Guest Opinion | Thursday, September 3,2009

High-speed rail should use 10th St. tracks

It has taken many years, a lot of hard work, tax dollars and private investor dollars to turn our downtown into a revitalized, vibrant central city brimming with tourists, commerce and nightlife.

Guest Opinion | Thursday, August 27,2009

Women’s equality: Are we there yet?

By Linda Meric

Each year, on Aug. 26, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day to pay tribute to those brave suffragists, like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul and Ida B. Wells Barnett, who led the struggle for Ame

Guest Opinion | Thursday, August 20,2009

Everyone saw a crash coming

Budget disaster demands response from us all

By Henry Bayer

Imagine that while you’re on an airplane nearing its destination, the pilot announces that there’s not enough fuel to land safely. The plane could be refueled in mid-air, but the crew won&

Guest Opinion | Thursday, August 13,2009

Unemployment 101

What to do when you lose your job

By Jerald Jacobs

At first you will want to cry. That was my experience each time I heard the “We have to let you go” bomb at 3 o’clock on Friday afternoon. Being laid off is always a shock. Your emot

Guest Opinion | Thursday, August 6,2009

My hope for downtown

Parking is not the answer

By Carolyn Oxtoby

For too many aspiring downtown revitalizers, the path to its resurrection and consequent vibrancy is to follow the mantra of car preservation as opposed to building preservation. The illusory necess

Guest Opinion | Thursday, July 30,2009

Save adult education. It saved me.

By Elia Arenas

I grew up hard-working, and started at the age of 15 to supplement my family’s income when my father became very ill and required surgery. I stopped going to school in order to sustain our fami

Guest Opinion | Thursday, July 23,2009

Biotech benefits patients and the Illinois economy

By Matthew Summy

Biotech research is not for the faint of heart. Each mad scramble for the next blockbuster drug requires hundreds of millions of dollars and years of painstaking effort — all in the face of ov

Guest Opinion | Thursday, July 16,2009

Protect community health centers

By Steve Trombley

How reproductive health care is dealt with in national health care reform is no small matter. And who provides this care is still to be determined. For communities like Springfield, local heal

Guest Opinion | Thursday, July 2,2009

What I learned when I failed

By Andy Van Meter

The following is from a speech given by Andy Van Meter at the Eagle Scout Recognition Banquet held at the State Capitol March 2. My topic is failure. I could talk to you about the failure of

Guest Opinion | Thursday, June 25,2009

Patti in the jungle

By Jolonda Young

She served as the state’s First Lady, but lately Patti Blagojevich has been roughing it in the jungles of Costa Rica in NBC’s reality show “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me