The Safe Routes to School program faces a ridiculous hurdle in our state. We have the federal money available and allocated to add sidewalks, crosswalks and other improvements, but it's being held up at the state level, which could result in many projects not being completed before the start of the next school year.
In their current state, too many areas are not safe for children to walk to school, so many are bused or driven for short distances that they could otherwise, giving them more exercise. It's bad enough when clueless people destroy existing sidewalks for selfish reasons. (Click here for earlier story and here for photo.) If you're interested in a healthy streets initiative, click here for more info.
The icing on the cake is the Illinois legislators' proposal to vote themselves a pay raise while we're facing a significant budget deficit and they failed us so miserably on budget negotiations last year. Sheesh! Ya gotta earn it, folks!
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