Columnist

February and floods, a historic combination

Published by admin on Mon, 01/29/2024 - 1:11pm

Floods on the Kankakee have been happening for thousands of years, but it wasn't until man started building things in the river bed that these ice jams became so overwhelming. And why February?
Because it's then that thawing starts, and the frozen river begins to break up. Five dams have been built across the river at various places previous to the concrete one that is in Wilmington now. All five were destroyed by ice, three of them only 4 months after they were built.

Like it or not, migrant buses still coming

Published by admin on Sun, 01/28/2024 - 11:19am

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget that he passed last November deliberately underfunded programs for asylum-seekers. The meager appropriation authority could be exhausted by April, but nobody knows yet what the city plans to do when it reaches that point.
Also last November, Gov. JB Pritzker made it clear to reporters that, “the state doesn’t run shelters,” and said he was waiting for the city to recommend shelter sites.

Early happenings in Custer Township

Published by admin on Tue, 01/23/2024 - 10:53am

One of the most productive agricultural regions in our area is Custer Township, the smallest of all the Will County Townships. It was carved out of Reed Township because the citizens there felt that Braidwood had sucked up all the township's resources but had contributed very little. Today we look at early life in Custer Township.
Custer Township was one of the first parts of Will County that was settled, almost everyone settling where Custer Park is now.

January jollifications in Jackson, let it snow

Published by admin on Tue, 01/23/2024 - 10:41am

Many of my gentle readers live in the country, on country roads. And despite the combined efforts of our valiant Road Commissioners, sometimes it can be a bit hazardous. Now, think of what it would be like in the 19th century when plows were meant to turn over earth, not clear snow.
I would have thought that very little socializing would have gone on. But I was wrong. Today we look at Jackson Township and the grand little burg of Elwood as our example.

Can Illinois afford a child tax credit, college spending?

Published by admin on Sat, 01/20/2024 - 1:11pm

One of the bigger state budget expansion fights we could see play out in Springfield this spring is the creation of a permanent $300 Child Income Tax Credit.
The new proposal has been scaled back from last year’s $700 per child tax credit bill, which went nowhere in the House after it was introduced in February and ultimately had 15 sponsors and co-sponsors. But proponents say even the downsized version would make a major difference.

Cold weather, good or bad for Braidwood

Published by admin on Tue, 01/16/2024 - 10:58am

I am writing this when the weather outside is minus 4 degrees from a fairly warm house out of the wind. I started thinking that cold weather must have suited the coal miner. After all, the demand for
coal must go up in bad weather. But I was only partially right. Let's see what history has to say about it.

Florence farmers fought the big guy

Published by admin on Mon, 01/15/2024 - 1:05pm

The high cost of gasoline, the dangers it poses to our environment, the effects on the economy and the monopolies holding our country hostage because of it, are all part of our everyday conversation. You may be surprised to find that all of this is not new.

Lawmakers should learn not to make empty threats

Published by admin on Sun, 01/14/2024 - 11:25am

Perhaps the weakest federal criminal charge against former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke was about his plot to extort the Chicago Field Museum because a friend’s daughter never heard back about an internship after Burke sent over her resume.
US District Court Judge Virginia Kendall seemed “unimpressed” by federal prosecutors’ reasoning in mid-December after Burke’s legal team moved to dismiss the charge ahead of closing arguments, according to Tribune reporter Jason Meisner.

Mine inspections finally taken seriously

Published by admin on Tue, 01/09/2024 - 11:05am

In my column I portray the men of the coal fields as a wild, hard-living group who loved to drink and fight. It is true that those men had a larger appetite for life than most. But perhaps it was because they faced death so often.

Transportation by train, a thing of the past?

Published by admin on Tue, 01/09/2024 - 9:41am

My recent train trip to New Mexico made me aware of Amtrak. Many people think that train travel is a thing of the past. From my experience it is not. The train was crowded both ways. In fact I wonder why there was only one train a day when clearly more were needed. Today we look at the beginning of train transportation in Wilmington.