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Archive for the ‘Contests’ Category

FPDCC Photo Contest

Blazing Star and Goldenrod by Michelle Wendling is a previous Forest Preserves of Cook County photo contest winner. (Courtesy of Forest Preserves of Cook County)

Submitted by Forest Preserves of Cook County

Whether you have an eye for casually capturing images or you’re a professional photographer, the Forest Preserves of Cook County wants to see your nature photographs showcasing the beauty of the preserves.

The forest preserves is accepting entries for the 2023 photo contest and is looking for the very best photos of preserve landscapes; close-ups of plants, insects, birds and other wildlife; pictures that highlight the seasons; and shots of people enjoying the outdoors or participating in recreational offerings.

Entries showcasing two treasures of the forest preserves — the Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago Botanic Garden — are also accepted.

Fifteen winning photos will be featured in the 2024 Forest Preserves of Cook County calendar and on forest preserves social media accounts. Winning photographers will also receive 10 copies of the calendar, as well as a forest preserves prize package.

Twenty-four additional photos will be selected as runners-up, and may be featured in the Forest Way newsletter, on forest preserves social media accounts, and on the forest preserves website.

Photos eligible for the 2023 photo contest must be submitted via email to fpdcc.info@cookcountyil.gov Aug. 1-15. There is a submission limit of five entries/photos per person, and all photos must meet requirements:

  • All photographs must be taken in the Forest Preserves of Cook County (this includes Brookfield Zoo or Chicago Botanic Garden).
  • Photographs must be in a digital format such as JPEG or TIF at a minimum resolution of 3600-by-2700 pixels at 300 dpi and a maximum file size of 24MB at time of submission.
  • Each photo must include a caption (in the body of the email or as the name of the image file) with the location and approximate date (e.g. Eggers Grove, March 2019; Poplar Creek Trail, Fall 2021).
  • Photos must be free of watermarks and graphics. (All photographers will be credited appropriately.)
  • Photos included in the calendar will be horizontal (vertical photos should be cropped before submitting).

For information on the photo contest, including the official rules and additional requirements, visit fpdcc.com/photo-contest.

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April 2023 Adg

Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

  • [Vote] Amended Village Budget FY 2023
  • [Vote] Resolution Authorizing the Issuance of Notice of Award for the 2023 Road Program Project by the Village of Barrington Hills, Illinois Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] Ordinance Amending Escrow Requirements for Tree Removal Permits as Set Forth in Title 4, Chapter 6 in the Village Code Ordinance 23 –
  • [Vote] Resolution of Proclamation Appreciating Trustee Bryan C. Croll for 8 Years of Dedicated Service Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] Resolution of Proclamation Appreciating Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan for 10 Years of Dedicated Service Resolution 23 –

In addition, nominations for new or renewal appointments to Boards and Commissions will be voted on.  Four member of the Equestrian Commission is on the list of renewals, however there is a problem with the renomination of one of those members.

That member ran for and won a seat on the Barrington Hills Park District Board earlier this month, and now this represents a conflict. Therefore, an alternate should be considered at a subsequent Board of Trustees meeting.

A copy of this evening’s agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.

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Barry bitch

Barry Altshuler had his best “Resting Bitch Face” on display yesterday as he picketed with the other ‘Progressive’ candidates in downtown Barrington yesterday.  Altshuler and Collister-Lazzari have continuously blocked from their Facebook campaign pages any person who asked tough questions about their record.

Yesterday, prior to the Progressive Picket, Altshuler deleted dozens of comments from the one post left on his page with comments that disagree with or question his actions in his 4 years in office.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Altshuler and Collister-Lazzari since they’ve been on the District 220 Board of Education, it is they have no tolerance for differing views. Their opinions are always unwavering, no matter what experts in their fields opine, and that’s just wrong…

BA Permiss

Related: Choose wisely at the polls,” “Two term District 220 Board of Education member Angela Wilcox endorses Katey Baldassano, Leonard Munson, and Matt Sheriff for 220 Board,” “Endorsements: Munson, Baldassano and Sheriff for CUSD 220 Board of Education,” “District 220 Board of Education candidates Katey Baldassono, Leonard Munson and Matt Sheriff share their vision,” “Parents at top-rated school expose pornographic books in IL school library (DISCRETION ADVISED),” “The District 220 Policy Committee has a lot on their plate tomorrow,” “Who’s minding Leah and Barry’s campaign finances,” “What 220 voters need to know continued, including our recommendations,” “What 220 voters need to know,” “220 Parents call BS!

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Candidate Forum

Barrington CUSD 220 PTO Presidents’ Council

The District 220 PTO Presidents’ Council extends an invitation to the Barrington 220 community of voters to attend its School Board Candidates’ Forum on Wednesday, March 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Barrington Area Library*.

There are seven school board candidates running for three seats on the Board of Education in the upcoming April 4 election. The seven candidates include:

  • Barry Altshuler (Current board member)
  • Leah Collister-Lazzari (Current board member)
  • Katey Baldassano
  • Diana L. Clopton
  • Nelda Munoz
  • Leonard Munson
  • Matt Sheriff

The event will start with a short period of introduction by each candidate, followed by a question and answer session using questions from the audience and questions submitted in advance online.

The forum is open to all District 220 voters and is free of charge. All interested community members are encouraged to attend. Seating is limited to 120 attendees and will be first come first serve.

Questions may be submitted here.

*Barrington Area Library provides meeting room space as a community service. The Barrington Area Library neither sponsors nor endorses this event nor the presenting individuals or organizations.

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National Lampoons Christmas Vacation lights

Give it your best Griswold effort!

One or two strings of lights just won’t cut it. To contend for the Daily Herald’s annual holiday lights contest, you have to think big. We’re talking lights, music, fake snow, candy canes, inflatables, Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, toy soldiers and, well, you get the idea.

Entries will be accepted from Thursday until noon Dec. 9 at events.dailyherald.com. The grand prize winner will be determined by online votes. Voting will start Dec. 11 and end Dec. 14.

The grand prize winner and Editor’s Choice winners from DuPage County, the Fox Valley, Lake County and the Northwest suburbs will appear in the Dec. 21 edition of the Daily Herald.

Entries must be residences within the Daily Herald coverage area. Previous grand prize recipients are ineligible to win again.

The grand prize winner will receive a $100 gift card from Ala Carte Entertainment. The Editor’s Choice winners each will receive a $50 Ala Carte Entertainment gift card.

Daily Herald report

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Ottor Contest

A southern sea otter is one of two females at Shedd Aquarium that are part of a program in which rescued females that can’t be released into the wild are raised to be surrogate moms to orphaned pups.

Over the next week, Shedd Aquarium is looking for help to name one of the two female otters that arrived in Chicago from California this month. These furry marine mammals will join the rescued sea otter population in the exhibit in the Abbott Oceanarium.

Otters 926 and 929 are a 9-month-old pair that were discovered separately on the coast of California. At just two weeks old, they were found alone with no mother or adult otters in sight, according to a statement from Shedd Aquarium. The Monterey Bay Aquarium rescued the two and ever since, the otters have been referred to as their intake numbers, 926 and 929.

The animal care team that oversees the health and well-being of North America’s smallest marine mammals, will vote to name otter 926. Meanwhile, the public will get to vote to name otter 929.

The Shedd Aquarium staff created a short list of names for the public to choose from, each inspired by a location along the coast of California where sea otters can be found.

Jade is for the Jade Cove located in the southern area of Big Sur in California. Sunny is for Sunset Beach next to Asilomar Beach in California. Willow is for the Willow Creek Picnic Area and Beach in Monterey County, California.

Members of the public can submit digital votes as many times as they would like.

More here.

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ethics

Last Winter, the Village of Lake Barrington published the following in their seasonal newsletter:

Lake Barrington’s Ethics Commission

Did you know that the Village has an Ethics Commission? The independent commission adds to the overall transparency of our government and serves to investigate complaints alleging violations of the Ethics Chapter of the Village Code. We are proud to report that this 3-member Commission has never once had to meet regarding a violation!”

Their Municipal Code actually devotes a chapter to ethics, and the main page of their website contains a link to, “Report a Concern.”

As previously chronicled in this publication, if one searches our Village Code, keying in the word “ethics,” the result reads, “No Matches Found.”

Our Village needs an Ethics Commission.  How else could parties involved in complaints present their respective cases to determine if ethics violations did, or did not, occur? Listed below are typical practices that might arise in our Village, and in our opinion, may warrant investigation, understanding that there are no implications as to guilt or innocence of any on the list:

  • Should expensive legal battles, possibly precipitated by actions of elected and appointed Village officials, be investigated?
  • Should the hiring and retention of Village paid staff positions by elected family members be investigated?
  • Should contracts with vendors who maintain personal and professional relationships with elected Village officials and their families be investigated?
  • Should the solicitations of funds and hand selection of vendors by family members or close friends of elected Village officials, absent oversight by appointed Village committees, be investigated?

For these and other reasons, our Village needs to appoint an Ethics Commission to act as ombudsmen, when any question of potential maladministration or ethics violations is considered or occurs.

Candidates for this proposed commission could come from existing appointed Village bodies, ones whose objectivity would be unquestioned.

The perfect candidates for this roll are the incumbent members of the Board of Heath.  They are highly qualified, underutilized, and would prove to be an effective force in maintaining ethical governance of the Village of Barrington Hills.

Related:Our predominantly pusillanimous Village Board (Part 1),” “Our predominantly pusillanimous Village Board (Part 2),” “Better Government Association Commends Passage of Chicago Ethics Ordinance–Sees More to Do,” “What happened to ethics reform in Illinois government? Why watchdogs have some hope,” “Meanwhile, One Barrington Hills makes amends, extinguishes website and turns the volume down,” “Learn from your (big) mistake, Laura, Bryan, Dave and Tom,” “Agreed

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Grizwold

Daily Herald’s holiday lights contest returns.

“If passengers on flights approaching O’Hare can see your holiday lights, then this contest is for you.

Entries in the Daily Herald’s annual holiday lights contest will be accepted through Dec. 6. Visit events.dailyherald.com to upload a photo.

Online voting will run Dec. 8-12. The top vote-getter will receive a $250 gift certificate redeemable at Ala Carte Entertainment restaurants throughout the area. Previous grand prize recipients are not eligible to win again.

The winners of Editor’s Choice awards for DuPage County, the Fox Valley, Lake County and the Northwest suburbs each will receive a $50 Ala Carte Entertainment gift card.

The winners will be featured in the Dec. 22 edition of the Daily Herald.”

-Daily Herald report

Editorial note:  A link to the Village “Exterior Lighting Regulations” can be found here.

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