If you are a resident of Champaign County, you and I are co-owners of a marvelous natural treasure. I’ve known this for years, but was reminded this past March when almost every place I enjoy going was shut down by the pandemic.
In 1722, Daniel Defoe, the author of “Robinson Crusoe,” wrote “A Journal of the Plague Year.” In 1665, the Black Death hit London and England. Defoe was only 5 years old at the time, but drawing on diaries left by an uncle, he wrote an account of the plague that was both horrific and heroic.
SPRINGFIELD — I read The Atlantic magazine story asserting that Donald Trump denigrated America’s war dead, and then I cringed.
SPRINGFIELD — When it comes to running for office, women just have to put up with a lot more crap than men do.
To the editor:
RURAL DEWEY — There are times when special arrangements have to be made and some rules changed just a bit.
Prior to the coronavirus, our kitchen was just a room we had to walk through to get to the laundry. We wondered aloud whether we even needed a kitchen. The dishwasher doubles as a handy filing cabinet.
This year since June, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder our national and local media have been reporting demonstrations and featuring conversational articles on issues of racism and African American experiences in our country.
To the editor:
SPRINGFIELD – Imagine being handcuffed to a table in a police interrogation room for seven hours and not allowed to call a lawyer or even take a restroom break — even though you had done nothing wrong.
Life is such an amazing event. It happens involuntarily, and your body responds and is active all on its own, mostly. There are parts of you that are not involuntary, and you must make choices from your heart and mind.
We have a large, old decorative tin that we keep sewing supplies in. I don’t think anyone in our house knows how to sew, but if we ever learn, we’re well prepared.
RIVERTON — One of the most indelible memories in any adult's life is the first week away from home.
I’ve an avid reader of H. V. Morton, who, during the 1930s, became the best-paid author in the world by writing travelogues — “In Search of England,” “In Search of Scotland,” etc. He was a gifted writer who wove history, local anecdotes, legends and an elegant style into all his books.
I would like to express a few thoughts concerning my public statement concerning not being able to wear a face mask for personal medical reasons in the village board meetings.
SPRINGFIELD – This week, I watched my three daughters head off for school after a long and frustrating five months away from their classrooms.
RURAL DEWEY — Since we featured Bunny, our latest rescue at Society for Hooved Animal Rescue and Emergency, you might want an update.
SPRINGFIELD — If it can happen to Art Turner, it can happen to just about anyone.
Eliminating racism seems impossible. It’s as if we are trying to play Monopoly on a board without ‘Go.’
To the editor:
A couple of weeks ago, the UI and our community lost a legend — Lou Henson (1932-2020), who passed away. Our local newspaper — The News Gazette — ran a front-page story and some additional sections of memorial stories on him
The recent admission by behemoth electric utility Commonwealth Edison that it repeatedly bribed minions of Illinois House speaker Mike Madigan for years (of course, Madigan knew nothing about all this; sure, right) was breathtaking for its brazenness.
I’m wondering if everything good has already been invented. These are some of the worst inventions I’ve ever heard of.
Late-afternoon thunderstorms in the summer remind me of happy times. It brings me back to a time when I was younger. And, perhaps, it started way back when my family lived in the trailer park.
I am hearing a worried buzz about our republic not holding together, something I have never in my long life encountered before. Some (many?) on the “left” worry about President Trump calling the election invalid and holding onto power.
Every teacher I know, every principal and every superintendent, wants kids in school. I don’t know any educator who thinks remote learning is better for kids in preschool to 12th grade.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker made an unqualified demand for state Sen. Tom Cullerton’s resignation after he was indicted on bribery charges. He made an unqualified demand for state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s resignation as a committee chair after his office was raided by federal agents. He made a…
To the editor:
To the editor:
To the editor:
Illinoisans watched a new chapter of House Speaker Mike Madigan’s 50-year political drama unfold July 17.
As I walked a country road near my rural town this past week, a local slowed his pickup alongside me.
Here’s some new math we’ve been doing at our house: 4 flat tires on 3 vehicles in 1 day equals 2 much.
Put me in the blender and press ‘speed.’ I want the events of the past couple of weeks to make some kind of sense. Not this.
RURAL DEWEY — Not exactly like the bunnies racing through my yard and eating my bean plants, but a Bunny nevertheless.
“Village is lax in handling storm drainage problems” article originally posted to the Rantoul Press in response with a letter to the editor on Sept. 18, 2018...as of July 8, 2020, still not fixed.
To the editor:
Due to the long-needed tower facility maintenance, plus the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, for more than two years I had not heard the UI Altgeld Hall chime music. That was why I was so excited to read in the June 19 edition of The News-Gazette that a special chime concert would be perform…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s top priority is a progressive income tax hike. He is expected to spend millions of dollars on TV advertising to convince voters that scrapping the state’s flat income tax protection on Nov. 3 won’t hurt them.
As COVID-19 made a tsunami-style landfall upon humanity, on its heels came cries of injustice just as global and unprecedented. Those who cry for justice demand their voices to be heard.
An effective starting point for reforming the criminal justice system would be allowing law enforcement officers to step down from the “hero” pedestal Americans placed them on after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Growing up in the Panhandle of Texas (Amarillo to be specific), I spent my childhood around some great friends, most of whom I later learned were probably Republicans. Then, moving to central Illinois while in high school, I made many other really good friends. And again, as time went by, I …
I wish to write about life and the paths that are endless
To the editor:
I recently finished a story I’d like to tell about.
To the editor:
In a recent column, I averred that the George Floyd death and protests-in-reaction represented a classic case of the powerful “us-versus-them” syndrome that is baked into the human brain. Racism is a subset of this syndrome.
SPRINGFIELD – Democracies have little tolerance for sore losers.
SPRINGFIELD — For the first time in my life, this week I put a “political” sign in my front yard.
RURAL DEWEY — At Society for Hooved Animals Rescue and Emergency, our aim is to give the rescued horses peace, care, love and the freedom to be a horse.
