"Trustees should be a check on the bureaucracy – skeptics, not cheerleaders," Steve Willson of Huntley writes in a letter to the editor.

"In light of the recent fire deaths of three small brothers in Carpentersville, please check your safety exit windows and the grates covering the window wells," Julie Jette of Cary writes in a letter to the editor.

The working theory seems to be protecting earnest homeschoolers from red tape intended to entangle those who simply pull their kids from class and ignore them, or worse, but that raises two concerns.

The observance National Poetry Month offers language and word lovers a chance to reflect on how many ways poetry has touched their lives.

Rigid belief in the infallibility of police, prosecutors, judges, juries and sentencing laws from the last millennium allows the inference that everyone serving a life sentence fully deserved that punishment and is nominally human but otherwise irredeemable.

Government is an ongoing process and sometimes the governor’s signature is only a blip in the long timeline of impact.

What is the wisdom of the rule wherein a candidate can give enough money to their own committee to make it legal for others to give millions more?

The idea just a few thousand dollars could shift a senator’s focus from the best interests of constituents to the personal bottom line is the exact thing that undercuts faith in all elected officials.

Pharmacy Benefit Managers are taking manufacturer discounts on prescription medications – savings intended for patients – and keeping the money for themselves.

Caregivers for those with Alzheimer's disease do well not to dwell in the past or look too far into the future. However, sometimes events, particularly stressful ones, provide a forceful reminder of just how much has been lost to this insidious disease.

Aimless consolidation is no cure, but no agency has made a strong case for just pouring new money into the current systems.

The idea is for students who opt in to get one notification of admission offers to every Illinois public college, then have the ability to accept and enroll through the same portal.

The question remains unanswered in Springfield: Whose interests are served when felonies become misdemeanors as long as the government gets assets in the deal?

In high-pressure moments, when everything is on the line, leaders must be able to make the right call.

The report is well-timed as Springfield considers many changes aimed at meeting the state’s workforce needs.