After the turkey is eaten and the dishes done, are you the kind of person who puts Christmas lights up right away? If so, snap a photo and send it to us. Suburban Life Publications is having a contest to see the best home holiday decorations.

E-mail your photos to bhudson@mysuburbanlife.com by Dec. 9 with “Holiday Lights” in the subject line. We'll publish the best photos during Christmas week.

The polling firm Gallup reported this year that 39 percent of Americans accept the truth of evolution, that 36 percent have no opinion on it, and that 25 said they don’t believe it. With such apathy toward the natural world, it’s no wonder children from other nations have surpassed American students in science and technology.

YOUR VIEW
In addition to more-frequent local editorials, our expanded opinions coverage features a forum seeking your take on a key issue being talked about around town. Here's the current topic:

Some of Santa's helpers are concerned that children are spreading germs to the Man in Red when they visit him. This has prompted some to advocate offering the vaccine for swine flu to those who portray Santa. Should shopping mall Santas be given a priority in receiving the H1N1 vaccine?

Click here to leave a comment. You can also e-mail your comment here. Or leave a message at (630) 368-8882.

Members of the U.S. Army’s 447th Airborne Military Company can expect care packages to come their way this holiday season, courtesy of residents from Brookfield.

When Sergio Lopez of Joliet moves into his new Hillside home around Memorial Day next year, it will serve as proof that good people do good things for good people.

Tip-off for the 2009-10 boys basketball season is next week. Meet your team's veteran stars and promising new talent as they begin their march toward postseason glory. Find team previews here.

In debating whether we should abolish capital punishment, it’s important to decide which aspect of this story dominates — the psychopath who deserves the ultimate punishment or the wrongful conviction of two men. Is it better for us to enhance public safety by eliminating society’s most serious threats or to protect civil liberties by making sure innocent people are never put to death?

Check out letters to the editor in the Nov. 18 Suburban Life Newspaper.

Check out police and fire reports for Brookfield, Riverside, La Grange and Westchester.

A Chicago man was charged with kidnapping after taking a woman in Berwyn on Nov. 13.

Big-time college recruits and state title contenders take the court next week when the high school girls basketball season tips off. Check out your team's prospects here.

If there were a more effective way of weeding out ne’er-do-wells on the Internet, I’d strongly recommend using it. Such a mechanism would be helpful in identifying those who have good intentions and those who want to rip you off.

Lyons Township's volleyball team proved it deserved to be playing for the Class 4A state title Saturday at Redbird Arena in Normal.

A 21-year-old man is in police custody after leading police on a short chase through a cemetery where he drove over gravestones, knocking over one of them.

Check out police and fire reports for Brookfield, Riverside, La Grange and Westchester.

This summer, Illinois lawmakers legalized video gambling in bars and restaurants to raise funds for capital projects. Since then, more than a dozen communities in the western suburbs have banned the machines, and several more are poised to outlaw them before the end of this year. As many more towns weigh a gambling ban, however, the overall amount of revenue video gambling is projected to raise for the state — estimated at more than 25 percent of the $31 billion capital projects bill — has been put into doubt.