News that the school board plans to resign en masse adds to the litany of problems that can be attributed to the Johnson administration.
It follows other examples of ineptitude: the failure of the “Bring Chicago Home” initiative, the endless back and forth on ShotSpotter and the cancellation of the Brighton Park immigrant camp.
The mayor’s role is a daunting one; Chicago is a large, complex city. Alas, at every turn he seems to demonstrate his lack of management experience.
I hope Mayor Johnson learns from these setbacks and adapts his approach moving forward.
John Mjoseth, Lincoln Park
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Hats off to Pete Rose
I liked Pete Rose. When he ran full steam ahead to first base, his cap falling off behind him every time, he was definitely “Charlie Hustle.”
I liked his looks, too. There he stood, either at the plate or in the field, with his pug face and floppy hair, looking more like a prize fighter than a baseball player.
Baseball was a grand and beautiful lady in Pete Rose’s life, but he cheated on her and baseball was never going to forgive him. No Hall of Fame for Pete, no enshrinement of his talents and skills, and no forgiveness.
I like to imagine Pete Rose at the pearly gates, with St. Peter opening the gates just a crack, and Charlie Hustle dashing through, hat falling on the ground behind him, hair bouncing off his neck.
Welcome to the ultimate Hall of Fame, Mr. Rose.
Kathleen Melia, Niles
Voter ID safeguards everyone’s right to vote
The recent Sunday editorial by the Democracy Solutions Project neglected to mention that voter ID is a valid way to protect and ensure that elections are accurate and secure. Currently, more than 30 states have some form of voter ID required to vote. In addition, Norway, France, Northern Ireland, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Iceland, and Switzerland also require some form of voter ID. It’s time for the remaining states to help safeguard everyone’s legal right to vote.
Ken Marier, Chicago
The owners behind Greyhound
I take exception to a recent letter from Barry Aldridge of Lakeview. He claims Greyhound is to blame for the impending loss of the Chicago terminal because it sold its bus stations to an outside entity to enrich itself. Not true.
Greyhound didn’t sell anything. Greyhound was owned by FirstGroup, a British company. FirstGroup sold the bus line to FlixBus, a German company. FirstGroup sold the real estate to a subsidiary of Alden Capital, the company that owns the Chicago Tribune.
Kenneth A. White, La Grange Park
Chicago is about weather
Really? More local news? Chicago is a “weather” town and that is local news, from heat waves to snow storms to the temperature of the lake and everything in between! That’s why everyone loved Tom Skilling, in-depth weather reporting! The reduction of the weather page to essentially nothing is another reason newspapers are becoming irrelevant in our great city. Remain relevant and restore the full weather page before I cancel my subscription.
Robert Russo, Garfield Ridge
MAGA refuses to learn from history
Do we do a good job of teaching World History in our pubic schools? We only have to look as far as the MAGA cult to find the answer, which is an obvious “no.” Many of them were alive during World War II and most of the others completed high school. That would indicate that they were at least exposed to the lessons of Italy and Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. Both of those countries were democracies before they reverted to fascism. World War II was the result with over 60 million people being killed.
The Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana wrote “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This quote could be applied to MAGA as, “Those fools are ignoring the past and are foolishly hell bent on repeating it.”
James Stuart Emery, Clinton Township, Michigan