Opinion

My granddaughter scraped her leg and her mother applied antiseptic cream guaranteed not to sting or stain. Bree hopped up afterwards and was off to play immediately. I’m glad it was painless for her. But I couldn’t help feeling a pang of nostalgia. She had been born too late to experience one of the most…

My first visit to the Davis Ranch in the Dallas Texas area was in 2013. There I met several men including John Davis, the owner. We hit it off almost immediately. It was not too long after that, I began flying there a couple times a year to do hunting and speaking events with a…

By Bill Hoagland A friend recently sent me a description of a UFO encounter experienced by three men 10 years ago while on a hunting trip in Canada. One of these men was an engineer who worked for the Pentagon and that fact—that this observer was an engineer– compelled me take a closer look at…

Mom always had a perfectly-sized box ready and waiting. I’d climb onto the bed and under the covers, all sniffly and feverish, and wait for the sound of a serrated kitchen knife cutting through cardboard. I propped myself up against my pillow, smoothed my nightgown, and waited for the room service my illnesses always merited…

Local farmers have been cutting hay. On a normal year, most fields will be cut twice. The amount of rainfall, however, always determines whether there is a lack or an abundance. The first cutting is usually in late May or June. This gives the grass another opportunity to produce before the drought of summer stunts…

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Murrayville) and Sen. Donald DeWitte (R-West Dundee) met this morning as members of the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) for the purpose of taking official action on a whether to close two correctional facilities being proposed by the Governor. The future of the Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum facility…

Sunday afternoon drives were torture for my brothers and me. As desperate as we were to get away from the familiar routes of our daily lives—school bus paths, the road to church, trips to the grocery store—we still hated piling into the car for our family’s weekly outing. Mom was always excited at the prospect…

Right now, I’m craving a quiet float down the river. It’s not the fishing that I’m drawn to. It’s the simplicity of a kayak, the solitude of the surroundings, and the song of the river. An added draw this time of year is that at any moment I can decide to pull the boat to…

By Bill Hoagland Sylvester Stallone is apparently coming out with yet another film about “John Rambo”, the fictional soldier of fortune, jungle-fighter, and so on. “Fictional” is the key word here. Despite their popularity, I have never watched a John Rambo movie—too much Hollywood for me. But I did watch a John Rambo trailer recently;…