What is a Newsmaker?

I'm not sure I look forward to New Year celebrations.

Amid the revelry, resolutions and optimism for a coming year, we're bombarded by what happened in the previous year -- the end of 2009 was worse because we had to look at the entire decade, one which was called the "Decade From Hell."

In looking back at 2009 we not only took a look at those notables who died (Ted Kennedy, Michael Jackson, Mary Travers, Walter Cronkite to mention a few), but publications and media outlets take great pride in identifying people of the year and people who are labeled as newsmakers -- for better or worse.

The Daily Herald did such a list and noted scholarship winners, long-serving public officials, dog-saving employees, and fifth graders who were honored for the cinematic creativity.

The list also include Lisa Stone. Surprised? Don't be. Stone has made herself a newsmaker not because of her accomplishments, but through her sometimes eccentric behavior and ability to sidetrack village business with incessant "me first" conversation.

I think it's safe to say that it's not an honor to have a newspaper describe a newsmaker as someone who "chafes" well-established Board members. As I've written here before, there's no questioning Stone's passion and interest in public service, but it seems apparent that it's turning into a circus -- or early campaign for the next village election. It's likely that Stoney will turn the newsmaker tag into a campaign flyer when the time comes.

So she has called attention to herself. Bravo. She's called attention to the village in a somewhat less than positive light. Stone, along with some administrators at Stevenson High School did little in 2009 to enhance the image of Buffalo Grove.

But rather than wail on those newsmakers who made news by speaking rather than doing, here's my list for newsmakers who made a difference (well, most of them did) in 2009.

1. The student journalists at Stevenson High School. The staff of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 Statesman have endured censorship and prior review. The administration put these kids under a lot of scruitny and pressure by their actions and subsequent comments. The students, however, handled the situation with dignity and class -- the kind you expect to see associated with Stevenson High School.

2. Stevenson teacher Barb Thill -- who was the Statesman adviser until the end of last year. Why is she on the list? For all the same reasons in No. 1. Also, I've known Barb for a long time and admire and respect what she did with the Statesman. The fact that she is a Packer fan helps.

3. The Buffalo Grove Police Department. Why, what does the department do? Just read the police reports and you'll know why. It's a job I would not want and admire the professionalism and class with which the Department operates. BTW, I still don't think I was going 53 down Arlington Heights Road, but that's another story.

4. The Buffalo Grove Fire Department. Why? For all the reasons above. BTW, special tip of the helmet to the guys who stand at the intersections in September to collect money for MDA.

5. The Village Manager's office. Why? Just attend a Village Board Meeting and you'll know why.

6. The Public Works Department. Why? Most people don't even shovel their own driveway, let alone miles of village streets.

7. Elliott Hartstein. Why? Whether you agree with him or not, he's put a lot of time into public service in the village. I covered Hartstein when he was a Dist. 125 Board Member and he was responsible for my earning a lot of overtime.

8. Synagogue Presidents. I'll never know what motivates them.

9. Condo Assn. Presidents -- Been there, done that. Hat's off to them.

10. Buffalo Grove Days Committee -- Amazing what it does.

11. Lake County Board -- Not sure why, but I don't want David Stolman to feel left out. Besides, what other government body can fix Arlington Heights Road piece by piece.

12. The guys from Comcast who record the Village Board meetings. Talk about patience. Of course, given the overtime they probably get, they probably own homes on 2-acre sites in Kildeer.

And finally...

12. Pioneer Press "Mega Bites" Writer Ira Leavitt. Why? He single handily keeps cardiologists and Dr. Gautam Gupta in business.

Same issue, different venue

For the most part, much of what appears here focuses directly on the Buffalo Grove Village Board or other issues in the land of jumbo Bison.

For the most part.

Allegations, or rather campaign rhetoric by who the Chicago Tribune calls perennial candidate Andy Martin, about Mark Kirk's (R-10) sexuality represents just about everything that is wrong with political campaign.

Martin has about as much credibility as an ice salesman in the Arctic, apparently sees fit to throw allegations around to make a name for himself.

Martin, by the way, is running for the U.S. Senate seat as is Kirk. Media reports don't paint a pretty picture of Martin saying he has included "anti-Semitic rhetoric" in various appearances does not appear to be the poster boy for political excellence.

If nothing else, he's the poster boy for what's wrong with excessive campaigning.

For the record, I have probably disagreed more with Mark Kirk that I have with other politicians and have sent numerous emails to him.

Like him or not, he has done an excellent job representing the 10th Congressional District and has gone above and beyond when it comes to communicating with his constituency. Kirk has a great educational background and military experience. So what's the wrap?

Martin claims that Kirk is gay. I guess that's worse than being anti-Semitic. After hate is not as bad as someone's alleged sexual orientation.

It's perceived that Martin's allegations come as the result of Kirk's divorce earlier this year.

Geez, we can't elect divorced politicians, can we? Don't tell Nancy Reagan that.

So the tacky mud-slinging now known as elections continues. Kudos, by the way, to Kirk and his staff for staying calm in the face of the allegations.

Hopefully, and it would not surprise me, if Kirk let this slide and went on with campaigning on his record of service to the 10th District.

Which is the way campaign allegations need to be handled by politicians at all levels -- whether it is the U.S. Congress, the state legislature, the county board -- or the village board.

Sesame Street Comes to Buffalo Grove

Welcome to the blog.

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "I" -- Yes, "I" is the letter we use for the first-person singular.

You would not, boys and girls, find the letter I in the word "team" -- a word that gives the connotation of a group working together.

Well, boys and girls, do know where you find the letter I? On the Buffalo Grove Village Board. Even though it's suppose to be a team, some people think team is spell with an I and that the best team revolves around them -- and only them.

It seems, as Yogi Berra would say, to be deja vu all over again. Refried beans.

While area municipalities (Naperville and Schaumburg to name a few) are dealing with huge budget crunches, Buffalo Grove has approved a tight, but workable budget for the 2010 Fiscal Year.

The conversation among trustees was what you would thought it would be -- questions for staff regarding procedures and methodology behind why aspects of the budget were made.

It seems, however, that certain trustees continue to use village board meetings as a platform for their own issues or vindictive comments.

As I said, it's Deju Vu all over again.

Enter Ms. Quixote, a.k.a., Lisa Stone. I was mystified as to why she keeps voting no on the minutes and why at subsequent meetings does she want already approved minutes amended.

It doesn't take much to figure this out. Read the minutes. Miz Stone wants her name bantered around as much as possible.

This is the same Lisa Stone who during discussions about the Ethics Commission wants to know if it has impact on election campaigns. No doubt there was some bad campaigning, but Lisa -- get a life -- the elections are over. You won a spot on the board -- stop saying "I" was the target of nasty campaigning and that "I" want to get even with those who were nasty.

News flash -- campaigns are nasty and no doubt you are saying "I" ran a perfect campaign, there are those who would take exception with you -- welcome to campaigns and welcome to life in the public eye. I'm not saying tacky, nasty campaigning is acceptable, because it's not, but as the great philosopher, Mike Ditka, has said -- there are only two kinds of people who live in the past -- losers and cowards.

Miz Quixote continue to wave the "I" flag, however. Lately it has been another "I" crusade -- this one regarding an idea for a stop sign on Bernard at White Pine. Stoney has done her job in responding to a request from a homeowner. But when village staff -- not her colleagues on the Board -- said they did not think it was warranted, Liza said they were wrong and "I" am right.

So let's see, the village's Traffic Management Committee, engineers and police officials are all wrong and "I" am right. For the record, there has been such an outpouring of pleas for a stop sign that there has been, lemme count, one request since 1999.

Miz Stone, of course is concerned about the blind spot because of curves. Maybe she should check other streets in the village -- like, say Fremont Drive, which is a one-mile circle -- tons of blinds spots, but no stop signs. plenty of yield signs and caution signs -- just like the caution signs in place on Bernard -- but Lisa doesn't mention that because "I" didn't place them there.

It's nearly three years to the next election. Most campaigning begins within a reasonable time frame to the election dates. More than 36 months before is not reasonable. Neither is the personal flag waving and campaigning being done by Ms. Quixote.

There are, and will be, a lot of issues the Board -- as a whole -- will need to address.

This includes Ms. Stone who not only needs to take the welfare of the entire village to heart -- but who also needs to learn the other 25 letters of the alphabet.

Here's An Offer They Can't Refuse....

The District 125 School Board, the group we've elected to oversee the Mecca on 22, met Thursday to discuss a myriad of things -- but perhaps what drew the most interest the Stevenson Statesman, the once-proud newspaper reduced to an administration-controlled publication.

In case you've just returned from Mars, the Statesman has come under, oops, continues to be under prior review. Only the folks in the front office have gone to censoring articles if they are harm the emotional well being of the students.

Like, we're talking adolescents here, who are we kidding?

The meeting included a number of comments by people interested in the plight of the Statesman -- parents, educators, alum and, most importantly some of the student journalists who are trying to keep the Statesman nameplate in the upper echelon of high school journalists.

That was the highlight of the meeting. Hello, sweetheart, get me rewrite -- make sure these kids are focused.

I have a soft spot for high school journalists -- I was once one myself, back in the days of manual typewriters, editing pencils -- back in the days when Chicago had four -- count 'em four -- daily newspapers, each of which featured shoe-leather reporting and smoke-filled newsrooms.

Ah, the good old days.

Oops, back to reality. Besides my experience as a journalists, I teach high school journalism and am fortunate to have some outstanding students. In fact, the Chicago area is fortunate to have an abundance of outstanding high school journalists -- including (Lucille, take this down) Stevenson High School.

Statesman editor Pam Selman distinguished herself in a passionate statement to the board about the diminishing right of student expression and freedom of the press at Stevenson. She wasn't alone, Managing Editor Evan Ribot was equally up to the task.

Quality kids from a quality high school that's now stuck with subquality policies governing its newspaper.

The Board's statement did not have any surprise. Board President Bruce Lubin cited the Supreme Court ruling (Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier) that gives school administrations the right to control content of school publications if it is, as Lubin said "reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns."

The challenge here is defining "legitimate pedagogical concerns." What are they? Is it a comma out place or a story that may raise a few eyebrows?

Secondly, what Lubin did not say is that Hazelwood is not limited to student publications. It gives the administration the right to put the clamps on any form of student expression -- drama, choir, poetry, and even on-air offerings such as the radio station or video announcements.

It seems possible that the Administration will have its hands full if they are to follow the intent of Hazelwood to the full intent.

The statement released by the Board also noted that " Within the next month, our administration, journalism teachers, and students will be working collaboratively to draft clear procedures and guidelines to improve communication and provide our students with clear expectations for their work in the journalism program."

Sounds like an intriguing concept -- communication. So as I made my way home from the meeting a light clicked on in my cranial cavity -- maybe, just maybe, they would be interested in input from a journalism teacher, former reporter, a parent who had kids go through the Journalism program at Stevenson and lives in the district.

Lubin said he appreciated the email and since Supt. Eric Twadell was copied, he would ask Dr. Twadell to respond.

I'll let you know what I hear.

It's Thursday...and news day

Lots of interesting stuff in the Countryside this week...

The ongoing struggle with the The Statesman, made the front page -- and the editorial page. The story on the opening news page featured comments from students obtained via Facebook. I am still an advocate of shoe-leather reporting rather than doing everything by social networking.

The paper also did a lengthy editorial about the situation in which it agrees with Randy Swikle, executive director of the Illinois Journalism Education Association, in a call for a "dialogue" between the school board and administration and the public to discuss First Amendment issues. This goes beyond First Amendment issues and those additional issues should be included in the forum.

Seven states are "anti Hazelwood states" that prevent school administrations from enforcing the Supreme Court's Hazelwood decision. It would be ideal if Swikle's dialogue concept could alleviate problems, such as the ones seen at Stevenson. For the record, these problems are not unique to Stevenson -- but when a high profile high school that, for the past eight years has had a high profile journalism program -- takes the program down -- way down -- a lot of people take notice.

The editorial also mentions this blog -- for the record, I blog on happenings in Buffalo Grove as a resident, not someone from outside who seeks to chime in. I am a resident of District 125 and both of my sons had excellent experiences at Stevenson, something which I have told Supt. Eric Twadell and Board President Bruce Lubin. That does not, however, mean I have to agree with everything the Board or School Administration does. I also sign everything and avoid lambasting people anonymously. And yes, there was a picture with the post about Stevenson, but I pulled it so as not to overstate the tactics of Nazi with their inclusion of death camps.

Pioneer also included an editorial cartoon (at left) on the subject. It was simply stated and well done.

The paper also included information about the village's budget crunch, which will more than likely be addressed at Monday's meeting. It's amazing to me how people who sabre rattle about life in the village have so little to say publically about village business.

The agenda is massive -- it is available at vbg.org. In addition to the budget, a proposed resolution that would establish a code of ethics is up for consideration. I must be an idealist as I think any one who serves in the public interest should act ethically and respectfully -- but as we have seen statewide and in the City That Works, ethical behavior is sometimes an after thought. I am not sure (despite what some folks may say) who is the driving force behind the ordinance. But let's see if personalities can be put aside and work for the good of the village.

Sources have indicated to me that because of the length of the agenda it is possible the Board will also meet on Dec. 14 in addition to its regularly scheduled meeting on Dec. 21. Wow -- three consecutive weeks of Village Board meetings.

Speaking of meetings. The folks over on 22 who run Stevenson High School are holding their meeting on Thursday, Dec. 17 and not on the third Monday of the month, which would have been Dec. 21 -- during Winter break.

A campaign may be needed for Pioneer -- It could be "Let's give Dino a Break.." Sportswriter Dino Marco once again is burning the candle at both ends providing local coverage. Always gratifying to see someone burn the shoe leather.

And finally, the folks at Pioneer moved Mega Bites to page 36 -- of course they had a front page tease. Maybe they needed the up-front space for news. A good thing.