Forum on underage drinking tonight

A town hall meeting on underage drinking will be hosted tonight by a coalition of Lake County service providers at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein.

Hundreds of communities around the nation are holding meetings on the issue this spring.

The Mundelein forum, which will include concurrent meetings in English and Spanish, is scheduled to run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Carmel.

Sponsor organizations include the Illinois Department of Human Services, Lake County Health Department, College of Lake County, Lake County InTouch, Nicasa, the Mundelein Police Department and the Lake County After School Coalition.

The purpose of the meeting is to share new research on the risks associated with underage drinking and empower the community to take action, said Theresa Loerch, a representative of state Rep. Kathy Ryg, D-Vernon Hills.

"The attitude is that it's OK," said Mundelein Police Chief Raymond Rose, co-president of the Lake County After-School Coalition with Ryg. "We have to stand together as a community to remind people it's not OK."

Elizabeth Nelson, a prevention specialist with Lake County InTouch, will moderate the English meeting. Wallace Brandies, director of prevention services for Nicasa, will moderate the Spanish meeting.