Columnist

Senate President Cullerton will be missed

Published by admin on Mon, 11/18/2019 - 11:20am

Much will change at the Statehouse when Senate President John Cullerton retires in January, a year before his term expires.

Unlike his House counterpart, Speaker Michael Madigan, Cullerton always wanted to find ways to get things done - and he got a lot done.

He's a kind, approachable man who prefers bipartisan statesmanship but relishes partisan battle whenever the times call for it. He's smart and funny and has managed to keep a diverse caucus together without resorting to intimidation, like his predecessor routinely did.

The Manhattan massacre, early prairie pioneers

Published by admin on Tue, 11/12/2019 - 1:24pm

In previous columns we have been guilty of ignoring our neighbors to the north and west. Jackson Township was actually the site of the earliest white settlement in this area. Manhattan, better known as Five Mile Grove was also the site of early white settlement. Let's give the Jacksonites and Manhattanites their fair due and look into the very beginnings of those townships.

Recipes from a simpler time

Published by admin on Tue, 11/12/2019 - 1:09pm

Cooking is fast becoming a lost art. Statistics tell us that we are eating out more and more often. So today we go back to a simpler time, when cooking at home was common.

Take a chance on the Hemingway Special

Published by admin on Mon, 11/11/2019 - 4:33pm

This is on odd time of year to be pouring tropical drinks, but not if you have spent the year patiently waiting for the arrival of fresh white grapefruit at your local market. White grapefruit juice is the “something extra” in many iconic rum drinks including this week's cocktail, the Hemingway Special.

The 19th century's most dangerous job

Published by admin on Tue, 11/05/2019 - 1:48pm

Actually, the above may be a bit of an overstatement, but not by much.
Even today this job ranks eighth most dangerous in the world. And certainly, in the 19th century it was even more dangerous. Many people reading this column are employed in this line of work, and I am willing to bet they would agree. I am talking about farming, plain and simple. Today we look at some of the many examples of the danger they faced.
Our first examples highlight the fact that children, even today employed on the family farm, ran great risks dealing with the livestock.

It hit like lightning, the big fraud

Published by admin on Tue, 11/05/2019 - 1:32pm

In the 19th century there were many words to describe someone who was fraudulent, or who earned his money in a disreputable way. They might be called a huckster, a fraud, a drummer, a dead-beat or they might be called “a lightning rod salesman.” The last name was the worst of all. Today we look at the lightning rod salesman.

The unexpected Cameron’s Kick

Published by admin on Mon, 11/04/2019 - 3:43pm

“The Odd Couple” was a movie, then it was a hit TV sitcom, and then the term became part of the vernacular for any pairing of two things that simply do not fit together.
“Odd couples” are rare in the mixology world because typically certain ingredients are not used together for one simple reason: the combination typically doesn't taste good.

Pritzker speaks anti-corruption but crosses the line

Published by admin on Tue, 10/29/2019 - 3:24pm

Gov. JB Pritzker has lately won plaudits from even some conservative opinion-makers for making the right moves on corruption. But I am going to register an objection in a bit.
When Senate President John Cullerton dithered about what to do with Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) after the powerful Transportation Committee's Statehouse and district offices and house were raided by federal agents, Pritzker called on Sandoval to quit the chairmanship or be removed.

Escaped! Less than famous escapes

Published by admin on Tue, 10/29/2019 - 12:43pm

A few years ago I happened to be in Lockport when the news came on the radio.
A convict that was being transported to Stateville, had escaped on 9th Street. Later that night when I saw the evening news I realized how many law enforcement officers were involved in finding one handcuffed guy in a portable john. Today we look at how escaped convicts were dealt with in the 19th century.

The Local Record

Published by admin on Tue, 10/29/2019 - 12:39pm

The Local Record was the title of a column that ran in the Wilmington Advocate from the early 1870s to the 1900s.
The size of the column varied from a column to a full page. It consisted of bits and pieces of local gossip, humorous stories, sarcastic remarks, poorly disguised ads from local stores and pieces of information such as the start of hunting season. The following were taken from the 1870s and give us little windows into what life was like.