Opinion

OUR VIEW

Stay safe out there

We recall a suburban police chief once telling us after a short spate of nerve-wracking murders that what his town needed was a “good old wife clocks husband with a heavy pot” murder. Then, said the chief, he could announce it was an isolated incident and no one had reason to fear.

Fast forward to 2022 and Forest Park last week experienced a single day with three shootings. No one died but bullets flying twice between cars along major streets and then toward a house on Harlem is certainly unsettling to most everyone.

In stepped Mayor Rory Hoskins with a video, both praised and panned, in which he says not to worry. All three shootings were clearly related and resulted from “a very particular dispute,” said Hoskins. A fight settled with firearms is the unspoken implication.

And since most residents of Forest Park were not part of the fight, the message from the mayor, is that they are safe.

Sort of. Maybe. But when speeding cars trade gun shots, there is trauma that goes beyond being hit by a bullet.

We don’t have a solution. Maybe the surveillance cameras approved just last week by the village council could prove to be either or both a deterrent or a crime-solving tool.

The underlying issue, and one America’s politicians refuse to solve, is the explosion of guns on our streets. We are not hopeful about progress on that front. But there is no denying that these random, but not actually random, shootings are becoming more common in suburbs, previously seen as safe from this mayhem.

So take comfort from video balm if you can. But mainly, stay safe out there.

St. Pat’s parade and omicron

It was the last gasp of normal way back in the before times of 2020 as Forest Park snuck in its annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade just before the whole world closed down as COVID set in.

Two optimistic efforts to schedule the parade in 2021 — one in March, one in September — proved ultimately too optimistic. Each was cancelled in turn as COVID held strong.

The event’s determined sponsor, the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce, did manage to stage a 2021 comeback for the giddy and ghoulish Casket Races and for a modified version of the Holiday Walk. Both were fully outdoor events which makes for a safer COVID moment.

Since then the full brunt of the omicron variant of COVID has settled like a germ-filled cloud over much of America. And while the parade is a rain or shine, sleet or snow undertaking that stretches along much of Madison Street, it is the indoor drinking aftermath of the parade that is problematic.

We’re still two months out. There are early reports that the omicron surge may dissipate as quick as it came on.

If St. Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland, perhaps he can snuff out omicron in Forest Park. Time for a prayer.

OPINION

Feeling sick but staying positive

I got the rapid negative result from the Proviso Math and Science Academy covid hut today, but I am disappointed, in a way, to not get the positive mark.

The random chills, general tiredness and a sneeze that has prevented me from leaving my house for the past few days cannot be psychosomatic. I am not mentioning this to get any vote of sympathy, because I really do feel fine, and the need for a nap and being home without the energy to get things done is just a minor inconvenience. It is making me think more about my new year goals and overall vision quest.

I do make new year resolutions, and right now some are on pause. I am not quite able to get back in the gym or go out for a walk, but I can continue my small changes and adjust my point of view to stay on point.

I’ve been busy between naps with digital shopping followed by abandoning my digital cart. It is so satisfying to fill a cart with loaves of Katich bakery bread (from the Oak Park Farmers Market). Another cart filled with art supplies beyond what I can afford sit unpurchased, and I have a cart filled with dozens of heirloom seeds in the virtual basket that will never get purchased, never get planted, but for a moment become part of my daydream. The time to plant indoors is approaching so it is time dream of a garden of heirloom vegetables and petite violas is in full swing, the grand garden plans that are a part of my annual vision. It really builds my appreciation of my fellow gardening friends gardens who also aspire to be well organized, simple and focused. I have another goal this year, which is to be a steady volunteer. Tom Holmes’

JILL article last week, “Volunteer supply chain shortages” on this national day of WAGNER service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, really rang home with me. I have appreciated people who have helped me when I have needed a volunteer or two or three, and it seems like it might be time for me to payback with some service. I guess this short setback is just practice for having the grace and patience to get through the hurdles that will come to the year. Spring is just around the corner and as we all hunker down for the final weeks of winter, I hope all my fellow Forest Parkers are staying healthy and positive this January. Soon we will all see one another again.

Hang in there Forest Park

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