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LakeForestLeader.com SOUND OFF<br />
the lake forest leader | November 9, 2017 | 13<br />
Social snapshot<br />
Top Stories<br />
From LakeForestLeader.com as of<br />
Nov. 6.<br />
1. Update: Police release victim’s autopsy<br />
results, more party details<br />
2. Attempted armed robbery suspect sought in<br />
Lake Bluff<br />
3. Police Reports: Six students charged with<br />
minor consumption of alcohol at Lake Forest<br />
College<br />
4. Letter to the Editor: Thoughts go out to<br />
deceased victim’s family, first responders<br />
5. Despite strong start, Scouts cannot control<br />
Hawks, penalties<br />
Become a member: LakeForestLeader.com/plus<br />
From the Editor<br />
Finding the good in a rough month<br />
Alyssa Groh<br />
alyssa@lakeforestleader.com<br />
One of the best<br />
parts about being<br />
a community<br />
journalist is being able to<br />
share all of the good news<br />
happening in the community.<br />
It is one of the<br />
main reasons I decided to<br />
become a journalist.<br />
The past few weeks I<br />
have found myself writing<br />
one breaking news story<br />
after the next.<br />
Two weeks ago I woke<br />
up to an email from the<br />
police about a shooting<br />
in Lake Forest that left a<br />
19-year-old man dead. I<br />
read the information many<br />
times to make sure I was<br />
reading it correctly. I just<br />
could not believe something<br />
like that happened in<br />
Lake Forest. A shooting. I<br />
was shocked.<br />
As a journalist, I expect<br />
to get breaking news<br />
about armed robberies or<br />
fires. But as a journalist<br />
for a community like Lake<br />
Forest, I never expected to<br />
get breaking news about a<br />
fatal shooting.<br />
Just days before that<br />
I was working on news<br />
out of Lake Bluff where<br />
someone spray painted<br />
racial symbols and words<br />
throughout the village.<br />
Once I heard the blunt<br />
details of what exactly<br />
was spray painted I was<br />
speechless.<br />
I understand the people<br />
who have committed<br />
these various acts may<br />
not have been residents<br />
of Lake Forest or Lake<br />
Bluff, and maybe they<br />
were just visiting. But<br />
that does not mean it does<br />
not have a long-lasting<br />
impact on us. These two<br />
stories have weighed<br />
heavily on me. I have<br />
spent a lot of time thinking<br />
about them, and trying<br />
to understand them.<br />
These two instances<br />
do not mean Lake Forest<br />
and Lake Bluff are bad<br />
communities. These two<br />
instances just mean we<br />
are going through a rough<br />
time.<br />
I think our communities<br />
are still filled with the<br />
same good people, who<br />
are doing amazing things.<br />
In these times of sorrow,<br />
anger and hurt I<br />
ask us all to support one<br />
another. Lift one another<br />
up and bring out the good<br />
in the community again.<br />
Lake Forest Academy posted this photo on<br />
Oct. 31. Lake Forest Academy posted this<br />
photo of alumni <strong>LF</strong>A soccer players who<br />
came to campus to play a game against<br />
the current <strong>LF</strong>A soccer team.<br />
Like The Lake Forest Leader: facebook.com/<br />
TheLakeForestLeader<br />
Check out Amy Lamberti “#findingjoy67<br />
Kicking off Institute Day with amazing<br />
PD sessions about to launch. @<br />
RebeccaAJenkins @LakeForestSD67” @<br />
amylamberti.<br />
On Nov. 3, Amy Lamberti, tweeted<br />
about Institute day.<br />
Follow The Lake Forest Leader: @The<strong>LF</strong>Leader<br />
go figure<br />
12<br />
An intriguing number from this week’s edition<br />
More than 12 car were<br />
entered by unwanted<br />
subject in one night, Page<br />
6<br />
Letter to the Editor<br />
Au contraire, Please do<br />
Chicken Out!<br />
The Chicken controversy<br />
appears to be registering<br />
with some people<br />
and even to Green Minds,<br />
<strong>LF</strong>LB, who implied a pilot<br />
program was operating.<br />
To be clear, there is no pilot<br />
program in Lake Bluff<br />
to regulate chickens and<br />
bees, only a draft. What<br />
should interest us is the<br />
intention and motive of<br />
Green Minds <strong>LF</strong>LB as advocates<br />
for chickens in our<br />
village. When I see phrases<br />
like; sustainable, socioeconomic,<br />
and environmental<br />
benefits, my antennae goes<br />
up. Are we running a village<br />
government or are we<br />
engaged in some sort of<br />
social experiment?<br />
Green Minds draws odious<br />
comparisons of our<br />
village to that of other<br />
communities; Chicago,<br />
hardly a model of competent<br />
government and a host<br />
of towns that are among the<br />
most affluent in the nation.<br />
Drawing comparisons<br />
of dogs and cats, to ducks<br />
and chickens strikes me as<br />
a stretch. Dogs and cats<br />
are indoor creatures easily<br />
trained while ducks<br />
and chickens are not. Let<br />
us also address a couple<br />
of other matters referenced<br />
by Green Minds.<br />
• Wild birds are not acquired<br />
property and cannot<br />
be regulated; they are<br />
unfortunately free to do as<br />
they please, think Canadian<br />
Geese.<br />
• The notion of freedom<br />
to do as one pleases on<br />
their own property is valid<br />
until it impacts a neighbor<br />
or the community.<br />
• Chickens are not benign,<br />
they are noisy, undomesticated<br />
creatures<br />
and in spite of the benefit<br />
of their waste as fertilizer,<br />
it smells and creates<br />
an undesirable by product<br />
requiring some sort of<br />
disposal solution from the<br />
village.<br />
• If certain individuals<br />
want or need to provide for<br />
themselves, I suggest they<br />
move to a rural community<br />
where property sizes are<br />
large enough to accommodate<br />
agricultural.<br />
I am not sure how chicken<br />
coops became a good idea,<br />
but what could possibly go<br />
wrong? Plenty, including<br />
neighbor to neighbor relationships,<br />
the cost, and burden<br />
of policing compliance<br />
with control ordinances.<br />
Then consider the slippery<br />
slope of what could be next;<br />
rabbits, a goat or sheep, a<br />
petting zoo. Finally, the decline<br />
in marketability and<br />
value of our homes.<br />
This is a bad idea from<br />
the beginning, has no place<br />
in the village and deserves<br />
a timely and dignified closure.<br />
Al Boese, resident of<br />
Lake Bluff<br />
The Lake Forest Leader<br />
Sound Off Policy<br />
Editorials and columns are the opinions of the author. Pieces<br />
from 22nd Century Media are the thoughts of the company<br />
as a whole. The Lake Forest Leader encourages readers to write<br />
letters to Sound Off. All letters must be signed, and names<br />
and hometowns will be published. We also ask that writers<br />
include their address and phone number for verification, not<br />
publication. Letters should be limited to 400 words. The Lake<br />
Forest Leader reserves the right to edit letters. Letters become<br />
property of The Lake Forest Leader. Letters that are published<br />
do not reflect the thoughts and views of The Lake Forest Leader.<br />
Letters can be mailed to: The Lake Forest Leader, 60 Revere<br />
Drive ST 888, Northbrook, IL, 60062. Fax letters to (847)<br />
272-4648 or email to alyssa@lakeforestleader.com.<br />
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