Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 1-3

Daily Southtown Section 1 Monday, February 23, 2015 3 Bigger Matteson Library to do more addition makes new programs possible By Dennis Sullivan Daily Southtown Standing near the circulation desk in the Matteson Public Library's recently completed addition, Roseann and Edward Stozek and Patricia Backus had nothing but praise. "They do a beautiful job," Roseann said. "Very nice!" Backus echoed Stozek, adding, "It's a great place to come to and run into friends." The trio were part of a steady stream of patrons attending the 2 -hour dedication last week of the now library that has stood at 207th Street and School Avenue since 1993. The event included puppet shows, Skittles the Clown, the Cat in the Hat (with Thing 1 and Thing 2) and live music. Light refreshments were available as part of the tour through the main and lower levels.

The addition on the library's west side includes two meeting rooms, two study rooms, a conference room, an enclosed space for teen readers and a place for classes for young children and their caregivers. Other changes include more parking, improved access to the building, faster item checkouts and returns, and easier access to non-print items. Dewberry Architects designed the addition, which was built by Gilbane Construction. Library Director Kathy Berggren said the added space reflects the transformation of the library's role from primarily a resource for reading materials into a full-scale learning center. "We're not a book depository; we're an educational institution," she said, citing the Matteson Public an unexpected source of expense, accounting for "about $60,000 that wasn't in the budget" in permit and inspection fees.

The money for the project primarily came from money that the board had set aside for construction of a new library on 12 acres about a mile to the west, she said. That site "would have been a little more centrally located," Berggren said, because it is closer to the village hall, the post office and Colin Powell Middle School. The library board monitored the property, which originally had an asking price of more than $2 million before dropping sharply, but Berggren said the library board decided to expand the current library rather than build a new one. She said financial advisers warned that building a new library, or a larger expansion of the existing one, would require borrowing through the village's DENNIS SULLIVANDAILY SOUTHTOWN Roseann and Edward Stozek chat at the Matteson Public Library with Patricia Backus, back to camera, as former library board member John Sepulveda checks his phone. Police forces brush up on press relations Library's leadership in teaching STEM science, technology, engineering and math through partnerships with the Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum of Natural History.

With the addition of art instruction, "we've gone from STEM to STEAM," is available at the fast-food restaurant. Event organizer Allisa Opyd said five judges rated the entries based on appearance, taste and creativity. About 1,000 visitors came not only for the competition, Opyd said, but to sample and buy chocolates and other baked goods from more than a dozen vendors during the show, sponsored by the village. Children were especially energetic at the venue in the H-F Park District auditorium, either from the excitement of seeing so much chocolate or from the rush of eating the sweets. "It's yummy," Lucia Ma-gane, 7, said about the chocolate her dad bought Her dad, Jose Magane, of Homewood, brought her and her sister Sofia, 11, because he said they all like chocolate and they needed a cure for the winter blues.

"During the winter, it's very hard to find events you can go to," he said. Magane said his family also likes to support local events and they've been coming to the chocolate fest every year. Confectionary creators bonding powers. The library operates separately from the village but relies on the village to file with Cook County its annual property tax levy, which is the amount the library plans to raise via the property tax. The advisers warned that Matteson's financial woes mean "the interest rate would be extremely high" on a bond issue, Berggren said.

Village Administrator Brian Mitchell said Matteson has about an $8 million budget deficit On Feb. 9, the library board voted to convert from a village library to a library district, which means it would be a separate taxing district. The village board has 60 days to endorse the action. If it does not, the library board can put the issue before voters in a referendum. Dennis Sullivan is a freelance reporter.

get on any incident is not correct, or it's not incorrect but not the whole story," McCarthy said. "We want to be accurate, but on the other hand we want to get ahead of the curve. It's definitely something we're still trying to figure out." Rosenthal agreed much of the advice was straightforward, "except when you have an ugly situation." "The understandable, human nature response is to say, 'I don't want to talk about it' More than ever before, you have to talk about it and get in front of your own story," he said. Irving Rein, a professor at Northwestern University's School of Communication who studies crisis management, said it's natural police departments are "doubling down" on "The understandable, human nature response is to say, don't want to talk about it' More than ever before, you have to talk about it" Rick Rosenthal, president, RAR Communications media relations after Ferguson. Even if the ideas are straightforward, it's crucial to practice and prepare for situations, he said, ideally even trying to figure out what scenarios and organization might face and how prevent them.

Though a cynic might look at post-Ferguson media relations training as nothing but spin, it can provide real value if done right, Rein said. "An unexpected crisis can derail an organization in 30 seconds," Rein said. "There's a lot at stake. This can at least help people prepare, identify problems before they explode and help them get their message across. If it's done right, crisis management is about trying to find ways to solve problems." The concept of community policing and proac-tively building relationships between officers and the citizens they serve isn't new, but some might have seen it as just another buzzword, Baker said.

"It was a major wake-up call to a lot of communities that they need to have people working on developing those relationships," Baker said. lzumbachtribpub.com Twitter laurenzumbach FRANK VAISVILASDAILY SOUTHTOWN The Homewood Chocolate Fest on Saturday featured hundreds of creations from throughout the area. Chocoholics find a sanctuary said Berggren, who has headed the library since 2001. She said the library board, headed by Dwayne Ship, gave up 700 square feet that would have been used mostly for a cafe to come in under the $3.5 million project budget The village, Berggren said, was from all over the Chicago area featured some of their unique treats. Chefs at the Argentinean restaurant Empanadus in LaGrange brought their chocolate alfajores, which are cookie sandwiches stuffed with dulce de leche candy sauce.

Jackie Watldns, owner of Little Rini's bakery in Na-perville, sold out her very popular chocolate-covered turtles. The festival also featured local bakers, such as Patricia Ledsham, who demonstrated to the audience how to make no-bake chocolate tiffin biscuits. She plans to open Bake-well Bakery this spring in downtown Homewood with her husband. Some of the shop's specialties will include British baked goods inspired by Ledsham's husband, who is from Liverpool, England. Saturday's festival also was a fundraiser for the Homewood-based nonprofit The Cancer Support Center.

Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter. Formerly known as the STARCON building, and the Tipperary banquet hall before that, the building is a substantial upgrade from the village's previous building and police department. The police station will have an open house May 2 during National Police Week, Wazny said. The event will offer family activities, including an expanded touch-a-truck with police, fire, emergency services, public works and other vehicles, village Administrator Kevin Sing said. Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter.

Media, from Page 7 was an information vacuum from the Ferguson Police Department, and the Twitterverse filled that vacuum," Rosenthal said. "Instead of information and facts, you were getting speculation, rumor and outright falsehoods, and there was no counterbalance." Wojcicki said his organization believes it is important to help police officials be as prepared as possible when dealing with a crisis. "I wouldn't call it earth-shattering, but we're making an effort to equip chiefs with tools they need to do a great job in the post-Ferguson era, and media relations is one of them," Wojcicki said. Rosenthal saw the volatility that arose from the Ferguson situation firsthand, when a flier for his course at the St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy listing topics including "Feeding the Animals" was criticized as having racial overtones.

Rosenthal said he's been using that phrase to refer to reporters for years and it was not intended as a reference to Ferguson or race. Some of the suburban communities who participated in the Orland Park seminar might seem unlikely candidates for the spotlight, but South Holland Police Chief Greg Baker said it was "naive" not to have a plan for dealing with the media during a major incident. "These ideas have always been there, but as with anything, when you don't use it, you kind of lose it," he said. Des Plaines Police Chief Bill Kushner said he's done media training over the course of his career and the idea of "feeding the animals" giving reporters something to work with so they're less likely to go around officials is nothing new. Kushner said the course was still "a nice touch up" and he was surprised by one new fact he learned: Reporters, like law enforcement officers, have a professional code of ethics.

Others said Rosenthal used Ferguson to highlight a challenge that hasn't been a factor in previous incidents that served as case studies: social media Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy said he understood Rosenthal's argument that if police aren't getting news out, social media would do it for them, but wasn't sure the recommended goal of releasing information within the first two hours was realistic. "I find too many times the first information we her own twist by using extra cocoa powder for added richness. Third place went to a baldng duo from the Home-wood Heritage Commission, Meghan Whalen and Lori Prusinsld, for their mocha parfait, which last year won first place. "We were dethroned," Whalen said. Elaine Egdorf, chair of the commission, said the duo's original creation entry last year raised the bar for this year's entries.

Whalen said it took two of them to make the parfait because of the many different components, such as the chocolate mousse, cookie and coffee whipped cream. She said the key to good baldng is to keep experimenting. "Even up to (the night before) we kept making last-minute changes," Whalen said. "It was a tough competition this year." Twelve contestants entered the amateur division, while three contestants entered the professional division White Castle won that category for its fudge-dipped cheesecake, which Manhattan By Erin Gallagher Daily Southtown The Manhattan Police Department, which is moving into its new station Friday, will open to the public March 2, according to police Chief Joe Wazny. Wazny, who became chief last month, offered residents a tour last week of the new digs, which are in the same building as the village hall, 260 Market Place, part of a strip mall next to Berkot's supermarket.

The village moved in to the south half of the building last year, but police needed more time for required federal improvements. The station will have a 'Smooth tart' takes top prize at Cancer Center benefit By Frank Vaisvilas Daily Southtown Chocolate lovers indulged Saturday in Home-wood during a festival dedicated to the sweet treat But only one chef's confectionary creation could be crowned best of show. That coveted award went to Pattie Tydd, representing the Homewood Women's Club, for her chocolate tart in the amateur division of the 13th annual Homewood Chocolate Fest. "It's a very smooth tart," she said. "I really didn't expect to win." Despite Tydd's modesty, she said she honed her craft via a lifetime of baldng.

She said anyone can become a good baker with a passion for it and a lot of practice. Taking second place was Stephanie Ferkula's chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Ferkula, who represented the Homewood Public Library, said she followed a recipe but added Justice woman, 54, killed in crash A 54-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene of a car crash Saturday night in Justice, officials said. The victim was identified as Shelley O'Brien, of the 300 block of Oak Lane, Justice, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. She was pronounced dead at 11:09 p.m., the medical examiner's office said.

Firefighters were called to the intersection of 86th Avenue and 79th Street at 10:52 p.m. for a traffic crash, Roberts Park Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Walter Sherman said. Further details were not immediately available. police to move Friday separate entrance on the north end that will have a secured door and a record clerk behind a glass window. The village board last week approved hiring a clerk.

The station has an attached garage that allows police to drive inside, close the doors and lock their weapons in wall safes before unloading prisoners inside the building. Manhattan paid cash for the $1,625 million building in 2013, with another $1 million for remodeling. The money came from builder impact fees, according to Mayor Jamie Doyle, who said the funds were earmarked for new village facilities..