Roman Berger - Senior Reporter
Podcast: This or That St. Patty’s edition
The luck of the Irish are with podcast hosts Roman Berger, Leah Fetro, Ainslee Gerardot, and Ethan Monahan as they talk about the ups and downs of everyone's favorite March holiday: St. Patrick's Day! Listen in for their take on dying the Chicago River green, local parades, and celebrating the holiday even if you're not really Irish.
To vote or not to vote: Tomorrow is Oswego’s primary election day
In common news coverage, more focus is placed on the Presidential elections every four years than any representation of local elections and the candidates running for local office, much less primaries. However, voting in a local election actually ends up having more local impact than a national election. “This will be my first time voting, so I am excited,” said OH senior Hassan Lawal. “It is important now for young people to vote because we are the future, [[and]] it’s important to vote in local elections because those are elections that impact you most.” Local elections, and primaries, which determine which people end up on each party’s ballot in November, are just as important as the bigger national and presidential elections, but they are often less well-advertised, and as a result have lower voter turnout.
Oswego’s public roadways take a turn for the worse: Infrastructure woes and what the village is doing to improve them
To be fair, Oswego has a long history of growth and development. This has brought more businesses and better education to the community, which has tremendously expanded the desire for movement into the village. However, with more people comes a greater strain on the local infrastructure, specifically our roadways. “With the construction of new subdivisions in the area, roads have been ripped up and repaved, creating traffic issues,” said Oswego citizen Joe Labuda. “Periodically, I've had to take longer detours, extending the time for commuting to work and running errands.”
This time on Fixer Upper: Controversy over ‘Old Traughber’ development continues
Oswego continues to grow with a population of over 35,000 people, and as new developments are being built along Wolf’s Crossing and along Route 34, more pressure is added to the area’s infrastructure. One such site is the former Traughber Junior High School, locally known as "Old Traughber," which has been used as the Oswego 308 Center, YMCA, and Senior Center. It has earned a lot of attention recently as it was sold by SD308 and is to be demolished and replaced with a residential development. JM Development initially proposed the development to the Village Planning and Zoning Commission Sept 4. After the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended not to approve the plan, JM Development revised it and proposed it to the Village Board of Trustees on Oct. 21, where it was unanimously approved.
Every litter bit counts: The truth about recycling at OH
Recycling practices at OH have shifted noticeably over the past several years, with the school moving towards a paper-only system. While OH previously maintained multiple bins for a variety of recyclables, staff members say those options have been removed for different reasons surrounding cost and labor limitations. “To my understanding, we do just recycle paper," said AP Environmental Science teacher and Environmental Action Club (EAC) sponsor Zachary Horn. "A few years ago, we had other bins for plastic and aluminum as well, but my understanding is that those were removed due to mainly labor and budget issues, we didn't have enough people to collect both bins, so we had to streamline." As the number of materials accepted in the school's bins has narrowed, questions emerged about whether the change was related to district-wide budget adjustments. A Freedom of Information Act request filed helped to determine which waste company the district contracts with and what the recycling program costs.