On the April 1 ballot in Kane County is a referendum asking the voters to approve a ž% tax on sales in Kane County.
This tax is designed to bolster the finances of the countyâs court system and the countyâs sheriffâs department. The countyâs board has not raised our property taxes in more than 10 years. What do you buy that the price has not risen in 10 years? County government hasnât gone up in 10 years.
These two departments; courts and law enforcement need additional revenue to apprehend and prosecute law breakers. Simple as that.
A healthy community is a safe community.
We need a court system that not only adjudicates law breakers but helps first time offenders back to the path of lawful citizenship. This sales tax will help do that.
We need law enforcement that is prepared and able to address the various safety situations confronting our citizens. This sales tax will help do that.
I urge the voters in Kane County to vote yes to continue to make Kane County a desirable, safe place to live.
Phil Heil
Huntley resident
For Huntley school district D158 we support Andy Fekete.
Andy has the perfect resume for our district. Heâs taught technology and district administration. Heâs now ready to take that experience to the school board.
Andyâs priorities align with ours; student safety, fiscal transparency, and teacher support. We can move our district forward with Andy on the board.
We urge you to join us in voting for Andy Fekete on April 1.
Ellen & Mike Madura
Sun City residents
Putin is dancing the âMAGAâ in the streets of Moscow! Authoritarianism is on the rise. Oligarch wannabes are standing in line, robbing from the poor to make the rich even richer. Like proverbial lemmings, republicans follow blindly, shouting ever changing slogans in support of lies. Allies are enemies and enemies are admired. Chainsaws are symbols for severing peoples lives. Workers donât deserve their pay. Civil servants, staving masses, oppressed peoples, safe environments, public lands, and more are trampled underfoot. âTrump Truthâ is an oxymoron. The silence is deafening.
John Zeller
Sun City resident
A recent âMy Sunday Newsâ letter expressed concern about President Trumpâs policies on the climate.
The United States is closing in on $37 Trillion dollars of debt and we add another Trillion dollars to that every hundred days. Additionally, Illinois is $213 Billion in debt.
DOGE Is focused on saving our country from Financial Collapse. President Trumpâs Canceling of the âNew Green Dealâ shows the backbone and leadership qualities we expect from a president.
All of us should give DOGE 100% of our support.
John Parker
Sun City resident
Patience and Perseverance are my watchwords for the next four years. I donât like feeling powerless which is something all of us have felt at one time or another.
Prime contributors that are influencing our government policies are the checkbooks of the CEOs of Amazon, Tesla, and Facebook. Even if their past opinions were substantially different, they are now lobbying for their own self-interest.
I cannot do much about Facebookâs policy to discontinue fact checking. Because of privacy concerns I am not on the platform. Also, knocking Musk off the âworldâs richest manâ list is improbable but I CAN do something.
These are the small steps Iâm planning to take to blunt the influence of these behemoths:
Substantially reduce the amount of amount of money I spend at Amazon and Walmart. Amazon derives 17% of their income through Prime subscriptions. CANCEL.
Walmart gets 55% of their income from grocery sales while making substantial donations to Republican PACS.
But Amazon is almost ingrained and my Walmart is only a mile away. I love shopping from my recliner, so what can I do?
I researched my choice of alternatives and decided to now spend my dollars at Meijerâs (they deliver), Aldi, and Costco. Unlike Target and others, Costco did not drop their diversity policy.
I do realize that if I do need a special product that I canât get elsewhere, I will still buy from Amazon or Walmart. I also realize that others may not be inclined or able to change their spending habits. Depending on where you live, other businesses may be a better substitute.
This past Christmas I spent $1500 at Amazon. Next year it will be zero. I need to implement these small steps so my voice doesnât feel buried.
As always, there is strength in numbers. On February 28 there is a campaign to NOT buy anything that day.
I hope many of you will let your voice be heard through your actions. Just think about it.
Roseann LoSasso
Sun City resident
As a nurse with a background in public health, I am worried that Americansâ health, on an individual and community level, is severely at risk under the present administration.
Why such a pessimist view? Reason 1 The man whose job it is to run Health and Human Services, the whole public health system, a massive cabinet agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and Medicare and Medicaid is illequipped to run these agencies with his anti-science views and lack of medical background, added to his lack of experience leading any large hospital or public health system.
Kennedyâs skepticism of vaccines has encouraged vaccine hesitancy and threatened herd immunity, thereby bringing back diseases already felt to be eradicated like measles (as is now happening in Texas with the large measles epidemic occurring among children in Texas.)
Reason 2- In just the first month since President Trump too offices there have already been effects on public health. His executive order initiated the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization which creates public and global health initiatives. By withdrawing
from WHO, the US loses its voice in shaping global health policies. We also miss out on critical global health intelligence that could literally save millions of lives with respect to future health threats.
The Trump administration has also blocked crucial health communications risking the safety of the general public. When medical professionals are muzzled and public health departments no longer receive critical health data like the CDCâs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, we become more vulnerable to public health threats or even pandemics. With the bird flu surging and widespread health misinformation rampant over social media, this is hardly a good time to make political points instead of carefully considering severe public health consequences.
Reason 3- Muskâs Slash-and-Burn approach
Muskâs âDepartment of Government Efficiencyâ has used a slash-and-burn approach to shut down large-scale federal health departments, one after another. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which monitors the spread of pandemics like Ebola, is one example. Another is the National Institute of Health where Muskâs slashing of budget and staff will now
limit or stop federal health care research to find cures for cancer, AIDS and Alzheimerâs, denying access to cures vital to saving our lives.
These risks to our individual and public health are caused by leaders who arenât considering the consequences of their ruthless actions. They are unnecessary and we donât have to just accept them. Speak Up! Let your Congressional representatives know your views. Our health is much more important than politics!
Joan Davis, RN
Huntley resident
Please do not tell me that you are a patriot, who supports our values, but you support the Trump administration and his tying the USA with the murderer, Putin. Donât leave your bumper stick on your vehicle that says, âTrump supports veterans.â If you do, you are not investigating the numbers of veterans who have lost their jobs as Elon Musk runs unfettered, with no thought or consideration, or congressional oversight, through our agencies firing, left and right.
I remember when Clinton was focused on finding ways to reduce the size of our government, which he did over seven
years. He did it lawfully, with congress. He did it within the constitutional guardrails. Donât say what Musk is doing is the same as what Clinton did. Musk is destroying our agencies without consideration of the outcomes and also gathering expensive contracts to increase his own staggering wealth.
So, when you jump up and down, repeating the talking points that Trump is great, and Musk is doing what should be done, remember that as your 401k and your economy tanks. And, please, do not tell anyone that you are a patriot, which links you with the fifteen thousand convicts who Trump let out of jail. While you may not be convicted of pressing an insurrection on our capital, you gather close enough, by supporting Trumpâs actions, that it makes you indistinguishable from them.
Gail Talbot
Huntley resident
As of February 20024, the United States was 36 Trillion dollars in debt. The interest alone is 1.1 trillion dollars per year. This is not sustainable.
Recently the Federal Government stated that it LOST between 233 billion to 521 billion annually to fraud. (Daily Her-
ald, Feb 16) This is the spending by USAID or its affiliates. (Often money is sent by USAID to a third party and then distributed to a hostile country or unsavory group.
$1.5 million to âadvance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbiaâs workplaces and business communitiesâ
$2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam
$47,000 for a âtransgender operaâ in Colombia
$2 million for sex changes and âLGBT activismâ in Guatemala
$6 million to fund tourism in Egypt
Millions to EcoHealth Alliance â which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab, China.
âHundreds of thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syriaâ
The same al Qaeda that killed American servicemen and women.)
Hundreds of millions of dollars to fund âirrigation canals, farming equipment, and fertilizer used to support the poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan,â (benefiting the Taliban)
$1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbian workplaces
$70,000 for a DEI musical in Ireland
$47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia
$32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru USAID to foreign countries
$17.2 billion â Europe and Eurasia (mostly Ukraine)
$12.1 billion â Sub-Saharan Africa
$5.5 billion â Multiple regions
$3.9 billion â Middle East and North Africa
$1.9 billion â South and Central Asia
$1.8 billion â Western Hemisphere
$1.1 billion â East Asia and Oceania Other countries that received hundreds of millions of dollars from the agency included South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Yemen.
The US spends more on humanitarian aid than other countries by wide margins, though foreign aid spending is under 1% of the federal budget. The US provides some amount of aid to most countries, including nearly every country in Africa and Asia.
USAID, founded in 1961 during the Cold War, had three top partners in 2024: the World Bank Group, which received $4 billion; the World Food Program, which received $3.4 billion; and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which received $2.3 billion.
About one-quarter of USAID funding came from the Economic Support Fund, while $7.4 billion came from the State Department and global health programs.
Those protecting USAID repeatedly state that âless than one percentâ of the total federal budget is spent by USAID. That equates to 69 billion dollars. People in California and the Carolinas could certainly use some of that money in the form of aid to Americans.
This free spending is reckless and not sustainable. Itâs about time the United States relinquishes the role of the worldâs policeman and savior. And for those good-hearted people who insist on continuing this downward spiral, take money out of your pockets and donate to whatever cause you feel is appropriate, but, leave my tax money alone.
Larry Casey
Huntley resident
