Braidwood Journal

Property owner seeks removal of liens

Published by admin on Mon, 07/03/2017 - 7:53pm

Plans to develop a business park on Braidwood’s southeast side have been shelved, but that property’s owner would like to see a little help from the city in the effort to do something with the site.

Braidwood business owner Bob Jones owns the Route 66 Business Park, 17.25 acres of land that sits between Center Street and the Exelon Braidwood Station nuclear power plant.

Development at the industrial site began in February 2009, after the land had been platted to include 12-individual lots, one road, and storm water detention.

Summerfest, with a side of cash

Published by admin on Mon, 07/03/2017 - 7:50pm

Thousands of residents in the state of Illinois have cash or property that they don’t even know about.

Back in April, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs launched this year’s effort to reunite Illinois residents with approximately $2.8 billion in unclaimed property.

The state treasurer’s office engages in a public effort annually to reunite residents with cash or property, with new names added to the list every year.

This year, the effort is coming to Braidwood, part of the 36th Annual Braidwood Lions Club Summerfest.

School demolition underway

Published by admin on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 6:06pm

With abatement done and dangerous materials extracted from the building, demolition of the Reed-Custer Intermediate School has begun.

The tear-down of Reed-Custer Intermediate School began on Monday, as construction on the new elementary school continues.

“The abatement schedule is right where we want it to be,” Reed-Custer Superintendent Mark Mitchell told the board of education on June 21. “They are removing the old flooring from the north gym, which they said had hazardous material, which was part of the material which was used originally with the floor.”

New transport ready to roll for school year

Published by admin on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 6:03pm

Students headed back to school in August in the Reed-Custer School District will arrive in some new rides.

This month, the district accepted delivery of a new fleet of buses from Central States Bus Sales. The lease includes 13 regular school buses, six special education buses, and two co-curricular buses. The board approved the lease agreement back in December

“We got our leased buses a couple of weeks ago, so we got our fleet in, they’re ready to roll,” Mark Hulbert, Assistant Superintendent of Operations with the district, told members of the school board on June 21.

Police nab alleged heroin dealer

Published by admin on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 6:02pm

A Braidwood man described by police as a “major dealer” of heroin has been arrested.

On Friday, June 21, police arrested Jonathon Stanford, 31, of north Center Street, following a tip that a heroin deal was imminent at his home.

Stanford was described by police as a major supplier in the area, and police had been investigating possible ties to heroin over the past six months.

Stanford was arrested without incident.

He was charged on four felony counts, including two counts of manufacturing and delivering heroin, and two counts of possession of narcotics.

Braidwood will seek out police cadets

Published by admin on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 5:58pm

The Braidwood police department has plans to start a new cadet program, with the hope of mentoring potential future officers while getting a little part-time help.

On June 12, Braidwood Police Chief Nick Ficarello told members of the City Council that the department would like to add cadets to its payroll — hiring young adults to work part-time while learning the ropes of law enforcement.

“We’d like to start a mentoring program with two young adults to form a police cadet program,” Ficarello said. “Police cadets will be used to supervise our community service workers.”

Missing woman found in Chicago

Published by admin on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 7:53pm

The Braidwood Police Department has located Kim Ellen "Kay" Gray. She has been missing since June 12 from her Shadow Lakes residence.

Ms. Gray, 73, appears to be in good health, rational and is not suffering from any physical injuries.

The Braidwood Police Department located Ms. Gray in Chicago at a government office, and she was positively identified by Braidwood Investigators. The department will continue to investigate as to why and how Ms. Gray went missing.

Chief: Search for missing woman is "a dilemma"

Published by admin on Tue, 06/20/2017 - 7:01pm

For nearly a week, dozens of volunteers on foot, golf carts, ATVs, horseback, and even in the air searched Shadow Lakes and Braidwood for a woman who left her home for a walk on June 12 and never returned.

But despite hundreds of man hours and a thorough search of Shadow Lakes and surrounding areas, 73-year-old Kim Ellen “Kay” Gray remains missing as of Tuesday, June 20.

Braidwood Police Chief Nick Ficarello said early on Wednesday, June 14, a cadaver dog indicated a hit at the channel that intersects Largemouth Lane, an area where her son said she takes a daily walk.

Improvements set for K-Mine Park

Published by admin on Tue, 06/20/2017 - 6:55pm

Improvements are coming to the Godley Park District, hoping to ease the water retention and open up some new walking paths at the popular park site just east of Route 53.

The park district is currently seeking bids for improvements at K-Mine Park, both on and off site. It’s all part of a plan to revamp the property with significant improvements.

Godley will conduct the improvements in two phases, the first dealing with drainage issues along the foundation of the 25-year- old community center, and throughout the K-Mine park site.

City to homeowners: Pay your water bills

Published by admin on Tue, 06/20/2017 - 6:51pm

The city of Braidwood is cracking down on homeowners who have gotten too far behind in paying their utility bills.

On June 13, Public Buildings and Property Commissioner Jim Hutton said that as of this month, dozens of people were on the list for delinquent water bills.

“Monday and Tuesday, we tagged 58 houses to be shut off,” Hutton said. “People aren’t paying their bills.”

Hutton said the city was giving those folks one week — until Tuesday, June 20 — to pay those bills, or they’d shut off water service.

“We’ve got to stop the bleeding,” Hutton said.