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madigan

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor

For the fourth year in a row, Chicago ranks as the country’s most corrupt city. Illinois stands as the third-most corrupt state in a University of Illinois at Chicago study.

To arrive at the findings, researchers analyzed 2021 public corruption statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice. In all, there were 32 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois that includes Chicago in 2021, nearly a 33% increase from the 22 convictions that were reported the year before.

State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, isn’t surprised.

“It’s an awful shame, and goes to show you what happens when we have one party controlling everything,” Ugaste told The Center Square. “It gets to people, and they think they can do as they please instead of doing what is required of them under the law and required of them ethically.”

A solution to the long-running problem doesn’t have to be that difficult, Ugaste said.

We have extremely weak ethics laws,” he added. “If we fixed those within the House and Senate and gave our Legislative Inspector General more authority, I think it would go a long way in helping all of it. On the Republican side, we file bills every year to strengthen the legislative inspector general and the ethics laws but they never get hearings.”

Read more here.

(Very) Related: Better (decades) late than never

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FPDCC White House

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County will present their long-term plans December 13th at Barrington’s White House.

The Barrington Hills Park District (Riding Club) posted the following on October 20th after previously publishing this meeting occur on November 8th:

Share your thoughts about  future development of Horiszon Farm and Spring Creek. The Park District will present your comments to the Forest Preserve representatives.

The next Forest Preserve Presentation will be:

Dec. 13, 2023  at 7:00 pm
Please note this is a change in date and location

Where:
Barrington’s White House
145 W. Main Street, Barrington, IL 60010
224.512.4284
Barrington White House 

What:
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC) developed a long-term, comprehensive master plan for Horizon Farm and Spring Creek which they will share with the public.

You are welcome to attend the meeting to learn the details of how this plan addresses conservation and recreational issues.

Learn more information about the FPDCC’s Master Plan.p”

As we shared in a previous post, “It’s concerning recommendations are being sent to the Park District only instead copying officials at the Forest Preserves of Cook County.

Therefore, we strongly encourage residents save their suggestions submitted to the Park District, and utilize the official Forest Preserves of Cook County Contact Form to directly communicate those recommendations under the, ‘Planning and Development,’ category. Make sure your comments reference, ‘Future development of Horizon Farm and Spring Creek.’”

Related:Barrington Hills Park District soliciting recommendations regarding, ‘Future development of Horizon Farm and Spring Creek

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RCBH Track

Per the Barrington Hills Park District website:

“Forest Preserve Master Plan Presentation for Horizon Farm & Spring Creek

When: Nov. 8, 2023 – 7:00 p.m.

Where: The Riding (Club’s) Meeting Room, 361 Bateman Road, Barrington Hills

What:  The Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC) developed a long-term, comprehensive master plan for Horizon Farm and Spring Creek which they will share with the public.

You are welcome to attend the meeting to learn the details of how this plan addresses conservation and recreational issues.

Share your thoughts with the forest preserve about their future development of Horizon Farm and Spring Creek. The Park District will present your comments to the Forest Preserve representatives.”

Editorial note: It’s concerning recommendations are being sent to the Park District only instead copying officials at the Forest Preserves of Cook County.

Therefore, we strongly encourage residents save their suggestions submitted to the Park District, and utilize the official Forest Preserves of Cook County “Contact Form” to directly communicate those recommendations under the, ”Planning and Development,” category. Make sure your comments reference, “Future development of Horizon Farm and Spring Creek.”

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RCBH Track

The Barrington Hills Park District Board will hold their monthly meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. Their meeting is scheduled to start with a Forest Preserve Master Plan Presentation for Horizon Farm & Spring Creek.

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here. Instructions for accessing the meeting remotely can be found here.

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racetrack-2048x2048

When: Oct 11, 2023, 7:00 p.m.

Where: The Riding Club Meeting Room, 361 Bateman Road, Barrington Hills.

What: The Forest Preserves of Cook County developed a long-term, comprehensive master plan for Horizon Farm and Spring Creek which they will share with the public.

You are welcome to attend the meeting to learn the details of how this plan addresses conservation and recreational issues.

Related:  “Horse lovers trying to save racetrack at Horizon Farm Forest Preserve, while bird and nature lovers question the impact,” “Forest Preserves of Cook County Fully Opens Northwest Cook County’s Horizon Farm Preserve,” “Park District hosting February 8th Cook County Forest Preserve District discussion,” “FPDCC holding Horizon Farm public meeting June 14th,” “FPDCC presents Horizon Farm update,” “Decadelong legal battle over Barrington Hills horse farm — eyed as huge forest preserve — may be nearing resolution

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RCBH-logo-4-768x421

The Barrington Hills Park District Board will hold their monthly meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

  • Indoor Arena Window Proposal
  • Adopt A Policy To Authorize Electronic Attendance At Board Meetings For Commissioners And The Public
  • Maintenance: Remove Buckthorn Next To Front Dumpster, and
  • Portable Ice Skating Rink

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here. Instructions for accessing the meeting remotely can be found here.

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RCBH-logo-4-768x421

The Equestrian Commission will hold a meeting this evening at 6:30 PM.  Though scheduled to meet quarterly, this will be their first meeting in a year.

Topics on this evening’s agenda are:

  • Equestrian Trail Subdivision Easements, and
  • Equestrian Trail Licenses

A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.

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The Barrington Hills Park District Advisory Committee meets tomorrow evening at 7 PM.  Some of the topics on their agenda include:

  • Grounds / Landscaping Committee
  • Motorized vehicles in Forest Preserve
  • Additional clear-view windows to be added to the indoor arena for winter
  • Dust-free driveway and parking lot solution

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.

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HF

Front to back: Robert McGinley, Dan Lobbes, Renae Frigo and David Holman head back after checking the status of a former dam on Goose Lake in Horizon Farm preserve on Aug. 18, 2023, in Barrington Hills. Members of the Barrington Area Conservation Trust and The Conservation Foundation were out surveying Horizon Farm as part of an annual effort to track changes on the property. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

On a group tour of Horizon Farm Forest Preserve and its rolling pastures, a visitor joked that it would make a great par 3 golf course. Nature lovers shuddered at the thought, though such a use is prohibited on the site.

But the comment illustrates the tension the Forest Preserve District of Cook County faces balancing preservation and recreation. The district’s main mission is to preserve open space, and provide “nature-compatible” recreation.

In the case of Horizon Farm in northwest suburban Barrington Hills, the issue boils down to whether to save a half-mile horse racing track. The nearly 400-acre preserve used to be a horse breeding and training ground. The track was used to train thoroughbreds for racing at the now-closed Arlington International Racecourse.

When the forest preserve district bought Horizon Farm out of foreclosure for $14.5 million in 2013, officials expressed openness to keeping equestrian uses of the site. But 10 years later, the racetrack sits filled with wild plants, unused, its railing falling apart. A big chunk of the preserve remains closed, and some trails are overgrown. Horse lovers and other preserve users are wondering whether the district will save the track.

“It’s really a prize,” Barrington Hills Park District President Dennis Kelly said. “There’s been a lot of interest in the equestrian community, but we have not gotten a response.”

Not everyone is married to the idea of a horse track. Friends of the Forest Preserves, an independent nonprofit, takes the general position that recreation in the forest preserves — from boating to fishing to camping — should facilitate enjoyment of nature.

“As soon as recreation becomes about the activity, that is not in line with what should be done with the forest preserves,” Friends President Benjamin Cox said.

The group supports horse trails since anyone can use them, but has not taken a position specifically on the horse track. Exclusive sites such as a golf course or baseball diamond are only for those uses, so Friends would prefer not to build those in the preserves.

Read more here.

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The Barrington Hills Park District Board will be meeting this evening in person and via webcast at 7:00 PM when the Board has two agendas to cover.

The first agenda is for the regular monthly District meeting, and a copy can be viewed and downloaded here.

The second is for the, “Decennial Committee Meeting,” and topics include:

  • Review of the Efficiencies and Increased Accountability of the Barrington Hills Park District to Prepare the Report for the County Board of Cook, Lake, and McHenry Counties, and
  • Survey of Residents in attendance for input on matters discussed in the meeting of the Barrington Hills Park District Decennial Committee on Government Efficiency

A copy of that agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.

Instructions for accessing the meeting remotely can be found here.

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