Residents flocking to OTB

I knew it was coming to this.

More and more Buffalo Grove residents are turning to OTB.

Which despite what you may think, with all of the bantering about the problems, residents have decided that OTB is worth it.

So there.

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, the suburban communities that nab people speeding are (drum roll, please):  Bull Valley, Park City, Carol Stream, McCook and Evergreen Park.

Disheartening as it may be, Buffalo Grove was not among the leaders in nailing lead-footers.

There is some good news, however, the Tribune did cite Buffalo Grove for 115 speeding tickets, so all is not lost.

The fact that the village is not among the elite – and who ever thought Park City would be considered elite – could be of some concern.  Maybe.  I used to think that the village reaped in tons of cash from stopping folks for exceeding the speed limit.  After making a contribution to the Buffalo Grove Benevolent Speeding Society myself, I checked into where the money goes and quickly found that a good chunk of it goes to the County, the Courts and, when all is said and done, the Village.

So what’s the reason for the slow down?  Let’s blame the economy because when all else fails, it’s the easiest scapegoat around.  The Trib report did not conclusively specific why some villages are tougher than others – although Bull Run has a number of good hiding places.  I think the reason speeding tickets are down is because so many people are yapping on their cell phones that they actually slow down.  It might be interesting to see how the number of tickets have been issued for improper lane usage have been issued. 

I still think the real cause is OTB – more and more people are embracing the concept of OTB simply because it’s an easy and mindless way to avoid hassles.  OTB has been talked about but no one has been able to quantify its impact.

It is clear, however, that OTB has made a difference in the lives of motorists going through the village.  Unfortunately, it appears cynics are right – OTB has not had a positive impact on the village finances. If anything, we have seen the opposite – OTB has resulted in a decline of village revenues.

So in the sake of safety, more and more residents need to embrace OTB so we can once and for all end the debate.

Why?  Because when it comes to driving, OTB makes sense.

OTB – On the Brake.

Who sets a value for a school?

School board elections generally don’t get a lot of people fired up. The keyword here is generally.


With the candidates filed for the April election, several candidates are on the ballot for Districtc125, which is Adlai Stevenson High School.

Based on recent media account of the discussions at D125 meetings, the upcoming school board elections may not only be “interesting” – it may be imperative for residents who embrace the right of choice and have faith in curriculum decisions made by the school.

Stevenson High School is not perfect – not school or district is. However, the school has traditionally had a good reputation. It’s had some bumps, like when it messed up its journalism program a couple of years ago.

It seems, however, the district is coming under fire because of the books it has available for students to read.

At recent issue is the listing of “The Flamingo Rising,” on the summer reading list has some parents upset because after all, there is a sexual encounter detailed in the book.

Shocking.

One parent, according to the Daily Herald, said he wants the Board to protect what he called the “traditional values” of the community.

Excuse me?

Can someone define traditional values?

According to the report, the resident, John Dreyer “also objected to ‘The Casual Carpool,’ a short story that his youngest son recently was assigned in class. He was critical of a lesbian character's desire to find a sperm donor so she could have a baby.

OK, a show of hands out there – how many people have ever enjoyed every book they read? Probably none. There is going to be something in every book that bothers us.

Dreyer and any other parent who takes offense to sex, gays, lesbians in literature need to do a couple of things.

First of all, employ the school opt out policy. Most school districts have them. A simple solution is to, quite simply, if something is being read, shown, listened to in a class, the student – and parent – have the option to ask the teacher for another assignment. They can opt out, get it?

Secondly, take a look at your cable service, student’s iPod, the daily newspaper or even the public library. You’ll find more sexual content and violence there than you will at Stevenson High School – or any high school for that matter.

Thirdly, why is it that sex bothers you? Where were you when your student read “To Kill A Mockingbird,” or “The Adventures of Huck Finn” or perhaps “House on Mango Street” or “The Women of Brewster Place”?

All the aforementioned books deal with rape, violence and racism. But wait, those books are about minorities, so what do you expect about “those people?”

If Dreyer, or any of the other parents are upset because books like “The Flamingo Rising,” or stories such as “The Casual Carpool,” because it offends their religious beliefs or the doctrines of their house of worship – that’s their prerogative.

The concept of separation of church and state was brought to light by Thomas Jefferson in 1802. The concept hasn’t changed.

For any one parent – or group of parents – to want to impart their religious beliefs or personal morals and values on an entire secular school is off base, especially when alternatives are available.

Stevenson High School, and nearly all other public high schools in the area need to continue to offer a wide variety of literature to their students not to offer shock value to their students, but to give them the opportunity to understand and analyze all types of literature.

Our students today need to be well rounded in their viewpoints and learn how to defend their points of views.

For parents who take exception to what is available in the schools, their options are simple – send their students to private schools or, as noted before, practice the alternatives available to them.

And while they’re at it, they may want to follow the suggestion of a friend of mine who says they may want to remove a book from their personal bookshelves that includes violence, sex and prostitution.

The Bible.

Where does the time go???

Amazing how much has transpired since my last blog.

Imagine, David Stolman is now chairman of the Lake County Board.  I've had the chance to meet several county board chairmen from various county include Robert Depke and George Dunne.

I'm not sure what mold Stolman will fall into -- hopefully not the Todd Stroger mold.  Ouch.

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A new trustee now occupies the dais at the Village Board -- Dr. Eric Smith will fill the vacancy left by the recall of Lisa Stone.  Let's see, that will give him about 10 Board meetings before he returns to being a mere mortal.  But, as we all know, a lot can happen in 10 meetings.

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So why did Beverly Sussman change seats on the dais?

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Perhaps the biggest "recent news" is that a certain local columnist spent nearly 30 column inches bemoaning the fact that her jeans are too tight.

Sorry, it's not the upcoming holidays.  More than likely it's due to ::middle age::: and an over abundance of various food items.  I think they call it a slow news week.

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Kudos to Katie Donnewald for being recognized by the Board for her efforts to raise more than $6,500 for Salute, Inc.

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Congrats to Cooper Middle School for its state champion cross country team.

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Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the mysterious white truck that cruises through the village on garbage day?  The driver wears a white hard hat (beware of falling garbage???) and stops to pick up various items left out by homeowners.   I think that's called junk collecting.  Odds are there's  an ordinance against that.

More later...