hey everyone-

As you may or may not know, Mokena school district 159 is in the running for the Pepsi Challenge Grant this month. We are poised to receive $50,000 which would make a huge difference to the schools and help subsidize a percentage of the funding lost through dramatic state cutbacks. Every school district in the state is experiencing loss this year, so it goes without saying that if you're a person who likes to see kids have every opportunity a school and its community can offer, please do what you can to lend your support as these schools reach out to you. It could be one of the best teachable moments these kids will experience - - families, friends and communities working together for a great and important cause - school!

PLEASE help us get this grant by logging on and voting for Mokena 159 everyday. It takes less than a minute. Additionally, the committee has discovered that when groups partner with other groups, the votes and chances of winning drastically increase. So while you're logged on, please take the extra four seconds and vote for all the groups contained in this link. Mokena 159 is 3rd down but all the groups listed here are our partners.

So log on below, register if you're not registered already (it's quick and painless) and vote.

http://pep.si/Mokena3

You can also text your vote for Mokena 159 to Pepsi at 73774 and enter the following codes (must be done w/ separate texts):

100518

and then our partners codes (one at a time):
100857 100216 100511 102340 102320 100505 100847 100843 100506

thank you from the bottom of my heart,
jean

i'm sure gonna miss the guy.

I was eight years old when Richard J. Daley passed away on a cold Tuesday. I was in Kelly Farrey's station wagon riding home from Brownies when Mrs. Farrey told us that Mayor Daley had died. I remember being sad. And how I just knew at once the moment was significant.

It would be years before I would understand that significance, and the scope of Chicago politics. Bilandic and Byrne, Vrdolyak and Epton and Washington. The Council Wars. The Machine.

This past week, I knew it was big. The entire newsroom stopped to listen to the radio as Richard M. announced he would not run for re-election this spring. Surreal and significant. Again.

He was my first assignment as a Sun-Times photographer.

I have never tired of seeing him in action. The happy, cat-who-ate-a-canary Mayor. The red-faced, sputtering Mayor. The guy who is Chicago.

It should be an interesting few months here in the greatest city in the world. Not that it isn't always. Politics keep the paper in business. I like the politics.

Mayor Daley has always kept it interesting. A regular news assignment takes on a sometimes strange and wonderful appeal with him in charge.

Being in his company always made me feel like I was still a Chicagoan, long after I moved to the 'burbs. Like most everyone else, I expected he would be in office until he ceased to exist, just like his dad.

My days might just be a little less interesting without his regular appearance in them. I appreciate what he brought to the city and even more so what he brought to my camera.

Yes, indeed. I will miss the guy.