Soapbox: Goodbye, Senator
Journalists are a hardened, cynical bunch, but we were genuinely saddened upon hearing of former state Sen. Adeline Geo-Karis' passing this week. Geo-Karis, 89, of Zion, was the grandam of Lake County politics and a legend in the General Assembly who was respected by Republicans and Democrats alike. She served the public for decades, and not just in name -- she really believed in public service, in working for her constituents. In an age in which Illinois lawmakers are more remembered for scandal than for doing good work, Geo-Karis was special. She will be missed.
Better late than never
Give St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church in Antioch style points for being resourceful. The Lenten season got off to a rocky start last week when a heavy snowstorm forced officials at the church on Route 173 to cancel two of four scheduled Ash Wednesday Masses. Many snowbound parishioners and church officials were upset by the thought of starting the church's holiest season sans ashes. Instead of chalking it up to divine providence, St. Raphael and its pastor, the Rev. John Jamnicky, worked with the Archdiocese of Chicago to respond. The church received permission to distribute ashes this past Sunday. People were able to maintain tradition with a special -- and memorable -- Lenten blessing.
Take your time
Antioch officials decided this week to wait for a feasibility study before making a decision on whether to create a special sales tax for Antioch Marketplace, a 600,000-square-foot shopping center planned for the north side of Route 173 just west of Deep Lake Road. Hopefully the findings will help give clear direction to what promises to be a difficult decision. If the tax is implemented, purchases made at affected stores would have a sales tax of 7.5 percent, 1 percent higher than the village's standard 6.5 percent. The extra money would go back to Chicago-based V-Land Corp. to offset building costs. V-Land says the project can't get off the ground without some assistance. If that's true, Antioch could actually lose in the long run by not approving the tax; the development could mean more than 800 jobs, plus whatever sales tax revenue the village would collect. On the other hand, trustees have historically been against developer incentives, and in a slowing economy, they seem even more reluctant to approve a plan that essentially makes shopping more expensive in Antioch. It would be easy to bow to the pressure from the developer and just approve the tax, but by taking their time and considering all the options, trustees are proving they have the best interest of Antioch residents in mind.
Keep it clean
Saw an interesting bumper sticker recently, one with a message for all: "Keep your butt in the car. The Earth is not your ashtray." Too often we single out the smokers, but in this case, butts and any other garbage should stay in the car. The Earth is nobody's ashtray… or garbage can. And, really, how much effort does it take to wait until you get home to toss out that trash?
More, more, more
So, ComEd wants a big delivery fee rate hike. ComEd says it needs more money to assure reliable service and modern equipment. But the Citizens Utility Board says ComEd is exaggerating costs and understating income to justify the increase. No real surprises in those arguments. But with gas companies gearing up for delivery rate hikes and electricity users still recovering from last year's rate hikes, financially beleaguered consumers are likely to revolt over more, mostly because they don't have much more to give.