Editor’s Note

On a grey day in November I learned Jim Herron, Ltd. is moving out of downtown to The Gables out west. The first time I wear something new my daughter says, “Let me guess. . . Jim Herron’s?,” knowing I never shop anywhere else. The sign in the window at Wyndham City Centre says the […]

Newcomer JB Pritzker made a good start toward replacing Illinois’ flat tax with a fair tax. Now that his effort to pass a constitutional amendment has failed, it’s good that he’s vowed not to give up. “You deserved a fairer tax system and you still do,” he told Illinoisans. After spending millions of his own […]

In Sangamon County, and across the country, most woke Wednesday to the realization that about half the people voted opposite the way they themselves did. First thoughts were along the lines of, “What could they have been thinking?” Then came second thoughts that we hope they are satisfied, win or lose, that the process was […]

This is the kind of health care Americans want. Ten docs per patient. Upbeat prognosis regardless. Steroids, needed or not. No discussion of obesity, diet, exercise, lifestyle. Prompt discharge, timed for the evening news. Fully staffed clinic waiting at home. No bills, no insurance. Walter Reed for all. – Fletcher Farrar, editor and CEO

It looks like decency will win over crassness in the election next month, but it is too soon to tell. Things may have to get worse before they get better. Many will despair unless they focus on the long term, and local first. Regardless of the outcome of the national election, there will be neighborhoods […]

Ruth Bader Ginsburg did her part as a justice fighter, working in hostile territory as long as she possibly could, though we wish she could have held out just a little longer. A way for those on her side to honor her is to stay in the fight, in hostile territory, as long as they […]

Racism seems intractable but it’s not. The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is leading the fight against systemic racism by organizing an agenda of systemic reforms. Criminal justice, education, economic opportunity and health care are all getting a close look during legislative hearings. Overly harsh sentencing laws were the subject this week, with experts showing it […]

A friend took serious exception to what I wrote in this space last week. “Do you even think much about what you write?” she asked me. I see your point, I said. I’ll try to think more. “At least it’s short,” she said, “so maybe not many read it.” Maybe some people read it because […]

Kenosha is a little smaller than Springfield, but not much, so it’s easy to imagine us in Kenosha’s place. Maybe Springfield police are trained better, so they wouldn’t overreact with a gun to somebody carrying a knife, but another police shooting could happen here. There is a strong and thoughtful Black Lives Matter movement in […]

Did anybody wince with me when Joe Biden, asked what he would do if scientists advised him to shut down the economy over coronavirus concerns, quickly replied, “I would shut it down”? Might he at least have prefaced, “I hope it doesn’t come to that,” to offer some assurance that he won’t act rashly? It […]

There are no windy speeches at the Democrat convention. The speakers take their masks off just long enough to say wearing masks shows empathy for one another, and, as Michelle said, “We know what’s going on in our country is just not right.” Democrats are sensing this is their year, the wind is at their […]

I drove around the fairgrounds, thinking they must be lonely without the hustle. The cannas and marigolds are everywhere ready; the renovated Coliseum wants to show off. That’s where I showed cattle as a high school kid while, I learned later, my future wife was selling lemon shakeups at the Exposition Building next door. There’s […]