Soapbox: Overdoing in the extreme
Nothing like elected public servants to overdo the tax thing. The Cook County Board is expected to vote Monday on a proposed $750 million sales tax hike. Problem is, the projected deficit it is supposed to cover is only $307 million. Is it too much to expect that any tax increase merely meet revenue needs? And might somebody soon start addressing deficits by cutting expenses instead of raising taxes as a first resort?
Just how cool is it …
… that Buffalo Grove High School students saluted senior Elliott Cellini and his tremendous courage in battling to recover from devastating traffic-crash injuries by voting him the school's homecoming king?
Sounds of silence
It's been a long time coming, but it now appears that in two weeks, train horns will fall silent on the Canadian National line in Buffalo Grove, Round Lake Beach, Mundelein, Wheeling, Antioch, Grayslake, Vernon Hills, Lake Villa, Libertyville and unincorporated Lake County. Under a painstakingly negotiated agreement between local and state officials, federal safety authorities and the railways, train horns no longer will be sounded in this corridor unless there is "imminent danger" at a crossing. Congratulations to all who worked long and hard at this and made the crossing safety improvements necessary to make the silent corridor possible.
This still land of the free?
Much ongoing ado has been made on this page over the past few weeks concerning a certain letter writer's ideas on some such nonsense about when and where people should or should not drive or shop. Why all the fuss? You shop when you want, you drive when you want. End of story, no?
All parents paying attention?
What's a fair and just sentence for a couple convicted of allowing underage drinking in their home -- drinking that preceded a car crash killing two minors who attended the party? Lake County Associate Judge Christopher Stride agonized over that question, and with good reason. Jeffrey and Sara Hutsell, after all, had never been in legal trouble before and had a sterling resume of service in their Deerfield community. But to sit by and let nearly 30 teens drink in their home? Stride correctly called that "horrifyingly bad judgment." And for that, 14 days in jail for Jeffrey Hutsell -- along with fines and community service -- hardly seems excessive.
Independent voices crucial
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has replaced the lone tollway board member critical of the agency's long list of politically connected firms and other practices. The governor did not offer to re-appoint Ronald Materick of Oak Brook, whose 4-year term expired in May. Materick never shied from raising tough questions. And, when Blagojevich put his name on signs on top of every I-PASS express lane in the 274-mile system, Materick said of the signs: "I think they are a blatant violation of the Illinois ethics laws." That kind of bluntness will be missed; other board members will need to provide that kind of independent thinking.
Hair today
Four months after it was announced, St. Viator High School's policy of drug testing every student through hair sampling still seems a bit expensive, a bit intrusive -- and every bit within the school's prerogative to provide a drug-free educational environment.
North Side juggernaut
So, isn't it great to see the Cubs rolling in the general direction of post-season play with a full head of steam and that invaluable big mo'?