For the first time in its 32-year history, the State of the Art Catholic Band Competition came to the Northwest suburbs, and Saint Viator High School’s Symphonic Band made it worth the trip.

The ensemble took second place in Class AAA, behind nationally ranked Marian Catholic High School’s Symphonic Band of Chicago Heights, which won the class and earned the title of Grand Champion.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Tom Seaman, Saint Viator High School director of bands.

At the competition, they played “Pas Redouble” by Camille Saint-Saens and “Concord,” a medley of Revolutionary War tunes by Clare Grundman. Saint Viator’s Concert Band competed in Class A and performed “Plains West” by William Owens and “Highland Legend” by John Moss.

It was the 9th time in 10 years that Marian Catholic’s band had won the competition, but Saint Viator’s symphonic band students led the rest of the field among large bands, earning a 90.3 score.

Overall, Saint Viator bands have placed in the top three of their class 14 times over the last 17 years.

They earned high praise from the panel of college educators who judged the competition. They included Judith Grimes from Elmhurst College, Stacey Larson of VanderCook College of Music and Kenneth Dye of the University of Notre Dame.

For Larson, it was a coming home of sorts. Her first job out of college was directing the Saint Viator band program, 20 years ago. She left in 1995, but during her three years at the school, she made an impression.

After her first year as a part-time band director, faculty members petitioned administration members to bring her on full time. They did the following year, and the band program has continued to grow.

Larson is a popular clinician and judge at competitions throughout the Midwest, which she manages along with her teaching duties at VanderCook.

“I look at the overall performance,” Larson said. “I hope that at this stage, it’s more about making the music come alive from the page.”

Saint Viator symphonic band members came alive when they heard they had won second place. They screamed and jumped for joy, before student director Christine Southall of Arlington Heights calmly approached the podium and accepted their award from the Knights of Columbus, who conceived the contest and continue to sponsor it.

Nearly a year after Sherman filed a lawsuit hoping to keep taxpayer money out of the library’s hands, the library will start receiving, but not spending, that money.

Sherman has long alleged the library’s efforts to spread the word about an April 2011 referendum went beyond merely providing information and spilled into advocacy, which is a violation of state election law.

“What we’re asking the courts to do is null and void the referendum on the legal premise that results which the government achieves through unconstitutional means should be declared void,” he said.

Though a judge dismissed Sherman’s suit last year, he has since appealed, and vowed this week to keep the fight alive. The library’s lawyers are responding to the appeal.

Meanwhile, the library’s levy this year includes the increase voters accepted through the referendum, Executive Director David Seleb said.

But the money will go into reserves to wait for the resolution of Sherman’s proceedings with the Illinois Appellate Court and the State Board of Elections.

Sherman also filed a complaint with the Board of Elections. A hearing is set for Wednesday for Sherman to prove his case.

Should the board agree the library violated election law, the board can issue penalties, but does not have the authority to void election results.

“Until these two issues are resolved, we will not know whether we will have the funds made available to us from the referendum,” Seleb said.

Library staff will work on its strategic plan for the organization and its services, programming and facility, and will look at different possibilities for the current building.

”We’re going to move ahead with investigating that question and looking at all of our options,” Seleb said.

There just won’t be any blueprints yet, he added.

He wasn’t sure when the lawsuit might be resolved, but Sherman, used to long political battles like the one he helped his daughter wage against the “moment of silence” in schools, estimated the two parties would be in court at least several more months.

Voters in the Wheeling-based library district narrowly approved a measure last year to raise the tax rate by 9.8 percent, but officials maintain residents won’t see the difference on their tax bills because of a 15-year-old bond that was retired last year.

Rep. Robert Dold, R-Ill., said he and others want to make sure that mass transit funding, tax incentives for riders of public transportation and money for long-range large projects are restored to the transportation bill.

“There’s some positives associated with this bill,” Dold said, referring to the five-year federal transportation package being pushed by House Republicans which jeopardizes up to $450 million a year for local projects. “But there were are some shortcomings. We wanted to come together to find some solutions.”

Dold gathered along with Reps Judy Biggert, R-Ill., and Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., and officials from Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority, Pace and the Regional Transportation Authority.

Read more: The Chicago Tribune.

Judith Katz, appearing thin and frail and with a visible tremor from what her lawyer has said is a serious illness, was wheeled into a Lake County courtroom for the hearing. Her attorney asked that a judge, rather than a jury, determine the verdict in her upcoming trial.

Last November, Melissa Calusinski of Carpentersville, a former employee at Minee Subee in the Park day care center, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2009 death of 16-month-old Benjamin Kingan of Deerfield. A jury determined Calusinski intentionally slammed the boy’s head to the floor.

Prosecutors say that Katz, who owned the day care center, which has since closed, tried to get other employees to lie about how many people were in the room at the time the boy was died.

Despite her apparent medical woes, Katz, 67, of Arlington Heights is ready to proceed with her trial, said her attorney, Jack Carriglio. Katz said she understood that she was waiving her rights to a jury trial. The trial has been set for March 12.

If convicted, Katz faces up to three years in prison.

Calusinski is due to be sentenced Thursday for the boy’s murder and faces up to life in prison. Defense attorneys for Calusinski have asked for a new trial, arguing that her confession to police was coerced during a 10-hour interrogation.

A printed version of the guide will be delivered in local newspapers as early as February 23. Additional copies will be available soon at many Lake County libraries, municipalities, and park district offices.

The guide includes a complete listing of all candidates and public questions appearing on the March election ballot. Election Day voting sites with addresses are listed by township and precinct. A comprehensive directory of all early voting sites, including dates, hours, addresses and phone numbers, is published on the back cover of the guide.

The guide is popular with Lake County voters because it provides a complete list of candidates throughout the county, and voters can take it into the voting booth as a reference tool.

The guide also addresses many commonly asked questions and dispels misconceptions such as the urban legend that absentee ballots are “only counted in close contests.” All absentee ballots postmarked by the day before the election and received by the 14th day after are processed by judges of the two parties.

When you hear “Family Fun Day” for a school whose current enrollment is 50, you probably think, small, boring, only for current students. In the case of Precious Lambs Preschool (Grayslake) you would be sorely mistaken. In its sixth year the Family Fun Day event has grown into a must attend community event with raffles, silent auction and entertainment for all ages!

The theme this year is "Find YOUR Beach" which is fitting since every year they offer up not one, but two Florida beach vacations. This year they have one week at at Terra’s Key Private Island Beach and 4 days/3 Nights at Breezy Palms Resort. That’s right, this little school puts on one of the best silent auctions I have seen, and I ran silent auction for large non-profits! Each year they have close to 200 items donated by local business as well as family and friends of the school. Prizes range from small gift baskets of food or gifts, to sports tickets, birthday parties, and vacations.

What makes this event such a success is it truly is a family event with something to entertain each member of the family. In addition to the auction there are raffles geared exclusively to the kids with toys and activities for the young grade school and preschool children in attendance. Tickets for the raffle are $1 for most items and $2 for bigger items which have included American Girl Doll sets and an overnight stay at a Wisconsin Waterpark. All funds raised through the auction and raffle go towards the scholarship assistance fund as well as to classroom improvements including their “Go Green” initiative.

Find YOUR Beach is not just a fundraiser for the school, it’s also a community event with entertainment and food. There is a pizza lunch served for $2 and a free magic show that starts at 1:00pm. There is no admission fee for the event so you can come and check out the auction and watch the magic show with out spending any money if you wanted. However I would recommend bringing your wallet, especially if you have kids because you will be impressed by the auction and raffle items, you may just find yourself in a bidding war!

This years event will take place on Saturday March 10, 11:30-2:30pm, Lunch is served from 12:00pm – 1:00pm, Magic Dave performs at 1:00 and bidding on all items ends at 2:00 pm. Shepard of the Lakes Church is at 285 E. Washington in Grayslake. For more information, to donate to the event, or to pre-purchase lunch or raffle tickets please contact Sarah Lanaham at director@preciouslambs.org or call at 847- 223-1788

They start out as 4-pound hunks of flour, butter, margarine and lard, then get beaten, rolled and cut into fist-size domes.

Next, their jiggly bodies are submerged into steaming hot vegetable oil. After they are cooled, sugary jellies are pumped into their centers. Then with a final slathering of icing, the paczkis, a doughnutlike pastry that originated in Poland, are ready for sale.

Chicagoans will gorge themselves on hundreds of thousands of them on Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. Over the last few days, Oak Mill Bakery’s headquarters in Des Plaines has been in overdrive, cranking out more than 80,000 paczkis (pronounced like poonch key) to be sold at its six locations in the Chicago area.

Read more at the Chicago Tribune.

It’s the eighth time in the past nine years and 16th time overall that the Mustangs took the state title and they dominated with 41 points. Downers Grove North tied Oak Lawn for second place with 20 points each. Hinsdale Central took fourth, Wheaton North fifth, Neuqua Valley seventh, Shepard tied for eighth and Wheaton Warrenville South took 10th.

DG South champions were Billy Chengary and Erin Walsh (dramatic duet acting), Dan Leahy and Walsh (humorous duet acting), Dhara Puvar (informative speaking), Walsh (oratorical declamation) and Colleen Derosa (prose reading).

Other area champions included York’s Sarah King in original oratory and Shepard’s Glorielle Williams in poetry reading.

Other top-six finishers from the area:

Dramatic duet acting
Dan Cassin-Gen Carter (Hinsdale Central, second), Julia Rabin-Kelsey Sante (Neuqua Valley, third), Jessia Kreidler-Josh Arshonsky (Prospect, fifth) and Amy Quinlan-Kelly Garner (Shepard, sixth).

Dramatic interpretation
Sante (Neuqua Valley, second) and Onute Jureviciute (Shepard, sixth).

Extemporaneous speaking
Emily Temple-Wood (Downers Grove North, second), Samuel Niiro (Wheaton Warrenville South, third) and Tom Forrest (Schaumburg, sixth).

Humorous duet acting
Dani Mulhearn-David Solberg (Wheaton Warrenville South, third) and Andy Krupin-Murtaza Kapasi (Downers Grove North, fifth).

Humorous interpretation
Michelle McCarthy (Downers Grove South, second), Samm Hilger (Shepard, third) and Rahul Jacob (Sandburg, fifth).

Impromptu speaking
Gen Carter (Hinsdale Central, second), Alex Buckley (Downers Grove North, third), Niiro (Wheaton Warrenville South, fourth), Dennis Lynch (Marist, fifth).

Informative speaking
Lauren Brouwers (Sandburg, third), Renata Wettermann (Fremd, fifth) and Hamsini Rao (Glenbard West, sixth).

Oratorical declamation
Phillip McClure (Wheaton North, second), Ellie Wyant (Glenbard West, fifth) and Katelin Coronado (Cary-Grove, sixth).

Original comedy
Michelle McCarthy (Downers Grove South, third), Michael Maley (Buffalo Grove, fourth), Danny Gonzalez (Wheaton North, fifth) and Hilger (Shepard, sixth).

Original oratory
McClure (Wheaton North, third), Meera Nathan (Naperville Central, fourth), Sarah Batchu (Downers Grove North, fifth) and Maggie Nannenhorn (Glenbard West).

Performance in the round
Wheaton Warrenville South (second) and Downers Grove South (fourth).

Poetry reading
Ellie Wyant (Glenbard West, second), Jena Sugay (Hinsdale Central, third) and Jacqueline Dunderdale (Prospect, fourth).

Prose reading
Laura Nelson (Hinsdale Central, third) and Lauren Rasch (Sandburg, fourth).

Radio speaking
Andy Krupin (Downers Grove North, second), Denielle Zarbin (Oak Park-River Forest, third), Jessica Stroner (Wheaton North, fourth) and Lillie Kase (Downers Grove South, fifth).

Special occasion speaking
Kaveri Sharma (Neuqua Valley, second), Tim Krentz (Wheaton North, fourth) and Heather Johansen (Downers Grove North, sixth).

For a minimum donation of $10 per bowl, event attendees can purchase a handmade ceramic bowl and receive a serving of chili and cornbread.

Members of the CLC Community Clay Association, consisting of both faculty and students, have created more than 1,000 bowls for the event, and the CLC Hospitality and Culinary Management program is preparing the chili and corn bread.

The 2011 Empty Bowls event raised $7,000 for the Northern Illinois Food Bank and helped raise awareness about the issues of hunger, according to Ben Bates, club adviser and ceramics instructor.

For more information, contact Bates at (847) 543-2435 or bbates@clcillinois.edu. For maps and directions, visit the College of Lake County website for maps and directions at http://www.clcillinois.edu/maps/graycamp.asp.

Internet technology writer Steven Levy will speak at the College of Lake County at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 12. His presentation will focus on the culture, history, technology and founding figures of Google, the Internet giant. Levy is a senior writer with “Wired” magazine and was formerly senior editor of “Newsweek.” Following the presentation, at 8:30 p.m., Levy will sign copies of his latest book, “In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives.”

A limited number of complimentary tickets are available for teachers and Lake County high school and college students. To request tickets, call the Box Office at (847) 543-2300 or visit www.clcillinois.edu/levy.

Levy joined “Newsweek” in 1995 as senior editor, chief technology correspondent and writer of “The Technologist” column. In 2008, he joined “Wired” magazine as a full-time writer. He is the author of six books, including “Hackers,” named the best sci-tech book written in the last 20 years by “PC” magazine; “The Unicorn’s Secret,” which investigated the1979 murder of Holly Maddux and detailed how suspect Ira Einhorn successfully eluded justice for a decade; and “Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government-Saving Privacy in the Digital Age,” which won the grand eBook prize at the Frankfurt Book festival. Levy is also the author of “The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness,” which examines the iPod and its reverberations in the business and cultural world. For more information about Steven Levy, visit www.stevenlevy.com or www.clcillinois.edu/levy.

The event will be held in the Mainstage Theatre, James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts, 19351 W. Washington St. Tickets: General admission, $10; CLC student/seniors/Staff, $5; and free for under age 16; plus a $1 JLC facility fee. For tickets, visit the James Lumber Center Box Office, www.clcillinois.edu/tickets or call (847) 543-2300. The event is co-sponsored by the CLC Foundation.