Hello Neighbors
This is a long newsletter. However, it is filled with important and otherwise interesting news. I
hope you take time to follow some of the links for more
detailed explanations - events, news, services, etc.
Our freedom to vote - to
choose our government officials - is fundamental to America. Therefore, I have provided complete information regarding the upcoming
election. Please start with LakeVoterPower.Info to confirm that you are
registered to vote - at your current address.
By now, you should have received your Voter Registration card in the mail. If you did not receive the card, if the information is not correct or if you received a card for others (as we did) this is a perfect time to register and update information. Please vote and encourage others to register and vote.
Unlike previous years when we received notices in our mail about auto registration (license plates/stickers) and required emissions testing, those auto-related notices are online - ONLY. By investing time now, you can prevent last minute inconvenience (and possible fines).
Finally, you raised questions about road work - actual and plans. In response, I have provided information below.
As always, please let me know if you want more/less about particular items/issues. And, please call or email me if I can be of help.
Regards,
You must register to receive State auto-related notices.
Reminder: the Illinois Secretary of State's Office requires you to register on line to receive an online notice to renew your license plate.
Alert: Additionally, the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (IEPA) has stopped mailing required emissions test notices to
vehicle owners. The Secretary of State’s office is sending out license plate
renewal notices electronically, which also includes information indicating if a vehicle emission test may be required before a vehicle's registration can be
renewed. Register for electronic notices
 VoterPower is a terrific online service of the Lake County Clerk's Office. Registered voters can visit LakeVoterPower.info
and log in using your name, house number, zip code and birth date to see
your personalized March 15 Primary Election information. It also provides a complete list of your current representatives from President to the local offices.
Election Day is March 15th.
Early voting is still available at the County Clerk's office in Waukegan. Local Early Voting begins February 29th. Beginning with this election, you may now vote early at any site across Lake County.
You may also request a "Mail-in Ballot" (formerly called "Absentee Ballot"). Both of these options are important and beneficial if you are a "snowbird" or may not be able to vote in person on election day.
What’s on my ballot?
You may review candidate names, read the referenda, and print your sample
ballot.
Request a Ballot by Mail
A ballot application is required for each
election. You may choose the E-request option where no signature is
required, but Illinois law mandates your email address be shared with political
organizations. To protect your privacy, you may choose the paper option and
print out the form. Ballot request forms are also available at LakeVoterPower.info,
or you can request one by emailing VotingByMail@lakecountyil.gov
or calling 847-377-2406. The last day to request a ballot by mail is March 10.
Where do I vote?
Find early and Election Day voting sites along with driving directions, maps,
and photos.
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Early voting is now open
weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Feb. 26 at the Lake County Clerk’s
Office, 18 N. County St. Waukegan.
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On Feb. 29, early voting begins at 14 locations
throughout Lake County. Some voting sites have extended evening and weekend
hours. Residents can use any of the early voting sites regardless of where they
live in Lake County. Find
a location near you.
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Election
Day is March 15, and polls are open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Locate your assigned
voting site.
Grace
voter registration
For Lake
County residents who still need to update their voter registration record or
register for the first time, grace voter registration is available at the
County Clerk’s office during weekday business hours through Election Day. Grace
voter registration will also be available at any early voting site starting Feb.
29 and on Election Day at voter’s assigned polling location. Applicants must
meet age, citizenship, and residency requirements and vote at the time of
registration.
For additional
information about the upcoming election, watch this video,
visit LakeCountyClerk.info,
follow the Lake County Clerk’s Office on Twitter, like their Facebook page, or
call 847-377-2400.
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Transportation is always a topic of interest especially with activities and plans in the Mundelein area. The "downtown Ivanhoe" triangle of Rt 176, 60/83 and Shank Road is alive with activity. The Hawley Street project is ready to start up again, soon, and to be completed by October 2016. This is your resource for ongoing project news throughout Mundelein.
Rt 60/83 from Target to Diamond Lake Road has been a bottle neck much longer than we have lived in the district (nearly 28 years). I recently talked with the project engineer to get the report that follows. I also asked him to improve the on line information. The project website had not been updated since the open house I attended in 2013. The key issue then was the grade separation alternatives (over/under) at the RR crossing near Diamond Lake. Yet to come is the Phase 1 report preparation and then the intensive processes for Phases 2 and 3 then the funding and construction processes. Best cost guestimate: $100 million +/- .
"Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding the status of the IL 60/83 preliminary engineering and environmental (Phase I) study .... As a follow up to our conversation, please see below for an update regarding the status of the project ..... [and will have an] update posted on the project website...
The Department presented the alternatives carried forward including grade separation alternatives at the second public meeting held on October 22, 2013. Subsequent to the last public meeting, the Department has been performing additional engineering and environmental analyses to address resource agency comments which are anticipated to be completed in summer 2016. Once completed the Department is anticipating presenting the preferred alternative at a Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting and public hearing targeted for later this year. Phase I for this project is anticipated to be completed in late 2016.
The contract plan preparation (Phase II), land acquisition (Phase II), and construction (Phase III) are not currently included in the Department’s Fiscal Year 2016-2021 Proposed Highway Improvement Program. This project will be included in our priorities for future funding consideration among similar improvement needs throughout the region once a sustainable funding source is identified."
You can find detailed maps, drawings, road section, options, etc. here.
A Veterans Park and Memorial is planned to be constructed at
Waukegan National Airport that will honor veterans past and present in all
branches of service. An anchor piece of the park will be an aircraft acquired
from the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul, Illinois that played a major role in
development of modern military aircraft. Veterans’ organizations will help
provide feedback on design. Costs have been estimated at $100,000. The plan is
to display the aircraft, which is undergoing restoration, and to break ground
on the Memorial Park in time for the Waukegan Air Show on Sept. 10. For
information, send an email to James Hull at lcveteranmemorial@gmail.com.
 The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has some people
thinking more about what comes out of their tap. Lake County Public Works
provides water to customers across Lake County. To learn more about what we are
doing to protect your local drinking water quality and find out where your
water comes from, watch this video. You can also view our
annual water quality consumer confidence reports.
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 Forest Preserve News
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Take a sweet hike at Ryerson Woods
Stroll through a maple
woodland in March while learning how trees work and the sweet sap of sugar
maples. Ryerson Woods is
one of the few places in Lake County where conditions are right for maple syrup
production and where trees grow to a diameter and height that allows for
tapping. Let our Lake County Forest Preserve naturalists reveal to you the
secrets of this American tradition. Learn more. |
Join
our conservation volunteers
Join
our conservation volunteers who work year-round to improve our
preserves. Typical activities include invasive plant removal, native plant
seed collection and processing, and tree and shrub planting. Restoration
workdays happen every weekend at preserves across the county. Learn more. |
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Shakespeare has
arrived
Now
through Feb. 28 don't miss your chance to see one of the rarest, most valuable
and most influential books in the world––the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio at
the Lake County
Discovery Museum in Wauconda. The First Folio is the first
collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays. The exhibition is open free to the
public. Learn
more. |
If you opened your
medicine cabinet today, would you find expired medications inside? Do you know how to
dispose them? You can drop off unwanted prescription drugs at one of
several collection
boxes located in 27 police department lobbies across Lake County. Soon, you
may be able to dispose of prescriptions at your local Walgreens too. The
company recently announced they will install medication disposal kiosks in
Illinois and 38 other states. Find
out more. This expansion helps build on efforts among local partners
including government, health, and law enforcement, to fight prescription drug
abuse, and help curb misuse of medications and the rise in overdose deaths.
 The opioid overdose
reversal drug, naloxone has been used by
emergency medical personnel for decades and is now being used by police
officers in Lake County who are often first on the scene and can administer the
drug to an overdose victim, significantly increasing the chance of survival. Just recently,
the Lake County Opioid Initiative’s Police
Naloxone Program marked its 50th life saved. And, first responders are not the
only ones that can get trained to administer naloxone—you can too! Live4Lali
offers naloxone trainings at its
free walk-in clinic along with peer-to-peer
support services, substance use
education, group therapy programs, and more. Learn more about the resources
available at live4lali.org.
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 The County Board
supports an effort to introduce new legislation that would save taxpayers money
by allowing the County Board to consolidate units of local government.
Currently, the County appoints nearly 300 people to about 70 government
units including taxing bodies, board and commissions. Lake County continues to
take a leadership role and is active in government consolidation efforts, which
include initiatives such as regional consolidation of 911 emergency dispatch
centers and the Round Lake Sanitary District dissolution proposal in our 2016 Legislative Program. Watch this video to
learn more.
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For over 30 years, the Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center (formerly LACASA - Lake County Council Against Sexual Assault) has partnered with County and other organizations as it provided services to victims/survivors of rape and other sexual abuse. Children, adults and their families benefit from Z Center's services directly and in partnerships with local municipal first responders, the Lake County Health and the Sheriff's departments, local hospitals, judges/court system and State's Attorney Mike Nerheim's office. Services range from rape crisis intervention to training programs provided in the workplace and schools - elementary through college.
Recently the Z Center, in Gurnee, expanded into Skokie to better serve the vast number of people in need of intervention, counseling and education. The news article served as a reminder for me to inform you about the Z Center and the resources it provides. Every family has been touched by sexual abuse directly and/or indirectly. Please share this information with your family and friends and encourage them to contact zcenter.org.
 Attention youth: Get a jump
on summer job search
Applications are now
available for the Lake County Board’s Summer Youth Employment Program, which
offers youth the opportunity for a paid, part-time work experience over the
summer. Apply online or at the Lake County Job Center in Waukegan until Feb. 29.
Visit Lake County’s largest job and resource fair
Job seekers ages 16
to 21 are invited to attend Lake County’s largest job and resource fair,
Jobapalooza. The fair will run from 6 to 8 p.m. March 3 at the College of Lake
County in Grayslake. Meet with over 30 employers that will provide job
information on full-time, part-time and seasonal positions, and learn about
valuable training opportunities that will help you become successful. More
information
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Village of Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz encourages the public to attend a special Joint Committee of the
Whole Meeting at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 29 at the Doubletree Hotel in Mundelein. At this second annual state of the village meeting, Lentz said he will share recent economic development news and accomplishments within the past year. For information, call 847-949-3200.
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