The Soapbox: Honors for a Stevenson grad, West Nile precautions in DuPage, a dog rescue in Arlington Heights and more.
More honors for 'Catch'
Congrats to former Stevenson basketball star Tamika Catchings for earning the WNBA's Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award. Her Catch the Stars Foundation helps young people through programs that promote literacy, fitness and mentoring. On and off the court, this WNBA legend does amazing things.
High-five for Wi-Fi
Metra riders declared the Wi-Fi system on 12 "pilot" railcars satisfactory. So, the agency is expanding the service to 50 more cars spread throughout the system. There's a long way to go - and $186,000 a year to find - to upgrade all the cars, but at least they're off to a good start.
It's about time
We're talking here about how long post-midnight drivers for months had to sit at the mistimed traffic lights on Golf Road between I-90 and I-290. Also, it's a nod to whoever recently rectified the situation. A big thank you. In the future, is it worth considering, if nothing else, flashing reds at that quiet time of day?
Better safe than sorry
Just a quick reminder to remember the bug spray when you're spending any time outside during the waning days of summer. The DuPage County Health Department already has reported three human cases of West Nile virus and has raised the threat level to high.
Bad timing on Schaumburg Road
Seen Thursday in Schaumburg: School buses and other traffic leaving a school onto westbound Schaumburg Road east of Roselle Road, while a construction crew happened to temporarily close one Schaumburg Road lane at Roselle at that exact time. A huge traffic line resulted. That's just bad planning there.
New sidewalks are lovely, but ...
Elk Grove Village has rebuilt many decorative brick crosswalks around town after they were becoming bumps because of the surrounding sinking asphalt. The new mauve crosswalks are even prettier than before. But new dark asphalt lining the crosswalks to smooth out the roads, not so pretty. The intentions were good.
Fill the empty shelves
The needs are ongoing. More people are coming for help. So thank you to stores and groups that respond. Meijer and Elk Grove Township, for instance. are partnering to make it easy for shoppers to help their neighbors by making a monetary donation at the register, thus allowing the township to buy what it needs. It's the Simply Give Program, a perfect name.
... Speaking of food pantries
How great is it that people in Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 get the first school-based food pantry in Kane County? It opened this week at Carpentersville Middle School and expects to serve up to 500 people weekly. Besides local residents, helping out were the Rotary Club of Fox Valley Sunset, The Chapel in Barrington and the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Bravo.
Good deed
Kudos to Arlington Heights fire and police for their quick work Thursday morning in rescuing a dog who, while chasing a squirrel, fell 10 feet into a drainage manhole whose cover somehow got left off. The dog suffered a small cut, pretty minor considering what happened, and a big relief to the thankful owner.