A CBS survey released last week found that more than 70% of Americans are now comfortable gathering with friends or going to a restaurant or a bar.

The announcement of a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease was greeted this week with celebration and skepticism. The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the drug Aduhelm over the objections of an FDA advisory committee and expert panels that questioned the medicine’s effective…

Falling between Memorial Day and Independence Day is another important day that’s sometimes overlooked – Flag Day.

The Senate tradition of unlimited debate has allowed for the use of the filibuster, a loosely defined term for action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question. Prior to 1917 the Senate rules did not provide for a way…

Messing with the Illinois Constitution opens the door to all kinds of potential problems.

On a night in mid-December 1773, a group of about 60 men who had disguised themselves as Native Americans boarded three merchant ships at a Boston wharf and dumped dozens of chests of imported tea into the cold dark waters — an act of civil disobedience that damaged private property in prote…

The Illinois Legislature this week abolished the criminalization of HIV transmission. Thirty-three other states should do the same.

The Internal Revenue Service is not an agency that gets a lot of love — particularly at this time of year as Americans have just sent in their tax payments.

We’re all for a bill that passed out of an Illinois Senate committee this week that would require high schools to offer instruction about understanding and evaluating news and social media as part of their computer literacy courses.

No wonder Joe Biden picked former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as Secretary of Energy — they’re cut from the same green cloth.

Release of an investigative report on the coronavirus outbreak at a state veterans home has produced the expected political whirlwind.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has an opportunity to rebuild trust with voters who repeatedly have demonstrated their lack of confidence in state government.

Small victories in great wars are worth savoring, but not for long.

Gov. Pritzker’s clean energy plan, introduced Thursday, has a lot to like in it. But it needs an upgrade before the Legislature’s adjournment on May 31.

There are more questions than answers as the state legislative map-drawing drama unfolds.

Illinois will lose one congressional seat in 2022, from 18 to 17, following the release of preliminary U.S. census numbers on Monday. This should come as no surprise. In fact, if you want to uncork the bubbly, go right ahead. It could have been worse.

Once a law or regulation is in place, it’s usually hard and time-consuming to remove. But when the pandemic shut down much of normal life last year, lawmakers showed they could move quickly in a crisis.

We want to underscore what Jeff Workman, the administrator of the Effingham County Health Department, said this week about the “pause” placed locally and across the nation on the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Voters rarely love the idea of legislators raising their own pay, which often makes legislators reluctant to do it. The public aversion is even greater in times of economic distress and state fiscal troubles. These motives help explain why members of the Illinois General Assembly voted each …

It’s time to spend down the state’s $89 million Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust fund.

Those who know best are in agreement about the 2020 general election. It was free, secure and safe. The results were fair and accurate. There was no significant voter fraud. Anywhere.

Cynics have long said Illinois will give up partisan control of the all-important remapping process when hell freezes over.

Billions in federal money

When Nancy Marschewski’s son wore a do-rag to Effingham High School last month and was told to remove it because it violated the dress code, he did the right thing. He took it off.

The Effingham County Health Department said on Tuesday that it was having a good day because more than 400 seniors were scheduled to get their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.

The biggest question in Washington for the next two years isn’t about a single policy or whether President Biden will expose himself to a press conference. It’s whether Democrats use their narrow Senate majority to kill the legislative filibuster rule requiring 60 votes in order to ram a rad…

The Gloomy Guses of the world, much to their glee, found plenty to be down about in a recent analysis of Illinois’ public pensions.

March 26 is the deadline for Effingham Daily News “Citizen of the Year” nominations.

American governments, federal and state, have made many mistakes in the Covid-19 pandemic. But the great success — the saving grace — was making a financial bet in collaboration with private American industry on the development of vaccines. That effort is now letting the country see the poss…

Credibility is another casualty of Illinois’ staggering financial problems.

A two-year criminal investigation motivated by base politics results in a big, fat nothing.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Monday a bill that will eliminate cash bail in Illinois, allow for anonymous complaints against police officers in disciplinary hearings and overhaul law enforcement protocols to be more hands off when apprehending suspects.

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.