Will County News

The Illinois Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting tonight, October 25, 2011 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Jacob Henry Mansion at 15 South Richards Street in Joliet. The meeting will be a chance for citizens to meet with IDOT officials in an open-house format to discuss the Chicago to St. Louis high speed rail service.  According to IDOT, there will be no formal presentation, so the public is invited to attend anytime between 4 and 7 p.m..

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is sponsoring a free screening of documentary "Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time"on Saturday, October 15th, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. at the historic Mar Theatre in Wilmington, Illinois. Here are some images of the Mar Theatre, located just off Route 53--old Route 66--at 121 S. Main Street in Wilmington, Illinois: Built in 1937 at the cost of $50,000, the Mar maintains its original ticket booth, main stage, and marquee. Aldo Leopold is considered a father of the conservation movement.  His collection of essays in "The Sand County Almanac" has sold millions of copies and in the essays Leopold describes his idea of a land ethic, the responsible relationship between people and the land.  For more information on Leopold and a preview of the film, view the trailer from "Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time": Having grown up in Will County and witnessed the rapid building of warehouses,

The group STAND--Shut This Airport Nightmare Down--is holding a "Footprint Harvest Fest" this Sunday, October 9, in rural Will County.  The event will be held from 3 pm to 7 pm at the Verduin farm at 1851 W. Church Road, Beecher, Illinois. STAND states it is reaching out to individuals, groups, and elected officials to "help prevent this politically-driven project from becoming a reality." The keynote speaker at the Footprint Harvest Fest will be Jon Stewart, the main organizer of the successful campaign to stop a 3rd runway at Heathrow Airport in London. STAND members say they are fighting to stop the State of Illinois from using eminent domain to gain control of land in the footprint of the proposed Peotone Airport.  Anthony Rudis--a 100 year old owner of property in the footprint--may be in attendance.   Regarding the state's plan to use eminent domain to take his land, Rudis stated: "This land is not for sale, I do not want them on my property and