W E D N E S D A Y
August 9, 2017 Vol. 35, No. 51 ONE DOLLAR
@oakpark @wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
Italianate villa Homes page B1
Oak Park to charge for grocery bags Measure, taking effect in 2018, charges 10 cents for paper or plastic By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
The Oak Park Board of Trustees has strengthened an ordinance that charges a fee for single-use bags at local businesses. The so-called plastic-bag ordinance — approved as one of the last issues considered by the outgoing board of trustees in April before three new trustees were sworn in — made charging the 10-cent fee voluntary. Advocates for reducing the use of single-use bags said the ordinance approved by the outgoing board was “toothless” and argued that businesses would choose not to participate. The ordinance approved unanimously by the board on Aug. 8, requires that all retailers with storefronts over 5,000 square feet charge patrons 10 cents for both paper and plastic bags. The goal is to reduce the use of such bags because of their impact on the environment. The 10-cent fee will be split between the retailer and the village; the village’s portion to be used for environmental sustainability initiatives. Nick Bridge, chairman of the village’s EnSee FEE FOR BAGS on page 13
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
FIRST CRACK: Early birds quickly browse through books in the hallway before going into the cafeteria on Friday night during the 47th Annual Book Fair at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
Book fair still charms despite changing culture By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
Charles, a retiree from Northwest Indiana (he declined to give his last name), seemed to have an epiphany as he stood in the west mall on the campus of Oak Park and River Forest High School last Friday, waiting for the doors to open for the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library’s
47th Annual Book Fair. “A lot of book collecting has to do with waiting for another collector to die,” Charles said. “The books of the dead often wind up in a sale like this. But the trouble is I’m finding fewer and fewer books. I’ve realized that people are now waiting for me to croak so they can get my collection. I’m no longer the hunter. I’ve become the hunted.” The hunt nowadays isn’t quite what it
used to be, according to nearly a dozen fair volunteers, booksellers and individual collectors who were interviewed on the fair’s opening night last Friday. Compared with past years, the lines of people waiting outside for the fair to start aren’t nearly as long and the donated books aren’t as numerous — signs that may be See BOOK FAIR on page 14
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