Saturday Soapbox

Signs of life:

Stories this week about new developers signing on to take over defunct housing developments at key locations in the center of Arlington Heights and Hanover Park offer hope about a housing market recovery. Kudos to Pulte Homes and M/I Homes for seeing promise in the projects.

Oh, grow up:

In tight times, someone's always likely to question the need for township government. The tale of an alleged slapping of the township administrator by the township supervisor in Huntley-based Grafton Township doesn't do much to make the case for townships.

Anyone can be homeless:

Paolo Cascio shared with Dann Gire his story of growing up in Schaumburg and being homeless before building a career as a filmmaker. Cascio was "ashamed" to let anyone know he was homeless. It's time to shake off the shame and stop pointing fingers of blame. Advocates say the average age of a homeless person in the U.S. is 8. That's something we all should be ashamed of.

Sadly, speaking of homelessness:

Someone recently wrote to our news-tip e-mail system about her underemployed father whose house was about to enter foreclosure and who was desperately seeking financial help so they could get an apartment. She said the family normally keeps its business private, but they're desperate. Sadly, we can't write about every such case we hear about, because there are so many, but it breaks our hearts just the same.

And praise in the Illinois Senate:

On the same day last week the Illinois Senate met in closed session, a Senate committee also met and a doorman tried to prevent a few journalists from using smart phones. An appeal was made to Democratic Senate President John Cullerton's staff and the word is now out that smart phones can be used. This will mean more timely journalism. Kudos to Cullerton and staff.

Architecture in Schaumburg?

In talking about the bigger Crate & Barrel store moving to the site of the old Homemakers building west of Woodfield in Schaumburg, Mayor Al Larson said the village's big-box stores boasted architecture superior to the old Homemakers building. Especially with Chicago not that far away, it seems funny to say big-box stores have "architecture."

Keeping it green:

A 2-acre sliver of DuPage County Forest Preserve property near Oak Brook has been nothing but a bother for years. Officials have agreed to seek legislative approval to sell the parcel at York and Roosevelt Roads, which has been used illegally as a dump. However, we tend to agree with Commissioner Roger Kotecki, who says the open space still has ecological value.

It all comes crashing down:

Sight seen on the expressway: Cars dodging icy chunks of snow as they fluttered off the top of a semitrailer like so much dinnerware. While it might be a hassle to get way up there to clear off the snow before heading out on the road, it also might be a good idea.

Not-so-good news:

Let's review some of the school districts that announced or discussed big cuts this month: Elgin Area School District U-46, Community Unit District 300, Indian Prairie Unit District 204, Woodland Elementary District 50 and Barrington Unit District 220. This isn't the kind of front page news we welcome.