The extreme heat continues in Patchland. AAA offers recommendations for motorists hoping to keep their vehicles running smoothly during extreme heat in Lake in the Hills Patch. Afraid of those high electric bills as a result of the heat wave? ComEd’s Energy Doctor has some tips on how to reduce energy costs during a heat wave.

Some towns are taking the initiative to offer a better deal on energy. Mokena could join a growing number of Illinois towns in looking for cheaper electricity than ComEd. Voters would have to pass a referendum so the village can solicit bids from other power companies.

Palatine residents with excess energy may find it easier to get around town on the cheap, in the future. Palatine has plans to become a bike-friendly community. The village took the first step by approving a bike plan, Monday night.

Crime news today comes from Tinley Park Patch, where a Craigslist exchange turned into an armed robbery, when a would-be buyer of an iPhone pulled out a knife and took the phone without paying.

Teacher contract negotiations are not going well in some suburban districts. Community Consolidated School District 181 and the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Teachers' Association (HCHTA) will enter mediation in early August after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a new contract.

In Cary, the teachers union and school board are at an impasse. At a public meeting, Monday, one teacher said her house would be foreclosed if she had to take the proposed pay cut.

Suburban book lovers are going to have to travel farther to find a cozy bookstore. The remaining Borders stores in the suburbs will be closing soon. Geneva Patch reports that Borders is going belly up and 400 stores will be liquidated.

 And the good news is that a Vietnam vet finally got the welcome home he deserved when he and his son, who returned from Afghanistan, were both given a hero’s welcome in Plainfield. Both received quilts of valor from the Fox Valley Marines.