new Italian grocery store to open in Brookfield

Suburban Life (Dan Petrella):

Less than two years after opening Trattoria Gemelli at Grand Boulevard and Prairie Avenue, Brookfield resident Sal Sciortino is getting ready to expand his business with a new Italian deli and grocery store across the street.

The new store, Toscanino, to be located at 3740 Grand Blvd. in Brookfield, will be a full-service deli offering lunch meats, sandwiches, salads and prepared meals with cooking instructions, as well as numerous grocery items imported from Italy. Sciortino and his business partners, Dan Fissinger and Patrick McKenna, have been working for about a year to prepare for their new venture.

Brookfield will raise taxes to provide recreation opportunities to disabled

Suburban Life (Dan Petrella):

A few months after joining a recreation association for residents with disabilities, Brookfield is considering levying an additional property tax — up to $25 a year — to pay for its membership.

In April, the Village Board voted to join the Downers Grove-based South East Association for Special Parks and Recreation – better known as SEASPAR – and to pay for the annual $60,000 membership fee out of the village’s general fund. But now other village projects are running over budget, and the board is expected to vote at its Monday, Aug. 13, meeting to approve a special recreation tax.

Development: how dense is too dense?

Development density is an issue in Brookfield. See Riverside/Brookfield Landmark (Bob Uphues).

Last year there was a proposal to build a 60-unit condo building in the Hollywood section of Brookfield. Community opposition killed the proposal.

[The] village's director of planning and zoning, Keith Sbiral, will host a special town hall meeting on July 12 at 7 p.m. at Brookfield Village Hall, 8820 Brookfield Ave., to specifically discuss the future of Hollywood in relation to the Brookfield 2020 Master Plan.

"If the community doesn't want density there, if that's really the case, then the community plan should reflect what the community thinks," Sbiral said.

What test should be applied to new development regarding density?

OBIT, Brookfield WWII vet body recovered [BF]

WQAD (AP):

The Pentagon announced today the remains of 10 U-S airmen missing in action since World War II have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial.

Among the remains identified were those of Staff Sergeant Thomas Knight of the Chicago suburb of Brookfield.

Welcome home, Staff Sergeant.

GOV, new "welcome to Brookfield" signs [BF]

Brookfield will install at least ten "welcome to Brookfield" signs. See Riverside/Brookfield Landmark (Bob Uphues). Will the signs include the names of any politicians? How prominently will they be displayed?

GOV, Brookfield is on the cutting edge of open gov't [BF]

Riverside/Brookfield Landmark (Bob Uphues):

With the arrival of new recording equipment at village hall, citizens and other interested parties will soon have 24-hour access to the voices of their elected officials debating the hot topics of the day. After the Feb. 12 village board meeting, the full audio record will be available in a streaming MP3 format online at the Village of Brookfield website, www.villageofbrookfield.com.

Meanwhile, those who don't have computers can get a CD version of the recording by filling out a Freedom of Information Act form at village hall. Assistant Village Manager Keith Sbiral, who was responsible for purchasing the new recording equipment, said that the village may also provide a way for residents to save the online MP3 files as podcasts, which can be downloaded on the user's iPod.

This will be great for blogging. Citizens can listen to the tapes and refer to the MP3 file along with the times of when someone said something. It will make gov't more transparent.