In Lake County, we're excited about Amanda Howland's hardcore green attitude. She's running for State Representative in the 53 District, which runs from Buffalo Grove and Long Grove north to Wauconda, Vernon Hills and Libertyville. Formerly a teacher and principal, she's now a lawyer and child advocate. By extension, Amanda is also an environmental advocate, to protect our natural world for both kids and adults.

As an Illinois State Rep, Ms. Howland will fight for renewable energy, energy conservation, clean cars and mass transit as ways to halt global climate change. She'll work to protect our remaining natural areas and endangered wildlife. And Amanda rejects urban sprawl and the kind of overbuilding that could easily ruin the natural character of Lake County.

Specifically, Howland will support legislation (HB3424) that will require cleaner cars in Illinois, and limit statewide carbon emissions. She supports additional state wetlands legislation and increased funding for state land acquisition. And, importantly, she worked against the plan to site the 2016 Olympic equestrian events within our forest preserves.

Amanda Howland as our new state representative will bring a new focus to environmental issues. If you live in the 51st District, please vote for Amanda in the November!

As a 22-year resident of Antioch, Peter Grant knows the people in District 1 and he understands the culture of the lakes region. We feel he can do a good job of representing this community, not as a professional politician, but as a family man who has seen the need for change. Change in the way we do business here in Lake County. By empowering the community to literally change the face of politics in northern Lake County.

Peter believes we can make Lake County a greener county through public policy starting with stringent energy-saving measures adopted by all county-wide agencies. We can save the county plenty of money by implementing simple energy saving strategies and setting an example for the residents of the county to follow.

Peter feels that the health of our lakes is becoming more and more an issue as more development comes to the 1st District. He strongly supports protecting the health of our lakes for the sake of the businesses that depend on the recreation that the lakes provide. He also accepts the responsibility that we have to care for our lakes as part of our heritage in Antioch and all of District 1.

We have repeatedly and proudly endorsed Bob Sabonjian since his initial County Board run in 1998. Over the years, Bob has consistently stood up for the environment, often taking tough stands when others lacked the courage.

This year is no different, and we were pleased when Bob voiced concern and reserved support for the plan to site the Olympics in our Forest Preserves. Bob has earned our endorsement once again, and we ask Waukegan voters to give him your vote.

Pat Carey is a 25 year resident of Grayslake and is running for Lake County Board District 11. District 11 includes Grayslake and Wildwood. Formerly Mayor of Grayslake, Pat now has responsibility for economic development with the Village of Arlington Heights. Pat is also a member of the Sierra Club and the Liberty Prairie Conservancy.

Pat started her career in government as a citizen leader in the battle to save Picket Fence Farms from development. Today this property is the 1,225 acre Rollins Savanna, one of the jewels of the Lake County Forest Preserve. She will bring a strong focus to the environment, moving to create a position in the County to coordinate all environmental initiatives, including moving the County’s fleet of cars to hybrids, implementing LEED certified development & building practices, and establishing Lake County as a “Cool County”.

As a new member of the Lake County Board, Pat will bring a commitment to the environment in everything she does. Please vote for Pat Carey in November if you live within Lake County Board District 11.

In the 10th Congressional district, incumbent Mark Kirk has demonstrated a fine voting record on environmental issues, earning ratings this past Congressional session of 90 from the League of Conservation Voters and 92 from the Illinois Environmental Council -- the best environmental voting record in the Illinois delegation and as one of only six Republicans nationwide who worked this consistently to protect the environment. Representative Kirk has cast tough votes on the Club's highest priority bills on ANWR, energy conservation, renewable energy, and better CAFE standards, and supports our position on crucial upcoming global warming legislation such as carbon cap and trade. He has been a true leader on Great Lakes issues, including the Great Lakes Regional Collaborative and the Great Lakes Compact. Representative Kirk also effectively led the complex effort to preserve as open space the scenic bluffs and ravines of the Fort Sheridan base.

Many Club activists support challenger Dan Seals, however, and as this issue of Lake&Prairie goes to press, our endorsement decisions have not yet been completed. Watch for Environmental Town Hall Meetings with these candidates, and learn about any late-breaking endorsements on the Illinois Chapter web site under   (www.illinois.sierraclub.org/vote).

Five W&W ExCom members attended the July 10 Stormwater Management Commission board meeting to deliver our concerns about muddy runoff from the Osmond Sports Park this Spring. County Board member Stevenson Mountsier, who chairs the SMC Board, once again posted an armed sheriff in the meeting room. Apparently the threat of deadly force is necessary to confront the problem of polluted stormwater in public.

Several commissioners were unconvinced by Antioch’s attempt to dismiss our concerns, and Commissioner Ann Bassi asked for a full response to the points we raised from SMC staff. Commissioner Bonnie Carter agreed that the people of Lake County are growing increasingly impatient with stormwater polluting our lakes and streams. Commissioner Ann Maine called for a review by the Technical Advisory Committee of practices we described as “risky.”

SMC staff, who have shared responsibility for the OSP project, characterized the problems we raised as “minor.” This might arise from the fact that SMC has not adopted a standard for the permissible muddiness (NTU) of stormwater runoff from construction sites, so it’s subjective. They also lack measurements during peak discharges from the site, in particular the intentional one conducted by Antioch without their knowledge in April.

In the requested follow-up document SMC staff disagreed that problems occurred, even though the problems are clearly documented in their own reports. Refer to our website for the documents we received. We had to invoke the Freedom of Information Act before SMC would show them to us. But at least they did. Antioch defied our FOIA request, refused to share the plans with us, and deleted the names and signatures from the documents they provided, preventing accountability for their personnel. It’s strange that a law intended to assure access to public documents is regularly wielded by our government to block it. At the last SMC meeting Commissioner Mountsier suggested that members of the public would have to file a FOIA request to view the follow-up document as it was being discussed. Thanks to Commissioner Steve Carlson, who gave us his copy. On an earlier occasion I was asked to fill out a form and pay $3 to receive an e-mailed document I had just reviewed at SMC offices, a clear FOIA violation.

Meanwhile, Antioch police have been intimidating our volunteer who monitors the site, although it’s public property, and there is no ordinance prohibiting it. As their October recertification hearing approaches, we expect these shenanigans to continue.

The good news is that the risky stormwater practices of mass grading, and building roads and ponds in buffer zones will be reviewed.

Please plan to attend the next SMC meeting on Thursday, October 2, at 7:00 p.m. at SMC offices, 333 Peterson Rd., Ste. D conference room, Libertyville, and send us a note saying you're coming. We've asked to have this issue put on the agenda, and will present our best information then.

We’ve all been hearing about the benefits of locally and sustainably grown food. But, getting to farmer’s markets can be difficult and CSA’s often provide too much food or delivery times and places can be inconvenient. So what’s a dedicated Sierra Club member to do? Why – grow your own, of course!

OK, OK! I hear you – not enough time, you hate to weed, you don’t have a tiller and don’t want to have to bust through sod to create a garden. Well, I am here to tell you that it can be much easier than you think (not effortless, of course, but easier…)

The answer lies in a no till layered mulch approach to gardening. You’d be amazed at what you can grow in a single 4 x 20 garden plot. The trick is to start planning now. Here are the easy steps:

• Watch where you have shade during the day – pick a sunny weekend day and watch where the sun shines – you will generally need at least 6 hours of direct sun for most crops.

• In the fall, mark out your 4 by 20 plot (or larger, or smaller – it’s up to you) and cover the grass with cardboard or several thick layers of newspaper. (Don’t use glossy colored pages.) Water the cardboard or newspaper thoroughly.

• Now start layering organic materials on top of the cardboard until you have about 18 inches of organic materials layered up. This can include grass clippings, straw, leaves, hay, or even vegetable scraps. Alternate layers of green and brown mulching materials (this is similar to building a compost pile). Water well after each layer. Finish with a layer of straw or hay. You do not have to build the 18 inches all at once, my first layered garden was built over several weeks.

That’s it – over the winter the grass will die and the organic materials will cook down several inches. Come spring, you can plant seed or transplants directly into your rich soil. When it comes time to harvest you’ll be eating really local and really great tasting food! For seed sources visit www.reverencegardens.com/content/415. These companies offer an array of heirloom vegetable seeds, many varieties of which are organically grown.

This is one of the short films we showed at our winter W&W Film Festival. It's about the water in Lake Macatawa, MI, but it applies to the lakes here in our territory too. Click once to activate it, and again to start the video.

To make sure this newsletter gets to you in time to get involved, even if the US PO delays, we’re mailing it early. But some of our endorsements are still not yet complete, and many had to be left out of the print edition. See . Meanwhile, the cost of postage just keeps going up.

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