Lake County briefs
City exploring baseball
The Waukegan City Council this week agreed to hire a consultant to explore whether a minor-league baseball stadium would be economically suitable for the downtown area. Economics Research Associates, a national firm with a Chicago office, will be paid $8,500 for the study. No prospective teams or owners have voiced interest in playing in Waukegan, officials said. The effort is in the "extremely early stages," said Robin Schabes, the city's director of lakefront and downtown redevelopment.
Band on parade
The Mundelein High School Marching Mustangs were among 14 bands that performed in the nationally televised Orlando Citrus Parade on Dec. 30. More than 130 Mundelein High students participated in the event, the official parade for both the Capital One Bowl and the Champs Sports Bowl. Mundelein High musician's also performed in a parade at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and at other locations in the area.
Man admits porn possession
A Lake Bluff man was placed on probation for 30 months Thursday in Lake County circuit court after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Assistant State's Attorney Mary Stanton said Ryan Barry, 20, of 65 Warrington Court, was arrested after a Wheaton police officer working undercover in a statewide task force was able to trace lewd photographs of young boys he had downloaded from the Internet to Barry's home computer. Police took a search warrant to Barry's home on Nov. 12 and found 100 similar images inside the computer, Stanton said. Circuit Judge Fred Foreman also fined Barry $1,000 and ordered him to make a $500 contribution to the Lake County Children's Advocacy Center as part of his sentence. Barry, who also must perform 200 hours of community service, will have his Internet use monitored by a probation officer throughout his sentence.
Power outage
Power was knocked out for roughly 1,700 ComEd customers late Wednesday in the northern suburbs, ComEd officials said. Spokeswoman Alicia Zatkowski said power was restored to all the customers by 10:12 p.m. Wednesday night in Bannockburn, Lincolnshire, Vernon Township and Lake Forest. She said a downed power line on Half Day Road, Route 22, caused the outage. She added the power line did not physically hit the ground and was caught in the bundle of wires in the air. Power was temporarily rerouted around the break to bring power back to the suburban homes and businesses, and crews were out Thursday to make a full repair. The interruption is still under investigation. Because of the break, police closed Half Day Road until 5 a.m. Thursday because of malfunctioning traffic lights and railroad crossings.