Village Voices - We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks

My first clue was when I got home from covering a volleyball game and noticed the next morning that our backyard had already had the grass cut. Now normally that's my job, and I had noticed it was abo...

When I was in high school I used to envy the kids who lived in town because there was always enough people in the neighborhood where they could round up a few of them to play baseball or basketball...

“We be po,” I cried to my wife. “Would you stop it, we are not poor. We’re just cash strapped a little until Friday.” In the grand scheme of things, a perfect storm of financial needs came u...

When I was in the eighth grade riding the bus to school, my family was the last to get on in the morning and the last to get off in the afternoon. In the morning this meant we only had to ride the bus...

In my last column, I wrote about how priorities matter with limited time the General Assembly is in Session. One of the ways I sought to “practice what I preach” was to spend time this Spring...

I have to make a confession. The guilt has been haunting me for several days now, and while I like to think I lead a good life and do the right things … the torment I have been living with on my con...

Illinois State Trooper Brooke Jones-Story was honored August 30 with the dedication of the Springfield Road Overpass on Route 20 in her honor. The dedication took place inside the Visitors Center ...

A couple of years ago I took my family to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Chicago is a big city. The population density of Chicago is 11,933 people per square mile. There are 4,524,709...

My wife is living proof that we often take our body for granted. Now, before you get the wrong idea – where I’m going with this is that she recently had to have Rotator Cuff Surgery on her right s...

Every life is a story. Every story is different. What is interesting to some is ordinary to others. A few years ago a friend from our church suffered a stroke. While in rehab at the nursing home I...

Priorities matter. How we spend our time is a statement of those priorities. Unfortunately, time is limited in our lives and in the government bodies influencing our lives and livelihoods. As such,...

As students across Illinois head back to school, the Illinois State Police are reminding the public to be aware of school buses, crosswalks, and children walking or riding their bikes to school. Back...

One of the more mysterious entities found in the Bible is that of angels. Who are they? What do they do? What do they look like? Are they male or female? Do they walk, run, fly, all of the above, or...

You know, I realized the other day just how long I've been doing this job ... Another upcoming season of High School sports is upon us, and I have been running all over shooting Fall Sports pictures...

Summer was late arriving this year. Many of the farmers in our area did not yet have all their corn in the ground by June 1. Some were still working around the wet spots in their fields all the way...

There are so many issues in Springfield that Democrats and Republicans are on polar-opposite viewpoints. Tax policies, how to keep businesses in Illinois, how to keep people in Illinois, how to...

Suffering a loss is never easy, and our region got a double whammy recently. Both Colton Drye and Edwin Curry were taken from us far too soon. Now, before you get the wrong idea, I am not going to...

I had a fun time last weekend. I was one of the morning speakers at The Fellowship of Christian Farmers International Annual Conference held in Dubuque, Iowa. As the title says, this is an...

On Tuesday, July 30th, I was honored to be joined by over 4 dozen taxpayers for my most recent “Pizza & Politics” event at the iconic Timmerman’s Supper Club overlooking the Upper Mississippi...

A new state task force will look for ways to provide property tax relief to homeowners and report its findings by the end of the year. Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed legislation creating the...

We’ve been doing a little remodeling at our house. By we I mean mainly my wife and I with help as needed from people with more expertise than we have. Doing any kind of work like this is a very...

Can you feel it? There’s a sense of excitement in the air no matter where you go. And while some might think it is simply the heat wave finally breaking and decent summer weather breaking through...

OK, at the risk of embarrassing people who don't deserve it, let me begin by saying that the names have been changed in the following story to protect the guilty. Now, with that being said ... I came...

I talk a lot with constituents in our district about "Northwest Illinois Values." Often, when I use this term, I get questions. In society these days, whenever anyone tries to say that there are...

"It's been a long time," the caller on the other end of the line said, "but when I was a kid, my grandmother took me to Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at Martintown Church. I heard all the st...