Chicago Sun-Times

Expressway death-toll messages are powerful

Thu, 23 May 2013 02:23:19 -0500

Kudos to the intelligent person who thought of the idea to use the signs on the expressways to tell us how many people have died in a motor vehicle accident. I look at the signs everyday and it really reminds me how to drive more cautiously. Can we add to the sign how many people are killed by gun violence. Maybe, just maybe, people we will wake up and know that guns kill people, mostly innocent people. Diane Rack, Hoffman Estates Ryan should apologize before writing In ex-Gov. George Ryan’s pending new book, is he going to apologize for his …

Don’t close neighborhood schools

Wed, 22 May 2013 02:27:39 -0500

Don’t close neighborhood schools Having taught for 35 years for the CPS, now retired, I can testify that the community schools are the hub of life for the majority of young people in depressed neighborhoods. In most cases, if a student experienced something out of the confines of the home, it was through the efforts of his neighborhood school. To yank out the school from the equation of their everyday life would be a point of insecurity, stress and disorientation. To bus them into unknown neighborhoods can subject them to dangerous gangs who resent their trespass, and violence can ensue. …

Cops working O.T. save Chicago money

Tue, 21 May 2013 20:00:06 -0500

With respect to Monday’s story about excessive public employee overtime: Keep in mind that overtime is not as bad as it sounds. First, God bless the poor souls who choose work over family, for whatever reason. And second, overtime has absolutely no pension liability attached. Would the Sun-Times rather hire $2 million worth of additional police officers? J.D. Marciniak, Plainfield School closings hardest on special ed On Wednesday, the Chicago Board of Education will decide whether to approve the largest set of school actions ever. It likely will create a “perfect storm” in which students of color with special needs …

School closings are racist

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:14:38 -0500

I find your failure to see racism as a valid lawsuit issue unbelievable (“CPS invited lawsuits,” May 16 editorial), especially since it was a Sun-Times headline last year that screamed, “No real progress in grade school reading in 20 years.” That article summarized a Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) study indicating that Chicago’s achievement gap had widened during the past 20 years of CPS reform. The study stated that “[t]he decline in equity, with African-American students falling further behind students from other racial/ethnic groups, is particularly disturbing and has raised questions about policies that disproportionately affected African American students.” …

Congress should do its job

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:25:04 -0500

Congress should do its job Scandal! Impeach! This is how a Republican Congress deals with a president from the Democratic Party. Scandal No. 1: Benghazi. The Congress can fully fund the security forces guarding our embassies and consulates around the world. This Congress cut the security budget, and four Americans died. Scandal No. 2: IRS targets conservative groups that seek tax-exempt status. After the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court, the IRS was inundated with applications for this tax-exempt status. It was the IRS’ responsibility to question the organizations to find out if they qualified, and were not mostly …

Casino plan isn’t fooling us

Thu, 16 May 2013 02:24:12 -0500

Casino plan isn’t fooling us Regarding Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal for a casino specifically for education: I believe in the old saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Put it in writing, Mr. Mayor, and don’t use invisible ink. Norman De Dore, Garfield Ridge Benghazi isn’t Whitewater A Wednesday letter to the editor suggested that as with Whitewater in the 1990s, Republicans were trying to “create” a scandal out of Benghazi. It needs to be explained that Whitewater was a land deal gone bad and that Benghazi was a terrorist attack that had four …

Sun-Times forgets about Constitution

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:50:20 -0500

Sun-Times forgets about Constitution; GOP is trying to invent scandal; Huntley is wrong to chastise Obama; the facts on medical marijuana; hoarders need help.

Non-athlete students need coverage, too

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:16:51 -0500

I enjoyed your article “Big talkers” in Friday’s Sun-Times. It’s nice to see decent press given to non-athletic competition in collegiate events. It seems as though there is a lack of emphasis on the academics in our world today. Everything is sports, sports and more sports. John Rusnak, Calumet Park Bad medical marijuana bill Monday’s Sun-Times editorial on marijuana has unfortunately presented mostly fiction and not facts. The bill pending in the Illinois Senate is not the most restricted medical marijuana legislation; it is the only law proposed that allows a medical marijuana cardholder to drive immediately after smoking marijuana …

Pension reform bribe for judges

Mon, 13 May 2013 02:15:48 -0500

A bribe is considered an objectionable way of doing business. Yet, this is the tactic the leaders of the Illinois Legislature are using to pass through pension reform in the courts. What is the bribe? The bribe is the exclusion of the judiciary from pension reduction. Judges have the highest pension of all state employees. Yet, they have been excluded from pension reform. It doesn’t take a genius to see the tactic in this judiciary exclusion. What’s next? George Vergara, Oak Park Why tolerate such treatment of animals? What kind of shelter are we providing for the 300 to 600 …

Stick to facts in pension debate

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:39:06 -0500

If we are to have an honest dialogue about SB 2404, sponsored by Sen. John Cullerton and supported by the unions representing a half-million workers and retirees affected by the bill, we need to work with facts, not misrepresentations. According to your May 10 editorial, this pension reform bill would continue the “pass-the-buck behavior that got us into trouble in the first place.” In truth, the “behavior” that “got us into trouble” was politicians’ failure to make required contributions year after year, even as employees faithfully made theirs. SB 2404 contains the most iron-clad guarantee anyone has been able to …

The NRA’s undemocratic vision

Fri, 10 May 2013 02:26:35 -0500

The NRA’s undemocratic vision James Porter, the new president of the National Rifle Association, expounds from the podium that paramilitary groups need to rise to overthrow our government because it is destroying Americans’ rights. A major “right” for Porter would include unlimited numbers of guns for anyone with no regulation. If these heavily armed groups could succeed in face of our military’s drones, tanks, bombers, fighter jets and heavily armed troops, just what would the “new” government look like? We only have to look at the results of the “Arab Spring” in the Middle East to see what happens when …

School board should take a pause

Thu, 09 May 2013 02:24:54 -0500

Parents, neighborhood groups, the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board and now a panel of retired judges are asking the Chicago Board of Education to reconsider its plan to close 53 schools this year. Earlier this week, the school board admitted it had overestimated the amount to be saved by these draconian cuts. All the same, it appears the board will continue to execute its original plan. While we cheer the efforts of the Bulls on Chicago’s West Side, there appears to be another bull running amok at the Board of Education. Daniel Pupo, Bellwood Chicago needs concealed carry Gun crime has …

Alderman owes cops apology

Wed, 08 May 2013 02:27:49 -0500

Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th) was pulled over for a minor traffic violation and used his trump card to get out of a ticket but it didn’t work [“Alderman accuses cop of racism after ticket,” Tuesday]. Now he’s screaming racism by the officer he didn’t intimidate. Maldonado was wrong for trying to intimidate the officers by telling them that he is an alderman and that he is calling their commander on them. Who does he think he is? Is he any better than any other citizen in Chicago? If you want respect, then show police respect by not telling them who …

Hypocrisy on gun rights

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:19:41 -0500

Hypocrisy on gun rights; Jesse Jackson Jr. is faking it; ‘Puppy lemon law’ is idiotic; Sandi Jackson and campaign money

Protected bike lanes help business

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:58:55 -0500

As business owners on Milwaukee Avenue, we fully support the city’s proposal to install protected bike lanes, reconfigure parking and make safety improvements on our street from Kinzie to Elston. We appreciate the city’s thorough outreach on this project. Unfortunately, the perspective of the many residents and businesses that support the project wasn’t included in the Sun-Times May 1 article, “Tension rises at city bike plan hearing.” These street improvements for the city’s most popular street for cycling will make our neighborhood safer for everyone and help our businesses grow by creating a more livable street. By framing the issue …