Cook County briefs

Terranova wins union seat:

Schaumburg Township Democratic Committeeman Rocco Terranova won election as president and business manager of Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local 73 last weekend after a court injunction kept him on the ballot. According to the union's Web site, Terranova received 1,129 votes to incumbent Thomas W. Burek's 1,054. Terranova had been removed from his office as union business representative and barred from the ballot after being accused by union officials of misrepresenting his authority with the union to obtain credit card activity at two restaurants. Terranova said he was a victim of union politics after he uncovered information that bills at the restaurants hadn't been paid. He is currently involved in a lawsuit seeking removal of the disciplinary actions against him. The injunction was issued to allow him to participate in the election while the suit is pending, Terranova's attorney Robert Cohen said.

Day care center gets $562,000:

Schaumburg has received a $562,000 grant from Illinois' Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the recent completion of the Children's Home and Aid Society's low-income day care center in the village. Though the money was expected and doesn't replace any of the $1.8 million in private funds being raised to repay a loan, officials were surprised to see it arrive this week, before the state's budget was finalized, and not months from now, if at all. The project has become accustomed to financial disappointments ever since former Gov. Rod Blagojevich froze its promised state funding in 2003 - keeping the building stuck at an early stage of construction until the private loan was approved last year. The project would be eligible for a $500,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation - but only if all the rest of the money is raised by Sept. 1, which is proving a difficult deadline in today's economy.

Barrington hires finance boss:

Barrington trustees have authorized the hiring of former employee Jason Hayden as the village's new director of community and financial services with a starting salary of $107,000. Hayden is currently the finance director of the village of Lyons in the southwest suburbs but previously worked for Barrington in what was essentially the assistant position to his new one, Village Manager Jeff Lawler said. Among the job's duties are setting and closely monitoring the village's annual budget. Hayden succeeds Maggie Bosley, who left the village to join a private firm.

Countering violence with art:

Two local students were winners in the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence's 14th Annual Student Voices Contest, which honors students' creativity and insights in addressing gun violence. Alice Liu, a junior at Fremd High School in Palatine, was among the winners in the essay contest, while Mike Perlongo, an eighth-grader at St. Emily's School in Mount Prospect, was one of the winners in the art division. Poetry was a third category, and there were 17 winners in all, each of whom were awarded a new computer and $25 bookstore gift certificate. The winners were recently honored at a recent event in Chicago where their works were read and displayed.