Column

Districts have to follow the laws, which means they have to cough up the difference. ISBE estimates lawmakers would need to spend $142.2 million more in the next fiscal year just to fall short by the same percentage as this cycle.

Unlike the DoorDash settlement, which included information about how many drivers stood to divide the settlement pool, the Grubhub deal is short on details.

In 105 years of Chicago Bears football, Ryan Poles is the architect of the two longest losing streaks and it took him just three seasons

Theater construction upgrades still underway; grand opening will be March 2 with the National Touring Broadway Show, “Spamilton."

Bielema: Rita Crundwell's commutation was a miscarriage of justice and she should have had to the pay the full price in the name of fairness to her victims – the same ones she stole from year, after year, after year.

Expect a history lesson, bring a calculator and a working knowledge of actuarial science.

Trouble is, the governor committed to the House Speaker and Senate President not to spend that money until all three could agree what it would be spent on.

Fans of the beloved television special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” eagerly await the annual appearance of the little reindeer. The show has a strong Illinois connection.

But I want to stay positive this holiday season. People do good things. If good people keep doing good things, maybe they will change the hostile, the mean, the selfish for the better.

In addition to the new designs, we’ll be able to choose to keep the current design or adopt the 1918 centennial or 1968 sesquicentennial flags.

Pam Otto: "After 25 years of living the dream as a naturalist, I’m stepping away from full-time employment to chase after a few other dreams and goals I’ve set for this next chapter."

If George McCaskey truly wants to win, he needs to put as much energy looking in the mirror as he did at scrubbing Hard Knocks from curse words, Marc Silverman writes

Participating coaches may first want to know who they are going to be pooled with, but a close second finding out what is on the week’s menu for the hospitality room the nights they play.

We can both look California, where there are so many propositions on each ballot the state has to reset its numbering system every decade. Chaotic by comparison, that system gives our Midwestern sensibilities a sense of practical order.

Prior records, criminal or otherwise, should factor strongly into decisions about whether suspects can abide by release conditions. If judges and prosecutors aren’t so empowered, lawmakers have an invitation to act

Whenever someone assures you that another person you’re both dealing with “understands” the “quid pro quo,” you’d be wise to run away as fast as you can and never look back.

Thanks to supporters, United Way of Lee County has been able to provide vital resources and support to individuals and families in need throughout 2024. 

On this day, millions of Americans are nervous, and some will even stay home. Others will laugh it off. It’s just another day on the calendar – or is it?

Aside from nature preserves, I’m grateful for the medical expertise that helps me, at 75, to walk the land without (much) limping or hard breathing.

'We are mindful that the legislature has considered amending the Vehicle Code, but it might also consider amending the Regulation Act'

John Williston Cook left a towering legacy on higher education in Illinois at the turn of the century. The founding president of Northern Illinois University, buildings are named for him at two of the state’s major universities.

Sincere belief in cash bail elimination carries a commitment to ensuring the current law applies equally in all cases.

It’s time for the Bears to put their money where their mouth is. No cutting corners with the process or with expenses, Marc Silverman writes

Sometimes it’s important to tune out before tuning in to give your senses a break.

Over the years I’ve tried to spend a few column inches sharing reader inspirations in hopes of making everyone’s holidays a little brighter.

We’re not to the point of remembering the past, we’re living the first draft of history.

Americans have endured some tough years of late, which is nothing new in our history. One example is 1918, though that November, people found plenty of reasons to celebrate Thanksgiving.

DeWitt Clinton has been called the “father” of the legendary Erie Canal. It was only one part of a formidable legacy.

'…the entire landscape of public education has been dramatically altered, presenting new challenges and heightened scrutiny of public schools.'

Kishwaukee United Way has partnered with the Old Navy store in DeKalb to launch a Winter donation drive, a community effort aimed at keeping local families warm throughout the winter months, writes Michele Vaughn. Here's how to help.

After last Friday’s 8-man football championship game between Amboy and Miledgeville, the fall sports season has come to an end.

On a day dedicated to American gratitude it seemed worthwhile to set aside a few moments for appreciation.

Caleb Williams is probably the best thing to happen to the Chicago Bears in years, and we should be thankful for that, Marc Silverman writes

Any cost estimates team or government officials might bandy about should be considered somewhere between conservative and antiquated, much like the offensive playbook.

In the wake of Donald Trump’s national victory and his losing margin dropping to 11 points in Illinois from 17 in two prior races, state legislative Democrats have different views on how their party should proceed.

If a company must hire workers in order to stay in business, it should pay those people the minimum wage. That seems like basic fairness.

For those of you who slept through the week dedicated to poetry in high school, a sonnet is a spare fourteen lines—not long enough to reach the right-hand margin of the page.

Altogether it’s clear more than half of participating Illinoisans are voting outside conventional Election Day precinct polling places.

Judges didn’t legislate from the bench, per a common criticism, but observed repercussions and asked the General Assembly to revisit the drawing board.

Matt Eberflus isn’t a good head coach. You know it. I know it. Hopefully Ryan Poles now knows it, Marc Silverman writes

About 6% of adults owe more than $1,000 and about 3 million people have medical debt exceeding $10,000.

The Democratic legislative leaders are still trying to figure out what their members want to do in the wake of Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and whether that can be done.

Successfully arguing to spend an extra $60 million seems to necessarily include showing how much more K-12 spending would need to increase if all the kids on the waiting list don’t start getting help until kindergarten.

The most famous shipwreck in Great Lakes history is the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. Seventeen years before, another November storm also claimed a heralded freighter, with an even greater casualty total.

Crime TV is my thing. In particular, it’s the murder investigations that hold my interest most

It has been a year of upgrades and progress for the St. Charles Park District.

A look at headlines from years passed.

Making these types of choices comes with the responsibility of elected office.

Raoul: 'By putting tips toward driver pay, DoorDash could get away with contributing as little as $1 toward a worker’s pay and allow tips to make up the rest.'

Dysfunction is back at Halas Hall like a seasonal Chicago snowstorm, Marc Silverman writes