Fighting for the people Clyde Bunch was the opposite of term limits. First elected to the Sangamon County Board in 1980 at 44, he served 44 years, representing District 21 and a predecessor district. He was elected 14 times, including just two months before his death. Bunch also served 60 years as a Democratic precinct […]
Sam Cahnman
Posted inOpinion
What Michelle O doesn’t know about divorced dads
When the most admired woman in America last week compared Donald Trump’s presidency to spending the weekend with a fun-loving irresponsible divorced dad, she probably didn’t intend to disparage divorced and single dads. Unfortunately, she did. Former First Lady Michelle Obama, speaking in London to promote her new book, Becoming, said, “Sometimes you spend weekends […]
Posted inOpinion
Should township merge with the city?
Advisory referendums are good for our democracy, but only if the right question is asked. For years people have talked about the inefficiency and absurdity of two different governments serving the same geographical area, like the City of Springfield and Capital Township. But no legal mechanism existed to abolish the township or merge it into […]
Posted inOpinion
King’s speech in Springfield
While Martin Luther King, Jr. is best known for his “I have a dream” speech, the civil rights icon delivered a major speech in Springfield on labor, economics and civil rights on Oct. 7, 1965. Speaking to the 4,000-plus delegates at the Illinois AFL-CIO’s annual convention in the State Armory at Second and Monroe, King […]
Posted inOpinion
My visit with the Carters in Plains
Plains, Georgia…Six former and current presidents are alive today, but there’s only one you can meet, get photographed with and visit his new solar farm. Jimmy Carter, the only president who taught Sunday school while in the White House, continues to teach at 10 a.m. almost every Sunday at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, […]
Posted inOpinion
When students tried to raise a flag in Panama
Pedasi, Panama — While Jan. 9 was just another Monday in the U.S., it was a major national holiday in Panama, marking perhaps the lowest point in the inextricably close relations between the two countries. Sparked by high school students, the incident the holiday commemorates is credited with leading to the eventual return of the […]
Posted inOpinion
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. But all this may come to a screeching halt if the Third St. rail corridor is improved with our federal tax dollars to carry […]
