News: June 2008 Archives

BY MIKE CETERA

Several months ago, we hosted a community forum on teen drinking. We wanted to know -- in light of an alcohol-related car crash that killed several Oswego teens -- what motivates young people to drink and what can be done to discourage them from doing so.

A study released Thursday seems to suggest one avenue: stop enabling them.

The nationwide study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that adults are the source of alcohol for 40 percent of teens who drink..

BY MIKE CETERA

It has become a recovery effort in Oswego. But the question remains, is there more to the recovery than simply finding 18-year-old Robert Funston?

In a story today about the search for Funston, who went missing in the Fox River while swimming with friends on Sunday, an Oswego teenager had this to say: "For teenagers, Oswego is cursed."

In response, a reader posted a comment calling the notion bunk: "The only curse Oswego has recently is teens making stupid decisions like getting in cars while drinking or swimming in rivers past flood stage."

I don't believe in curses, but I do wonder if a community can have a collective psyche and if that psyche can be damaged by repeated tragedy..

BY MIKE CETERA

A story today about an Aurora church planning to bless driver's licenses and vehicles got me thinking: what else needs some help from above?

Should we have a Bless the Governor Day? Or perhaps you'd like to send some heavenly juju to the prosecutors apparently nipping at his heels?

From the story:

"We've done blessing of animals, of plants and seeds," said the Rev. George Koch Jr., the interim pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church. "Although the form of the blessing is new, the idea of blessing things is very ancient. It's not (that) we're inventing something; we're just saying how can we use this in the modern context."

What are some other things in need of blessing?

BY MIKE CETERA

The FBI's preliminary Uniform Crime Report for 2007 is in, and while the numbers for Aurora aren't a surprise since the city released its data months ago, it is interesting to see what's happening in other Illinois cities with populations greater than 100,000.

The FBI cautions against the practice of comparing crime numbers between cities even though the agency makes it so very tempting to do:

Comparisons lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents. Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction.

With that warning in mind, let's look at what happened in 2007 elsewhere.

BY MIKE CETERA

The promise and the problem with government programs meant to erase blight and poverty is hope. Such programs promise hope for a better future, hope for bright and shiny buildings and fancy cars and gourmet restaurants, hope for jobs and lower taxes, hope for a return to or a beginning of a golden age.

The problem is the disconnection between hope and reality.

State lawmakers -- with virtually no opposition -- voted last month to extend the life of Aurora's downtown tax-increment financing district, a district that was supposed to bring the Link project and then RiverCity Aurora, but has instead brought only promises of yet another major development. This extension gives leaders more opportunity to dwell on the hope of revitalization, even while at least one study shows revitalization occurs faster without TIFs, which also have been accused of being little more than de facto tax increases...

BY MIKE CETERA

With the recent scrutiny over state and local campaign contributions, this news out of a Kane judicial race is particularly interesting.

John Noverini, the Republican-turned-Democrat seeking an open subcircuit seat, says he won't take contributions from attorneys, citing a conflict of interest.

"It makes (raising funds) more difficult, but personally, I'm just not comfortable taking money from attorneys who are going to appear before me," Noverini said in an interview. "It's legal, but sometimes you have to go beyond the law, especially if you're running for judge."

There's a couple (at least) ways to look at this: A) Noverini believes what he is pledging; or B) He expects his opponent -- Patricia Piper Golden -- to whup him in fundraising and can offer this as an excuse.

No matter, his objections shine a light on an overlooked fact: Judicial candidates get the majority of their campaign money from attorneys.

BY DAVE PARRO

Illinois lawmakers were patting themselves on the back for hastily passing a state budget last week that everyone admits is not balanced, but they still left plenty of business unfinished.

The most significant failure is the lack of a capital bill, despite the best efforts of two respected Illinois politicians. If Dennis Hastert and Glenn Poshard can't get meaningful things done in Springfield, then no one can. (But we really already knew that.)

But the former Republican House speaker and former Democratic congressman from southern Illinois aren't giving up yet.

BY DAVE PARRO

So it turns out John Barsanti's threat to forcibly draw blood from suspected drunken drivers was just a bluff. The Kane County state's attorney said Tuesday that he actually instructed deputies not to draw blood samples against a driver's will during the first "no-refusal weekend."

In addition to questions about individual rights, that's a relief because of the potential for injury to officers and suspects.

Barsanti is effectively saying that the threat of a search warrant for a blood draw or contempt of court charges for those who still refuse will be enough in most cases to get a driver to submit to a breathalyzer or blood test. But was it ethical for him to get everyone riled up about forced blood draws when he had no intention of actually taking that controversial step?

BY MIKE CETERA

If that tough, new anti-meth legislation was so important, why haven't the politicians who convened a press conference to announce it two months ago convened a second one to demand their bills get a vote in both houses?

Lawmakers left Springfield last week without having approved any of the three pieces of legislation state and local officials championed during a late March press conference. Where's the moral righteousness, like that issued by Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner during the press conference? "If you're looking to set up a meth manufacturing house, don't do it here."