The Soapbox
Keeping costs in check:
Why pay 40 cents to mail a check for $1.50? Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka is proposing changes in the way her office sends money to vendors that could save $1 million a year in paper and postage costs. That’s the kind of common sense management in state government we can’t get enough of.
Motorcycle for the disabled — cool!
The Villa Park company Mobility Works is showing off a wheelchair-accessible motorcycle today and Sunday at the Odeum. We got pictures ahead of time and, we have to say, it looks cool. Aerodynamic in a sleek, deep red. This is a great way to give people with disabilities freedom and dignity.
Business that cares:
The Blue Goose Supermarket in St. Charles would do fine without Mary Homuth’s business. But employees saw her motorized wheelchair was on the fritz and she’d resorted to crutches. An employee’s husband repaired and updated it, and the tip jar at the Goose covered the $300 in parts. Now, that’s neighborliness.
Let’s patch things up:Yes, it#146;s not really pothole season (and everybody has a favorite pothole story), but sometimes things are so bad it merits a mention. Somebody#146;s going to lose a tire in one of the deep holes in the access drive connecting Golf and Algonquin roads in Rolling Meadows just west of that intersection. It#146;s bad. Please fix.Fundraiser should be just that:Some things seem to be a good idea #8212; until you take closer look. The Des Plaines library has discovered its #147;Do the Dewey#148; fundraiser costs more to put on than it takes in. Library officials are looking for a new way to raise money. Smart move.Don#146;t refuse this offer:Listen up, anyone with an unpaid ticket in Carpentersville. Pay up by Aug. 15 and you#146;ll receive half off the printed fee. This deal of the summer, a onetime ticket amnesty program, already has brought in $3,700 #8212; money the village didn#146;t expect to see at all. Another smart move.Out with institutions?Large, impersonal institutions used to be the model for care of the severely disabled. At a meeting in DuPage County, advocates last week urged a faster end to that model. Lawmakers, understandably, noted the difficulties of funding housing in small groups and neighborhoods. But they promised to keep listening #8212; and they should.Good luck, Amy:As if suburbanites needed another reason to watch Sunday#146;s FIFA Women#146;s World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan, we have a local connection. Family and friends say drive and heart took Amy LePeilbet of Crystal Lake to soccer#146;s biggest stage. They#146;re defining characteristics of the whole team, and an inspiration to us all back home.Yeoman#146;s work:It#146;s too early to identify specific successes and failures, but on the whole, we have to thank ComEd employees for the herculean efforts they put in to get everyone#146;s electricity working after Monday#146;s storm. Losing power is a hardship for anyone, and when 868,000 customers go down, especially for many days, that#146;s a lot of hardship. Thanks, ComEd, for recognizing that.