As millions of gallons of crude spewed into the gulf waters and the oversight by MMS officials on BP’s well was being called into question, an anonymous source in that office told reporters far different stories than what they had been initially told. This anonymous source set the record straight by coming forward and speaking out, and suddenly the world knew that this was more than a mechanical failure; it was a full system failure. The people hired to keep these events from occurring were ignoring their responsibilities.

At times, anonymous sources provide crucial information to the press. Stories of oil disasters may be the latest, but without citizens coming forward and sharing vital information, Americans would not know about steroids in sports, excessive military spending, or food and drug hazards. We would never have been told about Watergate.

A bill currently in the U.S. Senate will help assure such stories continue to reach the public. S. 448, The Free Flow of Information Act, will protect the sources on whom journalists rely from having their identities exposed in all but a few circumstances including where national security concerns are raised. Five years in the making, the current version of this bill is supported by more than 50 journalism organizations, the White House, the Justice Department and most of your Congressional delegation.

Most states have laws that can protect a source’s identity from overzealous prosecutors and judges, but there is no such protection yet at the federal level. S. 448 would change that and extend the same protections offered through statute or common law in 49 states to the national government. Without it, stories focusing on the federal government will not be told because reporters are faced with threats of jail time and fines if they do not turn on their sources.

Subpoenas against the press numbered more than 3,000 nationwide in 2006 with 335 issued by federal prosecutors seeking the identities of news sources, according to a survey conducted by a Brigham Young University law professor. More than a few journalists have spent time in jail, and some have been forced out of the profession all together by heavy fines that crippled them financially. These are all heavy-handed tactics to illicit the names of people who can then be identified and retaliated against. Media companies large and small faced with the enormous expenses of fighting such legal battles to protect sources are turning their backs on compelling stories.

As S. 448 awaits permission from key senate leadership to come to the floor for a full vote, all senators, representing the interests of American citizens, need to hear from their constituents. Citizens who value the importance of transparency in governance and think the American press needs to continue to serve as the watchdog on the federal government should tell their senators to support this measure.

The clock is ticking as Congress will recess in August. Tell your senator to have the bill moved to a full Senate vote as soon as possible and support its passage.

Without this bill, stories that affect lives, like the oil spill in the Gulf, will never get the detailed attention they need to bring about change. Without this bill, your government has a better chance of operating in darkness or lying its way out of trouble. Help bring this to an end by voicing support for S. 448.

Only when there is a free flow of information from the government to its people can we truly appreciate the beauty and power of a democracy.

One of the reasons for this abnormality is that foreclosures and short sales are not included by law by assessors in a region’s allocation of the local tax burden. This is obviously an inaccurate reflection of property value, especially in the most devastated areas.

I sponsored SB3334, which passed the Senate and House without a single “No” vote against it, and the governor signed it into law. This law requires local assessors to include short sales and foreclosures in their comparables to come to a more fair, complete, and lower property valuation.

I appreciate the Illinois Realtor Association’s legislative help in getting this correction made.

Before we go out to celebrate, we should keep in mind that it is the spending levy issued by local taxing agencies that, in total, determine the amount of our property tax bills. Until state, federal and local governments spend less, we the taxpayers will pay more.

Senator Chris Lauzen
IL—25, Aurora

From Friday, July 23, through Sunday, July 25, the area behind Kaneland John Shields Elementary School, 85 Main St., will be full of food, fun and entertainment for three days.

The three-day festival is funded through sponsorships, donations and various fundraising efforts that occur throughout the year.

While the festival continues to grow each year—with more events, more entertainment and more people— the sagging economy of the past couple of years has begun to place some pressure on the event’s finances.

For example, the Sugar Grove Lions Club, which is responsible for the Saturday fireworks show, is short by more than $2,500 as of this week. With just a day left before the festival kicks off, we share the organization’s hope that patrons and/or organizations will lend their support and help ensure that all aspects of the festival will continue in the future.

In addition, we hope you, the members of our Kaneland communities, take advantage of our hometown festivals, which will take us right through the beginning of September.

The Corn Boil in Sugar Grove starts the Kaneland community festivals off, and it is certainly not one to miss.

With traditional fair fare like the carnival, food, craft vendors and business booths, as well as more-unique offerings like Kids Zone activities, shows and demonstrations, plus a variety of live music at the soundstage during each day and night at the festival, there really is something of interest for everyone and any age.

These are the types of events that connect each of us to each other and each of us to our communities. If you are from Sugar Grove, Elburn, Maple Park or Kaneville, you share something in common—you are part of the Kaneland communities. We hope you take advantage of this opportunity to connect and support each other—and of course, have lots of fun and corn as well.

We will be forever grateful to those who planned and organized the benefit, those who donated items for the raffles and auctions, and to all that worked the benefit.

Thanks to all who came out to the benefit; we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. As hard as we tried to get around and talk to everyone, we missed some of you and apologize for that.

To those who missed the benefit but have sent us cards with your thoughts, prayers and/or donations, we thank you. Everyone’s thoughtfulness means more to us than you will ever know.

We are so very fortunate to have the support of such wonderful family and friends.

Carol’s transplant process should begin within the next two to three weeks. Thank you all who have made this difficult time manageable.

Steve, Carol, Jordan,
Megan and Shannon Herra
Elburn

As a successful small businessman, Bill has real-world experience creating jobs and balancing a budget. He knows what it takes to grow a small business and can draw on this background to help create jobs here in the 14th District. His background and dedication to service prove his commitment to this district and the people he represents.

He is working hard to find real solutions and refuses to play the usual political games of false promises and constant pandering.

During his short time in office, Bill has already demonstrated his commitment to job creation through his efforts to protect Fermilab and develop a new health information tech center at NIU. He is creating jobs right here in the district and standing up for the jobs already here.

When someone new to politics shows that kind of passion and success, he gets my attention and has earned my vote. This is a great country, and we need leaders who are dedicated to the people they serve, not entrenched political interests. Bill Foster isn’t interested in the same old political games, just the plain old idea of working hard to represent his constituents.

We need to support Bill Foster and his continued efforts to create good jobs right here in the 14th District and keep America moving forward down the path of economic recovery.

Ronald L. Bedard
Aurora

She began a warm-weather shelter for homeless individuals in St. Charles in 1997, and since then, Lazarus House has transformed into a bridge from emergency to self-sufficiency for countless individuals from throughout the area.

Marcusson led the program to expand to a permanent site open year-round one year after it began. Five years after that, in 2003, the Lazarus House Center for Transitional Living opened. In the years since then, the program opened a center for women and children, began providing rental subsidies for those on the verge of homelessness, and opened a Community Resource Center that provides easy access to its homeless prevention program. Lazarus House also affers a soup kitchen for struggling families, as well as an unofficial crisis hotline that serves more than 2,600 callers each year.

According to its website, Lazarus House provided care for 83 children, 103 women and 193 men, providing nearly 23,000 nights of shelter. In addition, Lazarus House provided 68,000 meals. The amount of support provided in the forms of skill-building, counseling, and other forms of service are beyond measure.

This began with one woman and an idea, and now a growing group of volunteers provide more than 18,000 hours of service each year.

Both Marcusson as an individual, and Lazarus House as a program, have won numerous awards for their efforts as serving a population in need.

It is one thing to write about a bunch of statistics and numbers as a way to demonstrate the impact Marcusson has had, but when one considers the fact that each individual number represents a person or a family who began to find a way back to self-sufficiency because of the efforts of Lazarus House and its supporters, it begins to boggle the mind. It becomes clear how much impact one person can have when they act on the inspiration they receive, and then in turn inspire others.

One of those inspired by Marcusson will serve as the new Lazarus House Executive director as of January 2011. Marcusson recently made the decision to semi-retire from her efforts. Read Elburn Herald reporter Keith Beebe’s story, and it is clear that Marcusson does not plan on leaving entirely; she plans to continue her work on a part-time basis.

We doubt Marcusson will ever fully “retire” from the program she founded, nurtured and grew. As the years pass, her actual time spent “working” may lessen, but her impact on the lives of countless individuals and families will never fade.

As I am sure you are aware, it has been raining (downpouring at times) this evening. My family and I continually monitored the weather.

Around 8 p.m., after checking the website for information and discussing with neighbors the likelihood of the fireworks happening, we decided that they would not happen. We sent our children to bed at 8:30 and 9 p.m.

A few minutes after 9 p.m., we hear the booms. I look out the window to discover that in fact, the fireworks display was on. I was furious. We never would have thought that after hours of rain and lightning in the sky, the fireworks display would go on. Not only was I upset that the fireworks were on, but they were a half hour earlier than stated.

Would it really have been that big of a deal to postpone them for a day? I think people would have appreciated a drier, more enjoyable night. The decision to have the fireworks tonight was very disappointing and extremely aggravating. I certainly hope that more people step forward to voice their opinion on the very poor decision that was made tonight.

Cheryl Wykle
Elburn

We had a 2-week-old baby join us, an 80-year-old lady with a red floppy hat, a woman in a wheelchair, and a parrot on the shoulder of a rider, along with lots of bikes, skateboards, scooters and wagons. What a parade this year.

Also, I would like to thank Matt McCannon, Bob Beetham and Dave Smith from the American Legion for being our color guard. What an awesome job these three guys did. It was so great to see spectators stand and put their hand over their heart to respect our flag and our nation.

The Sugar Grove Police Department and Sugar Grove Fire Department always add to the parade. They make our small-town parade seem much bigger and a lot more important. The Fire Department provides some noise and lights to add to the excitement. Of course, the Police Department ensures our safety along our route. Every year, they have generously given their time and equipment to join the parade on this holiday. Special thanks go to Wayne Parson of the Fire Department and Brad Sauer of the Police Department.

We all can’t forget to thank the Sugar Grove Park District for providing freeze pops after the parade. The weather was hot, but the freeze pops were so cool. Thanks to Barb Larson and Brian of the Park District.

Now I want to extend a special thanks to my clown friends, Mr. Mumbles, Tiny T and Calico Rose, for the fun way they add to each and every day. Last year in July, I was in the hospital and then spent an extended time in rehab. But my clown friends made sure that Sugar Grove had a bike parade. This year, I was back on my “clown Victoria” golf cart and enjoyed every minute of the parade along with my friends.

Hope to see you all on Sunday at the Sugar Grove Corn Boil on July 25.

JoJo the Clown
Karen McCannon
Sugar Grove

From 1997 to 2008, the Day in the Park was a way for area residents and members of the community to gather and have fun during the day, culminating with a fireworks display at night.

Due to financial difficulties, the host of the event, the Elburn Chamber of Commerce, had to cancel the Day in the Park in 2009.

According to reporter Paula Coughlan, who spoke with Day in the Park Committee Chair Leslie Flint (who is also an employee of the Elburn Herald), the community has already raised most of the $10,000 needed to put on the one-day festival and fireworks display. The remaining funds needed will be obtained from festival-day fees and vendor-booth rentals.

The community should be proud of their collective efforts to bring the event back. Through their individual support of directly dropping off donations to the chamber, to their collective support of taking part in the various fundraisers held this year, to the businesses that offered their funds and efforts to help the Day in the Park return, everyone pulled together to help make sure the event continues.

The day begins at 11 a.m. and continues through the fireworks display that starts at 9:30 p.m. In between those two times, there is more than enough to occupy residents of all ages. See Coughlan’s story for a full line-up and schedule of events.

We hope to see you there.

First, despite requests from the public to delay their controversial actions for further community input and an analysis of the less draconian options that were presented, the board went forward with budget action that is both incorrect and unconscionable. The board took these actions on a questionable, irregular meeting day at an irregular time inconvenient for the public to comment and observe.

The strength of any library is its staff and services. However, the board chose to cut both pay and hours of its professional employees in exchange for more items on the shelves. A request was made to put this choice before the library patrons, to ascertain if the users—the taxpayers—preferred a few more materials to the outstanding services currently provided. A request was made to try to find a middle ground. The board ignored the options and took financial action against its employees.

Second, the board actions amount to punishing the staff for the board’s own decision. The board determined to build the new library without having a parallel referendum passed by the community to increase the funding to operate it. Continued referendums have also failed.

It is the board’s responsibility to determine why the public will not vote the funds and to present future election day requests in a manner that will be accepted. Making the library less useful and more stressed is certainly counterproductive to gaining community support. The board has demonstrated an inability to listen to the community it was elected to serve—both long term regarding funding referendums and short term regarding how it operates.

Third, the board continues to talk of a financial crisis, yet just decided to increase materials purchased by 330 percent. This action—the reason for cutting staff pay—is certainly excessive. Recently, the library received a donation to the identified primary target group, children, of 800 books. Interlibrary loan accommodates, within a few days, patron requests for materials Sugar Grove does not have. Several bequeaths are directed at material purchases.

The board action to drastically further increase material at the expense of the staff is unjustified. Once again, this board has interjected itself improperly into operations. Board members are not professional librarians, yet they continue to micromanage and over-ride the experience, knowledge and recommendations of the staff.

Fourth, the board has failed to properly manage the library funds. A Special Reserve Fund (SRF) is maintained for capital expenses and cannot be used for operating expenses or the purchase of books. Coupled with the proceeds of the sale of the old building, the reserve funds are more than sufficient for a brand new building containing new equipment. There is no immediate financial crisis, certainly nothing pending that justifies sacrificing community services and staff. Unnecessary hoarding of money while the library deteriorates from within is a certain means to bring on future crisis.

Fifth, the board has voted an incorrect transfer of funds. The library incurred unforeseen additional costs in implementing the new building. These were one-time expenses. For example, two buildings briefly had to be maintained and additional hardware was needed. These expenses were properly the responsibility of either the SRF or the proceeds from the sale of the old building and should have been taken or reimbursed from them. Instead, the board chose to use operating funds (library materials, utilities, payroll). They then sought fiscal year solvency through reimbursement of these capital expenses from another fund (the Rich Fund) that allows material purchases. It is ironic that the board stated they wanted an increase in materials and yet robbed a fund created for that purpose.

Sixth, there is a troubling perception that some board members do not seem to separate their personal feelings from their elected responsibilities. Something seems to be influencing an attitude of retribution. Cuts in staff pay and hours was the “nuclear option” among several reasonable, less drastic choices. If board members cannot elevate above personal distractions, they should reflect on the justification of their continued service.

The next board meeting is Thursday, July 8, at 7 p.m. The meetings begin with a public comment session. Although this board does not seem inclined to listen to the public, I encourage all residents to attend and participate. The community should take an interest in what has been done to its library and where those actions may likely lead.

Douglas Hartman,
Past President
Sugar Grove Public Library
Board of Trustees

With the Fourth of July weekend approaching, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois State Police, as well as local law enforcement agencies, will conduct extensive anti-drinking-and-driving activities during the holiday weekend.

In addition to the impact alcohol plays in accidents during late-night hours, the situation is compounded by the research that shows motorists use seatbelts less frequently late at night.

“July 4th is a great time of celebration for our country, but too often, those celebrations can turn deadly because of impaired driving and a failure to buckle up,” said IDOT Secretary Gary Hannig in a statement released this week. “That is why IDOT is working with Illinois law enforcement to remind motorists to designate a sober driver before celebrating. If you don’t and you choose to drink and drive, you will be arrested.”

For those who plan to celebrate on the water, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) said that alcohol is one of the leading factors in fatal boating accidents throughout the nation.

“Our Conservation Police Officers work very hard to make sure Illinois public waters are safe for everyone to enjoy,” said IDNR Director Marc Miller. “We certainly want people to have a good time on the water, but we have zero tolerance for anyone found operating a boat under the influence.”

IDOT recommends that motorists should always designate a sober driver and should also restrict friends and family members from driving impaired. These two recommendations are just two of several simple steps to avoid a tragic crash or an impaired driving arrest this July 4th.

Other important tips include:
• Plan ahead. Designate a sober driver before going out and give that person your keys.
• If you are impaired, call a taxi, use mass transit or call a sober friend or family member to get you home safely.
• Promptly report impaired drivers you see on the roadways to law enforcement by pulling over and dialing 911.
• Make sure everyone in your vehicle wears their safety belt. It is your best defense against an impaired driver.

The You Drink & Drive. You Lose crackdown began June 18 and runs through July 4. It is supported by nearly $1 million in federal safety funds being made available by IDOT’s Division of Traffic Safety. For more information about impaired driving in Illinois, please visit www.drivesoberillinois.org.

In the event of threatening weather, the most important thing to do is seek shelter immediately and to stay informed. When there is a storm watch or warning issued, listen to the radio, TV or a weather alert radio. If you haven’t yet done so, you are encouraged to sign up for CodeRED®, Kane County’s emergency alert system. For more information on how to sign up for CodeRED®, please visit www.kcoem.org/CodeRED/CodeRED.htm.

Luckily, Sugar Grove was not hit hard by the recent storms; however, there was some damage that occurred. Whenever a storm causes damage, the Public Works crews will clear streets of debris. After the passing of the storm, the Public Works crews will then return to remove storm damage debris. Due to a decrease in staffing levels, the cleanup process could take several days and will be performed during regular working hours, Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Public Works crews cannot come on private property to retrieve or remove any debris, and debris from private property will not be picked up by the village. Private property debris will be picked up by Waste Management as part of the regular refuse/landscape waste pickup.

When cleaning up storm damage, please follow the guidelines for yard waste pickup. The guidelines are: all limbs must be bundled in lengths of no more than four feet long and weigh no more than 50 pounds and be tied with biodegradable string or twine. Smaller landscape debris should be placed in a yard waste bag. If an entire tree has been uprooted or branches are damaged but still attached, a professional tree service will need to be contacted for disposal.
For additional information, call the Sugar Grove Public Works Department at (630) 466-7508 or email publicworks@sugargrove.il.us.

Cynthia L. Galbreath
Village Clerk/Administrative Assistant
Village of Sugar Grove

With the approval of our state legislature, they and the governor were not thinking of the well-being of citizens of Illinois, only the easiest way out for themselves. Paying a toll/tax is the least efficient way to pay for roads, and by passing the operating responsibility on to a private profit-making company it is not good government and is inexcusable.

With a profit-making company, it will be easier to hide the corruption that they will be sure to have, corruption similar to what we have been seeing for almost 60 years. Even if there were to be no corruption, the toll/tax for Illinois citizens to use this new highway will have to be double or even higher than what we are paying now for the existing tollway roads. After all, we are talking about a profit-first organization, an organization not caring about Illinois citizens—just how much money they can make.

We need to tell our legislators to rescind the bill that gave Gov. Quinn the go-ahead to team up with Indiana and pay for this new highway by increasing the fuel tax by a few cents at the fuel pump. While we are at it, let’s increase the fuel tax right now and make our existing tollway roads freeways as promised by their legislative colleagues during the 1950s.

Close down the Downers Grove toll authority headquarters, saving millions of dollars, and pass on the road management to I-DOT; they can do a much better job at a much lower cost for Illinois citizens.

Russell Johnson
Sugar Grove

Orwell was right. He was dead on. Spooky.

E.M. Forster is best known for his novels “Howards End” and “A Passage to India.” Not as well-known is a 12,000-word science fiction allegory about technology titled “The Machine Stops,” written in 1909.

Forster’s gloomy tale takes place in a future where all the world’s people have become hermits, content with no longer physically touching others, opting instead to live in solitary with the aid of The Machine. “There are no musical instruments and yet…this room is throbbing with melodious sounds,” he writes. The protagonist Vashti lives in a small, climate-controlled room, illuminated by neither lamp nor window. She has thousands of friends. She even lectures on “Music during the Australian Period.” It all takes place through The Machine. The catalyst is when her son wants to see her in person instead of through the “blue plate.” People don’t travel above ground anymore. The atmosphere is barren and brown. And Vashti doesn’t care for “air-ships.”

Basically he predicted central air, the Internet, video conferencing, television, radio, global warming and commercial air travel.
Forster was right. He was dead on. Spooky.

“The Machine Stops” was penned a hundred years ago. From a historical perspective, the first radio was not installed in the White House until 1922, yet a Victorian like Forster imagined modernity amazingly close.

I first read this short story 10 years ago. It was before I became a telecommuter, before MySpace—before Google was a verb. Now I have days where I feel like Vashti, isolated in my pajamas revering The Machine. “The Machine feeds us and clothes us and houses us; through it we speak to one another, through it we see one another, in it we have our being,” wrote Forster.

But the story is also a poignant criticism of technological advancement. The current struggle between “old media” and “new media” is one of reporting verses the digesting news. One hundred years ago a lecturer in Forster’s tale pronounces, ”Beware of first-hand ideas! First hand-ideas do not really exist … Let your ideas be second-hand, and if possible tenth-hand, for then they will be far removed from the disturbing element—direct observation.” It’s a rundown of blogging verses journalism.

It’s not just that Forster foresaw the Internet, but he guessed rightly how it would be used. In this fable of the future, ideas are valued most—they are the new commodity. Talking to her son Kuno about his desire to see her in person is private, until Vashti turns off her isolation switch on The Machine. “The room was filled with the noise of bells and speaking-tubes. What was the new food like? Could she recommend it? Had she any ideas lately? Might one tell her one’s own ideas?” He’s describing online communities. He’s describing Facebook. He’s describing Twitter.

“We created the Machine, to do our will, but we cannot make it do our will now,” Forster wrote. “It has robbed us of the sense of space and of the sense of touch, it has blurred every human relation and narrowed down love to a carnal act, it has paralyzed our bodies and our wills, and now it compels us to worship it. “ Of course, as I write this, my “machine” chimes with the siren call of new emails, IMs and tweets tempting me to distraction. To quote Vashti as she tried to comfort herself while on the air-ship, ”O Machine! O Machine!”

While he takes weekly lessons with her, she also offers weekend workshops, summer classes, and themed sessions for both children and adults.

Feel free to contact her at (630) 365-2247 to talk to her about her summer workshops, get some artistic inspiration and ask to see her first-place painting! Jeannette is the winner of this year’s Kaneland Fine Arts Festival Juried Art Show! Supporting local artists while exploring creativity is a great thing. The classes our son takes from Jeannette does this, and we are very appreciative of all that she does! Thank you Miss Jeannette!

Mark and Jenny Wold
Elburn

We especially want to thank Rob and Myra Ottoson, Nick Turk, Nick Garifalis, Keith and Cindy Koester, Dawn Schleifer, Mary Scholl, Kristin Davidson, Angie Bateman, Nancy Steers and Steve Bill. We also want to thank Ream’s Elburn Market for loaning us their grill.

We had a great response from our team players and the community. We all do this for our kids and the future of Kaneville Baseball/Softball.

Dick and Annette Theobald
Elburn

But, if you’ve shown up at any of these events you know from the empty seats how often it doesn’t happen. There are so many great and worthwhile excuses like having work to get done or at least sending your spouse or maybe even a nice day and 18 holes. The average person would nod their head in agreement with each one of them and say, well, you tried.

However, parenting is not about you.

Most people get that in a general sense because, particularly when the child is small, they obviously need us to focus. At first, everything about being a new parent is exhausting and makes the head spin because it’s all so new, it’s necessary and there’s really no choice if the job is to be done even halfway right.

I remember when my son, Louie, was brand-new and I drove by a restaurant where my friends were sitting outside, laughing and chatting. I wanted to stop and join them but Louie needed my attention and that came first. That was the moment I knew things had changed forever and I just needed to give in and do it.

But here’s an added twist.

In order to achieve greatness we have to be willing to show up and believe it’ll all work out. We get that belief in doses every time a parent shows up for us. That goes double when we know they had to put something else aside in order to be there, in that seat.

All of us want our children to reach beyond what seems possible or easy and go for what challenges them, what brings out their talents and then tests the boundaries at least a little. We’ve learned by now that that’s where the real rewards are waiting but if you can’t risk it and show up, your chances of finding it go way down.

That’s the exact spot where it comes in handy if you had a dad who went beyond what seemed easy or convenient and just showed up without wondering what was in it for them. They were there fitting in to the small desk or at the dinner table or standing on the sidelines and they were cheering for your success.

We may not know what rewards await us for trying every day, but we’ve been given this wonderful example that going first is a big part of the process. It’s like going to the gym every day in the early morning hours because being fit matters and then waiting months to see the results.

You wade out again into the choices and believe in the possibilities of what might be there because you have a great dad who showed up and believed in you even though you were blowing the wrong note during the flute concert or were distracted by fireflies during the soccer game.

Dads are great at being open to the idea that your greatness is still evolving and chasing fireflies might be a part of the bigger picture.

When our children are grown it’s even about showing up to say nothing at all and encouraging our children to need us less because we know they now have all the tools that they need to build their own dreams. To all of us, like me, whose great dad has passed away, may we live our lives in a way that honors their humor, their passion and their beliefs in us. Happy Father’s Day.

To solve this problem, the library is planning to install a series of at least 18 bookcase lights around the building, and is seeking community support for the project. A sponsor can help by buying a light for a tax deductible donation of $15. So far, eight have been pledged, so the project is well under way.

For more information or to make a donation in support of this project, contact Ray Christiansen at the library or telephone (630) 557-2441.

Ray Christiansen,
Library director, Kaneville Public Library

Before leaving for Florida each year, we always turn off the water supply to our Sugar Grove residence at the valve located just ahead of the village’s water meter. This is just for safety in case a water leak should ever occur while we are away. With the water supply turned off, we have always understood the village’s need to continue billing us for its water, sewer line maintenance and garbage collection services, the basic minimum charges of which amounted to nearly $35 each month for us this past winter.

When we returned home from Florida on April 22, we turned our water supply back on, and the following day we discovered the water meter was leaking. The leaking water meter was replaced by the village on April 28, 2010.

Early in May, we received a month utility bill for $127.92 from the village, indicating we had used 17,000 gallons of water for the period from March 17, 2010, to April 15, 2010. That period of time was before we got back home and while our water supply was turned off. In fact, no one was even at our Sugar Grove residence. We reluctantly paid that bill but we did protest about $94 of the bill, because of it being associated with a strangely false (and impossible) 17,000 gallons of water usage.

The old water meter was subsequently tested by the village and found to be inoperative. I was finally advised that the meter would not register any water volume passing through it.

Discussions with village utility billing personnel and the finance director, as well as a detailed letter to the village administrator and finance director, have been of no avail in terms of getting any billing adjustment for our account.

These are the “professional” answers I got from Sugar Grove, despite the village’s records showing zero or minimal water usage for our account this past winter before the metering problem happened. The village’s finance director believes we used the 17,000 gallons of water because it was registered by the meter, and despite the meter having been subsequently removed, tested and found to be inoperative. In talking with Fox Metro Water Reclamation District, which had billed us for sewage treatment based on the same 17,000 gallons of water usage, they immediately offered to reduce their charges to be more in line with our historical water account history.

I know that no water would ever pass through the village’s water meter while we had the water supply shut off, a fact which Sugar Grove’s finance director just does not want to believe. It is a sad state of affairs when a local governmental official will believe a broken water meter before even trying to believe a human being. Only two retired people reside at our Sugar Grove residence, and even if we had been home, we would never be able to use nearly 570 gallons per day or 17,000 gallons of water in a month. After a nearly 35-year work career with a local regulated public utility, I know that meters can be faulty and over register, for reasons that often cannot be explained. In those cases, some ordinary common sense should be used when billing a customer.

Finally, I am even more disgusted about this matter now that I have also learned a nearby neighbor experienced the same excessive water meter registration problem with a Sugar Grove water meter. In that case, credit adjustments were allowed because a village employee witnessed continuous registration by the meter, even while the water supply valve ahead of the meter was shut off.

Maybe Sugar Grove just needs an extra $94 and took it from us.

Lyle V. Johnson
Sugar Grove

This graciousness was exemplified by the community on Saturday, May 15, at the 5th Annual Bridge Walk. Under a clear and crisp blue sky, 129 teams registered for the event—1,500 walkers in total—raising over $240,000 in support of LivingWell: the largest total raised to date.

In order to provide the highest caliber of programming, it takes an army of volunteers and a lot of fundraising. LivingWell would like to thank everyone who participated in and supported the 5th Annual Bridge Walk, including the over 30 corporate sponsors and 100-plus volunteers.

The morning included a special rendition of “We are the Champions” by singer Leslie Hunt to commemorate the 10-Step Celebration Walk. We broke so many records this year, including dollars raised and number of teams formed. “Kathy’s Circle,” headed by Glenn Harks, raised over $16,000; and “Linda’s Lions,” led by Carianne Paustian, was the largest team with 80 walkers. Additionally, nine local schools participated, with the top school fundraiser being St. Charles East High School, raising $11,010, and Wasco Elementary school’s “Wasco Wolves,” raising $5,206.

LivingWell would like to thank the following corporate sponsors for their generous support:
Aldi, Inc; Batavia Rotary Club; Cancer Care & Hematology Specialists; Cocoon; Colonial Ice Cream, Inc.; Delnor Cancer Care Center; Dickens, Mason, & Kissell D.D.S.; Dr. Brian Vence; EFS Foundation; First Choice Bank; Francissen Landscape Group, Inc.; Gerald Nissan Subaru of North Aurora; Gordon Flesch Company; Hansen-Furnas Foundation, Inc.; Kane County Farm Bureau; Kluth Family Foundation/CouponCabin; Lean Advantage; Montgomery Brothers; Mothers Club of Geneva; Niche Restaurant; Prose Orthodontics; Provena Mercy Medical Center; Rush-Copley Medical Center; Shodeen Family Foundation; Starbucks; Todd S. Hewell, III, M.D.; and Tradewinds Heating & Air Conditioning.

The staff and board members of LivingWell are tremendously grateful for all of the support shown by our community. The Bridge Walk day is a personal tribute to all who are battling a cancer diagnosis. Additionally, it creates awareness of the disease and raises funds to support the extensive array of programming and services at LivingWell. Thank you to everyone who helped to make the day such a success.

Nancy Vance
Executive Director
LivingWell Cancer Resource Center

One local organization that is not struggling financially is Elburn Baseball and Softball. Yet, the group that includes approximately 400 children and 34 teams, may still fold next year due to lack of community support—not financial support, but volunteer support.

The type of support that is free to give but invaluable to those benefitting from their time and effort.

Elburn Baseball and Softball Board member Pete LaSalle submitted a letter to the editor to the Elburn Herald—the same letter the board sent to the parents of the children in the program.

The letter stated that due to extremely low parent volunteerism, the organization will be without many key positions when the current crop of volunteers’ positions end, with no volunteers in place to replace them. Those current vacant positions include president, vice president, field maintenance coordinator, concessions coordinator, registrar, and arbiter (the individual who reschedules rainouts).

According to LaSalle, the group has enough money, equipment, coaches and fields. What it lacks is the group of people dedicated to working behind the scenes to help ensure the organization not only runs effectively, but even runs at all.

LaSalle wrote that the group begins organizing for the next season in August or September. If there continues to be no volunteers willing to step up, the league will fold.

Its next league meeting is Thursday, July 1, at 7 p.m. at the Town and Country Public Library. If you can’t attend that meeting, contact the league through its website at www.elburn.com/baseball.

We hope that enough volunteers step up to allow this league to continue to grow and give local children a place to play and learn how to function as a team.

Given the economy, we could certainly understand how a league might have to fold due to insufficient funds. For Elburn Baseball and Softball, that is not the case. It is much more difficult to understand if it has to fold due to insufficient volunteerism—something that only costs time to give.

Between the two—time and money—the one that is free also is the one that has more value.

As of July 20, 2010, we are without a president, vice president, field maintenance coordinator, concessions coordinator, registrar, arbiter (reschedules rainouts), to name just a few.

This year, we had 34 teams, approximately 400 boys and girls, and a skeleton crew of about 10 or so of the same people running our program. These few people consistently execute their appointed duties (plus take on numerous others due to lack of involvement) to give our community’s kids a great league to play in year after year.

Since these people have kids aging out of our program, they will not be returning to help us out for next year. We have continually asked for help through e-mails and at our meetings this past year-and-a-half, but to no avail. It is up to the people in this community who still have kids in the program to step up and help us continue and improve upon the foundation left to us by these and past individuals.

Elburn Baseball and Softball has enough means, equipment, coaches and fields to have another successful season next year, but without any behind-the-scenes people, there will not be any baseball and softball in Elburn for 2011.

The few of us that are left have already made the decision to fold the league entirely for 2011 if we cannot get enough involvement by the community soon. We typically start organizing for the next season in August/September.

If there are not people to do this, next season will not happen. This will be a big let down for all of our kids in Elburn and other neighboring towns who look at us as the example.

We will be holding our next league meeting on Thursday, July 1, at 7 p.m. at the Town and Country Public Library in Elburn. Please make the effort for our kids now so they can play ball later. If you would like to help in any way, please contact the league or contact any of the remaining board members on our website, www.elburn.com/baseball.

Thank you to everyone who has put time in this and past years to make our program what it is today. We can only hope that the community responds and is willing to help us support what you have done and let it continue for another season.

Pete LaSalle
Elburn Baseball & Softball board
www.elburn.com/baseball
elburnbaseball@yahoo.com

On May 6, Den Leader Tracy Leach, Assistant Den Leader Brian Blad, and a number of parents led Wolf Den 11 in filling the potters at the business fronts of downtown Elburn. This pack includes David Bradbury, Parker LaSalle, Zachary Beatty, Evan Blad, Hans Griesinger, and Michael Hardy.

These potters are now filled with a variety of flowers and greenery which were made available to us through a generous discount from our friends at Wasco Nursery. We also received a much appreciated supply of soil and mulch from Kane County Landscape Material & Supply. These two businesses were very helpful and patient with us as we ran to them in our last-minute hour of need.

Big Thanks to Elburn Hill Church, who generously donated several perennials. Also, a huge thank you to Kristen Damolaris of American Bank and Trust and Stacy Ashton of A Salon for planting around the flagpole at North and First streets.

Potters are still available for adoption. Please contact Tracy Leach with Produce This! at (630) 913-3229 for more information regarding Adopt-A-Pot volunteering. Tracy will be heading up the Community Outreach Committee.

Again, thanks to the members and parents of Wolf Den 11, Elburn Hill Church, Wasco Nursery, and Kane Country Landscape for all of their donated time, hard work, and generosity.

Jessica Impson
Administrator
Elburn Chamber of Commerce

Well, I have another prediction. We will get a lot of finger pointing and the taxpayers will pay, not only environmentally but at the pump. Our government will reassure us that this will never happen again, but again off shore drilling will continue. Once again, they will sell out to the oil industry for 30 pieces of silver.

This is what I would like to see: BP pays for all of the destruction to our environment and livelihoods. Secondly, BP, Trans Ocean, and Haliburton should be required by law to purchase and install a solar panel on every roof in this country.

I would also like to make one more pitch for conservation. If we wait for the government, it isn’t going to happen. We must make it happen.

Earl Montgomery
Sugar Grove

A donation has been collected by the leads group and then matched by the Elburn Chamber. This year, a total of $1,370 was donated, which is the most that the chamber has ever contributed.

The leads group is just one of a number of benefits of chamber membership. Membership in the leads group is open to anyone who is a member in good standing of the Elburn Chamber of Commerce. The group is business category exclusive. New members are always welcome. For more information about the chamber and its leads group, contact the chamber office at (630) 365-2295.

To learn more about food distribution hours and how to donate to the Elburn and Countryside Food Pantry, call (630) 365-6655.

Jim Shalek
Elburn Chamber Leads Group

However there is still a little way to go. A second pork chop dinner is planned for Wednesday, June 23. As the hot days start to roll in, this will give you at least one night to have a great barbeque with all the trimmings without even having to start up the grill, and for hardly more money than buying the groceries yourself.

You will not only be supporting the fireworks, however. The Lion’s Club benefits as well. Their work with the blind is well known. Taking the money you would normally spend anyway for dinner and buying a pork chop dinner ticket will not only support a great fireworks Day in the Park on Sunday, July 11, but at the same time provide funds that go to helping a portion of our community that we as individuals could normally do very little about. How’s that for multi-tasking?

Tickets are $12 apiece and can be purchased from any chamber member or by calling the chamber itself at (630) 365-2293. Buy a couple for your family and maybe one for the food pantry if you really like multi-tasking.

Gary Augustine
Elburn Chamber of Commerce

We are proud to receive recognition from the industry, and while our biggest reward comes from our connection to our communities and our readers, it is still nice once in awhile to acknowledge our recognitions.

In the Best Ad Designer category, Design Director Leslie Flint earned a first-place award. The judges commented that she utilizes “Good use of graphics and layout.”

Flint also earned a first-place award for Best Ad Less Than Full Page. “Unique business logo combined with colors and highlighting brand names makes ad stand out to the target audience: teens,” said the judges comments.

The Elburn Herald won first place in the Best Annual Special Section category for the 2009 Summer Guide. “Great concept—wonderful pictures and the daily calendar and activities was useful to the reader,” the judges said.

The newspaper won second-place honors in the Best Niche Publication, Best Classified Section, and Advertising Excellence categories. In addition, the Elburn Herald earned third place in the Best Community Focus Special Section category.

In the editorial contest, Assistant Editor Ben Draper earned a first-place award for Best Web Site.

The Elburn Staff earned first- and second-place honors in the category Best Special Section. Reporter Susan O’Neill earned a third-place award in the Best Business/Economic Reporting category. Sports Editor Mike Slodki earned an honorable mention in the Sports News category, and Editor Ryan Wells earned an honorable mention in the Local Editorial category.

While it is nice to be recognized by those in the industry, there is no comparison to knowing that week in and week out, we work as hard as we can to help serve our Kaneland communities.

The fact that you read us each and every week is, ultimately, the recognition we value most.

Both the Farley house and the Benton house will be open to tour. This year, the historical society is featuring the Miner family and the Benton family.

Gilbert and Jemima (Seavey) Benton settled in Kaneville in 1843. Through the long covered wagon ride from New York, Jemima sat upon her rocking chair. They established a homestead south of Kaneville and began farming.

Gilbert died in 1860, so Jemima, with the help of her son Simeon and two youngest sons, continued to farm the land. Jemima lived to be almost 99 years old.

While the Benton name is no longer a common one in this area, there are still many Benton family members around. So far, the genealogy search for descendants of Gilbert and Jemima (Seavey) Benton has located over 600 descendants. You might be a Benton if your ancestor’s names are: Bastian, McNair, Reynolds, Bloss, Meredith, Sheldon, Davis, Myers, Smith, Edwards, Needham, Snow, Gregory, Nichols, Underwood, Keieleber, Nickels, Wilson, Lakin, Raymond and Warne.

There are many more family names, so if you don’t see an ancestor’s name that looks familiar, you still might be a cousin. If you are not sure if you are related, we will have a searchable database to see if we can link you to the family.

We would like to have a Benton family gathering to meet and greet as many cousins as we can. We also need to update the family tree. The last extensive updating was done about 30 years ago.

If you have any Benton memorabilia, data or pictures to share, we would love to have you bring them along. This would be a great time to tour Gilbert and Jemima’s house and see some of the family items. We will be taking a family picture at the Benton house in Kaneville at noon.

We hope to get as many family members together as possible, so we hope to see you there.

Martha Baldridge
Kaneville Historical Society

Each year we try to increase the varieties of perennials, and we have appreciated your input. To those patrons who have become regulars, we particularly thank you for continuing to make this event possible and successful. To those of you who were first-time guests, we will be back again next year on Mother’s Day Weekend.

Gary Augustine
Pastor
Elburn Hill Church

It is embarrassingly easy to forget about the countless drops of blood, sweat and tears that have been shed through the generations by the very best of us, on behalf of the rest of us.

It is embarrassingly easy to look at Memorial Day as simply a day off work; a time to have a picnic or barbecue with family and friends; a day to spend relaxing.

A day of remembrance was first officially proclaimed in May 1868 by General John Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. It was first observed on May 30, 1868.

“The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit,” the beginning of the order states.

After World War I, Memorial Day was expanded to remember Americans who had fought and died in any war. When Congress passed the National Holiday Act of 1971, Memorial Day was officially set as the last Monday in May.
We urge all local residents to take part in their local Memorial Day observance, and furthermore, to never take for granted what has been bought and paid for with the ultimate sacrifice.

“All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.

If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.

Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude, the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.”

—General John Logan,
National Commander
Grand Army of the Republic
General Order No. 11

Elburn
In Elburn, Memorial Day observances Monday, May 31, will begin with a parade at 9:15 a.m. It will start at Elburn Lions Park and end at the Blackberry Cemetery.
There, members of the Elburn American Legion, local Boy and Girl Scouts, and members of the community will take part in a ceremony, including guest speaker Bill Foster, congressman representing the 14th Congressional District.
Following the ceremony, the Legion will offer coffee and refreshments at the Legion Hall.

Sugar Grove
Sugar Grove’s Memorial Day services will begin at 9:15 a.m. at Jericho Cemetery on Mighell Road. Participants will then proceed to the Sugar Grove cemetery on Merrill Road at 10 a.m., where a ceremony will take place.

Maple Park
The village of Maple Park’s Memorial Day program will begin with a parade that will be at the following locations at the following times:
• 9:10 a.m. Pierce Cemetery—Owen Road and Pritchard Road, Troxel
• 9:30 a.m. St Mary’s Cemetery—County Line Road South of Route 38
• 9:45 a.m. Gardner Cemetery—Route 38 East of County Line Road
• 10 a.m. Van Vlack Cemetery—Thatcher Road east of Maple Park
• 10:15 a.m. Sts. Peter & Paul Cemetery—Meredith Road South of Virgil
• 10:30 am South Burlington Cemetery—Ramm and Snyder roads, west of Peplow Road
• 11:15 am Ceremony at Post Home—Main Street, Maple Park

Kaneville
The Kaneville Township 115th Annual Memorial Day Program will be held at 10 a.m. in Kaneville at the Dave Werdin Community Center.
Guest speaker will be former resident Evan Mahan, a veteran from the Iraq War. Guest musician will be local folk singer, Lee Murdock. There will be a special seating section for veterans, who will be recognized during the program.
Following the program, there will be a parade to the cemetery for a rifle salute and decoration of the graves. Refreshments will be served at the Community Center upon return from the cemetery. Old flags, to be retired, will be collected for disposal by the American Legion.

These included possible efforts to change the bylaws without appropriate feedback and community involvement, and the board’s reported micro-management of day-to-day library operations.

A number of attendees expressed their opinions and concerns, making a concerted effort to deal with this situation in a supportive and constructive way.

That being said, I would like to make some additional comments about the actions and demeanor of the board.

At times it was difficult and unpleasant to see how this board meeting was being conducted. I saw an enormous difference between the way Library Director Beverly Holmes Hughes treated the board and the way she was treated in return.

Beverly’s communications were professional, polite, well organized, cooperative, transparent and helpful. Her recommendations and responses to questions showed extensive professional knowledge and a very detailed understanding of library operations and expenditures.

In contrast, the board’s communications toward Beverly were generally bullying, blaming, nit-picking and demanding.

Micro-management is probably too polite a term for the types of directives and questioning demonstrated by the board.

Why is the board subjecting the library director to extensive questioning about minor library expenditures? Janitorial supplies, embroidered shirts (worn by the board at the library dedication), a pizza dinner for staffers who worked until midnight assisting with the library relocation, a Walmart purchase for Christmas tree lights. And, having received satisfactory answers, now demanding a detailed accounting of petty cash? Are they implying mismanagement, or is this the role that they see for themselves?

When the director suggests a summer replacement for an employee who will be out on maternity leave and states that this person has extensive volunteer experience and is currently pursuing a teaching degree, why is the board president questioning Beverly’s judgement? What additional library experience does he expect for a position that is temporary and pays something in the neighborhood of minimum wage?

At two separate times I saw Beverly provide good, positive information to the board and saw the negative, blaming responses she received in return.

When she informed the board that she had identified several library expenses that could legitimately be reclassified and should be paid out of the building reserve fund, she was scolded by the board president for not informing him of this sooner (referring to a conversation that he recalled but Beverly did not).

Improvements to the library website (intended to fulfill board objectives and completed free of charge) drew a negative remark from the board vice president that she “had never seen this before” Beverly’s presentation to the board. To Beverly’s credit, she responded in a helpful and constructive way, offering to facilitate additional development and future communication directly between the board and her website development volunteer.

The Library Board has enormous challenges and responsibilities, and I do not envy their job in the least. But I think they are failing to provide the vision, direction and support that the community has every right to expect from them. It is certainly possible that the cause is a lack of knowledge and experience. And if so, I would hope that the board would receive and accept appropriate mentoring from community leaders.

I hope that at the very least the board takes a hard look at its focus and that it attempts to improve communications toward and treatment of a library director who is well-liked and highly regarded by the community.

Catherine J. Rady
Sugar Grove Resident

This was the old version of the British Empire’s declaration, “Victory or Death.” The modern Illinois version of this refrain is contained in hundreds of recent e-mails, letters and calls to my office from recently concerned Illinois constituents. Citizens and editorial boards warned, “Don’t leave Springfield until you produce a responsible balanced budget.”

So, what did the ruling majority do? In the Senate, the same folks who have brought us this chaos and misery over the past eight years passed the Adjournment Resolution at 6:44 p.m. on May 7, 2010—and headed home with 24 days of work left before the rules change, giving more power to the minority.

Knowing my 250,000 constituents’ sentiment, I publicly requested an on-the-record rollcall of those who agreed that we should adjourn. I voted “Heck No.”

Here is where we stand: On May 6, 2010, at 8 p.m., the Ruling Majority presented its FY 6-30-2011 2,300-page budget; just one hour later, at 9 p.m., they convened the Senate Appropriations Committee to answer questions and hear concerns.

I asked the sponsor of the budget, whom I like and respect as a person, “Senator, have you read this budget?” No. When I asked members of the Ruling Majority sitting across from me, “Have you read this 2,300-page budget?” Again, no. “Has anyone on this committee—or in this room—read this budget?” The answer was, “No.”

On the brink of bankruptcy, another contortion of fiscal irresponsibility.

During the senate floor debate that raged with unusual rancor until 1:15 a.m. the next morning, as gently and politely as possible, I reminded my fellow legislators, “We each swear an oath to uphold the Illinois Constitution. That Constitution contains a provision that requires us to adopt an annual balanced budget. This budget is not anywhere close to balanced, i.e. the expenditures are not less than or equal to the projected revenues.”

While people back home desperately struggle with their finances, putting terrible strains on their families, while 225,000 more Illinois jobs have been lost in only the past year, while public policies produce 12.4 percent unemployment in our state, the governor and ruling majorities propose that the state government spending upon itself will increase next year by $1.8 billion. According to the budget sponsor’s testimony in committee and on the Senate floor, total spending will increase from $32.1 billion in 2010 to $33.9 billion in 2011.

One of my colleagues mumbled under his breath, “This all stinks.”

Although I staunchly disagree with their conclusion to ultimately raise income taxes by 67 percent and to raise sales taxes by billions by applying sales tax to many services for the first time in state history, I respect that senate Democrats at least took action during this General Assembly consistent with their philosophy. Despite the chants of 15,000 protesting public employees earlier this year, “Raise my taxes. Raise my taxes,” the consistent feedback from the majority of my constituents is, “Live within your means without a tax increase—just like I have to do.”

So, you would think that the proposed budget would contain substantial spending cuts, as Governor Quinn has claimed. However, again according to the senate budget sponsor, there are only $356.7 million in reductions on total spending of $33.9 billion—only 1.05 percent. Said another way, they think they’re running state government almost 99 percent efficiently. Come on.

The next and different governor, if the majority of our neighbors and friends will wake up to what’s being done to us, will need to rein in the explosion under Blagojevich/Quinn of Medicaid eligibility (Illinois spends $1,700 million ($1.7 billion) more than the national average); apply to current employees the common sense public employee pension reforms already passed for new hires of raising the age for collecting benefits from 55 to 62 years old and capping benefits at a whopping $106,000 (saving tens of billions over the next 30 years and restoring solvency to the system); and, taking a careful scalpel to every line in the budget, every program, every bureaucracy to prune fiscal abuses like cars for legislative leaders, grants for legislator’s sister for “inspirational” skits, hip-hop exercise classes, and a thousand other examples of waste and fraud.

We must begin by paying our darn bills on time to schools and social service agencies. I am ready to work all day, every day until we put together a self-disciplined solution to our state’s financial problems. To do anything else just sounds Greek to me.

Chris Lauzen
State Senator (R-25)

It was a huge task to move everything out of the room and then put it back in place. I could not have done it without help. It looks wonderful.

Thank you Kyle Anderson, Deb Armstrong, Richard Boulay, Myrna Cebulski, Deborah Helfers, Jacob Helfers, Afet Ismaili, Micah Johnson, Joe Lavendar, Allen McPhee, Kaylee McPhee, Laura McPhee, Chuck Miller, Charlie Owens, Chris Rasmussen, Kent Signorella, Jessica Stott and James Thorne.

Kimberly Martin
Library Director
Maple Park Public Library District

Farmers are a vanishing breed. When you make a conscious decision to support your local farmers market or local farm stand, you help insure that future generations will have access to the nourishing and abundant crops which our Illinois farmers work so hard to bring to our communities.

Veggies, fruits and eggs harvested within a day or two of a farmers market are fresh, crisp and loaded with flavor and nutrients. Today more than ever, it is so important to understand where and how your produce, eggs and meat have been grown.

Fruits and vegetables shipped to us from other states, and today mostly from other countries, must have tough skins that survive packing and shipping and also require the ability to have a reasonable shelf life. Only a handful of hybrid plant varieties have these characteristics, so there is little genetic diversity in commercially grown plants compared to the large number of varieties our local farms still grow so as to provide us all with an array of great tasting crops all season long.

Heirloom plants used by our farmers may even someday provide the genes needed to create crops which will thrive in changing climates. Locally grown food preserves genetic diversity, and if you are opposed to eating genetically modified fruits and veggies, you can rest assured that our farm produce was bred the old fashioned way, as nature intended—GMO-free.

Buying from our local farmers preserves our open space, keeps our taxes in check and community farms support a clean environment, which benefits not only us but all area wildlife. As you build a relationship with the farmers you deal with at the market, you establish friendships based on understanding and trust.

Mari Johnson, Don and Terry Meisinger,
Tina and Andy Cella, Karen Cinto,
Sheri Baum, Beverly Holmes Hughes,
Pat and Dan Graceffa
Sugar Grove Farmers Market volunteers

Your show of support for this important program is greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank the many Legion and Auxiliary volunteers that put in hours on the streets: legionnaires, Commander Wiley Overley, Al Anderson, Jerry Lonigro, George Morris, and Lloyd and Marie DaMask; auxiliary members, Key Swift, Janet Herra, Kathy Jackson, Robin Harley, Marleah Anderson, Cheryl Krauspe and Carrie Petrie; and junior auxiliary member, Abby Bartel.

Many thanks go out to the area businesses that allowed us to be inside or outside of their buildings, Jewel/Osco, Mobil Gas, Elburn Kountry Kettle, Papa G’s, Ream’s Meat Market, Elburn Post Office, Walgreens, Blackberry Inn, and Metra. Thank you for all courtesies extended to our volunteers.

All the proceeds of Poppy Days go toward veterans and their families. Elburn Auxiliary donated more than $2,000 to veterans programs this past year. The Elburn unit hopes to continue to help with the needs of our veterans who have and are currently giving so much for our country. I hope everyone will enjoy their Memorial Day and took some time to reflect on the reason for the holiday—remembering our veterans.

Cara Bartel
Poppy Chairman
Daniel Simpson Unit No. 630
Elburn

Assistant Superintendent of Business Julie-Ann Fuchs presented the summer project schedule, and also announced that there will be about $1,047,934 remaining in the District’s capital projects fund after all projects are completed.

All summer projects are expected to be finished sometime in August with the exception of the storage facility, which is expected to be completed in January 2011.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and as part of the observance, the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is reviewing the positive changes in mental health treatment. Not that long ago, persons suspected of having a mental illness could be locked away, overdosed with drugs to subdue them, and removed from the lives of their loved ones. There was not much hope that professionals could offer to someone with a serious mental illness.

Although stigma remains and mental health services are under-funded, there is good news. Between 70 and 90 percent of individuals have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with a combination of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and supports.

In fact, mental illnesses are more treatable than some diseases, such as heart disease. According to a report by the surgeon general, “With proper treatment, the majority of people can return to productive and engaging lives.”

When people with mental illnesses begin to recover, they want to be part of society, get jobs, and make plans for their future. It is more difficult to do these things if society treats them as never really having a future. If coworkers focus on the extra days that the mentally ill take off because of illness, they may not see the extra work done on other days. Coworkers may not believe that the mentally ill can handle the responsibilities of managing others, and may not include them in social activities for fear of unpredictable behavior.

Mental illnesses are serious medical illnesses. They cannot be overcome through will power and are not related to a person’s character or intelligence. It is not a matter of believing in the power of positive thinking, although changes in thinking may often be involved in the treatment process. What does help overcome mental illness is a consistent support system that does not change every election year, as well as a society that believes enough in recovery that they are willing to give the mentally ill the chance to prove that recovery is possible.

Families often feel a sense of hopelessness. They see the errors in judgment in the mentally ill, and they are afraid they will have to deal with this the rest of their lives. They don’t know where to start in getting help or even how to talk to people about what is happening. Support from friends and family reinforces recovery, and this is where NAMI comes in.

NAMI is a grassroots organization that provides support, education and advocacy for people with mental illness and their family and friends. NAMI DeKalb, Kane County and Kendall Counties (NAMIDKK), the local affiliate in this part of Illinois, started as a small group of family members looking for ways to help their loved ones. People needing help with mental health issues often reach out to NAMI because NAMI members can relate to what is happening with them.

When someone calls NAMIDKK, he or she reaches people who have been through similar experiences. The leaders of the support groups and the educational classes are all family members of people with mental illness who have been trained by NAMI to be leaders.

The leaders know what it is like to struggle to find help or experience frustration in navigating the system. The leaders of the support groups for people with mental illness have felt hopeless at one time also, but now they see that recovery is possible. They want to share that with others.

People find NAMI on the Internet, by word of mouth, or by referrals from professionals.

To find out more about NAMIDKK, visit namidkk.org or call (630) 896-6264.

We had over 100 dozen locally grown geraniums, gerbera daisies, tuberous begonias, ivy and coleus.

The proceeds from this sale benefit the library’s summer reading program for adults and children, as well as new materials. Over 1,300 people participated in the 2009 summer reading program. Our library continues to be a great place for everyone to expand their knowledge with a variety of media.

The Friends are a 501 (c) 3 volunteer organization created to support our library’s programs and services. Come check us out and be a “Friend.”

Joan Hansen
Executive Vice-President
Friends of the Town & Country Public Library

The general attitude in the 10 townships of western Kane County opposes video gambling, but we are represented by only two members of the board. The other 24 board members represent the six Kane townships located along the Fox River. During the meeting, Elburn resident Jim MacRunnels noted that three of those river town board members have received campaign contributions from the pro-gambling interests, and he asked them to recuse themselves from voting.

I won’t take the space here to list how all board members voted. However, I will note the votes of three:

Bob Kudlicki of Hampshire, one half of our two-member representation on the board, voted for video gambling in November, and again on May 11.

Drew Frasz, the other half of the western Kane townships’ two-member representation on the County Board, stood up against immense pressure put upon him to vote no on placing video gambling machines in our neighborhoods.

Mike Kenyon, board member who is also chairman of the Kane County Republican Party, voted for video gambling on May 11. This is the same Mike Kenyon, who, in 2008, was a member of the Illinois GOP Platform Committee that opposed any expansion of gambling in this state.

Thank you, Drew Frasz, for voicing our concerns and defending your friends and neighbors against the pressures of the County Board and other outside interests.

Dennis C. Ryan
Elburn

I have heard for years that the drainage problem will be fixed, but we still have standing water in the Post Office parking lot. I am elderly and on medication for infections, and do not need to get West Nile Virus.

If the pond is not fixed, will you, the village or the post office, be responsible for mosquito spraying?

Karen McCannon, Sugar Grove

Over 90 percent of Americans have never served in the military. I am one of them, representative of the rest. And on behalf of all of those they protect, I thank the troops for preserving our liberties, livelihoods, and businesses. Even though the borders of this country are penned with their blood, and even though we don’t keep our national house in order, they go forth each day to protect it and give us more time. Let’s hope in the end we can all make them as proud of us as we are of them.

Showings of support means a lot to them, and here is an inkling of their gratitude for the bonds between us.

• “I wanted to say thank you so much for sending out the care package to my airman. She received the box today and she was literally in tears and could not believe that there are people who cared enough to send her a box. She said she felt like it was Christmas or better because she has not had a Christmas since she was younger. It was great seeing her tell everyone who walked in the office about the box. Again, thank you and your team for taking the time to think of us over here and we truly do appreciate your support!“ —SSgt Leticia.

• “Thank you, thank you, and thank you so very much for the packages we received. We, the 2025th Transportation Company, want you to know how appreciative we are for the phone cards, games, magazines, books, music CD’s , DVD’s, toiletries, the food and all the other goodies that were sent to us yesterday … It is a hard road for us over here especially during the holiday season. Being away from our families is really tough, but with the goodies and gifts it made everyone feel like getting into the holiday spirit. From the 2025th Transportation Company Family, we would like to extend our heartfelt ‘Thank You’ for all of your support. We will always have a place in our heart for you. Thank you.”—Major Earnes

Since her inception, America has been unique among nations of the world. We go further to do more good than any other nation on earth—as acts of freedom, not dominion, which is why so many foreigners want their pictures taken with our troops when they encounter them in transit.

I periodically receive emails from people in other countries pining that they wished their people did for their military community the way Americans do for theirs. You see, America is a charitable nation, with a majority who believes in the personal responsibility of doing good at the individual level. Hence, a voluntary military, and hence, the voluntary support for its members from us.

Indeed, hundreds of charitable groups have arisen to support the troops’ morale and well-being while they are deployed. Are there amazing people in this country or what? You will find these groups listed at SupportOurTroops.org. 

So, for Armed Forces Day this year, go out and find an event to participate in, or send a care package, or make a donation. Find the core moral satisfaction in stepping up for those who step up for all of us.

And to all the troops from all of us here at home, I say thank you, and may God bless and keep you safe.

Over 90 percent of Americans have never served in the military. I am one of them, representative of the rest. And on behalf of all of those they protect, I thank the troops for preserving our liberties, livelihoods, and businesses. Even though the borders of this country are penned with their blood, and even though we don’t keep our national house in order, they go forth each day to protect it and give us more time. Let’s hope in the end we can all make them as proud of us as we are of them.

Showings of support means a lot to them, and here is an inkling of their gratitude for the bonds between us.

• “I wanted to say thank you so much for sending out the care package to my airman. She received the box today and she was literally in tears and could not believe that there are people who cared enough to send her a box. She said she felt like it was Christmas or better because she has not had a Christmas since she was younger. It was great seeing her tell everyone who walked in the office about the box. Again, thank you and your team for taking the time to think of us over here and we truly do appreciate your support!“ —SSgt Leticia.

• “Thank you, thank you, and thank you so very much for the packages we received. We, the 2025th Transportation Company, want you to know how appreciative we are for the phone cards, games, magazines, books, music CD’s , DVD’s, toiletries, the food and all the other goodies that were sent to us yesterday … It is a hard road for us over here especially during the holiday season. Being away from our families is really tough, but with the goodies and gifts it made everyone feel like getting into the holiday spirit. From the 2025th Transportation Company Family, we would like to extend our heartfelt ‘Thank You’ for all of your support. We will always have a place in our heart for you. Thank you.”—Major Earnes

Since her inception, America has been unique among nations of the world. We go further to do more good than any other nation on earth—as acts of freedom, not dominion, which is why so many foreigners want their pictures taken with our troops when they encounter them in transit.

I periodically receive emails from people in other countries pining that they wished their people did for their military community the way Americans do for theirs. You see, America is a charitable nation, with a majority who believes in the personal responsibility of doing good at the individual level. Hence, a voluntary military, and hence, the voluntary support for its members from us.

Indeed, hundreds of charitable groups have arisen to support the troops’ morale and well-being while they are deployed. Are there amazing people in this country or what? You will find these groups listed at SupportOurTroops.org. 

So, for Armed Forces Day this year, go out and find an event to participate in, or send a care package, or make a donation. Find the core moral satisfaction in stepping up for those who step up for all of us.

And to all the troops from all of us here at home, I say thank you, and may God bless and keep you safe.

At this point the chamber has reached their half-way point of the $10,000 goal. So it will take a joint effort of the community and the businesses to keep Day in the Park alive. We only have two months left, and could really use your help.

The next Pork Chop Dinner will be on Wednesday, June 23, with pick-up from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Elburn Lions Park, 500 Filmore St., Elburn. Tickets are available now at the chamber and select Elburn businesses for $12 each. Our goal for this dinner is 800 tickets, and I think with your help, we can easily reach that goal.

All profits go towards the fireworks. If you are unable to purchase Pork Chop Dinner tickets, but would like to donate money, please call the Chamber office.

Every little bit helps.

We are also looking for volunteers to join the Day in the Park committee as well. It is a great way to share ideas for fundraising ideas, or volunteer your time. The next Day in the Park meeting, will be at noon on Monday, June 7, at American Bank and Trust in downtown Elburn. Anyone interested in joining should e-mail me at ads@elburnherald.com or call (630) 365-6446.

The Elburn Chamber of Commerce is a volunteer-driven organization committed to serving local businesses and helping to foster a spirit of community in the Elburn area.

For more information on the Pork Chop Dinner or the Elburn Chamber of Commerce, feel free to call the Chamber office at (630) 365-2295 or e-mail us at info@elburn.com.

Leslie Flint
Day in the Park Committee Chairman
Elburn

And tighten its belt it has, in many ways.

Over the past several months, village officials have spent a large amount of time looking at virtually every nook and cranny in the budget, both from a revenue and expense perspective.

On the revenue side, the village raised the water and sewer rates, adding a projected $450,000 annually to the village’s finances—although this additional revenue can only be used for water and sewer expense.

Other than that decision, the village has focused more significantly on the expense side.

To control costs, the village implemented a wage freeze for village employees. Recent staff cuts include saving $42,000 after eliminating a secretarial position, as well as some additional savings from the elimination of a part-time Police Department secretarial position and a voluntary reduction in the hours of an administrative assistant.

During the search for savings, officials also considered things like reducing staff-support hours, eliminating life-insurance premiums for village employees and eliminating take-home vehicles for some village employees.

These ideas, some of which would save as little as $14,000 a year individually, might seem small when looking at the bigger picture, yet when combined with other, “smaller” items, can prove significant in terms of cutting costs while the village still faces a budgeted $700,000 deficit for fiscal year 2010-11.

The challenge for the village is, as Village Administrator Erin Willrett said in early April, that if the village makes any additional staff cuts, a reduction in resident services will result.

Add to that a possible reduction in state funding, and the table is set for a cash-strapped time. Thankfully, Elburn has approximately $5 million in a reserve fund designed to be used for emergency infrastructure projects and other unexpected expenses. However, if the village draws from that reserve fund too much or too often, there will be few if any options should an immediate emergency arise.

“God forbid that we have a catastrophe—where is the money going to come from?” Village President Dave Anderson said in mid-April.

Given all of this, village officials should be applauded for considering just about any and every idea to trim from the budget, including the “small-ticket” items like saving an estimated $14,000 per year by eliminating life-insurance premiums for village employees, a measure they decided against.

Yet, if the village’s finances are in such dire straits that officials are worried about funding during emergencies and are considering virtually every “small-ticket” item, why is the village essentially paying more than $190,000 for village administrator duties?

To deal with growth issues, the village created a new staff position in the beginning of 2008—the community development director. In May 2009, that position was changed to assistant village administrator.

After Monday’s annual staff appointments, the three appointed positions include the village administrator ($97,788.58 annual salary), chief of police ($80,817), and superintendent of public works ($78,500). The assistant village administrator’s salary—not an appointed position—is paid $93,343.64 per year.

Given the budget deficit and the months of searching for savings in every nook and cranny in the village’s finances, it strikes us as odd that the village would pay more than $190,000 for village administrator duties, especially given that the second position was originally created to deal with the growth pressures that no longer exist.

Anderson and Willrett have repeatedly referred to this year’s budget as a “bare bones budget,” but is that really the case?

If to be successful, the village administrator requires an assistant that is paid the second-highest salary in the village, is the current administrator the right person for the job? And if so, is there a need for an assistant administrator that makes over $12,000 more than the village police chief?

It appears that the village risks being top heavy, and facing a $700,000 annual deficit while saying any further staff cuts would require a loss of resident services—as well as saying this is a “bare bones budget”—does not make sense.

The past two months have had a lot of mixed emotions for us. But the support and heartfelt words we have received from all of our customers made us realize even more, how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful community.

Our local economy is important in making our community special. If it was not for our local merchants, all of our local charities and schools would suffer greatly without their donations and support.

As we go into our final weeks of our store closing sale, please stop in and say hello, and remember to support your other fellow local merchants to keep our community strong.

Weldon Johnson
Anne Shaw and the
staff of Viking Office Supply

They ran a 24-team round-robin softball tournament Sunday, April 25. Despite less than perfect weather conditions, it went well, and a good time was had by all.

It is wonderful to see all of our parks and school properties being used in such a productive, and enjoyable manner.

Bill McGinnis
Elburn

Despite the weather, we had a good turn out and we couldn’t have done it without all of you.

A special thank you goes out to Timber Creek Inn & Suites who sponsored the event. Please visit their website at www.timbercreekinnandsuites.com to virtually tour their facility.

She was beautiful music to our ears … Autumn Selover, Harpist. Thank you for sharing your amazing talent.

Thanks to Joliet Tent for keeping us dry and to Uncle Bub’s for the mouth watering barbecue.

Our appreciation to Lights of Learning for donating the Earth Day raffle basket valued at $150.

Countless thank you’s to the volunteers here at Ellis, you should be proud knowing we would not exist without your generosity of time and talent.

Kendall County Board, Forest Preserve Staff and Voters for the vision of “Conservation through Recreation”.

Finally, to all the folks who braved the weather and came out to participate and celebrate Earth Day with us.

Tina Villarreal
Event Coordinator
Ellis House and Equestrian Center
Kendall County Forest Preserve

We also thank everyone who has thought of the library with their generous used book donations since our new library opened eight months ago. A special thank you to the Sugar Grove Fire Protection District, especially Lt. Brendan Moran, for hosting several used book drives.

Thank you to our hard working Sugar Grove Library Director Beverly Holmes Hughes and her incredible staff for assisting us with the preparations needed for the sale throughout the several weeks of preparation. Waubonsee softball coach Perry Clark, village trustee Mari Johnson and the Sugar Grove Park District are so appreciated for helping the Library Friends with transportation, securing tables and volunteers and so much more.

Without the strength of the Women’s Waubonsee softball team and Kaneland High School Knights wrestler’s coach Jeremy Kenny, Zack Ganz (junior) and David Barnhart (freshman) and David’s mom Suzanne Barnhart, we could never have moved so many of the heavy boxes of books from our storage unit and on to the sales tables.

Local businesses like Heartland Commercial Properties LLC, American Heartland Bank-Trust, Nick Bumba, Nick’s Custom Furniture, The Book Nook Cafe, and Pepsi were all responsible in different ways for helping with the book sale, and we hope residents remember to support these local community members.

Support from the Library Friends of the Batavia Library and the Elburn Town and Country Library Friends is also appreciated.

This newspaper allows us always to get the word out in the press releases they published on the sale.

I would like, last but not least, to thank the Library Friends, the amazing volunteers who help us with every used book sale, all of our events and in our used book store.

All donated items are sorted and go to our library first to be put on a library shelf or to replace a book which may be worn that is currently on the shelf. Books not used are turned over to the library volunteers to be sold in the used book store or at a book sale, and the proceeds are returned to the library for reading materials and programs.

Remember to help your community library and also help the earth by donating your current reading materials. Current books, CDs and DVDs are a simple way for taxpayers to help the library curb its costs, resulting in a huge savings for our communities.

Pat Graceffa
Library Friends President
Sugar Grove

This year, the success of the dinner and auction allowed the committee to award two $1,000 scholarships to KHS seniors Natalie Swieca and Kevin Szatkowski.

Natalie will be attending Aurora University in the fall, while Kevin will be heading to the University of Iowa. Congratulations and best of luck to these two college-bound KHS graduates.

Niko’s Lodge in Wasco did a great job in hosting these events this year on Feb. 20. All items that were in the silent auction were generously donated by our Chamber members. Without them, this could not have been possible.

The Elburn Chamber of Commerce is a volunteer driven organization committed to serving local businesses and helping to foster a spirit of community in the Elburn area.

For more information on the Elburn Chamber of Commerce, feel free to call the Chamber office at (630) 365-2295 or e-mail us at info@elburn.com.

Jessica Impson
Administrator
Elburn Chamber of Commerce

The $100 winners are Steven Itman of Maple Park, Mike Swederski of Elburn, Terry Lamb of Elburn, Milt Johnson of Elburn, Ann Lambert of Lily Lake, Penny Griesman of Batavia, Dennis Moutray of Maple Park, J&R Herra of Elburn. The $2,500 winner was Froehlich Lupee of Elburn.

We hope to have your support again next year.

Dennis Richmond
Raffle Chairman
Elburn

Your Elburn firefighters, paramedics and EMTs will be taking donations at the corner of Route 38 and Route 47 on May 7 from 3 to 7 p.m.

Please stop and help us support this very important camp for the children that have experienced injuries from burns.

Matt Hanson
Elburn Fire Department

We should.

When you turn on your faucet this Arbor Day, take a moment and think about the important role trees play to make sure what comes out of the tap is healthy and clean.

Most people know that trees produce oxygen that we breathe and clean the air by acting as giant filters, removing harmful particles and pollutants. But you may not be aware that trees work just as hard to protect and purify our water sources, including those that provide drinking water for millions of Americans every day.

Trees improve water quality by slowing rain as it falls to the earth, and helping it soak into the soil. They also prevent soil from eroding into our waterways, reduce stormwater runoff, and lessen flood damage. They serve as natural filters to protect our streams, rivers, and lakes.

Forests in the United States are the source of drinking water for more than 180 million people, 59 percent of the U.S. population. Forests help protect vital water sources such as sparkling mountain streams filled with melting snow, healthy reservoirs and lakes, and our nation’s vast web of rivers.

Our forested areas are shrinking at an alarming rate. The U.S. Forest Service estimates that more than 40 million acres of private forest could be lost in the next 40 years.

Why is that important to us? As U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, “While most Americans live in urban areas, most of us depend on rural lands, particularly forest lands, for clean water and a healthy climate.”

One example of an urban area that depends on forested land for water is New York City. In the late 1990s, New York City leaders balked at a $6 billion water treatment system and instead opted to go with natural landscape management to clean the water it receives from the Catskill/Delaware watershed in upstate New York. The focus is on creating conservation easements along streams and reservoirs, and protecting forest lands to keep sediment and runoff from entering the water supply.

The watershed provides most of New York City’s daily supply of drinking water, more than 1 billion gallons each day. New Yorkers enjoy some of the cleanest, healthiest drinking water in the world.

Millions of Californians rely on crystal-clear water flowing from Plumas and other National Forests to quench their thirst. Melting snow and rain water flow from the Plumas into the Feather River and eventually winds up in the Sacramento River. Water from the Plumas relies on the entire ecosystem, which includes trees, to keep it pristine until it reaches taps throughout central and northern California. This is just one example of how our national forests help clean the water.

These solutions are an alternative to manufactured water treatment systems, and are beneficial in so many ways. Unfortunately, the conventional response is too often to pay for expensive artificial treatment systems rather than rely on natural resources.

One way to protect and clean our water supply is to plant trees, and the need to replant our nation’s forests is vitally important. The U.S. Forest Service has identified a backlog of 1 million acres in national forests alone that are in need of replanting because of damage from recent wildfires, insects and disease.

There is no substitute for clean water. Water is a vital resource that we rely on every day. We can’t create something else to take its place.

But we can plant trees.

We enjoy trees for many reasons—their shade on a warm day, the energy they save when they’re planted around our homes, the bountiful food they provide, the songbirds they bring close by.

Remember the role trees play in keeping our drinking water clean. As you celebrate Arbor Day this year, don’t take your clean drinking water for granted when you turn on the tap. America’s trees worked hard to help deliver that refreshing glass of water.

We appreciate the community that came out to support our fundraiser. Many thanks go out to the members who worked and/or donated desserts.

We also thank the Elburn American Legion members that helped us, as well. We appreciate the community and our loyal members for their participation in our moneymaking events. Without your help, we could not make our donations to the important programs that help so many.

We hope to see everyone again in the fall.

Cara Bartel, Treasurer
Elburn American Legion
Auxiliary No. 630

Emergency medical providers in the Elburn Herald area answer to an entity concerning medical care issues. That entity is called Southern Fox Valley Emergency Medical System based out of Delnor Hospital.

Wayne has been an integral part of that system for years. I cannot remember him holding an official leadership position with the system; he might at some point have. But Wayne has provided significant informal leadership and influences over the system and their policies for years. In lots of organizations, there are those people that just make the organization work, and that was Wayne. For years, he was instrumental in making Southern Fox an effective system. He has been a big part in keeping the system current and progressive. I share this information for a reason.

While it is true that the people served by the Elburn Fire Protection District should be very thankful for his service, so should others. Because of Wayne’s involvement in the system, and his constant desire to improve emergency medical care by all providers in the Southern Fox System, other people in our area, served by other agencies have received the benefits of his efforts. Wayne probably does not realize himself the impact that he has had on providers throughout the area.

Congratulations on your retirement, old friend. A good job, well done.

William T. King, Jr.
Sugar Grove

Prior to 1970, the public began to demand cleaner air, water, and land. A few months after Earth Day that year, President Richard Nixon in Congress moved to establish the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the first Earth Day was recognized.

That year proved pivotal in transforming the nation from one that demontrated a lack of care for the environment to one in which recycling is the norm and not the exception, people can trust their drinking water, and air quality is vastly superior compared to back then.

The EPA led to an amendment to the Clean Air Act, setting national air quality, auto emission and anti-pollution standards.

The Safe Drinking Water Act allowed the EPA to set standards for the quality of public drinking water. Money was set aside to clean up hazardous waste sites.

Just about any interaction with the environment is now safer due to the EPA, and public awareness about the environment is certainly heightened because of Earth Day.

No one can dispute that these are vital improvements that have touched our daily lives and improved and prolonged the lives of millions Americans and millions more to come.

Yes, there is a debate about climate change and if human activity has any impact on it. The EPA website certainly places the organization on one side of that debate.

“Beginning late in the 18th century, human activities associated with the Industrial Revolution have also changed the composition of the atmosphere and therefore very likely are influencing the Earth’s climate,” its site states.

With the climate change debate and a growing distrust in the federal government serving as context, it is reasonable to conclude that many people may now place less value on the EPA and what it has accomplished.

We hope that all people, regardless of their stance toward the federal government in general and the climate change debate specifically, can look past the political polarization of the day and recognize the EPA and its accomplishments, and think about how it has helped you and your family, and take a moment to think about the planet and its environment.

Regardless of whether or not you believe man is causing the globe’s climate to change, it is hard to imagine anyone wanting to return to the days where paint was full of lead, rivers were full of waste, and the air was full of pollution.

It was so good to see our family and friends. We appreciated all the cards and phone calls, including those from some that couldn’t attend. It was a memorable day.

Francis and Norma Farley
Aurora

In 1993, Dave started planting flowering crab trees along the road to enhance the beauty of one of the last gravel roads in Kane County.
Over the years, he planted by hand almost 100 trees. Please take time out of your busy schedule and slowly drive down the road to admire God’s beauty … the trees are in full bloom and gorgeous. Enjoy.

Sally Compton
Kit Compton
Robin Urich
Elburn

Here is how it works: A door-to-door salesman offers to do repair work for much less than the market price. He demands a large down payment and full payment before the work is completed. When asked, he cannot provide references except that he has done other work in the neighborhood. If the work is done at all, it is usually done poorly.

Here is what to do: Do not even open your door to contractors or salesmen unless you know them or have asked them to stop by. Never agree to have repair work done until you have checked a contractor’s background and references. Never sign anything unless you have read and fully understand what it is. If you notice anyone going door to door in your neighborhood who appears suspicious, call the police.

To report an actual scam, contact the Office of the Attorney General and/or call the Senior Fraud Hotline at 1-800-243-5377.

Helen J. Baker
Member
Elder Abuse Committee
of the 16th Judicial Circuit
Family Violence Coordinating Council

Formerly, there was little or no activity on Main Street (Route 47), with few pedestrians visible on these quiet village streets. We have had several occasions to visit and eat at Schmidt’s during the winter and spring months, all with the same result.

Formerly empty parking spots along the street are now full. People who seemingly know each other congregate outside the restaurant and visit. The restaurant itself is very appealing with a lodge-like motif staged in highest quality construction.

This is no surprise as the owner is Kevin Schmidt, lifelong Elburn resident and custom home builder. The menu, food, spirits and service are top notch and affordable.

But perhaps the most distinctive feature is that patrons seem to know many of the people there. It has become a central gathering place for families and customers of all ages for all types of occasions.

Once again, downtown Elburn has the vitality and appeal we associate with small-town America. Schmidt’s is the new place “where everybody knows your name.” Bravo to the village of Elburn for this wonderful small business revitalization. We will be coming back again and again.

Janet and Paul Lueck
Elgin

One thing never mentioned in these letters is that he never comes out of his office to explain what a great health plan he has supported. While all the letters say he listens to his constituents, he did not hear the multitude who opposed this expensive program; or that he will never present his support for the health bill to a group face to face.

Many of the details in this health bill are being exposed, brought to light for the public, and the public sees that these details are not good.
I have attended meetings in front of Rep. Foster’s office, and he never comes out to explain this so-called wonderful bill, nor does one of his staff come out to us to explain things, much less how we will pay for all of it.

Rep. Foster, if you plan on getting re-elected, you better start facing us and telling us why your health plan should have our support. While some update of our current health care needs some tweaking, this bill of the Democrats has nothing to do with improvement.

Mr. Foster, you had better do a clearer explanation of this bill or you will not be re-elected.

Richard H. Sharp
Geneva

This delay in the 5.6 percent raises for union members will eliminate $1.1 million in next year’s budget deficit, allowing the Kaneland School District to reinstate the 30 positions that were previously slated to be cut, as well as all of the sports, clubs and activities that had been on the chopping block.

Kudos to everyone involved in this latest round of negotiations and its outcome.

While we share the happiness of those involved that the cuts have been averted, we continue to wonder what led to the KEA’s change of heart.

Previously, the KEA had declined an invitation to re-open the negotiations.

Was it the reality of seeing 100 of its members receiving pink slips and a verbal commitment that approximately 70 of them would be offered a position for the following year?

Was it the additional uncertainty caused by the state’s budget mess, and its impact on Kaneland School District funding?

Was it simply that as time went on, the depth of the budgetary problems became better understood?

Or, did something else happen—some other piece of information that was revealed, some other communication that occurred?

While right now is the time to be thankful that both sides came together to help protect next year’s quality of education, the programs and the staff that would have been cut, it will be important to learn the answers to these questions before the next time the contract is up and the finances look grim.

The economy is still struggling and the state’s finances are still a shambles. The district’s finances are neither strong nor stable, and there is no clear indication what the state will do long-term with its school district funding obligations.

With that in mind, the $1.1 million in raises will occur prior to the 2011-12 school year, and the KEA contract will be up prior to the 2012-13 school year.

It is hoped that the answers to these questions will be revealed early enough to both learn and apply the lessons necessary to prevent the district from getting to this point again.

It does no one any good to believe they will not have a job next year while still trying to educate students this year. It does no one any good for students to temporarily believe that certain programs and clubs will no longer exist. It does no one any good to believe that the district’s cuts will have to be so severe that educational quality will be hampered.

We hope both sides learn from what led to this recent resolution and apply it to the future before education is placed at risk and district morale is damaged across the board.

Our political leaders still clamor for votes at the expense of our environment. Decisions are dictated by the economy. If the economy is good, they get the votes; and that’s it.

Now, our president is promoting off-shore drilling. How disappointing. This is definitely not the answer. More use of fossil fuels will only exacerbate our global warming dilemma.

I always tried to teach a very important value. Sometimes we don’t want to do something, but it is the right thing to do. It is definitely time for all Americans to do the right thing and possibly change many of our ways for the sake of a better world for future generations.

Let’s begin with conservation. If we eliminate 50 percent of the things we don’t need, we wouldn’t miss them. For the most part, it is our wants and not our needs that do most of the harm to our environment.

What if everyone drove the speed limit? We would reduce our dependence on fossil fuels considerably and at the same time reduce carbon emissions.

Instead of more and more fossil fuels, let’s turn to the sun for our energy. If we do, it will shine down upon all of us and generations to come.

It is time to stop the fossil fuel industry from dictating our future, which could very well be catastrophic. Just think what we could do with all the money that will be spent on retrieving oil from below the Gulf and instead use it to develop solar and other alternative sources of energy.

Finally, let’s do the right thing, even though it may cause us some discomfort.

Earl Montgomery
Sugar Grove

Do you want to live in a state where:
• 70,000 people, including 4,200 children, are at risk of losing needed mental health services?
• 4,000 persons with mental illness will be displaced from residential settings and transferred back into nursing homes?
• School districts are laying off thousands of teachers and staff?
• 19,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities sit on a waiting list?
• 30,000 individuals with disabilities will lose direct services?
• Our community-based mental health and developmental disability systems are ranked last in the nation?
• Thousands of Illinois jobs in education and human services will be sacrificed in the name of cutting out non-existent “fat”?

All of the above are potential or current consequences of a historically underfunded state education and human services system. No one likes paying taxes, but no one wants to live in the worst state in the nation either. If we don’t pay for these services at the state level, we will pay for it locally through higher real estate taxes, overflowing jails and crowded emergency rooms.

It is time for our state legislators to get to work, stop running for re-election and to devise a means of adequately funding education as well as services for our most vulnerable neighbors with disabilities. It is time for them to go back to Springfield and make Illinois a state we can all be proud of.

Jerry J. Murphy,
Sugar Grove

One important piece of the foundation of our democracy is openness, or transparency, in government. Taxpayers have a right to know what their elected officials are doing and how their taxpayer dollars are being spent. Publication of public notices, or legal notices, is an important part of government reporting back to their constituents, or the citizens’ of Illinois.

Since before the days of Abraham Lincoln, newspapers in Illinois have served as an independent third party conduit between taxpayers and their government for the dissemination of public notices. Important information regarding tax increases, zoning issues, fines and penalties, financial statements, court proceedings, water quality reports and much more are required by Illinois statute to be published in newspapers.

However, under a new proposal pending in Springfield, specifically Senate Bill 3336, government believes it is now OK to circumvent your right to know. They have found a better and less expensive way to “post” public notices. Their answer: a government takeover of certain public notices. That’s right, this legislation would, for the first time in the history of Illinois, allow a government body to completely bypass the taxpayers and, instead, post critical taxpayer information on their own website, rather than in a newspaper that is published in the government body’s area.

SB3336 contains no independent third party verification, no certificate of publication from the newspaper that the information actually got published, and no accountability which, unfortunately, is the way government seems to like to operate these days.

It gets even worse. This bill also makes more ominous changes specifically designed to keep you, the taxpayer, in the dark. For example, guess what was conveniently left out of the legislation? You guessed it, any frequency or time requirements that would mandate how long or how often government must post this vital information on their website. Under the proposed legislation, it could be 10 days, 10 hours, or even 10 minutes. It is alarming that however long the notice remains publicly available would be solely at the discretion of the public body posting its own notices.

Proponents of this legislation claim that it is narrow in its scope because it only applies to ordinances which “impose any penalty or make any appropriation.” That’s limited in scope alright—to precisely the two things that taxpayers care most about, specifically how much a fine might cost or how their tax dollars are being spent.

This proposal is the quintessential reason why government should not be allowed to report on itself and clearly demonstrates why government needs to remain transparent and not try to serve as both judge and jury in the business of public notices. Aside from the inherent conflict of interest, this legislation makes little sense for a state that is trying to rid itself of an image of pay-to-play politics, public corruption, unbridled graft and imprisoned governors.

At a time when Illinois politics and government should be more and more open and transparent, SB3336 flies in the face of accountability to citizens and taxpayers. It is important that you let your state representatives know this. Please pick up the phone and let them know that you oppose Senate Bill 3336 and any future attempts to lessen government transparency through the takeover of public notices. Public notice information should continue to be disseminated and available to the public through the traditional tried-and-true method of publication in local newspapers.

The Illinois Press Association, with headquarters in Springfield, is the largest state newspaper association in the United States with more than 500 daily and weekly newspaper members.

On top of this important, private decision, she now has to listen to harassment and insults by religious fanatics as she enters the clinic.

I believe in the right to protest as long as it does not interfere with the woman’s right to choose and the right to privacy.

Do you think that the protesters’ God would approve of such behavior? I think not!

Russell Johnson
Sugar Grove

Our Constitution and American way of life mandate that any individual charged with a crime, no matter how unpopular, is entitled to a legal defense by a licensed attorney. That right attaches not only to people who can afford an attorney but also to those who can’t. Lawyers in private practice usually can choose their clients. Sometimes the court will appoint a lawyer to a case. Appointed lawyers do not have the luxury of choosing their clients. Public defenders never have that luxury.

I have been a criminal defense lawyer for 40 years. I have gotten along well with 99.99 percent of my clients. Occasionally, a lawyer gets a client who, no matter what you do, it is either not good enough or the wrong thing. The lawyer who has been hired has the option of firing the client. The appointed lawyer must make do with what he is given.

The job is difficult enough in that sometimes it seems the general public doesn’t realize that no matter whom the individual or what the alleged crime, the representation by a criminal defense lawyer is not only necessary but mandated by our laws, courts and Constitution. Ron Dolak and all appointed lawyers, particularly public defenders, are to be complimented on their patience and perseverance. Without their willingness to work with unpopular clients charged with unpopular offenses, the criminal justice system would break down. Without their willingness to work with sometimes difficult individuals, the criminal justice system would grind to a halt.

Lawyers practicing in the criminal justice field often deal not only with sometimes hostile clients looking for someone to blame other than themselves, but also with a public which sometimes does not seem to understand that when the criminal defense lawyer fights for the constitutional rights of his or her clients, that criminal defense lawyer is guarding the Constitution for all of us. That holds true for any lawyer who takes on any unpopular cause.

My compliments are extended to Ron Dolak, the public defenders, and all criminal defense lawyers who accept appointments.

Fred M. Morelli, Jr.
Aurora

According to Elburn Village President Dave Anderson, there are many local residents who will not receive a form because they receive their mail at a P.O. box. However, there are some residents who do access their mail from a P.O. box that will receive the form.

So how do you know if you are on the “to receive” or “not to receive” list?

You don’t. Simply put, if you have received your form already, then you were on the “to receive” list. If you haven’t yet, then now you know you were on the “not to receive” list.

According to Anderson, there is no pattern or rationale provided when trying to find out why some received the forms and some did not.

The only consistent thing about the census is that everyone does need to be counted. An accurate head count determines the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives allocated to each state, as well as determining the allocation of federal funds for various community services and construction projects. It also determines funding levels for various local and state governmental entities.

Not only is it important that everyone respond to the census, it is required by law.

Therefore, if you have received your census form in the mail and not replied, please do so prior to May 1. If you never received your form in the mail, then there are various places in your community in which you can pick one up.

In Elburn, forms are available at the Elburn Herald office, 123 N. Main St.; Town and Country Public Library, 320 E. North St.; Elburn Post Office at 815 N. Main St.; and Elburn Village Hall, 301 E. North St.

If you do not live in Elburn and also find yourself on the “not to receive” list, you should contact your village office to find out where to find one.

For more information, contact the village of Elburn at (630) 365-5060 or visit www.elburn.il.us; the village of Sugar Grove at (630) 466-4507 or visit www.sugar-grove.il.us; the village of Maple Park at (815) 827-3309 or visit www.villageofmaplepark.com; or the village of Kaneville at (630) 557-0037 or visit www.villageofkaneville.com.

One year ago, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Since January, it seems I’ve spent more time in Loyola Hospital than at home.

The most wonderful thing is at no time have I ever had to worry about the well-being of my children. The community once again has stepped up to help a family in need. Someone is always there to make sure my girls have a ride to or from practice. Some donated their time to ride with Megan so she got enough hours to get her license—congrats Megan.

Thank you to the wonderful staff at John Stewart Elementary for providing meals for the last two months. Thank you to Elburn Express Baseball/Softball for all the ways in which you have supported us. And thank you to all the families too countless to mention, whether you sent cards of well wishes, made donations, dropped off a meal, took care of my children, stopped by to visit, or remembered us in your prayers.

We thank you for your kindness, and it means more to us than you will ever know.

Carol A. Herra
Elburn

I am deeply disappointed with his “yes” vote for “Obamacare.”

Congressman Foster has fallen lock step with the Obama cry for socializing the United States of America. Democrats will not be happy until all of us are totally beholding to the great givers in Washington. This bill will cause a tremendous burden on our children and grandchildren, as they will be the ones who will bear the burden of paying for this socialistic takeover of our nation’s health care.

And I believe that we will suffer with the quality and availability of our care. It appears to me that Bill Foster does not represent the hard-working people of his district when he makes such a wrongheaded decision. He merely follows his masters in the House of Representatives and the White House; or is he just one more of the liberal left who knows exactly what the masses need?

Remember, Bill Foster is of the same party that has given us Chicago-style politics in this state and the nation. Chicago is running in the red, and we all know what is happening in Springfield—more debt than we can cope with. Now he is helping to drive our once-great nation into the ground.

I would like to encourage all the people to call Rep. Foster and let him know that he is to represent us, not his party mantra. Citizens of this district need to vote Foster out of office and replace him with someone who does not take marching orders from the Democrats in Chicago, Springfield or Washington, D.C.

Bob Strzepek
Maple Park

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Paws All Day In Elburn will be a day-long celebration of dogs and cats, their owners and their abilities, and lots of family fun.

Although this event is new to Elburn, the response has been huge, and we are looking forward to a rewarding, educational, fun and event-filled day.

Vendors will be attending with apparel for pets and their people, all kinds of supplies, healthy pet food, crafts and decor.

There will be shelter and rescue groups on the premises, showcasing animals looking for “forever“ homes, with various live demonstrations throughout the day.

In addition to shopping for your furry family member, local pet-related businesses will be on hand. Find a groomer, pet-sitter, trainer or boarding facility near you.

At this event, you can find out how to get involved with service, therapy and reader dog organizations. Does your dog have what it takes to be a therapy dog?

Admission and parking for this event are free. Contests, raffles, events and displays will be ongoing. Lunch will be available, provided by the Elburn Lions Club.

We still have room for more vendors. If you have a pet-related business, service or product and would like to join us for this event, please visit www.PawsAllDayInElburn.com for full details, or call (630) 885-2732. There is an early bird discount for vendors if your application is received by Monday, April 12.

You may also sponsor our event. Sponsors donating $50 will have their business name printed on our banner; $75 donations include publication of your business name, phone number, website and/or other information in our brochures; and a $125 sponsorship will include both the banner and the brochure. All sponsorships will be listed on our website. Sponsorship will help with the cost of the event, and a portion of all proceeds from the day will go to Dr. Jane’s HealthyPetNet foundation.

Dr. Jane’s foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, establishment, maintenance and management of animal rescue groups committed to rescuing homeless animals all over America.

Because of the high number of animals expected to participate in this event, for liability reasons, and for the safety of all, the public is asked to leave their pets at home.

Lori Thuestad
PetTender, Elburn

Our blood drive was a huge success, due in part to the Sugar Grove Firefighters Auxiliary, the Sugar Grove Fire Department, the Heartland Blood Center staff, and all of our extra helpers.

We send a special thank you to our donors for sharing the gift of life: Carolyn Abruzzo, Jeff Babich, Shawn Beyer, Kate Boehmer, Steve Boehmer, James Budzyn, Jennifer Calabrese, Perry Clark, Clara Cooper, Pat Davis, Lee Drendel, Jick Eckert, Tara Evers, Steve Good, Denise Goress, Mark Goress, George Hannemann, Susan Hayden, Jack Holleran, Mike Janco, John Jandovitz, Jane Johnson, Laura Keske, Ted Koch, Kim Kriceri, Sally McClellan, Suzanne McCracken, Sean Michels, Brandon J. Mires, Lisa Molitor, Russell Molitor, Jennifer Mourousias, Clarance Nolan, Crystal Quiroga, Jan Ray, Andrew Reynolds, Judy Rios, Brian Schiber, Erin Schiber, Damon Schultz, Christy Seawall, Don Sommerville, Christine Steenwyk, Jeff Steenwyk, Andrea Strobert, Marisa Tenorio, Renee Tonioni, Rachel Warren, Dana Weber, Molly Wolf, Annettee Wood, Dan Wurtz, James Zablocki, Scott Zaeske, Steve Zick.

We also deeply appreciate those who attempted but were unable to donate blood. The next Sugar Grove blood drive is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 13.

Joy Rubo
Blood Drive coordinator
Sugar Grove

These include 24 in their first year, 37 in their second, 33 in their third, and nine of the 42 Kaneland teachers and professionals in their fourth year. In addition, 15 part-time teachers also received their dismissals.

For many of these educators and professionals, approximately 60 to 70 of them, the silver lining is that they will still have a job at Kaneland in the fall. However, they will not know if they are part of the “many” who could return to Kaneland until later in the year.

The reason the district authorized the dismissal of more staff than they will ultimately need is due to contractual obligations and the need for district flexibility. The district must notify certified staff at least 45 days prior to the end of the school year that their contracts will not be renewed the following year. While Kaneland finalizes its cuts and drills down to what specific positions should be re-filled, the district has the flexibility to select from the group.

The difficulty of this type of scenario is that those who are dismissed now will not know if they have a job to come back to, and there is little they can do until they find out.

The additional difficulty is that to remain in their career field, they would be entering a job market that is seeing similar staff reductions throughout the region and the state.

In many ways, this is no different than someone losing their job in the private sector. With unemployment rates so high, there are simply too many qualified applicants for too few available positions.

This is the unfortunate reality of today’s economy and the result of government budgets that were not sustainable even when the economy was surging.

It is easy to look at all of these numbers and—whether it is unemployment numbers or school budget numbers—and forget that those numbers represent real people.

That changes when the dismissal letters are actually sent, and one begins to consider the impact that letter has on the teachers, their families and their students.

“They (teachers and other professionals) went into the profession because they were passionate about students, and we will lose that. That’s the tragedy,” Kaneland School Board member Cheryl Krauspe said during Monday’s meeting.

This is the third event I have been able to attend with Congressman Foster since he has been in office. Although the time with him is limited, I greatly appreciate the fact that he even shows up to do these events. Personally, I like the private one-on-one session. Not all people are comfortable speaking publicly in town hall meeting formats.

Beginning around 2002 through the end of his term, I began calling then-Congressman Hastert’s office to find out about town hall meetings or any event I might attend to speak to him about my concerns.

I was repeatedly told “he has nothing scheduled.” At the same time, I would read about the local fundraisers he was having. Although Mr. McCubbin is unhappy about Foster’s chosen format, Foster’s availability has been far greater to his constituents than his predecessor, and we didn’t have to attend a fundraiser to see him.

Carol Green
Elburn

I don’t get to the meetings out of fear I am not educated enough—because there are always two sides—and for anyone that knows me, knows I am not afraid to speak passionately about things I believe in. That being said, I will just write about what I do know. It is not about taxes, budgets or teachers’ salaries, but community.

On the Friday night while sitting at the final Regional Basketball game at KHS, you could not only see a sense of community, but you could hear it. As the final buzzer rang in my ears, I sensed sadness; not because our team played a good game and came up short, not because the seniors just finished another chapter in their lives, but a sense of loss in the community.

Taking away sports (or any extra-curricular) at the lower levels (seventh through 10th) no doubt will weaken our athletic programs over the next few years. In general, will KHS see a final “regional” game in a few years? If not, where will we—the community—go for a night out?

We come out not only to cheer on our team, but to socialize with our community. The very young to the senior citizens gather in one place and root for one team. This is true of musicals and games. It is an inexpensive “night out” for families like mine that don’t have kids in high school yet.

It is a place where we can practice some basic manners that seem to escape our younger generation: Don’t be rude, be aware of those around you, include everyone, respect your elders, and even help a mom who has a toddler that just lost something under the bleachers. It is a place for the kids at all the elementary schools to get a glimpse of each other and make some new friends. The game/performance is a place where the team parents sit together and maybe even make life-long friendships. It is a place where a retired school-bus driver or teacher can come back and be sure to see a familiar face.

This is a place to let my 13-year-old spread her wings with her friends on the other side of the gym, but under the watchful eye of me and some of my community. It is a place where I can sometimes visit with the man that taught me the love of the game at a summer camp.

Sports (and all extra-curriculars) allow the students a different type of learning that cannot be taught out of a book. Working together as a team teaches us life lessons. These lessons carry as far, or possibly further, in life than a+b=c.

There are many great teachers in my past, and I can even remember some of the names, but I can remember all of my coaches’ names (good or bad). Thinking of this reminds me of my freshman year at college where I was to play basketball, but had to make a painful decision to quit and work for financial reasons. I am best friends with my mom, but the night my roommate suited up for the first game, I walked to the end of the hall with a hand full of quarters and called my high school basketball coach and cried. I have called that coach many times over the years.

So thank you to those coaches who have taught us to compete together as a unit, to win or lose with grace, for teaching us to perform as one voice in competition or entertainment.

As I write this letter it is 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning, we are on the way to a volleyball tournament. The sun is rising as we pass the Harter Middle School and I wonder will Kaneland’s next great musician or athlete be walking in those halls come Monday morning? Will we ever know? Will a Bonnie Bray or Rick Schairer be able to mold them into today’s Dudzinski?

I smile and think back to last night at a pizza place in Batavia, where Dave and Robbie Dudzinski must have been having a brother’s night out. There was a father of a young boy that said, “Look son, there is Dave Dudzinski!” The boy smiled at his father, and they walked up and said “Hi” to Dave. I think the dad was as awestruck as the son.

Extra-curriculars are expensive, what they teach and the community they build is priceless.

Laurie Hannula
Kaneville

Their ideas, combined with your suggestions submitted through www.reinventillinois.com, have identified hundreds of key proposals that could help restore fiscal responsibility to our state.

I’d like to share one of my pieces of legislation that I believe will change the financial face of our state.

Each year, the Illinois Comptroller is mandated to provide a report to the General Assembly and the people of Illinois on expenditures made by each state agency. This Comprehensive Annual Financial Report covers July 1 to June 30, and is printed and filed once all department reports are received and audited by the auditor general.

The report that covers July 2008 to June, 2009 has not yet been filed. That’s right—funds spent 20 months ago are still not publically accounted for. Why? Because all departments do not provide their information in a timely manner for audit. Could you balance your checkbook not knowing what you had spent for nearly two years? My bill will change that.

This week, House Bill No. 6267 received unanimous approval from the House of Representatives. It creates specific deadlines; all reports must be received for review by the auditor general by Oct. 31, and the Comptroller must provide an official report by Dec. 31. To encourage a timely response, state agency directors’ salaries may be withheld until they submit the required information. Government must be accountable to the people.

The budget deficit in Illinois is not simply a result of the national economy. We must work in a bi-partisan manner and find common sense solutions to get our state back on the right track. That means reforming government and retooling how this state does business. It means creating a budget that is both responsible and treats our residents with dignity; not an easy task.

It is an honor to serve as your State Representative. I welcome and encourage additional suggestions at info@kayhatcher.us.

State Rep. Kay Hatcher
50th District
Yorkville

The lies and scare tactics have been intense. Vast amounts of money have and will be spent to discredit the very people who have bravely worked to fix a system that thrives by restricting or denying health care rather than providing it.

Please take a good look at what the new rules really do and do not do. Small businesses get tax credits to provide coverage for their employees. That should help them keep employees in these tough economic times. Children with pre-existing conditions can’t be denied insurance, and there won’t be lifetime limits to their coverage. A little girl’s illness won’t bring her whole family financial ruin.

There are plenty of reasons not to improve the current health-care system. Unfortunately, they have little to do with health care. The reforms Congressman Bill Foster endorsed will provide us all a healthier future.

Frank Imhoff
Chairman
Elgin Township Democrats
Elgin

She proceeded to explain the rapid assessment that was made upon her arrival, the medication adjustments and careful monitoring she received there. I also witnessed first-hand the care my daughter was given a year ago when she suddenly fell ill at home and was taken by ambulance to the Delnor emergency room. She spent three days in intensive care and two more days in a regular room. The thorough assessment she received by the doctors and the wonderful care she received from the nursing staff was remarkable and laid the groundwork for a complete recovery.

As a member of the Patient Partnership Council at Delnor, I have learned a lot the last few years about Delnor and their continuous efforts to provide excellent patient-centered care. The Patient Partnership Council is a group composed of staff members and prior hospital inpatients and outpatients, as well as family members of patients. The purpose of the council is to serve as a formal mechanism for involving patients and families in policy and program decision making at Delnor Hospital.

At each monthly meeting, we have learned about an aspect of hospital operations. While we have learned about Delnor, the hospital staff (members) have learned about us and are now inviting former patients to participate in hospital committees or task forces to share our view of the subject being discussed from the patient perspective. The transparency this requires is rarely seen in large institutions, and I believe is attributed to Delnor’s leadership, especially Tom Wright, President and CEO of the Delnor Health System.

Delnor Hospital was recently awarded the prestigious Planetree Designation. It is the only hospital in Illinois with this credential and is one of nine in the United States. Planetree is devoted to promoting a better patient experience, empowering patients and families through information and education, and encouraging healing partnerships with patients and caregivers. Planetree promotes the core values of service, respect, integrity and compassion.

I am proud to volunteer on this council and felt the community should be made aware of Delnor’s continuous efforts to provide excellent health care to our community.

Ginny Temple
St. Charles

To avoid wearing out my welcome by replaying budget and job-creation solutions that I have repeatedly proposed here and in Springfield, I will devote this article to “Lauzen’s Top 10” legislative initiatives that I am proposing this Spring on your behalf:
1. What’s good for the goose: 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, “Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives, and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.”
According to Article V of the U.S. Constitution, the People, through at least two-thirds of their state legislators, can call for a convention strictly limited to enact this provision. (SJR111)
2. Eliminate pensions for members of the Illinois General Assembly: If you really want to affect term limits, remove platinum-plated benefits. Citizen legislators should not be incentivized like professional politicians or state workers in the permanent bureaucracy. (SB2920)
3. Stop gerrymandering legislative districts: Support the League of Women Voters “FairMap” referendum to end the practice of legislative leaders protecting the status quo by selecting their constituents, rather than constituents fairly electing their representatives.
4. Cut unfunded mandates to schools and local governments: Especially during a time when those running state government are behaving like deadbeats, immediately reduce all the unnecessary regulation that pumps up bureaucracy and waste. If you’re not going to send the money, hold back all that advice. (SB3000)
5. Saved you $10M of wasteful spending: Senator Dale Righter and I killed legislation in Senate floor debate on March 10 that would have given a $10 million payback of your tax dollars to four casinos (not Aurora or Elgin) between 2006 and 2009.
6. Ban political robocalls: Eliminate the exception for politicians to the “Do Not Call” list procedures. (SB3135)
7. Fair assessments for property taxes: County assessors must include foreclosures, short sales and other distressed situations in determining the true value of real estate. (SB3334)
8. Eliminate redundant elementary-school districts within a single high-school district: By referendum, residents would choose a single high school district that their elementary school district children would go to. This consolidation would not close schools, it would combine redundant administration—improving curriculum coordination and saving an estimated quarter of a billion dollars statewide per year. (SB2281)
9. Term limits for legislators: Republican Governor Nominee Senator Bill Brady and I would prohibit representatives from serving more than five consecutive terms and senators from more than three terms. (SJRCA 77)
10. Reform public-employee pensions: Eliminate double-dipping into multiple public-pension systems; raise age for collecting public pensions to 62 years old from 50 and 55; cap benefits at six-figure annual income of $100,000; reduce annual cost-of-living increases; calculate benefits based on average of highest eight of last 10 years (rather than in many cases, last day of service); and, fully-fund what is promised. These provisions will save you tens of billions of dollars over the next 20 to 30 years. (SB2825, SFA 1)

The next step on each of these proposals is to get the maximum number of senate co-sponsors to increase support for passage. Call me at (630) 264-2334, if you would like to help.
Senator Chris Lauzen
25th District
Aurora

“I always believe that ultimately, if people are paying attention, then we get good government and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy and civically start taking shortcuts, then it results in bad government and politics.”
—Barack Obama

This week is considered Sunshine Week, a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

Both quotes above represent essential truths to the importance of open and transparent government. While our democracy is founded on the concept of checks and balances, an informed public serves as the ultimate check and balance against the government itself.

Yet, the public’s power can only exist if two conditions are met: 1) the public has access to information about the government and how it operates; 2) the public cares enough to protect its access and to remain informed.

To help meet the first condition, we are lucky to have initiatives like Sunshine Week, which is led by the American Society of News Editors. Visit www.sunshineweek.org for more information about this initiative and the importance of its mission. We are also lucky to have organizations like the Illinois Press Association (IPA), which works tirelessly to protect the First Amendment and access to information in our state.

While Sunshine Week and the IPA are media-focused, the reality is that their efforts are on behalf of the people, and not just the press. This is because the true power of the First Amendment and access to information is held by the public.

These rights should not be taken lightly, nor for granted. The entire basis of American independence—and later, of American Democracy—is that our rights are not granted by government, which implies those rights can also be taken away by government. Rather, our rights simply exist, and government is prohibited from intruding upon them.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
—U.S. Declaration of Independence

While our Founding Fathers articulated these rights as the foundation of our society, history has shown that even our government is not immune to a desire to limit our unalienable rights and freedoms. It is that very nature of our government that places so much importance on transparency and access to information, because it is the public’s access to public information that allows us to protect the rights our nation was founded upon.

We must remain focused on ensuring that our access is not limited or our speech restrained. The quote from our current president, Barack Obama, articulates the need for an engaged and aware public.

Yet, at the same time, a recent Associated Press review of federal access and transparency noted that denials of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests among the 17 major federal agencies has increased by 50 percent, as compared to the previous year. Furthermore, the total number of FOIA requests decreased.

What this means is, anyone can make a campaign pledge or say the right things in a speech, and anyone can say that their administration will be more transparent than the last; but the proof is in the action. The proof must exist in deed, and not just word. And because it is significantly easier to pledge transparency than it is to achieve it, the public must remain vigilant and aware of what they have access to today, as well as what they should gain access to tomorrow.

This is not just a federal issue. It is just as important to focus on local government.

Local governments do not experience a fraction of the scrutiny the federal government does, making it easier to—intentionally or not—erode the public’s access to information. Add to that the differences in Sunshine laws from state to state, and the overall system becomes exponentially more complex.

This combination of bureaucratic complexity and difficulty in turning words into deeds means that public scrutiny is what ultimately will preserve the rights that are endowed by our creator.

The event theme was “Spring Break” this year, offering a beach and party atmosphere for the 177 individuals who attended.

The ballroom at the Eaglebrook Country Club in Geneva was transformed into a sunny beach shore for the evening, where attendees enjoyed extensive silent and live auctions, a split-the-pot raffle, live D.J. spinning tunes by request, and a “Toss for the Cause” bean bag game.

The event netted just over $41,000, which is under the $50,000 the agency was hoping to raise.

Our supporters are really increasing their direct donations to TriCity Family Services and cutting back on attending and spending money at fundraising events. We still have lots of fun, raise some good money, and gain new friends and supporters from these events, but they are not the big revenue generators that they used to be.

The loyal cadre of supporters who attended the Spring Break Benefit, along with some new friends of the agency, brought great energy to the room and made generous contributions and purchases to ensure that the four-decade-old agency continues to serve the mental health needs of the community.

The need for TriCity Family Services counseling services on a sliding-fee scale are in great demand at this difficult economic time. The agency remains committed to making their programs and services affordable to area residents in need, particularly those uninsured or underinsured individuals and families for whom outpatient mental health services in the private practice sector are out of reach financially.

Nearly 90 percent of all counseling program fees at TriCity Family Services are based on the sliding scale, and more than half of all clients receiving counseling services pay less than $40 per session. TriCity Family Services continues to ensure that no one is ever denied services on a basis of ability to pay.

The agency would like to thank Presenting Sponsors of the event: Harris Bank, Exelon Nuclear, and Nicor.

Miranda Barfuss
Director of Development
TriCity Family Services

Blazing Prairie Stars is a provider of horse-assisted therapy and other programs in the natural environment for children who have disabilities. Volunteers are needed for one- to two-hour shifts on Monday and Wednesday mornings to serve as horse leaders and side walkers during the therapy sessions. Volunteers can also help with grooming, tacking, and other barn chores.

Please call Carrie Capes at Blazing Prairie Stars (630) 365-5550 to learn more about this exciting volunteer opportunity. Join our inspiring team of volunteers, therapists, and horse professionals.

Carrie Capes
Maple Park

Ultimately I learned that our building in downtown Elburn had a gas leak, and I was needed to provide the firefighters with access to the building. I live 30 minutes away, so the firefighters had a fair bit of time to wait for me.

I arrived assuming that they would be a bit impatient, wanting to get inside to either give the “all-clear” or to take whatever action necessary.

The opposite proved true. As I approached them with an apology on my lips, they each responded with a kind smile and apologized to me for bringing me to the office on a weekend. Here, I am the one that should be thanking them, and their focus is on thanking me.

While waiting for a crew from Nicor to arrive, I expected the firefighters to leave and return to their station. It was not terribly cold outside, but it was chilly enough that unless one was required to, there would be no reason to stand still outside.

Yet, the firefighters remained on the scene for at least another hour after Nicor confirmed they were on the way.

Each of the firefighters who responded to the call were friendly and gracious, and represent the type of people I would want to respond to scene if I was involved in an incident of real significance.

Here is just a small example of the type of people we have serving the community. When I told them that my oldest son, who is 4, thought I was “big-time” because I got to go to work to meet “real firefighters,” they immediately responded by giving me a plastic firefighter helmet for both him and his little brother.

The firefighters also remained on the scene until Nicor showed up and determined that there was enough of a leak to warrant an immediate resolution.

Once Nicor was on the scene, I was able to see another round of excellent service and graciousness.

I had to return later that night and remain well past midnight, and the Nicor crew chief was there. As they gave me the all-clear to lock up the building, the crew supervisor thanked me multiple times and apologized for keeping me away from home. Again, another example of someone thanking me at a time when I should be the one giving thanks.

When I returned the following day at mid-morning, the Nicor crew supervisor was still there, approaching 20 hours straight at the scene. When I saw him I assumed he would appear haggard and tired, likely impatient to leave and get some rest.

Instead, he remained as friendly as the first moment he arrived at the scene, and continued to thank me and apologize for the inconvenience.

Ultimately, we had to close the office on Monday due to lack of heat as the Nicor crew ran a brand-new connection to the building. And as the week has gone on, the crew has returned to restore the property back to how it was before the entire incident began.

This small occurrence demonstrates how much of an impact someone can have with a kind word and a smile; they can turn something negative into a positive and make us thankful that we have these types of people to rely on should something really bad happen.

Thank you, Elburn firefighters; and thank you, Nicor.

Ryan Wells
Editor

The Elburn Chamber-sponsored Day in the Park has been one such great day. Not just fireworks but volleyball, basketball, bags tournaments, bands, a health fair, food vendors, family picnicking and socializing with friends add to the fun.

This great day has in the past been almost entirely funded by local businesses, but budget cuts have decreased these contributions a bit, and the balance needs to be made up from other sources. Last year, the Elburn Chamber found that the funding just wasn’t there for the day and had to cancel it. We are determined to bring it back this year, but we need your help.

Tickets for a pork chop dinner are being sold at local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce for Wednesday, March 31. A portion of each ticket sold goes directly to the fireworks. For the cost of going out for a night, you can have a great dinner at home prepared by the Elburn Lion’s Club and know that you helped in paying for the fireworks.

But there’s something else you can do. The food pantry has had a greater than usual demand for their services. You can also help them by purchasing extra tickets and donating them to the food pantry. These tickets will be given out as part of the food packages and it would be a great blessing to a struggling family.

Help us plan for a great Day in the Park. Go to a local business with an Elburn Chamber sticker or call Jessica at the Elburn Chamber at (630) 365-2295 and buy tickets for a pork chop dinner for your family, and while you’re at it, buy an extra ticket or two for the food pantry.

Then on Wednesday, March 31, drive to Lions Park between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. and an assistant will bring your dinners out to your car. Tickets must be preordered and purchased by Friday, March 19, to be ready for March 31, so don’t wait. Call today and rediscover that many of the best things in life are in our own backyard.

Bill Brauer
Elburn Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors

It was extremely professional and delightful to hear. Their program had a wide range of selections: Charles DeBussy’s “Claire de Lune,” Chopin’s “Fantastic Impromtu” and “Blackbird” by Paul McCartney, to name a few.

Kristen Paxinos and Ben Westfall have exciting biographical sketches, and they demonstrated their talents with the concert.

Talking with a concert attendee who has played guitar professionally for over 40 years, he stated that he recently began taking lessons from Ben because he still had a lot to learn. He stated that Ben is not only a professional player but also a fantastic teacher. His lesson approach was the best he had ever had, because he made it so simple to understand. That bodes well for the young as well as older students.

Thank you, Kristen and Ben. We hope everyone in our community will support these musicians and performing arts in Elburn. Be sure to look for the next opportunity to enjoy a performance of Kristen and Ben. Elburn citizens have a wonderful opportunity to enjoy these venues but also to enroll in the classes offered. The fees are reasonable and well within the reach of most people and parents.

Jack Hansen
Elburn

First of all, all medical procedures require parental consent. I don’t see why abortion should be any different. Parents should have the right to know what’s going on with their children. They are minors, and their parents should be able to know about their children’s decisions. Although I don’t support abortions, even people over the age of 18 years old should let their parents know about their abortion.

Not only would a person be killing the parents’ grandchild, but they would also be killing a human being. If people are allowed to get abortions, then I strongly believe that the parents should at least have a say about it. Parents also need to know if their children are having an abortion because there are some major side effects that could put them in danger. Diarrhea, vomiting, spotting or bleeding are just some of the many health risks that are taken. More serious possible side effects include infections, damage to organs, being paralyzed or even death. The guilt and other psychological side effects could also harm someone greatly.

Parents can help protect their children with this new law in place. It provides an option for parents to say no to abortion and to say no to their own children or grandchildren getting hurt.

Emily Carr
Student
Kaneland High School

What happens to a state like Illinois when it doesn’t pay its bills for over six months to school districts and social service agencies?

Answer: We the People fire the decision-makers.

The state budget was in emergency condition four years ago. It was in crisis three years ago. Chaos two years ago. Now, it’s beyond meltdown—it’s fiscal anarchy.

Anarchy is “the state of lawlessness or political disorder—the denial of any authority, rule of law, and absence of established order.”

The legislature passes appropriations laws to authorize the governor’s spending. He agrees by signing the appropriations plan into law. Millions of people trust and depend upon his proper execution of that spending plan. Yet, in Illinois today, the bills don’t get paid.

In May 2009, I speculated in writing that the governor was holding social service agencies hostage by cutting their appropriations in half to put pressure on the legislature to pass his income tax increase. Now, he seems to be doubling-down on that strategy by refusing to do what’s necessary to now pay school districts and universities, too.

When practical legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, recognize the further financial strain that a major tax increase on work and savings will have on already-struggling Illinois families and vote “No,” the governor refuses to significantly cut spending in a bloated government. When the deficit climbs to 24 percent of general revenue, a 1 percent year-over-year spending cut doesn’t count for enough.

Besides getting Illinois back to work, my highest priority this spring will be to propose solutions to the governor and the ruling majority of Chicago Democrats who have had total control of Illinois state government for eight years that will allow us to live within our means without a tax increase. We have billions of your dollars that need to be prioritized so that we don’t bail out government at taxpayers’ expense, especially during this serious economic downturn.

Massive billion-dollar savings to restore balance will result if we:
• Rein in Medicaid eligibility: the deliveries of one out of every two babies born in Illinois are now paid by taxpayers, and we still have no citizenship requirement for routine healthcare for illegal immigrants, often provided in the most expensive emergency rooms.
• Implement cost-saving “managed-care” to improve quality and reduce cost of Medicaid.
• Obtain spending flexibility for the huge $9.4 billion of federal so-called stimulus funding coming to Illinois from Washington over the 20 months starting February of 2009, rather than its current requirement of freezing status quo structural overspending, which they refer to as “maintenance of effort.”
• Reform the bankrupt state pension systems to protect taxpayers and rank-and-file beneficiaries by declaring the actuarial emergency that currently exists, cap outrageous high-compensation benefits at even 400 percent current maximum social security levels, reconstruct the pension architecture for future participants to be a hybrid of Social Security defined benefit and defined contribution 401(k) saving structures, and eliminate pensions for members of the General Assembly who should serve out of sense of duty rather than lucrative career politics. Huge actuarial savings will be achieved if we merely require that even existing levels of pension benefits cannot be collected until the public employee reaches 62, like the rest of us under “early-retirement” Social Security, instead of the current shockingly young age of 50 or 55 years old.

I am simply amazed by the atmosphere in Springfield in recent weeks. Smart people, who should know better, are walking around like things are normal, while schools and social service agencies back home are having panic spread because payrolls won’t be met.

In a future article, I will list my other legislative initiatives on your behalf, including term limits, stopping political robocalls, and a new Constitutional requirement that laws passed by politicians must apply to them, too.

Chris Lauzen
State Senator, 25th District
Aurora

Under the leadership of assistant editor Ben Draper, elburnherald.com has seen its usage more than double in the past 12 months.

We can attribute part of that increase to continuous improvements to the site, ranging from incremental changes in the presentation to adjustments to the site’s navigation, among numerous other enhancements.

One of the underlying philosophies of the site is to constantly strive for improved interaction between our viewers and us, as well as our viewers and each other.

The site took another leap forward in interactivity recently when we launched an interactive toolbar that exists at the bottom of every page on the site.

This gives all elburnherald.com viewers the opportunity to more easily interact with the Elburn Herald, each other, and their family and friends.

One of the features allows users to directly share a page through their accounts on Facebook, Twitter or Yahoo; or they can e-mail it or share it through their Instant Messaging program.

There is a button that adds easy navigation to our photo archives as well as other key locations on the site. Next to that is a direct link to our Twitter feed, @ElburnHerald.

Those who have story ideas or thoughts and feedback to share and want to do so immediately can talk directly to a site moderator by using the “Talk to the Herald” feature at the center of the toolbar. If it is during staffing hours, the feature allows you to communicate directly with an Elburn Herald staffer and talk to them virtually in real time; and if it is not during staff hours, we will receive the message and return it immediately. This is a great way to share your ideas and feedback in a more immediate fashion.

All of these features are designed to support our mission to help strengthen the connections within our communities. Whether we serve that mission through the traditional printed stories about the people and events in our community, or through creating and improving communication vehicles online so readers can talk to us and each other more easily, it is all part of the same underlying goal.

We invite you to take advantage of these communication tools and hope to hear from you soon.

I have a few questions to present to the School District.

First of all, if you are considering first-, second- and third-year and part-time teachers, didn’t we all know three years ago that things were getting very tight? If I knew this why didn’t the School District know this?

Second of all, are you considering handing out “pink slips” to the administration at the same percentage that you are considering “pink slipping” teachers?

Third of all, why are you not starting at the top and leaving the front line teachers to be the last to be considered for “pink slips”? After all, the school’s main purpose is to teach children, and that is what teachers do, not administrators.

In these rough days, we all have to tighten our belts and cut back on spending, but we all have to prioritize the cut backs and leave the most essentials to be the last to be cut. My message to the Kaneland School District is to cut the waste and frills and cut the non-essentials and leave the essentials alone. I would be interested in reading in the Elburn Herald, from the School District, what exactly their intentions are.

Kids have always been important to me. They are our future, and if we don’t educate them to the very best of our ability, then our future will be lost.

Karen McCannon
aka JoJo the Clown
Sugar Grove

When I entered the building I was informed that only a limited number of people would be able to ask questions in a private room away from the public. Only 45 numbered slips of paper were given out, with each person rationed to a few minutes.

What I found interesting is that while Foster was taking numbers and seeing people in seclusion, Geneva’s Mayor Kevin Burns was holding an open forum, right outside of Foster’s private meeting room. Mayor Burns didn’t hide. He took tough questions about recently installed red light cameras and a possible water rate increase. Mayor Burns did not ask us to take a number or shuffle citizens to a side room. He took the heat.

After I waited for over three hours for Foster, he finally came out of the City Hall building. As he came down the steps, I wanted just a couple of minutes to ask about the impending health care bill and his voting record. He answered a question from an individual who adorned support for him; however, after being introduced as the Chairman of the Kane County Young Republicans, I was brushed aside and told, “Sorry, there isn’t enough time.”

Maybe by waiting in line, taking a number and rationing the amount of time each person had with Foster was a foreshadowing of what’s to come. As we move closer to socialized medicine, maybe Rep. Foster was giving us some lessons. Healthcare will be politicized. Everyone will take a number and wait in line. And if you wait long enough, eventually your time will run out.

Cody McCubbin
Chairman
Kane County Young Republicans
Geneva

In November 2009, Donors Forum, a membership association of more than 1,000 grantmakers, advisors and nonprofits in Illinois conducted an update of the prior year’s economic outlook report. The results of the survey—not surprisingly—show grantmakers and nonprofits alike are feeling the harsh effects of the economy.

Seven in 10 of the nonprofits surveyed (71 percent) reported they had decreased their budget in 2009, and nearly as many (66 percent) reported that their operating reserves had declined. Indeed, 63 percent had only three months or less of reserves, and only 11 percent had more than 12 months of reserves.

There are few indications that any relief is coming. Well over one-third of grantmakers (37 percent) plan further decreases in their giving levels, while 20 percent plan increases. These plans reflect grantmakers’ concerns about nonprofit sustainability. More than four in10 grantmakers (42 percent) reported that they had increased their focus on support for nonprofit capacity building and sustainability in the past 12 months, and more than half of those gave specific examples of strategies they were employing.

These concerns occur at a time when 67 percent of nonprofits reported an increased demand for services—holding steady from a year ago, but a distinct increase over the last five years. However, the number of agencies reporting a coinciding decrease in their ability to meet that demand increased to an alarming 41 percent from 21 percent a year ago.

Nonprofits also reported declines in funding. The most commonly reported cuts were in foundation giving, with 68 percent of nonprofits reporting such declines. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) also reported declines in government funding, and 40 percent of nonprofit respondents reported delays in receiving government payments (reimbursements for services provided to the public) during 2009, most frequently (91 percent) from the state.

Of those affected by late payments from the state, 97 percent indicated that the delays caused cash flow problems, leading to short-term borrowing, delaying payments to vendors, and service and staffing cuts.

“While grantmakers and nonprofits alike have had to make spending cuts, they continue to seek creative solutions for supporting the programs and services nonprofits provide,” said Valerie S. Lies, Donors Forum’s President and CEO. “Grantmakers are changing funding strategies to bolster nonprofit sustainability and target the most effective programs.

Nonprofits are also making tough programmatic and strategic choices, while pursuing new and more aggressive fundraising approaches. To continue to serve our families and communities, nonprofits will need the steadfast support of individual and institutional donors, as well as timely reimbursements from government funders that contract with nonprofits to provide vital human services.”

The full report is available at http://bit.ly/ DFoutlook2010 or on Donors Forum’s website www.donorsforum.org.

Donors Forum strengthens philanthropy and the nonprofit community in Illinois by providing resources—education, networking, public policy leadership, research, library services, publications, and a website www.DonorsForum.org —for grantmakers and nonprofits. In so doing, Donors Forum increases the ability of the nonprofit and philanthropic sector to meet the needs and enhance the lives of individuals, families, and communities throughout Illinois.

Now, let’s take a look at how Michigan has been doing since Jennifer Granholm became the governor. For the last 46 months, Michigan has led the country in unemployment. She has increased business taxes that affected over 60 percent of the companies in her state, a majority of them small businesses. She increased income tax by 17 percent without cutting a budget that continues to grow. The Michigan governor spent billions of stimulus dollars in infrastructure that she predicted would create tens of thousands of jobs that didn’t materialize. She also mandated renewable power standards that were backed by government subsidies, adding even more to the woes of the state.

We can now look at the most inexperienced president to ever sit in the Oval Office and worry about the direction of the nation. Our unemployment rate is at its highest in decades, growing at a substantial rate even after he stated we needed to pass the “stimulus” bill to stay under 8 percent unemployment or face Armageddon. What actually happened with the “stimulus” bill was that we borrowed an incredible amount from China to pay for a myriad of pork barrel legislation that did absolutely nothing to save or create a single job.

Next, he is proposing to increase taxes on all the businesses in this country. What, you haven’t seen any legislation for that? You did, but it was in the Bush era and the tax cuts that he got passed are set to expire next year. But you did hear about the “penalties” that Obama wants imposed on the evil, big banks. Those are the same banks that the liberals have been railing against because they aren’t lending to small business. And, these are the same banks that have paid back the TARP funds, with interest, after several of them were forced to take the money.

So, all of the people experienced in business in the president’s cabinet and inner circle suggest—wait, there aren’t any people that have been out in the business world where you have to worry about meeting a budget and can’t print money. So, with the growing deficit that he is creating, we are certainly going to have to increase taxes to pay for his policies at some point or face the devaluation of the dollar, spiraling interest rates, and hyperinflation.

This is just one year into his presidency, long enough for his plans and ideas for America to take effect—and oh what an effect. We all have an example of the direction our country will continue to go if we continue down the path the president is taking us, just by looking at Michigan. I for one don’t want to travel down that path with the president.

What we need is some solid governance with the understanding that the government is not there to create one single job but to create an environment in which the people of America can work, create businesses, find the next technology that is needed without government direction, and continue to be the most incredibly free country that God ever graced the Earth with.

David Selenis
Maple Park

The people I serve just want honest competence from their government. I have learned that constituents will forgive me for making mistakes, as long as I learn from them, and if they can trust that I won’t lie to them and won’t steal from them.

Voters reject “profiteering by politicians” and dishonest incompetence. The clear message, at least in our Republican Primary, was:
• Tell people the truth.
• Serve constituents, not the powerful political potentates.
• Shrink government and restore our pride in traditional American values—enough with the apologies and bowing to foreign dignitaries.
• Bring our jobs back—we must get back to work.
• Do our work, as government leaders, out in the open through persuasion; stop the behind-the-scenes manipulation and coercion.

I call for an upheaval and reformation of the Republican Party based upon the clear message from our voters. Actions that can be taken immediately include:
1) Return the power of directly voting for party leadership to “the People.”
2) Anyone, at any level of government, who is found enriching himself, his family or friends beyond his statutory pay should immediately be fired and prosecuted. Zero-tolerance for self-serving corruption is our standard.
3) As soon as the winner of the Republican governor nomination is identified, Pat Brady, the Illinois Republican Chairman, should resign for interfering and taking sides in this Republican Primary and for doing nothing to effectively stop his predecessor from spending $5 million to attack his opponents (after having promised to monitor and enforce clean campaigning standards).
4) The Kane County Republican Chairman should resign so that we can credibly begin the work of reconstructing a reformed Republican-led coalition of Republicans, independents, and disillusioned Reagan Democrats. “Less government, more individual freedom” will be our objective and slogan.
5) The current Aurora Republican Chairman is already stepping down. The new elected chairman should work hard to rally the Reform Coalition around recruiting and supporting candidates who will practice honest competence.
6) Denny Hastert should return to the U.S. Treasury the $500,000 per year that he is receiving, as former Speaker of the House, to employ three staff members whom he pays over $100,000 per year each and $6,300 per month rent, and a taxpayer-paid SUV for his use … all while he lobbies for foreign governments and private interests. If we, the people, don’t voice our criticism, these wasteful abuses of power will continue.

Republican voters have spoken. We need to conduct a thorough scrubbing of our Republican Party procedures and behavior in order to maximize our appeal to all voters in the November General Election … and to fulfill our campaign commitments in actual public service.

Senator Chris Lauzen
25th Legislative District

The League of Women Voters of Geneva-St. Charles has launched a drive to win support for the Illinois Fair Map Amendment. In celebration of the League of Women Voters 90th birthday, the local group has set a goal of getting 900 petition signatures for the Fair Map Amendment in nine weeks.

This measure, in the form of an amendment to the Illinois constitution, would change the process for drawing up the districts from which state legislators are elected. Illinois House and Senate district boundaries are redrawn every 10 years, following the completion of the U.S. Census.

“The current system of district map drawing is politically driven, producing gerrymandered districts designed to favor one party over the other,” said Janet Craft, co-president of the league, adding that “The Illinois Fair Map Amendment would move the power away from the State Legislature and closer to the people.”

The Fair Map Amendment places the power to redraw district maps with an independent, nine-member commission. None of the commission members can be a lobbyist, lawmaker, public official, state contractor, state employee or immediate family member of any of those positions. The commission would be guided by stringent, established criteria.

The amendment also ensures greater transparency. Meetings of the commission would be open and would invite the public to propose maps as well. Ultimately the General Assembly would vote on the proposed maps. A two-thirds majority would be required in both the Senate and the House. If the General Assembly fails to approve the proposed map, an alternative is provided by the Commission. If the alternative map is not approved, the commission will have the authority to decide.

In addition to the League of Women Voters, the amendment is supported by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Farm Bureau, Better Government Association, Common Cause—Illinois, and Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

“Anyone who is interested in reducing corruption in Illinois should sign a petition for the Fair Map Amendment,” stated Kim Haag, League co-president. She added, “Our members will be reaching out to friends, neighbors, organizations, and the general public to explain the amendment and ask for signatures.”

Statewide, the goal is to obtain 500,000 signatures by April 15 to assure that the amendment is placed on the November ballot.

For additional information or to sign a petition, contact the League of Women Voters of Geneva-St. Charles, www.lwvgenstc.org.

I’ve read other letters on this very topic in the Elburn Herald. I understand where this student is coming from. I went through it myself as a child, and my youngest son went through it in high school. In both cases, it was stopped decisively and quickly.

However, the rules of engagement have changed. We are now told to walk away. To me, that is running away in slow motion. This also gives the bully the edge. You, being a good student, do not want to cause trouble and get sent to the office. The bully doesn’t care, because he’s looking for attention anyway. You will find that the bullies are in the minority, even though they appear to have people in their grasp.

I have gotten permission from the Elburn Lions Club to use our club house as a safe meeting place to talk. Nobody should have to be afraid to go to school. At our club house, you can meet and talk about your situation. This is open to any student from Kaneland.

I am a Kaneland graduate myself.

Here is my name and telephone number. Please give me a call if you would like to sit down and talk in a safe environment: Chris Halsey, (630) 466-0341.

Chris Halsey
Sugar Grove

What are they thinking?

Legislators should not be debating privatization, but be more troubled that their constituency should have to pay a toll/tax at all to use Illinois highways. Over the last 60 years, the media have had story after story about the corruption coming out of the toll authority headquarters in Downers Grove, Ill., and we have read of our state legislators lining their pockets for support of a tollway system.

What many Illinois citizens don’t understand is that everyone is paying for the tollway system regardless if they use these roads or not. Every time you see a truck on a tollway road hauling goods to the automobile dealer, to the clothing store, to the ice cream store or to the gas station, or seeing a limousine on their way to the airport, the higher toll/tax that those drivers must pay to use these roads is passed on to you, the consumer. Money also comes from our real estate taxes when school buses use these roads. Even life and death ambulances on their way to an accident or to the hospital pay a toll/tax.

With privatization, can you imagine what we would pay for an I-PASS once a private company starts factoring in their profit? We’ve seen what happened in Chicago with their parking meters, and we’ve seen that we can’t count on our legislators to have oversight; they can’t even fix today’s problems in Springfield.

By adding just a few cents at the fuel pump, we would not have to think about privatization, corruption in the Downers Grove office, putting cash in legislator’s pockets, keeping a balance in an I-PASS account or unjust fines.

We need to tell our legislators that we don’t need or want a tollway system in Illinois and that the one and a half million daily users have paid for these roads many times over during the last 60 years. You need to also remind them that elections are coming up in November.

Russell Johnson
Sugar Grove

The Sugar Grove Firefighters Auxiliary, along with the Sugar Grove Fire Department, will hold their blood drive at the Sugar Grove Fire Department, located at 25 Municipal Drive. Donation times are from 3 to 7:30 p.m.

Appointments are encourages, but walk-ins are welcome. Please call Joy at (630) 466-7190 or Kathy at (630) 466-4634 to make your appointment for for information.

We deeply appreciate and thank you for sharing the gift of life.

Joy Rubo
Blood drive coordinator

I also want to thank the voters who voted for me and all of the voters who went to the polls. It is an honor and a privilege to be on the ballot and to ask for your consideration. This is what makes America great.

I am proud of the issue-oriented campaign that I ran and, despite the loss, I can hold my head up high in the knowledge that I stepped up to the plate and voiced issues that needed to be raised. I look forward to continuing to serve as Village President of Sugar Grove and working with the great people that I have met through this process.

Thank you again.

Sean Michels
25th Senate Candidate
Sugar Grove Village President

At the time, it hadn’t yet been announced which sports or clubs were on the chopping block. I thought that if cheerleading was cut, my life would be over, the one thing that I loved would be done, and my mind was a blur with all the different scenes being played in my head. But as I walked out of my classroom, I realized how incredibly selfish I was being.

As I walked down the overcrowded hall, I realized that I was not the only one who would be affected by the extreme budget cuts proposed. I started thinking about the teachers, who will lose their income and not be able to support themselves or their families. Losing a job has always been an unfortunate thing, but in this economy, unfortunate is a huge understatement.

First, I was mad at myself for being so selfish and only thinking about myself. But then I realized that I was probably not alone. There were probably plenty of other students in the hall who would have reacted the same exact way, which is why it needs to stop.

Please don’t get me wrong. I would be devastated if any of my clubs or sports got cut, but people losing their jobs is much more of a hardship. Nobody is happy about cuts, but we are going to have to deal with them. More than a million dollars isn’t going to just magically appear, so until we can solve our financial crisis, we need to all start thinking more about others and less about ourselves.

Bailey Burns
Freshman at KHS