Deerfield Review

Women business owners connect, share at North Shore conference

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:37:02 -0500

Twenty-three chambers of commerce came together last Friday for the fifth annual North Shore Women’s Conference at the Marriott Resort in Lincolnshire. Women-owned businesses including banks, educational services and health care companies were represented. The conference featured Catherine Johns, business coach and former radio personality at WLS AM, as the keynote speaker. Johns talked about the importance of language in business. “As women, we often default to soft language,” she said. Soft language, Johns said, includes profuse apologizing and phrasing everything as if it were a question. She talked about subtle ways of changing language and tone to sound more …

Deerfield District 109 teachers contract now four years

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:25:31 -0500

The Deerfield District 109 School Board has agreed unanimously to sign the official contract between it and the Deerfield Education Association. As the last board member Monday voted for the agreement, which was extended at the last moment to four years and will run from 2011-2015, all the members burst into applause “It’s over!” Board President Ellen London exclaimed with evident relief. Extension of the contract an additional year will give the board about three and a half years before negotiations begin again, London said Monday. Board Member Steven Schwartz, who negotiated on behalf of the district, said it was …

Deerfield service officer accused of taking parking fees

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:25:31 -0500

Long-time Deerfield Police Community Service Officer David C. Dowell is awaiting a May 30 court date after being accused of stealing parking fee money while on the job. An arrest warrant was issued May 9 for Dowell, a 50-year-old Wauconda resident, charging him with official misconduct, a Class 3 felony, and theft, a Class Two felony, Deerfield police said. The charges were brought after a preliminary investigation by Deerfield police discovered that Dowell allegedly took $250. Further investigation by Deerfield police and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Special Investigations Division uncovered the theft of “more than $500, but less than …

Trustees adopt construction fee to pay for road repairs

Thu, 10 May 2012 03:08:37 -0500

Deerfield has a new way of paying for infrastructure damage caused by heavy construction equipment. And whether it is called a fee or a tax, its collection will begin June 1. Deerfield trustees on Monday unanimously passed an ordinance on its second reading establishing a one-half of one percent fee on the estimated cost of a construction or demolition job. However, the ordinance did not pass without objection from the North Shore–Barrington Association of Realtors. Howard Handler, the association’s government affairs director, said he did not flatly oppose the fee’s adoption. But he came up with several reasons why it …