Downers Grove 9-30-15

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SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 VOL. 7 ISSUE 44

News

Featured Sports

Castle Course in Arkdale, Wisconsin’s copied course is a treat to play for golfers

#buglenewspapers

BUGleNewspapers.coM

see Page 10

COMMUNITY Life Savers Cypress Cove staff recognized for saving drowning victim

see Page 3

FATHER-SON DUO BRING THEIR OWN ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT TO WESTMONT By Jonathan Samples | BUGLE STAFF

SPORTS Old Plank Trophy

Lisle shutout rival Westmont 40-0 to reclaim the trophy

see Page 7

or 23-year-old Munir Khalaf, the connection between being one’s own boss and having the dream job was instilled in him at a young age. His father, Jamal Khalaf, opened his first business back in 1995, when Munir was merely a toddler. see ‘Dream’ ON Page 3

Metra warns of potential train shut down Positive train control deadline set for Dec. 31 By IgOR stuDeNkOV StaFF reporter

nweditor@buglenewspapers.com @DownersGrvBugle

A congressional mandate may force Metra to stop running its trains by the beginning of the next year, which would force commuters who use the BNSF Line to find an alternative option. This was the dire warning the commuter train agency’s executive

director, Don Orseno, sent to U.S. Sen. John Thune. The South Dakota Republican is the head of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Orseno’s letter was a response to the senator’s letter asking what the consequences would be if Metra missed a Dec. 31 deadline to implement positive train control technology. An open letter to customers warning about the deadline went

up on Metra’s official website shortly thereafter. Positive train control is a computerized system designed to prevent train collisions, derailments and other railroad accidents by automatically slowing down or stopping trains before they crash. In Sept. 2008, Congress passed a law requiring the technology be implemented on all U.S. rail lines. All passenger rail lines, as well as freight lines that carry hazardous substances, are required to have the technology installed by the end of this year.

Orseno said Metra has faced a number of issues in trying to meet the deadline, adding in the letter that it would not be able to fully implement PTC until 2019. The letter comes as two freight railroads that run four Metra lines under contract sent similar letters to Thune, saying that if the deadline is not extended, they would stop running passenger trains. The shutdown would impact many communities in the Bugle’s coverage area, including Westmont and Downers Grove. According to Orseno’s letter to

the public, Metra would announce its contingency plans Oct 31. Pace spokesman Patrick Wilmot said Metra, Pace and CTA have already been discussing service alternatives. While Pace could potentially make up for some of the service cuts, it wouldn’t have the capacity to fully replace Metra. “Our local transit officials are taking the potential shutdown very seriously and working together to develop contingency plans, which we hope will never be needed,”

See metra | page 4


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