Parade-goers, stop by Scoville Park first

Attendance at Oak Park's Memorial Day ceremony at the WWI monument in Scoville Park has been declining in recent years. Then last year, the WWII veterans of the Charles Roth VFW Post who planned this annual ceremony, decided to disband. Longtime community historians Virginia Cassin and Jean Guarino stepped in to fill the void and continue a ceremony that has been held every Memorial Day since the1920s.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., which gives participants time to make the River Forest parade at 11 a.m. Organizers are hoping local officials will be in attendance, and music will be provided by Kathryn and John Atwood, bugler Matthew Goodsmith from OPRF High School, and local Girl Scouts will lay the wreaths. An Oak Park police honor guard will provide the rifle salute. Several WWII veterans will be on hand as honored guests.

Beyond infancy, fancy that

After nearly a century as the Infant Welfare Society, the Lake Street-based public health center unveiled its new name last week-The Children's Clinic, sponsored by the Oak Park-River Forest Infant Welfare Society. The new moniker was toasted at a packed event last Wednesday at the clinic's offices, 320 Lake St.

Aiming for a name that better explained its mission, clinic officials noted the wide range of ages it serves-infancy to teens-and the number of services its offers, including medical, dental, social services and literacy.

Scratchy-on Prozac?-deemed safe

A local dog that bit two people in just over six months will be released back to its owners-but only if they meet a series of strict requirements, a panel of experts ruled last week.

A Labrador-mix named Scratchy bit a man on the leg last October, after escaping his Oak Park home. On April 14, he bit a FedEx employee on the arm.

After the second incident, the village impounded Scratchy and held a "vicious dog hearing" last week to determine if he should be put to sleep or returned to his owner.

The panel chose the latter, granting Scratchy a new lease on life, so to speak.

"We never like to put a dog to sleep if we don't have to, and it was very clear from the hearing that the family loves the dog a lot," said Dr. John Brancel, veterinarian and one of three panel members. "We just imposed some conditions for the dog never to be around the general public again."

The panel, however, did label Scratchy a "vicious dog." Thus, the owner must meet a list of guidelines before getting him back, said Richard Martens, attorney for the panel. Some of those include taking Scratchy to a behavior specialist, possibly putting him on medication, making him wear a wire basket muzzle when off the owners' property, obtaining a "vicious dog license," erecting a 6-foot fence in their yard, and purchasing liability insurance.

The decision wasn't finalized as of Monday. Martens said the case would go back to the panel if the owner refuses to meet the guidelines.

However, Darby Rosenfeld said she plans to comply and already abides by some of the guidelines.

"We're happy to comply with it because we want to do the best for our dog and everyone else," she said Sunday by phone. "He's a great dog, and I'm glad they saw that."

Second lawsuit filed against YMCA

A former resident's family is suing the West Cook YMCA, nearly two years after he died in his Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) unit.

Ronald Gunn, 44, was found dead in his YMCA room in August of 2006. According to the wrongful death lawsuit, Gunn last entered his room at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 1, and his body was discovered, "dead and decomposing," Aug. 4. He died from complications related to heat exposure, an autopsy showed.

Attorney Frederick Barder-hired by Gunn's sister-said the heat wave at that time was "common knowledge" and believes the YMCA could have taken steps to avoid his death. "This could very simply have been prevented," he said.

Barder contends the YMCA SRO rooms retain a tremendous amount of heat. The organization should have barred residents from using their rooms in dangerous heat and provided the air-conditioned gym as a sleep alternative, he said.

The YMCA provides maid services, and the lawsuit contends the employees should have noticed Gunn over those few days.

"They had to step in and be a little more forward," Barder said. "There are a number of things they could have done."

The suit is seeking payment from the YMCA for Gunn's death, along with the "pain and suffering" leading up to his demise, Barder said. He could not provide a dollar amount being sought as of Monday.

YMCA President and CEO Scott Gaalaas said the organization does provide maid services, but doesn't clean every room every day.

Residents aren't currently allowed to have air-conditioning in their rooms. Gaalaas said the YMCA offers a lounge and gym that are both air-conditioned. However, residents can't sleep there. It also posts local cooling stations on its bulletin board.

Gaalaas said he was yet to be served with the lawsuit Monday night. He declined to comment on any questions about Gunn specifically, but did stress the YMCA isn't tasked with monitoring its residents' health.

"We're not assisted living," he said. "We do not do room checks. It's like an apartment or hotel, and landlords don't check on apartments. It's not appropriate for us to make room checks."

Rose Sloan spells 'reprise'

Roosevelt Middle School 8^th grader Rose Sloan will spend this Memorial Day weekend the same way she spent last year's celebration- in our nation's capital, competing against the best spellers in America.

Sloan was one of just 59 contestants still standing in the third round last year before she left off an 's' while spelling "carnassial" ("a tooth adapted for tearing apart flesh.").

Many of Sloan's Roosevelt classmates will be in the same place they were last year as well, in the school's learning center, watching her on ESPN Television. This year's contest takes place over a six-day period, from May 25-30.

'Declining market' no more

There's good news for homebuyers seeking a loan in today's cash-strapped market. Mortgage giant Fannie Mae changed course Friday, repealing its policy of requiring an additional 5 percent down from borrowers seeking 95 percent financing in areas it had designated as "declining markets." Such markets were identified by large swaths of Zip codes, and the policy was criticized for its broad-brush approach, which ignored the varying credit-worthiness of borrowers. The policy had been in effect since December of 2007.

The new policy, effective June 1, will accept conventional, conforming loans of up to 97 percent financing, as long as they are processed through its automated system, Desktop Underwriter. Loans of 95 percent financing, underwritten independently of the automated system, will also be accepted. And, most importantly, they will be accepted in all geographic regions in the U.S.

No longer will an additional 5 percent down payment be required based on market conditions, which, according to Rob Breymaier, executive director of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, should help prospective buyers seeking down payment assistance.

Breymaier, along with several other national fair housing organizations, successfully lobbied Fannie Mae to overturn its previous policy, conducting numerous meetings with Fannie Mae executives.

Said Breymaier, "it should mean that just about anyone who can afford to move in to Oak Park should be able to," whereas before, Oak Park's designation as a "declining market" had posed a serious obstacle to buyers seeking a mortgage in the village.

"It's a really welcome and important change," said Breymaier, adding that he recently received a call from Freddie Mac, the other national lender, stating that they, too, would be reversing their declining market policy.

Fannie and Freddie purchase or guarantee about 80 percent of the nation's mortgages, making their policies an industry standard for all other lenders and mortgage insurers.