SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 VOL. 59 ISSUE 51 Featured Sports
day SIZZleS at conWay farmS Aussie wins BMW Championship, takes over world No. 1 ranking
see Page 7
NEWS Council Vacancy
Candidates for Park Ridge City Council vacancy interviewed see Page 3
NEWS
Warning comes as Dec. 31 deadline for positive train control approaches
Pet Crimes
Morton Grove considers changing fines for petrelated crimes see Page 3
By Igor Studenkov | BUGLE STAFF
COMMUNITY Senior Olympics
Local man competed in 2015 National Senior Olympics
see Page 13
SPORTS Day Sizzles
Jason Day ran away with the BMW Championship
see Page 7
PHOTO BY IGOR STUDENKOV | BUGLE STAFF
A congressional mandate may force Metra to stop running its trains by the beginning of the next year. 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.
Commuters boarding a Metra train at the Park Ridge station would be among those affected by a possible service disruption.
See ‘MetRa’ on page 10
Village considers changes to liquor, gaming regulations By Igor Studenkov Bugle Staff
nweditor@buglenewspapers.com @NilesIlNews
The Morton Grove Board of Trustees held a first reading of an ordinance that, if approved, would result in a number of changes to village liquor laws. The ordinance would create two new types of liquor licenses – the Class M liquor license for microbreweries and Class N license for “video gaming cafes,” which would establish caps on how many liquor-license holders can have
more information The ordinance would create two new types liquor licenses. – Class M liquor license for microbreweries. – Class N license for “video gaming cafes.”
video gaming machines on the premises at one time. Additionally, the ordinance would raise permit fees on certain liquor licenses and increase the maximum number of Class A licenses.
During discussion of the ordinance at the board’s Sept. 14 meeting, trustee John Thill asked if it would be possible to set a more permanent cap on the number of establishments that have video gaming machines. Terry Liston, attorney for the village of Morton Grove, said a cap would not be possible because it would hamstring future boards. Thilladdedthathewasconcerned about video gaming’s effect on Morton Grove’s reputation. The proposed ordinance would amend significant portions of Morton Grove’s liquor-related
laws, making a number of major and minor changes. According to the board packet, the ordinance is part of the village’s ongoing effort to ensure village laws take recent changes to state laws into account. The ordinance would allow microbreweries in the village through the creation of a new Class M liquor license. The application fee would be $1,000 and an annual fee would be $2,750, which is the same as the fees for liquor licenses for bars and restaurants. Only two Class M licenses would be issued at one time.
vIdeo gamIng Currently, the village’s municipal code allows all Class A and C liquorlicense holders to install video gaming machines. Businesses that have Class B license could have had the state of Illinois grant their application, which had to be filed before Aug. 1, 2014. The new ordinance specifies that Class B-license holders who already have state permission to have video gaming machines would be able to keep operating
See ChaNgeS | page 15