The biggest public health events of 2024, what’s next?

This month’s health report continues with the remaining seven Public Health Headlines of 2024 and concludes with some questions about future public health events in this country.

New awareness of deteriorating public health associated with public health policy; Gun Violence, Abortion Ban Consequences, and Lower U.S. Life Expectancy.

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EL DIABLO DELICIOSO

Jim is rapidly becoming the Six Million Dollar Bionic Man. Actually, that price is not too far off after looking at our Medicare bills. He’s had a knee and hip replaced and is now having the other hip replaced. The good news is, this is now considered outpatient surgery and you are in and out in three hours. What can possibly go wrong?

Winter chills

With Punxsutawney Phil claiming to see his shadow, he’s condemning us to six more weeks of winter. Whether you believe in that feat of prognostication or not, the bitter wind and dampness is here to stay for a while. We might as well settle down for some equally spine-tingling entertainment. For those seek this out, you’re in luck. Two films are now in theaters which I highly recommend, regardless of your horrific content.

Her initiative was to connect her students with pen pals. She looked to Sun City residents to help with this project.

St Clair said, “Sun City residents have vast experiences to share with our students.”

Sun City resident offers new personal development class

Mary Nelson, a Sun City resident, is passionate about helping people understand who they are.

“My purpose in life is to help you find the love, peace, and joy of knowing who you really are,” she said.

Nelson is a speaker, workshop coach, and author. Her book, Journey to Awakening: A Guide to Finding Your True Self, is a comprehensive guide that helps you let go of life’s biggest misunderstandings and live abundantly in its most profound truths. It’s about finding answers and discovering joy.

Civics committee to host village president candidates meet and greet

Sun City’s Civic Committee invites residents to meet the candidates for the Village of Huntley’s President’s position.

Vito Benigno, a member of the Civic Committee, is chairing the event. He emphasizes, “We hope that residents participate in the forum. The Civics Committee is committed to arranging non-partisan programs that benefit all residents of Sun City, ensuring a fair and balanced platform for all candidates. With our non-partisan approach, we believe events like this provide information that helps shape our community’s future.”

Oh, give me a home from catalog by phone

My son lives in a century-old house he has been rehabbing in Crystal Lake for the last four years or so. It’s a solid little house with great bones — and he recently told me that it’s a Sears house.

Sears! Of course! The low-tech Amazon of a century ago, with the mail-order catalog from which you could buy a hat, a hammer, or even a house.

The good, the bad, and the art of conversation

It’s hard to effectively describe what makes a good conversation; what’s easy is to identify when you’re in the middle of a bad conversation. You are acutely aware of it, and you’re desperately trying to save it. When all else fails, you want nothing more than to escape it. It’s boring, frustrating, making you uncomfortable, or even worse, making you angry.

Village Board approves final plans for DeFiore pet crematory facility

HUNTLEY — At the Jan. 9 Village Board meeting, trustees unanimously voted in favor of approving a Special Use Permit and a Final Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the construction of a new pet crematorium with a second-floor caretaker residence on Lot 2 of the Wing Pointe Resubdivision of Lots 2 and 3.

Ask an Angel: January 30, 2025

I’m writing with some concerns about my aging parents. They’re both in their late 80s and still live in their own home, which they’ve always cherished. However, in recent months, it’s become clear that driving isn’t safe for them anymore. They’ve reluctantly agreed to hang up the keys, but I’m worried about what this will mean for them as winter sets in.

Valentine’s victories

Attention to all of the lovebirds out there: February 14th is right around the corner! Treat yourself and others to these exciting festivities! Have a happy and healthy Valentine’s Day filled with love. Let the celebration begin!

Women in crisis

There is one movie that everyone has been talking about in terms of awards buzz and it is not Emilia Perez. The Substance is the second feature from French director Coralie Fargeat, following 2017’s Revenge. Already she has a style all her own, here telling a more gnarly version of a Twilight Zone episode. Demi Moore plays Elizabeth; an actress turned fitness show host that, at least in Hollywood terms, is past her prime. It is crazy to think in this day and age that anyone that looks like Moore is also-ran. Attitudes have changed in the greater public, but not with network producers.

Blast from the past

Did you ever wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly remember something from the past? Such was the case when we were looking for restaurants to review and Nancy woke up screaming about a Baker’s Square her and her girlfriend Sharon used to frequent when she was a travel agent. This brought back memories of the best pie in the world, the chemically enhanced, sugar laden, 790 calories per slice bomb known as the Caramel Pecan Silk Supreme. Never fear loyal readers, there are some Baker’s Square restaurants still around. We hopped into the “way back machine” and sped off to Village Inn/Baker’s Square in Palatine.

Political Place: January 30, 2025

Note: The views expressed in these political submissions do not reflect those of the Sun Day, its staff, or those associated to the Sun Day.

Broadcast News

During her 40-year career in broadcast journalism, Susan Caraher bore witness to watershed moments in American history: the birth of the world’s first known surviving septuplets; the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh; the school shooting at Columbine, and the Gulf War. In 2000, she spent six weeks in Tallahassee, Florida, awaiting the Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore after a contentious vote recount process left the office of president hanging in the balance as the nation held its breath.

Growing up, Caraher watched Nancy Dickerson, a pioneering TV newswoman, report on John F. Kennedy. “I thought, I want to be a part of that,” remembers Caraher.

The year of the wood snake

My 2025 word of the year came to me without me having to search for it. My coworker mentioned offhandedly that, according to the lunar calendar, 2025 is the year of the wood snake.

“It fits with all kinds of metaphors,” she told me. “A snake sheds its skin, it lives close to the earth, things like that.”

My vote for word of the new year

Although we’re only a few weeks into the new year, let me be the first to suggest that the 2025 Word of the Year should be “Oligarch.”

It’s a fun word to say. Try it. “Oligarch.”

Work share

Huntley High School’s Career and Technical Education Department Chair, Nick Wedoff, emphasizes the invaluable role Sun City residents can play in shaping the future for students.

“Your expertise is not just a resource but a catalyst for our students’ growth. They need to hear what the day-to-day experience in the workplace is like and what opportunities there are for their interests,” he said.

U.S. public health: A look back at 2024

An end-of-year comprehensive report by the John Hopkins School of Public Health reviewed 10 major public health news events of 2024 and concluded with this headline describing the past year: “A rollercoaster for public health, with historic firsts, unwelcome comebacks, and rays of hope.”

Local author shares her research on the store that helped build Chicago, Marshall Field’s

Marshall Fields has been gone from Chicago since Macy’s, Inc. acquired it in 2005 and ceased operations on September 9, 2006. It was a high-end department store founded in 1852 by Marshall Field. Some still miss the store.

Author Gayle Soucek shared her knowledge of one of Chicago’s famous residents and his store with Sun City residents. Soucek is a historian and freelance editor with over a dozen books and numerous magazine articles.