From the vault, June 11, 1998 and May 10, 2001 (revised): In my lifetime, I have traveled by foot, by bicycle, by automobile and truck, by airplane (single-engine and jet), and by boat (oar-powered and ocean-going). I have not yet traveled by motorcycle; I’m still debating that one, nor by
How could this be happening right under our noses? That’s what readers wanted to know after my column went viral about the extent to which young children are being bought and sold for sex in America (The Voice, May 2). Where are the police when these children, some as young
Spring finally has sprung…somewhere. That’s how I started last time, but it seems the appropriate way to begin again I sit here and wait for a massive amount of snow to be dumped on us in the next few hours. Whatever happened to March coming in like a lion and
By Deena Sherman – My mother and I don’t always agree. In fact, we sometimes vehemently disagree, especially about politics. When I mentioned to her that her grandchildren are thrilled that Bernie Sanders is running for president again, there was a long pause. She finally broke the silence with: “You
By Marjorie Logman – When Spring arrived I found I have a greater appreciation for the Fox Valley Park District. I did not fully understand how the organization serves the population of Aurora and the surrounding areas. I encourage everyone to take a ride throughout the Park District area just
Children, young girls, some as young as nine years old, are being bought and sold for sex in America. The average age for a young woman being sold for sex is now 13 years old. This is America’s dirty little secret. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Time for another Bold New Idea. It has to do with the Senate of the United States, that so-called gentlemen’s club and greatest deliberative body in the history of the world. Of late, however, very few Senators have behaved as gentlemen, more like louts, in my humble opinion, and the
By Judd Lofchie – I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to the Chicago premiere of the movie “The Public” and afterwards a Q & A with the director, Emilio Estevez, and Ryan Dowd, the executive director of Hesed House, Aurora’s homeless shelter. Ryan Dowd wrote the book, “The
By Cindy Sellen – Montgomery In the aftermath of the mass shooting that rocked our community in Aurora, February 15, we are asking and thinking “What can I do?” This mass shooting was one of the 43 in our country in the first 49 days this year. I have three
Good Friday this year, it was more than 150 years since Abraham Lincoln’s death. Had he lived to finish his second term, the history of the United States would no doubt have been far different. Some historians believe that if Lincoln had lived, he would probably have been more successful
Spring finally has sprung…somewhere. Trees are budding and flowers are blooming. The animals in Al Demeter Park next to the Santori Public Library of Aurora have come out of hibernation and are emerging from their dens just in time to get a load of wet, heavy, snow dumped on them.
Our accidental president, Donald Trump, just cannot do enough nice things for his best buddy, Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. After transferring the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, he recognizes the Golan Heights as “Israeli territory,” territory which the Israelis “liberated” from Syria during the Six Days War in 1967. This
By Deena Sherman – My parents were married right out of high school in the early 1960s. With a union job at a steel mill and a license to operate a beauty shop, they quickly saved enough to buy a house and enter the middle class. Fifty years later, two
A risk the people of Aurora should not have to to take: By Richard C. Irvin, mayor, Aurora, Ill. After a nearly a week of news reports that convicted-murderer Thomas Kokoraleis would reside in nearby Wheaton following his release from custody, Aurora was blindsided over the weekend, March 30-31, when
The U.S. government, in its pursuit of so-called monsters, has itself become a monster. It is not a new development, nor is it a revelation. It is a government that has in recent decades unleashed untold horrors upon the world, including its own citizenry, in the name of global conquest,
By Priscilla Gruber – April Fool’s Day the Kendall County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) will hold the only public hearing at 7 p.m. Monday, April 1 scheduled on the County’s revised proposal 17-28 regulating commercial gun ranges. It is not about non-commercial backyard shooting which the County’s Law Justice
By Dan Hites – I am not a politician, this being my first time running for elected office. I am a candidate for Aurora Sixth Ward alderman. For 35 years I have been an entrepreneur and real estate developer; opening and running businesses as assorted as nightclub, radio station, restaurants,
The absurd cruelties of the American police state keep reaching newer heights. Consider that if you kill a police dog, you could face a longer prison sentence than if you’d murdered someone or abused a child. If a cop kills your dog, however, there will be little to no consequences
First of two parts Rita Hatthaway published the following article for Home & Garden magazine: “Mary Johnson, 42, was at her wit’s end. She loved her three sons more than life itself. They were all bright boys, ranging from freshmen to seniors in high school. But she had violent thoughts
By Angela Clay Thomas – February 15, State representative Linda Chapa LaVia accepted an appointment to lead Illinois’ Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Chapa LaVia’s departure from the 83rd House District, which includes most of the West Side of Aurora and portions of the East Side of Aurora and North Aurora,
