News Briefs: Fundraising open-water race returns on June 15; Glencoe road closures begin Monday; Police chief founds policing podcast

WOW is returning to Wilmette’s shores on Saturday, June 15.

The sixth Wilmette Open Water race is a one-mile swim that supports the fight against ALS and the Ouilmette Foundation, a fundraising organization for Wilmette Park District programming and improvements. The foundation is currently raising funds to renovate the Wallace Bowl, an outdoor entertainment venue in Gillson Park.

WOW is separated into two heats and will begin at 7 a.m. off Gillson Beach. Each registrant receives a timing chip, official swim cap and race towel. Check-in is from 6:15-6:45 a.m. June 15 at the Gillson beach house.

Swimmers will participate in an out-and-back course that will be clearly marked and fully supported.

The Wilmette Open Water race was the brainchild of Andrew and Holly Gilson, the Ouilmette Foundation’s president, in 2018. 

Year 1 welcomed more than 80 participants and Year 2 grew to 100. The race went virtual in its third year, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021, about 150 swimmers participated. Weather canceled the swim in 2022, leading to a big turnout in 2023.

For more information and to register, visit the registration web page. With questions, email: ouilmettefoundation@gmail.com.

Stormwater project to close roads this week in Glencoe

The Village of Glencoe has announced the start of a stormwater improvements project in the south Green Bay Road area that will be disruptive to drivers for the entire week of June 10.

The project will be carried out by contractor Lenny Hoffman Excavating starting on Monday, June 10, at the intersection of Green Bay Road and Woodlawn Avenue.

The work will require daily road closures, with Green Bay Road being detoured via Harbor Street, Sheridan Road and Scott Avenue. The closures will affect traffic moving in the northbound and southbound directions. Businesses in the area will remain open.

The village says the project is critical to the village’s stormwater system and is being paid for through a bond approved by voters in April 2021. The project is also receiving $1 million in grants funding from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

Highland Park’s police chief is regular on policing podcast

Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen is the founder and a regular co-host on a new podcast, “Behind the Badge,” from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, Team Hochberg and WGN Radio that aims to educate listeners on the public safety partnership between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

The new podcast series is an effort to enhance public safety through transparency, education, knowledge, empowerment, and connections, according to a release from the association.

The weekly podcast reportedly features a host of law enforcement professionals who discuss key public safety issues affecting Illinois communities. Topics range from building trust in law enforcement to the history of policing in Illinois to current crime trends to strategies for avoiding crime victimization.

Jogmen is the president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, which supports and trains law enforcement officers across the state, and was hired as Highland Park’s chief of police in 2018.

“In 1829, Sir Robert Peel established the London Metropolitan Police Force and is known as the ‘Father of Modern Policing,’” Jogmen said in the release. “One of his key principles holds true today, ‘The key to preventing crime is earning public support. Every community member must share the responsibility of preventing crime. They will only accept this responsibility if the community supports and trusts the police.’ These words still ring true some 195 years later.”

“BTBI supports this idea by sharing relevant public safety information with the public and building trust in law enforcement in line with the ILACP/NAACP 10 Shared Principles of Public Safety.”

Ten episodes are now available on several podcast platforms and the ILACP YouTube channel. Episodes are released on ILACP channels weekly. They are also featured on WGN Radio.

For more information or with suggestions for topics, email BehintheBadgeIL@gmail.com.

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