News Progress

By Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

When it comes to school finance, Illinois is an embarrassment. We always rank 49th or 50th among the states on state funding for schools and in per pupil spending disparities among school districts.

I propose we totally eliminate the property tax for public schools and shift that amount of funding to state responsibility, which I believe we can do without pushing state taxes out of sight.

Illinois local governments raised $26 billion from the property tax in 2011; 59 percent of that amount went to public schools, or $15.4 billion. Our property taxes rank 10th in the nation in burden at $1,824 per capita in 2010.

In a typical state, about 45 percent of public school funding comes from each the state and local governments, with 10 percent from the federal government. In Illinois, less that 30 percent comes from state sources, with about 60 percent from local property taxes, which stay with each local school district. Read More

by Kim Riedel
Master Gardner

This past month I have received a few questions about flowering trees, compost, and how to tell the gender of the aloe vera plant–all of which have made me do a lot of thinking.

The question about flowering trees was to help choose a flowering tree as a memorial for a beautiful and sweet lady. When I was doing the research trying to find the perfect flowering tree, it was hard to pick one that would represent her. I looked through trees that dropped inedible fruits, all different colors of flowers, and trees that had foliage that turned colors with the seasons. The tree that I thought was the most beautiful with the least maintenance was a flowering Read More

By Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

Illinois has been going through a rough patch. It was not always so. When I was a kid in the 1950s, I was proud to be from Illinois. The state was rich, farming and manufacturing were booming, and we were the crossroads state, with Route 66 and Lincoln highways and long-distance “zephyr” trains connecting in Illinois. Read More

by Dan Hagen
NP Columnist

One model for “Gunsmoke’s” Kitty Russell was Dora Hand, Dodge City’s most respected dance hall performer and, probably, a lady of the evening.

The Dodge City of 1878 had muted, if any, moralistic objections to prostitutes. The notably beautiful Hand attended the First Methodist Church and balanced the rowdiness of her evenings with the benevolence of her days. Read More

American Heartworm Society Encourages Prevention to Illinois Dog Owners

The beginning of August may mean the dog days of summer are here, but the American Heartworm Society (AHS) is warning Illinois pet owners not to be laid-back about heartworm protection. Mosquitoes have been plentiful in the Midwest this summer, thanks to a wet spring that yielded standing water where mosquitoes can breed. And unfortunately for pets, mosquitoes are part of the heartworm disease cycle.

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