Soapbox: From interest-free to free

The deal the city of Naperville has reached with outgoing City Manager Peter Burchard seems unusual even for the private sector, where CEOs who are fired often get generous severance deals. Even if Burchard -- who is leaving for another job -- has some sort of legal right to compensation, it's troubling that he was able to get a personal loan of $50,000 forgiven. The city council must prevent all such deals in the future, especially if taxpayers -- who essentially acted as a bank for the interest-free loan -- are going to foot the bill in the end.

Woody Woodpecker a welcome sight

Naturalists rejoiced recently with the surprise sighting of a pair of pileated woodpeckers at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve near Darien. The birds are pretty common in southern Illinois, but they're rare here due to the destruction of habitat. Officials believe the pair, with brilliant red crests on their heads, are nesting in an old-growth tree in the preserve's savanna bluff area. The district is removing invasive species from the savanna with the hope that the pair will breed and produce offspring next year.

Edward back and forth

If Edward Hospital's tower project -- approved this week by the council -- was such a high priority for the community, why then did hospital officials say it was contingent on Edward not getting approval for a Plainfield hospital, then saying later that they want to do it anyway (even to the point of showing this week a 1970 newspaper clipping that said it was always in the plans)? Why did they play games with the homeowners, first offering to buy the homes, then dropping the idea, leaving them to face the consequences of lower property values? City council members apologized for their votes in favor of the project out of deference to the homeowners. Edward officials, who tout their service to the community, should realize they could have handled this much better.

Didn't quite make it

The race to pick up leaves at the curb before the snow falls is a cat-and-mouse game that cities like Naperville face most every year. This year was one of the worst, as the late fall of leaves necessitated a later round of pickups. Unfortunately, in some neighborhoods, the snow won.

This is how it's done

Many area police departments could learn a thing or two from how their Aurora brethren handle releasing information. Instead of waiting days to detail crime incidents and beg the public for help solving crimes that are growing cold, the Aurora Police Department's public information division, led by Dan Ferrelli, issues detailed reports that are now available almost instantaneously to subscribers of a new e-mail alert program. Aurora Police Chief William Powell said it best when he announced the new program, "not a single crime has ever been solved without information from the public."

On unsafe ground

O'Hare may have a leg up in the safety game thanks to a new ground radar system, one of only 10 in the nation, but a scathing U.S. General Accounting Office report to Congress said there's a good chance "a catastrophic runway collision" could happen at the nation's airports due to poor technology, lack of controller manpower and lousy leadership. O'Hare has had three serious close calls in just over a year and several less serious. Worse, the GAO said, "no single office is taking charge of assessing the causes of runway safety problems and taking the steps needed ... ." Lack of leadership from government. What a shock.