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.

Getting canned usually means people must pack their belongings in a box and vacate the office for good. It stumped me, then, to see the deals offered to two school administrators at public institutions when it was announced they’d be leaving their posts.

Another complete team effort lifted Hinsdale Central’s girls tennis team to its fourth consecutive IHSA state title.

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Imagine a political party with no platform. No platform means no collective ideology, which means no hardliners or moderates. Candidates would be selected not for their adherence to broad political planks but on the qualities their potential constituents want.

Time might be running out on many seniors’ free rides. Some Chicago-area transportation officials are calling on state legislators to curb the Seniors Ride Free program after a study found the move could save up to $40 million for the cash-strapped transit agencies.

Ghouls, goblins and gore abound as haunted houses set up to spook western suburbia. Check out our roundup of some of the area's best.

Conference titles and playoff hopes are on the line in Week 8 prep football action. Check out scores, coverage and photos and talk about your team at FNL.MYSUBURBANLIFE.COM.

I support the bans on video gambling by both Cook and DuPage counties, so this isn’t an example of the poor decision-making on the part of public officials to which I’m referring. That said, Commissioner William Beavers, D-4th District, of Chicago, who also voted to ban the devices, has me stumped on his reasoning.

Suburban Life Publications won 12 first-place awards Friday in the 2009 Illinois Press Association’s Excellence in News Contest.

It was a great debate that will never be settled: What would the Olympics have meant for Chicago?

With the announcement Friday, Oct. 2 that Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 games — and, perhaps more surprising, that Chicago’s bid was eliminated in the first round of voting — advocates and opponents will be left guessing what the Olympics would have had in store for the entire region.

A major wardrobe change can’t keep some of the area’s top swimmers from still looking good in the water.

The only remaining animal from Brookfield Zoo’s original collection is retiring.