Covid is not going away.

I read a story about a high school in western Ogle County that held a delayed prom for students. Now there are several cases traced to the event.

I believe the Centers for Disease Control recommendations for social distancing, hand washing, and wearing a mask when around people.

I ventured in to a couple of places for carry-outs this week and noticed the people handling food were not wearing masks.

This bothers me. When they exhale, they are exhaling on my food. If they are positive and not showing signs, they could be passing that virus on to me.  

I know it’s hot. I know the mask makes it hard to keep cool and that your glasses fog up. But I also know I don’t want the virus.  

It’s a tough call… return and risk getting sick or avoid those places until a vaccine is developed and widely used.

Here’s a hint: I am not a big gambler.

*****

Have you completed your census form yet?

I heard someone who knows mention another benefit of an accurate census. When retailers look to expand, they look for cities that are growing and cities that are over a certain size. If we want more retailers to look seriously at Rochelle, more people would be a selling point.

So, fill in your census. Do it online. Just do it.

*****

There have been several speeding citations in the paper recently.

What amazes me is the speeds which people are driving. People are driving 55 m.p.h. in a 30 m.p.h. zone or 60 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone. One person several weeks ago was clocked for doing 102 m.p.h. Drivers need to slow down and obey the law.

*****

The city just completed a survey about Rochelle. Results are on the city website for everyone to see. One part of the survey especially interested me. They asked where people got their information about Rochelle.

The top sources were Facebook and the News-Leader.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like Facebook, but there are some weird people out there posting stuff that may not be accurate, such as the Earth is flat and Elvis is selling pizza in Escanaba.  

I know the media are this summer’s favorite target of scorn and contempt because some people keep yelling “fake news” when they don’t like what’s reported, but newspapers are still the best way to get news.

Unless you read the National Enquirer.

Stay healthy my friends.

Terry Dickow can be contacted at terrydickow@gmail.com.