On Thursday, August 30th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm the Cook County Department of Environmental Control and Bloom Township Senior Services are co-sponsoring a free Prescription Drug Take-back event. This event is a low-cost, high-value opportunity to tackle a critical environmental issue.  The EPA has asked people not to flush old medications, as trace elements have been found in groundwater.  Each year, close to 5,000 tons of pharmaceutical and personal care products enter the waste stream.  Many survive water treatment processes and end up in drinking water.  Med

The Oak Forest Heritage Preserve Master Plan is a comprehensive vision for the future development, public use, and long-term management of the Oak Forest Heritage Preserve. The plan is intended to help guide circulation and access improvements, ecological and site restoration, memorialization of sacred space, implementation of recreational amenities, and the preservation and interpretation of the rich natural and cultural history of the Preserve and adjacent properties.

It’s official—the Forest Preserve District of Cook County offers an equestrian landscape rich enough to transform a thumb-sucking novice into a world-class athlete.

When a nest of American bald eagles hatched this April, they made local and national news as the first observed bald eaglets to hatch in Cook County in more than a century. Now at least one has fledged and is flying around the eagles’ Tampier Slough home. After the eaglets hatched this spring, their parents immediately began to tend and feed them. In June, Forest Preserve staff, through a thick screen of leaves surrounding the nest, could barely make out juveniles, by then much larger and test-flapping their wings.

Cataracts are a common cause of vision loss as we age, but they are treatable. If you have a cataract, your vision can also worsen slowly over time. A cataract happens when the eye’s lens becomes cloudy. The lens must be clear in order to focus light properly onto the retina. As a cataract slowly begins to develop, you may not notice any changes in your vision at first. Eventually, however, you will notice your vision is blurry, cloudy or dim.

The Cook County Health and Hospitals System announced today that the independent governing board elected David Carvalho as Chair, and Jorge Ramirez as Vice-Chair of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board of Directors. “I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations to David who has a long history with the health system and brings a high level of commitment with expertise in healthcare and law. He cares deeply about patient care and safety as well as the financial house of the health system which all remain top priorities for this organization.

Lobbyists were paid $1.15 million during the first half of 2012 as they attempted to influence Cook County elected officials and high-ranking employees, Cook County Clerk David Orr announced Tuesday. The 211 active lobbyists in Cook County earned $1,154,003 and reported 540 lobbying contacts from January to June. The number of reported lobbying contacts is the lowest since online filing began in 2010 (See Chart 1). “From the activity reported, we know county officials were lobbied about unincorporated areas, bond restructuring, reducing the jail population and more,” Orr said.

As part of the preparations for employee blood drive on August 15th and 16th, President Preckwinkle took time to congratulate the team of volunteers responsible for coordinating donors in their bureaus and departments. She spoke of the importance of donating blood, the need to expand the pool of blood donors, and her own experiences as a donor. This year’s drive will take place in Room CL-115 Conference A, at 50 W Washington St. To better facilitate the process, employees have 3 ways to schedule appointments.

Learn about birds... Make a kite...Go fly a kite...Relax and enjoy a movie. All in the great out of doors! Activities begin at 6:30pm with the film being shown at dusk til 10:30pm. In the movie, The Big Year, hilarious comedians Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson portray three men from different walks of life who participate in the biggest birdwatching competition of their biggest year.