The Soapbox: The end to toll perks
A benefit costing a buck or two a day per employee doesn’t sound like much. But $478,300 does. That’s the yearly cost — after a toll increase coming Jan. 1 — of an Illinois Toll Highway Authority policy letting employees pass free through tolls on official business or on their work commutes. The tollway dropped the perk this week — finally.
Who cares?
We don’t care how you pronounce your name, Dale Sveum. Just bring the Cubs a title and fans all over Chicago will manage a way to scream it from the rafters.
Debate ends, problem persists:
The Lake Zurich Unit District 95 school board voted down random drug testing of students. The decision showed responsive government, since 76 percent of parents surveyed opposed the plan. And perhaps, now that problem of illegal drug use among teens has been brought forward, there will be renewed energy to combat it.
Prison inmate does good?
Gordon Vanderark was charged after, prosecutors say, he offered $70,000 for the murders of a prosecutor and the judge who put him behind bars. And who got him arrested? Another inmate, who wrote a letter warning DuPage County Judge Blanche Hill Fawell her life was in danger. Yes, even convicts can do the right thing.
By the way, a promissory note?
Investigators in the prison murder-for-hire plot alleged they also uncovered a letter in which Vanderark said he would pay $2,000 up front and included a $70,000 promissory note for “services rendered.” Impressive accounting, if true, but not a perfect crime.
We like bikes:
Kudos to Wheeling for moving toward making the community more bike and pedestrian friendly. Using a local grant, the village hired a consultant with proven experience in the suburbs to draft a plan that will score points for traffic safety, economic development and a healthier lifestyle.
All’s well?
Developers of a housing project for mentally ill residents found a place in Mount Prospect after opposition in Arlington Heights led to lawsuits and animosity. It’s tempting to be happy that a solution was found. Too bad it had to come to that.
Soaring pride:
Could anyone not feel a surge of pride and awe when experts released two eaglets back into the wild? The young representatives of our national symbol had been injured and abandoned by their parents when their nest at the Mooseheart home near Batavia fell.
Help for code breakers:
Carpentersville is considering exemptions or deadline extensions for residents having a hard time paying to get their driveways paved to comply with village code. That’s compassion. Now, what about those tax bills that are getting harder to pay?
Thanks, always
In Prospect Heights, it was a parade to welcome home a soldier injured in Afghanistan. In Mundelein businesses and community leaders lined up to share in presentation of a refurbished truck to a veteran from Waukegan. We honored all vets earlier this month, but isn’t it great the feeling goes beyond Veterans Day?