Saturday Soapbox
A message for all school boards:
Surely, school boards are paying attention to the Illinois Supreme Court ruling that tells Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 to make public its now-former superintendent's contract. We'd like to issue a call to all school boards. In the spirit of good government and reform, make the superintendent's contract public now. Don't wait for someone to ask. Post it on your Web sites. Feel free to do the same for teacher contracts and any other collective bargaining agreements.
And a thank you to Mark Stern:
It took a lawsuit and more than three years in court to get the ruling on that contract. Thanks to Mark Stern for waging that battle. But it shouldn't take a lawsuit to get a public body to comply with the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Talk about tiny fees:
Did you read about United Airlines' latest fee? They're going to charge an additional $5 for every bag checked in person. The goal is to force more people to use online check-ins. What about those that can't afford computers at home or who don't want to send their info out over the Internet? Will they get a waiver - or just punished into paying extra fees? United should consider charging an extra free to passengers who want their flights to be on time. Now that would be a real moneymaker.
A cashless crisis:
It's amazing how much of a cashless society we've become. In between debit cards, pay at the pump and I-Pass, when do you need to pull out real, live money? Never was this more evident than at a Jewel in Des Plaines when a brief computer problem meant they could only take cash for purchases. Chaos erupted. Shoppers dug through purses or pulled items out of their carts. Few thought to get cash from the in-store ATM. If this is a glimpse of where we'd be without computers, it wasn't pretty.
All creatures, small and smaller:
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors is a group of volunteers who patrol Chicago's Loop at dawn to save birds that fly into buildings or meet with other ill fortune. These nature-loving monitors also keep busy in our suburbs, bringing injured birds to the DuPage County Forest Preserve's Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn. So when appreciating the song of a bird in your yard this spring, it just might be one saved by the caring hands of these volunteers.