Musings about Drew, contracts and Route 59
Some random thoughts from your friendly DuPage editor, a Friday Soapbox, if you will ...
We're on the case
In case you didn't notice, our coverage of the Drew Peterson saga has been pretty low-key for the past two years. We've relied on the wire services for the preponderance of our stories. The overriding reason for that is the decision to hold true to our policy of not naming a suspect until he or she is actually charged with a crime or we strongly believe charges are imminent. That Drew was a suspect in the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio (notice how I'm skillfully avoiding any mention of missing wife No. 4), was the worst-kept secret of the 21st Century.
At first, I'll admit, I felt hamstrung by our policy. It was embarrassing to be the only Chicago-area media outlet not pursuing the story hammer and tongs. But as time went on, and as the wretched excesses of the coverage played out, I was kind of proud of our hands-off stance. I had gotten so used to it, in fact, that when Peterson was indicted May 7, I wasn't wild about jumping into the story at this late date. Our legal affairs reporter, Christy Gutowski, felt similarly out of position. I'm certainly not going to vow we'll suddenly become the authority on Drew Peterson, but we'll pick our spots here and there and maybe give you something a little different. For instance, there's Christy's exclusive story in yesterday's paper on the newest member of Drew's defense team - a Naperville attorney who drew some ire for single-handedly depleting a state-funded account for death-penalty cases.
Cause for celebration
On today's front page you'll see a story (Gutowski again) that the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 has to make public the contract of former Superintendent Gary Catalani. It's a decision, frankly, that we're celebrating in the newsroom. You should, too. Given the awful climate and culture of politics in Illinois these days, any ruling/decision/decree that provides the public better access to and information about government doings can only be a positive thing.
The district, in refusing to provide a copy of Catalani's contract to a school board candidate, said it was defending the right for Catalani's personnel file, of which the contract (with all the juicy stuff, such as his salary, benefits and other perks) to remain confidential. Catalani, on his own, had given the Daily Herald a copy of his contract. During the legal dispute, I took a look at the contract. Frankly, it was hard to see what it contained that could be viewed as ultrasensitive, top-secret information. In some detail, Catalani was instructed to negotiate contracts with teachers and others, get community feedback about the district's performance and improve student test scores and achievement. The state supreme court saw no harm in that info being passed along, and ordered a DuPage County judge to pare from the contract only Catalani's personal information, such as his social security and personal bank numbers.
More rejoicing
Finally, how 'bout a round of applause for the state legislature's decision to make it more expensive to drive, drink (not at the same time, of course) and maintain good personal hygiene? All worth it, I say, if some much-needed road projects, such as the overhaul of horribly congested Route 59, actually get started.
Page 1 story today on that topic, too.
jdavis@dailyherald.com