The front doors are still doors locked and the windows are still cluttered with old, sun-damaged work permits. Large paper signs taped to the restaurant's front windows spell out a handful of targeted opening dates, reaching as far back as spring 2009. Another sign sets the calendar ahead to spring 2010. Yet here we are in November 2010 and Chicago's Home of Chicken & Waffles, 543 W. Madison St., still hasn't opened for business. What gives? Village officials and franchise owners say the project has been hampered by construction delays and permit setbacks. Karen Komala, office manager for the…

Twitter follower @jennawaterford recently asked Oak Park-River Forest Patch via tweet: "There was some sort of film shoot on Marion near Lido's Caffe on Friday – any idea what it was?" Well, Jenna, we've got you're answer. Sort of. Patch reached Cedric Melton, Oak Park's director of community relations, who said the Oct. 15 shoot was for "a commercial being filmed for a large out of state department store." But Melton wouldn't reveal which chain was using Oak Park as a backdrop. Why? The store itself refused to be identified, Melton said. Whatever store it was, Melton said its company …

Recently, reader Karin had a rather specific inquiry about the main branch of the Oak Park Public Library. "Why does the library have to leave all the lights on all night?" she said. "And how much are we taxpayers paying to keep those lights on?" Library spokeswoman Sharon Grimm said the concern regarding the lights is a common one – common enough to find itself on the FAQ portion of the library's official website. According to the website, the emergency lights are always on in accordance with fire and building codes. But what about the other, non-emergency lights? The majority of those are …

It's time for you, the residents of Oak Park and River Forest, to become our assignment editors for Patch.com We're debuting a new feature here called "You Ask…Patch Answers," which will operate precisely as it sounds. We'll solicit questions from you via e-mail, then we'll use our reporting skills to dig up some answers.  The answers to selected questions will be posted each Monday. Why is OPRF's student paper called the Trapeze? What's the latest with that giant hotel being built Lake Street? Why did Carlos Zambrano leave his River Forest home? When will that roadwork end? When was the last…