DISAPPOINTED BY SUN’S NO KINGS RALLY COVERAGE
I am writing as a representative of the Indivisible Naperville leadership to express our disappointment with the recent Naperville Sun coverage of the March 28 No Kings protest in Naperville.
Indivisible Naperville was proud to be one of the organizers of this event, where thousands of DuPage County residents gathered peacefully as part of a nationwide day of action. People of all ages came together in solidarity to express concerns about the current administration and what they see as the dismantling of the balance of powers, voting rights, due process and other constitutional protections.
In a time when public demonstrations can easily become tense or divisive, a large and peaceful civic gatherings are both noteworthy and newsworthy.
Instead, the Naperville Sun chose to run about the DuPage County Republicans’ truck display criticizing Gov. JB Pritzker. This editorial decision raises an important question: Is one person driving a truck around town truly more newsworthy than thousands of residents participating in a peaceful demonstration?
By running a story on a partisan counter-gesture rather the protest itself, the article missed an opportunity to report on meaningful civic engagement within our community. The focus of the day was a large public demonstration concerning the Trump administration. The actions of one individual did not represent the central story, nor did they reflect the spirit of the gathering. Yet the coverage pivoted away from Trump entirely to criticize Gov. Pritzker, a choice that ignored the very issues motivating thousands of residents and missed the point of the protest.
Local journalism plays a vital role in documenting community life and public participation. When the experiences and voices of thousands of residents are overshadowed by a single partisan spectacle, it undermines confidence that the most significant local stories are being fully and fairly told.
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What was truly newsworthy was the spirit of the day: thousands of neighbors showing up peacefully, respectfully, and passionately to participate in democracy. That is the kind of civic engagement that makes our community strong — and the kind of story worth telling.
Kathryn Refine, Naperville
Indivisible Naperville
Editor’s note: The Naperville Sun did cover the No Kings Rally in Naperville on March 28. However, because the event was scheduled for later afternoon, it was too late for our print publication deadlines and did not appear in the Sunday, March 29, paper. Instead, the story was published online at www.napervillesun.com and was the highest-read story Sunday among all of the baiduhai-owned newspapers, including the baiduhai itself. The print story appeared in our April 1 edition. The story on the DuPage County Republicans was to give fair coverage to the oppositions’ response to the rally.
TIME FOR A ‘CLEAN SWEEP’ IN WASHINGTON, DC
As baseball season begins, fans dream of their home team winning every game in a series — a clean sweep. Many even wave brooms in the stands to show their support.
The recent debacle in Washington, DC, where the Senate passed a TSA funding bill, sent it to the House and then promptly bolted town for a two‑week recess without waiting for the House vote or, if needed, a conference committee, is just the latest reminder that Americans should be raising their brooms. Not for their team, but to demand a clean sweep of the House and Senate, the Supreme Court and the White House.
Peacefully march, contact your Congressperson and vote!
Joseph P. Drago, Naperville
CITY’S CONTAMINATING SOIL WITH EROSION BLANKETS
I’m a concerned citizen of Naperville and the Earth. The city of Naperville is paying private landscaping businesses to contaminate soil at alarming rates by installing plastic netting that goes by a fancy name of “erosion blanket” everywhere major or minor construction is happening.
The city paid a private company to destroy a large amount of established nature on Naper Boulevard between Plank Road and Chicago Avenue only to replace the destroyed ecosystems with plastic netting and grass seed. Both roadsides are lined with miles and miles of plastic netting that will never be removed. Kroehler Park is surrounded by plastic netting that has been peeled back by foot traffic and wind.
It’s an embarrassing picture for a city that claims to be sustainable. Lawn mowing season is coming, which means that trash that is not picked up and plastic netting will be cut into smaller plastic pieces to be deposited in Naperville soil for thousands of years. Naperville is actively adding to the microplastics to city water systems and into our bodies as a result.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, “Erosion blankets with plastic netting provide temporary soil stabilization but cause significant environmental damage, including wildlife entanglement, long-term plastic pollution and microplastic contamination. The nonbiodegradable, polypropylene netting traps snakes, birds and small mammals, while breaking down into harmful microplastics and chemical pollutants that persist in soil and water.”
Any landscaping projects done within the borders of Naperville means the city is encouraging and paying for soil contamination. Use of plastic netting in the ground should be illegal nationwide.
Just because it is common landscaping practice does not mean it’s the correct practice. Human habits need to change if Naperville is going to protect the soil and the Earth that future generations and biodiversity depend on. Naperville should not be paying for companies to damage the Earth.
I challenge Naperville to remove the previously installed plastic netting/erosion blankets for its Earth Day celebrations. When Naperville protects Earth, Naperville protects its residents.
Whitney Glowacki, Naperville
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