Area Sledding Hills Worth Checking Out

There are several snow hills to check out throughout the area.

After spending too much time inside, a heavy snowfall allows families to get some fresh air and to take an exhilarating ride on a sled. Fortunately, there are lots of sledding hills in this area and most of them also have beautiful scenery. One of the most exciting sledding hills is at Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda, a steep hill set among a forest of trees. Lights make this a popular hill, said Mike Tully, assistant superintendent of maintenance operations for the Lake County Forest Preserve District. The district has a second sledding hill at Old School Forest Preserve, near Libertyville. The hilly geography of Algonquin provides three sledding venues in its village parks. The Braewood Park hill was the first sledding hill in the …

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Teaching Your Kids To Be Grateful This Thanksgiving

Ideas to help your kids have an attitude of gratitude.

Sue Kirchner is a family fun coach and weekly contributor to Patch.com. She created ChocolateCakeClub.com and ChocolateCakeMoments.com both sites dedicated to helping busy families have more fun together. Sue and her family fun ideas have been featured on TV, newspapers, magazines, and blogs.  Thanksgiving is all about family and giving thanks, right? Well, maybe eating, too. While we have the family and the eating part down pat, we try a variety of activities to help our kids develop more of an attitude of gratitude. Here are some ideas we've found to create a more grateful family. Model gratitude. As parents, we need to do a good job of modeling how to be grateful. When someone helps you, your kids will hear you say "thank you" and …

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LITH Residents Share New Year's Resolutions

From weight loss to having more fun, LITH shares goals and aspirations for 2011.

Lake in the Hills residents share New Year's resolutions while out sledding, skating and ice fishing.

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LITH Stores Report Steady Sales Through Holidays

Nationally, retail sales from Nov. 5 to Dec. 24 increased by 5.5 percent to $584 billion,

Retailers nationwide are bustling with post-holiday cheer as sales totals, both online and in-store, for the 2010 shopping season rose over last year's. Retail sales from Nov. 5 to Dec. 24 increased 5.5 percent to $584 billion, marking the best performance in five years, according to a MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse report. The New-York based company measures retail sales across all payment forms. According to the SpendingPulse report, online holiday shopping sales rose 15.4 percent to $36.4 billion, which included a record six days when sales exceeded $1 billion per day. Online sales boomed in particularly when retail websites offered free shipping days. How did local retailers fair this holiday season? Lake in the Hills businesses …

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Police Respond to Vehicle Fire, Make Marijuana Arrest

The Lake in the Hills Police Department provided information from reports from the holiday weekend.

The Lake in the Hills Police Department responded to the following police reports from Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Barricades Stolen Two barricades were reportedly stolen from two separate LITH parks Thursday morning. One barricade was taken from the parking lot at Sunset Park, 5200 Miller Road, at 10:05 a.m. The second barricade was taken from Butch Haegel Beach, 71 Hilltop Drive, according to the Lake in the Hills Police Department daily bulletin. Drunken Driving Arrest A 40-year-old Wisconsin man was arrested around 12:28 a.m. Friday for reportedly driving drunk. He was pulled over near Algonquin Road and Scotty Avenue. The man faces charges for driving while under the influence of alcohol and speeding. He was later released …

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Photo Gallery: Twas' The Day Before Christmas

LITH families sled, get in snowball fights and do some last-minute shopping.

Lake in the Hills families get outdoors the day before Christmas to do some sledding, play pick-up games of hockey and get in snowball fights. See our photo gallery and add your own Christmas photos by logging into the LITH Patch website.

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From The Kitchen Of ...

La Trattoria Shares Festive Caprese Salad Recipe

The simple ingredients make it a great last-minute dish to put together for the holidays.

Theresa Scandurra, co-owner of La Trattoria in LITH, says the restaurant's Mozzarella Caprese Salad is one of her personal favorites. An added bonus: It's easy to make and quick to whip up as a last-minute holiday side dish. "All of our recipes are family recipes," Scandurra said. "It is a favorite of mine because the simple ingredients go so well together.  I especially love fresh mozzarella." Scandurra was kind enough to share the recipe with us and our readers and even gave it a slight redesign for the season to add some holiday color. Mozzarella Caprese Salad Wash tomatoes and place in festive bowl. Drain water from fresh mozzarella, add to bowl. Tear basil, add to bowl. Add Kalamata olives, peperoncini, olive oil, oregano, salt and …

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UPDATE: Police Unsure of Motive In Burglary

Police recovered Christmas presents that were taken from a home in the 2900 block of Brisbane Drive.

A 30-year-old Carpentersville man and four area teens broke into a LITH home Monday and stole several wrapped Christmas presents. Following a police chase and a search of the home, officers were able to arrest all five and recover the gifts taken from the residence, which is located in the 2900 block of Brisbane Drive, according to a Lake in the Hills Police Department press release. The burglary was originally reported by a resident inside the home who called 911 around 10:53 a.m. Monday. The caller hid in a second-floor bedroom while the burglary was in progress, according to the news release. When police arrived, four of the suspects had fled the scene. Officers were able to track the suspects down near the 2900 block of Hillsboro Lane…

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