Patchen

Kenneth L R. Patchen

A Highland Park News reporter for more than a decade before his retirement, Kenneth L R. Patchen covered Lake Forest, Deerfield, and Highwood. He worked …

Limardi’s planned exodus a loss for Highland Park

Well, it did not take long after the election for the other wing-tipped brogan to drop. Highland Park City Manager David M. Limardi retires Jan. 1 after 18 years on the job. Regardless of how folks feel about him, it is not good for the …Read More
Minor league team worth risk

To hear Garrison from the Ravinia Festival stage is to anticipate wonderful humor at Highland Park’s expense and another excuse to forget how hard it was for Mr. Gurnee to create this entertainment venue in the early 1900s. Certainly Hanover Park’s Poplar Creek serves as …Read More
Highwood fabric artist weaves wonder

When my wife and I took my daughter, Loral, to see Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party” in a Printer’s Row warehouse back in about 1974, I learned one of the guiding insights to my view of the world. In the last decade of my work …Read More

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Why responsible voters hike taxes

In my Antioch hometown, the good news is that my taxes are going up. Village Board members increased our sewer and water taxes 50 percent to pay for the new sewage treatment plant. It is almost like living in Highland Park: Responsible elected officials managing …

North Shore Health Center serving needs of many patients

New public institutions are not added to our community inventory often, so construction five years ago of the North Shore Health Center, 1840 Green Bay Road, was an unusual event in Highland Park. For me it was both sad and joyful. The rejection of the …

Lasting memory of a corporate symbol

Ronald McDonald’s visit to the Allendale Association in Lake Villa, maybe in 1998, was such a big deal that I was invited to cover his visit with a few children there. I could not publish the names of juveniles, I was told, but that was …

Garden blooming in city schools

Highland Park students have access to award-winning teaching depth that many communities are unable or unwilling to support, so it is important to pause, occasionally, and take a look at what public school teachers are able to achieve with strong community support. In a front …

Arts vital to city

The early years of the Highland Park Woman’s Club set the tone for a progressive community honoring the arts, a heritage which continues to reward the community 90 years later and builds upon itself. This is a theme I occasionally write about because I think …

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