As the year 2011 is coming to a close, we just wanted to wish all our viewers and readers a Happy, Healthy, Rewarding, Fulfilling and Prosperous New Year!

Here’s Hoping for a better 2012!

With the coming of the New Year – wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year at all – businesses who are located in the Village of  Oak Park and the City of Chicago need to renew their business license.

From our gal friend, Wendy Tannenbaum, President of the North Avenue Business Association:

Oak Park Business License Renewal Information
A message from Village Clerk Teresa Powell

This is a reminder to all Oak Park Businesses that your 2012 Business License should be displayed when you open for business in 2012.

The Village will be open until noon on Friday, December 23rd, and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on December 27th-30th (the Village will be closed December 26th).  If you haven’t already sent in your payment, you may want to stop by our office to renew your license sometime in the next few days.

And a very happy holidays from the Village of Oak Park.

Teresa Powell
Village Clerk
Village of Oak Park
123 Main Street, Oak Park, Illinois  60302
708/358-5672 tpowell@oak-park.us www.oak-park.us

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Chicago Business License Renewal Information
Big Changes in 2012

In 2012, all business license renewals must be done online.  The online license renewal process will be fast, easy and secure.  You will need an Account Number and a Personal Identification Number (PIN) in order to access the On-line Business License Renewal System.

This information is provided to Chicago businesses via the business renewal notice mailed out to you prior to your business deadline.  “Online Business Renewal Tutorial” workshops will be held in early 2012.

The next online business license renewal tutorial will be January 11, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection office, City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle Street, Room 805.  Please reserve your attendance by calling 312/744-2086.  Space is limited.  For more info, go to www.cityofchicago.org/bacp.

Travion D. Trapp, a 19-year-old convicted felon out on parole,  was charged last night, Dec 16, 2011, by the Cook County State’s Attorney with two counts of robbery and one count each of attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping and burglary. He is scheduled for a Bond hearing today.

Trapp, of the 300 block of North Hamlin Avenue in Chicago, was on parole after serving one year of a three-year sentence for robbery, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Based on the sketch on the clerk’s description of her assailant distributed to both the public and other law enforcement agencies, an alert officer from Chicago’s 25^th Police District recognized the suspect from an earlier traffic stop.  At almost the same time, a Park District of Oak Park employee at Ridgeland Common, 415 Lake St., contacted police with information that allowed them to place Trapp in Oak Park the day of the robbery.

In addition to Oak Park Police officers and investigators, members of the West Suburban Directed Gang Enforcement (WEDGE) task force also provided assistance in tracking down and arresting Trapp.

I am not alone at all, I thought.
I was never alone at all.
And that, of course, is the message of Christmas.
We are never alone.
Not when the night is darkest, the wind is coldest,
the world seemingly most indifferent.
For this is still the time God chooses.
— Novelist Taylor Caldwell

Tina Valentino is the Editor/Publisher

lue Christmas. I’ve never understood blue lights at Christmas. To me, they’re depressing. But it never fails, every year there are people who will haul the tangled boxes of blue strands out of their attics, drag the ladder from the garages and go through the trouble of lighting up a house somewhere or a tree or a front yard with those big, blue downer bulbs. I can’t seem to equate those blue lights with cheer or holiday spirit—only with an Elvis song, which I also dislike.

Then again, blue lights serve to remind me that everyone is not inflated with cheer like a Santa riding a Harley on the front lawn. There’s the pressure that begin with Black Friday shopping, marked this year by the peace and good will of a woman who pepper sprayed fellow shoppers in order to clear her path to the Xboxes. The expense of cards, postage, portraits, long-winded letters about vacations and the kids and jobs received by friends who can’t afford a vacation (or kids) and may not even have a job this year. Parties and what to wear, presents that will exceed all expectations and credit card limits…oh, what fun.

In two thousand years, we still have not managed to learn that Christmas is not a three-week cram session, full of bogus cheer, smiles, eggnog and a few dollars tossed into the Salvation Army kettle, just because it makes us feel better. Soon, it will be 200 years since the birth of Charles Dickens, whose cold Scrooge character may be more prevalent today than when Bob Cratchit had frozen finger tips. Dickens wrote, “Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.”

Like many readers, I know people who will experience a different kind of darkness this Christmas: a grief-stricken heart, an empty place at the table, an ornament that evokes memories and tears. Too many other friends are hoping for miracles this year—a plasma TV and jewelry are not even remotely on their minds and our prayers are the simplest, best gifts we can give.

More than ever, there is need around us. Whether it be: sickness, loneliness, unemployment, abuse, neglect, hunger or sadness, if we cannot rally support for these neighbors, what is Christmas? A few cans of soup for a food pantry, a scarf and some mittens in a donation box, an unwrapped toy, a care package for a senior, a few extra dollars to a cause in our own community—not halfway around the world—a few extra moments to listen and not talk is not a lot to ask. For your convenience, there are suggestions in this issue. “After all,” wrote Dickens, “I have always thought of Christmas as a good time; a kind, forgiving, generous, pleasant time when men and women seem to open their hearts freely, and so I say, God bless Christmas!” So true. But what about the rest of the year? I say, God bless Dale Evans, who remarked, “Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” Saddle up, partners. We can make a difference in someone’s life.

Yes! It will be snowing indoors ~ on Saturday December 10th from 10 am to 1 pm. Come for amazing photo’s with Santa as the snow falls like magic from the inside of Scoville Square Lobby at 137 N. Oak Park Ave. in Oak Park’s Avenue Business District!

Pick up your “Dear Santa” letter and mail it right from the North Pole Santa express Mail box Located inside the Scoville Square Lobby.

Come back every week to enjoy all new scenery and enjoy new and unique photo opportunities through Christmas Eve!