When the Going Gets Tough the TIF Get Going

Note to Ops: Cue the snow. Santa Claus is coming to Lake County:

Santa will jump-start the holiday season when he arrives via firetruck Saturday night at the Deer Park Town Center. His visit coincides with the annual tree-lighting and fireworks display.
Santa's on his way to Deer Park

What is hiding in Santa's sleigh-full of gifts? A TIF district for Deer Park:

Deer Park officials may create a special taxing district to raise money for public improvements and to encourage development in its part of the Rand Road commercial corridor.
Deer Park weighing special taxing district on Rand Road to boost development

A spokes-elf issued a statement from the North Pole: "Santa made a list and checked it twice. All you naughty Deer Park schools, libraries and parks are getting a lump of coal this year."

Creeping Stagnation

An actual unretouched screengrab from the Lake County Gazette, Lake County's #1 fakenews source:

"Number of teachers pledging to teach Critical Race Theory in Fox Lake stagnates at one"

In related news, the number of journalistic ethics observed at the Lake County Gazette dissipates to zero.

Explosive Material

The Lake County exploding oil train did not explode. And the Lake County ethylene-oxide cloud did not explode either. Nor, for that matter, did the Lake County nuclear plant, nor the Lake County mosquito abatement truck.

So, what did explode in Lake County last week?

There is no question many northern Lake County residents either heard or felt something Friday afternoon. But what it was remains a mystery. At about 3:30 p.m., emergency dispatch centers began getting reports of what sounded like a large explosion.
'It sounded like a bomb going off': Loud boom heard Friday in Lake County remains a mystery

Note to Ops: Has anyone seen Kyle Rittenhouse's ammo dump?

Laughter is the Best Medicine

The enervated theocrats at the McHenryCountyBlog are blaming the Democrats for the high cost of Medicare prescription drugs:

Note to Ops: Cognitive impairment can strike anywhere, at any time. If your prescriptions are too expensive, try this over-the-counter remedy:

Did you know Prevagen is made from jellyfish?

Those Who Cannot Remember the Past are Condemned to Repeat It

A Halloween treat goes to the first person who can name this Illinois GOP Congressman who gained notoriety for opposing Donald Trump. You would be as likely to see him on TV as in his Congressional office. His far-rightwing Congressional career ended because of redistricting. And he is now widely expected to run for President in 2024.

The answer, of course, is Lake County favorite son Ex-Congressman Joe Walsh:

Joe Walsh raises 'White Flag' with new podcast

In related news, some unknown downstate Congressman says he will not run for re-election:

The time to move on 'is now': Adam Kinzinger won't run again for Congress in 2022

The Halloween contest winner may claim their Snickers.

Bald Faced

Being that time of the year when the nation gathers to remember the dead, the Lake County GOP is celebrating Halloween:

Note to Ops: You are welcome to attend but your Halloween mask is not:

Now that's scary!

The Fantasy Press

An actual unretouched screencap from the Lake County Gazette, Lake County's #1 fake news source:

"No new teachers in Deerfield sign pledge on Oct. 10 to teach Critical Race Theory"

In related news, no new Lake County Gazette editorial staff members have started beating their wives.

On October 10.

Your LakeCountyEye will keep you apprised when further developments warrant.

Park Your Drachmas in a Harvard Barn

Anyone who has ever seen the McHenryCountyBlog will not be surprised -- but the Russian Mafia has bought McHenry County.

A shell corporation called Optima bought the defunct Harvard Mororola plant in western McHenry County. Big surprise, the US Government now says the plant was not bought to crank out iPhones:

the DOJ complaint notes that the Harvard plant purchase was part of the sprawling Optima money laundering scheme (including fraudulent loans used to purchase the plant in the first place).
A Ukrainian Oligarch Bought a Midwestern Factory and Let it Rot. What Was Really Going On?
U.S. prosecutors say the decaying plant was part of a broader scheme to hide millions in stolen dollars across the American Midwest.

Don't plan on moving to Harvard to find work at the plant, it will have to be demolished by the Village ...

the net cost for that, after salvage, is probably three to five times the city's annual budget. It will be a financial catastrophe.
A Ukrainian Oligarch Bought a Midwestern Factory and Let it Rot. What Was Really Going On?

Note to Ops: If life gives you turnips, make borscht. Don't tear down that plant. Convert it into a Halloween Haunted House. Dress up the actors to look like Vladimir Putin. Now that's scary!

Kash in the Barrel

What a difference a day makes. The last time Lake County favorite son Kash Jackson appeared in this blog, he was an Illinois gubernatorial candidate:

Wither Winderweedle

Now he is under arrest for threatening to kill two Lake County judges:

A man who ran for Illinois governor in 2018 was taken into custody Thursday and accused of threatening to kill two Lake County judges, authorities said. Grayson K. Jackson, who also is known as Kash Jackson and Benjamin Winderweedle, 43, of Paris, Arkansas, made the threats Oct. 7, according to Lake County Sheriff’s
Former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate charged with threatening two Lake County judges

One legal scholar told your LakeCountyEye: "Well, that's an unconventional way to clear the courts."

In related news, Lake County favorite son Mark Curran is a candidate for the Illinois Supreme Court.

A Friend in Need is a Friend in High Places

How many times has this happened to you? You receive a total of $15,000 in donations from a wealthy family.

Never?

Well then your name isn't Ex-Barrington Hills Mayor Martin McLaughlin.

As readers of this blog are aware ...

The Friends in High Places Zone

over the past 5 years, members of the Sanfilippo family donated $15,000 to Martin McLaughlin.

And now McLaughlin is holding a fundraiser at the Sanfillipo Residence in Barrington Hills. Coincidence? Your LakeCountyEye does not think so:

Note to Ops: Politics is about raising dough.  This is the recipe for success:

• Solicit funds from a wealthy donor.
• Use those funds to hire that donor to host a fundraiser for you.
• Solicit funds from the wealthy donor.
• Repeat as often as needed.
• Any excess money raised is pure gravy!

The Friends in High Places Zone

Barrington Hills Ex-Mayor Martin McLaughlin may be gone but he is not forgotten.

The Village of Barrington Hills Zoning Board of Appeals held a special meeting last month. Its one agenda item was to grant a Special Use Application (Non-Commercial Event Facility) to the Sanfilippo Estate:

Barrington Hills - Zoning Board of Appeals - Special Meeting

The Sanfilippo Estate is located on the sort of 25MPH country lane where no one expects to see a theme park.  A Special Use Application would grant the Sanfilippo family a zoning variance on uses of their estate:

Barrington Hills - Zoning Board of Appeals - Special Meeting

For the Record, during the past 5 years, Sanfilippos have donated a total of $15,000 to Martin McLaughlin:

State Board of Elections
Contributions Search - By Candidates

Note to Ops: It's good to be the Ex-Mayor.

Is this Seat Taken?

Despite having been reported once already on this blog ...

Supreme Being

Lake County favorite son Mark Curran is running for Illinois Supreme Court justice:

Competition for the open Illinois Supreme Court District 2 seat grew, and a Republican primary is assured, as former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran became the fifth candidate in the race.
Former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran becomes fifth candidate in state Supreme Court race

By all indications a proponent of tough clean-air regulations, Curran was critical of Lake County's Republican smoke filled rooms:

Traditionally, Curran said, Lake County Republican leaders picked candidates for office in a "smoke filled room" telling party members who they should like.
Former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran becomes fifth candidate in state Supreme Court race

For the record, some Lake County municipalities may deem a smoke filled room a community asset:

Suburbs' first cannabis lounge gets the thumbs-up to open in Mundelein

Will Mark Curran be on the High Court? Most excellent!

Boatloads of Cash

Your wouldn't know it from looking at their names, but the Village of Third Lake has two cash cows:

Druce Lake & Third Lake

The Village charges a fee to anyone who docks a boat on either of these lakes.

These revenues however may not be paying the bills. The Village of Third Lake is investigating ways to charge non-residents with the fees -- and is researching how other Villages do it:

Village of Third Lake
Lakes Commission
July 26,2021

One Village to the South -- the City of Chicago -- charges boats by the foot:

Chicago Harbors
2021 Harbor Fees

Note to Ops: Kerching!

The Lake County Republican Fomentation

Who is Carol Davis? Your LakeCountyEye found out so you don't have to.

Carol Davis is an anti-vaxxer ...

VACCINES!

Will they be mandatory?

See Why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Just SUED major media.

REGISTER TO WATCH FOR FREE HERE https://t.co/5JnmHMfLv2 via @UpVir.al

— Carol Davis (@CarolDaPatriot) February 8, 2021

Carol Davis is an exorcist ...

The mantra of the Left: “The end justifies the means.” They will sink to every depth of deception & depravity, even getting people killed. Spawn of satan, the father of lies. https://t.co/JTGkP8M9kh

— Carol Davis (@CarolDaPatriot) January 7, 2021

Carol Davis is an authority on sugary & caffeinated beverages ...

Corporate America: We don't want your political opinions or your virtue-signaling woke BS. Who are YOU to point fingers at us?! Clean up your own mess before you start preaching. Always Woka-Cola: It’s the Real Thing https://t.co/8dKEyNnEDX via @YouTube

— Carol Davis (@CarolDaPatriot) July 16, 2021

Last but not least, Carol Davis was the featured speaker at the Lake County Republican Federation:

Stay classy, Lake County Republican Federation.

Porcey's Revenge

An actual unretouched screencap from the all-thumbs theocrats at the McHenryCountyBlog:

Updating the FOID Approval Porcess Incompetence

In response to your LakeCountyEye's provocation, a spokesman issued a statement: "It's not like that happened on porpoise."

Politics and Strange Bedfellows

Who is Carol Davis and why is she pilfering your LakeCountyEye?

On Aug 15 2021, your LakeCountyEye said this about the Lake County Republican Federation:

A lie will circle the globe before the truth can get its shoes on.
Lies, Damned Lies and the Big Lie

On Sep 7 2021, Carol Davis Tweeted:

Mark Twain nailed it- a LIE can be halfway around the world before the TRUTH gets it’s pants on in the morning. To be clear: hospitals are NOT being overrun- it was a lie then, it’s still a lie. https://t.co/9CnNKrnOO7

— Carol Davis (@CarolDaPatriot) September 7, 2021

Then a week later on Sep 18 2021, Carol Davis was the featured speaker at the Lake County Republican Federation:

Coincidence? Your LakeCountyEye does not think so.

Note to Ops: Mark Twain did not say ...

before the truth gets it’s [sic] PANTS on

The correct quote is ...

before the truth can get its SHOES on

That should be a big difference to the abstinence-only Party.

Is That Some Kind of Record?

Good records may be the foundation of any organization -- but who likes keeping good records? Not your LakeCountyEye. If you are in municipal government, this life hack from the Village of Old Mill Creek is for you:

Simply toss all of that paper into a banker's box:

Report by Attorney Krone on public records retention and internal search of 36 banker boxes
Village of Old Mill Creek -- Board of Trustees -- Regular Meeting -- Aug 9 2021

Sure, records may get lost but someone else can look for them:

President Smith: we will need to re-organize the effort to correct the missing records problem
Village of Old Mill Creek -- Board of Trustees -- Regular Meeting -- Aug 9 2021

And don't worry about the guy from the Illinois Secretary of State's office:

"You have to work with what you got."
Village of Old Mill Creek -- Board of Trustees -- Regular Meeting -- Aug 9 2021

Next Week: A clever trick to deal with those annoying FOIA requests.

Unclear on the Concept

Dan McConchie, no friend to labor, may be experiencing the effects of the labor shortage firsthand.

A employee on entrenched incumbent Dan McConchie's State Senate staff recently was cited on the Internet:

Whitney Barnes, a spokeswoman for Sen. Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods, believed: "Offering economical chance for all Illinoisans, specially those with confronted systematic barriers and deficiencies in investments, try a top-notch concern of Senate Republican person Dan McConchie. She's working to learn more about the requirements of all towns in Illinois and will eventually keep working with all of people in the Senate helping inspire economical development in each region within this county."
Pritzker signal expense to cap payday-loan rates of interest, resist racism linked to economic science

When contacted directly, a spokesman said: "Senator McConchie approves this message."

Potpourri

Marijuana advocates, throughout Lake County, are giving themselves high fives:

Open burning of leaves allowed in unincorporated Lake County

Is the Marijuana industry in Lake County on a roll? Conjointly, there is good news from Mundelein:

Could suburbs' first cannabis lounge open in Mundelein?

Your LakeCountyEye asked a local head honcho: "Could the suburbs' first cannabis lounge open in Mundelein?"

He said: "Can I be blunt?  You don't go to the Vatican to sell condoms.  You go to a rock festival."

By the same token, that cannabis lounge may already be in the pipeline:

Suburbs' first cannabis lounge gets the thumbs-up to open in Mundelein

The local head honcho said: "Is the Pope Catholic?"

911 Omission

Today is the 20th anniversary of the 911 attacks. Please mark this as a day of reflection and remembrance for those whose lives were irrevocably changed 20 years ago.

HaHa, j/k.

Please instead join entrenched incumbent State Senator Dan McConchie for a SHRIMP BOIL:

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

50/50 RAFFLE

GAMES

LIVE MUSIC

Note to Ops: Never forget your wallet.