guestcommentary
No alternative view given at heroin forum
Orland Township Youth and Family Counseling sponsored a recent drug abuse symposium at Sandburg High School in reaction to a sharp rise in heroin-related use, arrests and deaths among youths in the Orland-Palos area. Concerned parents and students gathered in the gymnasium to hear lengthy …
McGrath: Should supermarkets solicit charitable donations?
Tell me you haven’t been there. You’ve filled your grocery cart, are feeling pretty good about many of your purchases being on sale and you have a stack of coupons for discounts on several other items. At checkout, the cashier is friendly, even remarking on …
McConnell & Narain: NATO must focus on helping humanity
Irony abounds as the attention of the city of Chicago and the international media on the upcoming NATO Summit has focused on the potential violence of a few protesters, while ignoring the last 10 years of actual violence of the alliance that’s meeting here. Through …
McGrath: Here’s to Mom, coach of the year
I will not say my mother was a modern day Ma Barker. I won’t even say she was conniving. But I will grant that she reminds me a little bit of Jeff Van Gundy, coach of the New York Knicks in the 1990s, for the …
Eisler: Failure to invest in kids threatens our future
We’re being told that fiscal responsibility requires big cuts in education, nutrition and health care for millions of children. This shortsighted thinking is not only a nightmare for those directly affected, it’s a threat to America’s economic future. We have to let our policy makers …
Chesley: Selamat petang di Malaysia (hello from Malaysia)
In June 2011, I heard the news that I earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Scholarship to Malaysia. Today, I looked out across the South China Sea with 16 fellow Fulbrighters, as I let the warm water wash up over my feet and the soft …
Wolff: Governor should stick with prison-closing plan
Despite a drop in crime and the need to close a multibillion-dollar hole in the state budget, Illinois politics again threaten to derail plans to cut spending on prisons. Bowing to pressure by those opposed to closing any state facilities to save money, a legislative …
Doolin: Oak Forest pulls together
In the fall of 1969, my parents moved into a new subdivision called Fieldcrest near 167th Street and Cicero Avenue in Oak Forest. With their three kids and two more who would arrive later, they built a foundation of faith, family and community in Fieldcrest, …
Taylor: A better approach to school discipline
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released data in March from a national survey of more than 72,000 schools, covering a range of issues that included school discipline. The data revealed startling racial disparities in suspensions, expulsions and arrests in districts and …
Learner: Green economy helping more than environment
Earth Day 1970 sounded an alarm. It launched the modern environmental movement — bringing cleaner air that’s healthier to breathe, cleaner water that’s safer to drink and enjoy for recreation and fewer dangerous toxics in our communities. Today, the growing green economy is helping to …
Burkhardt: Helping young children with autism spectrum disorders
The incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is 1 in 88. That’s a lot of kids in the neighborhood. While there’s no cure for this puzzling set of disorders, there is treatment that can improve quality of life for the youngster and the family. It’s …
McGrath: ‘Stand your ground’ laws recall the Wild West
The so-called “stand your ground” law that allowed neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman to shoot and kill Treyvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., without an initial arrest once was a principle that nearly every American believed in. And we were reminded of its key provision every …
Longo: Our state elected leaders’ shameless pension shift
The most recent sound bites from Gov. Pat Quinn and the Democratic leaders of the Legislature regarding a controversial teacher pension reform plan is that “teachers are not state of Illinois employees.” Ridiculous. Outrageous. Disgraceful. During this legislative session, why did lawmakers attempt to pass …
Doolin: A war on bullying to save young lives
As I stood in my kitchen and shared a mini chocolate cone with my 10-year-old son, Jack, as we’ve done hundreds of times, the news played in the background. “Jacob Bean, an 11-year-old Rensselaer, Ind., boy, committed suicide by an apparent single self-inflicted gunshot wound. …
Hunter: ‘Air rage’ incidents reflect dangerous stress levels
“Something Special in the Air,” “Fly the Friendly Skies” or “You’ll Love the Way We Fly.” Do any of these airline slogans sound familiar? Sure they do. Airline slogans many years ago embodied the spirit of the airlines, and the airlines actually delivered the services …
Leak: SD 227 determined to solve special funding problem
The greatest strengths of our Rich Township High School District 227 schools are our students, our community and the wonderful staff of professionals who serve them. We know that the success of our students is inextricably linked to the commitment and creativity of our team …
