If you're one of North Riverside's legacy retailers it's been a rough go of late. J.C. Penney, Jewel-Osco and Sears – all of whom heard the siren song of the village's commercial property tax rates and business-friendly demeanor and escaped from a then-deteriorating Cermak Plaza in Berwyn – are either on their way out of town or in serious danger of folding.

It's summer, and hotter than blazes, and it's great to get back out into the world.

How was your Juneteenth? What's that? You're not familiar with that term? It's not surprising. Many people, especially white people, have been unaware of Juneteenth for well over a century, though among the country's Black population it's a sacred day.

It's way too early to start declaring victory — there are some parts of the country where COVID-19 is starting to surge and some leaders (we're looking at you, White House) seem content to decrease the surplus population in exchange for not inconveniencing themselves unduly — but recent data in Illinois and locally indicates that, around these parts, we are doing things the right way.