Briefs: Free summer concerts

Mundelein's annual free summer concert schedule opens June 29 with a performance by the Chicago Skyliners Big Band. Six concerts will be held on Sunday evenings through Aug. 10, all at Kracklauer Park on Seymour Avenue. The shows will run from 5:30 to 7 p.m., weather permitting. People should bring their own blankets or lawn chairs. The Lakeshore Symphony, the Illinois Brass Band and Mr. Myers are among the other performers on the schedule.

Eyes in the skies

Illinois State Police in patrol cars conducted an anti-speeding blitz Saturday along Route 173 from the McHenry County line to Zion in Lake County. The sting resulted in 309 arrests and 103 written warnings, police said. State troopers also used airplanes to issue 22 tickets and five written warnings Friday in a sting that targeted speeding drivers in Kane County, authorities said Monday. The air patrols, from 1 to 3 p.m. on Randall Road between Crane and Silver Glen roads, were the first in Kane County so far this year, police said. Speeding drivers were located by aircraft and stopped by waiting troopers.

Food pantry benefits

The weekend "Best in the BurbZ Pizza Challenge" collected more than 49 boxes of nonperishable food items for the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Parish in Lake Zurich, and $755 for the District 95 Educational Foundation, organizers said. Roughly 700 adults and children attended the event Sunday at Lake Zurich High School. Lake Zurich pizzerias supplied about 220 pizzas to be sampled and judged by pizza-challenge goers. All ballots were cast online at BurbZ.com, the event sponsor. It also gave away several prizes including a laptop computer. The results of the pizza challenge are as follows: Best Crust: Yogi's Pizza; Best Meat Lovers: Giordano's; Best Veggie: Tortorice's; Best Cheese: Costco; and Best Sauce: Gino's East. Lake Zurich's Sarah Adams Elementary School won the "Publisher of the Day" contest to design its own school page in the June print issue of theBurbZ.com.

Peaceful prom after threat

Barrington High School's prom in Itasca Saturday night went smoothly despite the presence of added security in the wake of a vague threat made against the event last week. By the start of the evening, only seven prom cancellations had been made, and two were for reasons unrelated to the threat, Barrington Area Unit School District 220 spokesman Jeff Arnett said. The threat was made in a "vague, typewritten letter" that arrived at the school last Tuesday. Barrington and Itasca police as well as hotel security were on extra alert and conducting discreet security checks at the event, Barrington Deputy Police Chief Jerry Libit said. No charges have been filed for the threat. School officials sent a letter thanking parents and police for their cooperation.