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The Soapbox: Daily Herald editors offer brief thoughts on suburban topics in the news.

This editorial represents the consensus opinion of The Daily Herald Editorial Board.

This week's Clippable Quote

"The only way you can be the best at something is to be the best you can be." - author Susan Beth Pfeffer

March is such a tease

Last Sunday and Monday, we didn't have to wear jackets. This weekend? Highs in the low 40s. Isn't March supposed to "go out like a lamb?" The "lion" has stuck around, and it's toying with us.

And our sports are paying the price

Winter high school sports have ended, although you wouldn't know it by the temperature outside. Baseball and softball teams are champing at the bit to get their seasons started, but it's tough for teenagers, coaches and umpires to perform to the best of their abilities in 20-degree wind chills. True spring weather can't some too soon.

Both sides now

How about we set aside the whataboutism and admit that Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominees these days have almost nothing to do with a candidate's qualifications and everything to do with a politician's grandstanding. How can senators of either party not be ashamed of their behavior?

Making a difference

Sheila Lockwood, of McHenry, offers another reminder that individuals don't have to feel impotent when they want to solve a problem. After her son Austin died in an alcohol-related crash in 2018, she became a prominent fighter against drunken driving, and in 2026, she'll see the fruits of her labor - a requirement that new vehicles include technology to keep drunks out of the driver's seat.

That's not all

The so-called HALT Act isn't her only success. Lockwood also successfully lobbied the legislature in Wisconsin, where her son was killed, for stronger penalties for drunken drivers who cause a death, and she's working with Republican state Rep. Tom Weber of Lake Villa on an Illinois law that would clarify that drunken-driving crashes are not accidents.

When the chips are down

No one can doubt the religious and political divisions that strain American society these days. But what a comfort when we see folks like the Rev. Yaroslav Mendyuk, Ukrainian Catholic in Palatine, describing the outpouring of support from all sectors and all faiths to help Ukrainians half a world away who are suffering under the relentless attacks of Russia.

Fuel for a campaign?

Chicago entrepreneur and philanthropist Willie Wilson says his recent gasoline giveaways have nothing to do with his potential political ambitions. He just wants to help in hard times. Maybe. But we still say if you take his gas, be sure to know what he stands for before you give him your vote.

Very, very good news

It feels more like old times almost every day, but we're wise to watch out for and protect ourselves and our families against a COVID resurgence. Which brings us to the plight of children and pediatrician Michael Bauer's assurance this week that the data so far on safety and effectiveness of the latest vaccines "is very, very good." That's the kind of thinking that got us here.

Remembering Madeleine Albright

Appropriately, the accomplishments of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who died of cancer this week at 84, have been widely recounted. We can only echo them, and yearn for more men and women in government of her caliber and character. May she rest in peace and may we learn from her example.

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