“I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let’s face it, friends make life a lot more fun.” -Pastor Charles Swindoll Pastor Swindoll is right. When you have true friends who care about you, your life […]
“Come to my house for Asian food tomorrow.” – Text message received on June 10, 2025 When you’re a widower, and friends don’t typically invite you over to their home for a meal, and – let’s face it, even when you weren’t a widower, that kind of offer was seldom made – a text message […]
By Jim Edgar andJohn ShawDistributed by Capitol news illinois American politics is as contentious now as it has been in any recent period in our history. As a response to this acrimony and conflict, it is tempting to turn off the TV, stop reading the newspaper, put down the phone, and forget about politics and […]
Illinois has long been a hub for innovation. Our strategic location in the heart of the Midwest amidst a robust network of top-tier universities, and a rich legacy of collaboration among private, public, and academic sectors are just a few reasons innovation continues to thrive here. Since 2014, the STEM Education Research Center at Southern […]
April, National Poetry Month, is here again, a time to celebrate verse and its importance in our culture. Introduced in 1996, the occasion is observed each year by the Academy of American Poets, and poets celebrate with workshops or, sometimes, poetry readings or slams. Retailers, too, see an uptick in poetry book sales, according to […]
You can grow fresh, healthy foods year round using hydroponic methods, which need no soil. With a hydroponic system, you actually use less water than growing in soil because you repeatedly recycle the water you are using. The water remains clean with proper filtration and treatment. One of the world’s primary concerns today is water […]
“Thank you for being you.” – Diane Baker-Lockwood My wife said this to me recently. It’s a simple statement, but it meant the world to me. Allow me to provide some context. On a late fall evening in 1982, the 22-year-old version of yours truly – a nerdy, outgoing AM radio news director at the […]
“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone?” Those lyrics are fun to sing until they apply to you. Until last week, for example, I didn’t fully understand how much my adult special-needs son depends on federal Medicaid funding. My wakeup call came when I learned that […]
D-200 schools remain committed to the dignity of all children Our extraordinary community has long been an oasis of welcoming and acceptance for so many. It’s a place where we celebrate our differences with the understanding that a diverse culture doesn’t weaken us — it makes us stronger. One of the things that I love […]
In the summer of 1977, I worked at Claussen Pickles in Woodstock as a packer. We spent eight-hour shifts standing at a bin putting cucumbers into jars. The cucumbers came along a conveyor from which we filled the bin. Another conveyor brought empty jars. A third conveyor took jars we packed with fresh cucumbers to […]
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.
