Highland Park Report

Applications for the Charity Drive are now available.  If you wish to be considered as beneficiaries of the event in February, make sure to send in an application to the school by October 13.  You can get an application online or sent to Mary Gorleski, Highland Park High School, 433 Vine Ave., Highland Park IL 60035.  The Charity Drive is an exciting time for Highland Park High School students.  Throughout the entire month of February, students, faculty, staff and parents raise money for the charities that turn in applications before October 13, by all means possible.  Usually, special events are held from certain retail stores in Highland Park that work together to help raise money with students and community residents.  One Highland Park Senior said that last year, the Charity Drive raised $163,000 for the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation.  That is a tremendous amount of money raised, especially through a High School Charity Drive.  This just goes to show that they mean business, and that they are to be taken seriously.  Make sure to get applications in as soon as possible, with good reason why your charity needs their help.  A school-wide vote will be taken to select the chosen recipient.

Technorati Tags: Highland Park, Highland Park High School, Charity Drive

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Remember how I informed you all of the Port Clinton Art Festival?  Well I hope all of you went, and that many of you were the ones who helped madelyn Gilbert in collecting money for autism research.  In two days, she collected $3,000.   Mighty impressive.  The money came from creative thinking that went into some tedious work.  Gilbert made 100 beaded necklaces and bracelets and sold them to visitors of the art festival in August.  The proceeds went to Bridges for Autism Foundation, which was created to provide education, financial, therapy and support resources for children and families suffering from Autistic Spectrum Disorders.
Gilberts jewelry is sold through an organization she created called mAdam Creations.  What an amazing girl.  Her cousin, in which she is very close to, has autism.  Therefore, she wanted to spread her love in ways that would help other kids like Adam.  We should all be proud to have her in our town.

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For one resident, things are about to be a whole lot different.

Stuart Levine, 60, of Highland Park, is a former member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.  He is a millionaire campaign contributor and is being charged with swindling a medical school and masterminding a scheme to shake down hospitals for kickbacks.  According to the Chicago Tribune, Levine plans to plead guilty.  The hearing is scheduled for November 1. Some of the things that Levine is guilty of include “using his post as a member of planning board to mastermind a fraud and extortion plot and bilking a suburban medical school where he also sat on the board out of millions of dollars”.

The even crazier thing about Levine is that this is the second time within a week that he has plead guilty to an act of corruption in a high-profile case.  He is also pleading guilty to charges involving the Illinois Teachers Retirement System, which pays the pension of downstate and suburban teachers.

Levine’s reputation has always been good, and he has been considered a long-time political donor.  It’s ridiculous to find out stuff like this, knowing that Levine was the kind of guy that you could trust, and count on.  Now, he’s yet another name in the black book of Illinois political corruption criminals.  It’s a shame that there are so many people like this working for the Illinois government, and that they are getting away with so many things for so long.   However, it’s also good to know that Levine is pleading guilty and taking responsibility for his actions.

Technorati Tags: Highland Park, Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, Illinois Teachers Retirement System, Chicago Tribune

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