Saturday Soapbox: No flood help

We understand that state and federal emergency management agencies have to draw the line somewhere in determining which communities are eligible for funds when a disaster strikes. However, we think funding should have been available for Lake County to help cover costs associated with last year's flooding. Countywide, governments spent about $1 million to fight and cleanup up from flooding along the Fox and Des Plaines rivers and the Chain O' Lakes in August and September 2007. That included personnel overtime and supplies. While the amount doesn't rise to the level of a Hurricane Katrina, it's not chump change either. The point is floods can't be anticipated and funded in advance with a budget line item. To a small town like Fox Lake, $100,000 for flood costs is a hefty surprise expense. Local mayors and county officials have a right to be miffed. They were looking to the state and federal government for help in their time of need, and it wasn't there.

Forced civility

Civility on a board discussing public business should be a given. It's human nature for tempers to flare occasionally, but that has become a regular occurrence for the Hainesville village board. We think the problem and a proposed solution is extreme, however. Mayor Ted Mueller earlier this week said he wanted to change the village code to allow him to charge trustees with disorderly conduct and fine them $100 for being, in his opinion, out of order at meetings. He also wanted to limit trustees' access to the village's legal counsel and staff. That would-be power surge is over the top. Information should be available to public officials who have a say in what happens in town, though they too have to be reasonable about the manner it is requested. Mass e-mails are not the best way to go, either. We're glad to hear the board will take up the matter in committee before making a final decision. The best result would be that the information among the mayor and board is shared in a uniform manner and differences of opinion can be aired without the need for law enforcement authorities to be in the room.

Too much of a good thing?

Does anyone else ever tire of holiday food by the time the holiday rolls around? By Thanksgiving, we've had several chances to eat turkey, sweet potatoes and cranberry relish; by Christmas, ham had been offered at least one time too many; and now, for St. Patrick's Day, we probably will tire of corned beef and cabbage before the big day arrives. But green beer? Who could ever get tired of that - but, as always, drink responsibly.

Where's the harm?

Maybe, just maybe, the long, hard winter finally is over and we have survived it. So it might be a good time to say, yes, what we just went through flies in the face of global warming and all the warnings it brings. But, really, no matter where you stand on that issue, is it really so bad to hope for a better environment and to do things to help achieve that than to use a frigid, snowy winter as an excuse not to?

Something to talk about:

This week, a startling federal government study found at least one in four American girls age 14 to 19 has a sexually transmitted disease. The most common one, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the virus that can cause cervical cancer; the second may lead to infertility. It may be uncomfortable for parents to talk frankly with their teen children about avoiding this threat to their health, but consider the alternative.