Guest Opinion

 President Eisenhower said, “If you aren’t in the middle of the road, you are in the gutter.” What he expressed 60-plus years ago applies to today’s Facebook.  Sure, there are lots of pictures of happy family gatherings, new babies, memories of past good times. But increasingly my newsfeed is filled with hatred, largely from the […]

 One of the many casualties of the state budget disaster has been the closure of the Illinois State Museum, which is scheduled to reopen next month, with an admission charge. It is not the only time in its history that the state museum has been subjected to such treatment. In 1887, the museum was thrown […]

 Dear Nora and Michael,     I took my Bernie sign down today.  The yard looks a little bare.  He would have made a great president.  But fair is fair.  He just doesn’t have the votes. Do I think superdelegates are a bad idea?  Absolutely.  Do I wish the Republicans had them this year?  Yes.  They […]

 We are close to the time of year when the big decision on air-conditioning must be made. Flip the switch now or wait for hotter weather? Some of us crank it up when the heat starts, others are more parsimonious and delay to save money. In the ’40s and ’50s most of us didn’t have […]

This is an edited version of remarks Paul O’Shea delivered to the Citizens Club May 27. I agree when Bob Gray says that the 1925 Myron West City Plan of the City of Springfield was exemplary. This was the first, and perhaps the only, city plan for Springfield. That was nearly 100 years ago. Discussions […]

 With the spring legislative session in Springfield only a few days from adjournment, legislators are rushing to move bills up the chain for a final vote on the floor and passage. As they do so, it’s critical that lawmakers pay special attention to specific pieces of legislation that will have dire impact on their constituents. […]

 On April 29, 1944, my mother was admitted to Memorial Hospital in Springfield where I was born. I was the first in my line to be born in a medical facility. There is a house up on Salt Creek in Menard County where my father was born. As was my grandfather. And my great grandfather. […]

Before McDonalds came to town after the Second World War, in the late ’40s and the ’50s, we ate differently than today. In fact we got our food in different ways. At my grandparents’ farm in Menard County there was a large vegetable garden outside the back door. As you left the house you walked […]

 My name is Thomas J. Bestudik and I am currently an inmate at Taylorville Correctional center serving three years. My world revolves around my nearly 9-year-old daughter, and I wrote a poem to express how I feel for her and if published, to show she does not have to worry what others think. Showing your […]

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans hit the streets to protest the environmental effects of more than 100 years of uncontrolled fossil-fueled industrial development. It was the first Earth Day. What was intended to be a college campus teach-in soon spread to every community and city across the United States. It was and remains […]

 Tax Day offers a stark reminder of the difference between those of us who pay all our taxes every year and the big corporations that don’t. While families and small businesses scramble to file their returns each April, multinational corporations are free to indefinitely ignore a $700 billion U.S. tax bill they owe on $2.4 […]