For more than five decades, Mike Brown, best known as "Brownie," has been a fixture on the sidelines of area sporting events in the radio booth and press boxes for WLPO Radio. St. Bede’s last football game this season was also the last of Brownie’s long run.

The heart of the transit funding package is a decision to use all state motor fuel sales taxes to fund mass transit instead of sending that cash to the Road Fund.

In 43 years covering high school football, the past 40 as sports editor at the BCR, Kevin Hieronymus has learned there’s a lot to watch for and hear from the sidelines.

The Chicago Teachers Union president was recently elected president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. State legislators haven’t appreciated aggressive advocacy by CTU allies in the past.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights held a statehouse lobby day last week to push its far-reaching veto session agenda.

There’s been a familiar voice for Annawan-Wethersfield football fans for nearly half a century. Rod Jackson of Mineral started doing the PA for Annawan in 1978 and picked up the same duties with the A-W co-op in 2008 and has been doing it ever since, 46 years and counting.

The announcement last week that the Illinois AFL-CIO was withdrawing from the “agreed bill process” at least 40 years after its inception took almost everyone by surprise, but nobody was really shocked.

The goal of the majority of Democrats has always been to have support from unions and the major environmental groups when it comes to big energy bills.

Jim Edgar ran a brilliant campaign for governor in 1990. He set the template for every winning statewide race since then by focusing on the importance of independent suburban women.