During his more than 40 years as a musician, Franz Benteler made a name for himself not only as a violinist, but also as a strolling violinist.

Elgin's plethora of performing groups is one of the reasons artists and art lovers feel at home in the city.

U.S. and state legislative elections in the Northwest suburbs will draw a lot of money this fall because the area is one of the few in the state where both parties are competitive, Paul M. Green, director of Policy Studies at Roosevelt University said Wednesday.

Outgoing Buffalo Grove Village Manager William Brimm received overall high marks on his last job evaluation from the village board despite his contentious relationship with one trustee and controversies surrounding the board in the past year.

A former Hoffman Estates man charged with killing two people in a hit-and-run crash in Florida was denied bond in a court appearance this morning in Florida.

A Cook County judge set bond at $3 million Wednesday for an Elgin woman charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 29-year-old Rockford man at a Schaumburg hotel.

St. Patrick's Day was a lucky day for Community Unit District 300. Two of the district's teachers won a statewide award recognizing their efforts to promote citizenship among their students.

Although Simon told him he lacked a big moment, Mount Prospect rocker Lee DeWyze found out he was advancing to next week early on Wednesday night's "American Idol" results show.

A $283,600 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will help the Des Plaines Park District develop the 2.83 acres directly east of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at Howard and Lee streets

A total of 136 streetlights will be installed this summer along Rand and Dundee roads in Palatine using Highway Safety Improvement Program funds from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Palatine is deciding whether to go after property owners with prohibited brick mailbox structures in the public right-of-way. Officials say they could prove hazardous in the event of an accident.

Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus Principal Art Fessler has announced he will be leaving Barrington Unit District 220 this summer to become superintendent of Southwest suburban Oak Lawn-Hometown Elementary School District 123.

The former Land & Lakes landfill in Buffalo Grove has been given a clean bill of health by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inspectors. But Buffalo Grove Trustee Lisa Stone still scents something suspicious about the transfer station and composting facility that exists in its place at the Rivers Edge Landscape Waste Facility, 1300 Milwaukee Ave. Stone was supposed to meet with U.S. EPA officials Monday afternoon. Since late last year, she has been following up on complaints from neighboring businesses about odors from the site, involving such agencies as the Illinois EPA and Lake County. But a letter from Mary Margaret Cowhey, vice president of the Land & Lakes Co., which operates the facility, informed the village, "The EPA completed its inquiry and found no issues with the site."

Employees rarely get to pick their next boss, but staff in Community Unit District 300 got the chance to at least influence that decision at a Wednesday forum.

Nearly 25 percent of employees in Elgin Area School District U-46 are out of a job next year unless one of two things happen. The state's funding picture could, theoretically, improve. Or staff pay and benefit cuts could be negotiated.