To paraphrase an old lament, this was the summer of our discontent. 

We are discontented with so many things: The forest fires in the West, the flooding in the South, the banking in the East, not to mention the political rantings of two presidential candidates who can barely make a dent on our national "like" meter.

Two men, one of them reportedly armed with a shotgun, hijacked a car in the 7600 block of Central Avenue in River Forest on Monday at 1:05 p.m.

It's sad to say so long to an old friend. With deep sorrow, we say farewell and happy trails to our dear Mr. Cook, who died earlier this month.

The black male lawyers, doctors, accountants, professors, and other social icons are in our schools right now. Some might disagree, saying that black male students are the lowest-performing students in our schools. How could they possibly reach a high level of success? My answer is that if they can't do it in Oak Park, they can't do it anywhere.

My last column [Revisioning the achievement gap, Viewpoints, Sept. 14] focused on the decades of Oak Park schools' failure to make any headway toward closing the educational achievement gap between our children. That gap is, of course, not limited to Oak Park. It is a national problem. At least we have tried harder than most to close the gap, but alas, we have had no more success than anywhere else.

Hillary's got a tough opponent who will say anything, reverse himself, attack again and then deny he ever said it. Even though I know she won't do it, I'd love to see her start saying exactly what she's thinking. 

On Sept. 22, the OPRF High School board issued a statement that said if its $44.5M pool referendum question doesn't pass in November, the board would begin new deliberations rather than consider the available and vetted pragmatic pool plan. 

The one and only OPRF High School Facilities Plan, approved unanimously by the District 200 school board in August, will be on your November ballot. This plan is a carefully thought out, cost-effective and pragmatic investment. It will benefit OPRF students and our community for decades.

I have no doubt that the $44.5 million facilities plan would be very impressive and would serve our high school students well. However, what I feel is being lost in the arguments for and against this plan is that the taxpayers of Oak Park and River Forest simply cannot afford a project with this price tag.