Soapbox: Silly law; silly lawsuit

It takes a highly elastic imagination to fathom just how the constitutional rights of Buffalo Grove atheist Robert Sherman or his daughter might be harmed by a newly required moment of silence in Illinois public schools. Nonetheless, if those who sponsored or voted for this pointless law claim that they never envisioned legal tests, then they really should not be allowed anywhere near a statehouse voting button again. The law and the Shermans' lawsuit compel High School District 214 to waste time and money to defend a law it didn't even seek. One more bit of evidence that state lawmakers really botched matters by refusing to be satisfied with an existing law that allowed, but did not require, a moment of silence to start the school day.

Stroger missing in action

Cook County Board President has no problem seeking some $800 million in tax increases to cover a budget deficit of only about one-third that sum. But he apparently had trouble finding his way to a Tuesday budget hearing in Skokie. So county commissioners who made the effort to show up had to bear the brunt of residents' anger about Stroger's tax proposals and listen to accusations that Stroger was hiding from the very folks he wants to tax. Maybe Stroger was at home, re-reading Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends & Influence People."

Dance gone, image remains

And speaking of legal challenges, University of Illinois officials were smart to reverse a previous ruling and allow images of Chief Illiniwek to be included on University of Illinois homecoming floats this week. News reports did not state whether any lawsuits had been threatened, but university officials said they concluded that the ban on the chief's image would have unduly restricted students' speech. Good thinking. University officials showed cultural sensitivity by eliminating Chief Illiniwek's dances, but it's hard to imagine the school successfully defending a ban on students' use of the Chief's image.

Keeping everyone in the loop

The wisest and most responsive school districts solicit community opinion before getting too deeply into potentially controversial issues. For that reason, it was good to see Barrington Area Unit District 220 first set up a community committee to make boundary recommendations and now share that panel's work results with the public at large. It's good, similarly, to see Palatine Township Elementary District 15 board invite residents to meet with the firm hired to search for the district's next superintendent.

And this time he means it!

When federal Judge Michael Mason again extended the deadline for discovery in the discrimination lawsuit filed against Elgin School District U-46, you could almost feel residents groan. The district has already spent more than $3 million to defend itself and Mason has yet to even rule on whether the suit will become a class action. In June, Mason extended discovery (trading of evidence) until Nov. 1. Now it's been extended to Nov. 29, more than a year after discovery began. Mason told the parties involved that he'd brook no extension after that date. We're pretty certain residents footing the legal bills are hoping he means it this time.

Lattes, yes; laptops, no

The Illinois Department of Transportation has been forced to again postpone its plans to bring Internet service to Interstate highway rest stops. IDOT officials said last week that no vendors submitted bids to provide the service. Which means that drivers with coffee can still pull over to get wired -- but not to go wireless.