8 Essays: It's 'T-H-I-R-D Street' in Geneva

In Geneva, it's not "3rd Street," it's "Third Street." And more people should know and respect that spelling.

I'm not sure when it was that I became persnickety about certain style and language points. Maybe it was during those New York years, when I'd regularly read William Safire's "On Language" column in the Times' Sunday Magazine. Maybe it was during my early years in the newspaper business, when I decided that if I really wanted to make this journalism thing a career, I'd better stick my nose in the AP Stylebook a little more often. For some reason, I remember Bob Greene issuing the advice, "When in doubt, look it up." (Maybe not the best guy from whom to take advice, given the 2002 sex scandal, but I digress.) Anyway, somewhere along the line, detail stuff like this became—I don't know, not "important" but certainly "of interest." And so I …

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'Patch Perfect Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad' Coming to 60 Men Who Cook

Vote for Jon and me online, and come to the Kane County Fairgrounds on Friday for a an experience that will delight your senses.

I've always felt that my brother is a bit of a genius. Straight A's in his later college years (after he decided to get serious), degree in aeronautical engineering (he had a super-small role in the design of the DC-10), Jeopardy whiz, horse-racing handicapper (he's got a system) and ametuer golf course architect (he placed second in one of those golf magazine national contests.) He has my dad's ability to design things, build things and fix things. (If you drive through Geneva, you'll see a number of homes my dad built with his own hands.) He has my mom's keen intelligence and taste. But his real genius, in my humble opinion, is cooking. I've waxed poetic in a few of our "You Rate the Restaurant" stories about the artistry of great chefs…

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Pure Oil Meeting Not Geneva's High Note

The activism is wonderful but the decorum not so much in Monday's Pure Oil meeting.

I'm not going to lean to hard on this point for fear I might get punctured, but in some ways, Monday's City Council meeting was not Geneva's finest hour—at least, in terms of civility and decorum, with a little curve ball on Robert's Rules of Order thrown in for good measure. Before I get too far into this, I should preface by saying that Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns generally runs a good meeting. In fact, I think he's among the best I've ever seen. By that, I mean he's very familiar with Robert's Rules, he keeps things moving at a good pace but he's generous with allowing time for members of the community and City Council to comment. He has a terrific sense of humor, and he keeps the conversation lively, even entertaining. When he does get …

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Jason

10:38 am on Monday, April 9, 2012

Rudy and Ken, I think you both make very good points. Rudy, I think you do throw the "greedy" word around a little much when speaking of capitalism. That said, in the particular case of the Pure Oil building, I couldn't agree more that it makes absolutely no sense to tear down this charming structure that currently houses a thriving business to build another (boring) bank when there is an empty …   more ›

Postcards From Spring Break: NYC (Day 4) Ellis Island, Mary Poppins and Times Square

Our biggest day in NYC also is our biggest thrill.

We stood in line at the TKTS booth at the South Street Seaport, deciding on Mary Poppins because Lion King wasn't available, and we're glad we did. We got tickets for half price and ended up in the fourth row orchestra. Wow. The New Amsterdam Theater is amazing, and the show was, well, "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" After we bought tickets, we had lunch in the Wall Street area and did the Ellis Island tour. Our only disappointment there is that I couldn't remember the names of the ancestors who went through, so we couldn't find the ship's records on the computer. After we got back on Manhattan Island, we took the subway to 42nd Street and met my sister, Tinya, and brother-in-law, Bob, for dinner at DB Bistro Moderne, which is Daniel…

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Inside Geneva: Rick Nagel

Rick Nagel: Good Seeing You All at GHS Back-To-School Night

Photos first and (hopefully) video later. And a few thoughts about great parents, familiar faces, community, legacy and journalism.

I don't want to get too highfalutin or go Poynter Institute on you all, but I do want to share a few thoughts about journalism before we get to the good stuff about Back-To-School Night at Geneva High School. One of the things I wanted to experiment with when we started Geneva Patch a year ago was a new and different kind of journalism—a community journalism that starts inside-out rather than outside-in. What I mean by that, I guess, is that I wanted to provide a sort of documentary journalism, and I wanted to start from a Genevan's point of view. Weird, tricky stuff and unfamiliar territory for an editor who has spent his career working hard at traditional newspapering, where twin pillars of objectivity and skepticism hold up a lofty roof…

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Samantha Liss

1:49 pm on Thursday, September 8, 2011

"I don't want to get too highfalutin or go Poynter Institute on you all." Rick, you are too funny. Love this post (and I'm not even from Geneva).   more ›

Inside Geneva: Rick Nagel

(Video Update) Rick Does Swedish Days: The Fearsome Test of the Swedish Days Quad Power Jump

He flies through the air, with total unease, the manly old man on the ... Quad Power Jump.

On a cloudy afternoon on the 22nd day of June, a fearsome test of courage faced me squarely, like Boris Karloff's head in a Frankenstein movie. The dreaded Quad Power Jump.  Yes, I dared to say it aloud. The dreaded Quad Power Jump—a murderous mating of bungee cord and trampoline that makes lesser men weep like the 4-year-old in front of me in line surely would have if he hadn't been laughing and clapping his hands in anticipation. There are seven little-known, masculine and manly trials that must be completed for one to become a true Quad Power Jumper, to attain the state of being that is Quad Power Jumpness. Trial 1: The Sinister Weigh-In You have to be 180 or less to face the Quad Power Jump. I was very happy to see the scale stop at …

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Rick Does Swedish Days: An Unscheduled Stop for Face Painting

Tricia says we're doing face painting next. So we do face painting. Or, at least, I do.

I want to shoot photos of the craft show next, but Tricia trumps me. "No Dad, you and I made a deal," she says. "You had the Swedish meatballs, now it's time for face painting." Tricia makes me go first. She gets to pick the face. "You're getting the rabbit," she says. Another confession. I don't think I've ever had my face painted before. It's one of those things everyone should do at least once. I guess. It's a little ticklish, this process, but it only takes a few minutes, and of course there is embarrassment enough to last a lifetime. At least if you're a 53-year-old "old man," as Tricia likes to call me. When I'm almost done, we run into Denise Linke, who is reporting on Swedish Days for my old outfit, The Beacon-News. "I'm glad you'…

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Update: Senior Prank Marks Up Burgess Field

Someone spray painted a—how can we say this delicately?—male sex organ on Burgess Field.

This is one of those senior pranks—at least, we're assuming it's a senior prank—that's typically senior prankish. By that I mean immature, disrespectful, a little profane, with some property damage thrown in for good measure. Someone apparently spray painted a penis on Burgess Field. That's about all I know right now. I have a call in to Tom Rogers at the high school and Cmdr. Julie Nash at the Police Department, and we'll follow with some details, if there are any. Nash said it was, in fact, a senior prank and is being handled internally by the liaison officer and the high school. Laura Rush said in the comments field that the artwork was part of several senior pranks. Geneva High School Principal Tom Rogers said there were other pranks …

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Kurt Wehrmeister

7:24 am on Sunday, July 31, 2011

Brad, I do of course remember the '74 yearbook shot of you with the towel (and I wonder if Howard Ulin caught any flak about having included it -- not that that grand old insurrectionist would have cared), but the shot of Don Straughn glaring at you I don't recall. I'll have to go back and look.   more ›