Tag: Mary Goetsch

Reader’s Voice: Understanding cuts to arts in Aurora

August 25, 2025Dear editor; I empathize with Karen Christensen and her article in The Voice August 21 on the city of Aurora government’s budget cuts to the Aurora Civic Center Authority. I felt the same emotion when the Paramount Theatre priced out the Fox Valley Symphony from using the venue.

Reader’s Voice: Energy usage, plastic waste, Kane sales tax

February 22, 2025Dear editor; The news is out about the new U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick. He was sworn in Friday, Feb. 21 by president Donald Trump. There are about 47,000 employees under the Secretary of Commerce. The gist of a PBS broadcast was there are looming “merger”

Reader’s Commentary: Democratic transparency important for U.S. immigrants

By Mary Goetsch, Aurora, Ill. Tech industry leaders issued a one-sentence statement May 20 on artificial intelligence (AI) bringing a future risk of human extinction: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” It is good

Reader’s Commentary: Conspiracy theory may fit: Fermilab, Shermer book

By Mary GoetschAurora, Ill. Thursday, May 11 marks the federal end to pandemic restrictions and related funding programs. If school closures, public library closures, and restricted business were the precursor to online living, then after May 11, there should be no more of this situation. I see Fermilab (in Batavia)

Reader’s Commentary: Fear an explanation for conspiracy theories

By Mary GoetschAurora, Ill. This essay is a focus on conspiracy theories. The latest is wondering how media could anticipate the March 10 failure of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The details of the collapse were in the Nation/World section of The Sun-Times, Sunday March 12 by the Associated Press.

Reader’s Commentary: Correction on virus confusion sets record straight

By Mary Goetsch, Aurora, Ill. I wish to correct virus misinformation which arose from popular periodicals published in Winter 2020. I am not the only one who believed that SARS-Cov-2 is from retrovirus. To set the record straight, SARS-Cov-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is a single-strand, positive-sense RNA virus.

Reader’s Commentary: Voters may take disagreement road with Aurora Council

By Mary Goetsch, Aurora, Ill. We voters who take the difficult road of disagreeing with the Aurora City Council on the Casino plan to move, are in the good company of former State governor, Pat Quinn. He made the statement he decided not to run in the Chicago mayoral election

Reader’s Commentary: Dismay: Aurora Casino deal

By Mary Goetsch, Aurora, Ill. I am dismayed over the Aurora City Council’s vote to subsidize the Hollywood Casino move. I was there in spirit with the Aurora Grassroots Alliance, hoping that in addition to others opposed to the $50-to-$58 million bond issue through the Tax Increment Finance District (TIF),

Reader’s Commentary: Questions on diseases and vaccinations

By Mary GoetschAurora, Ill. This commentary is addressed to pharmacist Larry Frieders who writes a health column each month in The Voice. Your columns make more sense to me than most medical doctors, including the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Presentation), FDA (Food and Drug Administration, and even WHO

Reader’s Commentary: In defense of an opinion, stance

By Mary GoetschAurora, Ill. In response to Vince Smith’s commentary in the September 30 Reader’s Commentary, with the headline, “Nonsense commentaries must cease,” I wish to give my credentials for rejecting COVID vaccination. I am an all-but-dissertation in biological sciences-nutrition from the University of Texas (UT-Austin). I was studying cell

Reader’s Commentary: Response to Ask Grandpa item on State jury duty

By Mary GoetschAurora As readers of Grandpa’s column know, emotions have been stirred about the subject of jury duty (thevoice.us/ask-grandpa-justice-system-valid-on-real-perseverance). The July 1 anonymous writer didn’t know the whole picture of a senior not willing to serve. Before judging my character negatively, I ask consideration for what the U.S. Constitution