Briefs: CLC appointment

The College of Lake County has appointed Richard Haney as interim vice president of academic departments, effective Jan. 12. The appointment comes after acting vice president of educational affairs, DeRionne Pollard resigned to take a job in California. Haney, currently the assistant vice president for educational affairs, has been at CLC since 1999.

Wetlands work honored

The Valley Lakes Community Association of Round Lake has received the Conservation and National Landscaping Award from Chicago Wilderness and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The association was honored for its work restoring 273 acres of wetlands and 21 ponds in the Fox Valley watershed. Also cited in the award notice was Tallgrass Restoration Inc. of Schaumburg, which has worked with the Valley Lakes association since spring 2006 to design native shorelines and create wetland management plans. Award organizers called the association "a model of citizen stewardship and grassroots environmental education." The award recognizes local government agencies and businesses for "exemplary natural landscaping and conservation development."

Meetings canceled

Fox Lake officials have canceled all village board meetings scheduled for Tuesday. The meetings have not been rescheduled. The next scheduled meeting for Fox Lake is Jan. 8 at village hall, 66 Thillen Drive. Committee meetings begin at 6 p.m., with the village board meeting starting at 7 p.m. For more information, visit the village's Web site at www.foxlake.org or call (847) 587-2151.

Round Lake Park tax levy

The village of Round Lake Park approved its annual tax levy that is an overall 5.71 percent decrease from last year. The levy included an 8.8 percent increase in the corporate and special purpose property taxes to plan for new development. Village attorney Peter Karlovics said the village can get the full amount for the property to offset what residents will pay. Karlovics said residents will not notice a difference from the corporate tax in their property tax bill.

Teen charged in threat

Acting on a student's tip, Vernon Hills police arrested a teenager suspected of scrawling a bomb threat in a bathroom at the village's high school in late May. Police officer Sharon Joseph said the 17-year-old Vernon Hills boy was charged with disorderly conduct as a juvenile. She said the teenager turned himself in to police Dec. 11. "There had been more than one (bomb) reference in the bathroom," Joseph said Friday. "He only admitted to doing one." She said the boy's MySpace Web page helped provide authorities with information that led to the arrest. Mary Todoric, a spokeswoman for Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128, declined to comment on the case.