Columnist

The love of reading, a brief history

Published by admin on Tue, 03/12/2024 - 9:41am

The love of reading is a prevalent disease. A good portion of the population can say they have lost sleep reading a good book that they just could not put down. I, myself, am afflicted. And it's not a new disease. Let's look.
Books in the 19th century were not rare, but they were not cheap. Those who had a good home library were considered very well to-do.

Eliminating the grocery tax a solid play by Pritzker

Published by admin on Sun, 03/10/2024 - 3:59pm

“Mayors slam Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate grocery tax,” was the Daily Herald’s headline above a story last week about several mayors of upper-income suburban communities complaining about a proposed tax cut.
I don’t know if the mayors quite understand this, but headlines like that are basically an in-kind campaign contribution to the governor and the Democratic super majority.

A month in the life of a town, May 1878

Published by admin on Tue, 03/05/2024 - 9:14am

Today our look at Wilmington history comes from the Wilmington column in the Joliet Signal. It isn’t clear whether they had a correspondent here or they just read the Wilmington paper. Each small entry tells its own story about life in this small town.
“We understand another concert is to be given at Empire Hall on Wednesday evening, May 15th, by the Wilmington Dramatic club. Considering the material which constitutes this club, we feel safe in assuring those who attend a first class time.”

Looking back 130 years, 1894’s hot news stories

Published by admin on Tue, 03/05/2024 - 9:13am

Today we set the wayback machine to 130 years into the past. Our stories comes from the Joliet News, the most popular newspaper of the day in Will County. Much of what they wrote was of politics and crime, and sometimes juicy bits of scandal.

There’s hope for Illinois’ pension debt

Published by admin on Sun, 03/03/2024 - 3:34pm

˙Gov. JB Pritzker proposed some changes to the state’s pension system during his budget/State of the State speech last month that will likely please the New York City-based bond rating agencies by giving them something they want, as well as his fellow Democrats by freeing up some money to spend on other things.

Coal City better than Braidwood?

Published by admin on Mon, 02/26/2024 - 2:12pm

There is no doubt when you hear the name of the town - Coal City. Coal is why it was originally platted and why it flourished during the 19th century. Originally laid out by the coal company, it never pretended to be anything else than a mining town. But was it any different than its neighbors, Braidwood, Braceville and Godley?

Having a smashing time, the C & A Railroad

Published by admin on Mon, 02/26/2024 - 2:02pm

I recently took a long train trip to New Mexico. While about 4 hours from my destination of Lamy I got an emergency text from Amtrak that Albuquerque would be the final stop.
From there passengers would have to detrain and board buses for a four hour ride to the next waiting train. It was all because a freight train derailed. We read a lot about that, but, fortunately its freight and not people that were spread across the countryside.

Lawmakers should include Black, Hispanic input

Published by admin on Sun, 02/25/2024 - 11:10am

Two press conferences held after Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget address last week didn’t receive much news media attention. As the saying goes, coverage follows conflict, and the two pressers were far more subtle and polite in their criticisms of the governor’s plan than those held by Republicans, so they were mostly overlooked.
But clear undercurrents were visible during both events, one held by the Legislative Black Caucus and the other by the Legislative Latino Caucus.

More than mining, when the coal runs out

Published by admin on Mon, 02/19/2024 - 3:54pm

Coal, coal and more coal; it's what made Braidwood and what kept it going. But what happens once all the coal is dug out? That was the problem facing Braidwood at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
The only coal left was narrow layers lying fairly close to the surface making shaft mining out of the question. The great amount of surface dirt that needed to be moved to expose those layers required large machinery which simply had not been invented yet. Where were the jobs to come from to support the existing population?

You need it, we got it, or had it

Published by admin on Mon, 02/19/2024 - 3:53pm

You don't have to live in Wilmington long to know that the businesses on Water Street have changed often. Since we have over a 180-year history, you can imagine how many businesses have come and gone.
Time was, when downtown Wilmington was a crowded commercial center. Today we look at April of 1862, one year into the Civil War. Please note how advertising has changed. The following list of merchants appeared in the Wilmington Independent.