Bruce Rauner has sought to “cut pensions and destroy unions instead of bringing people together to grow our economy and pass a balanced budget.  He’s proposed letting Illinois file bankruptcy, which would destroy the state’s credit rating and cost taxpayers billions in higher interest payments; he’s been fighting against working families, vetoed a minimum-wage increase, closed small business development centers, and halted state infrastructure projects, putting thousands of people out of work.  He has dismantled the state’s commitment to agriculture.”   The decline in higher education spending per student in recent years has led to students choosing out-of-state colleges that offer more competitive tuitions, then we lose those educated young people to other states.   JB Pritzker pledges to honor pension contracts, never skipping pension payments, and plans to correct the flawed, exorbitant property-tax assessment system.  He supports decriminalizing marijuana, legalizing and taxing it, reducing mass incarcerations and reinvesting in our communities; he supports adequately funding our public schools, restoring funding for universities, which are hubs of economic growth, workforce training and innovation.

Trish Forsyth Voss

Absolutely not!  Mr. Kavanaugh lied under oath on several issues he was pointedly questioned about by Senators, who had significant background information, before any of the sexual allegations against him surfaced.  He has since been accused by several women of sexual assault; all of these women, the Republican party would have you believe, lied under penalty of perjury about their nominee.  Kavanaugh’s devastating performance during the hearing last week showed us all another side to this man.  His tearful, menacing, partisan-rant, showed that he doesn’t have the proper temperament, restraint or trustworthiness to sit on the highest court of our land.   Many people’s private personas don’t match, under scrutiny, their carefully-cultivated public personas, as we have seen with coaches, priests, judges, celebrities, etc.  Kavanaugh is a liar and a fraud, just like the person who nominated him; and Trump’s abominable performance at the recent Mississippi rally, was a new low, even for Trump!

Trish Forsyth Voss

After studying the two Register-Mail articles on proposed District 205 changes (appears options 1 & 3 will be eliminated), my first response was to lean toward Plan 2 having grades 9 – 12 at GHS,  but given further thought, possibly Plan 4: PreK & admin at Lincoln, grades K – 4 at Nielson, Silas Willard & Steele, grades 5 & 6 at the Lombard building, and grades 7 – 12 at GHS might be the wiser option, as 7th and 8th graders would benefit from the better resources provided at GHS, like theatre, and use of tennis courts and swim pool as a Physical Ed curriculum choice, etc.  Closing some schools as a means to financial management, and reflecting a shrinking enrollment, makes sense though changes on this magnitude can evoke fear and frustrations.  There will be two meetings (not board meetings)  for public discussions on building options from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm on Oct 1, and 5:30 – 7:30 pm on Oct 3 at district office: 932 Harrison St.

Trish Forsyth Voss

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, when 15 years old was a victim of sexual aggression from 17 year-old Brett Kavanaugh, she alleges.  Dr Ford has asked the FBI to reopen their investigation to include this incident; FBI conducts background investigations on nominees for Supreme Court as regular protocol.  An inconvenient request for those in power who set the schedules; Grassley/McConnell’s deadline is self-imposed.  “It doesn’t matter when assault victims speak-up — people will always say they are too late”, says columnist Dahlia Lithwick .  What of all those middle-aged men who only recently spoke up about being sexually assaulted by countless priests?   Whose voices do we value in our society?   How many people made it through high school and life without sexually assaulting anyone?  Kavanaugh enjoys a federally-funded security detail; Dr Ford’s family had to hire security, relocate amidst death threats, all because she felt it her civic duty to ‘uncloak’ a flawed nominee for life-time judgeship to the highest court in our land.

Trish Forsyth Voss

WE THE PEOPLE (majority) believe he should; his game plan is to play-out the clock … past the mid-terms, where he hopes Republicans will prevail.   The president is named an ‘unindicted co-conspirator’ in a federal case, crimes to unduly influence our national election; it is abhorrent to many of us that Trump has nominated to  Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, who now believes a president is above the law, not even to be questioned.  A recent editorial wrongly claims that ‘liberals’ fantasize about impeaching Trump over relations with porn stars; we do not.  Mueller is garnering abundant evidence of ‘conspiracy with foreign powers against America’, recently acquiring computer and phones of mercenary Erik Prince, who met with a Putin confidante in Seychelles island, to set-up back-channels for administration communications.  Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer for Trump Foundation (for decades), and David Pecker, chief publisher and extortioner for National Enquirer, now cooperating also.

Trish Forsyth Voss