Elk Grove Village honors longtime village Trustee James Petri

• On May 14, longtime Elk Grove Village Trustee James Petri was honored with a plaque on the village's Rotunda of Recognition with sincere gratitude and appreciation of his dedicated service to the village of Elk Grove. Mayor Craig B. Johnson and the board of trustees were joined by Petri's family and friends in recognizing his 40 plus years of devoted service and paid tribute to his accomplishments.

"In everyone's life, the time comes to make a change and that time has come for me. It is with heartfelt gratitude that I thank the citizens of Elk Grove for trusting me to serve them over the past four decades," said Petri.

Petri was elected in 1979, where for over 40 years he served on 14 boards, commissions and committees, attended over 800 village board meetings and adopted 2,307 ordinances all while serving with three mayors, 18 village trustees, three village managers, and five village clerks.

• Long Grove resident Amy Tian was among the 531 recipients of a Live Más Scholarship from the Taco Bell Foundation. Tian won $25,000, the highest amount. She was selected out of 13,000 total applicants to win this year's scholarship and is one of only nine "renewal" winners - a student who won in the past and reapplied - to be awarded a scholarship. Tian was awarded $10,000 last year, and this year's renewal scholarship brings her total awards to $35,000.

Tian hopes to safeguard the health of people and the planet by becoming a conservation scientist and policymaker. She is using her scholarship to study biology and public policy at the University of Chicago. She was awarded a grant to study primates in Brazil and invited to attend the Clinton Global Initiative Conference, where she was in the final round of the social venture challenge. Tian wants to use her passion for science, policy and art to help change the world and inspire others to make an impact.

The Taco Bell Foundation's Live Más Scholarship is designed to help students pursue their unique passions. Unlike other scholarships, Taco Bell doesn't choose winners based on academic merit or athletic ability. All the application requires is a two-minute video describing what you love to do.

• With 20 years of hospitality industry experience, Fred Gore joins Hey Nonny, the new Arlington Heights music venue and bistro, as general manager.

Gore began his career with Ella Brennan as a food-runner at Commander's Palace in New Orleans. Within four years he rose through the business to become operations manager. In 1998, Gore was asked to open the Commander's Palace in Las Vegas. During Gore's term at Commanders, the establishment won two James Beard awards, being recognized for service and best chef.

In recent years, Gore has left his impression on the Chicago dining community, working with Levy Restaurants as the general manager of Bistro 110 and Gibson's Steakhouse. Most recently Gore oversaw the creation of the Pete Miller's Steak and Seafood in Naperville.

• State Rep. Jonathan Carroll, Northbrook, has been chosen to participate in the prestigious Edgar Fellowship, a public fellowship named after former Governor Jim Edgar.

The Edgar Fellows Program recruits and develops public servants from throughout Illinois. Fellows selected for the program participate in a five-day training program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the training, they learn about cooperation and negotiation skills to better facilitate bipartisan cooperation to address major policy issues facing the state while preventing partisanship to hinder progress for the state of Illinois.

• Submit your 'Neighbor in the News' items to Norrine Twohey at ntwohey@dailyherald.com.