Soapbox: High-tech mystery
A bizarre Web page on MySpace.com has generated quite the buzz in Warrenville. Until recently, the Web site featured a photo of city council member Christopher Halley, 24, and the comment, "Yes, I'm the Alderman, favors don't come cheap." Halley denies setting up the Web page, which was taken down, and contends someone with a grudge created it. What really happened is anyone's guess. What's certain is that the Internet offers tremendous opportunities to make a fool of yourself or ruin someone's reputation. A brave new world, indeed.
No rush to a new park director
At first, the Naperville Park District was hoping to hire a new park district director (which will be its fourth in seven years) by early October. Then the district set a start date for early 2008. Now the district has given up setting a date for the arrival of a new director. Good thing this district is operating parks and not emergency rooms, given this level of indecisiveness.
West Chicago probes power outages
With twice-monthly blackouts plaguing a subdivision on West Chicago's north side, city leaders are doing the right thing: They are getting involved. The city on Tuesday night is holding a public forum where ComEd representatives will take questions about the frequent outages at the Cornerstone Lakes subdivision. Hopefully, the evening will result in real answers for the hundreds of residents who, so far, have been left in the dark about the power problems.
A problem that didn't have to be
If reporters can find out who donated to a political campaign with just a few keystrokes, it shouldn't have been that hard for political leaders in Aurora to find the information, either. It is at the very least suspicious that the latest attorney hired to perform a supposedly independent review of the Planned Parenthood permit process in Aurora has contributed to an alderman's campaign. The city has invited the public to question the credibility of this attorney doing a truly independent review because of a conflict of interest, and now the whole permit review process is in turmoil. All this surely could have been avoided if the city had taken the time to do its homework.
Illinois Cubs?
If the state is looking for an innovative way to raise revenue, maybe it should buy the Cubs. There's a lot of money to be made on this franchise, year after year. Fans just keep pouring into Wrigley Field without any great expectations of a continuously excellent performance on the diamond. Kind of like the way people think about the quality of work being done in Springfield.
No mutts at the market
The city of Naperville notes that the Naperville Farmers' Market, to be held every Saturday morning through Oct. 27 from 7 a.m. to noon in the parking lot at Fifth Avenue Station, is a "pet-free market." That's OK. Dogs won't be offended. They eat meat anyway.
Seized cars need better security
It's not a stretch to believe vehicles being stored in Naperville's Springbrook substation impound lot are there because the owners did something unlawful to have them taken away. But that doesn't mean these lawbreakers should have to suffer other lawbreakers tearing up their vehicles. The city has a responsibility to ensure seized property is secured. Police officials said a vandalism spree that damaged nearly 80 vehicles in that lot recently occurred over a two-week period. Not a lot of lot protection, though the police say security will be improved.