Stop big spending: Governor Rauner should not cave in to any of the municipalities or other people who are upset about losing some of their income tax revenue. They are spenders who are not used to living within their means. There are all kinds of cuts that can be made. Rauner was elected to stop income tax increases and make politicians realize we want limited government. They do not have to support everything.
Ideas for empty lot: This is about the Sherman Hospital property at Slade and Center streets. It’s an empty lot. They are talking about selling it. If they build houses, put them on big lots. The Channing Street project is something you don’t want to have happen again. It’s an historical district that didn’t work out. I propose upscale homes on decent-sized yards or make it a park.
Search for right doctor: This is in response to the Speak Out about children’s vaccinations. Please keep looking for the doctor who will give you shots one at a time. We did this for our special needs grandson. There are doctors who will do this for you. Remember that you hire the doctors. They don’t hire you.
Kudos to Aschenbrenner: I just want to give a great big thanks to Cherie Aschenbrenner, Elgin crime prevention specialist. She is so helpful to the senior citizens in keeping us aware of all the scams that are out there. She deserves the biggest gold medal award for doing such a great job of protecting us. It’s a shame that there are so many evil people in the world today. It’s not like the world I grew up in where you could trust people. Thanks again, Cherie. Please keep up the good work.
Speeding on Sundown Road: Whoever voted South Elgin as one of the top family friendly towns in Illinois must not have spent any time on Sundown Road. Here cars fly past my house with no regard for the posted 25 miles an hour speed limit. God forbid a child should wander out onto the street. He would not stand a chance. Then there’s the noise. It’s an almost constant barrage of boomboxes and loud exhaust systems that would wake the dead, much less a sleeping baby. Not very family friendly. Where are the police, you may ask. Probably patting themselves on the back for having such a family friendly town.
Blooming flowers and blaring boomboxes: Isn’t spring wonderful? We get to hear all the loud music being played by our neighbors. We get to experience major work by people repairing their cars in their driveways. Then we get to look forward to the festivals in the neighborhood. If you wanted to hear that music, you would attend the festivities. Spring is here. The flowers will bloom, but it won’t help the problems that go on in the neighborhood.
Longing for movie listings: The Courier-News is an excellent paper again. Thanks. Seniors supported movies long before the age of computers. Don’t you want seniors to enjoy the movies again? Please put the times and dates of movies in the paper. It is very difficult to understand the operator at the Marcus Theater.
Couple of questions: Maybe someone can answer a few questions. First off, the death penalty. How come in Oregon or Washington they can choose to take their own life in a peaceful manner if they are suffering from a horrific disease or chronic illness, yet they can’t do the death penalty peacefully. I don’t get it. I agree that if they brought back the death penalty, bizarre as it is, it might help. The whole thing with Ferguson, we’re never going to get an answer. What are the demographics of the town? Is it 80 percent African American? Is it 60 percent Hispanic? Are there more white people on the police force than there are in the town? Another thing, how can you have a huge protest of illegal immigrants in Chicago where they announce they are illegal yet they are supposed to have a voice in our laws? I don’t get that at all.
Green up college gateway: Now that spring is here, it brings new beginnings. I don’t know if it is the responsibility of the City of Elgin or Elgin Community College, but the median on Spartan Drive sure needs attention. It really looks bad as the gateway to the college.
Request for larger print: I’m calling about the obituary section in The Beacon-News. The size of the print font is so small that an elderly person, even with bifocal glasses, needs a magnifying glass. I don’t know who decided on this, but they need to reconsider and enlarge the size of the font.
Riled about Tower Building rehab plans: Very interesting article in the newspaper regarding the lawsuit going on with the Tower building. I know the Gasthaus owner has had problems in the past, but I think he’s right about this one. Elgin is so desperate to get that downtown going. I think they would do anything. I’m not against having apartments in the building, but I think they should follow their master plan. It seems like Desperado in the 1970s when the watch factory left. They took every piece of garbage they could get, and it hurt the town. Let’s not repeat ourselves, guys. Think about what you’re doing. You want to save the building, but you don’t want it to become a dump in the future.
Hyped about Congressional hypocrites: Well, the Democrats are starting to chip away at the majority that the Republicans hold in Congress. A Democrat in Congress owed lots of money in taxes, and the ethics committee said nothing about it. The hypocrites in Congress are unbelievable.
Misunderstanding about marijuana: I would like to comment on the caller who said people are demonizing marijuana. I want to agree. I’m in my sixties now. I used to smoke marijuana as a teenager and continued up to my forties, but I’ve since stopped. As a teenager, we would sit around, smoke marijuana, and poke fun at each other. I have to say the majority of guys I used to hang around with are now leading very productive lives. Most of them don’t smoke marijuana anymore. I would like to add that I disagree that marijuana is the gateway to other drugs. It’s usually because of peer pressure or kids who find pills in their parents’ medicine cabinet. Marijuana never made me want to go out and do other drugs. Think about it. Marijuana is not as bad as people say it is.
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