Chris Bailey editorial

Daily Herald columnist Chris Bailey doesn't write about Elgin very often, so it's a treat when she does. If you haven't heard, the term "Far West" is now deprecrated. Chris Bailey is amused.

Hasn’t anybody at city hall noticed those people want to be identified with practically anything but Elgin? They cling to their identities with subdivisions, with townships, with Central School District 301, but are embarrassed by their Elgin addresses. Do city leaders think the rest of us haven’t noticed how they feel? (source: Daily Herald)

If people are embarassed by their Elgin addresses, it's because the city council has put downtown Elgin, which symbolizes Elgin, in a straitjacket. Without a lively downtown, impossible under the policies of the current regime, Elgin will be a city without a heart.

Ms. Bailey also comments on the proposed Casa Linda park:

Given their experience, it is possible Reopelle and some highly paid engineers can find a way to store the water some place where playing kids won’t drown in it. Or find a way to drain a swamp every morning. I hope so, for the area will unquestionably remain in a flood plain. Think New Orleans if you aren’t certain what that means. (source: Daily Herald)

She could be right. It might be best to just turn it into a wetland.