The Soapbox: Good news for Palatine schools, a frightfully good time in Elgin, decisions on Route 53 and more.,
No news can be good news
A little bird pointed out to us that for the first time in recent memory, the tax levy for Palatine Township Elementary District 15 was approved with calm deliberation and a notable lack of audience histrionics. That's worth celebrating.
Growing into the role
Park Ridge native Harrison Ford, reprising his Han Solo role in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," is recalled around town as a shy, average student whose only high school performance was lip-syncing a song. His subsequent success sets a great example for late bloomers of any age.
Not a financial nightmare:
In these days of tight municipal budgets, any deficit is a concern. But we'd like to express our enthusiasm for the success of Elgin's signature event, "Nightmare on Chicago Street," which drew a record number of people.
'Buck a person'
The Oct. 24 event did fall $13,000 in the red, but that was less than half last year's loss. And, the attraction, in which the downtown is turned into a Halloween nightmare, drew 13,776 zombie-lovers and other folks. "You can say the investment was a buck a person, give or take," Mayor David Kaptain said. Pretty good investment, we'd say.
That's a lot of fans:
Lost amid the trades and signings at the recent Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville was this nugget: The Kane County Cougars were honored for being the first Class-A franchise in Minor League Baseball to reach 11 million fans. The Cougars have drawn more than 400,000 fans in 21 of 25 seasons. They truly are an all-star franchise.
Yuletide hoops:
While schools may be on Christmas break the next two weeks, high school basketball teams are not. Beginning today, a plethora of boys and girls Christmas tournaments take place throughout the suburbs, including at Wheeling, Wheaton North, Dundee-Crown, Jacobs, Mundelein and Montini, among many others.
Benefits of sharing:
Fire departments serving Carpentersville, East Dundee and West Dundee plan to share a training officer, collaborate on equipment purchases, and standardize software, data collection and fire prevention programs. It sounds like a way to save money and also improve safety.
The long and winding road:
Now comes news that momentum is building to finally extend Route 53 north into Lake County. While we welcome the news on the long-debated project, please forgive us if we don't get too worked up about it just yet.
Silence from the top:
It might help if we could get some thoughts and insights from the guy who'll be responsible for making whatever is decided successful. But Executive Director Greg Bedalov manages to make himself constantly scarce when reporters seek his thoughts. We hope to hear more from him as this plays out.
Learners losing out:
In another reminder that the Illinois budget impasse most often impacts those who can least bear it, the people who take advantage of adult learning opportunities in high school districts 211 and 214 might be left out in the cold next semester if those programs continue to be without state funding. Let's hope for a holiday miracle from Springfield.
Everyday heroes:
Naperville this week honored Barbara Seleski, of Wheaton, who helped pull a Lombard woman out of a burning car earlier this year. It's just one of many stories we've covered about "everyday people" doing extraordinary things to help others. In these troubled times it's always nice to be reminded that there's a lot more good than evil out there.