Guest Opinion | Thursday, November 4,2010

The urgency of shopping local

The Party Tree is over

It was a sad day at The Party Tree Oct. 31, when we made our final closing announcement and bid farewell to our customers and employees. I wasn’t sure how closing day would be since the month le

Guest Opinion | Thursday, October 28,2010

Every month is Breast Cancer Awareness month

By Carole R. Brite

Each year approximately 180,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States and 40,000 women die as a result of their illness. In Illinois, nearly 10,000 cases of breast cancer are dia

Guest Opinion | Thursday, October 21,2010

Teaching Millennials some manners

By Martha Miller

In an article for The New Yorker, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, a social network that has had its problems with privacy, claimed that privacy is an “evolving social norm.” Sinc

Guest Opinion | Thursday, October 14,2010

China could bring us together

By Nick Capo

Many of our political leaders are acting like children playing with fire. A more incendiary simile might compare them to children playing in a sandbox with no minds focused on the future.Pick your pro

Guest Opinion | Thursday, September 30,2010

Planned Parenthood sets the record straight

By Carole R. Brite

I am disappointed in Alveda King and the Springfield Right to Life’s attacks on women’s reproductive self-determination. Alveda King and her followers are running a scare campaign to keep

Guest Opinion | Thursday, September 23,2010

To reform the Illinois House, change the rules

By Rep. Tom Cross

Have you ever wondered why the Illinois House of Representatives has never had a vote on common-sense proposals such as allowing voters to recall state public officials or a measure that would restric

Guest Opinion | Thursday, September 16,2010

Free the student press

By Randy Swikle

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is disturbed by research showing our nation’s high schools are failing their students when it comes to instilling in them an apprecia

Guest Opinion | Thursday, September 16,2010

Freedom of Information should include judicial branch

Courts escape accountability through inferred exemption

By Patrick Yeagle

For reporters, the Illinois Freedom of Information Act is both a helpful tool and a stumbling block. It grants access to governmental records and allows the public to hold accountable those who run ou

Guest Opinion | Thursday, September 9,2010

As Iraq war ends, invest in peace

By Sr. Marcelline Koch, OP

“It is well that war is so terrible – otherwise we would grow too fond of it.” (General Robert E. Lee, statement at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862)Whether we as a

Guest Opinion | Thursday, September 9,2010

Why true conservatives should vote for me

By Rich Whitney

Let’s be candid. If you identify yourself as a conservative, your first inclination will probably be to vote for Republican candidate Bill Brady in the Illinois governor’s race. I understa