Guest Opinion | Thursday, February 28,2013

Keep pushing for excellence in education

School reform has proven to be tricky business in Springfield. Leading up to Dr. Walter Milton’s hire as superintendent in 2007, Springfield Public Schools were under growing public pressure to

Guest Opinion | Thursday, February 21,2013

Beat that red light

By George A.M. Heroux

Have you ever noticed how many reported car crashes take place in intersections? That’s one of the big problems, causing injuries and deaths, that do not get the attention of the other baddies.

Guest Opinion | Thursday, February 14,2013

Act now to get mortgage relief

By Mary R. Kenney

As the headlines shift to a recovery in the housing market, with an increase in national home values and home sales, it would be easy to forget that many of our friends and neighbors are still struggl

Guest Opinion | Thursday, February 7,2013

School safety is larger than Newtown

By Sheila Stocks-Smith

On Dec 14, 2012, the nation was stunned and sickened by a senseless tragedy that took the lives of 26 innocent people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. This horrific act has again brou

Guest Opinion | Thursday, January 31,2013

My memories of Musial

By Larry Harnly

Stan Musial, 92, died Jan. 19. I first saw Musial play in person in 1951. I was 9 and he was 30, in his ninth full season with the St. Louis Cardinals. My mom got me interested in baseball and the Car

Guest Opinion | Thursday, January 24,2013

Bishop Paprocki’s statement on Father Donovan

By Bishop Thomas John Paprocki

The following statement was distributed after all Masses at St. Aloysius Parish last weekend and released to media Jan. 22.There have been many stories circulating in the media and on the Internet abo

Guest Opinion | Thursday, January 17,2013

The myth of energy independence

By Pam Solo and Grant Smith

The definition of “energy independence” is evolving. Until recently, it has meant the U.S. producing enough of our own oil so that we were not dependent on other nations for our energy nee

Guest Opinion | Thursday, January 10,2013

Raise federal minimum wage now

By Darius Ross

As a longtime businessman, I see a deficit in America that has received far too little attention. That’s the wage deficit experienced by growing numbers of Americans, with serious consequences f

Guest Opinion | Thursday, January 3,2013

One thing we can agree on about government

By Lee H. Hamilton

We are locked in a seemingly permanent debate over the proper size and scope of government. It was a centerpiece of the recent presidential campaign. It featured heavily in the maneuvering over the &l

Guest Opinion | Thursday, December 20,2012

Tax gambling to fix the state budget

By John Kindt

Gambling companies arguably owe the Illinois Treasury between $10 billion and $47 billion dollars. The Illinois legislative leadership needs to exercise its integrity and collect these billions of dol