Roses to the folks in Altamont that EDN Reporter Charles Mills talked to for a story in Saturday’s paper: It’s been years since the Little Ryman in Altamont was filled with the sounds of music and people. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed any immediate plans to change that, some co…

Perhaps in your own life, if you love books as I do, there is a bookstore that looms like magic in the recesses of your mind, where dreams and daylight meet and the fairytale world of story is an oasis -- particularly now, when you can go nowhere.

Despite imposing one of the highest overall tax burdens in the nation, Illinois lawmakers have left the state poorly prepared to deal with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A few years ago, on a visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, Elene and I met a couple we knew from Effingham. As we were laughing, all of us said in unison: “It is really a small world.” And it is.

Honey returned to the Botany Pond at the University of Chicago in the first week of March, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic chased almost everyone off campus.

As living under quarantine conditions during this coronavirus pandemic has turned my web surfing into more of an alternative universe than ever, a significant question has been popping into view in recent days:

I was driving on sand-covered roads, beneath downed power lines and past a giant floating casino pushed onto the shore within a day of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast in late August 2005. Our sister newspaper in Gulfport, Mississippi, needed help as they covered their trashed commun…

To every Father I want to offer a word of encouragement, for these are truly times to consider seriously. I pray that each Father sees the opportunity in the current times. There is a lot to consider from a negative perspective. But let us Fathers choose not to become overwhelmed and manipul…

We have been kind of quarantined for over three years now. Ever since Annaka strolled out of Pittsburgh with her brand new liver back in April of 2017, our family has had to take precautions to keep her exposure to germs seriously limited. At first that meant just about what it means now – s…

Roses to The Essentials. Like The Avengers and The Justice League, The Essentials are all the heroes working every day to keep us afloat during this time of coronavirus. The Effingham Daily News has been profiling just a few of the hundreds – perhaps thousands – of people across our area who…

When I initially booked my flight home, the plan was to have a long weekend of fun.

I got a note from a reader seeking to explain why previous pandemics did not result in the same level of panic brought about by the coronavirus.

So apparently this was not the season to give up news for Lent. I’ve just been informed that I will need to stay home for at least two weeks. After discussing the issue with my wife, who, with her science background and willingness to avoid the rabbit hole that is mass media in an effort to …

At a recent dinner party, it was wondered why our society appears to be pulling apart. I observed that sometimes unfortunate consequences flow from otherwise benign changes. I illustrated with a “tale of two families,” both known to me in my rural central Illinois setting.

This year I gave up news for Lent, which seems to have been good timing since so little is going on right now. However, it does mean I have to reflect inward even more so than usual, which brings us to today’s topic.

Efforts to change the cash bail system in Illinois were already underway before Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he would make ending it a top priority this year.

The coronavirus or Covid-19 is spreading and we are anxious, more so every day.

Roses to all those Polar Plungers last week. The 2020 Law Enforcement Torch Run Effingham Polar Plunge raised over $40,000, according to preliminary totals, beating last year’s amount by more than $4,000. Two-hundred-forty-four participants plunged into the chilly waters of Lake Sara on Sat…

What a roseworthy project. Kiwanis Club of Effingham County has started its latest community outreach: the Kiwanis Birthday Party Project. The goal is to let every child celebrate their special day no matter their family’s financial situation. “As a Kiwanis chapter, there are service projec…

On the morning of Dec. 8, 2008, Rod Blagojevich awoke to the FBI at his front door. On Wednesday, the former governor addressed throngs of reporters on the same stoop.

Are you satisfied with the direction of the country?

Now that President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich – who shook down a children’s hospital and tried to sell a U.S. Senate seat – what should Trump do with his big promise?

Farewell roses are in order for EDN senior reporter Dawn Schabbing. Friday was her last day with the newspaper. For nearly five years Dawn has covered the doings at Effingham City Hall, Unit 40 schools, and the Effingham Water Authority. Effingham residents are better citizens because of Da…

Banning self-serve gas stations in Illinois in 2021 makes about as much sense as mandating that gas stations offer leaded fuel.

Filmmakers John Davies and Brian Kallies last year held screenings across the state of their documentary on Illinois corruption, titled “Lincoln is Crying.”

The power afforded to the Father Position is amazing. Unfortunately, I would say that at least 95 percent of fathers have no idea of the power that rest within them. The married fathers that lack knowledge as to what rests within is the reason infidelity has been given opportunity. The lack …

Illinois will never have fair maps for its legislative districts under the present Illinois Supreme Court. There is an opportunity in November to change the court, yet I fear the contest will not be engaging, even though it’s long past time for a change.

Thorns of warning: Always monitor who your children are communicating with online. Bond was set Friday for a 29-year-old man who was arrested at Teutopolis High School this week after school officials said they were alerted by students that a fellow student intended to meet him after school…

A family lived in a village and their home was near the woods. The father told his children, “Avoid the woods at night; in the day, we can enter together, but no one should enter at night,” and this was true.

Roses to the Toledo organization that is working to make sure there’s one less worry for those who struggle to find food on the weekends. EDN reporter Crystal Reed wrote in Friday’s paper about how some children are unsure what they will eat when Friday comes and there is no school the next…

The economy is humming and most people who want a job have one. This is great news.

Impeaching a president is not an easy matter. That is why only three presidents in the history of our country faced impeachment, but none was removed from office. The constitution created a high bar for removing a sitting president, which is very wise. Removing a sitting president should be …

A glitch in the state’s automatic voter registration program that resulted in more than 500 people who said they weren’t U.S. citizens being added to the voter rolls should have alarm bells ringing for voters and politicians throughout Illinois.