Saturday Soapbox: Fire chief's sudden departure
The sudden departure of John Wu as Naperville's fire chief raises all sorts of questions this week as to exactly what happened and why. Rumors, of course, are flying all over the place. Everybody involved is hiding behind the old "it's a personnel matter" defense for keeping the reasons for the chief's departure hush-hush. It would be better, we think, for the city to come clean, explain its rationale for changing chiefs and then move on. One final thought: Are you like us and waiting for the next shoe to drop: like a lawsuit, perhaps?
It takes a … community:
The days of sitting on the front stoop of your porch with family and neighbors may be over, but that doesn't mean our sense of community is dead. Recently, we've seen two examples in the suburbs of citizens taking an active role in keeping their neighborhoods safe. In Aurora, neighbors reported suspicious activity and ended up busting an alleged prostitution ring. Days ago, a multi-agency task force of local, state and federal officers took a tip from some Wood Dale neighbors and turned it into an undercover sting that netted 24 arrests, three pounds of cocaine, seven guns and six cars. These folks got involved, and made their neighborhood a lot safer for everyone else.
Great canine cop
Uta was a good Wood Dale cop. She was instrumental in uncovering hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal drugs. Indeed, she assisted in the drug bust in Wood Dale. But the drug-sniffing canine's career came to a tragic end this week. She died Monday after being hit by a car in Elgin. Wood Dale police officers are devastated at the loss of the 2-year-old German Shepherd that joined the force as a member of the canine unit in December. We send our condolences, and would add that the world is a better place because of the keen nose of a canine cop that took a lot of drugs off the street.
Sad price of progress:
We suppose this'll be a good thing in the long run. While partnering with Barrington-based Health World, Itasca will concentrate on bringing new projects to the fore, such as a riverwalk linking the downtown to the municipal complex, library, water park and Spring Brook Nature Center. But the new partnership signals the demise of the nature center's raptor exhibit, already on borrowed time due to funding concerns. In addition to nursing sick birds back to health, the raptor exhibit also houses 13 birds of prey, including owls, hawks, falcons and vultures -- many of whom are featured at special events and public programs. Perhaps it's not a cost-effective exhibit -- and everyone has to watch the bottom line in these troubled economic times -- but the raptors are a one-of-a-kind exhibit and we lament its passing.
Fight against hunger needs our help:Œ
Feed My Starving Children, a Minnesota-based charity, is preparing to open a permanent branch in Aurora later this month. Still, having a building isn't enough. It takes a lot of volunteer help to get meals to hungry children. For example, the three branches of Feed My Starving Children in Minnesota are staffed by 50,000 volunteers, providing more than 10 million meals each year. Volunteers are surely needed for this good cause, and we're sure your time will be put to good use at the Aurora facility.
Hockey fans had reason to cheer
The Chicago Blackhawks came close, but did not make the NHL playoffs. But they did win back the respect of fans with gritty play that hasn't been seen on the rink in years. That counts for a lot.