Executive director: After a few years of getting the Economic Development Administration grant in order and all the pieces in place, we can proudly open our doors and say, “Welcome back."

The best time to make this change has long since passed, so the second best time is now.

Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch didn’t sound all that enthused about passing any new ethics reforms during an interview last week.

In the Civil War, most soldiers were white. But some 190,000 Blacks served as well, and the facts behind their stories – and struggles – are sometimes overlooked. 

The governor can’t just pull the plug on those programs in the current fiscal year as the money is already appropriated. Abruptly reversing course would be disruptive, unwise and likely illegal.

No legislation spontaneously lands on the governor’s desk, which makes paying attention to even efforts doomed to initial failure an important part of understanding the governmental process and the political priorities of those we send to Springfield.

I try to stay away from predictions, especially in the political sphere, an expected outcome from a couple of decades of guessing wrong more than right. So I’m not saying Pritzker will consider my next idea … but maybe he should.

Any candidate who can run even a modest turnout operation ought to succeed, especially in races where voters can make multiple choices.

Mike Madigan knew for a very long time that the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI badly wanted to put his head on a spike.