The Soapbox
Beyond complaint:
Village boards must think residents show up for public comment only to complain. Not so this week in Arlington Heights. Residents said an exit from Northwest Community Hospital onto Kirchoff Road was not a traffic problem, so the village can allow it. One resident asked only for better lane striping. It’s good to see agreement for a change.
First World food problems:
As we wait to see what happens to Dominick’s stores in the suburbs, we have to remember how lucky we are with all the stores left. First, small rural towns throughout the U.S. and other places in the world don’t all have the choices we do. Second, our grocery stores are stocked to the brim. This is a nice problem to have.
Certainly not bullying:
A Texas high school football game ends with a score of 91-0 and a claim of bullying from the parent of the losing team — with the requisite investigation. The winning coach pulled his starters after 21 plays and then played a conservative run game. Enact a slaughter rule, sure, but don’t call this bullying. This is a competitive sport.
Why coaches coach:
There’s a reason parents don’t coach high school teams, and it starts with their emotion. Lost amid the Texas-size debate is how the losing coach saw it: “The game was handled fine,” Western Hills’ John Naylor said. “They’re good sports, and they don’t talk at all. They get after it, and that’s the way football is supposed to be played in Texas.”
The biggest job of all:
State Rep. David Harris of Arlington Heights has proposed a $1 million cut from Gov. Pat Quinn’s office after Quinn tried to withhold lawmakers’ pay for failing to resolve the pension issue. Harris said lawmakers passed 600 bills last spring but “because we didn’t pass one single bill he claims we haven’t done our job.” Well, it is a bill with implications for all those other 600.
Out with old:
There won’t be many, if any, tears shed when the wrecking ball hits Lakemoor’s old village hall next month. The cinder block box sits prominently in the center of town. Its dominant feature? A garage door. The building is not in keeping with the village’s effort to spruce up its image. Just about anything else will be an improvement.
Election savings:The DuPage Election Commission did a good thing for taxpayers last week, scaling back poling places to save more than $1 million. It says website consolidations with the county also will save about $600,000 over three years. That#146;s moving in the right direction.Taxing road problems:Not quite such good news in Hoffman Estates, which has implemented four new taxes and one new fee to catch up on road repair, and Mount Prospect, which is considering similar action. But they may have few alternatives. Our story this week showed towns can#146;t count on that old reliable fallback of #147;sin taxes#148; like they used to.The perfect corner kick: While the Columbus Crew had a disappointing soccer season, their off-field efforts were sensational. Team officials recently announced the Kirk Urso Memorial Fund, in honor of the former MLS rookie from Lombard, met its goal of raising $100,000 to benefit youth heart research. Urso died in 2012 from a heart defect, but his spirit lives on.