Pawn shop now open in Tinley Park

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Gold is the top item being seen at Tinley Jewelry and Loan since the pawn shop opened a few weeks ago at 7112 W. 171st St. in Tinley Park.

Indeed, while interviewing owner Rich Clousing (pictured in Tinley Jewelry) on Thursday, a woman walked in and asked Clousing to look over a handful of assorted gold items she inherited from her father.

“They might be gold fillings,” she says. “I just don’t know what they are or what they are worth.”

They get a lot of customers like that, Clousing says. “Pawn shops have been buying gold for years. We’ll still be buying gold long after the ‘We Buy Gold’ stores and TV pitchmen disappear.”

But the store in a strip center across from Jewel-Osco also has shelves filled with DVDs and electronics. A display case shows off watches, rings and other jewelry. There’s even a set of golf clubs in the corner.

“We are the first and only pawn shop in Tinley Park,” Clousing says with a hint of pride. “We provide a service people can’t get anywhere else. Will a bank give you a $200 loan until the end of the month?”

Clousing says pawn shops have traditionally offered bridge loans to people who are strapped for small amounts of money.

“Our average loan balance is $100,” Clousing says. “And I charge half of what a payday loan costs. Plus, I don’t attach myself to your bank account or report you to a credit bureau. Collateral loans are strictly between you and me.”

Clousing says loans are made for 30 days and terms can be extended. “In theory, the loan could be stretched out indefinitely. But I wouldn’t suggest that. I’m not a mortgage company.”

Tinley Jewelry is a family operation with Clousing’s wife and daughter also working in the shop.
Business has been good so far, Clousing says. “People have been stopping by to check us out. One of the first things they say is, ‘It’s so clean’.”

What about crime concerns?

“Pawn shops are fully regulated by the state,” Clousing says. “I file daily reports with the Tinley police. We videotape everything all the time,” he says pointing to cameras in the room. “Thieves just don’t come to pawn shops. They know they would get caught.”

Tinley Jewelry is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The phone number is 708-444-2425. The Web site is Tinley Jewelry and Loan.

Mike Madigan, Bond cars, power grabs and drug tests

Every week, GuidePosts points you to the latest must-read stories of the Southland. We sort out the clutter for you.

Will Madigan shear this state rep hopeful?
Kristen McQueary, the Southland's pre-eminent political reporter, shows how Mike Madigan may add to his flock one Kelly Burke, who beat his candidate in the nasty 36th House District Democratic primary. Will she be a sheep? Meanwhile, state Rep. James Brosnahan (D-Evergreen Park) decides to step down and take a job as Blue Island's lawyer, where he hopes to "learn about municipal law."

He's no "Q" but he's pretty close
Larry Claypool, who owns The Vair Shop in Frankfort, is an expert in antique car repair. He's the guy you go to if you want to get a Bondmobile, the Renault 11 Parisian Taxi featured in 1985's "A View to a Kill", to run.

Power grabs? Secret deals?
Oak Lawn's Unity Party anything but unified, far from a party.

You know what the cup is for
Marist High School in Mount Greenwood may drug test all students.

Are you hiring?
This IT expert from Tinley Park with an MBA wants a job so bad, he'll work for free.

This boy's a lifesaver, literally
Frankfort boy, Cameron Harper, saves 5-year-old's life with CPR.

Local schools will lose millions next year

The Southland's elementary and high schools, already struggling through this year's late state aid payments, layoffs, school closures and other cutbacks, would be walloped by Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed state budget. Revealed Wednesday, public schools take a beating in 2011. Education overall would see $12.34 billion, a $2.4 billion cut from this year.

"The real price tag could be anywhere from $500 to $700 less (per student)," House education committee chairman Linda Chapa LaVia told reporters.

Under the conservative figure, we'd see deep losses for local schools. Here's a sample of estimates based on 2009 School Report Card data.

Mokena District 159, which just decided to cut 15 teachers, would lose more than $1 million. Harvey 152 loses $1.25 million. Oak Lawn-Hometown 123: $1.5 million. New Lenox 122: $2.8 million. Among high school districts, Lincoln-Way HS 210 would be out $3.55 million and Community Consolidated HS 230, serving the Orland, Tinley Palos area, loses $4.35 million.

These losses would blow huge holes in school budgets, and administrators are still trying to come to grips with this year's problems.

In recent weeks, Mokena schools laid off teachers and cut extracurricular programs. And Oak Lawn-Hometown school officials decided to close a school and put seven teachers out of work. In the coming months, expect to see the number of layoffs grow significantly throughout the region.

When seeking adequate financial support for education, Southland schools have long been Illinois' bastard stepchild. With the state in arrears on payments to local districts this year, school officials have faced up to difficult cuts. But the bloodletting is far from over.

Millions of dollars in federal stimulus aid, rather than being used to expand educational opportunity, have been used to patch holes in local budgets while the state falls further behind in its obligations. And next year, there will be no federal stimulus money to prop up our classrooms.

How are schools handling this year's woes?

Just this week, in Oak Lawn, district officials decided to close Brandt School, used for years as a science center, and cut seven teachers. This will save the district $1.2 million.

Earlier this month, New Lenox District 122 imposed additional fees on students, including a $25 athletic fee on every sport played and a $100 band fee. But these efforts to pick parents' pockets are just a pittance compared to the cost of such programs and the projected shortfall in state aid.

In Mokena 159, whose bid for a tax hike was rejected by 60 percent of the voters during this severe recession, parents are angry with the school board for moving ahead with cuts. They want to negotiate to keep extracurricular activies, such as band. The editor of the local newspaper, the Mokena Messenger, is trying to foster a community conversation on the issue.

And well he should.

But the problem defies simple answers.

And the horizon grows bleaker as the enormity of the state's budget woes threatens. The state's inability to adequately finance its schools, long felt in the region's poorer communities, will now hit home in the middle-class districts of the Southland.

No one will escape this storm.

Want to know more?
The State Journal-Register in Springfield breaks down the state's projected deficit, pegged at $11.5 billion next year.

Dennis Robaugh can be reached at dennis@southlandsavvy.com