Tonight - anti-bullying vigil

Tonight at 7:00PM there will be a vigil in memory of a Johnsburg boy and other children who have committed suicide after being bullied, sometimes for years.

The candlelight vigil will begin at 7:00PM at the Midwest Bank, 3805 N. Johnsburg Road, in Johnsburg.

Bullying is occurring in many McHenry County schools. My own experience with the Woodstock School District is that heads nodded when bullying was reported, and District officials re-affirmed the Safe Schools policy.

And bullying continued.

It starts in the grade schools, and there is where it should be nipped in the bud. When it occurs in middle and high schools, discipline should be swift and firm.

It's not. And so it continues.

In one case of which I have personal knowledge, a consultant from the Illinois State Board of Election had been called in and she herself observed bullying in the classroom - by staff!!!

It's a good thing she was called in. What teacher would have ratted out another teacher for bullying a student?

Skype!

This morning I had my first Skype conversation. Hey, I know it's not new, but it was new for me.

On Saturday I helped set up Skype for a friend and told her to buy a webcam. Then I decided that I had to come further into the 21st Century myself, and I headed over to Crystal Lake for my own new webcam.

After the set-up I played "telephone tag" with my grand-daughter in South Carolina and sent a few messages to friends in New Zealand, the U.K., and Switzerland.

This morning my Skype "rang", and a college classmate was calling from Switzerland! The last time we met in person was in Chicago in 1964 after graduation! It was like chatting in person!

If you haven't tried Skype, give it a shot!

Jailers becoming maintenance custodians?

Budget cuts are slashing deeply at the McHenry County Jail, where now Block corrections officers (COs) will "assist" inmates in the daily cleaning procedure after meals.

The COs will be in charge of dispensing the Germisept and other cleaning solutions onto the tables and in the toilets and cell sinks for the inmates to clean. They will also be in charge of spraying the Kleen-and-Klear for the inmates to wash the windows.

I wish I could keep my old TV shows straight. Is this from Gilligan's Island?

Now an $75,000/year corrections officer is going to walk around with a spray bottle and spray cleaners on tables, toilets, sinks and windows? I've got some choice words for whoever came up with that brilliant idea.

Oh, one more... soap for the mop buckets for floor cleaning has been cut in half.

And how about the re-assignment of a senior lieutenant who is approaching retirement? She was transferred to day duty, although there was already an adequate number of lieutenants assigned to day duty. This was apparently some privilege being granted to her because of seniority and approaching retirement. Why not just leave her where she was for the last few months?

New Ray Stevens' Song

Listen to the new Ray Stevens' song, "God Save Arizona".

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWpOcZVnBrc&NR=1

Think really hard about what is happening in Arizona. Think about unsafe highways in our United States, where the government must put up warning signs. Think about the caches of guns and drugs and the thousands of people crossing the border into our country illegally.

Our own government in Washington - even suing the State of Arizona, which is trying to stop illegal immigration.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???

2010 Rules of the Road at the DMV

Yesterday I picked up a copy of the 2010 Illinois Rules of the Road. The Secretary of State continues to "simplify" the explanations of many provisions - I call it "dumbing down" the content. Hence, the following letter I have sent to Secretary of State Jesse White...

"Thank you for again including the year-of-issue on the cover of the Rules of the Road.

"May I suggest returning the telephone number for your office to the rear cover? In the past, it was very helpful to find 800/252-8980 prominently displayed on the outside back cover. I know the number, but many don't.

"I urge you not to make the explanations too general or so general that the purpose of the law is unclear. Please don't dumb them down too far. For example, regarding approaching emergency vehicles: Page 27: There is an important error in Paragraph 2 of Emergency Vehicles, where it reads "...vehicle using audible and visual signals." This should read "and/or", because police cars are not required to use audible signals at all times when visual signals are in use.

"The paragraph is further unclear by stating "...Illinois law requires motorists to immediately pull to the right side of the road..." Many will understand this as "...pull (over) to the right side of the road (and stop)". The statute itself is perfectly clear; it's the explanation in the Rules of the Road that is not clear. Nothing is gained by dragging it out in the Rules of the Road. A driver is required to stop, only if necessary to permit the emergency vehicle to pass safely.

"The left diagram at the bottom of Page 82 shows a dangerous, but legal, maneuver; i.e, completing a pass after the beginning of a no-passing zone. The law needs to be changed to require that a pass be completed before the beginning of a no-passing zone. In your left bottom diagram, the passing car is legally re-entering the right lane but at the crest of a hill, where a head-on collision could easily have occurred.

"The right diagram at the bottom of Page 82 incorrectly shows the end of a no-passing zone, where the sight distance would have required the continuation of the no-passing zone.

"Because the Rules of the Road manual is designed for drivers, I would move the Investment Fraud warning to an inside one-half page and return use of the outside back cover to important driving tips, such as

- obey posted speed limits;
- don't tailgate;
- don't drink and drive;
- display front license plates, as required.

"I hope these errors will be corrected before the next edition is published."

When you spot errors in the Rules of the Road, email them to jessewhite@illinois.gov

$75 Fine to go up 60%

You may have missed the important part of an article in last week's Northwest Herald article about a $7 increase in fees assessed by the McHenry County Board. Did you miss it?

The County Board voted on August 17 by a vote of 22-0 to stick it to you for an extra $3 court automation fee (from $5 to $8) and for an extra $4 in the document storage fee (from $5 to $9). Be sure to thank your County Board member, next time you see him or her.

Big deal!

After you read that, did you keep reading for the really important part of the article?

State ticket costs will go up on September 15. If you thought you'd get out of the courthouse for $75, on September 15 (and after) it will cost you $120. That's an extra $45. That's an increase of 60%.

That's an increase of 60%.

A whopping 60% increase in the basic $75 fine. Who can you thank for that? Try Jack Franks. And Pam Althoff. And Mike Tryon.

You might call their offices on Monday and ask how they voted on that bill.
Rep. Jack Franks 815.334.0063
Rep. Mike Tryon 815. 459.6453
Sen. Pam Althoff 815.455.6330

Did you read anything in the news about the increases when these bills were pending in the legislature? Does the legislature even set these fines?

And how about the $95 tickets? On September 15 those fines will go up to $140. That's also a $45 increase. For a $95 ticket the increase is 47%.

Will chiefs of police and the sheriff decide to tell their officers and deputies to use more discretion, in view of exorbitant fines and court costs? Or will their employees continue to be required to meet "non-quota quotas" (performance standards) on tickets? Or to ticket certain people if you stop them, no matter how minor the violation is?

Last Friday night another headlight was out on the Beetle. That's the 14th headlight in the last six years. Do you think I dared drive my car to the store?

Do you think I'd encounter a cop who would start to give me a warning and then, after a second cop pulled up, inform me that he was going to give a ticket, instead?

I say, either you give warnings to everyone for minor equipment violations, or you ticket everybody. Around here "discretion" means if you like the driver, give him a break. Or if the driver is a deputy, you don't ticket him even if he runs a stop sign (and admits inattention) and causes a wreck.

But you write a ticket to somebody whose headlight was out for 10 miles and 15 minutes on a bitter cold January night because of the second officer. Who, me? Still mad? Why not?

If the driver is blowing the whistle on too many problems, try to shut him up with a ticket.

Only it doesn't work, does it?

Parade Gasoline - how much???

In an article on www.mcsdexposed.blogspot.com/ entitled "Bravo to The Book Maker", Zane Seipler reported two expenses for gasoline by the Citizens to Elect Sheriff Nygren campaign committee in 2006. They were to reimburse Keith Nygren, presumably for the purchase of gasoline for vehicles driven in a parade that summer. Other expenses were listed, including other gasoline expenses, but look at these two:

Nygren, Keith 10213 Meadow Lane
Hebron, IL 60034 $40.00
6/30/2006 Expenditure
Citizens to Elect Sheriff Nygren reimbursement for gasoline for parade car
Citizens To Elect Sheriff Nygren

Nygren, Keith 10213 Meadow Lane
Hebron, IL 60034 $45.00
7/21/2006 Expenditure
Citizens to Elect Sheriff Nygren Reimbursement for gasoline for parade car
Citizens To Elect Sheriff Nygren

The first thing that is curious about these two expenses is that they were conveniently in whole dollars ($40.00 and $45.00). How often have you pumped an exact-dollar amount of gas into your chariot?

The second thing that is curious is the amount of each reimbursement. $40.00 (or $45.00) for gasoline to drive in a parade? How far away was the parade? How long was the parade?

A gallon of gasoline that month cost about $3.00-3.15. $40.00 would have bought about 13 gallons of gas. Assuming 20MPG, Keith was generous enough to reimburse someone for 260 miles of driving.

That whole thing is starting to look pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

Obviously, he generously reimbursed someone for parade use of that person's car. But was it a person's car, or was the car donated by Gary Lang Auto Group, as a parade car reportedly recently was?

The issue here is the mislabeling of the expense reimbursement. If it was for "parade use" of a car, then say so. By the way, whose car was it? It certainly wasn't for 13 gallons of gas consumed during parade use!