The Soapbox
Missed opportunity:
Lori Price, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 board president, says the number of applicants for the superintendent’s post being vacated by Kathy Birkett is a confidential personnel matter. That’s a real stretch. Residents will survive not knowing how many people applied, but Price missed a good chance to provide a tiny bit of transparency.
Try it, you’ll like it:
Congratulations to Fremont Elementary District 79 for making a change that could get kids to eat healthier. Next month, the school lunch menu will include kiwi, red grapefruit, and yellow grape tomatoes. Ahead of the change, students are getting a chance to sample the treats. The early favorite? Kiwi.
Misplaced energy:
The Twitter world nearly erupted when fans found out the Cubs gave birth to a mascot, Clark. Chill out, people. It’s just a mascot. Baseball fans should be focused on bigger stories, like the expansion of instant replay or the $215 million contract the Dodgers gave to Clayton Kershaw. He’s terrific, but is $300 million next?
Thankful for a new Walnut Lane:
We’re late in expressing gratitude that Walnut Lane in Schaumburg is reopened and rebuilt north of Bode Road. The road had been beat up, so the new, smooth road is nice. But it was surprising how much of a nuisance it was that this neighborhood road was down to one narrow lane in one direction for most of the summer and fall.
Impressive Hassell in Hoffman:
Most if not all of the rework on Hassell Road west of the Hoffman Estates village hall is done, and how impressive it is. It’s smooth again, for one, and it comes complete with bike lanes, part of the village’s overall bike-route effort. Maybe you can’t see the lanes now in the snow and ice, but they’ll be appreciated in the spring.
Taking from the kids:
A former treasurer of the Warren High School band boosters is charged with stealing $26,000 from the group. This comes after a December arrest of a Lake County man accused of stealing more than $80,000 from Gurnee Youth Baseball. We report on stories like this periodically, it’s sad to say. Even years after the fact, culprits still can get caught.
A Sochi send-off:
Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion in Buffalo Grove is hosting a send-off party for U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team member Megan Bozek, a Stevenson grad, from 8 to 10:30 tonight. The fundraiser will help defray expenses for her family traveling to support her in Sochi. Great to see a community come together behind such a positive role model.
EYEsee a good thing:
Doesn’t take 20-20 vision to see that a number of seniors at St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights are brightening lives by helping provide eyeglasses to people in Third World countries through the nonprofit organization EYEsee. That would be 35,000 pairs of glasses since a group of students started the program five years ago.
By the wayside:
Another downtown Elgin restaurant closed this week when Tom Creighton said his On the Side eatery couldn’t stop the financial bleeding. It’s the third restaurant to close in four months. Creighton said, “Everybody liked the food. I just couldn’t get more everybodies.” Too bad. Good guy. And, yes, the food was excellent.