Illinois lawmakers work long and hard so they deserve a pay raise, even if they don’t want the public to know about it.

When will we seek understanding?

SPRINGFIELD – When I hear the word “layoff,” the same image always comes to mind.

I was at a seminar a few months ago. During the workshop segment, we were given a delicate task: compose a list of characteristics of two people — a person you really admire and a person you do not.

I’m sure you’ve heard that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I wrote about the bird who wouldn’t let me relax in my hammock. He sat above me, just out of range of my squirt gun, and took target practice at me. On the other side of the house, his brothers have bombarded my car in a way that can be described only as an organized mob hit.

Illinoisans across the state have rightly been focused on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “fair tax” push. That’s the $3.4 billion income tax hike requiring a constitutional amendment to axe the state’s flat income tax protection.

My partner and I got married in February. I am not sure why this wasn’t a big deal when we were dating, but suddenly now that we are married, everyone wants us to come and spend the holiday with them. Easter was a nightmare; we both have divorced parents and ended up going to four different …

According to public records, the Rantoul park district’s Brookhill Golf Course continued to sink further into the red in 2018, losing $50,000 more in clubhouse receipts than was budgeted.

If there is one thing I know for sure, it is people need the Lord.

To the editor:

Time to check the ol’ mailbag and answer readers’ burning questions. Let’s see what’s smoldering.

If I am a disciple of the Lord , then I can give a cup of cold water to those who are thirsty.

Program designed to help students be best they can

It’s that time of the year when I think about: What would I tell graduating seniors if I was giving their commencement address? Because, you know, it’s all about me; illusions that someone might ask me to give my invaluable insight to 50 or 100 young people about to embark upon the next chap…

I stood on the playing field outside Churchill Junior High in Galesburg just staring at my feet and waiting; it was the most painful time of the day — PE class — when kids chose who was going to play on their teams.

If you didn’t think Democrats in Springfield were serious before about adopting a progressive tax system, they proved this week they’ll do almost anything to help Gov. J.B. Pritzker pass his signature campaign promise.

Claim of chicken-related mouse problems unfounded

My most consistent friend is also my oldest. Well, I have older friends, but none longer. I’ve known Eric since we were 3 years old.

If you didn’t think Democrats in Springfield were serious before about adopting a progressive tax system, they proved this week they’ll do almost anything to help Gov. J.B. Pritzker pass his signature campaign promise.

In time we must all develop a desire to make improvements for ourselves and for others. Exposing yourself to different avenues of influence helps to nurture your inner desire to be a part of something that will make an impact on the lives of many.

Life is such an amazing event. It happens involuntarily, and your body responds and is active all on its own, mostly.

Monsters are real. And sometimes, when grownups don’t act, the monsters hurt children.

I hope Illinois taxpayers have been able to enjoy the past couple of weeks of relative inaction in Springfield.

Paul, who knows it all, was on his soapbox lecturing about something nobody really cared about. We’re all used to it in the cigar shop.

SPRINGFIELD — Back in 1972, I was in the second grade at Bateman Elementary School in Galesburg, and our teacher, Mrs. Turner, had us studying that year’s presidential election.

Believes chickens responsible for mouse problem

So, am I the person I thought I would be? I posed this question in the April column. Forgive me, I didn’t fully answer it. But I don’t believe I can answer this question in its entirety at the present moment.

Veterans memorial groundbreaking near

Hello. Good to be back to visit with all of you. Say, does any one know what time of the year this is?

A friend recently mentioned that he’s thinking about auditioning for “The Wizard of Oz,” which will be presented by the Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company this summer. I smiled at this, for few stories are thought of more fondly by baby-boomers like myself than “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

A good friend of mine has not been herself lately. The other day she said to me that sometimes she wonders if it is all worth it.  This kind of freaked me out, and I wasn’t quite sure what to say. It made me wonder if she was thinking about hurting herself. I didn’t want to say anything and …

SPRINGFIELD — Several Democratic candidates for president have endorsed the idea of the government paying reparations to African Americans as compensation for the enslavement of their ancestors.

I’ve been under the weather the past couple of days, so I didn’t get a column written. I went to the way-back machine to dig out this column from 2006.

In the 10 months since the U.S. Supreme Court restored workers’ rights and affirmed the tenets of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, more than 210,000 public employees across the country no longer are being forced to pay fees to unions they don’t support.

SPRINGFIELD – Over the last 30 years, I’ve met plenty of characters in newsrooms, but by far my favorite was a reporter by the name of Joel Kirkpatrick.

It had been a while since I had time to spend an afternoon in the cigar shop, but all the usual suspects were there last Thursday.

If you are not careful you will overpower the very ones you are trying to influence for the kingdom of God. Less words and more action sometimes is what is needed in showing the power of God that guides your life.

Where is Rantoul veterans memorial?

We have not all experienced the same things in life and must be willing to let others tell their story as well. One-sided influences corrupt.

WATERLOO, Iowa ­— Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

Prostitutes,

We can all make a difference in the world we live in, and we must choose to do our best. I am one, but there are so many others in my life who inspire me to be the best Christian I can be.

SPRINGFIELD – Sometimes I find myself wondering about the employees who went away.