The Soapbox: A special census for Naperville, inspiration in Hoffman Estates, Barrington and Hampshire, and more.
Special census for Naperville?
Naperville residents may have experienced déjà vu when the city began contemplating a special census with an eye toward potentially receiving more state money. The city conducted four such counts during the 1990s and two more since the start of the millennium. Back then, of course, the state actually had money.
Title Towns USA:
Congratulations to the three high school football teams from our area that will play today for state championships. Glenbard West and Libertyville will go helmet-to-helmet for the Class 7A crown and Lombard's Montini will seek the Class 6A title.
Road trip:
And the teams appearing in Saturday's large-school high school football championship games ought to have strong fan followings. The games are at NIU's Huskie Stadium in DeKalb instead of in Champaign, so here's hoping they get all the hometown support they need.
Inspirational Dream
Eric Peterson's profile of Dream Aaron, a Conant High School softball standout who just earned a college scholarship, has shown us how hope and hard work can help us overcome the hard knocks of life and help us achieve our dreams.
When finance news is exciting:
The Illinois State Board of Education got back authority to give $495 million in low- to no-interest loans to school districts. "We are really excited about it," said Chris McLain, Glenbard High School District 87's finance chief. Maybe only a finance person can get excited about such a thing, but yes, school districts can save millions.
That delay in Busse Woods:
Elk Grove Village's flood mitigation project involving the Busse Woods reservoir dam will be delayed a month because of problems with the new gates. That means the somewhat difficult detour on the Busse Woods bike trail will continue. December is probably a decent time for that to happen, unless you like cross-country skiing.
Maria will hear again:
Hampshire High School freshman Maria Nino will get her external computing device to allow her cochlear implant to function thanks to the generosity of many. In the last month $16,000 has been donated and raised to help the deaf Aurora resident who lost her previous device after her mom died and Maria's family moved from Mexico. Great holiday spirit.
Put the phone down:
Message on local municipal sign: "One text or call could wreck it all." How true. What's unfortunate is that this kind of message is still necessary. Sadly, it is.
Get into the spirit:
Go ahead and shop for the holidays. But don't forget to enjoy other aspects of the season - including great Christmas-themed theater. Among the suburban offerings: "A Christmas Carol" at the Metropolis in Arlington Heights, "A Christmas Story" at Paramount Theatre in Aurora and "Elf" at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. Consider it a gift to yourself.
Why give back?
Just read these inspirational words from Bob Lee of Barrington, who was featured in our Someone To Be Thankful For stories: "The more you get involved, the more you see different things that are going on in that web of goodness within our community. And you'll find parts of that web that you want to get caught into." Can't say any more than that.