The majority of farms in Illinois are family-owned and consider themselves to be stewards of the land who care about feeding communities.

I first want to apologize for all the doom and gloom.  But we do have options.  We still have a legislative branch that can do many things to change any outcome we see.  We need to push them into doing the job we elected them to do.  They have the option to conduct themselves as they were sworn in and follow the rules in the Constitution they were sworn to follow.  Will this be enough, and will they have time?  I pray so.

Do you know a friend or loved one who suffers from fear, anxiety, and depression and do not know what to do to help them?

Farmland is a finite resource. Once converted to other uses in most cases it cannot be reclaimed. The old days when some folks owned farmland as a tax write-off are gone. Once we moved past crop-share leases to cash rent leases those write-offs disappeared for landowners.

In the wake of the recent hype surrounding the President's imposition of large tariffs on much of the world, it may surprise some to find out that he has no power to do so under the Constitution.

Plenty to do in the halls of Congress as we sit squarely in the second term of President Trump. One area that will be examined closely are the tax cuts implemented in his first term that expired at the end of 2025. Those tax initiatives had a profound effect on agriculture and we will see if they are continued into the future.

There are many times in a person’s life when they wonder if their children, or grandchildren, are listening to them. A short while back I picked up my granddaughter, Kathryn Grace, after school and, as is our habit, we picked up an after-school drink at a local drive thru. I asked Kathryn if she was ready to head home and she stunned me with her reply, “No, let’s cut a square and relax.”

Psychotherapy isn’t the same thing as politics. I’m convinced, though, that politicians and political parties need to respect some of its basic principles, if they want to earn and keep the support of the people.

Several episodes ago, we learned about the carbon cycle while following a hypothetical carbon atom through its circular journey while it is passed through several natural and technological reactions. Carbon makes the Earth unique in our solar system. It possesses a long list of impressive physical characteristics, and it is the essential element in important chemical energy conversion processes in our environment and through technology.

Since I started out my last article with a single definition, let’s do the same this time.  What is a bully?  Let’s look at the word in the fashion we see it today.  In school, at work, in politics.  Merriam Webster has it defined as; “a blustering browbeating person”. 

There is indeed a constitutional crisis surrounding the federal courts, but it is not the one described in Chuck Roberts' recent column. It is, rather, a crisis created by the Trump administration, which seems determined to expand the powers of the presidency to swallow up the Judicial power which the constitution has granted to the Supreme Court.

April is here.  Spring break is over and there are only two months left until graduation.  The school year has flown by.  At the library, we are planning for Summer Reading. 

Seems as though springtime has arrived, and with that, there will be many construction projects beginning in the City of Rochelle.

This 74th National Day of Prayer this year’s theme is Pour out to the Hope and be Filled. Romans 15:13. There is a big history of prayer for our nation.

Multiple communities are considering changing their form of government to one similar to the City of Rochelle's.  Recently the City of Mattoon changed from a commission form to the council-manager form.  The community of Oglesby to our south is considering the same change in next week's consolidated election. 

Since we're in the middle of tax season, I find myself really looking forward to my next vacation. It got me thinking about why we go on vacation in the first place. For me, it’s about escaping the craziness of life, exploring new places, meeting new people, and trying different foods.

If the meaning of America could be expressed in a single word, it would surely be "Liberty".

Our judicial system is drifting toward tyranny. For instance, on March 17, a U.S. District Judge (local judge) ordered the current administration to turn around aircraft carrying Venezuelan gang members (Tren de Aragua) being sent to a supermax prison in El Salvador.

Using drugs and alcohol will not take away your problems and fears. In the short run, they might make you feel better, but in the long run these addictions will only make things worse.

What is greed?  Is it good or bad? 

Plenty of talk and speculation out there by the economic pundits predicting what the effect of new tariffs instituted by the Trump administration will do to U.S. consumers. I do not profess to be an economic guru so the only test I have to tell is what I pay for goods in the store.

We vote early.  This is a result of my wife and I working as election judges, and as luck would have it, we weren’t assigned to be working in our home precinct.  Rather than insult those who have fought and even died to make sure Americans have a right to vote by not voting, we went and voted early at the Ogle County Courthouse.

The day of the local newspaper may seem to be a thing of the past. If so, what a past it was. In the time before the internet, television, even radio, people had a need to know what was happening in the world around them. The local newspaper was the source of that information. Who does not remember the thrill of seeing their name in the paper? What family does not have a scrapbook with yellowed news articles from the past? 

Everybody deals with stress and anxiety, however the key is to know what to do when your stressed out. It is not always easy to keep your feelings from getting the best of you.

There’s plenty of talk in the media these days about Avian Influenza or the “bird flu.” Let’s get consumers some real information and let’s get farmers up to speed on what to do if there is an infectious situation on their farm.