Pulse: Holy moly! Religious holidays conflict with Election Day
May 27, 2012 9:28PM
Will County Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots
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Updated: July 3, 2012 9:02AM
When the state bumped next year’s Election Day from the first Tuesday in April to the second Tuesday to avoid a conflict with Passover, it created a problem with Easter.
The schedule would require all 30 early voting sites in Will County to be open on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, said County Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots. And the county clerk’s office would be open for early voting on Easter Sunday.
Voots has proposed allowing more evening voting that week instead, and she’s asking local legislators for help. Sunday voting hasn’t been too popular with the public.
“During the last election in March, I only had 10 people come in to vote all day long on Sunday, and I was one of them,” Voots said. “My job is to make sure people come out and vote and having it on Easter Sunday, I don’t think it’s going to encourage voter turnout.”
‘No’ on gambling
State Sen. Pat McGuire, D-Joliet, said he will vote against a bill to expand gambling in the state when it comes to the Senate this week. In its current form, the bill would “oversaturate” the Chicagoland gambling market by creating five more casinos, McGuire said. The bill could reduce employment and revenue at Joliet’s two casinos, especially a plan for a south suburban casino and slot machines at horse tracks, he added.
The bill was approved by the House on Wednesday by a vote of 69 to 47.
State Reps. Larry Walsh Jr., D-Joliet; Emily McAsey, D-Lockport; and Renee Kosel, R-New Lenox, voted against the bill. House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, and state Reps. Pam Roth, R-Morris, and Lisa Dugan, D-Kankakee, voted in favor of the bill.
Do what with the hind?
“I’d like to welcome everyone to the 456th year of the awards ceremony. Well, it seems like it’s been that long sometimes.” — Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas’ start to the department’s luncheon on May 17. Another longtime tradition was Kaupas’ self-admitted butchering of “heimlich manuever,” which quickly became “hugged” to prevent obscenity as he presented lifesaving awards.
Riding goat-tails?
A group of hikers walked through Joliet on Friday during their 2,000-mile journey to Wrigley Field along Route 66. They were hauling a goat, in order to break the losing curse of the Chicago Cubs. They also were raising money for cancer research.
Their intentions are good. But the Cubs’ curse might not be broken this year.
What about other teams who have played at Wrigley? Will they benefit from this?
The Bears have played at Wrigley: Maybe this will help on third down and goat to go.
The Blackhawks have played at Wrigley: Maybe they should hire a goalie with a goatee.
The Sox have played at Wrigley: Do goat guys wear black?
Bruce Springsteen is going to play Wrigley, and he was baaa’hn in the USA.
Goat: A life
Good intentions aside, let’s look into this “goat curse” thing a little deeper. It seems to be a fixation with Cubs fans in general.
Maybe the “goat curse” needs to be a little more like Route 66 itself: Fabled, but defunct.
Do you blame a goat for not winning? Do you blame a single fan for not winning? Do you blame some pitcher in Atlanta for not winning?
Get real.
It’s funny the way life turns out. The biggest winners are not always the World Series champions. There certainly are enough losers in those ranks. The biggest winners are the ones — win or lose — who don’t make excuses.
That’s what being baaa’hn in the USA is all about.
Cindy Wojdyla Cain, Brian Stanley and Tony Graf contributed to Pulse.
