found their answer at the La Grange Farmers Market, where 19 of the students have been offering their wares for sale every Thursday morning under the moniker, Village Potters.
In the video below, one of students, village resident Juanita Davis, talks about the group's venture and shows off some of their offerings.
This video was shot in mid-May soon after we acquired our camera. The footage was edited earlier this month as it took some practice to get the hang of our new editing software. Sales at the Farmers Market have grown significantly for the Village Potters, Juanita reports. Two weeks ago, the booth sold 40 pieces. All 19 potters have sold at least one piece so far this summer.
Attorneys for Orlando Coryell Friday asked the Illinois First Appellate Court to overturn the dismissal of five counts in his lawsuit against the Park District of La Grange.
The five counts were dismissed June 22 by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Leroy Martin Jr. who ordered a trial held on a sixth remaining count, referred to in the lawsuit as Count III.
In that trial, Martin ruled in favor of Coryell, voiding a Jan. 8 public auction of 2.82 acres of Gordon Park. The judge said he believed the auction was a "private sale" because the sole and successful bidder, Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP), had been given favorable treatment. Specifically, Martin ruled that zoning changes granted by the village, and a land swap between the village and the park district, applied only to ARP's planned redevelopment of the former Rich Port YMCA site, in which the developer planned to incorporate the auctioned parkland.
Tom Beyer, one of the attorneys representing Coryell, said the appeal was necessary to keep alive his client's main legal arguments against sale of the parkland.
Beyer said it could take as long as a year for the appeals court to render a decision. He also said the appeal could not have been filed until Martin made his ruling on the surviving count.
Three of the appealed counts contend that the sale would violate the Public Trust Doctrine and the Public Purpose Doctrine, and also that the state statute permitting sale of public parkland is unconstitutional, Beyer said.
The other two counts allege that the park district did not meet statutory deadlines in preparing a Nov. 4 referendum in which district voters backed the parkland sale by a margin of 55 to 45 percent, and that the park district board failed to state a basis for its finding that the 2.82 acres were no longer needed or useful.
The latter two counts are technical violations that can be "cured" by the park district, Beyer said, whereas the first three challenge the park district's authority to sell parkland.
Count III, which Martin upheld, also involves a technical violation that conceivably could be remedied. It would require the village to adopt new zoning allowing any successful auction bidder, not just ARP, to develop the parkland, and necessitate a revision of the land swap to also apply to any successful bidder.
Neither the park district or the village has made any public statement regarding an effort to cure Judge Martin's concerns about Count III.
Beyer said he also may ask the appellate court to stay any order allowing sale of the parkland that may arise from a separate legal action being pursued by the park district, also in Cook County Circuit Court.
In that case, Judge Susan Fox Gillis is considering a new petition from the park district seeking approval to sell the same 2.82 acres directly to ARP under a different park district statute from that involved in Coryell's lawsuit.
A status hearing in that case is scheduled for this Friday.
The petition is being opposed by a group of residents represented by attorney Joan Johnson, who last week filed a motion asking Gillis to dismiss the petition on the basis of res judicata, a Latin term and legal argument meaning that the case already has been decided.
Gillis last summer dismissed a similar petition from the park district, ruling that a contract between it and ARP, and a title insurance policy, both contained legal descriptions of parkland amounting to 3.5 acres, more than can be sold under the statute in that case.
While Coryell was one of two residents who opposed the park district's original petition, he is not a litigant in new petition hearing.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has asked La Grange officials to explain their basis for citing "probable or imminent litigation" as the reason why the village board met in closed session July 7.
The request was made in a letter sent July 15 to Village Attorney Mark Burkland from Heather Kimmons, an assistant attorney general in the office of the state's public access counselor.
Burkland was asked to respond by Aug. 14.
The Attorney General is seeking to determine if the exception cited for holding the closed session complies with the requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, Kimmons wrote. The action was prompted by a request for assistance filed July 13 by Thom Rae, publisher of La Grange Today.
In the letter, Kimmons noted that, in cases where litigation is not pending, "before [a public body] enters a closed meeting to discuss a dispute that is likely to lead to litigation, it must first 'find that the litigation is probable or imminent and record and enter into the minutes the basis for that finding.'"
Village officials have not made public the nature of the litigation it discussed in private but it generally is assumed to have centered on litigation that might arise if the village board took formal action to prevent a pawn shop the village licensed in May from opening this month in a vacant storefront at 71 S La Grange Rd, next to Village Hall.
The Suburban Life newspaper reported online Friday that the village received a letter dated June 25 from pawnbroker Andrew Grayson and his landlord, John Brannen, seeking $250,000 in damages if the village went forward with efforts to amend its zoning code so that pawn shops were prohibited from operating in the central business district. Otherwise, the village would face a "likely lawsuit."
The village board subsequently adopted several zoning code amendments, including one outlawing pawn shops, but did not take that action until July 13, six days after meeting in closed session.
In his request for assistance, Rae cited a 1983 opinion issued by then-Attorney General Neil Hartigan, who determined that a closed session of the Springfield city council, for which it similarly invoked the "probable litigation" exception prior to
approving in open session a land annexation, was invalid because the action upon which any litigation could be based had not yet
been taken. Springfield's closed session was "premature," Hartigan said.
Kimmons reiterated that position in her letter to Burkland.
"The distant possibility of litigation arising out of a relationship or transaction between a public body and another party is not sufficient to constitute probable or imminent litigation," Kimmons wrote.
A June 25 letter to La Grange officials from a pawnbroker and his landlord seeking $250,000 in damages or a "likely lawsuit" if village officials went forward with efforts to prevent him from doing business in downtown La Grange may have prompted the village board to meet in closed session July 7, according to a story published online Friday by the Suburban Life newspaper.
The letter, written by pawnbroker Andrew Grayson and landlord John Brannen, said the village could avoid a lawsuit by allowing All-Star Jewelry & Loan to open in a vacant storefront at 71 S La Grange Rd, next to Village Hall, or by paying each man $125,000 in damages if the store was prevented from opening, the newspaper reported.
The letter also said the men “prefer not to sue" and would prepare documents terminating Grayson's lease if the village agreed to the payment in lieu of allowing the pawn shop to open in July as planned, the newspaper said.
Suburban Life said it obtained a copy of the letter from the village in response to a request the newspaper filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
The village board met in closed session July 7, citing an exception to the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) that allows private discussion of "probable or imminent litigation."
At the time of the closed session, the village plan commission had held a public hearing June 29 at which it recommended that the village board adopt amendments to the zoning code prohibiting seven specific business uses from operating in the central business district, including pawn shops.
The village board subsequently approved the amendments but did not do so until July 13. Following that meeting, Grayson declined to comment on whether he planned to take any legal action.
Thom Rae, publisher of LaGrangeToday.com this week asked the Illinois Attorney General and the Cook County State's Attorney to investigate whether the exception was valid. Rae said he did not believe the exception applied because the board had not yet taken the action upon which a lawsuit could be based.
In his requests, Rae cited a 1983 opinion written by then-Attorney
General Neil Hartigan that defined probable and imminent litigation as it
relates to the OMA exception. In that opinion, Hartigan said a closed session held by the Springfield city council immediately prior to approving a land annexation in an open meeting was invalid because the action had not yet been taken. Thus, the closed session to discuss probable litigation was "premature," he said. In the Springfield case, an attorney representing a potential litigant was present at the open session and opposed the annexation, prompting the closed session.
Hartigan said that "if the possibility of a lawsuit over the annexation was a factor in the city council's legislative determination on the annexation, this matter should have been discussed in an open meeting since it goes to the merits of the question rather than to the litigation itself."
Hartigan also noted that, even if litigation was probable, "the
only matters which may lawfully be discussed at the closed meeting
are the strategies, posture, theories, and consequences of the
litigation itself." The meeting could not be used to discuss the “pros and cons” of the taking the action that might result in legal action, he said.
If the La Grange board decides to pay any money to Grayson and Brannen, that action would have to take place in a public session.
VIDEO: La Grange Village President delivered a roundup of new restaurants and other food-related businesses that are opening or, in some cases, already have opened this summer in the village's downtown business district.
The presentation was made during Asperger's opening remarks at the regular meeting of the village board of trustees held July 13.
Additional video footage of the businesses mentioned has been added.
