Accused finally gets day in court
A flagrant breach of the U.S. Constitution is about to be corrected here in Illinois, even if it’s seven years late. Ali al-Marri has been indicted on charges of providing material support to al-Qaeda...
View ArticleSmall newspapers weathering economic storm
I know there is a good bit of talk about the future of newspapers. We even ran a lengthy article in Monday’s edition about it. I know I’ve heard quite a bit and have even had quite a number of folks...
View Article117 should face problems honestly, publicly
I don’t know why District 117 board President Steven Todd resigned. It seemed to take his fellow board members by surprise, too.His behavior at a Jacksonville High School basketball game the week...
View ArticleUncertainty about future causes anxiety
These are trying times. Don’t you feel a growing sense of anxiety?I’m sure my mind is turning this way because the time approaches when I’ll be without certain income. But, leaving aside myself and...
View ArticleChief Cook and I rebuilt police-newspaper relationship
Jacksonville Police Chief Don Cook and I have nearly identical tenures.Chief Cook took over the Jacksonville Police Department within a few months of when I arrived as editor, and he’ll retire within a...
View ArticleAre those voting platitudes true?
After almost every election, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth about the lack of civic duty by our fellow citizens who fail to vote. People recite the admonishments as facts, but they’re...
View ArticleVoting column gets unexpected reaction
I was surprised by the response to last week’s column, in which I basically told voters that they needn’t bother.Maybe it was because I was able to successfully signal I was almost serious, or maybe...
View ArticleMaybe Town Brook could be something more
Town Brook is an afterthought, the sort of topographical feature hardly worth a mention, like a bump from a tree stump long gone that you only really notice when you push the mower over it.Even its...
View ArticleWith relief, my last column...
This is my last column for the Journal-Courier. I begin this column with no small amount of relief. Some of you feel the same way, I’m sure, but my relief is for a different reason: I don’t have to...
View ArticleSpring is the time for change
Now that spring has arrived, along with those pesky gnats, it seems like change abounds. The same is happening here at the Journal-Courier.Our editor, Ted Roth, has officially left the newspaper after...
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