Veteran journalist and environmentalist Bill Kurtis paid a visit to Elmhurst Aug. 18 to lunch on Tallgrass beef from his Kansas ranch at 100 South Chop House and Grill and discuss healing gardens and the holistic approach to health with those associated with Elmhurst Memorial Hospital.

Labor Day weekend is a time to reflect on memorable summer events — the family reunion, the stay-cation, the Beijing Olympics.

Today, I’ll highlight a business familiar to all the pizza lovers in Villa Park: Billy’s Pizza Dugout, 332 E. St. Charles Road. Billy Peplowski is the hard-working owner of this pizzeria with a baseball theme. Baseball and pizza are two passions for Peplowski, so why not combine them? It’s worked very well for him. In fact, Billy’s is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Villa Park this year.

Chris Britt's editorial cartoon for Friday, Aug. 29.

With movies, music and parties in the parks, this summer was spent where it should be: outdoors.

You'd think her name might come up this election cycle. With all the talk about a certain rock-star politician from Chicago, you'd think her name might have been mentioned.

Dick Hammond is ready to jump into the worst mess of his life. Hammond, founder of the Peoria-based Friends of the Children of Haiti, has been stalled in Miami as Hurricane Gustav and its aftermath have been wreaking havoc on the Caribbean country.

Hillary Clinton did exactly what she had to do Tuesday night, and not a word more, to preserve her status as a viable presidential candidate in 2012 or 2016. Her job was to thank her supporters and urge them to vote for the guy she almost beat.

In its spring session, the Illinois Legislature passed a comprehensive ethics reform measure to shed the light of truth on all areas of state government. It was a bipartisan effort that sailed through the Senate and the House.

We can't deny that Gov. Rod Blagojevich has some good ideas when it comes to curtailing “pay-to-play” politics in Illinois. But in tacking them all onto an ethics bill that was years in the making — and that the General Assembly passed without a single no vote — Blagojevich has taken the wrong approach to making them law.

Chris Britt's editorial cartoon for Thursday, Aug. 28.

This has been an adventurous summer for La Grange’s Lynn Benz, her family (including her five kids) and friends. A self-proclaimed outdoors person, Benz rides the bike trails every day.

A unique musical program will be offered at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, headed by Toria Burrell-Hrencecin of Riverside in the ballroom of the Oak Park Arms, 150 N. Oak Park Ave. The program will feature students and teachers of the Language and Music School, founded in 1994 by Argentinian Maria Fermi, who serves as director of the school.

Exactly what is controversial about Michelle Obama?  It has become accepted that the wife of the Democratic nominee for president, Barack Obama, is controversial. Pundits referred to her as such during coverage of the Democratic National Convention's first night.

What does it feel like to be transformed into an action figure? You can’t ask Batman, Superman or Spider-Man — but you can ask Hillsboro native Sgt. 1st Class John Adams.