The Soapbox: Daily Herald editors offer brief thoughts on suburban topics in the news.
Words for our time
What's important in life? Arlington Heights resident and volunteer learned the answer when she began going deaf in 2010. Cochlear implants helped her regain her hearing in 2015, but the key lesson, she told the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, was the power of faith and community that pulled her through. "We cannot do this alone," she said.
Brava, LaTasha
Thanks to LaTasha Unseld of Schaumburg for telling her horrifying story of domestic abuse to our Burt Constable so that other women might learn from it. And for deciding to become a counselor. Her story is inspiring.
Texting detecting
There has been talk recently of textalyzers, a device for police to detect if a driver has been texting, much like a Breathalyzer to determine alcohol consumption. The problem, it seems, is the issue of privacy. The real invasion of privacy is texting drivers who put at risk the safety of others on the road. Way too many still insist on texting while driving.
Cops and residents
Kudos to the Unity Partnership and police chiefs David Anderson of Lisle and Greg Thomas of Darien for developing a program to show residents how to safely respond to traffic stops. Organizers say it will be the first of several programs to improve relations between local police in DuPage County and members of the minority community.
Proceed with caution ... but proceed
The St. Charles District 303 school board is holding off, for now, on closing Fox Ridge Elementary School and changing boundaries affecting 700 kids. With 1,700 empty seats in the district's 12 elementaries, board member Jim Gaffney said decisions have to be made by spring, not a year from now. That's a good first step. Leave no one wondering.
Looking forward
The six high school boys basketball teams from Northwest Suburban High School District 214 will return to the site of the first school in the district, Grace Gym and what was once Arlington High School, for three games to be played on Friday. This is a winning idea for nostalgia's sake alone, and having good matchups only sweetens the deal.
Not a speeders' lane
Sight seen on Springinsguth Road in Schaumburg, north of Schaumburg Road - an impatient driver using the center turn lane to pass a driver going the speed limit. Come on, folks. That lane is not reserved for speeders. Someone could get killed.
Remembering Kevin Hauber
Condolences to the family and colleagues of Kevin Hauber a veteran firefighter/paramedic who served Buffalo Grove since 1994. He was a member of the Associated Firefighters of Illinois Honor Guard, which provides final honors to fallen firefighters. He will be missed.
Remembering Tim Busse
The suburbs will remember Timothy Busse as the Elk Grove Village farmer who sold a coveted property for a $1 billion technology park. But just as important, the man who worked the land his family settled in 1848 until his death at 65, will be remembered, in the words of a friend, as "a man of his word," "a generous guy" and "a true non-conformist." A fine epitaph.