We know you're out there. Those of you who get up at 4 a.m. to get in line to buy a flat-screen TV at rock-bottom prices. You spend all-day at the stores looking for the best bargains. The front seat of your car is covered with sales fliers and a list to go along with them.

Tell us your best and worst stories from the shopping marathon this year. Maybe you almost got trampled or you missed that toy your child had to have by one number. Just maybe you decided to stay home with a hot cup of apple cider and ate Thanksgiving recipes while watching your favorite movie. Whatever you decided to do, we want to hear about it.

While most of you head east for a living, the opening of the Eola Road interchange on Interstate 88 just might make life better for those of you who use the Route 59 exit. Or may be some of you might use it for the first time this holiday season. It opened Saturday 10 years after it was proposed and six months after construction started.

The interchange is designed to decrease congestion on Route 59, and those coming and going to Aurora a fifth option to I-88.

Have you noticed any difference in traffic because of it? Do you think it will make a difference in traffic in Naperville?

It's no secret that our national and local economy hasn't been very good for quite awhile now. Many people have lost their jobs or at least lost some of their income. People who never asked for help in their life are turning to social service agencies for a little assistance to keep their self respect and keep their lives going.

That's why it is so distressing that the funding for many social service agencies has been cut by the state. In a recent appearance in Naperville, Gov. Pat Quinn said nonprofits will have to wait until his budget address in March to learn if they'll be getting any funding. Quinn wants a tax increase to help pay the bills.

The same economy that makes social services more necessary means the public has a harder time paying for them. So what is to be done?

On Wednesday, a DuPage County jury sentenced Brian Dugan to death for the murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville, who he abducted, raped and murdered in 1983. Dugan also murdered two other women, along with committing other rapes and crimes. There doesn't seem to be any question of Dugan's guilt, especially since he confessed.

But enforcement of the death penalty has been suspended in Illinois since the end of Gov. George Ryan's term, when a seemingly endless string of exonerations of Death Row convicts threw the state's legal system in doubt. Ryan believed there was too high of a chance of a wrongly convicted person being executed and suspended the penalty until things improved.

Convicts serving long sentences are still being exonerated in Illinois, however, So the question is, should the state bring back enforcement of the death penalty? What needs to be done to ensure there are no more cases like that of Rolando Cruz, who was convicted of Jeanine Nicarico's murder and sentenced to death long before Dugan was a suspect? Or is the system too flawed to risk executing an innocent person?

Gen. Stanley McChrystal has requested as many as 40,000 additional troops for the fight in Afghanistan, warning the U.S. could lose the war without the additional help. But with all indications pointing to a corrupt Afghan national election and a weak and corrupt Afghan government, many critics are wondering if the war is winnable and if the U.S. and NATO forces should cut our losses and pull out now. Eight years into the war effort, the U.S. presence in the country doesn't appear to be near the end of its mission, and the situation actually appears to be worse than it was years ago.

On the other hand, remember why American troops went into Afghanistan. It's Taliban government, besides brutally oppressing its people and forcing them to live a primitive lifestyle without education or culture, was also harboring al-Qaeda and numerous foreign terrorists. Should the U.S. pull out, it seems likely the Taliban would come charging back, punishing all those who dared to embrace the Americans and our democratic reforms. One can imagine the video coming out of the country as Osama bin Laden and other terrorists gloat over their victory over the Western forces. And with Pakistan finally moving against militants in that country, we would seem to be leaving just when there was the possibility of some progress.

Do you think the U.S. should send more troops, maintain troop levels, or pull out before more Americans are lost?

During a meeting Thursday, those for and against a new Muslim center in unincorporated DuPage County just east of Naperville learned about new conditions under which a county committee would agree to a permit. Neighbors to the facility have said the noise, parking and possible late nights would be a burden. However, applicants for the Irshad Learning Center agreed to changes, including an increase in parking, berms to shield the view of the center from neighbors and moving part or all of a septic field.

One member of Irshad did question "Why have we been singled out, as if our activity should be restricted?

What do you think? Are they being discriminated against? Are the rules fair? How about neighbors? What are your biggest concerns?