Information is in The Voice for readers to read, understand, stimulate thought, assimilate, and to make it useful. We seek to assist in bringing links to our communities, share, and offer encouragement, to be positive and not negative. Each person in a community should understand that it is responsible to be informed and make good decisions. We see part of our job is to offer entertainment, too, however, the basic vein is a serious effort to offer an exchange of information and to stimulate thought.
Political narratives always are a part of a dialogue in newspapers and in journals, print and online. See page one for the news that second-term Aurora mayor, Richard Irvin, has made a decision to seek another job, the governorship of Illinois. There are individuals who function continually in a political realm, and because of a lack of understanding, or, a reluctance to take a stand, there are others who will offer disdain for anything political. We do not have to wear our political views openly, however, being informed and understanding is a part of good citizenship. We should watch, understand, evaluate, and at least participate in voting. To do otherwise is to allow other participants to make decisions for us and that, in essence, is a forfeiture of citizenship. Read. Listen. Evaluate. Understand. Participate. Each of us owes it to ourself.
There are many dynamics, often complicated and complex, in our political world. Often functions are simplistic, however, in any case, we must do our best to be informed and not let others prevent us from exercising our citizenship.
The political world will heat up a bit this year, a year of elections in many communities, either primary or direct elections. Take the time to learn.
The local elections are just as important as statewide and presidential elections. Voting is essential, even if we skip several entries on the slate because of uncertainty. It is paramount to be involved.
Community notes of interest and importance:
• Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry will hold its third monthly Women’s Empowerment Mobile Pantry, a distribution of free food and household items for women only, Thursday, Jan. 20. The women’s pantry will run from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Santori Aurora Public Library, 101 S. River Street, in Aurora. Admission and parking are free. Identification is not required. Distribution items will include food, baby food, diapers, formula femine hygiene products. The December 2021 distribution at Two Rivers Head Start in Aurora served 72 families. Women’s pantries will be held the third Thursday each month this year. Other pantries will include for pets, kids, mobile pantries at churches, schools, libraries, and senior and low-income residences.
• Batavia MainStreet will have openings for 10 12×12 Batavia Boardwalk Shops. The cluster of tiny shops is on the southeast corner of Wilson and River Streets in Batavia. The opening will be May 20 for the third season. Many later will move to permanent locations. The aim is for additional retail sites. Applications are due by 5 p.m. January 31 and are available at downtownbatavia.com/Batavia-boardwalk-vendor-info.
• The Avery Coonley School in Downers Grove continues to hold an impressive record in competition. In the recent third grade team competition in the WordMasters Challenge (trademark), was an exercise in critical thinking in new words, The Avery Coonley School scored an impressive 187 points out of a possible 200. Third graders Rohan Singh and Rokas Urbonas and fourth-grader Jack Van Beek each earned a perfect score of 20 on the challenge. Nationally, only 12 third graders and nine fourth graders achieved perfect scores of 20. Learning matters.