May 2008 Archives

The Hound was reading his favorite DuPage County newspaper, The Naperville Sun, when he saw a story that piqued his curiosity. It seems members of the DuPage County Board rejected salary increases, stipends and travel reimbursements this past week. How refreshing, considering Lake County Board members' money grab.

In DuPage County, salaries will remain flat over the next four years for the dozen board members to be elected in November, according to the salary schedule in The Sun. The newly elected members will make $50,079 each year through 2012. That compares with Lake County Board salaries in 2012 of $44,074 --- a 15.5 percent increase over 2008. It should be noted there are 18 DuPage County Board members; 23 in Lake County.

But that's not all the DuPage County Board members did. Committee chairman and vice chairman also will cease to receive stipends of $3,000 and $1,000, respectively.
And although other county personnel now will be able to claim higher mileage reimbursements for travel related to county business, board members exempted themselves from receiving transportation compensation.

This has got to be a first in the annals of government and certainly something never seen in Lake County.

Six DuPage members whose terms will continue past the November election, will receive annual raises for their seats, which were approved in 2006. Their current salary of $50,079 will grow to $53,645 over the next two years.

But, now get this: At that point, the board may vote to pull those salaries back to $50,079 as well. Chairman Bob Schillerstrom said, noting: "We would presume, based on past history, that we would seek to equate their pay the next time around."

Brien Sheahan of Elmhurst was the backbone behind the proposition to withhold travel reimbursements from board members. He said the decision should show other county employees that board members understand the difficulties they face. "In the real world people are not compensated for their travel to and from work, so I think it sends a message to our employees that we understand the cost of commuting," Sheahan said, according to The Sun account.

The main reason, DuPage officeholders said they froze their salaries, was to show taxpayers they look at ways to keep taxes and spending as low as can be. "It's belt-tightening time," noted one official. DuPage is the second County Board is the six-county area to reject pay hikes, following Kane County earlier this month.

Most of us know what Lake County Board members did when faced with a similar dilemma: They followed the money and went for the gold.

Who said American ingenuity has been quashed under eight years of the Bush regime? Not The Hound. Especially after learning about a new line of urinals made of about 30 percent soybean resin. If one was living in Florida, the expectation of a soybean urinal wouldn't be too exciting.

But this is Illinois, where despite the city slicker superiority of Chicagoans, soybeans and corn pay a lot bills, whether from tractor assemblies in the Quad Cities and Peoria, grain bins in Gilman or the commodities pits in the Windy City. Which is why this breakthrough is exciting.

Yet, it took a Vista, Calif., firm to figure out how to use soybean resin in urinals (perhaps our governor vetoed some agricultural research and development funds in a continuing attempt to balance the Illinois budget?). The Waterless Co. expects to expand the percentage of soybean resin in their future product line.

According to the company, waterless urinals made with soybean resin can save as much as 40,000 gallons of water annually. Bet those folks talking about water resource management Wednesday at Brae Loch Golf Club in Grayslake didn't take waterless urinals into account.

While soybeans have been used for everything from ink to fuel (i.e., biodiesel), using this cash crop for urinals is truly a breakthrough. And, one more way for Illinois farmers to be on the cutting edge of high performance, even if it is in the water closet.

If Democratic congressional candidate Dan Seals was charged $2,200 for a one-hour traffic jam trying to give away cheap gas in Lincolnshire earlier this month, how much should Waukegan police charge Terry Galmore, 23, of Waukegan for tying up an entire city neighborhood?

The Hound concedes the fact Seals brandished a gas pump, while Galmore was packing a weapon with which he allegedly used to shoot at cops.

But what if Galmore, who apparently committed suicide as tactical officers were closing in because he didn't want to go to prison (all you younguns out there take note), was taken alive? Shouldn't they tack on a civil penalty to his criminal charges? Or with Galmore dead, suing his estate, such as it is. Seems like the fair thing to do, don't you agree?

And, what of other standoffs we've experienced in Lake County? Were these other mopes slapped with a bill for dozens of squad cars being at the scene keeping the media at bay, hundreds of police and support personnel on hand to protect residents and the expenditure of hundreds of dollars on ordnance?

It costs money to stage these security operations and somebody should pay besides the taxpayers. If there isn't a state law seeking reimbursement for law enforcement agencies in Illinois for similar actions, there should be.

Granted, the cops are performing a public service and they get paid if just patrolling, say the mean streets of Vernon Hills, or doing SWAT duty attempting to talk Mr. Galmore into surrendering during about a 17-hour standoff. Yet, if a political candidate is charged a couple grand for a campaign stunt, The Hound thinks real criminals should be charged for taking up law enforcement's time.

Call it the fairness doctrine.

As suspected, most Lake Countians failed to fly the flag on Memorial Day, one of two national holidays where it really matters if your flag is unfurled. Um, for all you immigrant bashers, that would be an American flag.

The Hound used up precious gasoline (isn't that what expense accounts are for?) to investigate how many of you are real patriots, or just, as Thomas Paine coined back in the Revolutionary War, "sunshine patriots." As any journalist, Paine was sitting far behind the lines and didn't have to engage in a 360 (if you don't get that, ask your friendly neighborhood infantryman). He merely pointed out his fellow Americans' failures.

So-called patriots carp about adopting a constitutional amendment banning flag burning, but fail to put their flag out there on their front porches for all to see. That gets The Hound's dander up which means an upcoming complete coat dip. Full disclosure here: The News-Sun sells American flag kits at the front desk, or they used to. The Hound will check before the Fourth of July sneaks up on us.

Hoisting the flag may not be a big deal to most of you, but flying a national standard or battle flag or unit flag dates back to the Revolutionary War (Anybody remember "Don't Tread on Me" from Mr. Miller's American history class?). OK, so most of the flags today are made in China. It's still our flag.

Flying the flag (your friendly American Legion or VFW post certainly will elucidate one on flag etiquette or perhaps a Boy or Girl Scout or two) is like voting, The Hound believes. You don't have to, but you should. It makes you a better American. Who doesn't need more of those around the camp fire?

Drive on, warriors.

While organizers of the Madison Brat Fest, the world's largest, were hoping to break the record for the most bratwursts consumed over the Memorial Day weekend, there they were, the food police, handing out tofu and turkey brats. That is so wrong, especially in Wisconsin.

Can you see somebody ordering a tofu bratwurst at Miller Field, and asking for that special sauce? Milwaukee cops would on 'em faster than they'd jump an over-served Cubs fan. Imagine walking into Usinger's in Milwaukee and asking for a tofu brat. Hrumph!

In Mad City, they certainly like their bratwursts. Last year, 189,433 of the tasty sausages supplied by the folks at the Johnsville brand, were downed. This year, they were hoping to pass the 200,000 mark, which would break the 2004 record by about 10,000 brats.

Yum!

But back to the veggie brats. According to The Associated Press, organizers of the counter Veggie Brat Fest, said their product is healthier and more humane. They should join the anti-foie gras brigade and the rest of the patrolmen and women in the food police.

By the way, they gave out 600 veggie brats. Guess that showed 'em.

There appears to be a continuing confusion over Memorial Day. The Hound will clear it up for all you bolos.

Memorial Day, which started out as Decoration Day until the politicians got ahold of a remembrance of those who died in this nation's wars, was always May 30. But, to give federal and state workers a day off, Congress decided in that "me decade" of the '70s to make Memorial Day the last Monday in May.

Memorial Day, aka Decoration Day (because they would decorate graves) dates back to honoring those who died in the Civil War.

Veterans Day is Nov. 11, although Congress tried to change the date to a Monday until veterans' organizations griped about that, considering Veterans Day marks the 11th hour of the 11th month of 1918, the date the Great War ended. Veterans Day remembers all veterans who have served in the nation's armed services.

Armed Forces Day, usually June 14, the date the Continental Army began, honors those currently serving in the nation's military.

So let's review: Memorial Day, honor the dead; Veterans Day, honor those who served; Armed Forces Day, those who are serving.

That should clear up confusion of all of you who want to honor veterans who happened to be lucky and survived combat. Regardless, few of you will be flying flags today saluting any warriors, living or dead.

That's because, as Thomas Paine pointed out a few decades ago, most of you are sunshine patriots. And it's not even summer.

The Hound got called into one of the suits' offices and dressed down for his use of "maroon" and "nimrod" for berating those who comment on what The Hound opines in cyberspace.

This suit knew little more than the bolo boys and girls who have complained about using the terms "maroon" and "nimrod". Obviously, the suit hasn't had his fill of Bugs Bunny cartoons.

While those complaining about The Hound's use of the word "maroon" are correct that these were free African Americans who fought on the side of the Seminoles in the Seminole War (that would not be a Florida vs. Florida State matchup in The Swamp --- Go 'Noles!) which made Andrew Jackson's presidential chops.

However, Bugs Bunny used the term "maroon" as an insult not to one's lineage, but to one's smarts, though that does not include the University of Chicago Maroons. For proof of that, watch "Baseball Bugs". The Hound will not give away the plot to say it does not have anything to do with the 2003 Cubs. According to Bugs, "maroon" was equal to a dummy or worse. Does "ignoramus" ring a bell here?

Now to "nimrod", which also was popularized by Bugs, yet was picked up by one of The Hound's favorite rock groups, Green Day, as the title of the trio's second album.

How nimrod went from being the great-grandson of Noah (revisit your Bible, you gomers), to a synonym for goofball, The Hound leaves to word scholars. The Hound just knows calling someone a nimrod also means they're a goober.

So for all you dingbats and suits out there: Lighten up and be thankful you're not being labeled a nincompoop, you bunch of losers.

Why state Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, puts up with the good 'ole boy hassles of her fellow Democrats in Springfield is beyond The Hound. She should jump ship to the GOP side of the aisle.

Garrett, a hard-working lawmaker who was pilloried by Chicago Democrats for her opposition to the legislative pay hikes all Illinoisans will soon be paying for, continues to get no respect from Dems. It seems like Will Rogers was right when he pointed out, "I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat." He uttered that during the Great Depression and it would appear things haven't much changed, i.e., Obama vs. Hillary.

Garrett, some may recall, was mocked and called the senator from "Richville" after she questioned 4 percent raises for lawmakers. Those will go into effect unless the Senate votes the pay measure down. That is unlikely for Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, one of the governor's lone legislative buds, wants more money for his pockets.

Just the other day, Garrett again was pasted by her colleagues when she visited with House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, who isn't too cozy with Jones or Gov. Blago, to discuss a bizarre $16 billion pension bond which would boost the state's budget. Madigan opposes the scheme, as does Garrett.

Maybe it's time for the senator from "Richville" to become a Republican --- after all, she is from Lake Forest --- and where her hard work might be more recognized and appreciated by GOPsters.

The Hound has been told that once in this great nation, gas wars used to take place. That was when competing stations on catty-corners would keep lowering their prices to attract customers. And some gearhead pumped your gas for you!

According to The Hound's geezer sources, this was when gas hovered in the 29-cent-a-gallon price and gasoline was leaded. Generation Xers and beyond saw a hint of that Thursday when Democratic congressional candidate Dan Seals let 10th District incumbent Mark Kirk know there will be a war for his congressional seat. This one began at the gas pumps at a Lincolnshire Mobil station on Milwaukee Avenue, close to Half Day Road in what should be the midst of Kirk's GOP constituency.

Seals stumbled upon a great gimic: Use his hefty campaign war chest to sell gasoline (capped at 10 gallons for an hour between noon and 1 p.m.) for $1.85 a gallon, about the approximate cost of gasoline when Kirk was first elected in 2000. Gas at most Lake County locations currently is over $4 a gallon. The intimation is that Kirk has done nothing to help his gas-pained constituents.

If Seals thought Cmdr. Kirk was going to ignore this attack, he doesn't know the man who defeated him two years ago when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry won the 10th District handily over Republican incumbent George W. Bush.

Kirk quickly went on the offensive, contending Seals' photo-op was mere bagatelle. He's asked the Federal Elections Commission and the U.S. attorney's office to investigate what his campaign staff contends was a vote-buying stunt. Ah, and it is only the end of May.

While some have already "sold postcards to the hanging", as Dylan sings, and anointed Seals as the next 10th District congressman, they don't live here. If the presidential campaign is a marathon, the Kirk-Seals race is a decathalon. Seals would have been smarter to use a Waukegan gas station or one in Highland Park, rather putting it together in less than two days in transient Lincolnshire.

Perhaps his campaign staff has learned nothing in two years. Perhaps they're ignoring President Clinton's mantra: "Values trump economics."

The Hound spent the past weekend with head out the window, cruisin' the highways of Lake County and catching a few bugs in the teeth. One wonders how those motorcyclists manage not to get a few moths in their molars without a helmet on. During what now passes for country roads here, one thing was certain: The price of petrol wasn't stopping folks from taking a ride.

The Hound expected most Lake County drivers would face $4-a-gallon gas this weekend, but that didn't appear to be the case, unlike Chicago drivers who are closing in on the $4.50 gallon price. You folks in Cook County can thank Todd Stroger for that.

Anyway, the roads were just as packed as if gasoline was $3.50 a gallon. Economists and talking heads keep discussing at what price will be the tipping point when we park the rides and walk or take the bus to the mall. It surely isn't here yet.

And what happens when cruisin' season gets in full swing? You know, like Nostalgia Days in Zion where The Hound knows some folks who are already readying their '80s Monte Carlo to cruise Sheridan Road. What about Scoopin' Genesee in Waukegan? The McDonald's at Gurnee Mills on Fridays; the Cruise on Park in Mundelein? And what about all the parades?

Like The Hound said, that tipping point isn't here yet. So, what are gearheads giving up in exchange for higher gas prices? Food?

Cruise on in this summer of '08 and $4 gas. And, drive on road warriors.

Isn't it a little overkill that Gurnee has launched an "iShop Gurnee" campaign? Let's face it, what isn't for sale in the village?

Between the shops in and around Gurnee Mills, the Grand-Hunt corridor, the East Side and stores across Grand Avenue from Six Flags Great America (which also sells things), you can pretty much buy anything you want. And, with gas prices what they are, it makes cents to shop locally instead of say going to downtown Chicago, Old Orchard, Northbrook Court, Hawthorn Center or the outlets up in Pleasant Prairie.

Fortunately, local merchants decided to kick off the the campaign after this winter's extraordinary snow fall. What with the village's non-plowing capabilities, it might have been hard for some to get to retail shop owners' locations. Especially, if shoppers were coming from Gurnee.

Is The Hound the only one who thinks Steve Kreuscher of Zion is a little kooky. And not like "Kookie, Kookie, give me your comb" kooky.

Kreuscher wants to change his name to "In God We Trust". Is that strange or what? What do you call him? Mr. Trust? Mr. In? God-like?

Sort of reminds The Hound of the retail saying: "In God we trust --- All others pay cash."

The Hound can't believe a Lake County judge is going to allow this petition for a name change unless he or she has been out late drinking the night before Kreuscher is due in court, which is June 13. After all, legally the term "In God We Trust" is the national motto of the United States and has been such since the Cold War when the U.S. was toe-to-toe with the godless commies.

In fact, The Hound's favorite coin collector notes that "In God We Trust" first appeared on a two-cent coin back in 1864, in the midst of the War of Northern Aggression, as Confederate sympathizers still believe. The motto first went on paper money in 1952, once again, when we were afraid of the pinko Russkies.

While an animist, The Hound believes everyone should practice the religion of their choice. Just don't wear it on your sleeve, or in Kreuscher's case, as your monicker.

They don't make foie gras kibble, so The Hound has never had the chance to taste what many consider to be a delicacy. But after a two-year ban on the rich livers made by stuffing feed down the throat of geese and ducks, Chicagoans are free at last to dine on foie gras.

The Chicago City Council, with more than a little prodding from Mayor Richard M. Daley, voted overwhelmingly the other day to ignore the bleatings from the increasingly powerful animal rights lobby and Ald. Joe "Foie Gras" Moore (as hizzoner dubbed the alderman) to allow restaurants to once again serve the dish.

The Hound understands it just wasn't a foie gras-free zone down in the big city. Enforcement of the law was done with a wink and a nod. Like speakeasies of old, those in the know knew the passwords to tony eateries to get their lips around foie gras, French for "fat liver", at between $20 and $25 a pop for a serving about the size of a pack of cigarettes.

The Hound, who has known to chase a few Canada geese at retention ponds around area office parks, always felt If people want to eat goosey foods or they want to eat something they like, they should have the option. Whether it be a fowl's pumped up internal organ or french fries plump with trans fats, it should be the diner's choice. At least in free countries.

The Hound also understands animal rights activists who consider foie gras a cruel dish because geese and ducks are force-fed to make their livers bigger. The Hound wouldn't want to be force-fed. Who wants their livers to be bigger?

So, a Grey Goose toast to Chicago aldermen who finally saw the light and decided, if the 2016 Olympics are headed this way, that foie gras has to be on the menu. After all, the French no doubt will be sending a contingent of Olympians to the Windy City.

Sure seems those Lake County Board members who voted to increase their pay --- in the midst of tough economic times -- are a bunch of greedy Guses. They're lucky the Illinois Senate killed a provision for recall. Could you imagine recalling 13 County Board members? Yowza!

So they dodged a bullet. Sure is convenient that all but one County Board member up for re-election and having opposition come Nov. 4 voted in favor of the 15.5 percent pay hikes which soon takes their pay for a part-time job to more than $40,000 a year. Sure is suspicious, like somebody figured out the math. The vote to hike their own salaries was 13-10.

That one County Board member seeking re-election and voting for the pay hike was Republican Larry Leafblad of Grayslake. He must feel pretty good about his opponent in November to vote himself a pay raise in the current economic times. Maybe his constituents will feel different about that.

As for the two retiring members, Republican Judy Martini of Antioch and Carol Spielman of Highland Park: They certainly showed their true colors voting with their fellow payrollers and against the taxpayers.

Ah, but perhaps voters will have longer memories when it comes to the four members who voted to boost their salaries and whose terms expire in 2010. That would be Steve Carlson of Gurnee, Susan Gravenhorst of Lake Bluff, Pam Newton of Vernon Hills and Michael Talbett of Lake Zurich. Did The Hound mention they are all Republicans? So much for conservative fiscal spending the GOP once was known for. No wonder Democrats are making increasing inroads into formerly Republican Lake County.

The Hound has one message for these greedy Guses: Get on the bus, Gus and make way for public servants who don't expect to get rich off the taxpayers.

As The Hound was standing in line at the Post Office for one-cent stamps to match up with the leftover 41-cent stamps which no longer are valid, steam was coming out of those big ears. It was just last year that the U.S. Postal Service raised stamp prices to 41 cents and now the cost of mailing a first-class letter is 42 cents.

Then, The Hound remembered that this is the same USPS whose employees rang up a $13,500 tab at a five-hour feast at a Ruth's Chris Steak House in Orlando, Fla. That's when the steam started pumping like an old Baltimore & Ohio coal train.

This postal order sort of made news last month after the Government Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, discovered the charges made to government credit cards. As far as The Hound is concerned, the national media dropped the ball on this story.

GAO investigators called the 2006 meal "abusive" in its extravagance, according to The Associated Press. That's too kind. How about piggish.

The order included more than $3,000 in drinks, including top-shelf beverages such as Courvoisier cognac, Belvedere vodka and Johnnie Walker Gold Label scotch. Then there was the $500 in shrimp cocktails and $900 in crab cakes --- that's a lot of appetizers. But then again, Ruth's Chris is no late-night diner. It's a classy joint.

According to the GAO breakdown, the diners also had 81 steakhouse salads at $588, and 130 jumbo scallops which totaled $422. Yum, jumbo scallops! Ninety-five people attended the feast and ordered 81 entrees, which the GAO figured averaged $160 per person. That's eating high off the hog!

The USPS defends the dinner, contending it was held to land corporate clients from privately run FedEx and UPS. Taxpayer money, they say, was not involved; the feast was funded by products and services of the USPS.

Uh, aren't stamps products? And they wonder why Americans go postal when the price of stamps rise.

One mother The Hound knows got a Mother's Day gift over the weekend. It was a digital picture frame.

We're all familiar with them and if you're not, the idea is to replace all those picture frames hanging on the walls or sitting on coffee tables with a media card plugged into the digital frame. This mom noted the photos are there to view until she gets bored with looking at them. Then in goes another media card.

This got The Hound to thinking how many other mothers got digital frames on Mother's Day. Plenty, right? Which is taking a step back from this ongoing push to be green and save energy, resources and materials, isn't it. The Hound believes that if miraculously oil drops to $90 a barrel tomorrow, talk of going green will disappear quicker than a bad movie at the box office.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, digital picture frames are just one of the 25 consumer electronics devices the average U.S. household owns. That would include televisions, radios, CD players, cell phones, printers, computers, portable and stationary DVD players, VCRs, MP3 players, videogame players, digital cameras, camcorders, GPS devices. Yikes, Americans do own a lot of stuff!

The association also notes that two billion DVDs, 30 million digital cameras and 41 million MP3 players are sold annually in the U.S. On top of that, there's about 150 million used cell phones stockpiled in U.S. households.

So, when do we start going green?

The Hound's Gurnee correspondents are still tittering over the latest issue of "Keeping Posted", the village's newsletter. What has them guffawing is Mayor Kristina Kovarik's monthly message .

"The winter did expose some flaws in our ability to deal with heavy snowfalls," her honor notes with a straight pen. "I'm happy to report that Village staff has taken the initiative to conduct some intense planning sessions that will correct deficiencies in our snow removal operations."

What the mayor doesn't address is why the public works director resigned suddenly and that two long-time public works employees were disciplined. Did it have to do with the poor street-clearing performance during the winter of ought seven and eight? That would be the winter when the village ran out of salt --- not that Gurnee was the only governmental agency to be caught short of sodium chloride. Or is is calcium chloride they use on Midwest roads? Or is there something more to the issues with the three public works guys?

The copy of "Keeping Posted" The Hound saw has Mayor Kovarik concluding: "We listened to the feedback received and the message was loud and clear --- pristine roads and optimal driving conditions are of the utmost importance."

Nothing gets past some public officials, eh?

Despite bad snowplowing, Gurnee does have some of the best fireworks in the county on July 4 and during Gurnee Days. Maybe bread and circuses will get the chill off village residents.

Whooee! Those North Chicago cops certainly have been busy the last few days.

The latest police presence in the city was a raid at Stack's House of Style the other day. Cops allegedly were looking for drugs, although no narcotics were found even after police trashed the beauty shop. However, a police spokesman said "evidence" was removed from the salon at 1800 Sheridan Road.

After the raid, though, city inspectors discovered 24 building code violations. On top of that, according to police, some barbers allegedly didn't have the required state licenses to cut hair.

Good to know police are concerned if barbers are licensed to give hair cuts. The Hound wasn't aware police academies touched on violations of state Department of Professional Regulation rules in the course work. Anything in police class about pedicure procedures?

Surprisingly, Police Chief Mike Newsome's dad owns a barbershop in North Chicago, Dave's Barbershop in the 2300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. No word if police checked on barber licenses in that shop.

Presidential candidate John McCain and soon-to-be-also-ran Hillary Clinton have proposed suspending the federal gas tax --- 18.4 cents a gallon --- from Memorial Day to Labor Day as a way of bringing relief to Americans at a time when folks take to the highways for summer vacation or cruisin' dates at various county locales. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama dismisses this idea, calling it a "classic Washington gimmick." He's wrong.

So we won't get that much relief at the pump and we may diminish the highway road fund. Yet, it is something government can do for the little people among us. Dismissing the gas tax holiday and siding with those economists is making the Illinois senator sound even more elitist.

The latest poll on the topic, a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey released this week, shows 46 percent of likely voters favor a federal gas tax holiday this summer. The survey found that 42 percent are opposed and 12 percent unsure.

According to Rasmussen Reports, most voters who earn more than $75,000 a year oppose the gas tax holiday. Most who make less than $60,000 a year favor that policy change. Those making less than $60,000 a year are the ones Obama has had a hard time connecting with in the Democratic primaries and are voters he needs for victory in November.

Clinton's idea to replace the highway transportation fund, which will probably be picked up by McCain once she decides to drop out of the presidential derby, is putting an excess-profits tax on Big Oil. It's not like they don't have some profits to spare.

Tax holidays are not new. Some states even have tax holidays for school supplies and for a few years, Florida had a tax holiday for supplies purchased to be used during hurricane season, June to November in the Sunshine State.

Perhaps it's not the monetary amount, but the fact that voters see government as doing something instead of always taking or doing nothing.

The Hound wasn't aware that North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham had issued a shoot-to-kill order in the city. But, 40 years after Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley issued a similar edit to police, that looks like what happened the other day on North Chicago streets.

Maybe Cease Fire, the anti-violence group, needs to march around North Chicago City Hall after Aaren Gwinn, 21, was gunned downed by undercover drug dicks in the 1400 block of Jackson Street.

North Chicago police, in press releases, say Gwinn attempted to run from, or maybe over, the plainclothes officers. That's their story and they're, no doubt, sticking to it. Not surprisingly, Mayor Rockingham and Police Chief Michael Newsome have not returned calls to News-Sun reporters on the shooting, preferring to control the flow of information.

Perhaps North Chicago citizens can get information at the next City Council meeting. Then again, knowing the penchant for secrecy by North Chicago officials, they may not.

Even a spokeswoman for the NAACP pointed out: "We never get any information from City Hall."

While there are plenty of citizen witnesses, police have mainly issued press releases on the shooting.

One thing is certain: This is the first killing in North Chicago in a while where the perps can be identified, even though police will not name the officers, or their race. Gwinn is, or was, an African American.

The family of Aaren Gwinn can take some comfort in the fact North Chicago isn't New York City. Instead of two fatal gunshots, he could have been shot 50 times by police.

The Hound feels safer already since Gov. Rod "The Mod" Blagojevich has named an Illinois Seismic Safety Task Force. This from the guv who took nearly a year to iron out a mass transit package with state lawmakers.

Just goes to show, an Elvis fan will move it and shake it when the Prairie State rocks and rolls.

Since the April 18, 5.2 magnitude temblor in way downstate Wabash County, the Land of Lincoln has received 29 aftershocks measuring as high as a 4.6 magnitude. Yikes, that sounds like Cali tremors to The Hound.

While some of us were shaken from sleep at 4:37 a.m. April 18, if we were Californians, we would have slept through the quake, let alone it's aftermath. Fortunately, there isn't much in downstate Illinois besides coal mines, some cricket pumps, a few prisons and Shawnee National Forest.

Wake The Hound when there's a 5.2 quake in Lake County.

Anyway, His Hairness has directed state agencies to review and enhance the state's earthquake damage prevention strategies. It's not like state officials weren't aware of the potential for earthquakes downstate. Afterall, one of the most powerful quakes occurred downstate on the New Madrid fault back in the late 1700s. The quake was so powerful, it changed the course of the Mississippi River. Or so The Hound's relatives have said.

The governor certainly moved quickly on this earthquake panel. Perhaps that's his constituency in for his 2010 re-election bid. We can only hope.

The Hound has noticed a lot of those "recyclable" bags at area food and retail stores. But here's the question that has been bothering The Hound: Is it OK to take a Jewel bag into, say, Dominick's or a Wal-Mart bag into Target?

The Hound has heard of one Dominick's where a manager gave a customer two free bags (theirs are black) rather than seeing her use Jewel bags (dark green).

So, what is the etiquette here? Is it OK to use any bag you have because they are environmentally sound (or so we are told)? Or do your bags have to be store-specific?

Life is just full of questions, right? Next week The Hound will tackle organic foods. Then again, maybe not.