Opinions

News-Gazette Editorials

Supreme Court to settle Provena tax fight

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

One way or the other, there will be a clear winner in the battle over whether an Urbana hospital must pay property taxes.

Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court decision that found Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana is required to pay property taxes even though it is a charitable and religious institution.

Protest wisely called off

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

A picket line and boycott of classes at Danville High School was called off before they could occur, a sign that cooler and wiser heads have prevailed.

There are a lot of serious problems in Danville, including in the public schools, but the composition of the high school basketball team isn't among them. It isn't anywhere near the top.

Proof of a bad idea

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Gov. Blagojevich tried but failed to come to Sen. Durbin's rescue

It would be an understatement to say that U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin's effort to spring former Illinois Gov. George Ryan from federal prison has not been greeted with enthusiasm.

Piling on more debt

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Part of the $200 billion consumer lending plan that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveiled last week relies on the Federal Reserve making more money available to firms that back student loans, auto loans and credit cards. We know that it's important to include consumers – the biggest driver of the economy – in the national recovery, but do we really want to encourage debt-ridden Americans to take on more debt?

Of all the institutions that deserve a federal bailout we'd put credit card companies down near the bottom, someplace around payday loan providers. As Adam Levitin, an associate professor of law at Georgetown University, wrote, "Just throwing money at the credit card industry without requiring a systemic change in how it does business is merely asking for a repeat of the (credit) crisis. The credit card industry's business model is the heart of the problem and needs to change. Just as with subprime mortgages, the credit card business model creates a perverse incentive to lend indiscriminately and ignore delinquencies."

Looking ahead to Champaign's birthday celebration

Monday, December 1, 2008

The city of Champaign is wisely looking far ahead to plan the best ways to celebrate its 150th birthday.

You can never start the planning too soon for a big party, and that's why area residents should be glad to see that a 17-member committee, including four former mayors and Champaign's current chief elected officer, have begun to investigate the best ways to celebrate the city's sesquicentennial.

Christmas returns to Florida Gulf Coast University

Monday, December 1, 2008

Once again, common sense prevails on a university campus where an overreaching, politically correct administrator tried to ban Christmas decorations from commons areas. You just knew the memo from Florida Gulf Coast University President Wilson G. Bradshaw, dated Nov. 20, would be short-lived. It said, in part, "Public institutions, including FGCU, often struggle with how best to observe the season in ways that honor and respect all traditions. This is a challenging issue each year at FGCU, and 2008 is no exception. While it may appear at times that a vocal majority of opinion is the only view that is held, this is not always the case. Please know that there is no attempt to suppress expression of the holiday spirit. Each employee is welcome to display seasonal items at your desk, allowing your workspace to provide an opportunity for individual expression of beliefs. Common use areas on campus should remain undecorated." (Our emphasis.)

Bradshaw's memo was indeed an attempt to suppress expression. And he reversed course on Nov. 26. "Please know that trying to adhere to tenets of political correctness was not the basis for the earlier decision, but rather attempting to achieve a difficult balance," Bradshaw wrote in his second memo.

Plenty of space remains in Illinois for trash

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Based on current trends there's an estimated 18 years of landfill capacity in Illinois. The good news, though, is that state officials estimated five years ago that the state only had 12 years of landfill space left.

Those who have lived in Champaign County for 20 years or more will recall those days in the 1980s when the biggest concern among local officials was where we'd put all our garbage. Agencies were created, meetings were held, consultants were hired and fat reports were developed explaining how we'd soon have no landfill space.

For state, gambling not such a good bet anymore

Sunday, November 30, 2008

When the best economic news on the state's horizon is that a tenth casino license might be awarded by the end of the year, you know that times are tough.

At least the gambling business is OK – or it might be sometime in the future. That's the message we can take from last week's hearings before the Illinois Gaming Board regarding awarding a long-dormant license for the operation of a 10th casino in Illinois.

Not yet time to give freedom to George Ryan

Friday, November 28, 2008

George Ryan has suffered a great deal since his conviction and imprisonment on federal corruption charges. But before the rest of his 6 1/2-year sentence is commuted, he needs to express remorse and responsibility for his wrongdoing, something the famously stubborn Ryan has so far declined to do.

It's not easy to to feel sorry for George Ryan, even though the former governor has been in federal prison for more than a year, has been publicly humiliated, has lost what would have been a generous government pension and has only minimal weekly personal contact with his wife and other loved ones.

A perfect weekend for championship football

Friday, November 28, 2008

Welcome to Champaign-Urbana, high school football fans. We hope you and your team enjoy your stay.

From East St. Louis to Geneva and from DuQuoin to Park Ridge, high school sports fans from all over Illinois are headed for the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium this weekend for a megadose of championship football.

One tradition that should never end

Thursday, November 27, 2008

For 36 years Urbana High School students and their adult friends and relatives have provided a hearty Thanksgiving dinner to international students at the University of Illinois, to those without a family to spend the holiday with and to the homeless. This evening's dinner – served from 5 to 7 p.m. – is No. 37.

For 36 years dozens of Urbana High School students have gone to school on Thanksgiving Day and learned a valuable lesson about their community and themselves. The lesson continues today with the 37th annual Urbana High School Student Senate Thanksgiving dinner.

All our blessings

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Even in difficult times like these – still at war, still in fear of another terrorist attack, facing uncertain economic difficulties and many other challenges – the United States of America remains a great, giving nation.

Three government reports Wednesday delivered more bad news: jobless claims continue to climb, factory orders were down precipitously and consumer spending – long hailed as the real driver of the American economic engine – dropped 1 percent. Add to that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and concerns about another terrorist attack, the environment, health care and the infrastructure, and there are a host of reasons for Americans to be pessimistic.

Closing Lincoln sites is counterproductive

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Only in Illinois would the state government celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln by closing several state-operated historic sites with ties to the 16th president. Congratulations and thanks to the people of Bement and Piatt County for stepping up to keep the Bryant Cottage open in the face of severe state budget cuts.

The Bryant Cottage, which is said to be the place where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas met to plan their series of debates 150 years ago, will remain open after all, state officials announced last week.

Champaign schools progressing on racial equity

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Robert Peterkin, who has been monitoring the Champaign school district's progress on racial equity issues for 10 years, seemed to suggest last week that the district soon may be able to close the book on a federal court consent decree that has cost the district millions of dollars.

In town last week for one of his quarterly meetings with Champaign school officials and representatives of the plaintiffs in a federal court consent decree case, Harvard University educational policy and administration Professor Robert Peterkin said that the school district "has certainly made improvements in just about every area" covered by the consent decree.