Wednesday Blotter: DUI Arrest, Man Shoves Officer, Suspended License

If you have a suspended license stay off Dempster Street.

"Readers are reminded that an arrest by the police does not constitute a finding of guilt, and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty," according to a statement from police Cmdr. Michael Fujara. All information comes directly from police reports. Charges do not indicate a conviction. Criminal trespass/ resisting peace officer Joseph Kahn, 28, of Park Ridge was charged with criminal trespass and resisting a peace officer Aug. 7 after he refused to leave the victim's property until he knew police had been called. Police located Kahn and said he pushed and shoved an officer while being processed at the police station. DUI Eugenio Felipe, 19, of Skokie was stopped on the corner of Dempster Street and Ferris Avenue Aug. 10 …

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Village's Business Booster Talks 'Echo Effect'

A year into economic development job, John Said notes possibilities from revitalizing Dempster Street.

Spearheading economic development in a town that isn't exactly a hotbed of business at a time when the country is crawling out of a recession might sound like a daunting task, but John Said opted to step into the job anyway last May. As the community and economic development director, he said that “Morton Grove has a lot of potential.” “I think it’s important for a community to try to move forward,” Said explained. That’s why residents, business owners and village officials convened recently at a public forum and broke into groups to discuss how to spur business along a stretch of Dempster Street from the railroad tracks to the Eden’s Expressway, a move perceived as an important step toward bolstering business in Morton Grove. Creating a …

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Carrie Porter

10:40 am on Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Thank you for the information, John. As the editor, I went in and posted a correction about the wrong use of the phrase Business Improvement District (BID); the reporter misheard the statement. Your thoughts are really appreciated. Please keep them coming!   more ›

Residents, Officials Brainstorm Dempster Street Redevelopment

Business owners and village officials confront the street's outdated planning model.

The battered condition of Morton Grove's Dempster Street passage took center stage — sometimes in blunt terms — at an open-house meeting  on Thursday night. Hosted by Community and Economic Development Director John Said, the workshop session attracted more than 20 residents and officials, many of whom openly acknowledged the street's dire needs. An "outdated model"  "We're on a corridor that is at the bottom of its economic life," said Nick Marino, a village resident, during the gathering's 20-minute group input session. A 45-minute presentation by Said preceded the collaboration period at the Civic Center, 6140 Dempster St. Said outlined the general history of Morton Grove's main drag, a three-quarter-mile stretch that handles 40,000 …

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David Lewis

12:23 pm on Thursday, May 26, 2011

That is a question which would be better directed to the Public Works department. The street lamps and stoplights on Dempster Street are brand new, not repainted. My guess would be that any painting of street lamps in areas other than Dempster would be done on an "as-needed" basis, not as part of an village-wide beautification effort.   more ›

Road Side Safety Check Friday

Be cautious if you are driving through Park Ridge.

Cook County Sheriff's Police will be conducting a roadside safety checkpoint, (aka roadblock) Friday night near the intersection of Dempster Street and Potter Road in Park Ridge, according to a news release from the Cook County Sheriff's Office. The exact time frame of the check is not available, however, drivers are cautioned that vehicles will be stopped randomly and drivers will be screened for license and registration and vehicles for equipment violations. Suspicious passengers will be questioned.

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Pat Craig

9:41 am on Saturday, May 21, 2011

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." ---Benjamin Franklin, February 1775 "If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too." -- Somerset Maugham "A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless …   more ›

Lessons from the Past Decade in Morton Grove

Viewfinder: Morton Grove's Main Street Evolves

Times, they are a-changin' in Morton Grove.

Some villages have one Main Street; here in Morton Grove we have three: Dempster Street, Waukegan Road and Lincoln Avenue.  These arteries of transportation serves as the symbols of the changing topography of our village's community. Take a look at the photo gallery of photos in the past year, and glimpse the evolving face of Morton Grove. 

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Village Board Looks to the Future with Dempster Street Construction

A redevelopment plan is shaping up with an end date in sight.

With work on Dempster Street inching past the one-year mark, many citizens and business owners have grown curious as to the actual amount of progress being made. Morton Grove Village Engineer Chris Tomich was among the first to speak up Thursday's Dempster Street Construction informational meeting, and for good reason. “We're in year two of a construction project that was supposed [to be finished in] year one," Tomich said. Tomich said the redevelopment project, designed to give Dempster Street a facelift between Ferris Avenue and Central Avenue, is continuing at a comfortable pace. He expects construction to cease sometime in July – more than half a year past the original deadline. Several setbacks, including a number of slow-moving …

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Morton Grove Plans to Dress Up Vacant Storefronts

In response to rising store closures and home foreclosures, the village invests in beautification and construction projects to attract new business.

Since the recent Halloween season, numerous storefront windows within Morton Grove's Dempster Street Commercial Corridor were draped with black sheets. These shops weren't dressing up in deference to the spectral holiday, but instead representing what has become a rather scary trend in this 5.1-square-mile village: store vacancies. In the past two years, restaurants, health offices, and clothing stores have been closing shop due to languishing business activity. In March the village's Community and Economic Development Department reported 85 (out of approximately 700) vacant stores. That residents have less pocket money to move stores' cash registers is shown by the vacant homes on the residential streets hugging either side of Dempster …

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Laura Frisch

1:35 pm on Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Great idea to have art in the windows! Many surrounding communities have done the same with good results. This can lead to art openings, and other interest on the street. As far as foreclosures, our town, as stated is doing better than neighboring suburbs. The resident who spoke of 4 forclosures on her block neglected to mention that two of them were bought and the houses were rehabed to better …   more ›

Business Owners Anticipate Final Stages of Street Construction

Lincoln Street work is to be finished before winter hits, while Dempster Street construction is delayed into 2011.

The arteries of Morton Grove are clogged. Construction on the town's major streets continue, as the winter threatens to stall projects. Meanwhile, businesses say the construction impacts their customer traffic.  Lights at the End of the (Lincoln Avenue) Tunnel The retro streetlamps have gone up and the new serpentine sidewalk along Lincoln Avenue in downtown Morton Grove has been etched with brick. Starting Monday, the avenue should be paved. The total project should be done by the time winter hits in four weeks, said Morton Grove Village Engineer Chris Tomich, ending months of headaches for residents and business owners. "It's killing us," said Bill Wegner, owner of Super Cup coffee shop on Fernald Avenue, just off Lincoln. "Business is …

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