Lake County briefs
District 76 community forumDiamond Lake Elementary District 76 will host a community forum on the district's financial condition at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 27, at West Oak Middle School library, 500 Acorn Lane, Mundelein. Information will include a discussion of the reasons for recent budget cuts including a delay in state payments and a drop in property value, where the district gets its money and how it is spent.Free child safety seat checkThe Lake County Coroner's Office and Safe Kids Chicago, will provide free checks of child safety seats from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, April 29, in the parking lot of Westfield Hawthorn Shopping Center at Routes 21 and 60 in Vernon Hills. Free child safety seat checks will be conducted for anyone attending. Technicians will be on the south side of the shopping center near Route 60 to assist families with the proper installation of their child safety seats. Lake County Coroner Dr. Richard Keller said children are put at unnecessary risk of being killed or injured in crashes because they are in the wrong car or booster seat or it is not properly installed.Conserving Illinois' butterfliesDoug Taron, curator of biology at the Chicago Academy of Science's Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum since its opening in 1999, will be the featured speaker at the Lake County Audubon Society meeting May 3. Taron will describe how the museum's Butterfly Restoration Project works to restore imperiled species of butterflies in ecological restoration projects across northeastern Illinois. An important project is restoration of the extinct-in-Illinois swamp metalmark. He also will discuss the number and types of butterfly larvae that have been in hibernation on the roof of the Notebaert Nature Museum. The free, 90-minute program begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Libertyville village hall, 118 W. Cook Avenue. Call (847) 362-5134.Authors coming to LibertyvilleMystery writers Marcus Sakey and Gillian Flynn will team up for a presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 6, at the Libertyville Civic Center, 135 W. Church St., Room C. Books will be available for purchase, and author signings will follow the program. To register, call the Cook Memorial Public Library at (847) 362-2330, or go to webres.cooklib.org.Prayer breakfast setThe sixth annual Lake County National Day of Prayer Breakfast will be from 6:45 to 9 a.m. Thursday, May 6 at the Country Squire, 19133 W. Route 120, Grayslake. Author and attorney David Schippers is scheduled to speak. Admission is $20 or $200 for a table of 10. To register or for details, call (847) 362-0776 or visit lcpb.org.