Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Group says secret gender policies violate parents’ rights

August 5, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

A sign for an inclusive restroom with gender and accessibility symbols is displayed on a dark wall. | Photo: Danielle-Claude Bélanger / Unsplash

By Jim Talamonti |The Center Square

The Liberty Justice Center has sent letters to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and attorneys general in three other states, warning that school districts’ decisions to withhold information from parents regarding students’ purported gender transitions violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

The LJC said parents have a right under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to direct the education of their children. The group said the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act guarantees parents the right to access their children’s education records at schools that receive federal funds.

In addition to Illinois, the LJC sent letters to attorneys general in New York, New Jersey and Washington.

Source

Posted in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Look For The Union Label, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, The Center Square, What the Ficke (Bradford)? | Leave a Comment »

Editorial: Alarm bells are ringing loudly in electricity markets for Illinois’ clean-energy law

August 4, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

Tall electrical towers follow a north-south pathway through Barrington Hills in 2023. | Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune

By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune

Electric bills are a sore spot with consumers and for good reason.

They would be set to go quite a bit higher in the next few years but for an artificial cap the regional power-grid manager serving Commonwealth Edison’s territory and all or parts of 12 other states has imposed on the price paid to power generators for promising to deliver when most needed. That cost, reflected in the electric bills all of us pay, is established via an auction held ahead of time by PJM Interconnection, operator of this regional grid that includes northern Illinois.

PJM (one of several U.S. regional grid overseers that reports to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) ran its auction just last month for the delivery year beginning June 1, 2028, and ending May 31, 2029. And the results delivered a stark — but largely unnoticed — warning for the Chicago area.

The cost of “capacity” in the period was capped at $325 per megawatt-day, about the same as ratepayers are charged now. But, based on the bids PJM got from generators and other providers, if there had been no price cap, the capacity charge just in the ComEd territory would have been more than double at nearly $777 per megawatt-day, far higher than any such price ever recorded by PJM.

In every other part of the PJM footprint, which runs east from here to the mid-Atlantic, the cost would have been higher without a cap as well. But it “only” would have been about $555 per megawatt-day.

If that price in the ComEd territory had been allowed to stand, monthly electric bills for residents of single-family homes would be increasing $35 to $77 beginning in mid-2028 for that reason alone, according to ComEd. Those in apartments would be paying $17 to $38 more.

You may be wondering why you should care if regulators and politicians have worked to keep such disastrous outcomes from occurring. The reason, as we’ll explain further below, is that price controls of this sort reduce supply and risk future shortages. In other words, which is worse? Nosebleed electricity prices or rolling blackouts when temperatures soar?

That said, why is northern Illinois such an outlier? PJM didn’t say in their auction release. But Joseph Bowring, the independent market monitor for the PJM region (he serves as sort of a referee for the market, assessing bidder behavior and other things), wasn’t so reticent. He told RTO Insider, a trade publication, that the state’s clean-energy law, the 2021 Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, is responsible.

Editorial continues here.

Posted in BOHICA, Chicago Tribune, Cost of Living, Ethics, OP/Ed, Politics, Springfield, Topics Of Interest, Unions | Leave a Comment »

PUBLIC HEARING Before the Plan Commission of the Village of Barrington Hills

August 4, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

Plat of Subdivision – Lot Consolidation

Notice is hereby given that a Public Hearing will be held on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. at a special meeting by the Plan Commission of the Village of Barrington Hills at the Barrington Hills Village Hall, 112 Algonquin Road, Barrington Hills, IL, concerning an Application filed by the owner of 8 County Line and 0 Steeplechase Roads, Barrington Hills, IL, to request approval of a final plat of subdivision consolidating property commonly known as 8 County Line and 0 Steeplechase Roads in Barrington Hills, IL to create a single lot. Affected properties are identified by PIN 13-34-301-006 and 13-34-300-024.

A copy of the application and proposed plat for lot consolidation are available for examination in the office of the Village Clerk at the Village Hall, by appointment, during hours of operation. Any interested party will be given an opportunity to provide comment. Written comment on the application for lot consolidation, which will be provided to the members of the Plan Commission, will be accepted in the Office of the Village Clerk through 5:00 PM, August 17, 2026.

By: Village Clerk
Village of Barrington Hills
clerk@vbhil.gov
112 Algonquin Road
Barrington Hills, IL 60010

Posted in Land Use, Plan Commission, Public Hearing, Real Estate, Village Attorney, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration | Leave a Comment »

Kiosk on Fox River in East Dundee rents kayaks by the hour, day or week

August 4, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

Tim Waldron finishes work on a final piece of the Bartels Park renovation in East Dundee —a self-service, app-automated kiosk for renting kayaks on the Fox River. Waldron is an operations manager for Rent.Fun, a Michigan-based business that runs similar setups across the U.S. | Mike Danahey/The Courier-News

By Mike Danahey | For the Elgin Courier-News

The final piece of the East Dundee renovation of Bartels Park on the Fox River — a self-service, app-automated kiosk for renting kayaks — is ready for use.

“We hope this increases intergenerational outdoor rec opportunities and brings fun to the community,” said Tim Waldron, an operations manager for Rent.Fun who installed the camera-monitored, solar-powered kiosk that holds six single-rider kayaks and two tandem models.

Kayak rentals cost $25 for two hours and $40 for four hours. People who become Rent.Fun members for $99 a year can rent kayaks at any location for $50 a day and $60 a week and can receive a discount for guest passes and other services, according to the company’s website.

The kayak rental kiosk from Rent.Fun is up and running on the Fox River at Bartels Park in East Dundee. Construction on the camera-monitored, solar-powered kiosk that holds six single-rider kayaks and two tandem models finished this week. | Mike Danahey/The Courier-News

“It’s like owning a kayak, but without needing a place of your own to keep it,” Waldron said.

East Dundee signed a $35,000 contract with the Michigan-based company for the amenity and will receive 30% of the kiosk’s annual rental revenue.

The kiosk stands in a shaded area adjacent to a handicapped-accessible, motorless watercraft launch that opened in September 2025. It is one of five launches Kane County funded with $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Earlier this year, East Dundee completed a redesign of the section of Water Street along Bartels Park, making it one-way heading north and installing nine parking spaces. The village also has moved street parking to the south side of Barrington Avenue near the park and banned parking on the north side.

Rent.Fun operations manager Tim Waldron shows one of the single-rider kayaks available to rent from a kiosk he built near Bartels Park on the Fox River in East Dundee. | Mike Danahey/The Courier-News

The new kayak kiosk is open from dawn to dusk. Before using it, a renter must be 18 or older, download the company’s app at www.rent.fun and complete online paperwork, which includes a payment method and a liability waiver.

Article continues here.

Related: “Explore the Fox River by kayak”

Posted in Chicago Tribune, County, Entertainment, Kane | Leave a Comment »

Century-old treasure awakens: Catlow Theater’s historic revival gains momentum

August 3, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

People tour the Catlow Theater to see the progress on the restoration of the 1927 theater in Barrington late last month. | John Starks/Daily Herald

By Steve Zalusky | Daily Herald

A sleeping giant in downtown Barrington is gradually emerging from its slumber.

As the Catlow Theater heads toward its 100th birthday in May, the downtown Barrington movie house is about halfway toward reaching its $6 million fundraising goal, said Brian Long, president of the Catlow 1927 Foundation, the nonprofit group spearheading the project.

The foundation is working to restore the theater, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. Long and his wife, Julianne, bought the theater in 2022, two years after it closed.

Its latest fundraising effort, a match campaign, was launched last month, with an anonymous donor matching all contributions.

Long, who owns Long & Co. Jewelers and Long Story Short Pub in downtown Barrington, is guiding the project with a businessman’s sensibility.

“It’s not if, it’s when,” he said, emphasizing the project will be run responsibly. “It will be done.”

“We’re not going to sign contracts that we can’t afford,” Long said. “The good news is this. The Catlow Foundation is a foundation, but the person steering the ship is a businessman, and he is running it like a business.”

Article continues here.

Posted in Daily Herald, Fundraisers, Resident Spotlights | Leave a Comment »

Join National Night Out events in the suburbs

August 3, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

Harper Police Chief John Lawson at a previous National Night Out. The Harper College Police Department will be part of the Dundee Township National Night Out celebration in collaboration with police departments in Carpentersville, Sleepy Hollow, West Dundee and East Dundee on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at Carpenter Park in Carpentersville. (Harper College)

By Kim Becker | Daily Herald

National Night Out is an annual event held on the first Tuesday in August, intended to bring communities together to enhance the public’s relationship with local police and emergency personnel while building neighborhood spirit. This year’s official date is Tuesday, Aug. 4, although some events take place in the surrounding week.

Tuesday, Aug. 4

Wauconda National Night Out: 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, on Main Street, between Bangs Street and Route 176, Wauconda. The village of Wauconda Police Department and other community organizations host a family night out featuring emergency and utility vehicles, games, food, raffles, prizes, music and more. Free. wauconda-il.gov.

Dundee Township National Night Out: 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at Carpenter Park in Carpentersville. Features touch-a-trucks, emergency vehicles, drone demos, drunk-driving simulator, and local first responders, as well as family-friendly activities, inflatables, food vendors/trucks and community resource tables. Hosted by the Carpentersville, East Dundee, Sleepy Hollow and West Dundee police departments, as well as the Dundee Township Park District and Harper College. Free. facebook.com/villageofcarpentersvillepublicsafety/.

Algonquin National Night Out: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at the historic village hall, 2 S. Main St. Meet police, fire, and public works personnel while enjoying K-9 demonstrations, safety displays, music, giveaways. algonquin.org.

Deer Park National Night Out: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at Vehe Farm Park, 23570 Cuba Road, Deer Park. Free. villageofdeerpark.com

Hoffman Estates National Night Out: 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at new location, Fabbrini Park, 1704 Glen Lake Road, Hoffman Estates. Enjoy activities, meet local officers, explore police vehicles, learn about programs and more. Free. hoffmanestates.org

Wednesday, Aug. 5

Palatine National Night Out: 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Falcon Park Recreation Center, 2195 N. Hicks Road, Palatine. Entertainment, food trucks, live demonstrations, police cars, fire trucks and more. Free. palatineparks.org.

Thursday, Aug. 6

Barrington National Night Out: 5:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, at Cook and Station streets in downtown Barrington. Burgers, wood workshop for kids, bike helmet giveaways, games, prizes and more. Free. barrington-il.gov

Crystal Lake National Night Out: 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, on Williams Street, between Brink Street and Crystal Lake Avenue. Features face painting, balloon artist, first responder vehicles, an opportunity to leave your handprint on a Crystal Lake Police squad car, live entertainment, and local vendors and community organizations. facebook.com/CrystalLakePD.

Cary National Night Out: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, at Cary Municipal Center’s lower level parking area, 755 Georgetown Drive and the grounds of nearby Kaper Park. Police, fire, public works and township vehicles will be on display for guests to explore. Meet first responders and take a tour of the police department and village hall. There will be a police drone presentation, K9 presentation, and LifeNet will land a helicopter on-site. Fireworks and drone show at dusk. Visit caryillinois.com.

Find many more locations here.

Posted in Daily Herald, Politics, Public Safety | Leave a Comment »

Governor Pritzker’s “Vulgar” Education Record

August 3, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

By Paul Vallas | John Kass News

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker appears to regard vulgarity as acceptable. Recall his remarks at the Illinois Federation of Teachers convention in October, when he told President Trump and his cronies to “f— all the way off” — and his defense two weeks later that “all the limits are off with Donald Trump as president.” Such behavior from a governor is troubling, but what I find most troubling is the vulgarity of his actual education record.

The Governor is currently in full election mode, effectively running for Governor while posturing for President simultaneously, bragging about Illinois’ high ranking in education. The problem with these misleading surveys, whether by U.S. News or CNBC, is that the rankings are largely driven by education investments, not academic results. The fact remains that Illinois’ rapid rise up the spending rankings has not resulted in improvement in Illinois’ abysmal academic performance, nor in an expansion of quality school choices.

Historic funding increases and no accountability

Since enactment of the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) formula in 2017, the state’s cumulative increases have totaled more than $4 billion in additional annual funding for public schools; that includes roughly $3 billion through the EBF formula. Lawmakers have also increased funding for items outside the formula such as career and technical education, transportation, and other “mandated categorical” expenses. That brought total General Revenue Fund spending for PreK-12 public schools to roughly $11.2 billion this fiscal year.

Depending on the measure, Illinois now ranks between 9th and 11th nationally in per-pupil spending — its per-pupil outlays have grown 34 percent since 2019 — and statewide per-pupil spending exceeds neighboring states by wide margins. According to Wirepoints, Illinois spends anywhere from about 19 percent to 64 percent more per student than other Midwest states. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has among the highest per-pupil spending of large urban districts — sixth-highest among the nation’s 100 largest — spending over $32,000 per student across all funds, an increase of more than 40 percent since 2019.

A discriminatory state education funding formula

Under the EBF law, every district is supposed to be guaranteed at least the same amount of state funding as the previous year, but priority for new funding is given to districts that are furthest below their adequacy target. As a result, many school districts are losing funding in real dollars because of inflation. While a drop in general enrollment doesn’t cut funding immediately, a decline in the count of low-income students can reduce a district’s overall adequacy target even though the EBF protects current cash.

A large number of districts lose state funding every year in inflation-adjusted dollars because districts in the upper funding tiers receive little in annual state funding increases: about 99 percent of all new state funding flows to Tiers 1 and 2, leaving roughly 1 percent for Tiers 3 and 4. This allocation, combined with financial protections against enrollment loss, has enabled districts like Chicago to see state funding grow nearly 16 percent since 2019 even as enrollment fell by more than 40,000 students.

For all the talk about equity, the formula also does nothing to prevent CPS from discriminating against large numbers of its children from low-income households. Public charter schools as a group have the highest concentration of minority and poverty students, with 98 percent of their students Black and Latino and 87 percent from low-income families. Yet public charters receive substantially less funding per pupil — roughly a third less, by one analysis — and little facility support compared with the district’s traditional schools.

Vallas’ contrary continues here.

Paul Vallas formerly ran the public school systems in Chicago, Philadelphia and the Louisiana Recovery School District. He was a candidate for Mayor of C

Posted in Education, John Kass News, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Unions | Leave a Comment »

(Meanwhile) Woman trapped after SUV somehow rolls over onto its side inside home’s garage near Long Grove

August 2, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

A single-vehicle crash left an SUV rolled over onto its side inside a garage of the house, leaving the driver trapped, in the 3900 block of North Galena Avenue in unincorporated Arlington Heights, just south of Long Grove, Monday evening. | Photo: Nick Rusin

By Sam Borcia | Lake & McHenry County Scanner

An elderly woman was left trapped inside her car after she somehow rolled her SUV over onto its side inside the garage of her home near Long Grove, fire officials said.

The Long Grove Fire Protection District and Cook County Sheriff’s Office responded around 7:55 p.m. Monday to the 3900 block of North Galena Avenue in unincorporated Arlington Heights, just south of Long Grove, for a vehicle crash with entrapment.

A single-vehicle crash left an SUV rolled over onto its side inside a garage of the house, leaving the driver trapped, in the 3900 block of North Galena Avenue in unincorporated Arlington Heights, just south of Long Grove, Monday evening. | Photo: Nick Rusin

Long Grove Fire Protection District Chief Paul Segalla said a 911 caller reported a vehicle was inside a garage and rolled over.

Firefighters arrived and confirmed a vehicle rolled over onto its side inside the attached garage of a single-family house.

A single-vehicle crash left an SUV rolled over onto its side inside a garage of the house, leaving the driver trapped, in the 3900 block of North Galena Avenue in unincorporated Arlington Heights, just south of Long Grove, Monday evening. | Photo: Nick Rusin

Fire crews removed the garage door so they could access the vehicle, a Toyota Corolla Cross.

They also removed the adjacent vehicle that was parked in the garage so that they could access the rolled-over car, Segalla said.

Report continues here.

Posted in Lake & McHenry County Scanner | Leave a Comment »

Lake County Forest Preserves August Newsletter

August 1, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

In this issue:

For tickets and more activities, click here.

Posted in Education, Lake County Forest Preserve District, Topics Of Interest | Leave a Comment »

Pritzker signs law regulating how social media platforms interact with children

August 1, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

Capitol News Illinois file photo

By Ben Szalinski | Capitol News Illinois

Article Summary

  • JB Pritzker signed the Children’s Social Media Safety Act — a bill designed to protect children online and limit their access to addictive social media algorithms.
  • The bill would require social media companies to verify a child’s age on the device’s operating system and use stricter features for minors like limiting location-sharing and nighttime notifications.
  • Supporters of the bill say limiting access to addictive algorithms that keep kids glued to their screens will help improve their mental health.
  • The bill was generally opposed by tech groups.

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

The full report can be found here.

Posted in Barrington Education Association, Capitol News Illinois, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, School Districts, Springfield, Unions | Leave a Comment »

Older Posts »