Dear Gentle Readers,
It’s been a hit or miss year for the Chronicle, so if you’ve stayed faithful (and my stats say some of you, at least, have indeed) you’ll have noticed the dismal lack of posts.
It’s been an interesting year, and the curse of ‘May you live in interesting times’ is a strong one. I’ve had my hands full, and the Chronicle- despite the best of intentions (and we all know what they say about that!)- has suffered the consequences of my interesting times.
There has been less of a need for the Chronicle to, well, chronicle. With the addition of Brian Slodysco to the TribLocal team and Nick Vogel to The Downers Grove Reporter, Downers Grove gained two young and enthusiastic reporters who aggressively cover our town. It seemed redundant to write yet another story on the village council passing its consent agenda when the two of them competently report the story.
And, too, my focus has changed. I’m now writing a column over at the TribLocal and that’s taken a chunk of my time.
I’ve been thinking lately about the Chronicle, and whether it was time to close up shop or to change focus. It’s always been important to me to get the facts straight, and I’ve tried to keep my opinion out of a story unless the distinction was clearly obvious. So often, however, the story posted isn’t the one I’ve wanted to write.
Just like everyone else, I’ve got an opinion. (And, yes, I know the old joke.) It’s an informed opinion, and I pride myself (fairly or not) on basing my opinions on the facts. In the days ahead, I’ll be working on changing the Chronicle to something that is distinctly more my own- for good or bad- and less a redux of today’s news.
I hope you’ll stick with me through the journey.
To kick it off, and because my inbox is starting to get filled with emails about the upcoming April 5 election, I’m going to add a Letters to the Editor page. Send me your letters about the candidates and the issues in this election and I’ll post them here.
A few rules. As always, I believe we should know who’s talking to us, so please send your name and phone number with your letter. Your name will be published, but not your phone number. I will, however, call and verify your information.
Your letters need to be civil and to the point. No potshots, no name calling, no nastiness. It won’t be posted if you make a personal attack on a candidate. Kids are ALWAYS off limits. Remember the old adage of “issues, not people” and you’ll do just fine.
Comments will be turned off for all letters to the Editor. Readers should be able to submit a letter without feeling like doing so is an automatic bid to a shouting match of he said/she said. Have a different opinion than one expressed by an author? Write a letter of your own!
I’ll print your letters in the order received. Send them to editor@downersgrovechronicle.com.
I’m looking forward to reading your points of view.
