National Editorials and Columns

Despite the gamesmanship between Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks and Republican McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, voters should determine how their County Board chairman is chosen – either directly by voters, or by the current method of having County Board members pick their leader.

Thanks, Clint Eastwood, we needed that.

McHenry County residents who suffered the worst from the housing crisis of the past few years should take advantage of a settlement announced this week between the attorney generals of 49 U.S. states and the nation’s five biggest mortgage servicers.

Village officials in Fox River Grove should think long and hard before moving forward with a proposal that would regulate how many visitors that certain home-occupied business owners can invite over at one time and how often.

Annual tuition hikes at public universities threaten to make a college degree increasingly unaffordable at a time when possessing that degree is increasingly important.

Filling the vacant McHenry County superintendent of schools position is proving to be a difficult task.

All week I’ve been fascinated by an essay from an American mother who lived in France that appeared in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal under the heading, “Why French Parents Are Superior.”

It’s a shame that state Rep. Jack Franks failed in his initial efforts to persuade fellow lawmakers to make local governments hold the line on – or better yet, decrease – tax levies when property values decline.

Why do I love reading?

McHenry County’s connection to helping is up and running. Several organizations have gone to the new Web tool on www.volunteermchenrycounty.org to post volunteer needs specific for McHenry County.

When the media talk about the need for openness and transparency in government, some members of the public often turn a deaf ear too quickly.

Do you think it’s time we go ahead and make Super Bowl Sunday an official U.S. holiday?

The conclusion last week of the murder trial of Mario Casciaro is a reminder of how much we still don’t know about the disappearance of 17-year-old Brian Carrick nearly 10 years later.

Leadership manifests itself in a great many ways.

Voting season is fast approaching, and the Northwest Herald will not let you down as you search for information about the local candidates who want your vote in the March 20 primary.

If you knew nothing else about the goings-on in the Land of Lincoln but tuned in Wednesday to listen to Gov. Pat Quinn deliver his State of the State speech, you might just get the idea that Illinois has so much cash in hand, it can afford to go on a spending spree with no repercussions.

The smudge-strewn, dog-eared manila folder had rested for years in the lower reaches of a wide, two-drawer file cabinet.

Anytime you can save $7 million a year in a deadbeat state such as Illinois, you should jump at the chance, right?

Gov. Pat Quinn apparently has big plans for Illinois this year.

Whether you’re Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim or any person of faith, you should care what happens in the battle over the provision in health care reform requiring Catholic institutions to provide health insurance for birth control.

The Illinois State Board of Education has approved a budget recommendation seeking $265 million more in state funding for schools, or a total of $6.9 billion.

Contrary to some of the mail I receive, I have not become my mother.

We agree with the Woodstock Plan Commission’s decision to reject a proposal for two six-story senior housing buildings near the Woodstock Square and suggest that the City Council do the same.

You're probably aware of the child sex abuse scandal involving the Penn State University football team by now, but you might not have heard of the scandal that hit the Syracuse University basketball program this fall.

We worry about our Nicor bill, the dings that someone knocked into our car at the grocery store, and the way that dryer shrank a favorite pair of jeans.

Sending people to the slammer costs real money.

It is a national affront that U.S. military veterans account for 15 percent of the U.S.’ homeless population.

As Mario Casciaro’s first-degree murder trial unfolds, imagine being able to watch and listen as witness Shane Lamb described his confrontation with Brian Carrick.

Ah, the mystery of it all.

In this space in September 2010, we called on then-soon-to-be Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride to bring a pilot project to the state that allowed unobtrusive still and video cameras into courtrooms.