By Dan Irvin

With the cold weather and my wife waylaid with the flu over the weekend, I was kind of stuck at home with only my thoughts for company much of the time. That’s dangerous for me…and you. I’m not trying to convince you of anything, just thinking out loud:

1. The traditionalist in me is sorry to see U-High leave the Corn Belt Conference. It looks like this means the end of the annual intercity rivalry football game with Central Catholic.

   But the sports fan in me realizes that this makes post-season football matchups between the two schools more of a possibility and as Cubs and Cardinals fans have learned, that’s a beautiful thing.

2. A lot of candidates that identify themselves as conservative are trying to earn points with their potential supporters by saying the current president should hold off and allow the new president, they hope a conservative, to appoint the successor to the late Justice Scalia.

   They say that will ensure that the new justice will ensure the constitution is followed in all things. Senator Cruz, for example, vowed to put “principled constitutionalists” on the Supreme Court if he’s elected.

   Wouldn’t a “principled constitutionalist” insist that the current president nominate the new justice?

3. So a consultant says the City of Bloomington is providing services for fees that are lower than the true cost of the services.

   Hidden below the headlines is the fact that this is true of most municipalities in the country. I don’t see anything wrong with property taxes supporting fee-ed services. I’m a taxpayer by the way.

   I know that some of my less fortunate neighbors could use a break now and then. If you disagree, serve dinner at Home Sweet Home or Safe Harbor sometime and get to know some of the less fortunate.