Yesterday was a busy work day here. A lot of jobs were completed for the upcoming wedding of daughter Verena and Daniel Ray.

It’s good to think globally, but don’t leave out acting locally. We need you. Learn from those old seekers and do better this time. You can do it.

Charles Sauber mixed enough batter to make at least three crepes for each of his 15 children, frying bacon and sausage all the while.

"No one wants to think about dying, but death educators tell us the best way to deal with our own death is to acknowledge its reality while we are still healthy and full of life," Jerrilyn Zavada Novak writes in her weekly Spirit Matters column.

Paying attention to IDFPR can be quite instructive in terms of what’s happening in a community and understanding the ways in which Springfield attempts (and sometimes fails) to operate.

The burr oak at Hickory Knolls Natural Area is 240 years old and is 90 feet from branch tip to branch tip, the length of the world’s largest animal – the blue whale, Patricia MacMillan of the St. Charles Park District writes in her column.

Fertilizers and pesticides can sometimes cause problems for pets, so read the label and understand the safety precautions of anything you choose to apply. Some products may require a waiting period before allowing pets (or humans!) to walk through the treated area.

"But know this. If I ever say to you, 'Good luck.' I really mean it," Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, writes in his weekly PaperWork column.

I’m reasonably sure there’s no suggestion box at the Statehouse, but surely voters have dozens of other ideas for ways to improve Springfield’s efficiency.