A thoughtless second ends & ruins lives, again

Since taking over the police beat here, I’ve sat through three homicide trials. And in each one, the scary lesson I’ve taken away is that a few seconds of thoughtless impulse can leave one person dead and another’s life ruined. In one case, a Streamwood …

Town Talk: Life lessons from the campaign trail. Or not.

Sure, Dr. Bob Tiballi of Elgin lost the GOP primary race for Kane County coroner to DuPage County Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Russell.

Most of us only have to worry about what a coroner says if and when someone we know dies under mysterious or dubious …

When getting off base might have done him some good

So this whole GOP presidential primary thing finally came down to Elgin. Somehow, I knew it would. Well…that may be a bit of an exaggeration because, despite Newt Gingrich’s foray into the “The City in the Suburbs,” he certainly didn’t benefit from any “Elgin bump,” …

Planting politics in some local primary races

Class, let’s talk about plants. And I don’t mean that rhododendron growing in your bay window, nor will we be discussing those massive buildings in the Elgin Industrial Park off Big Timber Road. What we’re really talking about here is the kind of plant that …

Jeff Ward: Candidate's tea party lineage laughable

She’s at it again. Our bad romance continues to progress as the chairman employs her best poker face to dance around the real issues. But this paparazzo sees right through her smoke screen. Of course, we’re talking about Kane County’s favorite Lady Gaga impersonator, board …

Time to end St. Charles  scofflaw’s song & dance

A few weeks ago we discussed the terrifying prospect of Elgin-area HELPS Ministry founder Angelo Valdes and inveterate St. Charles do-it-yourselfer Cliff McIlvaine joining forces to form the kind of antigovernment supergroup that might make the most ardent tea partier weep with envy. If you …

Advice to the Elgin man looking for a spouse

You have to admire 38-year-old Elgin resident Paul Gutierrez’ persistence and panache. Here’s a man who knows what he wants and he’s willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means standing at the corner of National and Grove in a suit and gorilla …

When a pol should take a hike instead of a run

The unbridled chutzpah displayed by some Kane County elected officials often renders even me speechless. The only explanation for their supercilious behavior is they either think we have a collective case of dementia or perhaps, like a rather imaginative 8-year-old, they believe that they’re invisible. …

Taking exception to gripes about social studies text

Glenn Beck, the man who’s too embarrassing even for Fox News, is now going after a third-grade social studies textbook. All I can say is something with a lot of pretty pictures is right up his alley. Labeling it “liberal propaganda,” “Social Studies Alive!” has …

Jeff Ward: Lady Gaga’s got nothing on Kane board chairman

Apparently, Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay has watched one too many Lady Gaga videos. Don’t panic. She’s hasn’t gone as far as wearing a meat dress or “hatching” herself from a large plastic egg. But in an attempt to appeal to 33rd Senate District …

My Harry chronicles

I headed north just out of Illinois last weekend to get material for a new photo-based social media guessing game I’m launching called “Bristol Renaissance Faire or Just Another Summer Day in Wisconsin?” Actually, I made the quest to the Elizabethan fest because I figured …

Blago just following his instincts, Illinois tradition

When I heard the news, I almost started shouting, “We’re No. 1!” But then I realized that cheering for the state with the most convicted former governors might be a bit much. Still, when you’ve been a lifelong Cubs fan, it’s nice to be able …

Larkin coach takes high road after lowdown taunts

Is this what we’ve finally come to? When did taunting a group of 14-year-old girls become acceptable behavior? Some St. Charles East parents must be so proud. And the taunts started even before the April 28 freshman girls soccer game between Larkin and St. Charles …

What it takes to be a school principal

I need to work an approximate number, a sentence with fewer than five words and a fraction written as a word into this column. That’s because the sixth-graders in Joanna Kadlec’s classroom at Sunnydale Elementary School in Streamwood are working on a newspaper scavenger hunt, …

We all can be heroes at any age

Nick Muller was 16 years old, energetic and full of life. He worked part-time as a clerk in the sports department of the newspaper I worked for at the time in Anderson, Ind. As a White Sox fan, I took it upon myself to tease …