April 14 marks the 180th anniversary of the departure of the Donner expedition, which took off from what is today the south side of Old Capitol Plaza in downtown Springfield in 1846.

Granddaughter Jennifer (daughter of Susan and Ervin) wrote the column for me while she was at our daughter Verena’s.

Whatever one thinks about our national security needs, this budget commits the country to trillions in additional cumulative spending layered atop existing obligations.

Addressing thousands in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope claimed that God rejects the prayers of leaders who wage war. He called the Iran war “atrocious” violence that cannot be justified by faith.

During the campaign, Trump promised to “bring prices down, starting on Day 1.” How he would do this was left to our imagination.

Zoom conversations, grossly popularized during the COVID-19 era, invite deception that never existed in face-to-face encounters.

Richard Becker, who lived in Jacksonville in the late 1930s and early 1940s, was among the 712 survivors of the Titanic, which smashed into an iceberg in the north Atlantic late on April 14, 1912.

Verena fills in for her mother with stories of a busy week spent cleaning with her sisters, playing games with young nieces and nephews, hosting a family brunch, and sharing a deviled egg recipe.

When the World Bank seems more interested in engaging with right- and left-wing populism than in promoting good economics, it tells you a lot about the era in which we live.