Columns
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Making sure rhetoric is not ‘out of whack’Jun 11, 2026 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: It’s incumbent not just on us to provide perspective but on readers and viewers as well. “Getting to the truth ASAP,” any serious citizen quickly finds, involves much more than dramatic images and dismissive insults.
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Behind a hot story, there’s a lot of fire you don’t seeJun 05, 2026 4:00 am - For several years, we used to publish in a monthly rotation thumbnail profiles of individual members of our newsroom staff. The short stories provided a reporter or edito...
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Nature Is a Powerful Tool for Mental WellnessJun 03, 2026 9:46 am - Every May, Mental Health Awareness Month invites us to reflect on the many ways we can support emotional well-being. While clinical care, community support, and crisis re...
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How the separate practices of writing and faith can convergeJun 01, 2026 4:00 am - Guest columnist Tom Montgomery Fate: Forty or so years ago, in the early eighties — when telephones still “rang” and were wired to walls, and we still relied on typewriters — I did two seemingly unrelated MA degrees back-to-back. One in creative writing and one in religion.
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Another opportunity to choose skepticism over cynicismMay 28, 2026 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: Stories about fraud and public misdeeds need to be evaluated on their own terms. They point to issues that deserve attention; they do not cast doubt on every person in a particular field or occupation.
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A Gold Star wife’s Memorial Day messageMay 25, 2026 4:00 am - EDITOR’S NOTE: By request of Greg Padovani, chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee of Arlington Heights, the following letter is reprinted and updated with the a...
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Illinois Affordable Housing tax credit expands housing opportunity across IllinoisMay 22, 2026 4:00 am - Guest columnist Rob Anthony: Addressing Illinois’ housing challenge will require a wide range of solutions, but one of the state’s most effective and proven tools is already making a meaningful difference: the Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credit (IAHTC).
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I, rebel: When the urge to break the rules can’t be resistedMay 21, 2026 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: To many of you, I apologize in advance for the following column. Some of you, I bet, will feel my pain.
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What if AI stood for Actual Intelligence?May 18, 2026 4:00 am - Guest columnist Tom Montgomery Fate: I’m a 60-something writer and teacher who sometimes uses Chat GPT and other AI apps. But, in the tradition of Thoreau and Mary Oliver and others, I also still like to walk through the woods with a pencil and journal, observing and taking notes..
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‘News you can use’ can appear in unexpected waysMay 14, 2026 4:00 am - “News you can use” is something of a marketing cliche related to newspapers, but the phrase, like most cliches, has some basis in fact. In addition to stories about polit...