Naperville is one of three towns hosting a meeting Wednesday that aims to organize opposition to Canadian National Railway's proposed acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway.

The "call to action" meeting is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Waubonsie Valley High School's Gold Campus, 1305 Long Grove Dr., Aurora.

The three towns are encouraging residents to write letters to the Surface Transportation Board and federal legislators, the release said. For sample letters, addresses to the Surface Transportation Board and Illinois' federal legislators and additional information on the proposed purchase, visit www.naperville.il.us

The Board of Commissioners for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County will hold its next planning session in the evening instead of its regular morning meeting time.

The planning session will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the district headquarters, 3S580 Naperville Road in Wheaton.

"It's an opportunity to see the forest preserve business conducted by their elected representatives - the commissioners - and also learn a bit about the exciting programs and projects the district is undertaking this summer" said Bill Weidner, director of public affairs for the district.

Early this year, the re-election of U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale, seemed a slam dunk.

But then Democrat Bill Foster won a special election in the sacred GOP domain formerly ruled by U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Biggert's district neighbor, Republican Jerry Weller, announced he would not seek re-election, tossing the 11th Congressional District race into contention for the Democrats.

And then gas prices spiked. The economy nose-dived. Illinois' own Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president on a platform of "change."

Suddenly, being a suburban Republican whose voting record consistently aligns with the Bush White House is less of a slam dunk.

Any commuter who uses the downtown Naperville train station to get to Chicago each weekday will tell you there's a parking problem. The city has a nine-year-long list with 1,740 people on it waiting for parking permits, and if you want a spot in daily parking, you had better get there early.

"You have to get here basically by 6 a.m.," commuter Simone Schuppan said. "Otherwise you're out of luck."

JOLIET -- Will County Executive Larry Walsh has been named chairman of the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago Will County Heroes Campaign.

Walsh will help the Greater Chicago Red Cross raise funds for local disaster relief efforts and community programs in Will County.

Walsh's career spans more than 35 years of working in public service.

"I am truly honored to be working with this great organization and am committed to do everything I can to raise the necessary dollars to ensure a better quality of life for the community," said Walsh.

So let's celebrate the Fourth of July by honoring the troops.

More than 90 percent of us Americans have never served in the military. As chairman of SupportOurTroops.Org, I am one of them, representative of the rest. And on behalf of all of us whom the troops protect, I thank them.

To my fellow civilians I pose the following question: Your neighbor leaves his family to go off and protect your family; morally, what should you do for his family? For her family?

Naperville-based Edward Hospital officials believe Plainfield still needs a full-service hospital, despite entertaining an idea for a women's hospital at a state board meeting this week.

Edward officials went before the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board to propose the latest version of Edward Plainfield Hospital, a $234 million, 162-bed hospital at 24600 W. 127th St. The plan was first proposed in 2003 and rejected twice by the planning board. Tuesday it was deferred to the board's Aug. 12 and 13 meeting.

During the discussion, acting board Chairwoman Susana Lopatka pointed out the area's need for obstetrical beds and asked whether Edward had considered building a women's hospital.

It is encouraging that the Naperville Park District board is looking for help in working together more productively.

It is equally important that it pays close attention to the requirements and the spirit of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

This law lays out in very specific terms what can and cannot be discussed in closed sessions. It further specifies what constitutes a meeting and makes clear that what may begin as a social occasion or an authorized closed meeting can quickly turn into a prohibited discussion.

t has been two decades — going back to the year that Barack Obama first entered law school — since Illinois elected a Republican presidential candidate.

And with a Chicagoan in waiting for the Democratic nomination, it’s more of a lock that Obama will win Illinois than the Cubs finishing atop the NL Central. In fact, many poll watchers, including the very detailed RealClearPolitics.com aren’t even listing polling results from Illinois.

But what exactly will the Obama factor mean for the likes of folks such as Debbie Halvorson or Emily McAsey, candidates running for lower offices, who, like Obama, happen to have a D next to their names?

The backroom poker player, on the other hand, is more cautious and self-absorbed. Card games may be social, but they are played in solitude. No need for drama. The quiet card counter is king, and only a novice banks on luck. In this game, a good bluff trumps blind faith, and the studied observer beats the showman. So it is fitting that the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, raked in so many pots in his late-night games with political friends.

For centuries, the nation's political leaders have loved their games of chance. Andrew Jackson owned fighting cocks and raced horses. Richard Nixon helped finance his first congressional race with his World War II poker winnings. Teddy Roosevelt noted that the professional gamblers he knew "usually made good soldiers." But even among this crowd, McCain and Obama are distinctive. For both men, games of chance have been not just a hobby but also a fundamental feature in their development as people and politicians. For Obama, weekly poker games with lobbyists and fellow state senators helped cement his position as a rising star in Illinois politics. For McCain, jaunts to the craps table helped burnish his image as a political hot dog who relished the thrill of a good fight, even if the risk of failure was high.

Hopefully, this is the last time that we have to state our opposition to a property tax rebate by Will County.

With a general election in less than five months, such a proposal could be perceived as a gimmick, especially when each household would probably get less than $100.

Sure, the county is receiving additional sales tax revenue from state approval of the mass transit bill. About another $20 million in revenue is projected annually.

While in the midst of discussing a dirt stockpile at the Naperville Crossing property Tuesday night, council members (Republican) John Rosanova and (Republican) Richard Furstenau got into a shouting match.

"You're out of order!" Rosanova said sternly.

"No, you're out of order!" Furstenau shouted back.

Councilman Kenn Miller, who was acting as moderator for Mayor A. George Pradel, had to call for order to stop the verbal jousting. Pradel recused himself from the issue because his son is an employee at First National Bank, which owns the site.

It was a rough weekend for Plainfield Township Assessor Richard Martin.

Martin, who is also a member of the Plainfield Public Library board, apparently spent a couple days in the Will County Jail after being arrested on his birthday on a felony charge of criminal damage to property.

Plainfield police arrested Martin, 62, of 13616 Savanna Drive in Plainfield, on Sunday after a Saturday incident at a Plainfield superstore in the 13500 block of Route 59.

The state has long contended that there are sufficient hospital beds to serve Plainfield and the surrounding area, even though the population there has been growing in leaps and bounds for years now and Edward keeps identifying the need.

Will County taxpayers and voters should be aware of recent action taken by the office of the Illinois attorney general against Republican members of the Will County Forest Preserve Board. These members were charged with violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act after they held a secret ballot at a caucus meeting for the purpose of selecting a president of the Will County Forest Preserve District. The choice was made at this Republicans-only meeting rather than at the regular Will County Forest Preserve Board meeting where citizens and Democratic forest preserve members could voice their opinions. Not surprisingly, the person chosen was one of the Republican board members.

JOLIET -- During a county board meeting that occasionally became heated and divided along political lines, famed forensic pathologist Michael Baden talked Thursday about the merits of investigating deaths with a coroner vs. a medical examiner.

Although he is from New York, Baden is fairly well known in Will County. He is the former chief medical examiner of New York City and now serves as the chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police.

"This is nothing but a political hatchet job," VanOver said, implying that some Republicans were trying to ruin O'Neil because of his party affiliation.

We applaud Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow's office for attempting to teach the county's locally elected officials about requirements of the state's open meetings, freedom of information and ethics laws.

This is not to accuse officials of violating those laws wholesale, but rather to acknowledge that the rules of the game are complex and the members of boards and commissions need to have an understanding of the laws lest they accidentally break them.

Officials in Will County are touting recent environmental programs, including a proposal to establish its own household hazardous waste recycling facility instead of contributing toward operation of one in Naperville.

In May, the Waste Services Division of the Will County Land Use Department hosted various recycling and waste collection events and educated hundreds of school children and members of the community on how to "go green."

"I am so proud of what we have done in Will County to not only educate others on the importance of a healthy environment, but to actually walk the walk as well," Will County Executive Larry Walsh said in a news release. "We have come a long way in the last few years when it comes to going green as a county. It is a top priority."

Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow's office is inviting elected and appointed officials back to school.

On the syllabus is a course designed show officials the ins and outs of the state's open meetings, freedom of information and ethics laws.

"We get quite a few inquiries from elected and appointed officials on what their responsibilities are," said Mary Tatroe, the chief of the civil division for Glasgow's office. "Instead of answering each question as they come in, we're hoping to get the information out there for their use."

WASHINGTON — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton brought her campaign for the White House to an end on Saturday with a rousing farewell to thousands of supporters here and an emotional and unequivocal call for her voters to get behind Senator Barack Obama, the man who defeated her for the Democratic nomination.

For 28 minutes, standing alone on a stage in the historic National Building Museum, Mrs. Clinton spoke not only about the importance of electing Mr. Obama, but also about the extent to which her campaign was a milestone for women. She urged women who had supported her — who had turned out at her headquarters, flocked to her rallies and poured into the polls to vote for her — not to take the wrong lesson from her loss.

Naperville Schools for Our Children will not file an appeal to its suit a judge threw out that sought to block the construction of Metea Valley High School at its Eola Road location.

Citing a lengthy appeals process, the parents group decided not to pursue further action after DuPage County Judge Kenneth Popejoy recently dismissed their case.

"Even if we were to get a favorable decision in three, or four or five months, a lot more money would be spent," the group's attorney, Shawn Collins, said Friday.

JOLIET -- Although some county officials want to cut property taxes, there might be pitfalls.

The rebate could be less than the cost of distributing the money, for one thing.

The members of the county board's budget review committee discussed the proposal during their Thursday meeting and the possibility of accompanying problems.

WHEATON -- Indian Prairie School District 204 could be ordered to pay $5 million to the owners of the land it chose not to build its third high school on.

Totals are in for the Brach and Brodie trusts - $2.2 million and $2.8 million, respectively - for what each says are reimbursable costs to defend the eminent domain suit the district brought against the owners of the 55-acre parcel, at 75th Street and the future extension of Commons Drive in Aurora.

NAPERVILLE — Dianne McGuire, the Democratic candidate for the Illinois House 96th District, will open a campaign office Thursday night along Route 59 in Naperville.

The 96th District covers Aurora’s far East Side and parts of Naperville.

McGuire, a retired teacher and community activist from Naperville, said the office will serve as a hub for campaign volunteers and allow McGuire to meet residents of Naperville and Aurora.

JOLIET -- It wasn't unexpected, but local Democrats are thrilled Barack Obama will be the party's presidential candidate in November.

Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, sealed the nomination Tuesday, and could become the nation's first black president. Hillary Rodham Clinton, formerly a foe, is maneuvering for the vice presidential spot on his fall ticket.

"I am so, so happy for him," Will County Executive Larry Walsh said Tuesday. "This man has done an unbelievable job to get his message out across the country ... It's been a remarkable ride."

ST. PAUL, Minn. - In a moment bearing history's weight and the future's promise, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois claimed the Democratic nomination for president Tuesday night to cap a long, daunting but ultimately successful quest to be the first African-American candidate ever to lead a major party bid for the White House.

The trajectory of the career of the man who only four years ago was serving in the state legislature in Springfield has been as rapid as any in American politics, featuring a blend of celebrity, youthful appeal and gift for rhetoric that could attract crowds by the tens of thousands across the nation.