All Des Plaines Roadways Open Except Portion of Golf Road

The Des Plaines River near Des Plaines is at flood stage 7.13 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

The City of Des Plaines provided the following information. Check Des Plaines’ website for more flood-related information. All roads are now open for traffic with the exception of Golf Road between River Road and East River Road in Des Plaines. The Des Plaines River near Des Plaines is at flood stage 7.13 feet, according to the National Weather Service's report at 1:45 p.m. on April 25. Flood action stage is 5.0 feet. The Des Plaines Public Works and Engineering Department has announced that garbage collection will continue on a normal schedule with the exception of yard waste collection.  Yard waste collection will be suspended until further notice.  Public Works will be assisting ARC Disposal with debris collection, along with the …

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Slip and Fail? Cook County Jail Officer Caught on Video Faking Injury

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart releases a surveillance video that purports to show a corrections officer didn't slip and fall as he claimed in a workers compensation claim.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart wants you to know he's keeping an eye on the "duty injury king" — a corrections officer known among his peers for submitting false injury claims while on the job — and others like him. The sheriff's office released a video tape Wednesday that purports to show the time and location where a corrections officer claimed he slipped and fell, injuring his back on Nov. 20. The officer is now suspended without pay, and the sheriff wants to press criminal charges. The sheriff's office's claim about the video states: On November 20th of last year a Correctional Officer submitted a false injury report claiming that he sustained a back injury while returning from transporting a detainee. He reported to other staff the he …

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tommy d.

11:00 pm on Wednesday, May 8, 2013

wow,,,you both know of a crooked cop in oak lawn,,,,,,,,after,police'ing,they get to be your '''detectives'''------''boy,this town is going to crap,,,,'''is vorberg in jail--------------   more ›

Oakton Community College Closed Wednesday, April 24

Oakton Community College will remain closed due to flooding in Des Plaines, according to a spokesperson.

Oakton Community College's Des Plaines campus will remain closed due to flooding on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 23-24, according to a spokesperson. Janet Spector-Bishop stated in an email to Patch that the campus in Skokie would be open, but many events at the campus in Des Plaines were rescheduled or canceled. The community college was closed on Thursday because of the storm water. Updates on the impact of the flood are being posted on Oakton Community College's website, Spector-Bishop stated. Related:  

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MAP: Flooded Roads Throughout Chicago Area

From interstates to local roads, our map provides updates on closures and high-standing water in your area.

From the Wisconsin border to the south side of Chicago and into the western suburbs, local roads, interstates and highways were closed Thursday because of flooding.  Click through the pins above to see which roads in your area — or on your route to and from work today — have been closed due to flooding or have high-standing water. Police are encouraging drivers to avoid roadways with standing water.  If you come upon an area with high-standing water or that is closed, add that information to our map by visiting this link. Otherwise, let us know about the closure by commenting below.  Drivers are asked to beware of high-standing water on roadways. The water on a roadway can be deeper than it appears and can cause a vehicle to stall or be …

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Sequestration Budget Cuts Data: Which IL Counties Have the Most Federal Employees?

More than 24,000 federal employees who work in Cook County could potentially be affected by sequester, which is slated to start Friday.

  CLICK ON THE COUNTY, ABOVE, AND THE BAR GRAPH WILL ADJUST Unless Congress reaches a last-minute agreement on the sequester by Friday, the huge budget cuts slated to kick in have the potential to affect more than 24,263 federal employees working in Cook County. Barring any kind of deal, the Obama administration will have to impose $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts to military and domestic programs on Friday, according to The New York Times. Those cuts would be the start of $1 trillion in cuts over the next decade. The numbers in the graph above show the number of federal employees in Illinois by county in 2012, according to the latest figures from Eye on Washington, a DC-based lobbying firm that tracks federal employment. It …

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Cook County Real Estate Database

Want to see who sold their home in Cook County? Patch has compiled a searchable ongoing list of property sales in Cook County, based on data from the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.

Want to know how much that house down the block sold for or how many million dollar home sales there were in your community last year? Patch has put together a searchable real estate database of Cook County property sales that is updated twice a month as new data is received from the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. You can search by address (the field will fill in automatically as you start typing, but be patient — it may take a moment to catch up with you), or search a full town or a specific price range within a town. You can also search by the buyer or seller's name (and those fields will fill automatically as well). If no price is listed, or other information is missing, it is because it was not included in the information from the …

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County Offers Roadside DUI Death Markers

On what may be the biggest drinking "holiday" of the year, Cook County announces a new plan for roadside DUI death memorials.

The night before Thanksgiving is known as the biggest party night of the year. Almost a holiday unto itself with a name of its own, Black Wednesday is a night to rival New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day for overindulgence in alcohol.  In many communities, extra officers will be on patrol and local officials warn bar owners not to overserve their patrons. So it's not a coincidence that Cook County this week announced a new DUI Memorial Program. For $150, families of anyone killed in a DUI fatality can purchase a roadside memorial marker to be placed alongside any highway under the county's jurisdiction.  The marker includes a “Please Don’t Drink and Drive” sign and an optional commemorative plaque with the deceased loved one’s name and …

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Skokie EMT Charged in Fatal Hit-and-Run

A Skokie man has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident resulting in a death. The suspect killed a Park Ridge man in Des Plaines on Nov. 5, authorities said.

Skokie resident Kristian Hernandez, 36, of the 8200 block of Knox Avenue, has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident resulting in a death, a Class I felony, authorities said Friday. Patch reported on Nov. 6 that 53-year-old Park Ridge resident Ronald Bougan was found dead about six feet from Touhy Avenue near Axehead Lake, just east of the I-294 expressway in Des Plaines, on Nov. 5. A man riding his bicycle found Bougan in a grassy area and initially, in the dark, thought he was looking at a deer or other animal, authorities said. Hernandez worked as an EMT for an ambulance company in Skokie, the Sheriff's Department said. The Cook County Sheriff’s Department gathered evidenced at the scene and…

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Unincorporated Cook Co Residents: Sticker Deadline is July 1

Residents have until July 1 to buy wheel tax stickers or pay double.

Residents of unincorporated Cook County, including Northfield Township, who own a car or a cycle, listen up. You have until July 1 to put a new vehicle sticker on your vehicle. If you have a business in unincorporated Cook County and keep a vehicle there, you have to get one as well. If you don't have one by July 1, expect a bit of sticker shock. Stickers are available for purchase from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Northfield Township office, 3801 W. Lake Ave., Glenview. They are also available online through the County's Department of Revenue. A $5 processing fee is charged at township office and online. The cost is: Seniors who purchased a sticker in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 or 2011 and own the same vehicle …

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County Lobbyists Shelled Out $1.9 Million Last Year

Budget, pension reform, taxes among top topics for those hoping to influence officials/