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Permitting reform needed

Letters to the editor

Jon Berman Elmhurst We continue to read about rising electricity rates that are exacerbating the inflation that is making our lives more expensive and difficult. While some states have been proactive in addressing the problem, a national solution is needed. Our existing grid can be made more efficient, but in the end we will need to build new transmission lines and create stronger connections between each of the regional grids. A major problem is that it takes too long to build these lines due to outdated regulations. The cost of solar and battery storage has decreased so ...

Dear Annie: A season of distance, not goodbye

Columns

Dear Annie: I am an 86-year-old mother of three children, a grandmother of six and great-grandmother of eight. We have always had a great relationship with our children. Our youngest daughter, who has always been close to us, went through a stressful divorce. Her husband had an affair, and she divorced him. She always came home every few months, or we went to see her. In the past few years, she has only come home twice a year, only for a day or so at a time. I am no longer driving, so going to visit her is not an option. She calls almost every day. She says there is nothing wrong. But ...

When the guardrails are destroyed

Columns

People of a certain age were taught to respect the police, obey the law and other rules and regulations mostly practiced by our parents and grandparents. They believed such things would lead to better lives for themselves and for the nation. For many, they did. Today we look at the lawlessness, the antisemitism, the hate speech directed at the president, teen takeovers, attacks on police officers and others and we might ask: why is this happening? The answer can be found on the side of the road. To use a metaphor, the guardrails have been removed. Guardrails are crash-tested barriers ...

1976 and 2026

Letters to the editor

Jim Newton Itasca In 1976, the TV cop series Barney Miller featured a bicentennial episode. The 12th precinct worked crowd control at a celebration-turned-protest. One officer announces, “We got some trouble on the harbor.” A frustrated Captain Miller replies, “This is beautiful. Rioting, fistfights, vandalism. It’s a lovely way to celebrate the bicentennial.” In 2026, is it safe to assume that we can relate? My personal recollection of 1976 is mostly positive: A Major League Baseball game in Chicago, fireworks and more festivity than protests. Watergate ended in 1974, ...

Dear Annie: Is more than co-managing marriage

Columns

Dear Annie: I have been married to my husband for 18 years, and in many ways he is a good man. He works hard, pays the bills, shows up for our children and has never been cruel or unfaithful. From the outside, I am sure people think I have nothing to complain about. But inside our marriage, I feel painfully alone. My husband is emotionally and physically distant. He rarely holds my hand, hugs me without being asked, kisses me in the kitchen or says anything tender. We can sit on the same couch for an entire evening and feel like two people waiting at the same bus stop. If I try to talk ...

Who remembers Oliver?

Columns

I still listen to Oliver Anthony. He was the rednecky guy who played guitar outdoors with bugs and dogs. His songs are mournful and angry, lamenting his struggles with addiction, his poverty and the changes in America. In his song “Rich Men North of Richmond,” welfare queens on one side and a Washington elite on the other were wasting his life. The song became what Fox News called “The Conservative National Anthem.” Biden was president then. They even played a bit of it at the first Republican debates in August of 2023. The politicians appeared a bit mystified when asked to ...