Danger zone near Joliet intermodal center?
Pam Burgeson spends a good part of her time waving a small red flag at trucks roaring past her farm house on Vetter Road, urging them to slow down. Most just drive on by on their way to the CenterPoint Intermodal Center-Joliet under construction on the south end of Joliet. One trucker gave her the finger.

A better turkey meal deal
Cooks can truly be frugal gourmets this Thanksgiving, as consumers enjoy lower food prices, at least for now. The Thanksgiving meal with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings will cost an average of $42.91, a decrease of $1.70, or 3.8 percent, from last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Best day to buy a car? Black Friday

Thinking only of hitting the malls the day after Thanksgiving? It's also a good day to shop for a car, according to TrueCar, which tracks new-vehicle auto sales and compares price data.

A fond farewell
The clowns could've cried at Nick's Tavern recently. The venerable downtown Lemont bar -- sanctuary for Cubs fans, home to burgers the size of manhole covers and repository for a collection of clown figurines both eerie and charming -- changed hands.

Pizza Mia! Restaurant sells first franchise
Someday there could there be a Pizza Mia! Restaurant in your neighborhood. Anything is possible. Just ask Dave Dombrowski.

Wedding trends spotlighted at JCC show
Fall weddings are popular these days, as are the colors brown and pink and food stations at the reception. These and other wedding trends will be spotlighted from noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 22 at a bridal show at the Joliet Junior College.

Fox lumbering out of Frankfort
After a 27-year presence in Frankfort, Fox Home Center will close its store there, across the street from Breidert's Green, by the end of the year. But the lumber and hardware retailer, which also has a store in Alsip, is studying the possibility of a new location in Orland Park, where it owns property on 159th Street west of Wolf Road.

Is recession finally over? Possibly
The economy accelerated last quarter. But is it driving off a cliff? The car comparison is apt, because economists believe the third-quarter improvement in the nation's Gross Domestic Product depended heavily on the "cash for clunkers" program. The tax credit for first-time home buyers also had a role.

Bill Jacobs fights -- and wins
Bill Jacobs Jr. is back in the driver's seat for the city's only Cadillac dealership. Jacobs, together with his staff, his congresswoman and the local community, all worked together to successfully appeal GM's decision to eliminate the Cadillac dealership from Joliet.

Frankfort shop a dream come true for owner
Thirty-two years is a long time. It was long enough for Jan Sabey to fall in love with nursing, then watch her beloved profession change right before her eyes. "It became all about profit," the 53-year-old former nursing administrator from Frankfort said. So Sabey, who drives a bright blue Volkswagen Beetle, made a bold decision: Leave the profession she had known for more than three decades and open her own business. Standing in Evilena's Red Dresser, her own store, Sabey has no regrets.