Economy hammering suburban snow removal efforts

Several suburban communities have quietly told their snow removal teams to "go slow" in salting and plowing streets, which is one reason why many major thoroughfares in several suburban communities were still covered in snow.

The villages "just do not have the cash" several village officials who asked not to be identified admitted.

"We're cutting back. We can't spend as much on salt and we can't spend as much on overtime to plow the roads. So we start late, plow less and conserve on salt which is very expensive," one official in a suburban village told me.

I drove through some 12 suburban communities this morning and almost everyone were inches deep in snow  with none plowed or salted by municipal fleets. There was so much advance notice about this storm that youw ould think the villages would get their plows and salt ready. but that wasn't the case. In fact, the notice prompted many to quietly discuss the save money strategy.

And who would complain anyway? You can cut back on snow removal by half and most suburban residents would just shrug. They don't mind complaining but no one holds their elected officials responsible, especially in this off-year election cycle for suburban communities. Even if residents wanted to complain they would have no way to do so until 2012. And that's two major winters away. And suburbanites have shortterm political memory loss, one reason why they have so easily forgotten things like acting Governor Pat Quinn was the running mate twice of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and he never bitched once about Blagojevich's alleged unethical practices.

So suburbanites just sit back and take it, laying back on their fat asses and oding nothing. Because that is a part of the culture these days in the suburbs, once the frontiers of political independence. But the economy has put a damper on everyone, from politicians to voters and everyone is scraping the piggy banks for loose change. And it's not there. That will take the wind out of any rebellious voter anger.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Restaurant Review: Economy now even hammering the fast food hot dog industry

I love hot dogs and especially beef and sausage combos. And I know prices are zooming up fast on the cost of the once affordable dogs.

Orland Park has several great hot dog stands. One of my favorites is Pop's at 143rd and Wolf Road. Another is Don's just off of 151st and Harlem. And another I sometimes stop at is Widens at 143rd Street east of LaGrange Road.

Now I hate to pick on a hot dog place. But last night at Widen's, it was just too much to take. I'm glad I didn't eat at the restaurant because I don't know what I would have done.

I bought two beef and sausage combos, one fry and the two hot dog special with fries on the side. I also asked for a small side of hot giardiniera. They were going to dip the beef sausage combos in the natural juice.

When I got home, of course, and opened the bag for the family. The bag of fries seemed a little light. The giadiniera was no where to be found. And then when I dug into my beef-sausage combo, I guess I wouldn't call it a combo at all. It had the sausage, and what looked like were two slices of beef on one sandwich and almost a generous portion on the second. And of course, the two combos were dry as a bone.


I wasn't going to write about it, at first. But then I took another look at the receit. It was over $17. And I thought, okay, for $17, shouldn't I expect to get what I ordered? And shouldn't it be great quality?


I'm not going back there again. It's too bad. They recently started taking credit and debit cards, which means I didn't have to worry about whether or not I had cash in my pocket. (They have an ATM machine there, but I hate like hell to pay the excessive access fees charged by the owner-operated ATMs and by the bank.)

I gave them my money. The charge didn't bounce. It went through. If it didn't, I would expect them to complain to me.

And I understand you have to trim back to make ends meet in these harsh economic times. Even the Village of Orland Park has decided to trim services to save money. I'll monitor the billings to see how they may or may not change.

But two flimsy slices of beef on the "combo" just put me over the edge. And it just made me feel worse about the economy. Widen's isn't a bad place. I go there all the time. But do we just take what we get and shut-up? Or, do we say something not only for our own satisfaction, but to do them a favor too, and maybe push them to be the best?

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/