Columns
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A number of things behind an important Thanksgiving reminderNov 27, 2025 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: Reading the news or following events on broadcast or social media can often seem to consign Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous line from the poem “Happy Thought” to the realm of quaint naivete. But then, there is Thanksgiving.
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Venezuela, covert action and national securityNov 27, 2025 4:00 am - Guest columnist Arthur I. Cyr: A basic fact of life is that the United States does not willingly tolerate hostile regimes in the Americas.
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Not exactly John Henry, but still a lesson on humans and technologyNov 25, 2025 4:00 am - I received numerous responses to last Thursday’s column lamenting the incompetence of Artificial Intelligence to identify a Dick Van Dyke Show episode that included a han...
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A cautionary tale on news judgment and AINov 20, 2025 4:00 am - A funny thing happened on the way to writing this column. Well, maybe not so funny. Maybe a little scary. Hopefully, a little funny. You decide. It starts with a morning ...
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Nature: A smart investmentNov 16, 2025 4:00 am - Guest columnist Jessica Vealitzek: It might seem obvious why we would want to acquire additional open space — more trails to walk, rivers to kayak, beautiful vistas to enjoy. And all of that is true. But healthy open space is also valuable.
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Aside from punditry, keeping our coming primaries in perspectiveNov 13, 2025 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: There were precious few off-year elections around the country last week, but those we saw produced a bounty of analysis, punditry and political hand-wringing. Perhaps more than anything, this is a sign of the tensions governing our election politics these days.
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The radical commitment to showing hope, not hateNov 10, 2025 4:00 am - Guest columnist Tom Montgomery Fate: Given my recent participation in nonviolent protests at the Broadview Detention Center in suburban Chicago, it has been frustrating to see how we have been depicted by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.
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Hegseth’s misguided efforts to censor mediaNov 06, 2025 4:00 am - What’s in a name? A lot, when the Trump administration decides the Department of Defense should become the Department of War, and at the same time is demanding that the m...
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History, politicians, truth, untruth, lies, beliefs and balanceNov 06, 2025 4:00 am - EDITOR’S NOTE: Jim Slusher is taking some time off. The following column is a reprise of his “Letter to Readers” from Feb. 9, 2023. Probably since before Charles Pin...
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Halloween tricks in Springfield: Chicago transit bailout leaves everyone else holding the bagNov 05, 2025 5:00 am - State Sen. Don DeWitte writes that Halloween was all tricks and no treats this year in Springfield, as Democrats rammed through a costly public transit bill in the early hours of Oct. 31.