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I have more than 40 years in the news business and have successfully evolved into an electronic journalist. Comings & Goings and Southland Savvy track news about businesses in Chicago's Southland.

Orland doc's drive-up window

Is this innovation? Or insanity? An Orland Park doctor plans to open a medical office with a drive-up window. If you can get a burger and fries at the drive-up window (essentially, heart disease and a fat keester in a white paper sack), then you ought to be able to get your Lipitor at the window, too. Eliminates the need for you to get out of your car and walk into the doctor's office.

Dr. Waldemar Nowak plans to turn the former Vito & Nick's restaurant, 54 Orland Square Drive, into medical offices with two drive-up bays. Not one, two. Cuts the wait in half, I guess. Nowak declined to tell reporters how the drive-ups would be used.

"This is my own idea," Dr. Nowak said.

Can you get a prostate exam at the window? Hernia check? I imagine the reflex test with the little hammer on the knee joint will be kind of difficult to perform. What if you're at the window and the doc has some bad news? "Pull up and park, I'll come out and tell you about your test results." Prescribing meds in the drive-thru should be a cinch, though.

Own a business? Then you're not alone in wondering how the new health care reform laws affect you.

Aggie's farm: If you read one story this week, make it this one. Guy Tridgell tells the story of a 100-year-old widow who raised dozens of foster kids, now on the verge of losing her Monee farm. After his story last Monday, the police are now looking into the management of the elderly woman's finances.

Getting jobbed: Local teachers will face mass layoffs. This is going to get so much worse.

Another season of roadwork: Almost every town in Will and south Cook counties will see some roadwork this spring, summer and fall, writes reporter Karen Sorensen, and the biggest undertaking in south Cook is the ongoing reconstruction of three railroad and two highway viaducts along 159th Street between Lexington and Fisk avenues in Harvey.

Standing up, being counted: Dan Lipinski, the only Illinois Democrat to vote "no" on Obamacare, says his Southwest Side district is 3-to-1 in his favor, according to John Kass.

New neighbor disclosure form: Finally, let's waste the government's time, why don't we. The Beverly homeowner who hung racially charged messages in his back yard didn't violate any local laws, reports Casey Cora, but Chicago Human Relations Commission chairman Dana Starks wants federal and state authorities to take a look and possibly charge him with crimes of intimidation. Michael Corrigan, 62, of the 9900 block of Fairfield Avenue, didn't want black neighbors when the house next door went up for sale. So he posted signs. "Say no to the ghetto" ... "White power" ... "Mt. Greenwood - the next Englewood."

We all know Corrigan's far from alone in his views. But he did his new neighbors, whatever color they may be, a favor. They'll know well before they move in that their next-door neighbor is an ignorant buffoon. If only all prospective neighbors advertised their stupidity for the world to see. Maybe we could have a disclosure law, like if you have mold or asbestos in your home. If the house next door is up for sale, you must hang a sign that lets prospective home buyers know exactly what's wrong with you.

Dennis Robaugh can be reached at dennis@southlandsavvy.com

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra honored by Illinois Council of Orchestras

By Southland Savvy

The Frankfort-based Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Music Director Carmon DeLeone, has been named the 2010 Professional Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.

The Illinois Council of Orchestras announced the IPO as winner of this prestigious award on March 18.

“I am thrilled that the Illinois Philharmonic has received this award for excellence in the field of music performance. Because it is the second time our dedicated staff and gifted musicians have received this honor during my tenure as Music Director, I feel even more humbly proud and grateful,” said Music Director Carmon DeLeone.

The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra last received the Professional Orchestra of the Year award from the Illinois Council of Orchestras in 1992, and DeLeone was named Conductor of the Year in 1995.

Now in its 32nd season, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra is in residence at Lincoln-Way North Performing Arts Center in Frankfort. Its nine concert season and numerous education programs serve the Greater Chicago Southland spanning from Joliet to northwest Indiana and Chicago to Kankakee. Musicians of the orchestra come from a four-state region including Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin.

“This award acknowledges the hard work, dedication, and artistry of our musicians, our music director, and our guest conductors,” said IPO Board President Charles Amenta. “Our musicians are here to serve the audience, and all the better when they can receive recognition in the process. We at the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra are hopeful that this well deserved honor and celebrity will inspire all the music lovers of the Southland to experience the beauty of an Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra concert as audience members.”

Executive Director Edmund Feingold said, “This is a welcome reminder that we are on the right track. Our musicians’ efforts are apparent at every concert, but this accolade also validates the dedication of our board of directors, staff, donors and patrons. We all work tirelessly to engage the community—planning, fundraising, volunteering for, and advocating on behalf of the orchestra when it is not on stage. This community engagement is often most clear in special events like the Friends of the IPO’s Rising Star Showcase which highlights aspiring young musicians and raises money for the professional orchestra. Thank you to the Illinois Council of Orchestras for recognizing that we are about community building through music. Bravo to all!”

Representatives from the Illinois Council of Orchestras are expected to join the IPO for its May 22 Season Finale Concert, Two Worlds: Old and New, where they will confer the award. To celebrate, the orchestra will host a pre-concert dinner party.

The orchestra’s next concert, Fateful Pairs, on April 10 and 11 at Lincoln-Way North Performing Arts Center, features a pair of soloists from the Orchestra’s own ranks, John and Laura Fairfield, who will perform the Chicago-area premiere of a movement from Stephen Gerber’s Concerto for Two Horns. The concert also includes Beethoven’s oft-neglected Symphony No. 2, and two beloved homages to
Romeo and Juliet: Bernstein’s Overture to West Side Story and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy.

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra
www.ipomusic.org

Red Dragon stands out among Asian restaurants in Southland

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Friendly service and generous portions of tasty food help Red Dragon Café stand out in a crowded field of Asian cuisine restaurants in the Southland.

Red Dragon opened a few months ago in a small storefront at 167th Street and 80th Avenue in Tinley Park.

Like most Asian restaurants in the Southland, Red Dragon is primarily a delivery and carryout establishment, but it does have two tables and a television if customers want to dine in.

Red Dragon is family owned and operated. One of the clan, Winnie Au (pictured), said her uncle is the chef and opened the restaurant after working at many other Asian restaurants in the Southland.

“One thing that sets us apart,” Au said. “Is that we prepare all of our food daily with only the freshest ingredients.”

Au recommends new customers try any of the restaurant’s signature dishes, which include salt and pepper pork chops, salt and pepper smelt and Japanese seafood udon.

Less adventurous diners can easily find something on the menu, which features staples of Asian restaurants such as egg rolls, wonton soup, fried rice, chop suey and lo mein.

On a recent visit, my group tried the vegetable lo mein, Mongolian beef, Szechwan delight and egg rolls. All of them were great. The servings were enormous and contained heaping helpings of peapods, onions, mushrooms, carrots and cabbage, noodles, rice and a slightly sweet sauce that was delicious.

Au said that dishes marked in red on the menu are spicy but all can be made without adding the hot sauce for those with more delicate stomachs, like me. “Just ask for non-spicy when ordering,” Au said.

Red Dragon offers lunch box and lunch combo specials as well as dinner box and dinner combo specials. The Mongolian beef lunch combo at $5.50 included a mountain of fried rice and an egg roll and could have fed two people.

The restaurant also serves fruit smoothies.

For more information, visit their web site at http://www.reddragoncafe.com/

Three out of four stars
Red Dragon Cafe
16651 S. 80th Avenue
Tinley Park
708-532-3388 (phone)
708-532-3399 (fax)