What have you been thinking about these days? What do you discuss with friends in casual conversations? For many people, those subjects have changed in recent weeks. That change has been reflected on the Opinion pages of this newspaper. As a local newspaper, The Woodstock Independent has been an outlet for readers to sound off […]
When voters in heavily Republican McHenry County helped Democrat Lauren Underwood win a seat in Congress in 2018, many of her party members were hopeful it signaled a shift in the political landscape of this conservative suburban county. After all, Underwood, in winning her first political office in her first campaign, unseated Republican incumbent Randy […]
There’s an expression, long attributed to the late Everett Dirksen, a former United States senator from Illinois: “A million here, a million there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money.” Woodstock is well familiar with this, the biggest example being the Old Courthouse Center, which started with an $8.4 million estimate and finished up with a […]
Good news recently about downtown Woodstock developments has lifted the spirits of those of us who were bummed out by the announcements this past spring that the Public House restaurant and Makity Make crafts shop would be closing after only a few months in business at the newly renovated Old Courthouse Center. The historic former […]
Woodstock’s Annual Resident Survey is here, for a limited time only, as the saying goes. It’s a painless way to weigh in on your priorities for the next year and your views on how we are doing as a city right now. Woodstock’s City Council has stated that they refer to survey results when making […]
Maybe you avoided all of the state and national political drama that finally ended barely a week ago with no real damage from the harmless blows of typical partisan potshots. The Illinois General Assembly wrapped up its 2023 session by passing a budget, and the U.S. Congress ended its debate over the debt ceiling and […]
What a great time to live in Woodstock. Don’t you agree? We have a positive, progressive, safe community with many creative, imaginative people working to move Woodstock forward. In the final days of December, we are completing a holiday season with many special events that are reminders of what a special community this is. If […]
Next week’s primary election ballot does not include anyone seeking the Democratic nomination for McHenry County sheriff. Democrats also failed to field a candidate for sheriff in 2018. And 2014. (An independent was on the ballot.) No Democrat has campaigned for sheriff since 2010. In all likelihood, the Republican primary will again determine the next […]
As Ann Marie Lipinski, former editor of the Chicago Tribune, watched the exodus of experienced journalists when a hedge fund bought the newspaper last year, she mourned. “The scale of talent leaving the Chicago Tribune is staggering,” she said. “Combined with January buyouts, a hedge fund’s takeover is driving out irreplaceable experience, Pulitzer winners among […]
Imagine the possibilities. That thought must have driven the vision for what the project underway at the Old Courthouse and Sheriff’s House promises for Woodstock. And as the total expense of restoration and renovation inches toward $18 million, we must hope this confluence of historic preservation and commercial development delivers on that promise. We should […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
