Opinion Archives

What’s Peotone’s Impact On Midway Airport?

October 24, 2013November 29, 2019 Website Editor No Comments

What’s Peotone’s Impact On Midway Airport? By RAY HANANIA Southwest News-Herald Newspaper, Friday, October 25, 2013 We hear a lot about the third airport that everyone wants to build in the “South Suburbs.” But we don’t hear enough about Midway Airport. I have been a Southwest Sider almost all of my life, migrating with my…

Opinion, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland

David Orr and Making Voting Just So ‘Easy’

June 20, 2013November 29, 2019 Website Editor No Comments

David Orr and Making Voting Just So ‘Easy’ By RAY HANANIA Southwest News-Herald Friday, June 21, 2013 Despite the low voter turnout, voting is already easy. But not everyone wants to take the time to vote. In fact, the vast majority of residences who could vote don’t even register to vote. They don’t want to….

elections, Opinion, Politics, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland

Local governments not responsible for flooding

April 25, 2013November 29, 2019 Website Editor No Comments

Local governments not responsible for flooding By Ray Hanania Southwest News-Herald Friday April 25, 2013 When my home flooded in 1997, the Village of Orland Park provided large garbage canisters for each group of homes that had been damaged. They also provided dozens of crates of bottled bleach to kill mold and bacteria, that one…

Opinion, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland

Low turnout in Chicagoland elections reflects hypocritical monitoring systems

April 9, 2013November 29, 2019 Ray Hanania 1 Comment

Low turnout reflects hypocritical monitoring systems By Ray Hanania Southwest News-Herald Newspaper Friday April 12, 2013 Everyone likes to blame the low voter turnout each year on the “low quality” or the “corruption” of elected officials in government, but I like to blame it on something else, the hypocrisy of the monitoring systems. Those “monitoring…

elections, Opinion, Politics, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland

Now its Cook County ‘Board of Whatever’

February 22, 2012November 29, 2019 Ray Hanania No Comments

Now its Cook County ‘Board of Whatever’

By Ray Hanania Feb. 24, 2012 SOUTHWEST NEWS-HERALD

They changed the name of the Board of Tax Appeals a long time ago because in the old days, the incumbents didn’t like the fact that many taxpayers only associated their property tax increases with that office.

So they changed it to the Board of Review, to get rid of that annoying word “Tax.”It’s one of the most significant things the body has done, besides take money from attorneys who milk property owners to submit the complex appeals.

This year, one candidate seems to want to change it all. He wants to make it easier for property owners to file their own appeals, rather than go through the lawyers who donate heavily to the three member “Board of Whatever?”

Sean Morrison has some great ideas. He says that he wants to put the appeal process online so that regular property tax owners like you and me can scan our documents, submit them online and instead of taking time off from our workday or paying the attorneys to do it all for us, we can conduct a hearing using Skype.

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Opinion, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland

Time to clean the Water Reclamation District’s political filter

December 6, 2011November 29, 2019 Ray Hanania No Comments

Time to clean the Water Reclamation District’s political filter
By Ray Hanania — For far too long, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Great Chicago has been a reservoir for retired, do-nothing government officials who were rewarded with spots on the board in return for their party loyalties.

Or, it has been a place where ambitious candidates with political clout have tried to launch their power dynasties.

The fact is the MWRD-GC board is unaccountable and a cesspool of wasted taxpayer dollars.

It is a do-nothing board that has spent most of its time spending money lavishly on itself and its members. They have huge salaries yet their impact on our lives has been so un-impactful.

Their primary responsibility is the management of flood water and they do a very poor job of doing that. But they do a great job of blaming everyone else.

The do-nothing chairman of the board Terrence O’Brien spent money on himself like there was no tomorrow, buying very expensive lunches and having a blast. He’s retiring after trying to turn the retirement home into a stepping stone to higher office.

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General Topics, Opinion, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland

Bank of America should change its name

October 11, 2011November 29, 2019 Ray Hanania No Comments

Bank of America should change its name
By Ray Hanania — Bank of America really doesn’t deserve to carry that name. They are not very American. Or at least, they don’t seem to care much about the American people.

The bank announced it would impose a $5 monthly fee on its bank customers to use their ATM cards.

For those few out there who don’t know what an ATM card is, it is a Debit Card that takes your money out of your checking account without writing a check.

Why would they do that to their customers, you might ask? Greed? Stupidity. Greed? Greed?

Ironically, the Bank of America decision to impose the $5 fee comes right at the time when the U.S Congress is seeking to limit the outrageous profits the banks have been making off of most Americans. But worse, it comes at a time when most Americans are using Debit Cards as an alternative to credit cards as they struggle to get out of credit card debt.

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General Topics, Opinion, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland

Harry ‘Bus’ Yourell Was a Fighter to End

September 28, 2011October 25, 2021 Ray Hanania No Comments

Harry ‘Bus’ Yourell Was a Fighter to End By Ray Hanania The first time I met Harry “Bus” Yourell was in 1978 while writing for the Southtown. At the time, he was the Worth Township Democratic Committeeman. I had written something nice about his Republican rival, Herbert V. Huskey, and “Bus” was giving me a piece…

General Topics, Opinion, Politics, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland

Floods Bring Tragedy Beyond Any Tragedies

July 27, 2011November 29, 2019 Ray Hanania No Comments

Floods Bring Tragedy Beyond Any Tragedies
By RAY HANANIA — Southwest News-Herald — Fires usually destroy a home. Floods ravage entire neighborhoods and destroy far more lives. This past week we witnessed a series of floods that hit communities from Orland Park to Des Plaines. The floods had much to do with the heavy, record rains — nine inches in July alone, a new record, they said.

Who’s responsible for floods? It’s the question everyone asks because most people do not protect themselves against flooding. One reason is that once a region floods, it floods repeatedly. So you can purchase flood insurance, but then that quickly increases to unreachable insurance premium costs.

Is there an answer to the flooding?

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Features, General Topics, Opinion, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland