“Auto writers and readers alike have grown accustomed to road tests that fail to reflect the kind of driving that most automobiles endure regularly,” writes James Flammang in Tirekicking Today (July), a newsletter published on West Foster. “Let’s face it, the only person who might truly need blastoff acceleration from a standstill is the guy who’s trying to escape from the police. For everyone else, the only acceleration that counts is the kind needed when entering an expressway, or when trying to pass another vehicle on a two-lane road. Yet, how often do we see figures for 30-55 mph acceleration, or 50-65 mph?”

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A conservation strategy that no Republican Congress can take away–or even criticize. Gretchen Bonfert of the downstate consulting firm Green Strategies, quoted in Illinois Issues (July): “For a willing landowner who is committed to his or her property, a conservation easement can keep it in the family or in the business and ensure that its natural resources remain forever. It’s not feasible, nor is it practical, to expect public agencies to acquire all properties that contribute to the conservation of the natural landscape. Typically, the consumer’s action in the marketplace makes a statement.”

There are more than 300 commercial banks in the Chicago area, but don’t blink. According to a U. of I. press release citing a recent study by MBA students at the University of Illinois, the number “could conceivably shrink to fewer than 50” by 1999, because of the natural geographic advantages of Chicago, lenient state regulations on bank mergers, and a strong midwest economy.