THE ISSUE
To trim its budget 9 percent, the city of St. Charles asked employees to bear some of the burden.
OUR VIEW
The city’s firefighters wisely avoided a layoff by agreeing to forgo a scheduled 3.75 percent increase.
SPEAK UP
Have you been affected by a wage freeze or pay reduction at work? Click the headline above to give us your take. Or e-mail your comments here.

OUR BRAND-NEW OPINIONS SECTION DEBUTS IN THIS WEEK'S NEWSPAPER & ONLINE
It features commentary and analysis from our editors as well as thoughts from your friends and neighbors on what's happening in St. Charles. Making our town an even better place to live starts with a lively discussion of good ideas. We hope you'll join in.

YOUR VIEW
In addition to more-frequent local editorials, our expanded opinions coverage features a forum seeking your take on a key issue being talked about around town. Here's the current topic.

City officials have been considering how to redevelop the former St. Charles mall. Is the proposed St. Charles Towne Centre a good use for the former St. Charles Mall site?

Click here to leave a comment. You can also e-mail your comment here. Or leave a voice message at (630) 368-8882.

It’s humbling to consider that so many of our fellow Americans deemed our security and prosperity more valuable than their lives. The least we can do is to take a few moments Memorial Day to remember the debt of gratitude we owe them.

The nature of government in Berwyn has been that individual agendas often trump public service. Today’s spirit of cooperation must not be allowed to devolve into tomorrow’s personal attacks on adversaries.

TELL US: Should restaurants in Berwyn be allowed to operate like nightclubs?

Leave us a comment, e-mail us at opinions@mysuburbanlife.com or call and leave a message at (630) 368-8882.

Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners showed a rebellious side last week that should be on display more often.

Some new members of the Community Unit District 201 School Board campaigned on the theme of increasing transparency. Here’s how they can get off to a good start: They should release information regarding Superintendent Steve Baule’s contract, particularly the goals set forth by the previous board.

The bank holding the deed to the Arcade Building in Riverside wants to sell the structure fast, perhaps a little too fast.

Let’s hope the high school students involved in two recent forums in Wheaton on gun laws weren’t the only ones to learn a lesson about debating public policy.

The death of a child is a parent’s worst nightmare and a horrible shock to the wider community. This tragedy is compounded when the death was by the youth’s own hand. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the third-leading cause of death among people age 15 to 24.

It would have been easy for families, alumni and supporters of Driscoll Catholic High School in Addison to accept the April 2 decision of the Christian Brothers of the Midwest to close the facility at the end of the academic year and move on with their lives. But they chose to pool their resources and make an effort to keep the school open. As of last week, members of a fundraising committee had raised more than $930,000 as part of a plan to save the school.

The state Open Meetings Act mandates public bodies to conduct their business in open session. The only exceptions to this are for personnel, property acquisition and litigation issues.

Some residents of Glen Ellyn still believe they didn’t have their say on the proposed relocation of a school. Are they kidding? Diamante Montessori wants to relocate to a vacant church at Park Boulevard and Hillside Avenue. The Glen Ellyn Village Board signed off on the plan in March, after the village’s Plan Commission held five public hearings.