The Soapbox
Boom, there it is!
A hearty congratulations to the Schaumburg Boomers, who this week won the Frontier Cup (the Frontier League’s championship trophy) in just their second year in the league. Kudos as well to skipper Jamie Bennett for being named the league’s manager of the year.
More sports hardware:
While we’re handing out high-fives in the sports world, the Chicago Sky deserves congratulations for making the WNBA playoffs for the first time. They’ll have to get past former suburban star Tamika Catchings of Buffalo Grove High School and her Indiana team to make the Eastern Conference finals.
Queen of the WNBA:
While many Sky fans were pulling for either rookie sensation Elena Delle Donne or veteran Sylvia Fowles to earn the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player honor this season, the sting doesn’t hurt quite as much knowing that former Naperville Central standout Candace Parker won the crown. It’s the second league MVP for Parker, who also has her team in the playoffs.
Give ’em shelter:
Mass transit needs a boost in the suburbs — that’s a given — but DuPage County municipalities are reluctant to allow bus shelters with ads on them, seeing them as big billboards. The shelters have been shown to increase ridership. Surely the county can reach a compromise so some shelters can be built.
Less is more:
The Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau, which used to be called the Greater Woodfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, is getting another name change. Its president, Dave Parulo, wants something that will roll off the tongue a little easier. Good idea.
A traffic camera’s purpose is ...
Police in St. Charles are taking down the city’s only red-light camera, which the chief says never made the city any money. It did, however, reduce crashes at the corner of Main Street and Route 31, police say. Which highlights the ever-present question, are these cameras in place to make money or increase safety?
Fine service:
We’ll grant that 56 days ought to be long enough for most people who owe fines for skipping tolls to pay up, but who’s going to grumble about an Illinois tollway panel’s suggestion that the deadline for violators be moved to 90 days? The proposal comes from the tollway’s Customer Service Committee. Aptly named, it seems.
Mum’s the (bad) word:
It’s bad enough that Metra, Pace, CTA and RTA let a budget deal slip away. But, come on, they can’t tell whether a little matter of $56 million provided the CTA in 2009 was a loan or a grant? And they withhold documents until the last minute and won’t answer media questions at their meeting? That’s no way to inspire public trust.
Local hero:
Most of us will never be in a life-or-death situation, one in which you must step up to help someone in need. Then there’s Vernon Hills police officer Joe Reyna. Reyna was honored this week for saving the life of a 4-year-old girl who wasn’t breathing when he arrived on the scene in late August. It was the third time in less than four years he has saved a child. Remarkable.