Something played out in Altamont over the past several days that was even more outlandish than a Jerry Springer show, and uglier than the most bone-crunching professional wrestling move.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s team announced last week it will enlist federal Disaster Survivor Assistance teams to help at COVID-19 vaccination sites in Cook and St. Clair counties. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency will give Cook County $49 million to help with vaccine distribution.

Is Illinois ready to embrace a new approach to governing?

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is like the dawn of a new day for a lot of people.

Appointing elected officials — an obvious oxymoron — is more common than it should be.

The state of Illinois has a new speaker at the helm of its House of Representatives, an important change if the state is going to break from decades of corruption and mismanagement.

The aftershocks of the Legislature’s recent lame-duck session continue to reverberate.

We took out the trash Wednesday night. Didn’t think much about it until a glance out the kitchen window Thursday morning revealed that the garbage truck had been by sometime before dawn – as usual.

The people of Illinois may be suffering from a coronavirus hangover that just won’t go away, but sellers of legal marijuana appear to be thriving.

While fervent followers of President Donald Trump screamed foul and free speech when Twitter, Facebook and other social media banned the president, they realize the 1st Amendment doesn’t apply to these private businesses.

We support the goals of the Effingham Regional Growth Alliance, and consider it a boon to our region. But on behalf of City of Effingham taxpayers, we echo the caution expressed by Commissioner Merv Gillenwater during a recent discussion about whether the city should contribute $100,000 to t…

Dear President Trump:

Mary Miller, our newly elected representative in Congress, could have drawn from the collective wisdom of countless thoughtful Americans as she addressed the group “Moms for America” in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

What happened in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday was anarchy.

Health care providers across Effingham County this week have been getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of “Phase 1A” of the COVID-19 vaccination plan.

The Effingham Insider Facebook group isn’t for the weak of heart. For much of the year, its posts consist of biting satire, snark and a brand of humor that’s not for everyone. At Christmas, though, members reveal just how big their hearts are.

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg is a fantastic choice for transportation secretary.

State officials this week touted a program that is worthy of support. We encourage businesses, organizations and individuals to get behind The Computer Equity Network.

The Effingham County Health Department reported on Dec. 6 that a man in his 90s and a woman in her 90s had died of complications related to COVID-19, bringing the number of deaths among county residents related to the novel coronavirus to 30 since the pandemic began earlier this year.

We were pleased to see some local businesses thriving over the weekend – safety precautions in place – on Small Business Saturday.

You’ve got packages of toilet paper stacked in your bathroom closet. And some stashed in the basement. But then you throw some more rolls into your grocery cart, while food shopping. Sound familiar?

The news that the University of Illinois System stands to lose $270 million this year because of COVID-19 should come as no surprise.

We’re as weary of COVID-19 as everyone else. The virus has handcuffed society and made 2020 a year we’d be glad to forget, but will never be able to.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “Fair Tax” amendment to the Illinois Constitution was designed to give the governor and legislators a totally free hand in deciding what to tax and how much to tax. Not only did it authorize escalating rates of taxation on escalating levels of income, it also permitted m…

Following the announcement Saturday that Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, President Donald Trump ought to concede and leave office with more dignity than he has shown as commander-in-chief.

Congratulations to Illinois voters for rejecting the graduated income tax constitutional amendment on Tuesday by a 55 percent to 45 percent margin. (Nearly 84 percent of Effingham County voters said no to the proposal.)

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has come out with its first-ever position statement on the biannual switch between Standard Time and Daylight Savings Time. The verdict: America should ditch the switch and stick with one time year-round. The current system of setting clocks an hour ahe…

With multiple new health concerns emerging in 2020, it’s easy to look past some of the concerns we’ve been dealing with for years.

For good or ill, Illinois’ criminal-justice system is almost certain to get a major and expensive facelift over the next year or two.

The Senate confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett may lack for political drama, but they are still instructive. They are revealing the deep fault lines over the Supreme Court, and how Democrats view it as a mini-legislature to achieve policy goals, rather than a real judicial body.

It’s time to start turning down the heat on the current presidential campaign.

Here we are again.

A week ago, Wednesday’s debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris might have seemed like the undercard, a warm-up act to get voters ready for the real thing.

News that President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus shook America and the world in the wee hours of Friday morning.

What would be the most honorable, selfless act an Illinois elected official might consider? Probably this: To acknowledge the state’s financial woes and, in the name of overburdened taxpayers, fire oneself.

Chief Justice John Roberts offered a tribute to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Last week’s legislative inquiry into alleged misconduct by the Illinois House speaker proved to be little ado about very much.

This much we can say with certainty: A 17-year-old visibly armed with a semi-automatic rifle in the thick of a violent protest is a powder keg by itself. Kyle Rittenhouse of Antioch has been arrested and charged as an adult so far in connection with two deaths in Kenosha.

We’re helpless against violence, whether locally or in Wisconsin or somewhere else in the nation. Worse, no one has a promising plan or idea to stop us from showing our worst to one another.

We welcome more detailed comments from HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital during a public hearing next week about its objections to the scope of a $35 million project by Sarah Bush Lincoln to rebuild a more expansive Bonutti Clinic in Effingham.

Consider this our petition to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board: Do not grant parole to the two monsters who fatally shot Illinois State Police Trooper Layton Davis on March 18, 1976, during a traffic stop on Interstate 57 near Effingham.

News of the physical consequences of the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominae our lives and will for the foreseeable future.

In an appearance on the Fox News program “The Story With Martha McCallum,” Vice President Mike Pence insisted voter fraud was common.

As the start of school approaches, it’s time for parents to talk with their kids about everything adults are doing to make them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic — and what they can do to help when they return to class.

“Tough day for us at Twitter,” company chief executive Jack Dorsey tweeted last Wednesday, after several high-profile accounts on his site were hacked. This was an understatement.

Right now, America needs heroes. And we have one for the ages in John Lewis.

What will schools look like in the fall?

The Commonwealth Edison agreement with federal prosecutors gives Illinoisans $200 million reasons to demand legislators immediately get back to work on ethics reform.

The emails continue to pour in. Thousands of workers furloughed or laid off due to COVID-19 shutdowns still have not received unemployment help from the state of Illinois, to which they are entitled.