Last week, I had the unfortunate experience of becoming sick for the first time in years. I caught a really bad cold and could barely move by Saturday. Then to add insult to injury, I looked in the mirror, and my right eye was swollen and pink. My daughter diagnosed that I had pink eye.

The Rev. John Buttrick coordinates the western region of the Illinois Conference of United Church of Christ. As such, he's an obvious touchstone for local church reaction to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Britt: Toon on moving Gov. Blagojevich out of Illinois

Some may find presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton's keepin'-it-real-with-the-common-man act endearing, but it's really just pandering.

We forget, here in the cocoon of the United States, how relatively blessed we are. Last weekend they weren't so blessed in Myanmar.

If ever a morning called for donuts and coffee, then tomorrow, Friday, May 9, is that morning.

Looking for a father-son activity that both parties would enjoy was a quest for Scott Jobb of La Grange when his son Jason turned 11 years old. Scott always loved cars, so he thought going to car shows with his boy would be a good way to do something extraordinary. He chose to go to the Heartland Nationals in Iowa. They had a great time away from home looking at cars all weekend.

Landscape architects Olmsted and Vaux completed their design of Riverside in the 1860s. The village celebrated its official incorporation in 1975, but by the year 1921, villagers were growing aware that the winding streets, perfect for horse-drawn carriages, needed updating (the “horseless carriages” were taking over), and the trees and plantings that had been so delightful a half-century ago were becoming overgrown and shabby. Organized and ongoing care and control was needed.

Britt: Toon on Hillary Clinton's "charge" toward the White House

We've heard two explanations so far of the plan to move the Illinois Department of Transportation’s division of traffic safety — and its 148 jobs — from Springfield to Benton.

As Barack Obama gets closer to becoming the first black candidate to receive a major party nomination for president, America’s racial lines grow more pronounced.

Britt: Toon on expensive groceries

Illinoisans can be pardoned for frowning at a report from the state Compensation Review Board that urges hefty pay hikes for Illinois lawmakers, their legislative leaders and other state officials, including the governor. It's fair to ask whether they've earned them. We believe that collectively, they have not.

It was in 1997 that we started talking seriously about running commuter trains to Chicagoland. Any train, we were cautioned at that initial meeting in Belvidere, was 10 years away.

Let me see a show of hands: Who at this point would be more willing to jump off a cliff than to listen to the presidential candidates bicker back and forth?