Opinion

At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24, approximately 50 people gathered at Planned Parenthood in Springfield. We were indeed a mishmash: The youngest was 6 and wasn’t really sure what we were about. The oldest was in her eighties and had witnessed many changes for women in her lifetime. Some of us had marched in the […]

Sgt. Kathy Krusz has been an Illinois conservation agent for 26 years. Her life’s work is protecting the state’s abundant natural resources, including its wildlife. She’s dealt with some of the wiliest and dumbest creatures ever seen. By her account, she’s had plenty of close encounters. “Think of the stupidest things human beings can do, […]

After two years and two nationally televised exposés of the case of Julie Rea-Harper, who was convicted of murdering her child, why has the state of Illinois taken little significant action to seek the truth? Convicted serial child killer Tommy Lynn Sells has confessed to the 1997 murder of Rea-Harper’s son, 10-year-old Joel Kirkpatrick, and, […]

I’ve lived in Europe for several years. I find it stimulating, and, despite the fear-borne insularity of America since 9/11, the inexorable march toward a global society continues, even when it crawls. American TV, film, music and business permeate Europe. Yet when I was talking to my Italian friend about a famous American, someone I […]

My son grew up fatherless, but there were men in his life. One day, one took him shooting. When Ray brought him home, I asked how it went. “Great!” Jonah said. Then, with a thoughtful look on his face, he added, “You know, most people don’t have enough insurance.” This was not a lead-in to […]

From the earliest of times, people have thought, worried or even obsessed about the way they will be remembered. Some have attempted to build monuments or ornate gravestones; others have been satisfied with more modest means of leaving their marks on this earth. A visitor to the University of Illinois campus at Urbana-Champaign might be […]

For years, Illinois has been known as the Prairie State or the Land of Lincoln. The former moniker reflects the state’s topography, dominated by flat, fertile land that was once covered by prairie grasses. References to Illinois as the Prairie State date back to the 1840s, so this is a well-established nickname. On the other […]

The P.U.-litzer Prizes were established more than a decade ago to recognize the stinkiest media performances of the year. As usual, I have conferred with Jeff Cohen, founder of the media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), to sift through the large volume of entries. In view of the many deserving competitors, we […]

We are witnessing in Illinois a high stakes game of hide-and-seek as SBC attempts to hide its profits and stifle competition. Ultimately, the game will cost the citizens of Illinois millions of dollars. To appreciate the game, we need to go back 20 years. After the break-up of Ma Bell in 1984, the telecom world […]