Category: Government

Requests at Aurora COW: Substantive dialogue, tax increments

By Jason Crane At the Aurora city government Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conferencing platform, the City Council listened to four speakers, including Michael Childress, president of the DuPage Chapter of the NAACP. He said they are looking to begin a dialogue with like-minded elected

On the money Mike Madigan paid to Stephanie Kifowit

September 3, 2020Dear editor; The sympathetic media coverage of Stephanie Kifowit’s so-called courage in “demanding” fellow Democrat speaker Mike Madigan’s resignation borders on the bizarre. Before we salute the brave and selfless Aurora State representative for standing up to the House speaker, perhaps her constituents and newspaper reporters should examine

Aurora City Council approves police protective gear, 8-3

By Jason Crane At the Aurora city government City Council meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conferencing platform, the City Council approved, after much debate, resolution 20-0431 to purchase 150 complete sets of personal protective equipment (riot gear) at $88,583.00 for the Aurora Police Department. The vote was 8-3 with

Lack of representative government paves the way to instability

By John W. Whitehead “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.” —Anonymous Have you noticed that the government’s answer to every problem is more government, at taxpayer expense, and less individual liberty? The Great Depression.

Robert J. O’Connor, alderman-at-large of Aurora, declines to run again

Robert J. O’Connor, alderman-at-large on the Aurora City Council, announced Wednesday, Aug. 26 that he will not be a candidate for reelection in the 2021 Spring elections. O’Connor is serving in his ninth term, first elected in 1985. O’Connor indicated that he has truly enjoyed his service on the Council

Aurora COW speakers offer opposing opinions on police gear

By Jason Crane At the Aurora city government Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conferencing platform, the City Council listened to two opposing opinions from Aurora residents. The discussion was for resolution 20-0431 to purchase 150 complete sets of personal protective equipment (riot gear) at

Loose tea, sunflowers, ragweed, tomatoes: SWAT raids

By John W. Whitehead Backyard gardeners, beware: Tomato plants have become collateral damage in the government’s war on drugs, especially marijuana. In fact, merely growing a vegetable garden on your own property, or in a greenhouse on your property, or shopping at a gardening store for gardening supplies, incredibly enough,

Kite Fly Event Canceled in Light of Increasing COVID-19 Cases in Will County

Naperville Park District has canceled the Kite Fly event, which was scheduled for from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.Sunday, Aug. 30 at Frontier Sports Complex, due to the elevated COVID-19 positivity rate in Will County. Although this is an outdoor event, based on participations at previous kite fly events, the

Grant Wehrli, three fellow State Republicans, seek to restart meetings

By Rebecca Anzel Four Republican lawmakers implored the co-leaders of a bipartisan, bicameral and multi-branch panel designed to present ethics and lobbying reform proposals to restart meetings that have stalled since the novel coronavirus outbreak. The call, made during an online news conference Monday by the Joint Commission on Ethics

Governor’s team missed newspapers’ capability in mask push

By Sam R Fisher Governor JB Pritzker hired a great deal of expert talent to guide his new $5 million “It Only Works if You Wear It” campaign to encourage Illinoisans to wear a mask. But the campaign apparently isn’t spending a dime on print advertising in newspapers. Instead, it’s

Reasons listed on census to those residents who need help

So many changes can happen in 10 years. The 1980s saw the first cellular phones, Nintendo Entertainment System, IBM and Macintosh computers, and compact disks. The 1990s exploded with the introduction of the world wide web, texting, and DVDs. Between 2000 and 2010, Facebook, YouTube, flash drives, and cameras in

Aurora City Council: Computers approved for Aurora Police, Fire, Departments

By Jason Crane The Aurora city government City Council meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conferencing platform, included more than 10 individuals concerned with the City’s plan to purchase 150 complete sets of riot gear for the Aurora police. Aurora resident Jordan Jeffries said he would like aldermen to vote