Bellwood has highest sales tax rate in Illinois

See Chicago Tribune.

partial list of Proviso candidates for local elections

West Suburban Journal has a list of candidates for local elections including District 209 (but not other school districts), Proviso Township and the villages of Bellwood, Broadview, Maywood and Melrose Park.

new pipes cost money

Proviso Herald (Cathryn Gran):

Bellwood officials are working with the Hillside/Berkeley Water Commission to ensure a water main replacement program runs smoothly and with as little inconvenience as possible to Bellwood residents....

The project consists of installing 16-inch water mains to replace the old 12-inch ones that connect the pumping station with the villages of Hillside and Berkeley, said commission attorney Dean Krone. The larger mains are necessary to provide a higher volume of water to serve increasing demands.

I wonder if Anthony Bruno helped put this deal together behind the scenes.

Christopher B. Burke Engineering is heavily involved in this project, so I did a search of campaign contributions by the company at the Illinois State Board of Elections.

The company has made 911 contributions totaling $697,611.41.

And that doesn't count when it gives $10,000 here and there to politicians pet causes. Forest Park Mayor Anthony Calderone got at least $10,000 from the company for some committee (party) that he was throwing.

audio pinpointing to be used for firearms discharges in Bellwood

This is corporate propaganda (Wireless Developer Network), but it could affect law enforcement techniques in Bellwood.

Village of Bellwood Integrates ShotSpotter to Enhance Public Safety

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--In a move to further enhance public safety, the Village of Bellwood is integrating the ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System with its wireless surveillance camera network.

The integration, scheduled for completion in early September, will allow the ShotSpotter GLS to interoperate with the city’s cameras and surveillance system to provide Bellwood police with real-time notification of gunshot events as well as precise event data, detailed forensic and intelligence analysis for arrest and prosecution, and information on a shooter’s location, including drive-by shooters on the move.

Bellwood is the first municipality in Illinois to cover its entire service area with a ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System.

Is there any connection to Bellwood being on the cutting edge of this technology and Bellwood being one of the first three communities to allow AT&T to compete with Comcast?

Eddie Avant, 16, of Bellwood is dead

Chicago Tribune (Jason Meisner):

Bellwood police are interviewing a "person of interest" in the death of a teenage boy shot early Wednesday while riding in a car near his home.

Killed was Eddie Avant, 16, of the 400 block of Frederick Avenue in Bellwood, said a Cook County medical examiner's office spokesman. Avant was pronounced dead at 11:15 a.m. at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he had been on life support.

[UPDATE: Chicago Tribune (Jason Meisner):

Bellwood police are interviewing a "person of interest" in the death of a teenage boy shot early Wednesday while riding in a car near his home....

The person being questioned is 18 years old and was picked up in the afternoon, said Blass, who said police are not calling him a suspect.

[The article also claims this is the first Bellwood homicide this year.]

Bellwood's Sandra Yusczak-Bunge going away for 10 years

A 54-year old Bellwood nurse gets 10 years for DUI. See Chicago Tribune (Art Barnum).

A07, Eugene Moore asks polling judges to support his candidates [D209, D88, BW]

This is the letter from former Democratic Committeeman Eugene Moore to election judges. Here's the substance of it:

Of course I'd like you to help me spread the word prior to Election Day about these School Board Proviso First Party candidates for District 209: Robin Foreman, Carla D. Johnson, and Robert “Bob” Cox.

Help us also in District 88 elect Yvette Ramirez, Daphne Walker, and Re-elect Tommy Miller.

In the Village of Bellwood, we're supporting for Village Trustee Edward Lezza, Jr., Philistine Murphy [sic], and M.C. Robinson.

The committeemen, Democratic and Republican, are responsible for appointing election judges. So, Moore has no official responsibilities or official relationship with the judges.

But like a desperate gambler Moore is trying to gain an advantage--any advantage--by bluffing. This is similar to Moore buying an advertisement in the Proviso East football calendar claiming he was still the Democratic committeeman after Rep. Karen Yarbrough had already beat him.

What do you make of Moore not listing his picks for the Village of Maywood and District 89? Do you think he's got a separate network he's working for his candidates in those races?

ENVIR, Hillside dump to close & be converted to green space [H, BW]

Proviso Insider:

According to sources close to the situation, waste disposal at the landfill will end for good in late spring of 2008, and the landfill will be converted to green space by the end of 2008. Sources say a community meeting to detail the plans for closing the landfill is set for Thursday, April 12, 2007 at 7pm at St. Domitilla School, South Hall, 605 Hillside Avenue, Hillside, Illinois.

While Proviso Insider lacks credibility on political issues and stories about local people, I hope s/he's got this one right.

The Hillside dump has under the worse circumstances been the source of noxious odors in Bellwood for many years.

A07, list of candidates running in April

Proviso Herald has a list of candidates running in...

• Bellwood, village (uncontested) and library (contested)
• Berkeley, village (uncontested), park district (contested), school board (insufficient candidates)
• Broadview, village (contested)
• Hillside, library (insufficient candidates)
• Maywood, village (contested)
• Melrose Park, village (contested)
• Stone Park, village (uncontested)
• Westchester, village (contested), library (uncontested)
• District 209 (contested)
• Veterans Park (uncontested)

TRANS, Bellwood & Chicago only municipalities with redlight cameras [BW]

Chicago and Bellwood have cameras to catch drivers running red lights; no other Illinois municipalities do.

Daily Herald (Jake Griffin):

Municipal officials say they’ve been hampered [from installing the cameras], in part, because of a lack of policy guidance from the Illinois Department of Transportation and county transportation departments. That’s key because most of the troublesome intersections in many towns involve either state or county roads.

“IDOT is still forming a policy on how they’re going to treat these municipal requests,” said Andy Hynes, a Naperville project engineer. “It’s a new technology, so it may take a little time.”

CRIME, Terrence Miller sentenced for murder [BW]

To beat a forgery rap Paulyn Miller of Bellwood recorded her son confessing to the murder of a Woodridge heroin dealer. Terrence Miller, 30, received 70 years for the 2001 killing. See Daily Herald (Christy Gutowski).

“It’s obvious this defendant is intelligent, but he chose to be a thug and a criminal,” [prosecutor Steven] Knight said. “He chose to go over to Ezra’s apartment with a loaded gun. He chose to kill him. He needs to be warehoused.”

Warehoused?

I wonder how often DuPage County assistant state's attorneys use the words, "S/he needs to be warehoused," with "White" defendants from families with above average incomes.

While Knight is eager to portray Terrence Miller as having the advantages of intellect, it seems pretty clear he came from a dysfunctional family. His mother is a career criminal who would sell him out to avoid a few months in jail. Something tells me she wasn't the kind of mother who sacrificed much for her child when he was growing up.

A07, candidate filings Bellwood, Berkeley, Hillside & Maywod [BW, B, H]

Proviso Herald lists the following candidates as having filed for election. Candidates can continue to file until next Monday.

Bellwood

Village

• Phylistine Murphy
• M.C. Robinson
• Edward Lezza Jr.

Library board

• Mary Anne Grundler
• David Ireland

Berkeley

Village

• Valerie William (Building Better Berkeley Party)
• Diane Salemi (Building Better Berkeley Party)
• Bob Lee (Building Better Berkeley Party)
• Jerry Perez (Building Better Berkeley Party)

Library board

• Jerry Brown

Hillside

Village

• Lytton H. "Andy" Andersen
• Harold A. Martin, Jr.
• David V. Delgado

And according to Proviso Insider the following candidates filed in the Village of Maywood:

• Ralph McNabb-former Maywood Village Clerk
• Sheryl Washington-former Maywood Trustee
• Lula Greenhow-former Maywood Trustee

Last time I saw Lula Greenhow was when Rep. Karen Yarbrough organized a demonstration against the Player's Ball being held in Maywood. Greenhow was a counter demonstrator. So she was basically spending her time demonstrating for the rights of pimps to hold their annual gathering in Maywood.

BUSINESS, AT&T wants to compete with Comcast like in Bellwood [BW]

Bellwood is one of three Illinois communities to allow AT&T to sell video services that compete with cable (Comcast). AT&T is trying to get into more communities. See Daily Herald (Anna Marie Kukec).

BTW, I checked and I didn't see a contribution to the Bellwood First Party from AT&T.