Is crime going up on the North Shore or are people just more interested in reading about local crime these days? I wondered about this while reviewing the analytics for DailyNorthShore.com for July 15 through 22, 2016. Six of the week’s Top 10 most-read stories were about criminal acts committed in recent days, as well as one sensational murder in Kenilworth nearly 50 years ago. The week’s other major stories involve municipal infrastructure – bridge repair, historic preservation, roadwork, downtown development. And sports! Which is not surprising, since DNS.com has the best sports reporting on the North Shore.
Let’s talk about crime first. In the middle of the night nearly 50 years ago 21-year-old Valerie Percy was stabbed to death in her family’s Kenilworth home. That much is known. What isn’t known even all these years later is who killed her. Will that change now that a modern day, high-profile, personal injury lawyer — who grew up in Glencoe and was 10 at the time of the Percy murder — has begun poking around the margins of the old, cold case? John Q. Kelly says he’s motivated by curiosity– he’s not representing anyone. And after all of his requests for information were declined, in April he sued the Village of Kenilworth, Illinois State Police and a whole lot of other agencies alleging they’ve violated the Freedom of Information Act.
“I haven’t got a single document in six months since I filed a request. Pretty unusual on a cold case,” Kelly told DNS.com reporter Emily Spectre.
Valerie Percy’s former boyfriend Andrew Potash with reporters outside her wake at Scott Funeral Home, Wilmette. Credit: credited to Glenn Wall collection
Slow crawl across the driveway
My favorite police report of the week came from Lake Bluff’s blotter: On July 14 just before 8 a.m., someone on the 600 block of N. Green Bay Road called the police to report there was a large turtle in the driveway. An officer went to the residence, surveyed the scene, and advised he could provide a number for private animal control. But what he really thought the homeowner should do? Leave the turtle alone so it could cross the driveway on its own. The report did not say if the complainant was in a hurry …
Summer is: Baseball & Sailing
Sports editor Kevin Reiterman profiled recently graduated baseball player Matthew Peterson, whose rise seemed to come out of the blue: “A year ago, around this time of the year, Peterson wasn’t exactly a hot item. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound southpaw wasn’t exactly a household name. Oh, how things changed — in a hurry.” Now Peterson’s headed to Villanova – click here to read how he got there.
Kevin also wrote about several North Shore sailors participating in this month’s Race to Mackinac — Northfield’s John Baxter, Winnetka’s Joseph Haas, Wilmette’s David Gustman, and Lake Bluff’s Christopher McNicholas. The story comes with great photos by JWC Media photographer Joel Lerner.
John Baxter; photography by Joel Lerner/JWC Media
Roads, Bridges, Condos & More
As for municipal news stories, which are my personal favorites, here’s a recap of the issues in our towns this week:
Along with the actual temperature, which got really hot this week, tempers were flaring in Lake Bluff as the village contemplated zoning changes for a 16-unit condo building that some residents believe is too dense for downtown. DNS.com reporter Steve Sadin covered a four-hour meeting where some outspoken residents criticized the village for considering the development and zoning changes simultaneously, claiming the developer should deal with the changes to the code after they are approved by the board.
Meanwhile in Northbrook, the village board is considering new zoning regulations to motivate developers to propose projects for its downtown district. Sadin reports that the new regulations will be what’s called “form-based zoning” that are designed to give potential developers a more precise idea of what Northbrook officials want to see downtown.
Also in Northbrook, Red Seal broke ground on the Mission Hills development even as neighbors are still objecting to its very existence.
And in Highland Park, DNS.com reporter Julie Kemp Pick report on new concrete sidewalk that the city is considering placing on the east side of Sheridan Road between Roger Williams Avenue and the Rosewood Beach entrance.
Wondering what to do this weekend? Two great events are taking place north of the Lake-Cook border:
Riders pass a Lake Bluff home with a Criterium party going on. Photo courtesy of Paul Carollo.