When the H1N1 virus battles homecoming
It was 1979. Every Saturday morning, we'd meet in the lower level of Northwestern's Norris Center to play a rousing round of Dungeons and Dragons. One particular fall weekend, an NU sorority was hosting a fundraising event that included a kissing booth.

Civility needs to be added to abortion debate
You can tell it's fall in Geneva by the sea of white crosses temporarily adorning the St. Peter Catholic Church front lawn. Each cross was intended to represent one of the more than 3,000 abortions that take place in this country every day.

It takes a lot for a kid to stand up to a teacher
Geneva School Board Vice President Timothy Moran told me the board agonized over two hours of impassioned debate during the Oct. 13 closed session to determine the fate of Geneva High School teacher David Burk, who used a gay slur in class.

'Populist' billboard message comes from GOP playbook
If you've been down New York Street, you've already seen it. A stark black billboard with a broken yellow line across the top making it appear to be some sort of hazard warning.

Area police moderate when it comes to writing tickets
Here's to the good sense of our western suburban police forces! Well, most of 'em anyway. According to a Sun-Times report, when it comes to pulling the ticket trigger, our local boys (and women) in blue tend to go for the warning pad first.

When the process works at a school board meeting
I will admit to telling my editors I'd rather be locked in a room with Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay than have to attend the Sept. 14 Geneva School Board meeting. Hard to believe as it might be, I could've been wrong.

It takes a LaRouche booth to get him to a festival
Now, you may think my editors have the final word, but there's someone who trumps them every time. So when my wife "asked" me to face the Saturday crowds at Geneva's Festival of the Vine to talk with some protesters sporting signs of Barack Obama with a Hitler mustache, I got in the car.

Area Republicans moderate about Obama speech to kids
No one claimed Ronald Reagan was "indoctrinating" children when he urged students to back his tax cuts on Nov. 14, 1988. No one pulled their sons and daughters from class on Sept. 17, 1991, when George H.W. Bush told them to "turn learning into an adventure." No one accused George W. Bush of pushing a "leftist agenda" while he read to Booker Elementary school children in Sarasota, Fla., on Sept. 11, 2001.