Please stay in Sleepy Hollow

Here’s a direct quote from Linda McDaniel-Hale, a Sleepy Hollow resident, in reference to Elgin’s streets:

Maybe we could play “dodge the bike riders” with our cars or see how many of them we can hit.

It was in today’s Valley View, a new resident-written blog by the Courier News.

Tags: Courier News, Elgin, Linda McDaniel-Hale, Sleepy Hollow, Valley View
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Letterboxing!

On Sunday I went Letterboxing. I got the idea from this article in the Courier. A friend and I went followed this clue to a forest preserve I never knew existed–Voyager’s Landing.

We had to climb up and down a lot of small yet steep hills to get to the hidden box.

Finally, a letterbox!

It had lots of stamps in it from other people who had found it over the past two years.

There were two boxes hidden, but we only found one. We weren’t sure what “a sleeping giant” in the clue referred to–another tree?

Tags: Elgin, forest preserve, fun, letter box, letterbox, letterboxing, nature, outdoors, photography, photos, Voyager's Landing
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It’s getting hot in here

1) An e-mail from Dave Kaptain to the Courier refutes what Mike Powers originally wrote about his deal with the Bandits, removing any doubt that it was just a mistake. Powers bought his home from the Bandits’ owner, which may or may not be related.

It seems obvious that Powers’ actions weren’t kosher. He’s already resigned. What is usually done next in this type of situation? I honestly don’t know.

2) A former Larkin guidance counselor writes in about the lawsuit against U46, arguing that the plaintiffs are misunderstanding the situation.

The more pieces of the puzzle I obtain, the more I’m agreeing that the lawsuit is misguided.

Tags: city council, Courier News, Dave Kaptain, education, Elgin, IL, Illinois, lawsuit, Mike Powers, school, U46
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The moon loomed large last night

I almost didn’t take any photos of the moon because my camera wasn’t on me. Then I said to myself, “Jessica, it’s 9 pm. If you can’t muster up the energy to run into your apartment, grab your camera, then drive half a mile down the street to get a good photo of the moon, you’re getting OLD.”

I would’ve just walked the half mile, but someone threw a rock (or something equally heavy) at my car while I was driving down that stretch of road to get the camera. Plus it was past dark. I’ll just admit it: I was scared.

“Luna” means moon. That’s where the word “lunatic” comes from. If I wanted to be really cheesy I would’ve titled this “The luna loomed large last night.” Or “The lunatic loomed large last night.” The lunatic being the person who threw something at my car–not me!

If I was an artist I’d say these photos get crazier to show the moon’s effect on people. But I’m not an artist so I’ll tell the truth–I couldn’t get a clear photo so I just had fun with it.

Tags: Elgin, Grove, IL, Illinois, Kimball, moon, nature, outdoors, photography, photos
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I love reading the newspaper

+Here’s an article about the western expansion of RTA not being a priority. Essentially the demand is there, but the money isn’t. What’s new?

+Here’s an article on religious diversity in the area. Maybe I’ll start visiting different places of worship. I’ve never been to a Buddhist temple or a Jewish synagogue. Really I’ve only been to a smattering of Christian churches and a Unitarian Universalist congregation.

+Someone threw acid onto someone’s car. That’s terrible. Where do people even get acid?

+I was interviewed for an article on Bike-to-Work week. It was surreal to read about myself in the paper. I was misquoted a couple times, but the overall gist is correct. One quote does make me look like I have bad grammar–not true! Two days later my photo was in the paper, also for bike stuff. Someone called me a “media maven” that week.

Tags: Courier News, Elgin, IL, Illinois, news
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“No comment”

I often have no comment (at least on the blog) when it comes to politically-charged issues in Elgin. This is for two reasons: 1) I think blogging about a political issue should be something I turn to only after I’ve tried to contact politicians, attend meetings, write letters, etc. and 2) I have very little knowledge on a wide variety of issues and I don’t want to shoot off at the mouth (keyboard?) only to regret it later because I spoke before knowing exactly what I was speaking about.

I think #2 might be what I’ve done in regards to the U46 lawsuit. I read two newspaper articles about the lawsuit and one letter to the editor and formed an opinion. Now I’ve discussed it with others and done some digging for past articles and found out a whole bunch of missing information!
-This lawsuit started in 2005 and was a direct response to the 2004 school boundary change.
-The plaintiffs are charging that the discrimination was intentional.
-They are asking U46 to hand over months’ worth of emails in order to find evidence of this discriminatory intent.
-Obtaining the emails will cost U46 up to $500,000.

Hm…what I originally wrote was wrong. The intention of the people who redrew the boundary lines does matter, and appears to be what the focus is on.

This is much less interesting to me. Of course it is terrible if people intentionally discriminated. What is of interest to me is if the policy inadvertently results in discrimination, which would take objective research to determine. I still hope someone does some research like that I outlined.

I grew up in Elgin, but have only lived here recently since October–not even a full year. Probably going to go back to not sharing my opinion on politically charged events until I feel a little more sure about what I’m discussing.

Tags: blogging, blogs, Elgin, IL, Illinois, opinions, politics
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