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Writers
and staff
Lincoln Daily News.com
601 Keokuk St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
TEL: 217-732-7443
FAX: 217-732-9630
Lincoln Daily News publishes daily news about the Lincoln/Logan County area on
the Internet at www.lincolndailynews.com.
(We are not a print publication.) All subscriptions are free!
Our mission:
The mission of Lincoln Daily News is to tell the stories of Logan County in a contemporaneous manner, with lively writing and a predilection for simple truth fairly told.
Lincoln Daily News seeks a relationship with the good people of Logan County that is honest,
neighborly and never patronizing.
Lincoln Daily News presents news within a full context that contributes to understanding.
Lincoln Daily News is more interested in the marketplace of ideas than the competition of personalities. Without shrinking from the bold delivery of unvarnished fact,
Lincoln Daily News operates from the premise that God's creatures deserve the presumption of right motive.
Lincoln Daily News eschews malice and cynicism; it approaches every person with dignity and every subject with equanimity. In short,
Lincoln Daily News informs, stimulates and entertains.
Content:
The articles published in
Lincoln Daily News are the result of
research and interviews. Any opinions expressed are those of
the writers.
Corrections:
Please contact us by phone, fax, mail or e-mail with any
information about mistakes, typos or erroneous information.
If the error is in an item which is still in the paper, we will
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Lincoln Daily News provides daily news, sports, features and commentary on Lincoln, Logan
County and the surrounding area.
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Our staff:
Managing editor: Jan Youngquist
ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com
Copy editor and writer: Mary Krallmann
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[to
top of second column]
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Board
races lack real choices
1-10-01
To
the editor:
Mike
Fax mentions that there is only one contested city council race,
but I would not [say] that, in effect, for the last several county
board races, the same situation has been in effect. To my memory,
in the Republican primary for several years, there usually
has been only one more candidate than there have been open seats
for the board, and it has been the same in the general election,
because there is usually only one Democrat running for office, at
best.
I
try to be an informed voter, but when you have eight people
running for seven offices and all saying about the same thing, it
is pretty hard to see much of a difference. In effect, you
do not choose who to elect, you choose who to reject. It
becomes a glorified popularity contest, and I find that to be a
fairly bad basis for choosing our officials.
One
weakness of at-large elections is that at-large elected officials
feel no compulsion to try to be responsive to the voters in their
district, because they have no district. They do say that
they try to serve the entire county, but the city council also
serves the entire city as well as their district [ward] to whom
they are responsible.
I
would also ask — How often is there a contested primary
race for any office that we vote on at any level? Contested races
in primaries have become fairly rare. The only choice is often in
the general election, if you have a strong two-party system, and
we know that in Logan County the Democrats do not run well and do
not often contest races even in the general election.
Mike
says, "Be careful. You might get what you wished
for." All I can say is that the present electoral
situation has already left a very bad taste in my mouth, and
actually changing it can be no worse and could be a lot better.
David
Smith
New look?
1-10-01
To
the editor:
Is
LDN experimenting with a new look? I appreciate LDN's ongoing
efforts to improve, but I do want to say that I miss having the
lead article and/or photo come up when LDN comes up as my home
page. Sometimes I don't take the time to click on "today's
stories," but I read them if they're already on my screen
(and often click for the rest of the story).
I
also find this format hard to look at because there are so many
different typestyles and graphics, including graphics that overlay
type.
Just
thought some feedback would be helpful.
Jan
Schumacher
Editor’s
response:
LDN
is experimenting with its front page look. The changes will be
taking place over the next few weeks. We encourage readers to
write with their opinions.
Do
you like seeing a big picture and caption on the front page?
Would
you rather just see clean, crisp, all-alike section banners for
the sections that are in use that day?
Or
do you want to see custom-designed section banners used in much
the same manner as in the past?
Click
here to let us know.
The
numbers show that more people from outside Lincoln than from the
city have been on the Logan County Board, Hurley says
Editorial
note:
The
process of electing Logan County Board members will be on the
agenda of the board's legislative committee when it meets Tuesday,
Jan. 9.
Once
every 10 years, by law, the board must address the topic and vote
to maintain the current 'at-large' process or switch to the
members being elected from districts, based upon population.
[Excerpt
from LDN, Top Stories, Jan. 5, 2001, "Should Logan County
continue to elect its representatives ‘at-large’?"]
A
former Logan County Board member has written to provide some facts
about the locality from which the members have come since the
board was established in 1972. Dick Hurley writes in regard to the
upcoming district or at-large issue that may go to a vote on the
April ballot.
1-9-00
To
the editor:
The
membership and chairmanship of the Logan County Board have been
dominated by people outside the city of Lincoln.
Of
the 46 people who have served on the board since its inception in
1972, 27 have come from outside the city. Only 19 were from within
the city. Since 1972, 12 people have been chairman of the Logan
County Board. Nine of these reside outside the city. Only three
have been Lincoln residents.
Even
the present chairman of the Logan County Board resides outside the
city limits. He cannot vote for the mayor of Lincoln and cannot
serve as a Lincoln alderman. Chairmanship of the Logan County
Board has been in the hands of Lincoln residents for only six
years, while chairmen from outside the city have controlled the
chairmanship for 22 years.
The
Logan County Board of Supervisors, which preceded the Logan County
Board, decided that the Logan County Board would be elected
at-large, and not from township districts as the Board of
Supervisors had been. Evidently, from the experience with
government from districts, they saw the wisdom of at-large
elections.
The
at-large election of county board members has served the county
well. It makes all members of the county board responsible to the
whole county and not to a small segment or district.
If
a person is reasonably well known, has a reputation for integrity
and gets out into all areas of the county of Logan, that person
will be elected. A good example of that truth is a present member
of the board. He is a newer member, lives in the northwest area of
the county, has a good name, works hard, is known for integrity
and got out in two general elections and campaigned. And in both
general elections he garnered the highest number of votes of all
candidates.
Every
10 years the Logan County Board is directed by state statute to
make the determination as to how its members will be chosen — at
large or from districts. For the decades of the ’80s and ’90s,
the Logan County Board made the decision to stay with the at-large
selection of its members. That method has been, and is, serving
well the county of Logan and its people.
The
myth that the county board over the years has been dominated by
Lincoln residents is just that — a myth. The facts paint a
totally different picture.
If
the system isn’t broke — don’t fix it.
Richard
"Dick" Hurley
Lincoln
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Please send your letters by e-mail to ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com
or by U.S. postal mail to:
Letters to the Editor
Lincoln Daily News
601 Keokuk St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
Letters must include the writer's name,
telephone number, mailing address and/or e-mail address (we will not publish
address or phone number information).
Lincoln Daily News reserves the right to edit letters to reduce their size or to correct obvious errors.
Lincoln Daily News reserves the right to reject any letter for any
reason. Lincoln Daily News will publish as many acceptable letters as space allows.
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