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Today's Opinions

  • Candidate sign damage is a crime

    In this space last week, we talked about how vandalism always seems to increase this time of year, with many of those acts being inappropriate pranks. But it’s not just Halloween that we’re talking about here.

    We’ve gotten reports within the past week of campaign signs being damaged or stolen.

    Click here to read more...
  • Christiana Tillson recorded pioneer life

    Born Christiana Holmes at Kingston, Mass., she suffered culture shock when she moved with her new husband, John Tillson, to the backwoods of Montgomery County, Ill., in October 1822.

    Last week, I referred to Christiana’s book, "A Woman’s Story Of Pioneer Illinois," written two years before her death in 1872. The book was privately printed in Massachusetts, and intended for family and close friends.

    Click here to read more...
  • Destructive acts no longer just fun

    It happens every year about this time.

    Law-enforcement officials will tell you that Halloween is one of the most active seasons for complaints of vandalism.

    Many of the seasonal pranks start innocently enough – decorating a friend’s house with toilet paper, wrapping a friend’s car with plastic wrap or soaping a friend’s car windows. It’s all fun and games among friends.

    But those innocent pranks turn serious – and expensive – when they begin damaging property or intimidating innocent people.

    Click here to read more...
  • Early church services long and colorful

    Lately, the book that has sat on my bedside table for nightly reading has been the "1882 History of Bond and Montgomery County, Illinois." W. H. Perrin was the editor, and he gathered together an excellent array of writers for this book.

    Perrin’s writers traveled about both counties and interviewed old settlers, thereby preserving the earliest memories of when the white men first settled in this territory.

    Click here to read more...
  • Attend E911 hearing

    At the general election about a month from now, Fayette County residents will be asked for the third time to approve a telephone surcharge to fund emergency phone service. We’re hoping that the third time is a charm.

    We’ve given residents information prior to the first two votes on the issue, and we will be doing that again prior to the Nov. 4 election.

    But we’re hoping that residents also take the initiative to gather information on their own and ask questions.

    Click here to read more...
  • Samuel D. Davis had local connection

    “Father told us children that when he was about 16 years old he was living in York County, Pa. When the war came, his father, Joseph, was drafted, but did not want to enter the service of his country, and asked my father’s oldest brother if he would go in his stead. My uncle had a premonition that if he went to war, he would be killed.

    “Father, who was a few months past 16, said he would go to the front if they would accept him. Well, to make a long story short, father reported to the recruiting station and made inquiry if he would be accepted.

    Click here to read more...
  • Restore the funds

    The Illinois Senate on Tuesday passed a resolution that could restore funds to keep the doors open at 14 historic sites – including the Vandalia Statehouse – and 11 state parks in the state.

    The 40-15 Senate vote means that body joins the Illinois House in supporting restored funding for those sites. Tuesday's Senate bill would funnel more than $220 million toward parks, historic sites and social service programs.

    Now, it's Gov. Rod Blagojevich who stands in the way of keeping the sites open to the public.

    Click here to read more...
  • Corn Day offers many activities

    As area farmers prepare for harvest, our community is preparing for this Saturday’s annual Corn Day celebration.

    Sponsored by Vandalia Main Street, the event features a variety of activities – some to celebrate the prominent role that corn plays in our area’s economy and some just for fun.

    The activities get under way at 7 a.m. with a community-wide yard sale promotion. (See the ad elsewhere in this issue of The Leader-Union for the addresses of more than 50 yard sales included in the event. Many also have ads in the classified section of today's paper.)

    Click here to read more...

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