Saturday soapbox: Now, the residents

Once again, things seem to have gotten a little out of control in Island Lake. This week, 60-year-old Greg Kachka was charged with disorderly conduct after Trustee Debbie Herrmann and Village Clerk Christy Kaczmarek complained they felt threatened by his actions at a village board meeting. Kachka says he was at the meeting to question the board's legal fees. The Vietnam vet did this while wearing a T-shirt depicting a Marine Corps sniper and the words "Don't Move. If You Run, You'll Only Die Tired." Officials say he was belligerent and held his hand in the shape of a gun, which he pointed at the board. "We've got a job to do up there and we shouldn't have to worry about residents being adverse to what we are doing," said Herrmann. Well, there's a difference between being threatened and being questioned. Admittedly, it's hard to say who is right and who is wrong here. But the bottom line is that this is the very same group of officials who last fall had to pass a resolution to say they would try harder to work together in a positive manner and avoid personal attacks and rehashing settled business. Now maybe they should concentrate on finding a way to work with their constituents. And deal with behavior they consider objectionable without involving the police.

Congratulations

Vernon Hills High School's math team members come in a variety of personalities, but they have one thing in common -- they're all pretty darn smart. They'd have to be to knock off 51 schools to win the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics Division 3AA 2008 state competition last weekend at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. That's the second state championship for Vernon Hills' 26-member team, which finished with a 70-point lead over the runner-up school. Talk about a tradition of excellence -- the team won the 2A division in 2002, finished seventh in its division in the state two years ago and was two points shy of second place last year.

There's too many games, anyway

Of the high school athletic directors who have been at their jobs a long time, not one of them can remember canceling so many spring events because of the weather. Many area baseball and softball teams won't get in the 35 games they are allowed -- some might not get in 20. But schools are spoiled today with being allowed to schedule so many games. Not so long ago a 20-game schedule was commonplace. The 1976 state softball champions from Rich South played 23 games, including the post-season. The next year Cahokia won the state title with a 19-0 record. We suspect fewer games would increase the student-athletes' study time and even test scores.