A new kind of independence, we guess:
Rep. Bill Foster of Geneva has a new campaign ad out depicting his record as bipartisan, which is interesting since 94.8 percent of his votes since being elected to Congress last winter have been with the Democrats, according to washingtonpost.com's Votes Database.
Who exactly is the old-style politician?
The Democratic Party has sent out a flurry of ugly campaign fliers on behalf of Mark Walker of Arlington Heights trashing his Illinois House opponent, Christine Prochno, as some sort of back ward political hack. She's an Elk Grove Village trustee, for crying out loud, not a Chicago machine politician. Elevate your campaign, Mark, will you?
Golf Road, coming back to normal:
Overnight road crews have been cutting out strips of and scraping up Golf Road in Schaumburg where potholes once existed. On some nights the road was left ugly and still not so smooth, but the scraping gives us hope Golf Road will be smooth again in time for winter!
Making points with metaphors I:
Defense attorney Wesley Pribla, arguing why Barbara Mende, former Gavin Elementary District 37 president, should not get jail time for her theft and bad bidding: "She was swimming in an ocean with fish much bigger than her. I do not mean to be trite, but she was out of her league." Being overmatched means she should get dispensation?
Making points with metaphors II:
DuPage County Board member J.R. McBride, arguing Tony Fiasche of Lombard should not have built a fence two feet taller than allowed: "That would be like you or me buying size 34 waist pants and hoping we're going to get down to that before we start the diet." No fooling.
Making points with metaphors III:
Lombard Trustee Jack O'Brien, arguing against spending another $15,000 for a study on what the community wants in its downtown: "All we do is throw money at it. It's like giving an A just for coming to class." How many more studies does Lombard need?
Rachel's challenge:
Kudos to Jacobs and Palatine high schools for continuing to expose students to "Rachel's Challenge," a program inspired by Rachel Scott, the first victim killed in the Columbine shootings in 1999. Her diaries and her message of compassion have turned a tragic moment into a decade of goodwill.
Amazing turnaround:
This week, the Blackhawks surpassed season ticket sales of 13,425 with a near-capacity crowd for their first preseason game. Hockey is back!
If everyone's agreed, let's debate:
Republican Congressional candidate Steve Greenberg of Long Grove says his opponent, incumbent Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington, is pulling a Phil Crane and ignoring calls for a public debate. Bean's handlers say she "looks forward to engaging in the political process, including debate." Great. Now that that's settled, lets pick a date.
How do you capture it in words?
When we put a picture of Jackie Gulczynski, Pfc. Leonard J. "Lenny" Gulczynski's mother, and Staff Sgt. Yvonne Kennedy, Lenny's recruiter, hugging at Bartlett High School on last Saturday's front page, it was difficult to write the headline for it. What do you write to adequately capture such a moment? The family was very gracious to invite us to the gathering for Lenny, who was killed in Iraq at 19. God comfort them.