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Over $100,000 in Special Interest Funding gifted to 220 Board member’s campaign in failed bid for State Rep job

April 7, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

“As a resident of Barrington, IL, I am deeply concerned about the actions of one of our School Board members, Erin Chan Ding, who has admitted to violating School Board policy, using her position for personal gain and political leverage. Her recent activities have raised eyebrows in our community, as it seems she is prioritizing her run for the Democratic candidate for State Representative of the 52nd District over her duties and responsibilities to our children and community. The Board has already voted that she has flagrantly violated School Board policy.

School Board members should exemplify unbiased dedication to the educational needs and welfare of our students. However, it has come to light that this individual is leveraging her role for publicity to further her political career, diverting attention from our District’s educational priorities. Our students deserve leaders who are fully committed to their well-being, not those looking for personal advancement or caught in political machinations.

Evidence of this misuse includes multiple occasions where she solicited petition signatures during school events in violation of Board policies. She was warned by the Board President in July of the violations and her need to adhere to Board policies and she agreed to do so. Despite these admonitions and Chan Ding’s agreement to adhere to policy in July, she’s continued to repeatedly violate policy. The Board voted for remedial training as the consequence for her violations. This is not an acceptable response to her conscious decision to repeatedly violate the very policies she presided over as one of the 2 Board members on the Policy Committee; particularly where Chan Ding was warned by Board President Bradford publicly at the July Board meeting of the violations but continued violations despite the public admonitions.

Chan Ding’s interests align more with her political campaigning ambitions than with School Board responsibilities. Furthermore, decisions made on critical educational issues are now being scrutinized for potential conflicts of interest influenced by her political agenda. This is not the kind of behavior we can afford to permit, as it undermines the trust and integrity essential to governing bodies like our Board of Education.

Removing this member will not only help restore the Board’s focus on its core mission but also sends a clear message that our community will not stand for misconduct or exploitation of elected positions for ulterior motives. It’s crucial that our School Board reflects the best interests of our students and maintains an unwavering commitment to their education and growth.

Join me in calling for the removal of Chan Ding to ensure our Board remains a place for sincere, student-centered service. Let’s protect the integrity of Barrington’s educational system and hold our officials accountable. Sign this petition today to take a stand for our schools and community.”

Read more here.

Related: “New Evidence of Chan Ding’s Policy Violations and Conflicts of Interest,” “Candidate Erin Chan Ding’s opinion on Data Centers,” “Barrington area Democrats condemn Chan Ding mailers,” “The D220 Board of Ed gets another ‘F’ in accountability & transparency,” “School district’s parking plan defies logic,” “Zoning change defies village policy,” “The Real Issue in Barrington 220 Isn’t Parking or Levies — It’s Leadership Culture,” “Change.org Petition: ‘For the Resignation of Erin Chan Ding ~ D220 Resources are Not for Political Campaigns’,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS – Part 2,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS,” “Erin Chan Ding: The violations just keep piling up…,” “Erin Chan Ding starring in another episode of, ‘Rules For Thee But NOT For Me…’,”  “District 220’s Lack of Transparency (Updated),” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency,” “Ding Politicking on School District Property,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”

Posted in 220, AI, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Data Center, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Ethics, Guest Essay, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, South Barrington, Springfield, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? | 1 Comment »

Obama Presidential Center releases information for ticket sales

April 6, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

 

You’ll soon be able to purchase tickets to visit the museum at the Obama Presidential Center.

By ABC7 Chicago Digital Team

CHICAGO (WLS) — You’ll soon be able to purchase tickets to visit the museum at the Obama Presidential Center.

Tickets for Founding Members go on sale starting April 21.

Ticket sales open to the general public on May 6. You’ll be able to book a date to visit, starting June 19 through November 30.

Admission is $30 for adults, and $23 for children ages three through eleven.

Kids two and under can visit for free.

The museum is also free on Tuesdays with proof of Illinois residency.

Article continues here.

Posted in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Ethics, Immigration, Politics, Taxes, The Chicago Way | Leave a Comment »

District 220 Board of Education meets tomorrow

April 6, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

 

The District 220 Board of Education meets Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Items on their agenda include:

  • FOIA Requests*
  • Personnel Report
  • Resolution abating the working cash fund of the District
  • Consideration to Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Honorable Dismissal Due to Reduction in Force of Part-Time or Full-Time Educational Support Personnel
  • Consideration to Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Honorable Dismissal Due to Reduction in Force of Group 2-4 Certified Staff
  • Consideration to Approve Non-BSEO Classified Staff Compensation and Benefits for the 2026-2027 School Year
  • Consideration to Approve Administrative Compensation and Benefits for the 2026-2027 School Year
  • Consideration to Approve the Adoption of Multi-Year, Performance-Based Contracts for Chad May, BMS-Station Campus Principal; Chelsea Hedges, Assistant Superintendent of HR & Talent Acquisition; Eric Steckling, Director of Communications; Heather Schumacher, Hough Elementary School Principal; Josh Carpenter, Assistant Superintendent of Schools; Melissa Byrne, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning; Micah Korb, Countryside Elementary School Principal; Michelle Acosta, Early Learning Center Principal; Sarah Rabe, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction & Student Performance; Steve McWilliams, Barrington High School Principal; Peg Lasiewicki, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services & Support; Travis Lobbins, BMS-Prairie Campus Principal
  • Consideration to Adopt Resolution directing the Regional Superintendent of Schools for The County of Lake, Illinois, to certify to the County Clerk of said County the question of imposing a retailers’ occupation tax and a service occupation tax to be used exclusively for school facility purposes, school resource officers, and mental health professionals, for submission to the electors of said County at the general election to be held on the 3rd day of November, 2026 – Resolution – Lake County School Facilities Sales Tax

A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live streamed on the district YouTube channel.

*Interesting to see NBC Chicago requests.

Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Big Brother, Board of Education, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Look For The Union Label, Overhead, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, South Barrington, Taxes, Traffic, Transparency, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? | Leave a Comment »

Horse Rescued from Floodwaters Along Coon Creek in Marengo

April 5, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

By Northeast Illinois Emergency Incidents

MARENGO, IL — Early Saturday morning, crews from the Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts responded to a challenging and unique rescue after a horse was found stranded in floodwaters along Coon Creek following overnight storms.

Upon arrival, crews located the animal approximately 600 feet from shore, surrounded by fast-moving water after the creek overflowed its banks. The horse had managed to find footing on a small peninsula, but the location made direct access extremely difficult. With water depths estimated at around 15 feet and a strong current present, crews were unable to simply bring the animal straight across.

An initial team deployed a boat to reach the horse, while additional personnel coordinated efforts from shore and nearby access points. A veterinarian was transported across the creek by boat to assess and begin treating the animal. The horse was suffering from significant hypothermia due to prolonged exposure to cold floodwaters. On-site care included administering medication and stabilizing the animal as crews prepared for the next phase of the rescue.

Facebook post continues here.

Posted in Animal Welfare, Topics Of Interest | Leave a Comment »

Make your garden irresistible to birds

April 5, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

A goldfinch feeding on coneflowers. (RJ Carlson/Chicago Botanic Garden)

By Tim Johnson | For the Chicago Tribune

I have developed an interest in bird-watching and would like some advice on how to attract more birds to my garden. 

— Maria Alvarez, Grayslake

I was also motivated to start bird-watching after a fun vacation sighting of a pink flamingo on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, last December. Another highlight this winter was seeing eight mourning doves feeding on the ground outside my home at one time. Winter is a good time to plan to enhance your garden with plants that will attract birds all year long. It takes more than feeders, birdhouses and a bird bath, along with some flowers for a truly bird-friendly garden. Birds need a complete habitat that includes food, shelter, nesting areas and perching spots. A good garden for birds tends to have more of a natural look. Design your garden so that there are different vertical levels, each attracting and providing something important to different bird species. Some birds prefer the canopy of tall trees, while other birds perch in the understory trees and shrubs. Different species of birds have varying requirements and preferences for nesting, eating and shelter. Try to create as many of these levels as possible in your backyard garden to attract a larger variety of birds. Birds use a stand of hemlocks in my garden for shelter while using the feeders. Even open areas of soil can be beneficial by providing an area for birds to take a dust bath.

Select plants to provide food for birds at different times of year. Fruits of different plants ripen in different seasons. For example, serviceberries provide spring-ripening fruit, red-twig dogwoods provide summer fruit, while hawthorns and crabapples provide fruit in fall and winter. I just replaced some invasive Callery pear trees with serviceberries in my garden. Perennials such as purple coneflower and grasses such as a prairie dropseed provide seed for a food source. Sunflowers are quick-growing annual flowers that produce seeds that are attractive to birds. Nectar-producing plants such as penstemon, bee balm, and columbine appeal to hummingbirds. Include a mix of evergreens in your planting to provide year-round shelter for birds. When feasible, leave some dead branches on living trees to provide something for the birds to perch on. Prune any dead branches that are safety hazards though.

Leave the leaf litter in your garden beds next fall as an easy and environmentally friendly method to recycle material and help meet some of a bird’s basic needs. Other organic materials such as small twigs, fallen seeds, fruits and berries should be left in the litter too. Many insects thrive in leaf litter and insect-eating birds will be attracted.

There are many kinds of seeds and feeders to choose from if you decide to start a feeding program. Squirrels can be a nuisance and eat more seed than birds do, so choose a squirrel-resistant feeder. We have had good luck with a cylindrical, squirrel-resistant feeder. Take time to research options, as different species of birds prefer different types of seeds and feeders, and no one type is preferred by all birds. Avoid buying bags of mixed birdseed as they tend to contain a lot of filler such as red millet, which most birds won’t eat. The filler ends up on the ground where it rots. Place your feeder in an open area where it is easy to see, 10 feet or so away from protective cover and convenient to refill. If feeders are too close to large plants, squirrels will have easy access to them. Be consistent feeding birds and they will become accustomed to your feeder. Stamp the snow down under the feeder to accommodate ground-feeding birds such as doves and dark-eyed juncos. To maximize the number of species that visit your feeders, offer a variety of food at different heights above ground.

Black oil sunflower seeds attract a wide variety of birds including cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, goldfinches, purple finches, chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches. Safflower seeds also attract a wide variety of birds, with the advantage that squirrels, blue jays, starlings, and grackles do not like this seed. Nyjer is a good seed to attract goldfinches. Nyjer is a very small, black seed best used in a feeder designed for it, which can be hung close to a viewing window under an eave. White millet seed can be spread on the ground to attract ground-feeding birds. Suet is another option for feeding birds. Suet is rendered animal fat that is usually mixed with seeds and dried fruit and sold in small cakes. It is best to place it in a cool, shaded area in amounts that the birds can eat in a few days to keep it from spoiling, so it works well for winter feeding.

For more plant advice, contact the Plant Information Service at the Chicago Botanic Garden at plantinfo@chicagobotanic.org. Tim Johnson is senior director of horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden. 

Posted in Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago Tribune, Going green, Letters to the Editor, Topics Of Interest | Leave a Comment »

How America lost its sense of humor

April 4, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

Comedian Jeff Ross, left, and host Kevin Hart pose at “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady” at the Kia Forum, May 5, 2024, in Inglewood, California. (Chris Pizzello/AP)

By Robert Lynch | Special to the Tribune

Laughter evolved as a form of play in mammals. It began as a training ground to practice predator-prey interactions. Humor emerged later, alongside language, and is still at its core risky play.

A good joke is a high-speed collision between what we know and what we think we know. By giving us space to be confused primates high on our own delusions, a good joke lets us stop pretending we’ve got it all figured out, take ourselves a little less seriously and confront, often against our will, the stupidity of it all. That’s why comedy has always been more than entertainment. It’s a socially sanctioned way of pointing out incongruities that don’t make sense and acknowledging the screws that stay loose without getting exiled for noticing them.

This is why comedians once occupied a special place in American culture. In an anxious society that turns political narratives into sacred beliefs, comedians were among the last people allowed to say what everyone else was thinking. Their job was to notice everyone marching in lockstep and break the spell.

But in a nation where partisan politics consume everything in their path, ideological conformity has started to affect Americans’ sense of humor.

You can feel the tension as the audience nervously checks whether a comedic bit is safe, whether it has been preapproved by the joke police or whether the comic is on the right team. Norm Macdonald called it a crisis of “clapter”: a humorless age in which jokes are rewarded with polite applause instead of genuine laughter.

Politics can kill comedy by turning jokes into identity tests and loyalty signals. Politics moralize and set certain beliefs apart as inviolable, while humor thrives in the gray areas between the sacred and the profane. When Dave Chappelle mocks untouchable cultural totems, such as gender identity etiquette, he’s doing something extraordinary. When he’s lecturing his audience about racial justice, he’s just another self-righteous scold doing something anyone can do.

And when late night collapses into “Donald Trump sucks,” it stops being comedy and turns into propaganda.

Comedians used to be contrarians. They bristled at authority and mocked mawkish sentimentality. They were Patton Oswalt’s brother, Matt, at the Hollywood Bowl on Christmas Eve, screaming “F— you!” at the screen in the middle of Jerry Maguire’s “cynical world” speech. Their target wasn’t left or right; it was whoever was doing the policing or pretending. When the Moral Majority was telling everyone what to say, comedians went after them. When the liberal scolds did it, they mocked them too. They embodied Groucho Marx’s motto: “Whatever it is, I’m against it,” and their goal was to expose the hypocrisies of whoever was in charge.

American humor was anti-elite. Its mission was to upset hierarchies, not reinforce them, and few things were more offensive to comedians than bootlicking.

One of my favorite moments from the special “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady” was when the host, Kevin Hart, caught Jeff Ross quietly apologizing to Brady for jokes he’d just told. Hart ripped into him: “Wow. Stop being a b—, Jeff. Just sit down. Stop kissing his ass. You OK?” Hart was reprimanding Ross for doing what is the most offensive thing a comedian can do — suck up to the most important person in the room — and enforcing an old ethic in comedy, which is not apologizing for your jokes. It was a throwback to when comedy clubs were places where people were allowed to stress-test the culture without being hauled before human resources.

Audiences stopped asking, “Is this funny?” They started asking, “Is this allowed?”

Tribalism gets the headlines, but the deeper threat is what it produces — within-group conformity and a shrinking tolerance for dissent. And although both sides celebrate their free-thinking iconoclasm, loyalty is strictly enforced. On the right, it’s “don’t tread on me” policed by a culture where one criticism of Trump can end your career. On the left, nobody’s in charge, but everyone is policing everyone else — so many rules about who can say what about whom that you need to consult a moral spreadsheet before you can make a joke.

On both sides, Americans have lost the ability to think beyond their own performance. The whole charade bears the mark of arrested development: the nervous conformity of a society stuck in adolescence. The old danger was a comic bombing. The new one is being cast as a bad person.

Never before has every half-drunk joke, every stumble of language, been so on the record; never before has the moral climate been so skittish — so quick to litigate tone, ignore intent and presume motive.

America was once the funniest place on earth. But as our culture turned life into a branding exercise and started treating discomfort as danger, we lost our tolerance for risky play. And as audiences are increasingly confused what a comedian thinks, with what he thinks is funny, the incentives shifted from surprise to safety. American humor has always been a tool for questioning orthodoxy, challenging certainty and keeping people from mistaking their sacred stories for reality. When that function collapses and every joke is screened for loyalty, society loses one of its best safeguards against tribal conformity.

Real laughter belongs to a culture willing to admit it might be wrong. A society that can’t tolerate being offended forfeits one of the clearest ways it has to signal that it hasn’t turned its beliefs into idols. When we can’t laugh at ourselves and comedians are no longer willing to risk offending us, there’s nobody left to break the spell.

Robert Lynch is a biological anthropologist at Penn State who has published peer-reviewed research on humor’s evolutionary function.

Source

Posted in Chicago Tribune, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Letters to the Editor, OP/Ed, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Part 4)

April 3, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

Village of Barrington Hills board members (l-r) JC Clarke, Laura AB Ekstrom, Brian Cecola, Marsha McClary, David Riff and Jessica Hoffmann. Not pictured: Thomas Strauss.

Our Village Board of Trustees met Monday evening. This marked the third meeting since their December 2025 meeting when residents were blindsided to learn, “110 Acre AI data center campus pitched to Village Board.”

The first speaker Monday night expressed their continued dissatisfaction with the Board as follows:

“All right. Good evening. My name is Aaron Becker. By now you probably know who I am.

I’m speaking tonight in regards to the Village attorney’s letter in response to my questions from January 27th,and I’ve got a couple other comments as well.

I really appreciate the Village responding in righting to my quick response. However, I ask respectfully and directly why several of my explicit questions and requests were not answered at all. They were just omitted, so… .

The response explains why it believes its past actions were lawful, but it does not confirm whether any of the safeguards I requested would be implemented. My question tonight is simple: was the omission intentional?

In the Village Summer 2021 newsletter, residents were told by Trustee Ekstrom, she’s not here today, and I’m going to quote her, ‘Most residents know that they can attend the Village Board meetings, many may not realize that committee and commission meetings are also open to the public. Our Village is a community above all else and having input from our residents reflected in our decision making is not only welcome but encouraged.’

I’ll say this much, I genuinely appreciate that perspective and I believe her. With that in mind, here’s some feedback:

Please confirm that all off-record communications with Brennan Development Group will stop.

Please stop project specific merit discussions absent of formal filings.

Please confirm that unsupported tax claims will not be repeated by the Village without substantiation.

Please confirm that records will be preserved.

Please do everything in your power to maintain true independence of the Plan Commission.

I’d also like the Board to reflect on some of the statements Board of Trustees members have made in the past. In the same Summer 2021 newsletter, residents were told by Trustee Strauss that quote, ‘We live in a special community, and the Board is committed to maintaining our heritage.’

And Trustee Riff said, ‘I would like to make certain that we remain focused on the budget, protect our residential zoning rights (or rather zoning laws), and ensure that our community remains safe and secure for all residents.’

So those are strong words. And they matter. So I’ll ask each of you as Trustee members, do you believe that based on all of the emails we have now seen and read that you have honored those commitments? That you are protecting our residential zoning rights. And that you are maintaining our heritage as a Village.

I’ll be honest, I don’t. I read all the emails. I don’t believe it.

You have to go to bed at night. You have to look yourself in the mirror and say that you believe you’ve protected the residential zoning rights with your actions and your words.

My wife spoke last month about actions and words and holding people accountable when their actions and words don’t align. And that’s what we’re here doing asking of our leaders for continuity between their actions and their words.

That’s all I’m asking. When you say you’re going to do something, follow through and do it. Please.

So, to summarize, respond to the five requests I had in the letter either acknowledging you made a mistake and how you’re going to fix it, or that you made no mistake.

Either way we deserve clarity we deserve responses to those.

That’s my comment. Thank you very much.”

The audio recordings from the March 30, 2026, Board of Trustees meeting can be found here.

Related: “Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Follow-up),” “Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Part 3),” “Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Part 2),” “Do you trust our Board of Trustees? We don’t. But you decide for yourself once we have finished. (Part 1),” “110 Acre AI data center campus pitched to Village Board”

 

Posted in AI, Audio Recordings, Clown Car, Comprehensive Plan, Crime, Data Center, Deception, Dumb and Dumber, ePacket Agendas, Ethics, FOIA, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Disconnection, Land Use, Lennie, New Normal?, Newsletter, OMA, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Open Meetings Act, Perjury, Plan Commission, Politics, Privacy, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Simple Minds, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Transcripts, Transparency, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Government, Village President, Zoning Board | 3 Comments »

Man arrested during bank robbery in Hoffman Estates

April 2, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

By Andy Koval | WGN9

A man was taken into custody during a bank robbery Wednesday morning in Hoffman Estates.

Police responded to a Huntington Bank branch (in Jewel Osco), located in the 1400 block of Palatine Road, at around 9:15 a.m. 911 callers reported that a man displayed a gun and demanded money from bank employees.

Officers from the Hoffman Estates Police Department and then Inverness Police Department responded within one minute of the dispatch call, according to police.

Officers made entry into the bank and took the man into custody without further incident.

No injuries were reported and the man was transferred into the custody of the FBI.

Article continues here.

Posted in Crime, Jewel-Osco | Leave a Comment »

Barrington Honors 55 Vietnam War Veterans at Evergreen Cemetery

April 2, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

Attendees at the National Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Service on March 29, 2026, placed a U.S. flag and Vietnam War commemorative flag on the graves of 55 Vietnam War veterans at Barrington’s Evergreen Cemetery.

On Palm Sunday afternoon, the Signal Hill Chapter, NSDAR, together with the Veterans of Lake Barrington Shores, American Legion Palatine Post 690, and local veterans, gathered at Evergreen Cemetery in Barrington, IL, to honor all veterans—men and women—of the Vietnam War era. The National Vietnam War Veterans Day Memorial Service took place at 1:30 p.m. on March 29, 2026.

The ceremony featured inspirational remarks from Todd Sholeen, Village Trustee, Village of Barrington; Bill Bishop, President of the Veterans of Lake Barrington Shores; Jesse D. Rojo, Chair of Illinois Veterans for Change, Member of the Barrington American Legion and Barrington Area Veterans Fraternity group; and Mark Cramer, Commander of American Legion Palatine Post 690. Opening remarks were delivered by Signal Hill Chapter, NSDAR Regent Ruth Groth, while closing remarks were given by event Chair Joyce Wright.

Veteran Mary Arvidson of the Eli Skinner Chapter, NSDAR, played Taps at the end of the service. Both the United States and Vietnam Veteran flags were placed on the fifty-five graves of Vietnam Era veterans. Each veteran was individually honored with a reading of their biography, placing a flag while saying their name aloud, expressing gratitude for their service, sharing a moment of silence, and delivering a salute in their memory.

During the event, Vietnam veterans in attendance were invited to participate in a pinning ceremony to recognize their service. A National Vietnam War Veterans Day Memorial Service will take place again next year at Evergreen Cemetery on March 29, 2027.

The Signal Hill Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) was founded in Barrington, IL in 1972. NSDAR is a volunteer women’s service organization headquartered in Washington, DC.

DAR members promote historic preservation, education, patriotism and conservation via commemorative events, scholarships and educational initiatives, citizenship programs, service to veterans, meaningful community service, and more.

Since its founding in 1890 over one million women have joined NSDAR. Membership is open to any woman aged eighteen and over who can prove lineal descent from a Patriot of the American Revolution. For more information about the Barrington, IL-based chapter, visit signalhilldar.com.

Posted in Press Release, Signal Hill NSDAR | Leave a Comment »

State vs. local property tax debate rages in Illinois

April 1, 2026 by Barrington Hills Observer

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

Gov. J.B. Pritzker says property taxes are a local issue, but a county treasurer’s report says hefty tax increases are allowed by state law.

The governor was asked about property tax relief at an event in Chicago on Monday.

“Well, I want to remind you that property taxes are not determined by the state of Illinois, but rather by local governments, indeed, local units of government, including school boards, park boards, library boards, municipalities, etc,” Pritzker said.

The governor then pointed to the minority party in Illinois.

“So I think people sometimes get confused. I know the Republican Party in Illinois is quite confused and thinks that this is a state issue when it is actually a local issue,” Pritzker said.

Americans for Prosperity Illinois Deputy State Director Brian Costin said the governor’s statement is false.

“It is absolutely a state issue. If Gov. Pritzker doesn’t understand that, he doesn’t understand what the state constitution is about and that local governments are created by the state government,” Costin told The Center Square.

A report by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said loopholes in state law allowed local officials to raise taxes at twice the rate of inflation and also higher than wage growth from 1994 to 2025.

Article continues here.

Related: “Editorial: Maria Pappas’ property tax numbers don’t lie. Governance in Illinois has been a stark failure for 30 years,” “Cook County property taxes doubled the rate of inflation in past 30 years, Treasurer Maria Pappas study finds”

Posted in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Fat Bastard, Look For The Union Label, Perjury, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, The Center Square, Unions | 1 Comment »

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