Local high school students wanting to learn more about careers in a variety of fields can do so for free through Elgin Community College’s Taking Back the Trades program.
“This provides opportunities for students ages 16 to 18 to serve summer internships, serve pre-apprenticeships, take classes and to get industry-recognized credentials as they consider what career paths they might take,” said Gina De rosier-Cook, ECC’s dean of workforce development and continuing education.
In May, ECC received a $228,000 grant from the Illinois Community College Board for the program. Earlier this month, an additional $299,000 was awarded to continue the effort beyond the current school year, officials said.
The initiative’s goal is to expose high school students to careers in health care, manufacturing and other fields so they can determine if they are interested in pursuing them professionally. ECC works in collaboration with the Illinois Education for Employment System, School District U-46’s Alignment Collaborative for Education and nine local companies, De rosier-Cook said.
So far, 110 students have taken part in the program, and they anticipate 200 will have done so by this coming May, she said.
Taking Back the Trades is open to teens who attend high schools located within ECC’s district boundaries, including Elgin’s U-46, Algonquin-based District 300, Burlington-based Central District 301, St. Charles-based District 303, local private schools and those who are homeschooled.
“There’s such a wide array of fields,” De rosier-Cook said. “That’s what’s exciting. The sky’s the limit for what students can take for free.”
By presenting options, students are given practical information on what they need to do in terms of college education or trade classes if they want to pursue a specific job or career, De rosier-Cook said. It also makes them and their parents aware of what ECC has to offer and introduces them to trades that can lead to well-paying jobs.
The program also offers funding to cover things like transportation and clothing, gear and equipment the students might need to participate in a career session, De rosier-Cook said.
Madison McLaughlin, a 16-year-old junior at Bartlett High School, took part in one in August in which she spent five, eight-hour days learning about nursing careers.
“I’ve always been interested in being a nurse,” and what she saw and did piqued that interest even more, McLaughlin said. They gave her a taste of the field by letting her obtain CPR certification and participate in virtual reality presentations on treating patients.
“Depending on what they offer, I would take more,” she said.
The Clarendon Hills 55th Street Tax Increment Financing district has been approved by the Village Board after being scaled back in response to objections from affected school districts.
As originally proposed, the new Clarendon Hills TIF District was generally located along the north and south sides of 55th Street, between Western Avenue to the west and Holmes Avenue to the east, and also includes certain parcels on the east and west sides of Western Avenue and Bentley Avenues, and the west side of Virginia and Clarendon Hills Avenues, all south of 55th Street. The uses within this area are commercial and residential, and all TIF funding comes directly from the property owners within the district.
Clarendon Hills officials hope implementing a 55th Street TIF District will facilitate redevelopment in a coordinated manner.
The three school districts that would be affected by a 55th Street TIF — Hinsdale High School District 86, Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 and Maercker Elementary District 60 — all expressed opposition to its creation during the process.
Village Manager Zach Creer said he, village President Eric Tech and Trustee Omar Chaudhry “spent a lot of time working with the school districts.”
“I believe we can still meet the development and infrastructure needs of the area with the amended TIF,” Creer said. “However, it will be more challenging. The village would never want to do something that adversely affects the school districts, so the Village Board was sympathetic to their needs. In my opinion, this is the best outcome and preserves the relationships between the school districts and village.”
At the request of the Village Board, village staff reduced the size of the TIF and engaged the impacted school districts in additional compromises under the proposed intergovernmental agreement, Creer said.
He said the village reduced the size of the TIF by removing Jewel and PNC Bank and also added 100% surplus to most properties within the proposed district to the intergovernmental agreement, along with reducing the TIF Budget by about $12.5 million.
The agreement also allows the districts to get reimbursed “at a school district-suggested rate for any students generated,” Creer said. “These actions are a significant reduction of impact on the school districts and a more targeted approach to development goals.”
Creer said the smaller TIF can still be effective in encouraging development and addressing the infrastructure deficit in the area if redevelopment occurs as expected at the former Tracy’s Tavern site, 401 55th St., as well as a site at 5506 Virginia Ave.
“However, the sales tax generated will need to be allocated to these infrastructure needs, as the expected property tax diversion from the new development is now too small to fund the entirety of the projects,” he said. “The village will also need to secure federally- and state- subsidized loans, which staff believe are obtainable.”
Moving forward, Creer said village officials are hoping to have a developer come forward in the spring with a proposal for the former Tracy’s Tavern Site, along with a plan to improve the intersection at 55th Street and Western Avenue.
“We are looking forward to meeting the objectives of the 2017 55th Street Sub-Area Plan now that we have this funding source in place. I think this area will greatly benefit from the increased attention and investment,” he said.
When a TIF district is created, the value of the property in the area is established as the base amount. The property taxes paid on this base amount continue to go to the various taxing bodies as they always had, with the amount of this revenue reduced only if the base declines or the tax rate decreases. It is the growth in the value of the property over the base that generates the tax increment, which is what is collected into a special fund for use by the village to make additional investments in the TIF project area.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
A Gary man is accused of pushing down a former co-worker in a dispute over a paycheck.
Joseph Marquis Fefee, 31, is charged with aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony.
At 10:56 a.m. Oct. 10, Merrillville Police were sent to a business in the 1400 block of E. 86th Place for a report of a disturbance, according to the probable cause affidavit. A business owner said Fefee caused a disturbance and battered her brother before fleeing.
Fefee had previously been terminated from his job at the business days prior, but he texted the owner and disputed the hours on his last paycheck, court records state. The owner said she would look into it and get back to him. Fefee told her he was on his way to discuss it even though the owner said it wasn’t necessary, records state.
When Fefee arrived, he started yelling and screaming at her and a co-worker about a discrepancy in the number of hours. As Fefee left, he pushed down the man, which caused him to fall on the ground and hurt his knee, the affidavit states. Video captured by the business owner showed Fefee being asked to leave several times and Nickson having trouble getting up after falling.
The man who fell told police he tried to calm Fefee and asked him to step outside, court records state. He said Fefee put two hands on his shoulders when he as outside and pushed him down. His knee hit a cement curb, which cut the top of his knee and caused it to swell, records state. He sought medical attention; he broke his kneecap and tore a knee ligament. He underwent surgery and has been prescribed six months physical therapy, the affidavit states.
Plote Construction Inc. wants to annex 178 acres of land on Route 72 into East Dundee for use as a rock quarry and for a truck driving school/truck parking facility, according to information provided to the village.
If approved by the Elgin City Council, the Cook County property would become part of a village manufacturing district that already exists in the area, Ryan Trottier, Plote’s vice president of land development, said earlier this month at a meeting of the East Dundee Planning and Zoning Commission, which recommended approval.
In addition to annexation, the company is requesting two special use permits from the village — one for a gravel quarry from which they will do mineral extraction and the other to park vehicles on the site, Trottier said.
The quarry work includes crushing, grading, washing and loading, he said. The site was used for such work in the past so what they’re seeking is “nothing different than what has already occurred on this property for decades,” Trottier said.
“We’ve had these uses going on at different times throughout history.” he said. “The property is extraordinarily unique in nature by its physical characteristics. The main attribute has to do with the fact that this property was mined many years ago and is going through the process of reclamation, which is filling the property back up.”
Once it is reclaimed, it will be used for other purposes, he said.
Plote is also requesting a special use permit for 24-hour-a-day outside vehicle parking and storage and a truck driving school, according to the proposal. The truck parking operation will be overseen by a different company.
Additionally, Plote seeks three zoning code variances involving paved surfaces, screening/landscape and lighting.
Because the reclamation work will be ongoing and the ground isn’t settled yet, it would be better to hold off on paving roads until the undertaking is completed, Trottier said.
“Our goal is to get done with the reclamation process, allow it to settle out and, in the future, we can look for more long-term, permanent uses,” he said.
Those future uses could include contractor yards, repair shops, offices, third-party land leases and retail development, he said.
Annexing the property would create new economic development for East Dundee on its eastern border once the reclamation is finished, Trottier said. Anywhere from 10 to 50 acres should be ready for development within the next two to five years, he said.
“We see this as a stepping stone to get to that point,” Trottier said.
Plote has been doing business in East Dundee for more than 40 years, he said. The company has constructed 19 buildings — creating a total of more than 550,000 square feet of space — in the village’s industrial park, he said. There are between 80 and 90 tenants occupying that space, he said.
“We want to do good projects we stand behind and own,” Trottier said.
One example of Plote’s work, he said, was the purchase of the former Walmart store on Route 25, which was repurposed and leased to a business that makes cabinets and flooring that it sells throughout the country, he said.
It also recently purchased the former Dundee Ford property and is repurposing it as well, Trottier said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Omar Pariz came to Fox Valley Mall in Aurora Thursday morning where hundreds were already darting in and out of stores looking for post-Christmas deals.
“I came to the mall to cash in a couple of gift cards,” said the Aurora resident. “I often do come after Christmas in order to take advantage of the sales on merchandise. I know I’m going to get some good deals. I know that now and a couple of days after this there are bargains, but you have to come within a few days after Christmas or they’re gone.”
Dec. 26 begins the post-Christmas shopping frenzy as shoppers fresh from their Christmas haul flock to Aurora area malls and stand-alone stores in search of post-holiday discounts as well as to spend holiday cash or gift cards.
Those returning merchandise are likewise exposed to “upselling” by retailers hoping shoppers will leave with more than they came with that day.
The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is often called “the 13th month” for retailers due to the crush of shoppers.
Kristie McCabe of Yorkville said she knows “all about the 13th month” and that shopping after Christmas is something that she always does.
“I always hit the sales. I know a lot of people cash in gift cards and return things. We’re lucky this year as we’re returning just one thing,” Kristie said as she and her daughter Anna, 17, shopped Thursday at Fox Valley Mall. “This is about going out with my daughter as well. We’re also going to hit a clothing store for her later.”
“I’m expecting to find some good deals,” Anna McCabe said. “I know a lot of stores have better deals after Christmas. I know there are usually 50% to 75% off at a lot of places and I have some Christmas money to spend too.”
John Zuckerman also took advantage of shopping deals at Fox Valley Mall on Thursday and said he understands the difference when it comes to shopping after Christmas in person as opposed to “the point and click of online shopping.”
“My wife is originally from this area, but we’ve actually been living in Vienna, Austria, for about 10 years,” he said. “We get home every couple of years, and my daughter Elena came to exchange something.”
“When we lived in the States, I never went too crazy with after-Christmas shopping, but I know it’s a ritual,” he said. “The internet shopping is kind of frictionless but this is full-contact.”
In St. Charles, Kat Drury of Geneva went to the Target store at 3885 E. Main St. on Thursday and looked at some Christmas decorations and other items being offered at a discount.
“I’m looking for deals for things we can use next year. Sure, we’re all about that,” Drury explained and she and her daughter Tatum checked out some merchandise. “We also have a birthday for my husband on the 27th of December, so we’re kind of doing two things at once.”
Tatum Drury of Galva, Illinois, said she is a teacher who was looking to buy classroom supplies and that, for her, “whatever’s cheap, I’m finding it.”
Omar Pariz of Aurora shows off a bag of merchandise he bought with gift cards Thursday morning at Fox Valley Mall in Aurora. (David Sharos / For The Beacon-News)
“I’m seeing what I can use in the classroom,” she said. “There is definitely some deliberateness for me. I know things will be cheaper after Christmas, so I wait until now to go out.”
For some shoppers like Shawn Cassidy of Aurora, necessity trumps all other reasons for post-Christmas shopping.
Cassidy stopped at the Best Buy store at 4400 E. New York St. in Aurora Thursday morning to replace something that broke.
“My TV died. I need to find another,” he said. “I wasn’t really looking for a deal. I was looking to get a replacement because mine stopped working. This is just a need and that’s why I’m here. Hopefully I’m getting a better deal than I might have before the holidays.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
