Arlington Hts. Mausoleum A Tribute to Vets, Founder

A Canadian's quest has become reality for U.S. servicemen and women in Arlington Heights.

But William Pailey Sr. wasn't around to see the $1 million veterans' mausoleum recently dedicated in the Garden of Honor at his Memory Gardens Cemetery. Pailey died in October.

"It a one-of-a-kind building," said William M. Byrne, director of the nonprofit cemetery. "Seven years of planning has finally come to fruition."

The black granite mausoleum has American flags etched in the entrance, with room for 350 burials and 1,200 sets of ashes. Near the mausoleum is an M-60 battle tank, which "exemplifies eternal vigilance for the price of our liberty," cemetery managers said.

In the late 1960s, Pailey began working with veterans' groups on setting aside a portion of the cemetery for veterans, their spouses and other family members. The first veteran and his wife were buried in the Garden of Honor in 1970. More than 6,000 veterans have been buried there - soldiers who served from World War I to the Persian Gulf.

Byrne said Pailey, who founded the cemetery in 1949, felt that "veterans have nearly always been shortchanged" when it came to having their own local cemetery. Pailey, a naturalized U.S. citizen, operated a manufacturing firm in Boston during World War II. The firm made canvas covers for naval guns.

The veterans and the community appreciate what Pailey has done, said Byrne, a Vietnam-era veteran. "We have 650 burials a year, and 20 percent are veterans." COOK COUNTY For Westchester Teens, Cruising May Mean Losing Money Cruising downtown Westchester could cost violators up to $500. The village board last week approved an ordinance banning the activity, defined as driving the same route three times in three hours for no apparent reason. 

The ordinance goes into effect this month. While police report few problems with cruisers, the ordinance gives police the authority to stop motorists who seem to be driving aimlessly through the village. The Des Plaines River in Willow Springs will be the site of Cook County's eighth annual "I&M Canal Rendezvous" next Saturday and Sunday. During the rendezvous, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, people in period costumes will demonstrate how settlers lived in the region. Early American food, music, canoe races, tomahawk exhibitions and nature games will be featured. 

The event will be at Columbia Woods, Willow Springs Road north of Archer Avenue at the river. Admission is $1 for children and $4 for adults. Oak Park-River Forest High School security staff was put on "red alert" last week to protect its students in the wake of the first drive-by shooting in Oak Park. The shooting was part of a series of retaliations in a war between rival street gangs, police said. Police are beefing up patrols during dismissal periods. Des Plaines-based Candyland Candies is building a 10,000-square-foot addition to its facility, which will allow the firm to increase its annual 3.5 million-pound Gummi Bear candy production by 50 percent. 

A domestic dispute in Orland Hills Monday was called "one of the most unusual situations I've ever come across" by at least one police officer. Police said Beau J. Stangel, 36, of the 16000 block of South 92nd Avenue, was charged with domestic battery after he allegedly used a pair of wire snips to cut a $2,000 engagement ring off his wife's finger. The victim, whose finger was bleeding profusely, told police she fell asleep on the living room couch and awoke to pain in her left hand. The Rev. J. C. Smith of Bethlehem Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Harvey and Ariel Management Co. are proposing to build a $3 million, 82-unit senior citizens housing community. Bethlehem Village will be built on three acres on Vine Avenue between 147th and 148th streets. 

DUPAGE COUNTY A Gateway to Compromise. Homeowners living in a gated subdivision on the border of Naperville and Aurora say they are willing to open the gate between their development and the newer, less-expensive Eagle Pointe subdivision in Aurora. The fence forces students to walk an extra mile around the development to White Eagle Elementary School. Though students were bused last week, officials at Indian Prairie District 204 say they've reached a tentative agreement with homeowners in the exclusive White Eagle Club subdivision. The gate probably will be opened before and after school. 

The DuPage Airport Authority has decided it's time to put some numbers behind officials' claim that the controversial West Chicago airport is an "economic engine for the region." The airport board voted last week to spend up to $50,000 for an economic impact study. In other airport news, the sale of Planemasters to JA Air Center is complete. The airport-owned business was sold for $4.9 million. WILL COUNTY Would the Bears Fly South?

The Crete or Monee Bears? Crete Officials Monday directed Village Administrator Jerry Ducay to contact the Chicago Bears about building a stadium in the far south suburb. Crete Trustee Michael Knaak and Mayor Michael Einhorn say the proposed third airport near Peotone and the possible Interstate 355 extension could make the area an option. "It seems farfetched, but everybody has their hat in the ring," Einhorn said. Open space to the north of the proposed airport and south of Monee could be another option. 

The task: balance the federal budget. The obstacle: a $650 billion deficit. About 70 residents at Joliet West High School Tuesday tried to tackle the problem. It's the same process Congress goes through when trying to whittle the deficit, said Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Morris). Weller and the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan group created to find ways to eliminate the federal deficit, sponsored the seminar. The groups came up with concessions that would reap benefits over a five-year span. 

LAKE COUNTY Teens Play Wild Game of Tag. Some teenage SportMart workers were blowing off steam in the front of the Deerfield store recently when one of them, apparently playfully, tagged one of his fellow employees with a price-marking gun, police said. Everybody stopped laughing when the powerful tool embedded the plastic tag in the boy's chest. It was surgically removed. Deerfield police charged the tagger with reckless conduct. 

It was business as usual at Beverly E. Viti's Total Salon in Deerfield one recent weekday. Half a dozen women were sitting in chairs having their hair styled or fingernails manicured, including a woman who had driven her Mercedes through the front window of the business an hour earlier. She had apparently stepped on the gas instead of the brake, jumped the curb and drove to within inches of Viti. "She had an appointment. Had to keep it," the driver's husband said.