In newsrooms across the country, journalists like me – the ones who actually remember dummy and paste-up days – are working with an enthusiastic younger bunch who’ve grown up with the Internet, blogs and the like.

Since words are my chief tools, I’m interested in new ones that enter the lexicon. I was particularly interested when the New Oxford American Dictionary this week selected “unfriend” as its word of the year.

Coming up with enough money to attend college can be a daunting task.

The focus in our Woodstock community has been on veterans, especially these past couple of weeks with the observance of Veterans Day, the tragedy at Fort Hood and this country’s difficulty in resolving the quagmire in Afghanistan.

There are some lousy routes in and around McHenry County.

Voting in a primary election is a lot like taking one of those multiple-choice personality tests.

There were many things that made my early childhood nearly perfect.

Showing up is half the battle, or so the saying goes.

Someone was telling me that before he broke into journalism, he was a Professional Petroleum Transferal Technician. Huh?

Join me in wishing Mal Bellairs a happy 90th birthday. The career radio and TV broadcaster marks that milestone today. Bellairs and his wife, Maria, returned to live in Woodstock in 2007.

The recession is “very likely over.”

A vote on House Democrats’ version of health care reform could come as soon as this weekend.

“We are thrilled with the Promise Volunteers! They are eager to help, energetic and just plain wonderful kids,” writes Jeannette Huetson of On Angels Wings.

Retailers are losing no time putting out the red, green and glitz for holiday season 2009.

Journalism never is as simple as something you heard.

I cringe every time I hear the term “football widow.” As if the only people who find themselves on the sidelines while their other halves watch sporting events are women.

Got noseprints on your oven window?

When I returned to the Woodstock Square on Wednesday, I entered on East Jackson, driving west. Staring at me was the stern soldier atop the Civil War statue. That statue honors the thousands who died in that long, bitter war.

Only the most despicable among us willingly would leave behind a child.

If you plan to vote Republican in the Feb. 2 primary, you probably have some homework to do.

Frustration was rampant among McHenry County College students and many of their parents Thursday as computer server malfunctions, phone line freezes and lengthy lines made for a not-so-smooth start to the spring 2010 registration process.

Shhhh. What was that?

We know what happens when it is suggested that now is no time to panic.

As you drive toward Woodstock and pass Centegra on Route 14, you’ll see Lake Shore Business Park on the left. In the daytime you’ll see a large wind turbine dominating the horizon.

Excited about Illinois’ race for governor yet?