A town in recovery

As the storm clouds hang over the Village Board in their attacks on one another, residents seem to be banding together more than ever to bring healing and unity to a town battered by political division and neglect for nearly a decade. In fact, take the Board’s discord out of the picture and one sees a picture of a town in recovery, for the most part.

For example, the Courier-News published a report last Friday of a group of about 10 local pastors of Carpentersville churches who have been meeting regularly to reach out to the community through their congregations to hear their concerns and attempt to find direction and solutions for the Village.

Village staff is doing a good job of coordinating efforts to repair and maintain the roadways and infrastructure, as well as bring additional retail and commercial development to the town. Although a few businesses that have left Carpentersville have been relatively high profile (Circuit City, Jewel, Big Lots, and Fridays), there are not as many empty store fronts as some would have folks believe. With the exception of the old Big Lots space, Meadowdale Mall is basically full. The old Jewel store is being significantly overhauled to open in November/December as “the Village Fresh Market”. White Castle is slated to open soon next to Aldi on the near-West side, across from food stops like Jamba Juice and Panda Express. And, there are some rumors flying around that some of the restaurant spaces around Spring Hill Mall might not be empty for long.

Even the schools in the area appear to be improving. Despite continued overcrowding issues (although the total number of students is below the bottom floor estimates provided by the District during the last referendum) that have plagued District 300 for years (on the West, as well as the East), according to recent reports test scores among third through eighth graders improved to exceed the state average. Carpentersville Middle School, after several years of failing to meet standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind act, has recently received a passing grade.

It will take time to get to a higher level of satisfaction … but progress is being made, in a time when the economy is otherwise stumbling, slowing growth and development.

Now, if we can just stage an intervention as a community to help some of our Trustees get some therapy so they can actually aid in the recovery…

Do not call

About 4 1/2 years ago, people all across the United States were able to add their phone numbers to the Federal Do Not Call List. This prevented telemarketers from calling you at home unless they represented a company with whom you had done business. Exceptions were made for charitable organizations, surveys and political calls. Since it went into effect in 2003, over 145 million numbers have been entered into the registry – 6.5 million in Illinois as of Sept 30.

“So what?”, you may say.

Well, because many readers have probably registered on the do-no-call list, I thought it might be good to let people know some things that are now being considered about it (and what is not). (If you haven’t registered and want to stop telemarketer calls — with the exceptions noted above — you can go t0 the FTC website for the Do-Not-Call list registration information.)

When the list was created in 2003, it was to expire in June 2008. That would mean that consumers would have to re-register their numbers every 5 years to keep numbers out of the hands of telemarketers.

There are some things you should know that are happening with the do-not-call list right now.

First, the FTC was considering purging all numbers from its list in June 2008, causing all who are on the list to have to re-register, regardless of when they previously registered their number. However, information released today states that the FTC will not be dropping any numbers from the list at the 5-year expiration period.

Legislation has been introduced in Congress to make the list permanent. The final decision regarding the Registry is pending this legislation.

Changes have been made since 2003 that cause disconnected and reassigned numbers to be removed from the database on a monthly basis. This allows the Registry to balance accuracy with consumer privacy concerns, making it possible to do away with the 5-year expiration period.

And, finally, there has been a myth circulating for awhile — primarily via email — that telemarketing companies would begin calling cell phones. The do-not-call list does accept cell phone numbers into the registry for those wanting the added security and privacy. However, the FCC has made it illegal to use automated dialers to call cell phones; which is the way most telemarketing companies operate.

You can register online at WWW.DONOTCALL.GOV or call toll-free, 1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236), from the number you wish to register. Registration is free.