Your Views

State should decide Rt. 53 land's future

I have several comments with regard to the June 3 article written by Marni Pyke titled, "Now what to do with land set aside for Route 53 extension?"

I like the suggestions that leave the right of way land with the state to decide what to do with it. Since state money was used to purchase the property and the property is not being used as originally intended, then the state should be able to sell the land for the highest price possible and return the monies to the state treasury (we all know the state could use the money).

Another good option for the state was the possibility of leaving some or all the land for wildlife (that portion of the land would remain with the state as a permanent wildlife sanctuary.)

Finally, I do not agree with the suggestions the Lake County Forest Preserve District obtain the property for new forest preserves or that Lake County Department of Transportation obtaining the property for bikeway trails. The forest preserve website points out that currently Lake County is the second-largest forest preserve district in terms of forest preserve acreage in Illinois (Cook County is first; however, it is much larger than Lake in total county acreage). Also, Lake County already has more bicycle paths than any other county in the Chicago area at 550 miles (combined between trails and bikeways).

Lake County residents do not need the increased taxes that additional forest preserves and bikeways would entail to initially build and then permanently maintain when the county is already in excellent position with what we have in place.

Wesley Rouse

Round Lake

Some added advice for graduates

Your editorial exhorting today's and future graduates to not place self-imposed limits on their life aspirations was very poignant; especially in today's culture, where so much talk is of concepts like victimization and privilege.

When the conviction that one is born into an immutable state in life which cannot be challenged based on the circumstances of your progenitors is drilled into our children in early life, it is easy to picture the hopeless futures which many of our young see before them.

A piece of advice I would add to yours would be "Don't place limits on your aspirations and don't let others - be they family, friends, or what you read or hear in social commentary - convince you that you can't choose your own path, dream your own dreams, or make your visions a reality. Listen to those in your life who tell you that you can and reject the advice of those who would tell you otherwise, for they are many today and their motives should be suspect for many reasons."

Stephen J. Gohmann

Huntley

You can't escape the love of cats

The editorial page column in the June 6 Daily Herald about men and cats was sweet and oh-so-true. A neighbor's feral kitten wandering in our yard discovered my husband and fell head over paws in love with him. She followed him whenever he was in our yard. The grey-over-white kitten had excellent instincts, because her four kitten siblings soon were hit and killed just days apart on nearby busy Roberts Road.

Named Mona, she now is an indoor cat only. And yes, Mona still clearly adores my husband. I'm just someone who puts cat food into her bowl. That's OK with me. At least, Mona survived, unlike her feral cat mother, who disappeared before her four kittens died.

I wish my husband and I could have saved and re-homed the rest of Mona's family.

Helen Sierra

Barrington

Grateful for those tuning Trump out

Donald Trump, who pledged an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, then spent nearly every day of his one-term presidency trying to destroy it, has always demanded blind loyalty from his base.

In an effort to maintain his mastery over those masses and to keep him relevant in the wake of his seven million vote election loss, he recently began a blog espousing what he referred to as a "beacon of freedom." However, imagine his indignation and infuriation upon reading reports from The Washington Post and other media outlets highlighting measly readership of the blog.

In fact, an embarrassed Trump ordered his staff to pull the blog after only 29 days. While millions continue their blind allegiance to Trump, more and more people are fortunately tiring of his continued baseless Big Lie claim of the election being stolen, his immoral and coldhearted behavior and his constant departure from ordinary decency and norms of conduct in almost every facet of daily life.

Evidently, an increasing number of citizens have other ideas about what thoughts and subsequent actions constitute a proper, to use Trump's own words, "beacon of freedom." Trump believed that as POTUS, he could basically do whatever he wanted with impunity. However, Americans are increasingly rejecting that idea and tuning Trump out, and America is better off as a result.

Donald Trump is currently under both civil and criminal investigation for activities ranging from tax- and bank-related fraud to election conspiracy and fraud. For a guy who has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns and has been recorded trying to convince a Georgia election official to alter certified presidential election results, Donald's next aborted blog could eventually easily come from the inside of a jail cell.

Mark Anderson

Naperville

Patients will need valet even more now

We have lived in the area for roughly 45 years, first in Sleepy Hollow, then Dundee Township and now in Elgin. I have been a patient and used several of the outpatient services at Sherman Hospital. Our two daughters were both born at Sherman Hospital and my wife's doctors are all on staff at Sherman. We are strong supporters of the men and women who work at Sherman and we see the hospital as a cornerstone of our community.

I just learned that the CEO and board of directors of Advocate (I assume) have suspended the hospital's valet service for the summer. The logic behind this escapes me.

The pandemic is winding down, More of the doctors and their staffs are returning to normal office hours. I would assume that surgical procedures will increase because of the above. And all of the above will increase the number of visitors, many who would have used the Valet Service.

Maybe the board of directors should man the parking lots at Sherman for a week to see how many people with canes, on crutches or in wheelchairs have to struggle to get to the entrance of the hospital from the distant parking lots.

Then there are people with COPD, cancer or heart ailments who will have to increase their arrival times substantially just to make the hike to the entrance. God forbid that it rains, which will only increase the suffering of the hospital's patients and visitors.

Perhaps, if the bottom line of the hospital is in danger, the board members would be willing to take a reduction in the stipends that they receive. After all, their job is to see that the operation runs smoothly, not to make decisions that will impact the very people who depend on Advocate Sherman Hospital.

Jeff Beck

Elgin