Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Mad Cows’ Category

Sound

For many years now, residents have voiced their frustration with the poor sound quality of meetings they’ve participated in remotely. Village officials have also complained, now that they’re allowed to participate in meetings remotely, that communication is often problematic.

Back in May of 2022 we wrote, “What message is the Cecola administration sending residents?,” in an effort to make residents aware of the communication frustrations people were experiencing. Since then, what few efforts staff at Village Hall have put forth to correct the problems have fallen short, and lately we’ve found the recordings of meetings we used to rely on for clarification fail to do so.

Case in point, when we questioned why perfectly sound concrete was being torn up at taxpayer’s expense at the fire station adjacent to Village Hall, we looked to the Village Administrator’s explanation in the October 23 recordings. What we heard was a sometimes barely audible but mostly unintelligible explanation.

The last time we can recall when a Village meeting was clearly documented was New Year’s Eve of 2018 when the Village Electoral Board convened. Even though recording equipment in the Board room was available, a much more dependable court reporter was engaged to document the hearing.

As it turned out, this was fortuitous since some alleged perjury took place at that meeting, and if legal action had been taken, the transcript would have been required by the court.  Today we have nowhere near that recording quality to rely on, and with more Village officials participating with flawed remote technology, it will no doubt get exponentially worse.

Considering this, and the fact much of the equipment currently in use is beyond its’ intended shelf life, it’s time to purchase new equipment including visual communications hardware. If we have the money to unnecessarily replace perfectly good tile at Village Hall, then we surely have the money to bring our communications technology to levels addressing our current needs.

Read Full Post »

CCB_PowerLunch_Nov2023_EmailHeader_v2

Join Crain’s for our final Power event of the year on Monday, November 27 featuring Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. In a sit-down interview with Crain’s Group Publisher and Executive Editor Jim Kirk, they’ll discuss the Governor’s goals for his second term in office, including economic initiatives he has planned to bring new business to our state.

Purchase tickets here.

Read Full Post »

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

Read Full Post »

RCBH-logo-4-830x455The Barrington Hills Park District Board will hold their monthly meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. The only item of note on their agenda is a, “Truth in Taxation Ordinance,” and, of course, no further information is provided. Truth without transparency is worthless.

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

Read Full Post »

Cuba Cemetary

Reports of floating orbs of light on Cuba Road in the vicinity of the White Memorial Cemetery make the area one of numerous suburban sites associated with paranormal activity. Local residents have discouraged visitors from coming to the area because of the narrow road and reduced visibility at night. (John Starks | Staff Photographer)

By Marni Pyke | Daily Herald

For years, it was “a rite of passage” for Northwest suburbanites to check out supposedly haunted Cuba Road at night, actor/filmmaker Jon Lee Brody explained.

So it made perfect sense for the Palatine native, who now lives in Los Angeles, to borrow his mom’s Volvo when he was a teen and set out to prove himself one evening in 2001. As Brody and a carload of friends drove down the dark road near Barrington, a cluster of small green orbs appeared and surrounded the vehicle, he recalled.

Some of his passengers shrieked, others “tried to play it cool. I’m just trying to make sure we don’t crash,” Brody recalled.

The lights were one thing. “But then we saw a car drive into the cemetery,” he said. They followed it to White Memorial Cemetery also on Cuba Road and “we saw there was no car.”

“That was weird to me. To this day, I can’t explain what that was,” added Brody, co-host of the “That Was Pretty Scary” podcast with Freddie Prinze Jr.

Some may scoff. But local folklore is full of strange, inexplicable things happening in suburbia.

Phantom children on Munger Road in Bartlett. Mysterious noises at the Bull Valley police station. A Civil War specter in Volo.

As the witching hour of Halloween approaches, here’s a list of (reportedly) supernatural suburban spots, courtesy of Daily Herald archives and local sources.

Read more here.

Read Full Post »

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.”

Read Full Post »

VBH Entrance

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

  • [Vote] A Resolution Authorizing the Execution of a Contract With Corrective Asphalt Materials LLC (CAM) For Pavement Rejuvenation and CRF Application on Select Village Maintained Roads Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] Ordinance Amending the Village Code to Provide for Regulations Related to the Village’s System of Administrative Adjudication Ordinance 23 –
  • [Vote] An Ordinance Adopting by Reference of the Lake County Watershed Development Ordinance 23 –
  • [Vote] Resolution Honoring Barbara P. Hansen for her Contribution to the Village of Barrington Hills Resolution 23 –

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

Read Full Post »

VBH Roads 2023

This Summer the entire length of Oak Knoll Road was resurfaced due to Trustee Laura Eckstrom’s objection to the appearance of a perfectly sound patching job (which ironically was performed to EXTEND the life of the roadway). It is worth reminding taxpayers Eckstrom happens to LIVE on Oak Knoll Road.

The Village Roads & Bridges Committee meets this afternoon for the first time in five months at 4 PM. The topics on the agenda are:

  • Road Program: 2023 Recap, and
  • Road Program: 2024 Planning

A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

23-24BOE2

“Every fall the Board of Education selects its priorities for the upcoming school year. At the Sept. 5 meeting, Board members approved six priorities for the 2023-24 school year. Each priority aligns with the district’s six strategic priorities that were developed as part of Barrington 220’s strategic plan, Framework 220.

The priorities include:

  • Personalized Learning
  • Future Readiness
  • Inclusive Education
  • Health & Well-being
  • Community Partnerships & Communication
  • Stewardship

Within each priority, there are measurable objectives. This school year the district is focusing on one or two objectives in each priority. “

Click here to learn more about each priority and objective.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

%d