Skip to content
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • Features
  • Subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania’s Columns
  • Advertise
Suburban Chicagoland

Suburban Chicagoland

Original News, Features & Opinion

  • About
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Our Writers
      • Ray Hanania
      • Bill Lipinski
      • Aaron Hanania
      • Steve Metsch
      • Steve Neuhaus
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Reach Out
    • Submit a Press Release
  • Sections
    • Events
    • Opinion
    • News
    • Features
    • Seniors
    • Comic Strip
  • Library
    • “MIdnight Flight” Online Book
      • Midnight Flight Book Overview
      • Midnight Flight Introduction
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 1
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 2
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 3
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 4
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 5
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 6
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 7
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 8
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 9
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 10
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 11
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 12
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 13
    • Villages, Cities & Towns
    • Federal Office Holders
    • County Officials
    • Legislators
  • Seniors
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Comment
  • Podcast
    • Two Guys on Politics Podcast: A Centrist View on Politics
    • Two Guys on Politics
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • The Arab street Podcast
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Toggle search form
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Newt Gingrich helped fuel America’s political polarization Bill Lipinski
  • Do more for senior citizens like we do for illegal aliens Baby Boomers
  • Typewriter. Photo by Andrew Seaman courtesy of unsplash
    District 230 students receive journalism awards Cook County
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours Education
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book Books & Films
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards Features
  • Telephone
     Sheriff Dart Warns Public of Phone Scam  Baby Boomers
  • Orland Township Democratic Organization Fundraiser Feb. 23, 2023 at Papa Joe's Restaurant in Orland Park
    Orland Township Democratic Organization to honor Former Secretary of State Jesse White on Feb. 23 Cook County
  • Zwar Restaurant chicken and beef-lamb Shawarma Plate
    How to have a great Middle Eastern meal in Orland Park area Culture
  • Orland First Responders candidates Matthew G. Rafferty and William Bonnar Jr.
    First Responders announce candidacies for Orland Fire District Board seats Cook County
  • D230 students win prestigious art awards Education
  • Alderman Raymond Lopez would have made a great mayor Blogger
  • State Rep Fran Hurley 35th district
    Hurley Named Chair of Police and Fire Committee Cook County
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar
    Cook County Announces Call for Transportation and Community Grant Program Applications Business
  • Inappropriate Illinois license plates
    New Secretary of State reaffirms rejection of inappropriate license plates Chicago
Lauren Staley-Ferry, Will County Board member and candidate for Will County Clerk in the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary election

Will County Clerk race shows how little media cares about real issues

Posted on March 17, 2018November 29, 2019 By Ray Hanania No Comments on Will County Clerk race shows how little media cares about real issues
SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  

Will County Clerk race shows how little media cares about real issues

The race for Will County Clerk will determine who will be responsible for maintaining the county’s records, and managing department budget costs, things the mainstream news media apparently doesn’t seem to concerned about. What they are worried about is an incident that happened 18 years ago that today has no meaning.

By Ray Hanania

You just have to wonder about government and the news media, like in Will County where issues don’t seem to matter as much as controversy.

About 18 years ago, Lauren Staley-Ferry was working in a small Arizona real estate company. She was a young kid and, according to media reports, her boss decided to give everyone in the office a $500 bonus, except her. Lauren got angry and took a company check and wrote it out for $500 for herself.

It’s the kind of thing young people sometimes do.

The important question, though, is do they take responsibility and make-up for it? Do they let that single infraction reflect the rest of their life?

Lauren Staley-Ferry, Will County Board member and candidate for Will County Clerk int he March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary election
Lauren Staley-Ferry, Will County Board member and candidate for Will County Clerk in the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary election

In Lauren’s case, it was one incident, an aberration. It wasn’t a pattern at all. She didn’t do it again. It wasn’t repeated, like it happens with others who continue doing bad things, even after they’ve been caught.

Lauren left Arizona and years later tried to settle the debt. After the issue resurfaced and her efforts to repay were rebuffed, she donated $500 to the Fresh Start Women’s Foundation. The foundation “provides education, resources and support for women to positively transform their lives and strengthen our community.”

Lauren went on into professional banking where she excelled, under the right management.

In 2013, she was encouraged by the Democratic Party in Will County to run for a seat on the Will County Board where she has worked tirelessly for the past three years.

Encouraged by the public’s response to her leadership, she decided to take on more public service, running for Will County Clerk in the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary election.

She didn’t just advance her own career, she spent a lot of time volunteering to help others in a lot of other situations.

Sounds like the perfect ending to the story.

Lauren Staley-Ferry, Will County Board member and candidate for Will County Clerk in the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary election
Lauren Staley-Ferry, Will County Board member and candidate for Will County Clerk in the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary election

But the mainstream news media doesn’t like perfect endings to any story. Worse, they don’t really care about the taxpayers or the real issues taxpayers face. They care about controversy.

The media makes it sound like Lauren Staley-Ferry has been avoiding responsibility. She hasn’t. She’s taken responsibility for her actions and has arranged many times to try to repay the money. I spoke with her and she said the media only cares about that past, not the issues she raises about Will County.

She issued a statement, twice, explaining what she did was wrong. She apologized for it and has taken responsibility.

But you know today’s news media. They don’t care about truth as much as they do screaming headlines, controversy and gory tragedy.

“If it bleeds, it leads” is the mantra of the traditional news media, which is why the traditional news media today is dying.

Hope doesn’t die and neither does good leadership.

Instead of talking about the issues, though, the media has been hammering Lauren about one single issue. Who cares about the people of Will County when you have a drama to fuel?

Lauren told me she spent 20 minutes recently answering every question from a reporter, including talking about the election, the issues facing Will County, and what she hopes to do when elected. He only wrote about the old controversy.

The media only wants to hammer away at that one little story from the far distant past. Maybe they don’t care about Will County. Maybe, they don’t care about who’s best to serve as Will County Clerk.

The media just wants to be snarky, to sell newspapers. They pretend that single little bump from 18 years ago is more important than the many challenges facing Will County that voters have to sift through on their own, with no help from the media out there.

Lauren Staley-Ferry is seeking to succeed Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots is retiring in 2018 after serving four terms in office.

In this case, I think Lauren Staley-Ferry has earned the public’s confidence, even if she continues to get the news media’s snide.

You can visit Lauren Staley-Ferry’s website at www.lauren4clerk.com.

(Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author and former Chicago City Hall reporter. Email him through his website at www.Hanania.com.)

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Follow RayHanania on Gettr.com, the uncensored Twitter Ray Hanania on Gettr, the new Twitter
Ray Hanania
Latest posts by Ray Hanania (see all)
  • Do more for senior citizens like we do for illegal aliens - February 3, 2023
  • District 230 students receive journalism awards - February 3, 2023
  • Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours - February 3, 2023
  • Tweet

SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  
 
 
 
           
Blogger, Commentary, Government, Media Bias, Opinion, Politics, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland, Taxes Tags:2018 Democratic primary election, controversy over facts, Lauren Staley-Ferry, March 20, news media bias, Will County Clerk, Will County taxpayers

Post navigation

Previous Post: Why conspiracy theories are necessary
Next Post: Trump factor in Illinois being over-played

Related Posts

  • Thirteen talented seniors have been chosen to compete for the title of 2021 Orland Township Senior American Idol! Join Supervisor Paul O’Grady and the Board of Trustees for an evening of dinner, dancing, and jaw-dropping performances this October. Photo courtesy of Orland Township
    Orland Township’s Senior American Idol Returning This Fall Baby Boomers
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff Dart, State Sen. Collins Propose Legislation to Ban Ghost Guns Chicago
  • CoronaVirus courtesy of Wikipedia
    Pritzker Administration Extends Deadline to Apply for Emergency Rental Assistance Cook County
  • Ageless wonders keep rolling News
  • Semi-permanent setup of press corps on the west end of the north White House lawn, from where live media broadcasts with the White House are typically delivered. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Trump his own worst enemy; Biden’s supporters are hypocrites Blogger
  • Lori Lightfoot speaking at Police Accountability Task Force hearing in 2016. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Mayor Lightfoot should not rush to judgement on Burke Blogger

More Related Articles

Jacob Bean, 24. Photo courtesy of the Tinley Park Police Department Charges filed after altercation leads to death of New Lenox man Cook County
Text missile alert sent to Hawaiian residents Stoking the fears of nuclear war Blogger
Brookfield Zoo exhibit. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania Coalition Calls for Added Funding of Brookfield Zoo in Capital Bill Entertainment
AARP promo photo on seniors retiring. Courtesy of the AARP Seniors need to be treated better Books & Films
Paul Vallas candidate for Chicago Mayor 2023. Photo courtesy of the Paul Vallas website Vallas urges probe in Lightfoot’s CPD scandal and accuses of Congressman Garcia of being AWOL from Chicagoland needs Chicago
Congressman Sean Casten criticizes U.S. Postal Service for unexplained and continued delays Casten Endorsed by League of Conservation Voters in Re-Election Campaign elections

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Login with your Social ID
  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Newt Gingrich helped fuel America’s political polarization
    February 3, 2023
  • Do more for senior citizens like we do for illegal aliens
    February 3, 2023
  • Alderman Raymond Lopez would have made a great mayor
    January 26, 2023
  • Pritzker’s assault weapons ban not enough to make law abiding citizens safe
    January 16, 2023
  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot must go
    January 15, 2023
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Return semi-conductor and chip-making industries to America
    January 15, 2023

Subscribe

  • Ray-Hanania-Newsletter-300-wide-Banner.jpg

Trending

  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightf... Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot must go Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has faile... posted on January 15, 2023
  • Paul Vallas candidate for Chicago Mayor 2023. Photo courtesy of the Paul Vallas website Vallas urges probe in Lig... Vallas urges probe in Lightfoot's CPD scandal and accuses of Congressman Ga... posted on January 16, 2023
  • Chicago Mayoral candidate Kam Buckner 2023 Black and Latinx Elected... Black and Latinx Elected Officials Unite Against the Chaos Caused by Mayor... posted on January 8, 2023
  • Alexi Giannoulias, former Illinois state treasurer and candidate for Illinois Secretary of State Secretary of State Alexi... Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias releases comprehensive Transition Team... posted on January 17, 2023
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar Cook County Announces Cal... Cook County Announces Call for Transportation and Community Grant Program A... posted on January 23, 2023
  • NEWS
  • Typewriter. Photo by Andrew Seaman courtesy of unsplash
    District 230 students receive journalism awards
    February 3, 2023
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours
    February 3, 2023
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book
    February 3, 2023
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards
    February 3, 2023
  • Telephone
     Sheriff Dart Warns Public of Phone Scam 
    February 3, 2023
  • Orland Township Democratic Organization Fundraiser Feb. 23, 2023 at Papa Joe's Restaurant in Orland Park
    Orland Township Democratic Organization to honor Former Secretary of State Jesse White on Feb. 23
    February 2, 2023
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png

The Political Pundit

Political Pundit Aug. 24, 2021. Taliban thanks president for boxes of MAGA hats
  • WORD PRESS REVIEWS
  • MyCloud by Western Digital, a hard drive that doesn't last. Don't purchase Western Digital.
    Western Digital tubes its loyal customers for profit
    October 17, 2021
  • Macho Themes website front page. Don't buy their themes. They don't work
    Difficulties with Macho Themes for WordPress
    August 21, 2021
  • TECHNOLOGY REVIEWS
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards
    February 3, 2023
  • Telephone
     Sheriff Dart Warns Public of Phone Scam 
    February 3, 2023
  • William O. Lipinski former Congressman from Illinois (5th and later 3rd District). Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Return semi-conductor and chip-making industries to America
    January 15, 2023

Follow Ray Hanania at
Gab.com, MeWe.com
IDobbinate.com,
Twitter, Facebook

Creative Commons License
All works on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

What We’re Reading

Arab News Newspaper Leading English Language Publication in the GulfArab News Newspaper

Ray Hanania on Politics
SW News Newspaper Group

  • SPORTS
  • Chicago Wolves 2022-2023 season
    Chicago Wolves top Stars for second win in a row
    October 25, 2022
  • Stagg Marching Band Pit Crew as efficient as a NASCAR pit stop! The team that does a lot of the work to help the Stagg High school band perform works behind the scenes like a NASCAR pit stop. The students are profiled in this feature
    Stagg Marching Band Pit Crew as efficient as a NASCAR pit stop!
    August 31, 2022
  • Soccer. Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash
    International soccer returns to SeatGeek Stadium
    August 7, 2022
  • Stefan Noesen, Chicago Wolves
    Chicago Wolves Noesen wins President’s Award
    July 22, 2022
  • NEWS RELEASES
  • Cook County Sherif Tom Dart
    Sheriff and District 230 honor students for public service hours
    February 3, 2023
  • Author Patrick Girondi
    Chicagoan who invested in research to save children releases new book
    February 3, 2023
  • Dr. Helen Edwards Fermilab particle physicist
    Foster, Durbin, Duckworth introduce resolution to name Fermilab Research Center after renowned physicist Dr. Helen Edwards
    February 3, 2023
  • Zwar Restaurant chicken and beef-lamb Shawarma Plate
    How to have a great Middle Eastern meal in Orland Park area
    January 31, 2023
  • Orland First Responders candidates Matthew G. Rafferty and William Bonnar Jr.
    First Responders announce candidacies for Orland Fire District Board seats
    January 31, 2023
John Kass Columns

Order the book PoweR PR; Ethnic Activists Guide to Strategic Communications

  • BUSINESS NEWS
  • Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar
    Cook County Announces Call for Transportation and Community Grant Program Applications
    January 23, 2023
  • money $20 dollar bill, dollars, cash
    Buckner unveils plan to help businesses and strengthen job
    January 19, 2023
  • United Airlines Flight at O'Hare Airport
    United offers endless airline travel problems for travelers
    December 25, 2022
  • Sam Bankman-Fried in an interview during the Bitcoin 2021 conference. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Demands continue for Lightfoot and Garcia to detail ties to FTX scandal
    December 15, 2022

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Click this link to watch or use the widget below:

Click here to view the video on YouTube or use the widget below.
Email Ray Hanania for more information about performing at your event at rghanania@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2022 Suburban Chicagoland & Urban Strategies Group

Powered by PressBook Premium theme