A non-Geneva municipal employee and friend just told me, “It sucks to work for city government right now.” I’m sure he’s right! You can’t even whisper the word “raise,” more cuts and layoffs are most certainly coming, and meanwhile, those have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too citizens aren’t willing to pay more property taxes, but they don’t want to see any city service cuts, either. But as much as I sympathize with his plight, especially when it comes to aldermen and mayors, these more-often-than-not-well-intentioned public-sector folks seem to shoot themselves in the foot more often than not. Let’s…

You know, I just had a great Saturday Geneva morning! All leaf-mold-induced wheezing aside, it started with a reasonable indoor run at the Persinger Center. Those ladies at the front desk are always so pleasant. And they laugh at my jokes, too! Three miles in 24 minutes ain’t nothin’ to write home about, but at this allergic time of year, I’ll take it! Sweat or no sweat, it was on to Kiss The Sky where, despite the dearth of new releases, I managed to catch up with a Dream Theatre Black Vinyl Friday release that had previously escaped my gaze. Why, I even managed to help some nice Carol …

What surprises me most about the lingering effects of our once-in-most-of-our-lifetimes economic downturn is, not only does our national entitlement mentality appear to remain intact, but it actually seems to be getting worse. Considering it was already pretty high to begin with, this is something I thought utterly implausible. I don’t know, maybe it’s just a reactionary form of fear. But I can still recall my grandmother’s stories of what it was like to raise a family during the Great Depression. Though she recounted those tales in the late '60s, she still saved every piece of string, made …

I want to thank my alert readers who were among the first to let me know my e-mail account had been hacked. I want to assure you I've never even been to London, I’ve (thankfully) never been set upon by armed thugs, and I wouldn’t be caught dead writing anything like “OMG.” As fellow columnist Rick Hollinger said that fateful afternoon, “I bet you didn’t realize how many friends you had!” While it’s nice to be popular, after about the 80th “you’ve been hacked” phone call, I was seriously considering a future as an Amish hermit. That said, it was gratifying to hear so many compatriots say, “We …

At the risk of making some readers’ heads explode, I’m gonna say it again. Not all citizen activism is a good thing. But what those all-caps responders fail to understand is, that doesn’t mean I’m discouraging anyone from getting involved. As long as your methodology is reasonable, and you’re not too attached to the outcome, by all means, give it your best shot. You see, when you have the wisdom to put the process above your ego, the process tends to take care of itself. It is with that self-correcting mechanism in mind that we’ll take a look at 21-year-old Geneva resident Zachary Ploppert’s …

Just when I’m convinced that Springfield Democrats have cornered the market on political folderol, our illustrious Illinois GOP just has to go ahead and prove me wrong. Call me crazy, but I believe our political parties should actually aspire to something greater than a downward-spiraling contest to see who can sink to new lows in the name of the political process. But as difficult as you think it might be to top Mike Madigan and his crew of cronies, the Illinois GOP did just that when state Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady signed on as Kevin Burns' campaign chair in his primary race …

Editor's note: After some additional discussions, I edited this column to remove the names of landlords Jeff mentioned in the original version. And I removed some comments that made reference to the passages that were removed or edited.   Last Wednesday, we discussed the multitude of reasons Genevans have to fall in love with our unique central business district. In deference to reader Colin Campbell who challenged me to forestall future Geneva disasters, in that same column, I issued a terminal prognosis for our downtown patient. In fact, I may have used the words, “already gone.” And here’s…

I know, I know! I’m the one who wrote the reason married men outlive their single counterparts is because our wives generally delight in watching us die a slow, painful and lingering death. I may have also said something along the lines of the smile frequently seen on a deceased bachelor’s face isn’t the result of rigor mortis. With all due respect to the multitude of male readers who, when their wives’ weren’t looking, raised a clenched fist in solidarity, I have to reconsider my previous position. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m beginning to believe, a la Star Wars, there really is a …

To paraphrase a semi-infamous president, let me make this perfectly clear. I was planning on letting this go until my sainted editor, Rick Nagel, convinced me to take a stab at this story, despite my misgivings. You see, though this clearly could be construed as a columnist piling on, the problem is the Geneva’s Public Works Department's generosity when it comes to providing me with material. Don’t ever change, guys! This time our specific silliness started with the superfluous liquid consequences of some early Monday morning fire hydrant flushing. As they tend to do, Public Works had …

I would love to write a column about the city of Geneva’s foresight in dealing with our dying ash trees. I would be thrilled to extol the virtues of a city that worked out a $300 deal for a 2.5-inch-diameter replacement parkway tree (including removal of the dead one). I would be delighted to be able to sing the praises of a Public Works Department that wouldn't settle for the typical 20 percent failure rate and found a tree supplier with a 98 percent success standard. (All of which is true.) But I can’t. Because the City Council and Public Works Department blew all that goodwill in one …

My curmudgeonly cousin from a different mother’s sister, Rich Hayhurst, sent me an e-mail regarding School District 304’s recent edict banning celebratory birthday cakes (and any outside sweets) from all classrooms. As you might imagine, Rich’s contention was considerably similar to that of his confectionary hero, Marie Antoinette, who, as you know, once issued a famous proclamation regarding our tasty pastry. “Geneva hopes to hear your opinion on the District 304 ban on cakes for elementary school birthday parties!,” he wrote, “Is Michele Obama behind this? Thousands of cake sales now lost? …

It ain’t working! All you have to do is drive down Third Street on any sunny afternoon, and you can see it for yourself. Oblivious to anything but their incessant and inane cell-phone conversations, the vast majority of motorists fail to notice even the sweetest of little old ladies trying in vain to cross the street. And it ain’t working despite Geneva’s best efforts to get the word out. What’s even worse is, those attempts to enlighten the motoring public may inadvertently be causing more problems than they solve. Some drivers inexplicably take those Third Street signs alerting them to “…

“What’s that smell?” my son said as I picked him up from the middle school. “Smells like something’s burning,” I replied in an irritated tone immediately glancing toward Peck Farm. But this time there was no plume of controlled-burn smoke coming from that direction. As I scanned the horizon looking for the source of the scent I finally noticed the general haze hanging in the air and the answer came later that day when Geneva Patch reported the culprit was a northern Minnesota wildfire. Apparently, having made it up into the jet stream, the smoke wafted the 400-plus southeast trip into the …

For a fractured country with a short collective memory span, it’s good that we come together to remember what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. It’s appropriate that we honor those whose selfless sacrifice proved we can rise above our own self-interest in the name of the greater good. Both the Geneva and Rejoice Lutheran Churches held special memorial services. St. Peter Catholic Church offered an “Hour of Eucharistic Adoration.” The First Baptist Geneva Church of Geneva made the remembrance part of each of their Sunday services and the United Methodist Church presented a performance of Requiem 9/…

I love it when readers respond to a column contentions with, “Instead of this $#*!, why don’t you write something positive!” Translated, that almost always means, “What you wrote conflicts with my world view and because it challenges my reality in a way that makes it difficult to mount a cogent argument against it, I’ll do my best to bully you into changing the subject. In other words, it means I’m doing my job by challenging the status quo. The truth is, Geneva Patch has plenty of capable writers who, like Beth, Renee and Sandy, tend to focus on the more positive aspects of life in Geneva. …

Reader Rob Stuart really fired me up this time! Not that it ever takes all that much. In an excellent response to my column lamenting chain stores’ propensity to sell you everything you don’t want, Mr. Stuart had this to say: “Apparently McDonald's employees can't remember to ask their customers if they want a McCafe Iced Mocha while at the drive through, so as customers, we have to listen to a recorded voice asking us if we'd like to try one prior to a live person taking our order. I want to McPunch the McManager … ” Though I’m not typically one to espouse violence, I’ll happily make an …

Mike, Mike, Mike! (County board member Donahue, that is.) Did you really write that the Kane County’s portion of our property tax bill amounted to no more than what might called a “bad tip”? Don’t you realize, like Pavlov’s dogs, opinion columnists start salivating uncontrollably whenever someone like you says something like that? I'm really not trying to pick on Mr. Donahue (this time), because I’ve already challenged his interesting insights on chickens. My firm belief was he and his development committee cohorts should’ve taken the bull by the horns—I mean the chicken by the beak—in an …

That’s right! Be nice to the soccer ladies. Especially you coaches! If there’s one thing I learned in 17 years of data-system consulting, it’s that you don’t need to concern yourself with the boss, it’s your relationship with the office staff that makes or breaks you. They’re the ones who really know how the business runs and, if they like you, you’re in. But I digress! With the shadows getting longer, the nights getting cooler and the miscreants back in school, that can only mean one thing! It’s the start of an exciting new year of Tri-Cities Soccer Association (TCSA) rec soccer! And there I…

Forget F. Scott Fitzgerald. You can keep your Faulkners, your Prousts and your Melvilles. Bill Shakespeare, John Milton, James Joyce? Not even close. Take John Steinbeck, please! If I wanted to get that depressed I’ll just watch Fox News. You can throw authors at me till you’re blue in the face, but no piece of prose on the planet can compare to this: “When I was a kid, the worst of all days was the last day of summer vacation, and we were in the schoolyard playing softball, and the sun was down and it was getting dark. But I didn’t want it to get dark. I didn't want the game to end. It was …

It’s a good thing I don’t get recognized very often because if I did, it would be far too dangerous to roam around downtown Geneva—one of my favorite pastimes. Given my earlier column on how to improve Swedish Days, I think the Chamber of Commerce, or at least the Carroll family, may still have that Fatwah on my head. Ah! But as I make my frequent rounds between Kiss the Sky, Great Harvest Bread, Geneva Running Outfitters and Graham’s Fine Chocolate  Ice Cream (chocolate peanut butter chip!), the folks who do know me by sight sometimes stop me with some interesting observations. The most …