News Progress

By Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

The young man was shivering from the bitter cold. He stood at a busy entrance to Union Station in Chicago, competing for good space with newspaper boys and panhandlers. Busy commuters rushed by him, preoccupied with getting back to the suburbs.

The fellow asked politely when he could fleetingly make eye contact with a passerby: Mister, would you like to sign a petition to reform redistricting in Illinois? Read More

By Gerald Tilley
Social Security District Manager

You’ve probably noticed the unusually cold and stormy weather we’ve been experiencing this year. That makes it more appropriate than ever to recognize National Umbrella Month this March.

National Umbrella Month is a time to celebrate a useful invention used by most everyone. It’s no coincidence that the month comes at the beginning of the rainy season. April showers may bring May flowers, but the rain starts pouring in March. When the rain pours, an umbrella has you covered. Read More

On Tuesday, March 18, Illinois voters will have a chance to cast their ballot in the primary election for national, state and local offices.

Sadly, voters often overlook the many candidates running for retention or election as judges. This is unfortunate as judges make critical decisions that directly affect our daily lives. Learning about the qualifications of judicial candidates and voting for those who are most qualified will help ensure that we have a quality judiciary. Bar association evaluations and newspaper endorsements are a reliable, independent and relevant source of information about the candidates’ qualifications.

As a way to help inform and educate voters outside of Cook County, the Illinois State Bar Association conducts an advisory poll in the circuit or district from which a candidate seeks retention or election. Polls are sent to ISBA members and non-ISBA lawyers who request a ballot. The poll reflects the opinion of those lawyers who choose to respond and not the opinion of ISBA. The ratings are readily available to the public at www.isba.org/YouBeTheJudge. (In Cook County, an ISBA Judicial Evaluations committee uses the results of a questionnaire, background investigations, and in-person interviews to rate candidates for judicial offices.)

We encourage voters to download all these poll ratings and take them into the voting booth. The ratings provide guidance in selecting the most qualified persons as judges.

Hon. Thomas L. Brownfield, Chair
ISBA Judicial Advisory Polls Committee

by Angela Hogan, RN MSPH
Admin. Mo. Co. Health Dept.

It’s finally March 2014, and in less than 30 days, we will have already experienced 25 percent of the year. In the healthcare arena, March 31 marks much more than the first quarter of 2014. It is also the end of the Open Enrollment Period for the newly implemented Affordable Care Act.

With the “MARCH 31” deadline looming the following are some last minute tidbits of information that most individuals should know about how the ACA will affect access to care, and the options that still exist up to and beyond March 31 for individuals still in need of healthcare coverage: Read More

By Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

Several readers have asked me to comment on the increasingly nasty campaign for the Republican nomination for governor.

As a member of the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission (appointed by state treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Dan Rutherford), I am prohibited from participating in politics. My observations here are about the nature of campaigns and of how such may be affecting the present gubernatorial race. Read More