Lake County briefs

Health department gets stimulus:

A $647,998 federal stimulus grant will be used by the Lake County Health Department to respond to an increased demand for primary care services due to the downturn in the economy. The funding will be used to hire 11 full-time staff members to respond to calls, accommodate more patients and extend operating hours at the Belvidere Medical Building, 2400 Belvidere Road, Waukegan. The two-year grant is specifically geared to increase access to health care for the new poor and individuals who previously would not have accessed services because they were employed with health insurance. According to the department, an average of 42 new people access care each day. About 80 percent are adults who have never sought county service.

VA hospital to get funding:

The North Chicago VA Medical Center will receive $10.6 million in federal stimulus funding for various improvements, officials announced Thursday. The money will be used to replace an electrical substation, upgrade streetlights, replace windows and on other projects.

Training for elected officials:

The Barrington Area Council of Governments has scheduled a "Local Officials Training Workshop" from 6 to 8:45 p.m. April 30 at the Barrington Area Library, 505 N. Northwest Hwy. All council member communities' officials are invited. The training program is geared toward newly-elected officials on village and township boards, but the subjects to be covered also have applications for appointed officials like zoning and plan commissioners. The workshop will be presented by the law firm Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle. Interested government officials may find out more about the training program by contacting BACOG Executive Director Janet Agnoletti at (847) 381-7871.