Top stories in the Northwest suburbs
Here's a look back at some of the biggest stories in the Northwest suburbs in 2016:
Zurich's new headquarters
Zurich North America's stunning 750,000-square-foot, $400 million headquarters in Schaumburg opened in September, bucking the trend of corporations abandoning suburban campuses for city centers.
The massive glass, steel and wood structure is a throwback to an era when architecture was highly valued as a way for a company to make a statement about itself. The 11-story building consists of three cantilevered "bars" to optimize the availability of natural light and energy efficiency. The landscaping includes more than 600 trees and 13 acres of natural savanna plantings.
But the ambitious project also testified to the availability of skilled workers in the greater Chicago area, Zurich North America CEO Mike Foley said.
The company, which insures 90 percent of the Fortune 500 companies and annually contributes $1.3 billion and 3,000 jobs to Illinois' economy, is exactly where it wants to be, he said.
Transgender locker room access
A transgender student who won limited access to the girls locker room at Fremd High School after filing a federal complaint finally received that access in January, as Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 met the deadline to comply with an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education.
But that hardly resolved the issue, which has continued to play out locally and nationally.
Locally, parents unhappy about the decision continued to fight it at school meetings, and in May, the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Thomas More Society filed a federal lawsuit challenging the decision. Since then, another transgender student has been granted similarly limited access at Hoffman Estates High School and the issue appears likely to be part of the campaign for school board seats in the April 2017 election.
District 25 construction
After a year of construction, hundreds of students started the fall semester in larger, renovated Olive-Mary Stitt and Ivy Hill elementary schools. The improvements cost $18 million as Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 sought to accommodate growing enrollment.
Having completed that work, District 25 has begun working on another $35 million in building upgrades, including expansions to Thomas Middle School and Windsor Elementary and life-safety upgrades to its other schools.
Arlington Heights Village Manager Randy Recklaus said the increased enrollment in Arlington Heights schools is a reflection on the village's strong education system, library, park district and other amenities.
Student's viral hit
When Principal Brian Kaye heard that a student wanted to do a graduation speech impersonating 2016's top politicians, he was a little nervous.
When Jack Aiello previewed his speech for Thomas Middle School teachers and administrators, they couldn't stop laughing.
"He just nailed it," Kaye said.
That was the same response on graduation night - June 7 - when the Arlington Heights middle school student brought down the house with his impersonations of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Ted Cruz.
And when the eight-minute video was posted to YouTube, it really took off, garnering more than 122,000 views by mid-June and winning notice globally, including The Washington Post and an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon."
Flood prevention dam
After eight years of planning, the new and improved Busse Woods dam in Elk Grove Village finally went operational in March, aimed at reducing flooding in the area.
The new gates at the dam open and close, allowing the level of Busse Lake, which feeds into Salt Creek, to rise during a storm so the reservoir can hold more water, then released at a slower pace after the storm.
"After years and years of work, … the biggest achievement this (village) board has ever had is getting that dam system running," Elk Grove Village President Craig Johnson said of the $4.5 million project.
Saving a school
Parents, students and staff members at St. Alphonsus Liguori School in Prospect Heights in February learned they had been successful in their fundraising and registration drive to win approval from the Archdiocese of Chicago to stay open one more year.
The school met its $400,000 fundraising goal and 135 minimum enrollment. But to stay open, the school needs to continue growing enrollment to the 225 students the archdiocese would ultimately prefer to see.
The Rev. Curt Lambert, pastor of St. Alphonsus, said he was both relieved to have seen the school's survival and eager to move on to securing its long-term future.
"People were just wonderful. We know that this is not over. We are still moving forward."
Dist. 15 controversies
The Palatine Elementary School District 15 school board was in the news for much of the year, attracting controversy with its approval of the state's longest teachers contract (10 years) in April and its decision to hold a November referendum on a $130 million bond issue to build two new schools.
The school contract drew flack because of its length and terms, because no board members were on the negotiating team and because the final wording wasn't released until weeks after approval and wasn't available to board members when they approved the deal. School officials defended the deal as cost effective, citing as one advantage early retirement incentives that would lead older teachers to retire and be replaced by younger, lower-paid staff members.
The school building plan attracted opposition from a well-organized parents group and ended up being defeated, with 70.6 percent no votes and 29.4 percent yes votes.
Dist. 220 start times
Barrington High School students will begin their school day 70 minutes later next year under a schedule approved in November by the Barrington Area Unit School District 220 board.
Board members voted 5-2 for Option A, one of three proposals that came out of more than 18 months of discussion and debate over the best time to begin the school day.
Under the plan, Barrington 220's elementary schools will begin at 8 a.m., an hour earlier, and end at 2:40 p.m., and the district's two middle schools will start the day at 9 a.m., back from 7:55 a.m., and end the day at 3:55 p.m. The high school will start the day at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:21 p.m.
The plan will cost the district an estimated $343,200 per year, as long as the state continues providing District 220 with transportation money.
Joe Caputo collapses
Less than three months after opening, a Joe Caputo & Sons grocery store in Elk Grove Village closed in February in the wake of a federal lawsuit accusing the family-owned independent grocery chain of failing to pay for $3.6 million in produce.
Anthony Marano Co., a Chicago-based produce wholesaler, sued the grocer for not paying for produce purchased for six grocery stores between June 5, 2015, and Feb. 8, 2016.
The Elk Grove store opened two weeks after Caputo closed its stores in Arlington Heights and Northbrook - all three former Dominick's locations - as a result of declining business.
In May, the owners of Butera and Piggly Wiggly grocery stores had the $32 million high bid at an auction of the chain's stores in the Northwest suburbs.
The auction didn't include the former Dominick's locations. Joe Caputo & Sons is separate from Angelo Caputo's Fresh Markets.
Theater gets lifeline
Des Plaines officials revealed a plan in September to acquire and renovate the dormant Des Plaines Theatre with partial financial backing from Rivers Casino, then hire noted concert promoter Ron Onesti to book entertainment acts.
Mayor Matt Bogusz said he and city officials reached out to the Des Plaines-based casino some eight months ago to discuss a potential public-private partnership that would lead to the reopening of the 91-year-old downtown theater at 1476 Miner St.
The city shut the doors on the theater in January 2014 after owner Dhitu Bhagwakar missed a deadline to fix building code issues.
The mayor believes that under his plan, the theater could be back open by 2020.