By Ray Hanania Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin wants to restore the “grandeur” of the old Soviet Union. Over his past 22 years in power, he has done everything to reverse the move towards democracy that began with the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev and presidency of Boris Yeltsin on Christmas Day 1991. President Biden has been […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inManteno Vedette New News, Opinion Vedette, Vedette New News, Vedette Schools
Who’s in Control of Your School?
Midnight Appellate Court Decision: Who is in control of your school? During the past two years, schools – along with everyone else – have navigated territories that have not been experienced in our lifetime. While global pandemics are not new in history, the context of each has brought its own unique challenges. Most recently in Illinois, […]
Posted inOpinion
State lawmakers must ensure fairness for storage-unit renters
By Retired Army Col. Paul Kantwill During and since my time as an active-duty officer in the Army, I have devoted much time and energy to protecting military service members from financial predators. Last year I focused on the passage of the Predatory Lending Prevention Act (PLPA), and the nationwide repeal of a Comptroller of […]
Posted inOpinion
Pritzker extricates himself from mask mess
By Rich Miller For what seemed like an eternity, but probably just for the past year or so, infamous COVID attorney Thomas DeVore has been citing the first paragraph of Section 2 of the Illinois Department of Public Health Act to claim that only IDPH has the power to quarantine or isolate Illinoisans. Indeed, the […]
Posted inOpinion
Teaching students how to think, not what to think
By Michael J. Bakalis Ph.D As one who earned a Ph.D in American history and has taught and written about this subject for many years, I like to think that perhaps I bring some credibility to a current topic engaging our nation. The discussion of Critical Race Theory and the New York Times “1619” project […]
Posted inOpinion Vedette
Local Columnists Disappearing from Opinion Pages
By Scott Reeder Phil Luciano, perhaps Illinois’ best newspaper columnist, hung up his fedora at the Peoria Journal-Star and left the newspaper business. I’ve known Phil for 35 years and have long admired his writing. We were once classmates in a graduate program at Sangamon State University, back when “Big Jim” Thompson was in the […]
Posted inOpinion
We’re being distracted from the real scandal
By Ray Hanania The warnings that Russia will attack Ukraine have been much like forecasts of the TV meteorologists. They can predict snow, but how intense or light they often get wrong. Schools close. Some parents stay home from work, but the snowfall is light. We live in Chicagoland, folks. It snows! It always has. […]
Posted inOpinion
Pandemic exposed glaring inequality
By Dr. Robert Grant Deaths related to COVID-19 were more than twice as high among black, Latino and Native American people as among whites in 2020, according to new research out from the National Cancer Institute. It’s only the latest reminder of the glaring inequity that plagues the U.S. healthcare system. Addressing that inequity will […]
Posted inOpinion
Mask mess may muddy Pritzker’s legacy
By Rich Miller This entire controversy over Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow’s odd ruling earlier this month that statewide mask/vaccine/testing mandates at schools are a “type of quarantine” and therefore fall under the state’s quarantine laws (which include individual due process protections) could have all been prevented with a simple bill last year. Most who […]
Posted inOpinion
GOP survival is at stake
By Ray Hanania Sean Morrison has no chance of winning re-election in November to hold one of the last remaining Republican seats on the Cook County Board. If he loses the 17th District, as expected, Republicans will become extinct in Cook County. That’s the choice before voters in the Republican primary election on June 28. […]