There were two passing storms last night that dumped enough rain to cause this July to be the rainiest one in Chicago’s history.  Those storms also caused wide spread power outages to area residents.

The onslaught of storms, which caused the National Weather Service to issue a slue of tornado and flood watches across the area, brought July’s precipitation totals to a record 9.75 inches, eclipsing the old record of 9.56 inches set in July 1889.

And the weather forecasters say more rain is on the way!

On top of that, the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory, in effect from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.  With afternoon temps expected to be in the lower to mid 90s, with high humidity, please stay cool and check on the elderly!

Word of the Day:

Exacerbate [ex-ac-er-bate] transitive verb.

:To make more violent, bitter, or severe; to irritate or make worse [the prosecution's witness may exacerbate her legal problems].

Today in History:

Today in 1978, the price of gold reached the $200-an-oz level for 1st time.  Today the price of gold is around $1,612.  Who knew?

The City of Berwyn, Berwyn Police Department, and Berwyn Fire Department are pleased to announce the 28^th Annual National Night Out event on Tuesday, August 2, 2011. National Night Out is Berwyn’s marquee event in its effort to enhance awareness around public safety issues and to strengthen partnerships between law enforcement and the community. To reinforce these goals, Berwyn will bridge the gap at the federal level by featuring demonstrations and representatives from the U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and military and veterans groups representing the US Army, US Air Force, and US Marine Corps. The U.S. Marshals, the country’s oldest federal law enforcement agency, will provide representatives from the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force. The exhibits will include tactical breaching equipment and a tactical weapons system. The military will have interactive exhibits including a “Humvee” vehicle, miniature jet plane, climbing wall, chin-up bar, and dog tag machines.

Now in its 28^th year, National Night Out is shared by over thirty seven million people in over fifteen thousand different communities across North America. A huge success locally, Berwyn produced the top ranking National Night Out event in the State of Illinois and the 10^th in the nation last year. With an attendance reaching over 7,000 participants, the event benefits not only Berwyn residents but also the expected visitors from the greater Cook County area, bringing neighbors and communities together to reduce crime, drugs and violence.

National Night Out will take place at Morton West High School at 2400 Home Avenue in Berwyn, IL. The 2011 event will have a showing of full force from Berwyn’s Police and Fire departments as well as local law enforcement from Bellwood, Brookfield Zoo, Cicero, Cook County, Harwood Heights, LaGrange, Lemont, McCook, North Riverside, Oak Park, Stickney, and Westchester. Other featured exhibitors include the Cook County Bomb Squad, Emergency Service Disaster Agency (ESDA), an appearance by the cast of the Chicago-based reality TV series Wrecked – Life in the crash lane, and antique police vehicles. Interactive demonstrations include a “live burn” being extinguished and a fire extinguisher safety presentation, a Bike Rodeo with free helmets given to the first 400 participants, and an Illinois Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) processing display. Additionally, participants can enjoy food, music from Heartless, singing of the national anthem by Julia Rose Melone who won America’s Got Talent Chicago, fireworks, and a Kid’s Zone featuring air slides, children’s games, baseball radar speed pitching, and a Chicago Fire interactive soccer display.

The schedule of specific demonstrations and entertainment is as follows:

5:00 pm           Gates Open; Heartless begins musical set at the stage and plays continuously
6:30 pm           “Live Burn” Fire Safety and Sprinkler Demonstration at the fire department booth
7:15 pm           Fire Extinguisher Demonstration at the fire department booth
8:15 pm           Meet Mayor Robert Lovero at the stage
8:45 pm           National Anthem and Closing of the Colors with all military units at the stage
9:00 pm           Fireworks on the football field

Berwyn’s National Night Out would not be possible without the generous support of its event sponsors, including Target Broadview, Berwyn Kia, World’s Largest Laundromat, Berwyn Recreation Department, Berwyn Park District, North Berwyn Park District, AA Rental Company, Berwyn Main Street, Buona Beef, Wayne Parthun on behalf of the Combined Veterans of Berwyn, Nicor, and Turano Bakery.

Additional information on the City of Berwyn’s National Night Out event can be obtained through the City of Berwyn at www.berwyn-il.gov or by calling (708) 788-8100. Fans can also follow the event at facebook.com/BerwynNNO to keep up-to-date with new exhibitors and other event details!

We often think of giving food as a seasonal event.  With the weather and everything going on in our communities, one of our loyal readers reminded me that there are families that are in need of food and other supplies – even in the heat of summer.

What might you do?  One choice is to donate non-perishable food items to one of these food pantries serving our area.

• Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry
  First United Church of Oak Park (Basement)
  848 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL
  www.oprffoodpantry.org
• Feeding Illinois
  Formerly known as the Illinois Food Bank Association
  www.feedingillinois.org
• St. Celestine Catholic Parish Alvernia Food Pantry
  3020 N. 76th Court, Elmwood Park
  www.stcelestineparish.org/Outreach/FoodPantry.htm

Your donations will be appreciated and you’ll be making a positive difference in our community.

A large music festival & carnival, Woodstars, will be coming to Proviso East High School in Maywood from 11 a.m to 9 p.m., starting on Thursday, July 28th and running through Sunday July 31st.  The website for the festival is www.woodstarsfestival.com.

Because of the large number of anticipated attendees, the Village of River Forest has implemented the following plans and procedures:

• No parking will be allowed on any streets between Hawthorne & Madison and Thatcher & Lathrop with the exception of those using the commuter parking along the north side of Hawthorne. This restriction will be in effect all day Thursday through Sunday. Those parking on the street will be subject to a ticket and potentially having their vehicle towed.
• Barricades will be placed at the entrances of all the side streets informing motorists of these restrictions and to help prevent non-resident traffic through the south side of town.
• The entrances to Washington Boulevard will be closed at Thatcher and at Lathrop.
• Residents in the south part of town are encouraged to navigate through side streets towards Lake Street to enter and exit River Forest. We strongly encourage you to stay off of Madison Street during this event.

If you are a resident of River Forest and have an event planned this weekend at your home and are planning on having guests, please call the Village of River Forest at (708) 714-3544 during normal business hours and (708) 366-7125 after hours to inform the Village of your event. Ideally, the Village of River Forest would prefer to have no vehicles parked on the streets, but realize some people may have events planned at their home. Please note that overnight parking permits will not be provided throughout the duration of the event.

For up to date information please visit the Village of River Forest’s website at:  www.river-forest.us.

Word of the Day

Diminutive [di-min-u-tive] adjective.

: Extremely small in size; tiny. A very small person or thing

Today in History:

Today is Constitution Day in Puerto Rico. In 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing U.S. commonwealth. And today in 1947, the Departments of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the War Department were consolidated to form the U.S. Department of Defense.