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I have spent a great deal of time in our DuPage forest preserves, in my early years while earning the rank of Eagle Scout and in my career as a science teacher in Oak Brook with my students. And, as a two-term Oak Brook village trustee, I worked to restore the ecology of the oak forests in our village in order to preserve them for future generations. Now, fellow DuPage Voters, you have the opportunity to do the same and more by voting “YES” on Nov. 5 for the DuPage forest preserve district referendum. By voting yes, you wil...
Medicare Open Enrollment runs from Oct. 15-Dec. 7. At this time especially, seniors are targeted with a ceaseless barrage of TV advertising for Medicare Advantage plans. These commercials mislead the viewer, but at least they obviously originate from the insurance companies that stand to profit if you purchase an MA plan, which is private insurance with a limited network of providers. MA has always been more costly to the taxpayer than traditional Medicare. The problems experienced by patients under MA are detailed in my...
I write to introduce you to my friend and neighbor, Baron Leacock. Baron is running for DuPage County Board, District 3. Baron is a breath of fresh air. A first-generation American, Baron was the first in his family to be born here. His family settled in Darien, where Baron enjoyed a childhood filled with warmth, love and opportunity. Now Baron is committed to providing that same environment for his family and all of our families. Baron is committed to ensuring we have safe communities and schools, holding the line on taxes...
At breakfast. Charlie, 7: "Daddy, do you love me?" Me: "Of course I do!" "How much?" "Why, I would do anything for you! I would hop in my spaceship and fly to the moon and back just to give you a hug. I'd swim to the bottom of the deepest ocean just to -" "Can we buy a horse?" "I - a what?" "A horse. I could ride it places, like to get ice cream." "Ah. Well, no, we can't buy a horse." "Why not??" "Well, horses are very expensive, and they need a lot of room to run. And the...
Shortly after I got back from visiting Hinsdale, Mont., in 2017, I received an email from Steve Johnston, one of our freelance photographers. He had seen my article on the trip in the paper while he was at his dentist's office. "Wish I knew you were going," he wrote. "Six more hours west to Bigfork and you could have found former Hinsdale residents, my parents." The last thing I would have had in mind after driving almost 18 hours was spending more time in the car. But when fo...
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a yearly acknowledgment of the sobering reality: one in eight women in the United States will develop the disease in her lifetime. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, an estimated 310,720 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer this year. You probably know at least one person who has been personally affected by breast cancer. It’s the second leading cause of cancer death for women in this country and an estimated 42,250 U.S. women will die f...
I knew Montana had its own Hinsdale, as I visited the small town for a series we authored on other Hinsdales across the country in honor of our 10th anniversary. What I did not realize is that Montana is home to many Illinois Hinsdaleans. One is Rob Svendsen, who emailed me a while back to let me know that he, his former business partner and his accountant all hailed from the village. After spending 25 years as a commodity and financial futures trader, he moved to Missoula,...
Residents don’t have to wait for the Hinsdale Fire Department’s annual open house Saturday to observe Fire Prevention Week, whose theme is “Smoke Alarms — Make Them Work for You.” Just follow the National Fire Prevention Association’s calls to action — install, test and replace. Smoke alarms reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by more than half (54 percent). About three out of five fire deaths happen in residences with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms, according to the association. Residents sho...
I am outraged about the racist and Islamophobic comments about Suzanne Akhras, the Democratic candidate for state representative in District 82. I have known her for more than a decade and am impressed by her accomplishments. She is a service-centered person who works toward solutions that make life better for the community. When she sees people in need, Suzanne finds ways to help lift them out of difficult situations. Besides being a problem solver, Suzanne is our neighbor. She has lived in Burr Ridge for 20 years, raising...
I've always been somewhat of a sneakerhead. No, I don't own multiple display-only Jordans or change my gait to avoid toe creasing. I just have a healthy appreciation for a fresh pair of kicks. When my sons started sharing that interest (though their love of Crocs still confuses me), I was pumped we had something else in common, but that excitement was short-lived: The coolest sneakers are usually sans Velcro - and don't even get me started on cleats. Sports moms, I know you...
Thanks for taking time out to read this column in the midst of your National Newspaper Week celebrations! What? You haven't been attending countless cocktail parties and dinners to celebrate this momentous week? Well, I will forgive you. Newspaper Week hasn't quite gained the traction of everyone's favorite fall holiday (perhaps because it's tough to decorate for), but we do observe it here at The Hinsdalean. And in honor of this week, I'd like to present my Top 10 list of rea...
The news on newspapers is not great. The U.S. lost local publications at a rate of 2.5 per week in 2023, according to researchers at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University in the school’s annual “State of Local News Project.” That’s up from two per week in 2022 and has resulted in at least 204 U.S. counties with no local news outlet. Another 228 are on the brink of joining them in the next five years based on the project’s predictive modeling. Currently...
Serving as president for the just1mike Junior Board for our schools in an extreme honor. We’ve been volunteering for the just1mike Foundation since middle school. Just1mike was founded after Michael Brindley tragically died from sudden cardiac arrest in 2016 at the age of 16, right after finishing his sophomore year at Central. He was away at basketball camp when his parents received a call no parent should ever receive. Michael is missed every single day by those who love and know him. To honor Michael, his parents f...
We are proud to support our own Hinsdale resident Baron Leacock who is running for DuPage County Board District 3. Raised in DuPage County by first-generation immigrants, Baron has a profound appreciation for our wonderful community. He grew up in Darien and attended Hinsdale South, then went on to graduate from Harvard and then a law degree from Columbia University. He has worked in several industries including real estate development, tax consulting and tech start-ups. Baron has returned to our community with his wife to...
You want to make a change. You've been telling yourself for years that you need to hit the gym, eat healthier or even start that side hustle you've been dreaming about. One day, you're feeling motivated and start making a dent in the things you want to do. Maybe you clean out your closet, tossing out clothes from the early aughts, fantasizing that your soon-to-be organized space will be featured on HGTV. Then, a week later (or possibly hours), that motivation fades. Suddenly,...
Eighteen years ago this week, residents received the very first issue of The Hinsdalean on their doorsteps. (Or maybe in their bushes, and for that we apologize!) To say we were excited is an understatement. Jim Slonoff and I had dreamed of owning our own newspaper, and a number of things lined up in 2006 to make that possible. We were bought out of our old jobs at The Doings and a beautiful office at 7 W. First St. became available for us to sublet. My husband called it the...
“I believe that censorship is the enemy of freedom.” — Ava DuVernay Since 2020, the number of documented attempts to censor books has risen significantly, according to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. Attempts to censor books in 2023 reached the highest level ever tracked by the organization, with 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship. Titles representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals made up 47 percent of those targeted. Against this backdro...
I'm treading water right now. Freshman year is in full swing at Hinsdale Central and I'm trying to figure out who I am. I'm realizing that what I thought was the real me is not really who I am now. This is a confusing time in my life as I navigate through the scary parts of what high school is all about. I recognize that the amount of time needed for excellence in a sport, volunteering, my classes, and overall well-being exceeds the actual amount of time in a day. You cannot a...
One of my favorite things to do is to sit on our front porch on a warm evening ... and listen. If it’s a Thursday night, I’ll catch the sound of a band and laughter coming from the east as the festivities for Uniquely Thursday kick into gear. At the same time I’ll hear a competing sound coming from the south. Start whistles and cheers boom out of the swimming pool, over the tracks and to my perch. I’ll remember with both fondness and exhaustion the days when our family...
I have a daughter who is obsessed with Halloween. I might be partly to blame for this, as I am an enthusiastic observer of all things holiday. From the time Ainsley was little, she had several items of Halloween apparel - T-shirts, barrettes, socks, earrings, pajamas and more. She had a whole stack of Halloween board books we would read before bed. We've always decorated the house and hosted an annual "spooky dinner" for family and/or friends, with menu items like mummy hot...
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, a chance to focus the nation’s attention on the most common non-skin cancer diagnosed in men in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute. The NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program estimates that more than 299,010 American men will receive a diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2024, and that almost 13 percent of men will be diagnosed at some point in their lifetime. Prostate cancer also is the country’s second leading cause of cancer deaths in men after l...
Is there a family in your life that is not really family, but feels closer to you than if you were indeed related? A family whose kids you've watched grow up, reach, thrive? A family in which any member would be there for you at 2 in the morning, in an emergency or literally "just because?" And sorry for leading with so many questions, but doesn't it seem like Hinsdale is filled with such relationships? I know I've been blessed with many friend/families, but I can also look...
Every day, 47 children are diagnosed with cancer in this country. Compared to adult cancer, pediatric cancer is rare, but it is common enough that you likely know someone touched by it. This vicious disease took Hinsdale’s Brooks Tonn too soon, and it now afflicts our son, Alexander Brown. Our children show us every day how strong they are, but they should not have to fight this battle. This September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, please reflect on your hopes and dreams for your children. Then, please commit to g...
"Are you sad your TV show ended?" read the subject line of an email I received last week. "Of course!" I thought to myself. I'm also sad when a book that I love ends. According to Dr. Tabatha Greene, a psychologist at Advocate Health Care, it's common for people to feel a strong sense of identity with or connection to characters. "Humans are wired for connection," Greene said in the emailed article. "Books or movies can fulfill that need to some extent." I would say personal...
Have you looked at your tax bill lately? The answer might be yes, if you’ve paid the second installment of property taxes in DuPage County recently. Or it might be no, if your taxes are rolled into your monthly mortgage payments. Tax bills contain a lot of information. On the right hand side is a column listing the fair cash value of your home, its assessed and equalized value and ultimately its net taxable value, to which the total tax rate is applied. That total tax rate is the sum of individual tax rates for the 13 t...
