Soapbox: Thanks
Hats off to the Boy Scout troop at St. Francis de Sales Church in Lake Zurich for their work to recondition bicycles and give them to needy families this weekend. This year's annual project includes 60 bikes that have been repaired for use as Christmas presents and much-needed transportation. It's a program the troop adopted after the parishioner who started it moved from the area a few years ago.
Shhhh:
When Waukegan officials considered applying to give its police authority to begin paperwork to deport illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes, the issue sparked large and loud public protests earlier this year. This week, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran found a way to avoid that hubbub -- he filed the application without any public comment. Curran said he wanted to avoid similar protests, adding the matter is not open for discussion. Curran stressed the move would be aimed only at people charged with violent offenses, sex crimes and the most serious drug offenses. If approved, officers trained in the program would receive no new police powers or federal authority. Still, it's a huge hot-button issue in the immigration community. And the fact such protests took place in Waukegan underscores their concern and suggests the sheriff it should have considered a different tact.
OK, maybe not yet:
The 10-year, $36 million Butterfield Road construction project was supposed to be, for the most part, finished last weekend. And, for the most part, it is. All the lanes are open, but snow and frigid temperatures have prevented crews from striping the road, so the barricades are still up. County officials say with the first break in the weather, they'll put the road markings down, and in the meantime, they'll put up signs warning drivers about new configurations or unfinished areas. Looks like motorists will have to be patient -- and careful -- for a little while longer.
Big decision:
Hainesville Mayor Ted Mueller announced this week ties will be cut with Round Lake Park in February and the village will create its own police force. The deciding factor seems to be Mueller believes money can be saved by walking away from the eight-year-old police partnership. But whether the mayor is or isn't paying too much to Round Lake Park for police services may not be the most important aspect of this decision. The bottom line is that safety, efficiency and the overall level of police coverage be left intact in splitting away from Round Lake Park.
Sensitivity training for all
It's hard to believe in this day and age that a manager of a major restaurant chain would turn away a disabled girl, her family and her help dog. And on her birthday. Glad the restaurant apologized and is getting this employee some training. Here's hoping we can quit writing these kinds of stories in 2008.
On unsafe ground
O'Hare International Airport may have a leg up in the safety game thanks to a new ground radar system, but a scathing U.S. General Accounting Office report to Congress said there's a good chance "a catastrophic runway collision" could happen at the nation's airports because of poor technology, lack of controller manpower and lousy leadership. O'Hare has had three serious close calls in just over a year and several less serious. Worse, the GAO said, "No single office is taking charge of assessing the causes of runway safety problems and taking the steps needed ... ." Lack of leadership from government. What a shock.