| Culinary artist
Chicago's loss has been Parsons' gain. Native son Taylor McCoskey has been putting the skills he learned at Chicago's Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and a four-star Italian restaurant to use at The Breakfast Nook and Bakery. For the past couple weeks, The Breakfast Nook has been open from 6 to 8 p.m. Fridays for dinner and McCoskey develops a three- to four-item menu of traditional Italian dishes. Owner Lee Ellis said the dinners have been so successful, the restaurant will start serving dinner Saturdays starting this week. "It's a nice additive. It's something special that we wanted to do for the town," Ellis said. "It's really paid off. A lot of people like it." McCoskey said he starts planning his meal early in the week and reads cookbooks for inspiration.
New school: Action!
A professional film crew equipped with state-of-the-art high-definition cameras was shooting a scene for a short film recently at a Near West Side studio. Amidst the organized chaos, 19-year-old Dan Miskovic helped with lights, props, whatever the crew needed. He was getting hands-on experience as part of the curriculum of a new college that officially won't open for a few weeks -- Flashpoint: the Academy of Media Arts and Sciences. The school will prepare students to work in the relatively high-paying film, video game, recording and animation fields. Running the show is Chicago serial entrepreneur Howard Tullman, with a background in entertainment and technology businesses and, in recent years, in education as he led a turnaround at Kendall College, the Chicago culinary school.
Rockland people in the news
Corinne Schild was awarded a scholarship grant from the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI Inc. Schild of Valley Cottage is the granddaughter of former special agent Charles O. Davis. She is a recent graduate of Nyack High School and will attend Hope College in Holland, Mich. History scholar
Marc Spencer Appel was named a finalist in the Gilder Lehrman History Scholars program. Appel from West Nyack was one of 45 finalists who was chosen to meet with history scholars during a one-week program in New York City. Appel is a student at Yale University. Alston graduates
Daniel J. Alston has received a degree in Culinary Arts from the Art Institute of New York City. He is from Valley Cottage. Fouda graduates
Rana Fouda graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in marketing communications.
Focus on budget, not on raising campaign cash
The state budget impasse is ridiculous, disgraceful and disrespectful.
It's ridiculous that Wisconsin is the lone holdout among states whose fiscal years begin July 1. Wisconsin stands alone after Illinois lawmakers agreed to a budget Aug. 17 and California legislators did likewise last week. That makes us a national disgrace.
What's worse, Wisconsin isn't even close to a deal. While state spending continues at the previous level, a budget conference committee of four Democrats and four Republicans has hammered out small compromises. The big issues-taxation and the Democrats' "Healthy Wisconsin" plan-remain unresolved.
It's disgraceful how lawmakers continually find time to press special-interest groups for campaign donations instead of completing their top task.
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