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Updated: 3:45 p.m. Theresa A. Carlquist of Downers Grove was arrested Aug.21 and charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from the Panther Junior Football organization. Carlquist, 51, who turned herself into the Downers Grove Police Department, was charged with six felony theft counts. The arrest culminates a nine-month investigation by police into the Panther organization’s [...]

Village Operation Center workers will see raises In December of 2008, the Village Operation Center (VOC) employees voted to unionize and choose the Fraternal Order of Police as their exclusive bargaining agent. The unit is comprised of all full time operators. Staff has been negotiating a collective bargaining agreement since April of 2009. Staff has [...]

The Rotary Club raises the curtain on GroveFest this evening, culminating three months of frantic effort in an attempt to provide Downers Grove with a summer festival. The 45-member club has been scrambling to put the smaller, more local festival together, with some members working as many as 30 hours a week on the endeavor, [...]

Editor’s note: Guest blogger Meat was a witness to the suicide of  a 36-year-old man who jumped in front of the 8:08 a.m. Metra train on May 4, 2006. Like many brushed by a tragedy, his memories of the event are clear, confused and troubled. I have the fortune of being able to walk to [...]

Updated: 9 a.m. April 9 with bank account information. Aid efforts are underway for displaced residents Fire Chief Jim Jackson told a breath-taking story of courage and cooperation as he recounted for the village council April 6 the department’s mammoth effort against the three-alarm fire that devastated a west-side apartment building in the early morning [...]

The Village has put up a primer on coyote behavior that will be of interest to local pet-owners and walkers looking to avoid a confrontation with the wild critters, which in recent years have proliferated in the Western suburbs. The information was posted last week on the recommendation of the Environmental Concerns Commission, which reviewed [...]

Jim Jackson was named chief of the Downers Grove Fire Department today, after serving as acting chief following the August 2009 retirement of Chief Phil Ruscetti. Jackson was one of five finalists chosen to interview for the position following a competitive search.  “Jim Jackson’s outstanding leadership qualities, organizational knowledge and demonstrated commitment to efficiency and [...]

FYI. These talks, presented by the League of Women Voters, are golden opportunities to hear and learn direct from department heads about where they are and what challenges and opportunities they see coming that will effect us all. Wednesday, February 17, 2010 – State of the Downers Grove Fire Department – Speaker: either the new [...]

The shocking aftermath of the Jan. 2 fire in the 4700 block of Main Street is plain to see: A burned-out shell of a house with boarded up windows, blackened siding and a gaping roof. What isn’t so obvious is the huge outpouring of support that already is being extended to homeowner Beth Southworth and [...]

Village Hall deserves credit for making this year’s budget process a little less painful — at least for residents seeking information about village operations and the various cost-savings proposals. Members of the budget team, which includes personnel from the village manager’s office and finance office, have been posting a series of “budget responses’ on the [...]