Since the Bears will be in the news even more than usual till the next coach to blame is hired I wanted to make a point. Whenever the Bears are spoken or read about, you will hear the term “storied franchise.” They are among the founding teams of the NFL although they were in Decatur the fist year. Chicago’s first NFL team was actually the Chicago Cardinals, which are now in Arizona.
But here’s the real story. The object of any professional sports team is to win its league championship. That is a successful season. Second is still a losing year as I define it. In the years 1921,1932,1933, 1940,1941,1943,1946,1963 and 1985 the Bears had winning seasons. Championship winning years. The NFL started in 1920, so in 104 years of competition the “storied franchise” has won nine championships. So what is so storied about them? For 95 years they have had losing seasons? Seems to me the story of this “storied franchise” is one of losing. Exactly what the current team is doing. Living up to its heritage.
— Frank Chambers Jr, Chicago
Selling out
Thank you, Bob Kustra (“Morning Joe’ hosts forgot their viewers on MSNBC when they visited Donald Trump,” Dec. 3) for taking a stand from a serious and committed Republican point of view. Sharing your opinion with the voters of Illinois and elsewhere reminds us that thinking people who know, understand and value the Constitution still exist and have not hidden under the “I don’t want to be labeled” rock. I do want to be labeled as one who values the life that living under a rule of law that emanates from the Constitution, and is supported by those public servants in elected offices who serve at the will of the people. Fortitude and commitment to those values need to be evident also by those who provide our news and entertainment. Shame on the hosts of “Morning Joe” who turned coat just like Benedict Arnold when the opposing side seemed to gain power. Like Arnold, they lost their commitment to the values that echo in our Constitution, selling out to those who seek personal power rather than providing true service to the United States.
— Barbara A. Kalina, Batavia
Old Town development
Regarding Edward Keegan’s review of big real estate developments (“Are Chicago’s latest big projects too big to succeed?” Dec. 1), please add Fern Hill’s Old Town Canvas to the list of big projects that are not a good fit in the neighborhood.
For over three years, this land assemblage and air rights play has been embraced by big money including Walgreens, the Moody Church, Piper’s Alley and politicians who seek to make Old Town their next big development win.
They persist in a quest to radically alter zoning by planning humongous high-rises in a historical district.They expect huge windfall profits from the views and high-priced rents from a 44-story sliver of a high-rise that is too big, on too small of a site, and impairs transportation access.
Totally ignored are the deleterious impacts on neighborhood schools, the business community, and public health and safety. Such master plans show a disregard for what the neighborhood wants — the preservation of Old Town.
The negative impacts on neighborhood and cross-town traffic and on existing property owner values are being ignored as Fern Hill pursues this development.
It’s time to build our neighborhood in the traditional size and scale as outlined by Mr. Keegan. Those legacy structures fit sites, match the times we live in, meet the personal budgets of owners and renters and preserve the goodwill of the community. Time to set aside the fiction that high-rise affordable housing is the only solution or that we will never see construction cranes and jobs again. But we will — at a different scale and in large numbers.
The solution is staring right in front of us. It is to make good use of the land in Chicago with new construction and jobs on a scale in all neighborhoods. Much can be done without squeezing density and traffic into established neighborhoods like Old Town. Instead, developers should take the risk of restoring and rebuilding in the underinvested neighborhoods.
Time to stop appeasing developers seeking to build more high-priced rental units and empty billionaire condos in the sky in prime neighborhoods with public subsidies. Time to get back to the real Chicago: a city that works and grows. Let us build what works where it is needed and offer real estate ownership opportunities. That is a feasible plan for all, not somebody’s master plan.
— Timothy J. Carew, Chicago
Fluoride editorial
Your editorial on December 2 discussing fluoridation of drinking water was irresponsible. (“Oak Park, Evanston and Aurora were guinea pigs in a huge fluoride experiment. Now what?”)
A president does not deserve a “measure of deference” when he nominates someone for leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services who believes that vaccines are not safe and that fluoride is an industrial waste that causes cancer. Lives are at stake, and nominating someone who is so misinformed about basic public health does not call for deference.
Moreover, your bias shows when you suggest that the nation’s awful experience with COVID-19 was the result of “policy errors, overreaches and miscommunication during the pandemic” by government scientists, and that public health officials are “mostly a left-leaning crew”. What leads you to believe that public health officials are left-leaning, and why is that even relevant?
— James Sim, Evergreen Park
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