Kentucky television station WHAS-11 sent a news crew to Aurora to find out whether Gov. Ernie Fletcher's anti-casino ads painted an accurate portrait of what a riverboat does to a community.
Through interviews with the mayor and police chief, as well as looking at statistics, the conclusion seems to be that Fletcher left quite a bit out of his 30-second campaign spot. The reality is that casinos pour money into a community and can improve an area, but there are social costs involved.
The interview in the barber shop sums it up pretty well.
A week after Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed money for the crime-fighting initiative Project CeaseFire, the state's auditor general has released a scathing report on the program, which is based in Chicago, but has a troubledstart-up in Aurora.
The audit, and media reports, focus largely on the problems in Chicago. But Aurora's CeaseFire, championed by State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, is referenced throughout the report.
It may have gotten overlooked with the state budget battle still raging, but Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a bill into law Tuesday that allows for public funding of stem cell research, including controversial embryonic stem cells.
The plan would award grants to scientists and allow "therapeutic cloning" for cell research. The full text of the bill can be found here.
Local bill sponsors include House Minority Leader Tom Cross, Rep. Patricia Reid Lindner and Sen. Linda Holmes.
Earlier this year the paper published a column about a new pet cemetery scheduled to open in Kendall County. The idea that someone would want to give Fido a proper burial has fascinated me ever since. Growing up, when pets died in my family, they either ended up being flushed down the toilet or handled by the local veterinarian.
What inspires people to bury their dead pets in a graveyard? Have pets become such a big part of the family that we feel the need to follow similar death rituals as with our human relatives? And why would someone spend the money?
Now comes word of a new trend: hospice for terminally ill pets.
First, the arrest of an ice cream truck driver for allegedly exposing himself to a 3-year-old boy was cited as a reason to require fingerprints and background checks for the vendors. Now Sugar Grove might just say it's all too much trouble and ban them altogether.
The village does have the option of creating a permit system, which seems like a better idea; banning the trucks entirely is an overreaction to an isolated incident.
Under state law, Sugar Grove can ban vendors. But are the dangers so great that the village needs to take such a drastic step?
So, money to help run a battered women's shelter is pork, but a check to pay for "solar speed limit signs" is a good use of taxpayer dollars?
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's promised line-item veto of the state budget included the elimination of hundreds of thousands of dollars of aid and projects slated for the Fox Valley, particularly Aurora.
And, you know what, that would be fine if Blagojevich was serious about saving taxpayers' money. But he's not. The governor instead is playing games, seemingly cutting projects based not on merit, but rather based on which lawmaker asked for the dough (Some folks are suggesting the governor's own party members were targeted).
A list of area funding (maybe) eliminated by the governor can be found below.
It looks like we're about to find out through the Kentucky governor's extensive research just how devastating Hollywood Casino has been for our community.
Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who is running for re-election on an anti-gaming platform, started airing TV ads in his home state this week to launch his "No Casinos Tour" campaign. His kickoff stop: Aurora.
In the first of a series of ads, Aurora's riverboat is prominently featured. While he doesn't name the city, Fletcher promises that in the coming weeks he will "show Kentuckians first-hand what harmful effects casinos would have." His conclusion: "How bad could it really be? I visited some cities and towns to find out. ... It's a story without a happy ending."
There's been chatter for some time that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert plans to quit Congress before his term his up. A new report on The Politico appears to add fuel to that fire.
A story on that site references a number of other stories suggesting Hastert will quit in November, which would force a special election.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS More than 10,000 homes are under foreclosure in Illinois, including more than 1,000 in Kane County.
BY MIKE CETERA
The mortgage mess that has the stock market all atwitter could change how your neighborhood looks. One newspaper examined what it calls an increasing problem of homes simply being abandoned in the wake of a mortgage default.
The result: these homes are being left to rot with overgrown yards and mosquito-infested pools.
How bad is the situation getting? RealtyTrac Inc. reported Tuesday the number of homes facing foreclosure nearly doubled in July from the year prior.
Thousands of Fox Valley homeowners are among those facing foreclosure.
After two failed referendums, the East Aurora School District might try a new approach in February. Instead of asking voters to approve an increase in the operating rate, the district would seek to issue $32 million in bonds.
Schools usually only borrow money for construction projects, but East Aurora would use the cash to plug the budget. The resulting property-tax increase would be less than half of what the district was seeking in April.
The most important question, however, is whether voters have overwhelmingly rejected referendums on the East Side because of the amount, or because they simply don't want to give the district ANY more of their money.
The state still hasn't approved a capital projects bill, which could help Fox Valley schools pay for renovation projects or construction of new buildings. Yet that's not the worst news.
Schools throughout the state -- including some close to home -- are owed money they were promised five years ago. House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, last week sent a letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich demanding he release the funds.
"It is clear that you are choosing to not exercise your authority to process the contracts and release the money to the school districts," Cross wrote.
HEATHER EIDSON / BEACON NEWS Waubonsee Community College started tearing down buildings Monday
to make way for a new downtown Aurora campus.
BY DAVE PARRO
Almost four years after Waubonsee Community College announced plans for a new campus in downtown Aurora, demolition finally started Monday. It sure took long enough.
While the city agreed to spend $50,000 to salvage some historical items inside the buildings, they thankfully didn't give in to preservationists and spare the structures themselves. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's worth saving. Some of the buildings sat vacant for years or even decades.
And the argument that Waubonsee won't be paying property taxes as an educational institution doesn't fly because the buildings didn't really generate all that much for the city. This doesn't seem like much of a loss at all.
From the Department of Overzealous Enforcement: Three area public pools have cancelled popular end-of-summer events because of threats coming from Springfield. To wit, if these pools let dogs enter their waters (oh, heavens!), the Illinois Department of Public Health says it may revoke their operating licenses.
Really, these pools had no choice but to cancel their dog swim events, one-day-only celebrations that allow pooches to jump in the pool. Typically, these occur at the end of the swim season, and humans aren't allowed to jump in afterward. Isn't the state being a bit anal by suggesting letting dogs take a dip (sans humans) could pose a health threat? How did we all miss the headlines about the epidemics caused by dog saliva?
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Dennis Hastert was the longest-serving Republican House speaker in U.S. history. But how will history look upon his time in the seat?
BY MIKE CETERA
There isn't much doubt about Dennis Hastert's legacy within his own Congressional District.
He has enjoyed consistent and strong support at the ballot box during his tenure, is credited with bringing millions of dollars in projects back home and he put Kendall County in the rare spotlight when he ascended to U.S. House speaker eight years ago. The job made him a celebrity in his own back yard.
But Hastert's legacy outside the 14th Congressional District is another matter entirely (Yes, I know he has his critics here, too). The view of the boys from the coffee shop down the street is unlikely to define the 11-term congressman for future generations. And if he's remembered at all, it doesn't appear the national pundits are going to let him be remembered fondly.
A poster to this blog asked to see the most recent Aurora police contract, which expired March 5. The union and the city have not reached agreement on a new deal, but officers continue to work under the terms of the old contract. You can find a copy of the contract after the jump.
Some highlights:
-- "Each employee shall receive up to a maximum of one hundred eighty (180) calendar days of sick leave at his regular pay rate per separate illness. Provided, however, that no employee shall be eligible to receive said paid sick leave if the injury was contracted or incurred while engaged in occupation or employment other than with the Aurora Police Department. When any employee exhausts his sick leave, such leave may be extended at the approval of the Chief of Police upon application in writing by such employee. Approval of such extension shall not be unreasonably withheld. Further, notification of such approval and any extension shall be delivered by the Chief of Police to the Human Resources Department."
-- Union members cannot strike and cannot participate in a "work stoppage, slowdown, or withholding of services." The city cannot "lock out" union members.
-- Base salaries beginning in March 2006 were $59,113.60 annually for an officer with 6 months to 1 year on the job up to $75,379.20 for an officer with more than 25 years on the job. This does not account for overtime and shift differential pay.
The battle over the Aurora Planned Parenthood clinic will escalate tonight as the pro-lifers hold a press conference and rally and pro-choice supporters protest the protesters and show support for the facility.
There's been no shortage of debate over the far East Side clinic, but the public displays have been relatively timid so far in the form of an ongoing prayer vigil. That's likely to change as the two sides come face to face at the Prisco Community Center.
The police will have an increased presence there as a precaution, but hopefully the situation doesn't get out of control.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Teens are going to drink whether or not parents condone it. Should we just lower the drinking age?
BY MIKE CETERA
Following a fatal crash earlier this year involving a number of Oswego teens, parents, legislators and community leaders have been looking at ways to keep our kids safe. Many have sought answers to how we can encourage or prevent teenagers from drinking.
But a recent Parade Magazine article features people who advocate just the opposite: Give kids as young as 18 "licenses" to drink.
Advocates of a lower drinking age argue it will help reduce the number of kids who end up drinking at unsupervised house parties.
As the city of Aurora considers revisions to its animal-control ordinance, dog lovers have been attending meetings to show their support for changes aimed at reducing canine aggression and holding irresponsible pet owners accountable.
One of the more controversial proposals is a ban on tethering dogs, which opponents consider inhumane. There's a national movement aimed at making chaining dogs illegal, because it supposedly encourages aggressive behavior, that has resulted in similar laws elsewhere.
Alderman Stephanie Kifowit, however, has raised some legitimate concerns about the new code being too strict. There are pet owners who have valid reasons to tether their dogs for short periods of time and don't abuse or neglect them. Why can't Aurora focus on the actual problem instead of looking at a blanket law that makes life more difficult for everyone?
CRAIG WATSON / BEACON NEWS Members of the Aurora Police Department picket in front of City Hall on Tuesday.
BY MIKE CETERA
Just how ugly has the dispute between the Aurora police union and top city officials become? Both sides have taken to discussing personnel issues in public. In government, as in business, this almost never happens.
The union previously brought up disciplinary issues on a blog supported by its members. Now, with rank-and-file officers demonstrating outside City Hall, both the union and the city are letting other personnel issues go public.
Kendall County, and specifically Oswego, are the clear winners in the Fox Valley when it comes to the goodies granted in this dysfunctional budget battle. Is this what Gov. Rod Blagojevich has in mind when he talks about cutting "pork" from the state budget?
An analysis of the projects contained in the budget shows the spending plan approved by lawmakers last week contains nearly $2.2 million in specific line items for Oswego and the surrounding area. That figure doesn't include millions in dam work still slated for the county. More than $2.5 million in projects are slated for Kane County, which has a significantly higher population. (The full 1,395-page budget, which is searchable, can be found here.)
* Outcome unclear based on governor's veto threat.
Reuters is reporting this afternoon, quoting a House Republican aide, that U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert definitely will not seek a 12th congressional term. His official announcement is coming Friday.
"He is going to announce a retirement ... that's definitive," said the aide, who asked not to be identified.
That would be consistent with what local GOP sources have told The Beacon News. CBS-2 reported the same thing. Unless all these sources are wrong, we'll have a new congressman in the 14th District for the first time in more than two decades.
UPDATE (6:05 p.m.): The Associated Press says party officials in Washington have confirmed Hastert's retirement.
A letter writer criticizes the newspaper today for supporting the demolition of a house that Aurora police had been called to nearly 100 times in the past decade. Third item
Auroran Worth Hill argues that buying a gang house and demolishing it doesn't solve the problem. He's right, although we should sympathize with neighborhood residents who have had to put up with thugs living among them for so long.
TRAVIS HAUGHTON / BEACON NEWS Members of the Contreras family are upset that they won't be able wear
T-shirts or buttons bearing Nico's picture during the upcoming trial.
BY DAVE PARRO
There is perhaps no other murder in Aurora's history that evokes as much emotion as the Nico Contreras case. So it's not surprising that the accused killer's attorney wants to keep that passion out of the courtroom as much as possible.
The 6-year-old boy's family understandably wants his memory front and center during trial. But a judge has ruled that they can't wear T-shirts or pictures displaying Nico's picture because the images might unfairly sway the jury. It basically comes down to the defendant being entitled to a fair trial.
It's not uncommon for family members to prominently display pictures of victims in court. We've seen it already during hearings for the Aurora woman charged in the Oswego crash case.
Should family members be allowed to show the jury what the victim looked like, or is that "evidence" that would unfairly influence a verdict?
The Sun-Times over the weekend had an interesting piece analyzing traffic stop data. The paper found that "area police departments end up writing tickets for just 66 percent of all motorists they stop."
Some of the most lenient officers, the analysis found, patrol the streets of Geneva, where 21 percent of traffic stops result in tickets. Where are your chances the worst of getting out of a ticket? The Kane County town of Gilberts, where just one of the 1,511 traffic stops didn't result in a ticket.
Several blogs have picked up on a report last week in Congressional Daily suggesting former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will say this week whether he's in or out.
Aurora resident Al Signorelli asks an important, if somewhat loaded, question in comparing the response to Planned Parenthood's new clinic with how the community responds to violence: When will residents show the same passion and become outraged when a young man or woman is slain?
From Signorelli's call to OpenLine:
While (abortion) always elicits passion on both sides, it totally amazes me that crime and violence, our safety, and most importantly that of our children, does not. Where are the protesters when the bullets are flying and people are killed on our streets? What about those lives? Where is the outrage?
The U.S. Census Bureau this week released its latest county-level population estimates, and the figures show the Fox Valley has grown considerably since 2000. But you already knew that.
While the growth isn't surprising, the numbers themselves might be.
TRAVIS HAUGHTON / BEACON NEWS A 40-day vigil organized by Our Lady of Mercy Church started Thursday
in front of the new Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora.
BY DAVE PARRO
A 40-day vigil started today outside a Planned Parenthood facility on the far East Side of Aurora that is scheduled to open next month. So far, the protesters have been praying, sprinkling blessed salt on the grounds and quietly demonstrating on Oakhurst Drive.
There are very few protest signs out there today, and none of them show graphic pictures of aborted babies. It has been civil so far, but there are also no workers or clients to confront yet because the clinic hasn't opened its doors.
These pickets are certainly protected as free speech, but is there a most effective way to protest abortion and the clinics that provide it?
Some rank-and-file Aurora Police officers have been getting prickly with the brass recently. Their main issue, it seems, is their immense dislike for Police Chief Bill Powell and Mayor Tom Weisner.
Unfortunately, their beefs (personality clashes aside) haven't been clearly spelled out in public. Now the police union, or someone claiming to represent its members, is planning an informational picket outside City Hall.
Let's hope they actually say what's bothering them (SEE UPDATE BELOW).
