Latest news with #Waukegan-based
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Chicago Tribune
Scoop brings classic cars, enthusiasts to Waukegan; ‘It breathes life into our downtown'
Viejitos Vicleros, a Waukegan-based car club founded in 2004, is more than a group of people who acquire, restore and drive American-made cars built in 1954 or before. Their vehicles were part of a long line of automobiles lining a block of Genesee Street during Scoop Waukegan over the weekend. Tito Mandujano of Waukegan said Viejitos Vicleros' members turn one-time sedans and station wagons into lowriders. The exterior is well-painted, and many have artistic designs. They are equipped with hydraulics, enabling them to be close to the ground. 'It represents our culture, the Chicano culture. We're Mexican Americans, ' Vicleros said. 'They're all old cars, and they're all original. We're proud of our culture, and we want our kids to be proud.' Mandujano and his family were among more than 25,000 people and over 900 cars participating in the annual Scoop Waukegan Friday and Saturday in the city's downtown. Visitors viewed the vehicles, as well as sampled food and drinks from the area's bars and street vendors. Just as Viejitos Vicleros is more than a car club, Scoop is more than a classic car show. David Motley, the city's public relations director and one of the event's organizers, said it goes back years to a time when it was a weekend meeting place for young people. 'In one form or another, Scoop has been part of Waukegan since the '50s,' Motley said. Jim Mulroney spans both worlds. There with his family, he was a participant over the weekend with his restored 1972 Chevrolet Malibu convertible. In his teenage years, he said the event represented something else to him. One of many local young people in the 1950s and 1960s to participate in an earlier version of Scoop, Mulroney recalled arriving in downtown Waukegan with his 1956 Chevy Bel Air on a given Friday or Saturday night. 'Anybody who was anybody parked on the bridge,' Mulroney said, as he sat with his family on the span over the Waukegan River between Water and Lake Streets. 'We met with each other. We did a lot of shopping. I remember one girl driving a 1957 Thunderbird.' Talking about the restored Malibu convertible, he said he enjoyed retuirning it from what was once a rather decrepit vehicle into the shiny, light blue car it is now. Unusual for this part of the county, it is also air conditioned. 'It was originally from Florida, and it had air conditioning,' Mulroney said. 'It was hot and humid there, and they needed it.' One night in the 1960s, Gerry Cook was at the earlier version of Scoop. He was there with friends and his Corvette. A young lady was driving her Volkswagen Bug. She got in his car and they started talking. 'That was 54 years ago, and we've been together ever since,' Cook said of his wife. Mayor Sam Cunningham said he was pleased to see a sizable crowd on Friday despite rainy weather. Saturday's crowd was a record. He called it a, 'rolling reunion and powerful driver of community spirit, economic vitality and local pride.' 'It breathes life into our downtown, bringing thousands of visitors who support small businesses, discover local gems and experience the vibrant and creative energy of Waukegan,' Cunningham said. 'Events like Scoop strengthen our sense of togetherness (and) create lasting memories.' Mandujano was there with his wife, three children — including a baby — club members and his 1953 Chevrolet Handyman station wagon. It is more than a restored vehicle for him. It functions like a modern SUV. 'It's a great second car to have with a family when we're going to a soccer or baseball game,' Mandujano said. 'That's when we need a station wagon.' Fabio Carona was another lowrider. He was sitting with other car owners on County Street with his vehicle, which was tilted with the driver's side being several feet higher than the passenger seat. It is done with hydraulics. 'I tilt it and drive it,' Carona said. 'I don't drive it too far this way.' Along with the unique tilt, the sides of Carona's car were painted with a variety of images telling a story. Jay Stephen, one of the marshals at Scoop, likened the exterior to artwork. 'It's like a mural,' Stephen said, 'It's a work of art.' The restaurants of downtown Waukegan were part of the event, too. Outside Greentown Tavern, a cook was barbequing hot dogs and brats, while people spent a few dollars throwing three balls at a button to drop a volunteer into a dunk tank. Jordan French, Greentown's owner, said the dunk tank was there to add something extra to the day's festivities. People spent $5 on three balls. When one smaller youngster missed three tries, he was allowed to push the button. Toward the end of both days' activities, there is an 'open Scoop.' Motley said people with classic and custom cars get a pass to drive or 'scoop a loop' circling on Genesee, Clayton, County and Lake streets.
Chicago Tribune
11-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Court upholds legality of Waukegan tax on gaming machines; city due $11M
After more than four years of defending a lawsuit against video gaming operators and their trade association, the city of Waukegan will receive more than $11.3 million after repelling an onslaught of allegations over several iterations before the court. Throughout the history of the lawsuit, the city kept asking the Lake County Court to dismiss the eight-count complaint filed by the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association (IMOGA) and its members in Waukegan. Quickly dismissing some of the counts claimed by IMOGA and its Waukegan-based members, the court let them rewrite other portions of the complaint as the case remained in the court system for more than four years. Eventually, the court either dismissed parts of the complaint completely or entered a summary judgment in favor of the city of Waukegan on the rest, ruling if everything the plaintiffs said in their complaint was true, they would lose. Not done, IMOGA appealed. The Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District ruled in favor of the city on March 4 in Elgin entitling the city to receive tax money gaming operators withheld because they argued a tax the city properly imposed was illegal. Stweart Weiss, an attorney with Waukegan corporation counsel Elrod Fridman, said in an email Monday the city's 'penny push tax' approved by the City Council in August of 2020 was legal. It provided the city with a penny for every play on a video game, according to court documents. 'The City's taxing authority was clearly granted by the Illinois legislature, and it has been validated by every court that has reviewed it,' Weiss said in the email. ' All that remains now is for terminal operators to collect the tax from players and remit it to the citizens of Waukegan.' Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said in an email Tuesday the city's finance department estimates more than $11.3 million is due from the penny punch tax for the past three years ending on Dec 31, 2024. It comes from 336 terminals in 58 spots. Approximately $2.5 million is anticipated in future years. Though it took more than four years of litigation to finally be in a position to collect the penny push tax, Taylor said it 'will go a long way' to help with the operating costs necessary to meet residents' needs. 'The revenue to be raised by the collection of the Push-Tax will go a long way in addressing the increasing operating costs of providing services to the citizens of Waukegan,' Taylor said in the email. 'The Push-Tax will be a welcomed source of relief for our community.' The City Council approved an ordinance requiring a penny push tax on April 9, 2020. It requires any person playing on a video gaming device to pay a tax of one cent per play, according to the court's opinion. Less than two weeks after Waukegan approved the tax, IMOGA and seven of its members sued the city alleging the law not only violated the Illinois Constitution, but changing the gaming terminals to calculate the tax was 'complicated and cost prohibitive,' according to the opinion. Passing the law, Waukegan intended to both collect revenue to provide for residents' needs and, 'provide adequate funds to offset the adverse effects of gambling that occur within the municipality,' according to the opinion. 'The city's position is not that it seeks to eliminate gambling; rather its position acknowledges a negative effect of the activity and the action it took to combat it,' Judge Ann B. Jorgenson said in the opinion.
