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Downers Grove 4-4-18

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A P R I L 5 , 2 0 1 8 V O L . 1 0 I S S U E 18

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SCHOOL NEWS

District 58 Groundbreaking celebrates Lester addition

SEE PAGE 5

SPORTS

All-Area Benet’s Buh leads 2018 team SEE PAGE 7

BUSINESS Dave Says Check cashing company not payday lender bad, but still not smart SEE PAGE 11

BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

ILLINOIS NATIVE BILL VEECK WAS CHAMPION FOR GAME OF BASEBALL

SEE PAGE 4

FORUM SPOTLIGHT

BASEBALL LEGACY


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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

COMMUNITY

Forum focuses on response to shootings Forum designed to provide space for discussion, public to ask questions, receive answers BY MEGANN HORSTEAD For the Bugle @BugleNewspapers sweditor@buglenewspapers.com

Every parent wants to their child to feel safe when they go to school, but how that is often achieved differs from one school district to another. First Congregational United Church of Christ recently hosted a forum entitled, “Community Response to Mass Shootings.” In the wake of last month’s mass shooting, a tragedy shook not only those in Parkland, Fla., but also many others across the nation. The forum was designed to provide a space for discussion, as well as for the public to ask questions and receive answers. First Congregational United Church of Christ pastor Scott Oberle said hosting the program at the church makes sense. “As a community faith, we also have concerns about violence in our society,” he said. Mass shootings have become a more frequent topic in the news over the years. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Pastor Greg Morris said the problem could be that social media allows people to hide behind a screen to hurt other people without the threat of consequences. Maxon’s Supplies and Indoor Range owner Dan Aldridge agreed. “What really has changed, I think, is the inescapability of bullying,” he said. “When I was growing up, you could go home. You were in a safe place. You could go to your youth group. You’re in a safe place. Now, bullying follows these kids around 24/7. They’re attached to their phones, and they simply can’t escape it. Community High School District 99 Superintendent Hank Thiele negated the idea, saying that he’d like to speak up in defense of today’s children. “Our kids today are far more in tune their peers, with society, with each other than they ever have been before,” he said. “I think kids

get a bad rap today. It’s real issue to point to social media and cyberbullying and say that, ‘This is the reason why this is happening.’ These are very rare events. I know they’re tragic, but they’re rare.” Thiele acknowledged that there is a lot going on in schools and said the easy thing to do is to point blame. Several panelists shared concern for the reporting systems in place to prevent certain individuals from obtaining firearms. Under Illinois law, municipalities do not have the right to make gun control laws. Downers Grove Police are committed to ensuring that schools remain safe. Aldridge said schools are not secure the way airports, gun shops and police stations are, in part, because they are gun-free zones. “If the schools want to be serious about this, I think they need to make it harder for people to create this mayhem,” he said. Deborah Anderson-Phillips, a Downers Grove Marchers gun control committee member, refuted the idea, however. “I think that schools are a place where children go to learn in their community,” she said. “To change them into a place that has mental detectors, searches and armed guards, is to make them like a prison. I would hope that we can some other solutions.” Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital Psychologist Ken Davidson said though a person with mental health is more likely to be a victim than a perpetrator, part of the problem does, in fact, rest in this realm. “Part of it is mental health care is limited,” he said. “We’d like to see more expansion. We’d like to see more working collaboratively with other people. The hope is that people in the future will be more integrated, more involved.” Davidson said the problem is a stigma gets attached to mental health when people point to it as the central focus of the nation’s problem with mass shootings. Anderson-Phillips agreed. “It is a mental problem we have to address it quick, but it’s not the whole problem.” Oberle took time to thank everyone for coming out to the forum.

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FORUM

We want to hear from you! Send us your feedback at sweditor@buglenewspapers.com WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

GUEST COLUMN

Illinois native Bill Veeck was champion for game of baseball BY ROGER RUTHHART | ROCK ISLAND ARGUS Bill Veeck wasn’t your typical baseball team owner. He was listed in the Chicago phonebook. He often walked the Comiskey Park concourse shaking hands as he limped on his wooden leg that he retrofitted with an ashtray. As a young man he planted the ivy on the outfield walls at Wrigley Field. He hired Larry Doby, the first black to play in the American League just months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. And he owned the Cleveland Indians when they last won a World Series in 1948. In later years, he was a regular on Chicago sports TV talk shows offering reasoned arguments on politics and society, and was often seen on WGN broadcasts of Cubs games shirtless with a beer in his hand sitting among the fans in the Wrigley Field bleachers. Bill Veeck was a showman, nonconformist and a champion for the game of baseball and the fan. And he’s an Illinois product. Veeck was born in Hinsdale in 1914. One of his early jobs was working with his father, who ran the Chicago Cubs in the 1920s and 1930s, selling everything from tickets to popcorn. “His father, William Veeck Sr., wrote for the Chicago American under the name Bill Bailey. He was intensely critical of the Cubs. It was unheard of at the time to take a newspaper writer and make him the general manager of the team,” said Paul Dickson, author of “Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick.” “He comes in and (owner William Wrigley Jr.) just loves him. “He went in with the idea that Wrigley wanted to promote the team as an event for the whole family, rather than a game for guys with a cigar in their mouth. He sold it as a summer oasis. They planted trees and the ivy on the outfield wall and redid the bleachers and put in new concession stands with better food. Wrigley was a great advertising man and filled the newspapers with ads, not about how great the team was, but about the experience at Wrigley Field, about how much fun the family was going to have.” The Cubs won two National League pennants under Veeck Sr., who died in 1933 when his son was just 19 and a stu-

dent at Kenyon College in Ohio. The son left school to return to work for the Cubs, becoming team treasurer. “He wanted to fulfill what his dad was doing,” Dickson said. “Part of that was planting the ivy. He carried out the mission that Wrigley wanted. He kept Wrigley Field a friendly place. Cubs games were a social place as well as as athletic event. Veeck made sure the hot dogs were hot and the beer was cold.” In 1942, Veeck, along with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, bought the Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. Veeck experimented with promotions (including a contest to rename the ladies’ room. The winner was “Hall of Fem.”) and game times, seeking to attract as many fans as possible. He also enlisted in the Marines, serving three years in an artillery unit (the same unit as Peoria native and Chicago Cubs announcer Jack Brickhouse) during World War II. Veeck’s leg was crushed by a recoiling artillery piece and his foot was amputated. He would later have more than 30 surgeries on the leg and lived the rest of his life in constant pain. Veeck sold his interest in the Milwaukee club and in 1946 purchased the Cleveland Indians. With Doby in the Cleveland lineup, Veeck also signed legendary pitcher Satchel Paige of the Negro Leagues, making him the oldest rookie in baseball history. The Indians won the World Series in 1948. A year later, and in need of money to settle a divorce with his first wife, Veeck sold the Indians. In 1951, Veeck bought the lowly St. Louis Browns. According to one tale, when a fan called the Browns’ offices to see what time that day’s game was supposed to start, Veeck responded, “What time can you make it?” Some of Veeck’s greatest stunts took place in St. Louis. In August 1951, Eddie Gaedel, who stood 3 feet 7 inches and wore number 1/8, suited up for the Browns. The shortest man to ever play in the major leagues walked in his only plate appearance. Veeck also turned game management over to the fans for a game, giving the crowd signs stating “Yes” and “No” when asked if the Browns should bunt, steal a base or play the infield in. The Browns beat Philadelphia 5-3 that day. Money issues often prompted Veeck

to sell his teams but rarely was he out of the game for long. After leaving St. Louis, he returned to Chicago, buying the White Sox in 1959. That year, the Sox made the World Series for the first time in 40 years, but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Veeck would again sell his team. One of Veeck’s best friends was Abe Saperstein, owner of the Harlem Globetrotters. “They were two of a kind, promoters,” Dickson said. “At one point the two of them talked about buying a circus. It was a Chicago style — brash. If Veeck grew up somewhere else he’d be a different person. He grew up reading the Chicago writers, people from his father’s era, like Ring Lardner. It was a different kind of place than anywhere else.” In 1976, Veeck purchased his last baseball team, the Chicago White Sox again. This was on the eve of player free agency when salaries headed north of $1 million for top stars. Veeck created a strategy to keep the Sox competitive: rent-a-player, in which he would bring in a player in the last year of his contract with no intention of signing him after the season. “It solidified him as to who he was,” Dickson said of rent-a-player. “He relished this opportunity.” By 1981, Veeck could no longer complete with baseball’s new financial structure and sold the team. He left the game but his legacy continues and can be seen in every major- and minor-league ballpark, from the promotions to the scoreboards. He also had an influence on race and integration of the game. “Veeck opened the park for kids, women and families,” Dickson said. “He knew the game was constantly facing challenges and he knew he had to keep a step ahead. He realized the total package of well-contained insanity. While it didn’t always work, consider Disco Demolition (when the White Sox had to forfeit a game because fans destroyed the field), he had a major impact on the game.” About: Roger Ruthhart is co-author of the book “Citadel of Sin: The John Looney Story.” He can be reached at roger.ruthhart@ gmail.com. Editor’s note: The weekly Illinois Bicentennial series is brought to you by the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors and Illinois Press Association. More than 20 newspapers are creating stories about the state’s history, places and key moments in advance of the Bicentennial on Dec. 3, 2018. Stories published up to this date can be found at 200illinois.com.


METRO

NEWS FROM THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

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SCHOOL NEWS >> DISTRICT 58

Groundbreaking celebrates Lester addition District 58 adding three classrooms, resource space and ADA restrooms BY MEGANN HORSTEAD For the Bugle @BugleNewspapers sweditor@buglenewspapers.com

Downers Grove Grade School District 58 recently celebrated the beginning of construction for Lester School’s new addition. The project, pegged at $2.24 million, will add three classrooms, American Disability Act-compliant bathrooms and a resource space. “We are super excited to be able to launch this project,” Superintendent Kari Cremascoli told the crowd. “It has been a long, long time in the making, and we are thrilled to celebrate the groundbreaking, here, today.” Lester School Assistant Principal Katie Novosel agreed. “I know that the community has been requesting this, being excited about this for a long time,” she said. “Now, it’s coming to fruition,

so I think everybody’s just very excited.” The Downers Grove Village Council reviewed the school district’s plans in recent months and went on to provide approval. Downers Grove Grade School District 58 worked with its architect, Wight & Company, to develop some solutions to address Lester School’s space issues. The building in question has been at capacity for several years. “We got some input from our staff,” Principal Carin Novak said. “The upper administration worked, as well. We cooperated with Wight [& Company] and our maintenance [department] from the District. It was a collaborative effort between everybody, but putting together the whole design, getting it to the Board of Education, getting their input, as well, [was]

just collaborative all around.” The addition will provide the Lester School community with more space. Some of the building’s students current attend classes at Belle Aire School. “Next year, we will get to have all Lester students at Lester School, which is very exciting,” Novosel said. The building’s enrollment projects hover around 500 students. “We do need some space,”

Novak said. “We do need different places for small group instruction. … This is going to be such a welcomed addition for us, in terms of the space. It’s greatly needed.” The project, slated to begin this spring, is anticipated to reach completion in time for the 20182019 school year. Novak took time to give kudos to the Board of Education. “[They] took the time to listen and explore all the different op-

tions,” she said. “We talked about how to teach the children, what our space needs were, and what different kinds of things we needed to make Lester School a great place for kids.” Novak wanted to thank the Lester School community for their presence at school board meetings. “[Without them,] I don’t think this project would’ve come to fruition,” she said.


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TAKE 5

FOR WHEN YOU NEED 5 MINUTES FOR YOURSELF! WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM


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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

BOYS ALL-AREA TEAM

LEADER OF THE

PACK

Benet senior David Buh is the 2018 Voyager Media Boys Basketball Player of the Year

BY MARK GREGORY Sports Editor @Hear_The_Beard mark@buglenewspapers.com

Coming into this season, little was expected of the Benet Academy boys basketball team. The Redwings were coming in with several new players and a lot of people outside of the locker room did not give Benet a chance to advance as far as they had in the recent past. But, when Benet ultimately reached the DeKalb Supersectional and fell in NIUs Convocation Center, the players on the team were not surprised at how far they had advanced. “There wasn’t too much expectation on us, so it was nice to come together and prove people wrong,” Benet senior David Buh said. “We didn’t advance as far as we wanted, but that didn’t take away from the season. We are very pleased and we were just very happy to wear the Benet uniform with pride.” Buh was the leader of the Redwings, averaging 13.3 points, 3.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 46 percent from the field. He tallied 64 total 3-point field goals. For his efforts, Buh is the Voyager Media 2018 Player of the Year. “He meant so much to us on both ends of the floor,” said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. “He

guarded the best perimeter player most of the times defensively, we relied on him to score and he was our leading assist man. He impacted the game for us in every way possible. He had a tremendous year and he was a huge part of our success. “David worked really hard to put himself in this position this year. I know how important this season was to him this year. He achieved so much and the ultimate measure for him was the team success. He is well respected on the team for his work ethic and team-first mentality. This season was very fulfilling for him because of the team success. As much as his play impacted the team, his leadership did so as well.” The rest of the first team is:

CAMERON BLACKMON JOLIET CENTRAL Senior averaged 11.4 points, 3.6 assists and 2.2 rebounds. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the SouthWest Suburban Conference and was IBCA Class 3A/4A special mention All State.

TYLER COCHRAN BOLINGBROOK Junior led a talented Raider team in scoring averaging 14 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Class 3A/4A IBCA SEE ALL-AREA PAGE 8

PHOTO BY MATT EVANS/FOR THE BUGLE

Benet’s David Buh is the Voyager Media 2018 Boys Basketball Player of the Year.


TWITTER: For up -to-the-minute coverage of upcoming local sport events going on in your area, follow @VoyagerSport

8 SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM ALL-AREA FROM PAGE 7 All-State Fourth Team.

DON JOACHIM JOLIET CENTRAL

his senior season and averaged 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds on the season for the Spartans.

JUSTIN EAGINS DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH

Senior was an All-SPC guard that averaged 12 points, 2.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game for the Steelmen.

Posted 16.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Mustangs.

DUSAN MAHORIC NOTRE DAME

ESSAM HAMWI MAINE SOUTH

Led the Dons with an average of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 1.93 blocks per game. He was named to the All-East Suburban Catholic Conference team.

Paced the Hawks with 14.8 points per game to go with an average of 2 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Class 3A/4A IBCA All-State Fourth Team.

BRADY MILLER PLAINFIELD NORTH

MATT HATZOPOULOS LOCKPORT

Three-sport standout, Miller averaged 15.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Tigers.

Scored nearly 14 points per game for the Porters, connecting on 49 percent from 3-point range, averaging 5.5 shots from deep per game.

DIAMOND PRESNIAKOVAS PLAINFIELD SOUTH Junior led the Voyager Media in scoring, averaging 22 points per game to go with a 6 rebound average. He shot 51 percent from the floor. He set the Cougars’ single game scoring record with 42 points against Romeoville on Feb. 22. His 625 points this season set the South single season scoring record, passing Rod Gates from 2003.

RYAN SAUNDERS JOLIET CENTRAL The Voyager Media Prep Shootout MVP, he was All-SPC and WJOL all tournament, while averaging 13.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

DEANDRE HECKARD ROMEOVILLE Averaged 12.2 points and 3.7 rebounds on the season.

SEMA’J HENDERSON DOWNERS GROVE NORTH Averaged 17.9 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Trojans.

MATTHEWS MORGANFIELD PLAINFIELD CENTRAL Senior paced the Wildcats with an average of 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2 steals a game.

GRANT MILLER MAINE SOUTH

KALEB THORNTON BOLINGBROOK

Scored 12.1 points and grabbed 7.7 rebounds per game for the Hawks.

Despite missing significant time with an injury, the senior averaged 13 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game for the regional champion Raiders. Class 3A/4A IBCA All-State Second Team.

YAMANI SHAREEF PLAINFIELD EAST

JOSEPH YESUFU BOLINGBROOK Junior led the Raiders’ backcourt in the absence of Thornton. On the season, he averaged 13.7 points, 2 assists and 4 rebounds per game. Class 3A/4A IBCA All-State Third Team.

SECOND TEAM EDDIE CREAL ROMEOVILLE

Transferred into Romeoville for

Junior guard led a talented and young Bengal squad. He averaged 14 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, while connecting on 165 of 185 3-point field goals. (35%). He was named to the all-Southwest Prairie All-Conference team and was East team MVP/Offensive Player of the year.

MICHAEL SMITH JOLIET WEST Senior tallied 13.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game for the Tigers. Class 3A/4A IBCA All-State Special Mention.


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SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

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COLLEGE

NCC leaps into outdoor track season Leaping into its outdoor schedule with a series of performances which rank among the top at the NCAA Division III level nationwide, the North Central College men’s track and field team won six events and shared first place in the 14-team Washington University in St. Louis Invitational Friday and Saturday. The Cardinals totaled 222.50 points in the meet, which equaled the points scored by the host Bears. Greenville University was a distant third with 117 points. The meet’s distance carnival on Friday saw several North Central occupy spots up front against extremely large competitive fields. The Cardinals secured the top five places out of 70 total finishers in the 10,000-meter run, in the process clocking the five fastest times at the distance across Division III thus far this season. Dhruvil Patel led the field to the finish line in 29 minutes, 52.83 seconds, making him the seventh-fastest in school history, followed by Matt Norvell (30:02.05), Nolan McKenna (30:03.68), Al Baldonado (30:04.01) and Matt Osmulski (30:05.32). Zach Hird, meanwhile, placed sixth out of 198 finishers in the 5,000-meter run, clocking a personal-best time of 14:37.14. As competition resumed on Saturday, three-time defending outdoor national pole vault champion Luke Winder claimed victory with a clearance of 17 feet, 6.50 inches, also the top Division III mark in the nation, while Dylan Kuipers cleared 15’9” to place third. North Central swept the top three places in the high jump, as Kyle LeBlanc won the event with a height of 6’6.75” and Adam Poklop and Nick Janca finished second and third, respectively, each clearing 6’5.50”. Peyton Piron’s time of 55.00 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles brought him a first-place showing, and Kyle Hilton came in third in 57.09. Dan O’Keefe won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:22.62, with Nick Licari and Ian Irvine in third (9:44.17) and fourth (9:44.18), respectively. The Cardinals’ Caleb Lundquist posted a mark of 173’1” in the javelin throw to place first as well. Second-place points also came

from Nick Stuttle in the long jump (21’2.50”), Michael Stanley in the 400-meter dash (49.59) and Brendon Sebastian in the 800-meter run (1:54.81), as well as the 4-by-100-meter relay team of Piron, Maceo Findlay, Bobby Kallien and Brandon Cruz (42.63) and the 4-by-400-meter relay quartet of Stanley, Findlay, Piron and Ben Nordman (3:19.43). Others contributing thirdplace finishes were Hilton in the 110-meter hurdles (15.64), Findlay in the 200-meter dash (22.69), Nordman in the 400-meter dash (49.90), Javon Kunkel in the long jump (20’4.25”) and Michael Anderson in the 1,500-meter run (3:56.63). • The North Central College women’s lacrosse program has collected its fourth College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Players of the Week designation, as sophomore midfielder Mynk Richardson-Clerk has been named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week for Mar. 26-Apr. 1. The CCIW announced its most recent Player of the Week selections on Monday. Richardson-Clerk received the distinction for the first time in her collegiate career due to her contributions to two Cardinal victories last week, a 20-4 win at Beloit College on Wednesday and a 23-5 win over the University of Northwestern (Minnesota) on Saturday. She contributed six goals and two assists while also recording eight ground balls, six draw controls and five caused turnovers as North Central allowed its fewest goals in any twogame stretch this season. A participant in each of the Cardinals’ 28 games the past two seasons, Richardson-Clerk ranks sixth in the program’s 10-year history in draw controls (79). The Cardinals have claimed one third of the 12 CCIW Player of the Week awards that have been bestowed this season. North Central sophomore Christina Truver has been selected the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week twice and its Offensive Player of the Week once. North Central is the only CCIW team with more than two such awards in 2018. The Cardinals (9-1) open CCIW play by hosting Augustana College on Wednesday. Play at Bene-

detti-Wehrli Stadium is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and

the game will be broadcast live on Naperville Community Tele-

vision, Channel 17, and nctv17. com.


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BUSINESS + REAL ESTATE

NEWS ABOUT LOCAL BUSINESSES IN YOUR COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

COLUMN >> DAVE SAYS

Check cashing company not payday lender bad, but still not smart DEAR DAVE, How do you feel about check cashing companies? NORMAN DEAR NORMAN, I’m not a big fan of check cashing companies. They’re not nearly as bad as payday lenders, but it still seems kind of silly to me there’s even

a market for this kind of thing. If you want a place to cash your checks and store your money, all you have to do is walk into a bank and open an account. I realize there’s a small segment of the population that some people in financial circles like to call “the unbanked.” This means that, for whatever reason, they avoid banks. That’s their choice, but in the process, they leave themselves susceptible to bad deals. As I said, I don’t feel the same way about check-cashing companies as I do about payday lenders. But it’s still not a financially smart move to regularly pay a storefront operation fees just to cash your checks. —DAVE * Dave Ramsey is CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven bestselling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 13 million listeners each week on 585 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on the web at daveramsey.com and on Twitter at @DaveRamsey.


DEADLINE FOR CLASSIFIEDS: FRIDAY AT NOON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM BUSINESS & PRIVATE PARTY CLASSIFIED ADS: $16 PER WEEK, 20 WORDS OR LESS. WEDDINGS, BIRTHS & ENGAGEMENTS: BLACK & WHITE - $25, COLOR - $35. OBITUARIES: $35.

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PHONE: 815.436.2431 >> Mon. - Fri. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. FAX: 815.439.2548 EMAIL: classifieds@enterprisepublications.com IN PERSON: Enterprise Publications >> 23856 Andrew Rd. >> Plainfield, IL


SENIORS

NEWS ABOUT ACTIVE SENIORS IN THE COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

COMMUNITY NEWS

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Seniors becoming more tech-savvy 78 percent of Australian seniors aged 65 to 75 own a smartphone, up from 69 percent in 2016 Technology is the future, and digital communication has opened many doors for people around the world. Although younger generations have grown up with technology at their fingers, Baby Boomers and older adults did not. But in spite of that, studies show that growing numbers of seniors are open to the idea of technology and even seeking ways to further their use and knowledge. According to a 2014 study by Pew Research Center, 59 percent of seniors regularly use the internet — a 6 percent increase from the previous study conducted in 2012. Today, 67 percent of adults age 65 and older say they go online.

Pew also says that, although seniors consistently have lower rates of technology adoption than the general public, four in 10 seniors now own smartphones, which is more than double the amount that did in 2013. Seniors in Australia are especially tech savvy, as Deloitte’s mobile consumer survey found 78 percent of Australian seniors aged 65 to 75 own a smartphone, up from 69 percent in 2016. While stereotypes have long painted seniors as technologically inept, seniors are actually more socially and digitally engaged than ever before. Seniors use technology in many different ways. Some use mobile apps to manage medications and doctor’s appointments and monitor their fitness regimens. Some families employ 24/7 alert systems or smarthome technology to keep seniors comfortable and safe at home for as long as possible. Noninvasive, “smart” technology can analyze factors such as wheth-

er or not doors are left open, if there has been movement in a home, or whether appliances/lights are on or off. This represents a great way for families to stay informed and provide assistance even if they are not nearby. SilverSurfers, a senior-based information website, says other tech that seniors are embracing includes online dating; audio and digital books; online shopping, which is especially valuable to seniors who have mobility issues; and social media, which can keep seniors connected to others and feeling less lonely. A study conducted by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco found 18 percent of American seniors live alone, and 43 percent report feeling lonely on a regular basis. Loneliness can increase death risk. Social media and internet connectivity can be an important tool in helping seniors feel like active members of society.


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SPORTS

NEWS ABOUT ACTIVE SENIORS IN THE COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM


SENIORS

NEWS FOR ACTIVE SENIORS IN THE COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

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