Original News, Features & Opinion on Chicago, Illinois and America
State Rep. Lou Lang has proposed a brilliant and fair plan to help the state of Illinois dig itself out of its multi-billion dollar debt. Change the state’s fixed income tax rate for everyone and replace it with a scaled tax that actually reduces the state tax for most taxpayers, those earning under $200,000, and…
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State should prevent candidates from suing each other By Ray Hanania Part of the job of running for office is to tell the voters why you should be elected. And another part of the job of being a candidate is to tell the voters why your opponent shouldn’t be elected. That means that you give…
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Red light cameras would be good, if they were fair By Ray Hanania If there is one thing that most drivers hate, it’s red light cameras. But I think red light cameras, and even speed cameras, are necessary to crack down on reckless drivers who we all see blow red lights, or who race 20…
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Most communities are automatically given Home Rule powers. But some communities have to fight for it, and overcome the ignorance of some politically active whiners who complain about everything because they are not in power By Ray Hanania The last election shows that newly appointed Mayor Sergio Rodriguez is very popular in the Village of…
Read More “Home Rule makes Summit equal to other communities” »
I finally found a great place to work out, at Charter Fitness. I’ve bounced around a few health clubs but Charter fitness so far is the best. And I think seniors in Southwest Suburban Chicago should give it a closer look. It’s also the least expensive of all the clubs By Ray Hanania I think…
Read More “Finding a new place to lose weight & hang my iPod” »
Midnight Flight: Chapter 13 — Notes from Readers One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel) By Ray Hanania (C) 1990-2022 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved Send us your comments, letters and memories and I will post them here. Email me by clicking here. You must let…
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Midnight Flight: Chapter 2, Dividing Lines One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel) By Ray Hanania Midnight Flight, (C) 1990-2020 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved “You never really knew a man until you stood in his shoes and walked around in them.” — To Kill…
Midnight Flight: Chapter 1, Introduction By Ray Hanania Midnight Flight, (C) 1990-2020 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved This book is about one family’s experience of White Flight from a changing and great Chicago community, South Shore Valley (also called South Shore Gardens, Calumet Heights). It is also one person’s memory of living in a wonderful…
Will controversy follow recent sale of Palos Church to Muslims? The southwest suburbs have a history of community opposition to the building of a mosque or Muslim center, reflecting growing racism and discrimination against Muslims nationwide. Have things changed? By Ray Hanania More than 15 years ago, tried to purchase the abandoned Reform Church of Palos…
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Great teachers are hard to find. Chicagoland schools in the city and the suburbs are deficient and not doing their jobs. A major responsibility falls on the teachers, whoa re not doing enough, and the excessive focus and resource commitments to school administrations. Cut the administrations and grade teachers for their work By Ray Hanania…
Common Core and our failing high schools. Too many high schools are graduating students who are “not ready” for college, achieving under 21 on ACT testing. By Ray Hanania When I was young, if my grade point average was under 60 percent, I flunked. The grading system we used then applies today: A=90+; B=80+; C=70+;…
Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman resigned from her 13 year position on the board to take an important private sector job at a Fortune 100 company. It’s a loss for Cook County, a loss for moderation, a loss for Gov. Bruce Rauner and a loss for taxpayers By Ray Hanania Liz Gorman, the Orland Township…
Would Chicago just stop whining already? Chicago’s financial mess is dominating the news and dragging the state of Illinois down. The only solution Chicago mayor’s have had over the years is to make the State bail out the city. But I think it’s time we stopped By Ray Hanania I’m so tired of listening to…
Too often, I see people briskly step out of their vehicles parked in handicapped parking zones and displaying handicapped licenses plates or handicapped rear view mirror tags. They just don’t look like they need the plates, but who in government is courageous enough to set this abuse straight? By Ray Hanania Three times in the past…
Pete’s Fresh Market opened a new store in Bridgeview recently that offers the widest range of fresh deli salads and buffets, the largest I have ever seen. And I love grocery stores. By Ray Hanania I love food, especially from the Middle East. That’s one reason why I spend so much time meandering around grocery stores…
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This week, another major grocery retailer entered the battle for the growing Middle Eastern food market in Chicagoland offering a wide range of Arab food products. The past half century has seen Arab food migrate from the shelves of small ethnic neighborhood food stores to the premium shelves of the largest national chains. Chicagoland has been no exception, just…
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Gorman gives Rauner some added ‘Big Mo’ By RAY HANANIA Southwest News-Herald Newspaper Friday, December 27, 2013 Winnetka Businessman Bruce Rauner may be new to politics, but he apparently knows more about Republican politics than his rivals. Rauner won the endorsement of the Cook County Republican Party over GOP rivals State Sen. Kirk Dillard and Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford,…
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…