Third-round IHSA football playoff matchups are in place. Go to FNL.MYSUBURBANLIFE.COM.

Flags are being flown at half mast throughout Valley View Community Unit School District 365-U in honor of Army Pfc. Michael Pearson, a 2006 graduate of Bolingbrook High School who was among 13 people killed yesterday at Fort Hood, Texas.

Seeing how polarizing the debate on health care reform has been this past year among Americans, it’s odd to find common ground with four House members whose political ideologies run the gamut. It’s not that all statements say the same thing, but somehow each contains sentiments with which I agree.

Jerry Moore, opinions editor for Suburban Life Publications, will appear at 8 a.m. Wednesday on Ray Hanania's radio program on WJJG AM 1530 in Elmhurst. Tune in or listen live on Hanania's Web site, www.RadioChicagoland.com.

Aaron Nagel was a linebacker at Notre Dame, one of college football’s Holy Grails, but he wasn’t happy. The Lemont graduate did not like the Fighting Irish’s coaches. They weren’t the kind of people he thought they would be back when he committed to play football there. He wanted something different. That’s when he rediscovered his youth.

As Illinois student performance standards get tougher each year, more schools are falling short of the mark, according to statewide report cards released this week.

While most western suburb schools’ overall tests scores were well above the state requirements, the results show that in many cases low-income students and students with disabilities are below the standard.

The annual report cards track performance for the federal No Child Left Behind Act. This year’s reports for the roughly 4,000 schools and 869 districts in Illinois were posted online at iirc.niu.edu on Friday.