Manker: Milestone reached as teen son starts paying own bills and — knock on...
Most of us likely don’t remember the dawn of our individual financial responsibility. Maybe some of us are still waiting to get there. Perhaps it came when you went with your parents to open your...
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Ribfest won't be same if it moves from Naperville Ribfest in Naperville has been one of the biggest and best rib festivals in the country. Moving it from Naperville will impact its popularity...
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Shutdown having real effect on federal workers I have been employed by the Internal Revenue Service for over 31 years. I have always had faith our political leaders would do what’s best and not let...
View ArticleMcGrath: 'Just do it' works when it comes to losing the pounds, as long as...
A Nielsen survey found that Americans' No. 1 New Year's resolution is to lose weight and get in shape. But it also determined that 36 percent of those making that pledge quit before the end of...
View ArticleColumn: Author reflects on growing up in Naperville, where being gay was...
For Robert Fieseler, telling the story of a little-known gay bar fire in which 32 people perished was personal. Although he grew up in a different place at a different time, he experienced much of the...
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Column used term 'derogatory' to LGBTQs I went to high school with Bob Fieseler, who was quoted in Hilary Decent’s Jan. 13 column reflecting on being closeted in Naperville in the 1990s. We knew each...
View ArticleDecent: 'DuPage Doubles' club supports parents of multiples experiencing...
Is having twins twice as nice or double trouble? Last year, Edward Hospital marked its 2,000th multiple birth since 1996, inspiring me to meet with members of the DuPage Doubles Families of Multiples...
View ArticleManker: Learning to handle a 'death machine' is another one of those teenage...
Of all the milestones our children will reach as they navigate the treacherous years en route to adulthood — learning to walk, riding a bike, choosing their favorite cable news channel — only one...
View ArticleMcGrath: The racism that continues in this country 50 years after MLK's death...
It was just a lot of noise as far as I was concerned. I was a teenager when Martin Luther King was leading peaceful protests in the 1960s, advocating for the equal rights and dignity for...
View ArticleDecent: Woe to the wife of an inveterate bargain-hunter
“What book are you reading?” said Grumpy, leaning over my Kindle while we were out having coffee one evening. “$2.99,” I replied. I knew what he really meant so I didn’t hesitate in giving him the...
View ArticleLetters to the editor: Stava-Murray comments unjustified
Stava-Murray's Naperville comments unjustified The dissatisfaction voiced by state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray about the “white supremacist policies” of the city of Naperville is based on someone else’s...
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"No way a concession' rings hollow The president’s Jan. 25 tweet: “This was in no way a concession,” reminds me of the quote from Abraham Lincoln, our first Republican president: “How many legs does a...
View ArticleMcGrath: Fledgling comedian who would go on to be Bernie Mac gave rookie...
Before accepting a position as an English professor at College of DuPage, I taught in a Chicago public high school for 20 years. And it was there, when I was 22, that I met actor and comedian Bernie...
View ArticleColumn: After their fathers died of drug overdoses, 2 kids are on a crusade...
Two mothers are making sure their lives are defined by triumph, not tragedy, as they are inspired by their children’s efforts to bring awareness to the drug abuse epidemic that robbed them of their...
View ArticleColumn: Decision to close school for bad weather a 'no win' when you're the...
Wild winter weather kept Naperville students home not once, not twice, but an unfathomable three times this week. Kids went stir crazy. Parents caught cabin fever. Cooped up with my kids, I vowed to...
View ArticleDecent: Even for a neat freak, Marie Kondo's tidying up methods can be more...
It’s not easy being a neat freak when you’re married to someone whose idea of tidying is leaving everything exactly how it first entered the house so they know where to find it. Grumpy and I are the...
View ArticleMcGrath: Fictional movie love scene can inspire a brief return to your own...
During the countdown to Valentine's Day, I re-watched one of the most powerfully romantic film clips in recent history: the restaurant scene in “The Counselor.” A successful attorney played by Michael...
View ArticleDecent: So, you're planning a cruise — here are 10 things you'll definitely...
Since this is the time of year when many of us are lucky enough to escape to the sun, I’m offering up a travel guide to The Top 10 Things Americans Do on Cruises. If you’ve been on a cruise recently...
View ArticleManker: Flotsam and jetsam from the mind of your everyday columnist
Random Robservations piling up at the bottom of the notebook... Punxsutawney Phil supposedly his shadow nearly two weeks ago, but the long-range forecasts sure doesn't give any hint of "early spring"...
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State rep's 'white supremacist' comment off base Labels like “white supremacist" should not be used. Regarding recent stories about state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray’s well publicized comments about the...
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