FTC Rules on ENH

The Federal Trade Commission ruled Monday that the 2000 merger between Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) and Highland Park Hospital was "anti-competitive" for health-care consumers and insurers and that it gave the new ENH leverage to raise prices paid by them. The ruling, however, does allow ENH to retain Highland Park Hospital.

The Commission said in its opinion, "The merged firm did in fact raise its prices immediately and substantially after completion of the transaction." While the Commission did not order divestiture, its order does require ENH and Highland Park Hospital to contract separately with managed-care plans, "thus reinjecting competition between them for the business of [health insurers]," the order states.

In a prepared statement from ENH, which also operates Evanston Hospital and Glenbrook Hospital, Mark Neaman, its chief executive officer, said the FTC recognized the "significant improvements" in patient-care services at Highland Park Hospital, post-merger, as its principle rationale to overturn divestiture. Our investments in excess of $150 million at Highland Park Hospital have dramatically improved the breadth, depth and quality of health-care services in the region."

Another Local Grocery Store Closes.

Bill's Finer Foods, 1800 Dempster St., closed its doors last month. It was one of Evanston's few non-chain food stores. The owner, Fred Sanhiq, said he was looking for another place in Evanston to operate a food store. He added he had been in the grocery business in Evanston for about 50 years. A spokesperson for Rager Dababneh, the owner of the Dempster Street property, said Mr. Dababneh wishes to open a similar store on the site.

Your Lawn on Drugs?

Detox with GreenWISE Organic Lawn Care

By Victoria Scott

Lindsay Stame and Marc Wise found a yard for their dogs when they moved to Evanston. Then they founded GreenWISE Organic Lawn Care to keep it safe for animals and people.

Forget the Barry Bonds and the Tour de France. Marc Wise says he has unearthed a doping scandal right in our own back yard.

Mr. Wise, co-founder in 2007 of GreenWISE Organic Lawn Care, says the large doses of synthetic nitrogen applied by standard lawn care companies are the equivalent of steroids - effective in the short term but destructive in the long.

Appearances can deceive. What looks to be a robust lawn -- big-bladed and bright green -- may in fact be a sickly one with a puny root system and a nitrogen habit, he says.

He makes it sound like serious chemical addiction.

"Synthetic lawn care weakens roots, depletes the soil of nutrients and kills off microorganisms," he says. "It puts an expiration date on a lawn."

Maintaining a fragile lawn of that sort makes bad economic and worse environmental sense, he says. Besides creating lawns that require frequent re-applications, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides run into rivers, puddles and sewers.

"They absorb into kids' skin," says Mr. Wise, and have been linked to canine cancer, which he calls "the leading cause of death for dogs." (He says his beloved dog, Ozzie, is "the face of GreenWISE.")

Conventional lawn care creates no small problem, he says: "The amount of pesticides used on lawns is enormous. We use ten times more pesticides per acre on lawns than we do in agriculture.

"The lawn care industry produces 5 percent of U.S. emissions. One hour of mowing is equal to driving a late-model car 100 miles," he continues.

Despite its much higher cost, GreenWISE uses low-emissions lawn care equipment. Push mowers "didn't cut it," he says, so they turned to the one mower that passed Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards in all 50 states. Instead of a regular $200 trimmer, they bought the $600 environmentally sound model. "I don't want my guys breathing in" exhaust, says Mr. Wise.

He and the other three GreenWISE staff members run their cars on vegetable oil produced from soybeans ("It smells like fried chicken," he says).

Mr. Wise's convictions stem from both theoretical and practical experience in the environmental field. A Cleveland native, he graduated in 2005 from Arizona's Prescott College, where he majored in environmental studies. He worked for an organic lawn care company in Ohio. Later, under the auspices of Ohio politician Dennis Kucinich, he completed a senior thesis on the global and regional feasibility of biodiesel fuel.

Aware that many organic lawn care enterprises, like the yards they service, have sprung up and failed, he is nourishing his company from the roots up. While motivated by passion, he does not underestimate the importance of green - in finance as well as landscaping. "For me," he says, "money equals energy. If you put it out, you have to take it in."

The base of GreenWISE is its staff of four, each of whom Mr. Wise describes as "committed and unique." He says he "wants [GreenWISE] to feel more like a team than a hierarchy" and hopes they will feel invested enough to help him build a company like the one he has been dreaming about for ten years.

Lindsay, the company co-founder, is a graduate of Northwestern University who brings a background in both communications and finance. Mr. Wise says she "empowered" him to start GreenWISE. Donald, who was a foreman at a conventional lawn care company, "runs the labor part of the business" as well as providing landscape design expertise, says Mr. Wise. "Until we break 100 customers," he says, he and Donald are doing the manual labor themselves.

Elle, a 2007 graduate of Evanston Township High School, joined the staff to head the GreenWISE school initiative. Last year she undertook a project for her Senior Studies class that culminated in her persuading the ETHS grounds department to switch from synthetic to organic lawn care. (See sidebar.)

The company offers a number of options for organic lawn care, including one that jump-starts the transition from synthetic to organic. Mr. Wise warns, "Year one is tough." It takes time to create organic matter and build healthy soil, he says, but "it's an investment."

While he does not necessarily expect to see quick results, the worm castings (worm poop) GreenWISE uses as a soil builder, in addition to their chicken manure fertilizer, seem to have greened up some customers' yards, he says. Corn gluten meal is the GreenWISE method of pre-emergent weed control; rather than killing weeds it keeps them from sprouting. Less visible, but vital to soil enrichment, is the effect of GreenWISE's liquid fertilizer. It breaks up soil and creates tiny holes, a process they call liquid aeration.

It is not too late in the season to start the conversion to an organic lawn, he says - one that is healthy enough to sustain itself with minimal maintenance. Once the lawn is established, GreenWISE recommends mowing higher, fertilizing three times a year and watering.

Exiting the interview, Mr. Wise leaves a business card with a message. Along with the company website (www.iamGreenWISE.com) it contains instructions for planting: The card, made of handmade paper, is embedded with wildflower seeds.

ETHS Grad Sees Grounds for Change

By Judy Chiss

Eighteen year-old Elle Spacek has been bitten by a bug - and it happened last fall in her Senior Studies class at Evanston Township High School. The college-bound graduate says the class, a three-hour daily merger of English, humanities and community service, was the highlight of her high school years and where her environmental passion started.

"Senior Studies changed my life, really," Elle said. "I was searching for a meaningful project, and then one day a speaker who came to our class strongly inspired me. That's when I decided to study the health effects of pesticides."

As she departs for college, she leaves behind tangible results - a likely change in the way ETHS manages its grounds, a change that will eliminate or significantly reduce the use of pesticides on the school's lawns and athletic fields.

"More than almost anyone in Senior Studies, Elle sank her teeth into her project," said Dave Allen, one of the three ETHS teachers in charge of Senior Studies and Elle's advisor as she wrote and presented her proposal to the administration and the 202 School Board. "She worked hard, did her research well, and was clear about what she hoped to achieve," he said. "Elle is someone who doesn't take no for an answer and will look adversity in the face."

Although it is not common for students to get the ear of key adult decision-makers, Elle Spacek did just that. With the support of credible experts in the areas of public health and pest control management, she met with top administrators and department heads at the high school, including the Superintendent, assistant superintendent, and the heads of purchasing, athletics and grounds.

She presented data from a 102-page study by the Toxics Action Center in 2005, information suggesting that 17 of the 32 ingredients used by the current lawn care provider of ETHS are likely carcinogens. Ultimately her proposal and unrelenting passion about the subject of organic turf care convinced administrators to rethink the ways they are caring for the school's considerable grounds.

Jose Guerrero, manager of buildings and grounds at ETHS, said the school will most likely be change to a service provider that uses an integrated pest management system. "My crew has a vested interest in providing the students and staff a clean and healthy environment - after all, we work in this environment too and want to be safe."

The City of Evanston, like many municipalities, uses an integrated pest management system, a method to reduce pesticides by means of careful monitoring, development of a healthy culture and application of chemicals when needed.

One of Elle's concrete accomplishments this year was establishing a notification registry of students and families who, in accordance with the existing law, request written notification if the school is going to use pesticides. Elle, who has spent past summers as a lifeguard and camp counselor at the McGaw Y's Camp Echo, is now continuing the journey she began last fall by getting her hands dirty at GreenWISE.

Church Street Businesses Donate to SYEP

Three businesses in the Church Street Plaza development have said they will contribute $45,000 to the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program over the next three years.

Arthur Hill & Co. LLC, Optima Inc. and Alliance Hospitality Management, LLC, on behalf of Winston Hotels, owner of the Hilton Garden Inn, all said they believe the program is a "worthwhile cause" and one they were able to support.

Mayor Lorraine Morton said she was "delighted" with the contribution.

Career Counseling At the Library

The Evanston Public Library offers Career Counseling on the second Monday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon. Patrons can schedule a free half-hour consultation with a professional career counselor for Aug. 13, starting at 9 a.m., by calling the Main Library's Reference Desk at 847-448-8630 to reserve a time-slot.

Individual career counseling sessions take place in the third floor study rooms near the reference desk at the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave.

Kiwanis Salute Excellence in Public Service

Frank Kaminski, immediate past president of Kiwanis Club of Evanston, recently presented Public Service Recognition awards to five persons:

Nate Anderson of the Evanston Township High School Department of Public Safety; Captain William Muno of the Evanston Fire Department, who serves as the department's historian; Robert Nelson, a public education specialist with the fire department; officer William Arzuaga, who works in the field operations division of the Evanston Police Department and who recently returned from deployment in Afghanistan; and Detective John Schmidt, of the police department's juvenile bureau.