Saturday Soapbox: Impressive start
Impressive start:
We wouldn't suggest legislators get nothing for their public service, but it is meant to be a part-time job. So we applaud state Rep.-elect Tom Morrison of Palatine for taking the too-rare step of forgoing a state pension. There's an example more should follow, even if it's only a symbolic act of shared sacrifice in attacking the state budget mess.
Doe diligence:
November is a good time for an important reminder: When driving through the wooded areas of the suburbs and beyond, be on high alert for deer. This is the season they cross roadways in search of mates, so be on the lookout, especially after sunset.
And speaking of sunset:
It comes earlier these days, and other precautions are needed, too. A Round Lake Park pedestrian was killed in Wauconda on a recent evening by a driver who wasn't speeding and simply didn't see the man, who was wearing dark clothing. Make certain you're visible.
Could there be more?
The General Assembly made a sensible move by overriding the governor's veto of a funding fix that benefits Elgin Area School District U-46. Apparently, an extra $22 million in general state aid for schools was discovered, so the impact on other districts is minimal. But it makes us wonder: What other moneys are hiding out there?
Sports landscape Part I:
If the road construction season here never ends, neither does the shuffling of pro sports leagues. The latest entry in the suburbs is the Chicago Riot, a men's soccer franchise in the Major Indoor Soccer League that will play home games at the Odeum in Villa Park. With any luck they'll last longer than did the Chicago Storm, which folded in 2008.
Sports landscape Part II:
Get your score cards ready because the landscape keeps shifting for other suburban franchises. The Schaumburg Flyers seek new ownership as the village requests payments through the courts. The Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer need more investors to stay alive, and the Chicago Bandits softball team is banking on a new home in Rosemont. It's never easy, is it?
No honeymoon:
Announcing a 10 percent pay cut for herself and telling Cook County offices all to prepare for 16 percent budget cuts in the face of an expected $487 million deficit, President-elect Toni Preckwinkle surely didn't make herself popular among Cook County officials this week. But if she keeps talking like that, she'll soon be popular with everyone else.
‘That's so small-town':
It's not a dig but a compliment to the suburbs, which time and again give a small-town embrace to friends and strangers in need. The turnout Thursday as slain Lance Cpl. James Bray Stack's body was returned to Arlington Heights by motorcade is the latest example of that neighborly caring.
Taxes go up? Don't just blame schools:
Or park districts, or libraries, or other governments. Yes, each may still have spending issues of its own to watch, but only a few saw tax-rate increases over 2 or 3 percent, and many tax rates dropped. But look, too, at Cook County Board of Review commissioners, who gave massive property assessment decreases to big businesses, leaving homeowners to carry more of the load.