HOMEWOOD
4 honored for work cracking homicide
Village officials this week saluted four Police Department employees who were instrumental in solving the 30-year-old slaying of a Homewood teenager.
Detective William Alcott, a member of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, received an exceptional service award. Tactical Officer Kenneth Strunk was recognized with a Department Performance Award and Detective Douglas Roberts, a 30-year veteran, and civilian employee Cindy Murray, who works in the department’s records division, received commendations.
In March, Fred J. Rogers of Flossmoor was stopped for a traffic violation. When Alcott interrogated him, he confessed to the fatal stabbing of Homewood-Flossmoor student Kenneth Hellstrom Jr., 17, in 1977, Police Chief Larry Burnson said. He is facing murder charges.
“This is some of the finest work I have seen,” Burnson said.
Margie Ritchie
PLAINFIELD
Village bans hiring illegal immigrants
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Village officials agreed to add a stipulation to all future contracts and proposal requests that companies doing business with the village not hire illegal immigrants.
The provision was added as a stipulation to several contracts approved during a Village Board meeting this week at the request of new Trustee Larry Vaupel.
“I figure if the feds aren’t going to do anything about it, we could,” Vaupel said.
Trustee Paul Fay asked Village Atty. James Harvey whether the wording on all contracts was necessary because federal laws already prohibit hiring illegal immigrants.
But Village Administrator Chris Minick said he would add the line to all requests for proposals and contracts.
“Maybe we have to be clear that it is a requirement,” Minick said.
According to Minick, the new clause will state that contractors, vendors and businesses will not hire or knowingly employ people who are illegal immigrants on any related-work.
Patricia Trebe
WILL COUNTY
Officials revisit plan on road tax districts
The county’s advisory committee on road-impact fees has re-embraced its original districting proposal.
The group returned this week to the idea of districts based on geography rather than population. If the plan goes through, the six districts will incorporate Will County’s 24 townships.
During the discussion, Jeff Barnett, a consultant with Chicago-based CH2M Hill, said Kane County’s current impact-fee ordinance has eight geographical districts. But a revised version of that county’s ordinance recommends three.
The 7-2 vote came after committee members studied a Will County map of the County Board’s nine legislative districts. That map indicated some districts might be too small to develop fees, or too large to be manageable.
David McClintock, chief executive officer of the Three Rivers Association of Realtors, told the committee that road quality has replaced school district quality as an issue with people moving into Will County. Residents will stay, he said, providing they can get around without gridlock.
“If you guys, as a group, start going street-by-street, you’ll never get it done,” he said.
Barnett presented the political district map in response to requests at the committee’s April meeting. At that session, committee members reversed their original recommendation at the written request of Channahon Mayor Joe Cook.
Cook, who was absent from the April and May meetings, said he was concerned about overlapping or competing districts in his village.
The move sets the stage for discussion in July of what fees and credits will come into play.
Dennis Sullivan