Local Commentaries

On February 29th, my children and I found ourselves coatless in Chandler Park, enjoying the pink evening hour of a jeweled day. My daughter and I investigated the bronze statue entitled "Facing the Storm."

Somehow I thought that as I entered my 49th trip around the sun, my life would be a little less stressful.  Ha! 

March is Literacy Advocacy Month.  Literacy at its very core is the ability to read and write. That ability to read and write is one of the most important things we can encourage in our children and in our community. 

I'm here today to talk about health insurance. No, not what makes the news -whether to repeal the ACA, cutting Medicare and Medicaid,  going to Canada or another country for prescription drugs or procedures.  What I want to talk about is the importance of  knowing the details of your own individual health insurance policy.

The Pope didn't choose to visit my hometown on his recent visit to the United States nor was it a prospective site for the 2018 Olympic games.  It's not a place to find high-end shopping malls and you won't find many popular chain stores either.   What you will find in Macomb, Illinois is a community of people, teachers, farmers, business owners, and public servants who foster core values in living and tirelessly dedicate themselves to improving the quality of life.

Gov. Bruce Rauner's plan for next fiscal year seeks to fix the foundation while the house is on fire.

I never wanted to be a disaster researcher.  In fact, I tried my hardest to avoid it.  The first site for my dissertation research was supposed to be near the town of Campeche in the Yucatan Peninsula.  In October of 1995, while preparing to go to the field, not one but two hurricanes made landfall within a week of each other.  I decided to move my research to Ecuador. 

Stories are so important. True, I'm a fiction writer and a teacher, but I've been enamored of stories since I can remember, even before I could write myself.  I've looked to stories, both written and verbal, to reveal the world and explore my place in it. I've also looked to stories to come to know myself, and others.

This commentary will air a day after my son and eldest child, Jack, turns ten. The past few weeks I've been reflecting a great deal on what that means.

The white racial frame is a sociological concept developed largely by sociologist Joe E. Feagin. It takes us beyond the more commonly applied concepts of racial "prejudice" and bias when examining race. It affords a deeper, broader analysis of systemic racism.

There's nothing like holding an infant to root me in one spot, consumed by wonder.  So tiny. So innocent. When I hold a baby, I still feel awe because so much has to happen for us to be labored into the world.

I recently moved to a farm in Southeast Iowa, where I'm surrounded by corn, cows and, now, snow. That's quite a change for a former city girl. I work from home so I don't have many opportunities to get integrated into my new community. I tell myself, you want opportunities? You create them.

Our nation honors the life, legacy, and dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Believe it or not, he devoted a large amount of his life to supporting unions.

David Bowie died this past Sunday.  Like many, I was shocked and saddened to hear of his death.  His music has been an influential part of my life, although not always in the forefront. 

My first memory of going to the movies was with my dad. I was in kindergarten. We went to Highland Movie Theatre in St. Paul to see Star Wars. It was there I fell in love. 

Over the winter holidays, I've been thinking about how much my husband and I, as Western Illinois University alumni, have benefited from the liberal arts-based education we received here.

On December 2nd, the evening news droned as I was in the kitchen, making soup. Donald Trump's nasal reiteration that he stood by his hateful statement regarding barring all Muslims from the United States until our government had a concrete plan in place carried to the stove. 

Dear members of the Board of Trustees,

An attack on faculty is an attack on students, the regional economy, and the brand of Western Illinois University. 

Stop it.  Just stop it.  Stop pretending to care about those harmed by gun violence when you fail to address the root of the problem.

Several recent lectures, newspaper columns, and radio interviews have proposed a hypothesis that we in Macomb are suffering from a decline in the spirit of community. Really?

I spent last week in the house my great grandfather built when he immigrated to the United States from Sweden. He built the house on the land he farmed, the land my mother spent the majority of her life on and still lives on today. I spent the week with family and old friends, sharing stories, playing games, catching up and just enjoying being with each other.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a peaceful time surrounded by family, close friends and a delicious meal. It took an outside perspective for me to see how another tradition may be dominating American Culture this time of year.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and many will be unbuttoning their pants so as to make room for a slice of pumpkin pie. Of course, pumpkin pie wasn't at the first Thanksgiving, but according to the American Pie Council, "Pie has been around since the ancient Egyptians."

Mornings are not easy in my house.  Amidst the chaos of fighting for the bathroom, misplaced shoes and socks, and readying ourselves for the day ahead there is one that thing that brings everyone to a dead stop and allows us to pause and savor the moment. 

Some of the earliest memories I have with my dad are related to baseball. Every Sunday after church, we would sit in the car waiting for my mom to finish getting "just a few things" at the store and listen to Herb Carneal's play-by-plays of the Minnesota Twins on WCCO radio.

The Illinois state budget was due July 1. Four months later it appears that Governor Rauner and Speaker Madigan are locked in a battle of wills with no end in sight.

A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter opened Wednesday at Horrabin Theatre on the WIU campus.  It will run until this Sunday, October 25. 

I have hesitated to make good on a promise to expose sugar as an addictive substance.  It is as if I were doubting my mother's love or the core of my existence; for if little girls are made of sugar, what is the substance of women?  Are boys and men made of sugar as well?  

On Saturday, October 3rd I attended the WIU Homecoming parade. It was a beautiful day for a parade: sunny, the air crisp, the trees around us on the verge of exploding in autumnal color. I watched high school marching bands, politicians and hair stylists, dance troupes and college floats pass by. 

Standing on the edge of a hay field on a cool September morning I fell in love again.  It wasn't a hard, fast, impassioned fall like those felt by first time lovers, but rather a slow fall -- deep with appreciation and wonder of seeing the familiar in a new light.