“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” —Benjamin Franklin What a mess. As America has become ever more polarized, and those polarized factions have become more militant and less inclined to listen to, or even allow for the existence of, other
Children and adults wait in line in the Georgetown neighborhood of Aurora Tuesday to enter a fire truck during National Night Out, a nationwide annual event designed to raise crime prevention awareness and support community-police partnerships. Aurora resident, Dee Hakala, of Georgetown started the Aurora event after two teenagers held
Victoria Schmitt of Yorkville bid farewell recently to a new friend, 23-year-old Yanise Ho, originally from Hong Kong (click here for her website). The immediate destination for Ho was Iowa and ultimately Portland, Ore., all by roller blades. Yes, the college student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass.
We do live in a wide world. There are many facets to our world if we wander and wonder. If we look around and absorb. There are examples from which to choose: • A 23-year-old woman feeds her desire to be distinctive and live in a world which receives kindness
Second of three parts – Rina Raphael of FastCompany visited Beyond Meat’s analytical lab which seeks to match non-meat with beef’s taste. Her report on the tour in the Los Angeles plant continues: “Later during my facility tour, Daniel Ryan, Beyond Meat’s director of chemistry, works with the ‘E-nose’ aroma
Summer thoughts: • So what if I had read all day? The book was “A Gentleman in Moscow” and I did not want to put it down. In the author notes, I read that he had an M.A. in English so it was no surprise that he used correct English
Some years back, before I became an independently-wealthy newspaper columnist and author, I worked for a landscape architectural firm. Besides designing landscape plans for the homes of the rich, plans that when implemented cost more than the entire GDP of Bosnia, the firm created land plans. We generally focused on
By Joel Frieders – My name is Joel Frieders. I am a husband to one, a father to three, a son to two, a brother to one, and I am a second-term alderman for the United City of Yorkville, the county seat of Kendall County. July 28, 2017, I lost
By Anthony Stanford – Aurora Public Library (APL) teen librarian Flannery Crump was the emcee for the 10th and final Teen Talent Show competition July 28 at the Copley Theatre in downtown Aurora. The audience was entertained by the stiff competition and rousing vocal performances of competitors Elliot Gallegos, JJ
By Joe Healy – I had the pleasure for several seasons of coaching Kirhofer’s Sports when it was known as U.A.W. Local #145 in Aurora American Legion League baseball. I handed over the managerial reins to former player and current manager, Alex Varvarezos. There were a handful of other former
Christopher Faber has been named as the executive director for the City of Batavia’s Downtown Partnership organization, Batavia MainStreet. Batavia MainStreet is a 501©3 not-for-profit organization working to enhance, promote, and revitalize Downtown Batavia as the heart of the community through dedicated volunteer efforts. MainStreet is host to community events
By Charlie Zine – Editor’s note: Charlie Zine and Chuck Roberts completed an eight-day, 202-mile journey from Colgate, Wis. to Ottawa and finished Monday, July 23. There were two photos on the front page of The Voice last week. Here is Charlie Zine’s focus on the trip. I have enjoyed
First of three parts Our society will be faced with many decisions regarding our future food consumption. Having been raised on a farm where we produced our own meats and vegetables, it was a seemingly healthy lifestyle. We fed our animals grains and hay which we harvested and then after
Last of two parts Following up on the extraordinary life of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, I wanted to learn about his common-law wife, Deborah Read Franklin. How did this woman interest him time and time again, even though separations kept them apart for many years at a time and once
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. When it comes to relations between the United States and Russia, there aren’t any good guys present. Both countries have been at war, a cold war, to be sure, with each other since the end of World War I. Do you doubt me, dear
Is that the drugs talking? How often have we heard, “That’s not like Obi Wan Kenobi (of Star Wars). It must be the booze talking”? It’s common and expected. We all seem to understand that alcohol often does things that changes a person’s personality. Gentle individuals can become belligerent, and
Chuck Roberts, left, and Charlie Zine, celebrate the completion of their eight-day journey down the Fox River through Elgin and Aurora to Ottawa at the confluence of the Fox River and Illinois River, a journey of 202 miles. Roberts is former president of the Friends of the Fox. Zine is
By Carter Crane – The three-day, 30-year, memorial celebration of Reverend Robert Wesby’s death was a success by all accounts. Reverend Wesby was the minister of Progressive Baptist Church in Aurora, a civil rights leader, and marched with Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. The three days included a banquet
First of two parts The more I read about Benjamin Franklin, the more outstanding he becomes. How could one man have done so much? I stood at his gravesite in Philadelphia and paused to wonder, once again, how extraordinary he was. No one today compares to his astounding and accomplished
I bought a sundial. With recent power outages, I was tired of seeing all the 12:00s on every digital clock in the house and then having to reset them. At least with a sundial, there’s no resetting no matter how many times the power goes kaput. I’ve had some experience
