Columnist

Oh no! It's a pop quiz!

Published by admin on Wed, 03/13/2019 - 9:00am

    Spring break is almost here, but before you leave the “Time Was” school, there is the dreaded pop quiz. All questions come from columns printed in 2018.
    Scoring:
    1 - 2 right, you are a really bad guesser
    3 - 4 right, you dabble in history,
    5 - 6 right, you care about your local history
    7 - 8 right, you are an expert, or you cheated
    Good luck!

Gov. Pritzker’s graduated tax plan so far is easy to like

Published by admin on Wed, 03/13/2019 - 8:00am

 

Democrats often propose ideas that take forever to explain and are often difficult for the masses to understand. That wasn't the case last week.

Hometown hero hurler hunted success

Published by admin on Wed, 03/06/2019 - 9:00am

    Ah spring is in the air. Well, actually it feels more like winter, but the first sign of spring is here.
    As all baseball fans know, it spring training season. And with that comes dreams of warm days and another play-off season for whichever team you root for.
    Today we go back 110 years to 1908, a great year for the Cubs by the way. So get your glove and let's play too.

All aboard! Next stop Braidwood

Published by admin on Wed, 03/06/2019 - 9:00am

    One of the landmarks of Braidwood that has been saved from the wrecking ball is the train depot, now the headquarters of the Braidwood Historical Society. While it is not the first depot built, it represents a time when traveling anywhere meant taking a train. So all aboard. Next stop Braidwood history.
    When thinking of Braidwood history we usually think of coal, and then perhaps coal, and then coal comes to mind.  But without the railroad to transport that coal to where it was needed, the coal industry would not have existed

Mix a restaurant-style top shelf Margarita

Published by admin on Wed, 03/06/2019 - 9:00am

    Just in case you missed it, Febr. 22 was National Margarita day.
    I know, it was probably snowing in your town which is about the most un-Margarita thing that could have happened on that glorious day.
    At some point spring will arrive, the sun will shine and you will have your first Margarita of the year. The Margarita is many things to many people and has created quite a bit of controversy during the craft cocktail boom of the last decade. Frozen or rocks, salt or no salt, agave nectar or sugar, mix or no mix, and the debate rages on.

Who will help derail anti-business bills?

Published by admin on Mon, 03/04/2019 - 12:59pm

    A lobbyist who works for a business-related organization asked me a question the other day that I've been hearing a lot lately: "Who's going to be the stopper now?"
     What he meant was, who in the legislative process can be counted on these days to help derail bills which are deemed hostile to business interests?

110 years ago, a real Milestone

Published by admin on Wed, 02/27/2019 - 9:00am

    Hey you, tired of working the same old job for the same old pay? Tired of someone else getting rich on your hard work? Want to get rich in just a few years? Man, have you heard of Milestone?
    That was the talk in Wilmington during the summers of 1904 to 1906.  Let's see what it was all about.
      As the 20th century dawned most people in this area were pretty well settled. This was especially true if you were a farmer. Most good farm land was in the hands of the old settlers and their families.

The chance of a lifetime, some took it

Published by admin on Wed, 02/27/2019 - 9:00am

    Before Braidwood was on the map, another group of miners stampeded their way to the mines. This time, instead of coming to Will County, they were leaving it. Instead of coal, it was gold, and instead of arriving by a railroad train, they arrived by wagon train.    
    Let's join our intrepid group from Will County making their way across the mountains on the way to California and the road to riches.
    Who were these men? What made them take the risks of the journey? Before we travel on, let's look at one of our local representatives, William Goodwin.

Enjoy a Bamboo before dinner

Published by admin on Wed, 02/27/2019 - 9:00am

    There are a few common reasons that cocktails disappear from bar menus.
    The most common reason is that the drink itself was part of a trend that simply has run its course.
    The second most common reason that a cocktail disappears is that one or more of the ingredients used to make the drink become scarce.
    In the case of the Bamboo Cocktail both are true. However, a revival of the sherry market and a trend toward low ABV cocktails have given the Bamboo a new lease on life.

Pritzker budget expansions far outweight cuts

Published by admin on Mon, 02/25/2019 - 10:26am

    Give Gov. JB Pritzker some credit, the man can give a good speech.
     Last week's budget address was well-written and respectful of its audience and effectively used Illinois history to make its points. The governor delivered the address like... well... a governor. Unlike some previous occupants of that office, he didn't try to make himself look better at the General Assembly's expense. He didn't propose totally outrageous revenue or spending ideas that had zero chance of passage.