Naperville Potluck

The first day of Naperville's annual Ribfest came with a few changes to help manage the crowds. Electric scanners and barcoded tickets, and bike racks were a few of the changes to help control the hoards of people who will make their way to Knoch Park this holiday weekend.

In years past, complaints about overflowing crowds, closed gates and too many people for local residents to catch the fireworks have plagued the Fourth of July weekend festival. Organizers hope to alleviate some of those problems.

We're curious to know if these measures are making a difference this year. How was crowd control? Did the new ticketing system make a difference. Then, of course, we'd also like to hear your opinions about the ribs and other food, the rides, the musical acts, the spectators and whatever else you'd like to tell us about this year's fest -- good and bad.

And remember: Have fun!

Emma Royko of Naperville is still one of the guys. She's just not part of their team.
Since kindergarten, she has played soccer, basketball and baseball with a group of neighborhood boys she has grown up with.
But, at age of 8, the tow-headed tomboy's being told "no girls allowed." It's not the boys who are banning her, though, it's the adults.
Wheatland Athletic Association no longer will allow her to play alongside her male teammates in recreational basketball and baseball leagues. Also, Heritage Family YMCA wouldn't allow her to play basketball with the team this winter after allowing her to do so the previous season. And the Naperville Park District already has accepted her team into its "premiere" soccer league this fall, but indicated it can play only if Emma doesn't.
Why is this happening?
"Probably because I'm a girl, and they have girls' leagues," Emma said. "But most of my friends are on that (boys) team."
"They say, 'Eventually, she's going to have to play with the girls. She can't always play with the boys,'" said her mother, Cindy Royko.
Do you agree with these organizations' decisions? Is age 8 too early to start seperating boys from girls when it comes to sports teams? Why should it matter anyway - if Emma is at the same skill level as her male buddies, shouldn't she be allowed to play sports with and against them?

In his 14 years as Naperville's mayor and liquor commissioner, George Pradel has never revoked a local bar or restaurant's liquor license.
Which begs the questions: is that because city officials and police tend to go easy on nightclub and restaurant owners because of the copious tax revenue their businesses generate? Or is it because the downtown nightlife district -- despite its rowdy reputation in some quarters -- is comparatively trouble-free?
Articles from the Naperville Sun library and anecdotal evidence suggest that out of the thousands of people visiting the downtown area on a typical Friday or Saturday, 1 percent or fewer are arrested for assault, battery, property damage or other crimes related to alcohol consumption there.
Still, the city's 32 liquor-licensed establishments and their employees can be held legally liable for indulging their patrons by "over-serving" them and, in some instances, conjuring their darker sides.
"We're constantly telling them we don't want them to over-serve," Pradel said of local tavern and restaurant operators. "Our police check all the time to see that people aren't being over-served. The owners could be in deep trouble" for that if, for example, a patron should become involved in a drunken-driving crash, he said.
"I think our city is very fortunate that we have such responsible owners of the bars and restaurants that serve liquor," Pradel said. "I know it's hard times, but we really put the clamp on people, and if they're over-serving, we're going to be taking them to court."
What do you think? Do you think Naperville bartenders to a good job at monitoring patrons' alcohol intake? Do you think that downtown Naperville's nightlife promotes fun, safe socializing - or is it becoming an area that draws more debauchery out of people than other areas?
And furthermore - do you think bartenders should be held liable if a patron drinks too much - or should that be something that simply falls under the category of "personal responsibility?"
Voice your thoughts - they might be published in The Sun this week!

By Chris Magee
There's a childish game called "chicken." where two people ride straight at one another, in a car, a bike, whatever, to see who flinches and gets out of the way first. Designed as a test of courage and bravado, it is really just a good way to get hurt.

Illinois politicians are playing chicken right now with the budget. The problems are real - there's a $7 billion deficit. Governor Pat Quinn wants to raise taxes to plug this gap, and Republican and many Democratic legislators are refusing, so Quinn is threatening to take away funding from just about every social welfare program in the state to make up the difference.

Quinn knows if he targets the popular programs, the ones most people think we need, he is likely to get some action on his proposals. You're not going to find too many people in favor of eliminating drug treatment programs and battered women shelters.

Of course, the legislators can't allow themselves to be blackmailed, so they're playing hardball. They're not going to give in to threats and pass a tax increase they don't believe in.

Caught in the middle are these social services - shelters, treatment programs, food pantries, just about every fashionable cause you can think of - and they don't care who wins the game of chicken. They just want to have the money to keep doing their jobs.

In the last few weeks The Sun has received letters from seemingly every agency within 25 miles that will be affected by these cuts. Many have run in print already and many more are scheduled for publication in coming days. Each of these letters explains the valuable work these groups do and details all the cuts that will have to be made July 1 if the legislators don't find that money.

No one wants to take away funding from these agencies, but it could very well happen despite everyone's well wishing. In this game of chicken, if no one flinches, the two sides will collide in the middle and it will all come crashing down.

Unemployment in Illinois is over 10 percent now. Some estimates say state budget cuts could result in 200,000 additional job losses in our state. Is this the way to get out of the recession? Laying off employees, putting the junkies on the street, leaving those who have lost their jobs without anywhere to turn for help?

Yes, the Republicans have a point. The state needs to try to make other cuts before taking the easy way out of a tax increase. But there isn't $7 billion worth of fat in the budget. New revenue will need to be found.

No one wants to pay more taxes, especially in an economic downturn. But sometimes something is too important not to fund. Should the governor and legislators who got us into this mess by spending money like drunken sailors be held accountable? Absolutely. But groups that had nothing to do with the problem shouldn't be the ones to pay for the mistakes.

Chicken is a stupid game. It's time for our leaders to grow up and make some adult decisions before it's too late. As I write this, there are seven days until time runs out. The time for grandstanding and scoring political points is long gone. Now is the time to get serious and solve these problems.

A story in Monday's paper tells of a group of Naperville Twitterers who got together to meet in person after only speaking online up to that point.

Twitter is being sold as the next big thing, but a lot of people (including your moderator) are still skeptical. Do you Twitter? If so, what are the reasons to use it? How is it better or different than other social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace? Do you think it will last or is it just a fad?

After hiring a search firm to get input on the criteria to look for in a superintendent to replace Stephen Daeschner, District 204 announced Wednesday it will appoint Deputy Superintendent Kathy Birkett to the position.

Some of us at the Sun saw similiarities between this move and the recent search for a Park District executive director. In that situation, the board searched the whole country to find someone, hiring Daniel Betts who was brought in but never seemed to fit and was soon gone. The next time around, the park board looked closer to home and hired Ray McGury, who seems a much better fit.

Similarly, the District 204 board hired Daeschner after a large search, but when he left, they decided to find someone who was already in the area and was familiar with the situation this time with Birkett.

Should our community groups and organizations look closer to home more often when looking for leadership instead of thinking the best candidate is going to be found elsewhere?

And what do you think of the Birkett promotion?

An article in Wednesday's Sun tells of how many families are cutting back on day care or removing their children from the facilities entirely because of the economy. Presumably they are either trying to save money or have lost their jobs and therefore are able to take care of the children at home.

How are you adjusting your child care spending in the economic downturn? Have you reduced or eliminated daycare? Have you found other ways to take care of your kids, like having a relative watch them?

Sun crime beat reporter Bill Bird wrote yet another story recently about a series of vehicle burglaries, this time 20 vehicles on the southeast side broken into and valuables like cell phones and iPods taken.

I say broken into, but since all the vehicles were unlocked, a criminal doesn't have to be especially skilled to pull off one of these crimes.

Every day there are a few car burglaries on The Sun's police blotter, with hundreds of incidents reported in a given year. In a surprising number of the cases, the vehicles were not locked, and valuables were in plain sight.

Lock your doors and hide your valuables. This isn't hard to figure out. Why do our residents have so much trouble following these common-sense steps to protect their property?

An article in Tuesday's Sun reports that Naperville's commuter stations are reporting large gains in commuters riding their bikes to the train station. The city has made efforts in recent years to make the streets more bike friendly, but do you think Naperville is a bike-friendly city? Can you travel around safely and find a place to park your bike? What are some of the dangers and safe routes you have found?

Fawell Dam in McDowell Grove Forest Preserve helps regulate the DuPage River to control flooding both above and below the dam. In Sunday's paper the Sun looks at how the dam works and profiles a man who works to clean up area rivers. What are your thoughts on the Fawell Dam and the city's flood preparations? Do you use McDowell Grove as a recreational facility?