Is it the water?

Recently, letter writer Mr. Shea posed the question, “Why not choose alternatives?”

It’s about Illinois politics and that Illinoisans keep voting Democrat in our elections with the General Assembly having a “supermajority” of one party rule for good or bad and making Illinois a BLUE state. Do Illinoisan’s have the “blues” or feelings of melancholy, sadness or depression

The blues being that Democrats in our General Assembly just passed a $55.2 billion budget before the legislative clock struck midnight on Saturday, May 31. As reported in the newspaper, “The four bills making up the budget and capital spending were part of a flurry of thousands of pages of legislation that went from introduction to passage in the final 48 hours of the legislative session.”

I’m sure that each Illinois representative read every line item of expenditure or line item of revenue before casting their vote for passage. As Rep. John Cabello said, “We’re rushing this process like we always do. Let’s hide this stuff. Let’s hide it so that the public doesn’t see it until it’s too late.”

We know that Chicago’s drinking water is probably Democrat, but is the drinking water in Illinois making people vote Democrat?

Robert Meale

Crystal Lake

I’ve just listened to a PBS interview of Dr. Victoria Rose, a British reconstructive surgeon with the national Health Service who is on her third medical mission to Gaza. She is currently at Khan Younis Hospital. When asked what has changed this time since her prior missions in Gaza, she said the state of the children. Their emaciated bodies can’t heal their wounds even after surgical intervention.

She explained that there has been no food or other aid entering Gaza since March 2. The trickle of trucks that entered in the past two days have merely unloaded onto trucks in Israel controlled territory of Gaza. The deterioration of sanitation in Gaza is spreading disease. The type of antibiotic that remains in use in Gaza is inadequate for the infections being treated. The wounds have not changed, burns to 50% of the children’s bodies or missile-like penetration wounds of their bodies from debris propelled by explosives.

We can no longer allow the killing, maiming, starving of the innocent children of Gaza. We can no longer accept the constant uprooting of the Gazan people from every place of refuge they temporarily find. Calling for an end to the inhumane treatment of an entire civilian population is not antisemitism. It is necessary for the survival of our moral fiber as a nation.

Margaret Johnson

Rolling Meadows

In the suburbs we call home, health care should be personal, local, and accessible. Yet across Lake and Cook counties, primary-care physicians are facing pressures that jeopardize this very model. As an independent family physician in Gurnee, I’ve watched insurers increasingly deploy algorithmic down coding — reducing claims for common evaluation and management services like 99214 to lesser-paying levels without review. This tactic not only undercuts physicians but ultimately drives patients toward fragmented, high-cost specialty care.

This hits close to home for suburban communities. Independent clinics like mine are tailored to local populations and offer continuity of care that large health systems often can’t match. Yet when reimbursement models fail to recognize this value, our survival becomes uncertain.

We urge insurers and policymakers to realign incentives. Value-based care must start with valuing the providers on the front lines. Sustaining local health care depends on fair pay for those who prevent disease, not just treat it.

Luis I Salazar

Gurnee

As a Long Grove resident of more than 20 years, I’m deeply disappointed by the Village Board’s decision to approve the QuikTrip development at Route 53 and Lake-Cook Road.

Nearly 1,000 residents voiced opposition to this project. The Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals recommended against it. Despite that, our trustees voted yes — citing a fear of missing out on development opportunities or potential annexation by Buffalo Grove, even though the TIF district doesn’t expire until 2031 and annexation would take far longer.

That’s not sound reasoning; it’s an excuse.

What’s worse, when the PCZBA didn’t deliver the outcome the board wanted, its chair was removed and replaced with a former trustee who didn’t want to run for the village board again. That doesn’t feel like democracy — it feels like manipulation.

I moved back here to raise my family in a community that values charm, quiet and integrity. This decision reflects none of those values. Instead of building on Long Grove’s unique character — like revitalizing its historic downtown — our leaders have chosen to stake our village’s future on a gas station at the region’s busiest intersection.

I hope the trustees enjoy the “most beautiful truck stop in the area,” because that seems to be the legacy they’ve chosen to leave.

Karina Sirota Goodley

Long Grove