State officials, it's time to show us our road money!

Warning: It will be even tougher than normal to get through downtown Algonquin this morning.

Riled up lawmakers, businessmen and commuters are expected to converge on Cornish Park near the always clogged intersection of routes 31 and 62 in a rally of "Road Warriors" wanting their fair share of road dollars.

I'll be one of them. How about you? We taxpayers faithfully send our tax money to Washington and Springfield, and we trust that some of it will come back home.

It doesn't.

Federal lawmakers, to be fair, try to bring that money back. But the state, which has to funnel the money to local projects, keeps finding other places to spend that cash. Clearly it's not going to McHenry County roads.

If you're tired of sitting in traffic, come join me and all those who are hoping this McHenry County Better Roads Coalition gets folks in Springfield to reconsider what they do with our fair share. It starts at 10:30 a.m.

Cornish Park is on the corner of Route 62 and Harrison Street, right along the Fox River. You can park along any downtown Algonquin Street, in the municipal lot behind the Route 31 stores or at the Port Edward restaurant parking lot.

You might want to allow extra time to get through the intersection. I hear there will be quite a caravan of cars coming south on Route 31.

Finally

Northern Kane County residents will see at least some of their taxes come back in coming weeks. Thanks to an outcry from Kane's local lawmakers, the Illinois Department of Transportation is finally going to resurface and patch that bumpy stretch of Route 31 running from just north of the Northwest Tollway through Elgin. You'll find more details in my colleague Jeff Gaunt's story, at right.

You might recall I initially told you about that rough road, thanks to Don Fraas of West Dundee. We were told it would be fixed, but they just gave it token patching at the time.

Don is thrilled to hear the latest news. And he and his wife, Lorna, invite us to travel that way to the Fox Valley Chapter Model T Ford Club International's annual car show and parade lap from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Larkin High School. The show will honor the Elgin National Road Races held from 1910 to 1933. You'll know Don by his blue 1941 Plymouth … which I'm guessing he'll drive very carefully along Route 31.

Swing time

Grant Winsauer, 4, of Cary finds walking a challenge, but thanks to the Cary Park District he can now fly high on a special swing.

Grant has cerebral palsy, so he couldn't join his twin sister, Emma, on the swings during their trips to the park near their home.

Parents Sandy and Dave contacted the park district to see if there was anything it could do, and park district folks quickly installed the special swing at Kaper Park Wednesday to make it one of four parks with special equipment in the village.

With a big grin, Grant got his first ride Thursday.

"I was really happy with the park district," Sandy said.

"The world is not made for special needs people," she added. "I wanted other parents to know they can just make a phone call, too."

Pucker up, Cub fans

There I was standing in Wrigley Field's right field bleachers Tuesday night, the stifling heat just beyond the vines no damper for us Cubs fans, despite being hitless for four innings against the Cincinnati Reds. Cubs fans, after all, always harbor hope, if not reason.

A young man, a few brews to the wind, begged the young woman from Algonquin standing next to me for a kiss "so we'll get a home run." With a laugh, she obliged. Derek Lee knocked one over the vines. The fan asked for another kiss "just so we can get another homer."

She laughed, rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek again.

Aramis Ramirez banged one out of the park.

We all laughed in amazement. Two innings later the fan came back begging for another kiss, adding that "if a kiss gets a home run, just imagine what would happen if you went out with me. We'd probably win the World Series."

That got him some hoots and hollers, but she kissed him one more time. Jacque Jones belted the ball into the bleachers. Holy cow.

Unfortunately, the kissing fool was nowhere to be found in the ninth when a potential game winner fell just short of the vines.

Not to suggest more Cubs fans need to pucker up, but, hey … whatever it takes.