We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 1301
Two contrasting styles hooked up in South Wayne last Friday night as the ground pounding Blackhawk/Warren Warriors played host to the air-it-out Southwestern/East Dubuque Warcats. And in a game that featured several huge plays and momentum swinging moments, in the end it was a last second Hail Mary that claimed the win for the Warcats. SW/ED came in with a lot of fire and emotion, and exploded right out of the gate as Zander Tierney took the opening kickoff, broke through a hole to his left,...
“Starting at defensive tackle for Lena-Winslow … Ian Cool” Hearing opposing PA announcers butcher a kid’s name – it was Ian “Keuhl” pronounced “Keel” – still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up in anger. Why does it tick me off and get under my skin? Well, you see for four years I was the Public Address Announcer at DePauw University. And the first lesson I learned from our Athletic Director was – “Don’t butcher the names!” It was part of my job to meet with someone – anyone – fro...
Some people have thought that my coverage of the Freeport City Council has been incredibly harsh. And while I would counter that it has been incredibly accurate – some of them are simply incredibly stupid – Councilman Rachel Simmons proved at the recent Committee of the Whole meeting that she has the potential to be a good elected official. Stacey and Simmons wanted to renew the Pretzel City Skills Enhancement Program. Basically, the program provided local youth a chance to work with a con...
Fall Sports is dominating Dan’s time, so we let him off the hook and are printing an old column of his – we hope you enjoy. “Stevens, you need to do a story on the Blackhawk/Warren football co-op, they’re pretty good.” “I already did. In fact, I’ve done several.” The conversation is not unique, and happens often – but not between me and some reader who doesn’t subscribe to the paper. No, that typical conversation happens on a regular basis between me and my business partner – Terry Whalen! “Do...
I realize that I usually tend to look at some rather “unorthodox” topics in this column, but my Mother had always asked that I stop with the bathroom humor and prove to everyone that the education my parents paid for actually did some good. So, in her honor, I think maybe it’s time we look into some deep and philosophical issues regarding the human condition. Do you think that in ‘Hamlet,’ Shakespeare was exploring existentialism and projecting his own concerns about his role in the universe...
Every factory in America is familiar with OSHA – the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They are the ones who set the rules in regard to wearing a hard hat, and everything else tied to the safety of a factory and its employees. But when it came to fire departments, OSHA hadn't changed their standards since 1980 ... until now. New Changes are being planned for OSHA's Fire Brigade Standard, and while many make perfect sense, the problem is that – as far as fire departments are...
The first full week of the NFL pre-season is in the books, college teams are gearing up to begin their respective seasons in the newly arranged conferences where the NCAA has also expanded the playoff format to 12 teams instead of four, and at the High school level the Morrison Mustangs are now a part of the NUIC (replacing West Carroll who went to 8-man) which is only going to make the best small school conference in the state that much tougher. Here at Village Voices, we've already been...
You would think that as Freeport City Council meetings progress, some of the weaker Council members would begin to improve – you know, finally understand how Roberts Rules of Order work, or maybe realize where they are clueless and begin to at least try to not come across as completely clueless … I mean, that doesn’t seem like an unreasonable request. Well, think again. Believe it or not, Larry Sanders was not the worst offender this time. Yes, he still asked a couple of stupid questions … for...
We all need that certain “get away” - you know, the place where we go to recharge our batteries, reward ourselves for getting through another year of working, and go somewhere far from the daily grind to get away from it all. For me - that’s Vegas - and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my four days - even if the temperatures out there were 115 degrees each day. But I realized something - while I truly love going places - New York, Vegas, Cruises, etc - what I really hate is getting there. Here...
We've all seen them. You're driving down a country road, and suddenly above you is a bright yellow airplane flying low. We call them crop-dusters, even though I found out the name no longer applies. But, why are they all yellow? Is that an aviation requirement because of how low they fly? And what kind of license or regulation do they have to go through? Can any pilot do it? As the questions piled up, I realized I was already working on a story. First, the facts: Crop dusting aircraft are either...
This week is the IHSA's annual "No Contact" week where coaches and players are not allowed to work on their respective sports as they get ready for the first official day of practice which is this Monday, August 12th. But that allowed everyone to finish their summer schedules last week, and everyone made sure to take advantage of that. In football, Lena-Winslow made a trip to Byron where they scrimmaged against both the Tigers as well as the 5A Sycamore Spartans – and I was there to see them i...
After only a week, we’ve already got a good race going as several readers have emailed, or mailed in their Top Ten lists for places to eat Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. So, we figured we’d give you an update on the race – even though the voting will continue until August 16th. The majority of “voters” are only listing places for dinner – so we think that contest is the most legitimate so far. Hopefully, we’ll get more lunch and breakfast lists in so those races become “valid” in our eyes. (Whe...
With Dan on vacation, we are turning the clock back four years to when Covid dominated everything we did. Kind of as a reminder of what we all had to deal with. This is a column. By definition, that means that this is an opinion … not a factual story, but what I – as the author - “think”. I really need to point that out before getting started. And even though I’m doing that, it’s a safe bet that at some point someone will pass the word, “I know it’s true because Stevens said …” ya-da, ya-da...
People have liked our Fat Guys With Forks reviews, but in all fairness – they are flawed. I mean, everyone who knows me, knows that I despise vegetables – all kinds of vegetables – so the only dishes I will even eat are your basic meat and potatoes. As my wife puts it, “I have the pallet of a ten year old.” I readily admit that, so my personal taste is skewed – if it’s fried with hot sauce on it, I like it. But something healthy made with avocadoes, onions or peppers … Make me gag! In additio...
In many ways, covering the Stephenson County Board was a refreshing break from the idiocy found at Freeport City Council meetings. But, admittedly, in many ways the County Board still has its’ own issues to deal with as agendas – that aren’t hidden very well at all – repeatedly come to the surface. Case in point, Bill Hadley and Jim Hart got back on their, “We need to do an RFP for an Insurance Broker,” soapbox again. Now, when you hear them speak, on the surface, it sounds credible – after all...
By the time you are reading this, I will be in Las Vegas. Someone, back when we were all living under the same roof when it was cold, got the idea for the four of us – Chuck, his wife Jules, Me and my wife, Cathy – to go out to Vegas and renew our wedding vows. Now, I wasn’t even in on the original idea, but what began as a conversation piece turned into a concrete plan complete with airline tickets and rooms reserved at the Paris Casino on the Vegas Strip. Admittedly, some of the plan chang...
Anyone who has been following the Freeport City Council knows – they have some serious issues. At the last Committee of the Whole meeting, the ordinance they had been "discussing" for two months came up once again. Specifically, the Police Department was having a serious issue with people who would be caught driving on a suspended license for the third time in a month, that they were powerless to stop. As a remedy, the proposal was made to allow the Police Department to impound a vehicle that wa...
There is a big difference between the national political races we follow on television, and the small town elected officials we put into office. As one politician put it, "There are no Republicans or Democrats on a Village Board. It's all public service, permits, road repairs and putting on festivals." But, as we all know, and many of you are following with our coverage of the Freeport City Council – there are good Village Governments, and bad ones as well. The one point I have found apparent i...
OK, at the risk of embarrassing people who don’t deserve it, let me begin by saying that the names have been changed in the following story to protect the guilty. Now, with that being said … I came to a pretty obvious conclusion recently. The easiest way to get a man to revert back to his days as a wide eyed ten year-old kid with a big grin and runny nose, is to take him into a fireworks store. Now, I’m not talking about the wanna-be tent displays you have in the area where all you can buy a...
I've been to a ton of board meetings – county, city, village, schools – and an underlying concern throughout all of them is always economic development. Specifically, how do we grow our tax base, get more businesses to open, or more families to relocate into our area? Thanks to a Federal Grant, one organization is not only able to answer that question, but is also providing all kinds of support and information to help solve the problem. I give you the Birth to Five team. Three individuals: Lou...
There is a serious question people often need to ask themselves when they go out to eat. Specifically – what is your priority? For some, it is low cost; for others they need a quick meal to get back to work – especially at lunch; and for many – the answer to the first two comes before the third one … finding something that tastes good. Last week, the Fat Guys made our way to the Riverside 7 Restaurant in Freeport – located behind the Wendy’s. And the end result was a really good meal … just not...
This time of year at the newspaper is one of the most nerve wracking, as well as one of the most rewarding. Over the last few weeks, if you are a loyal subscriber who signed up when we first converted over to a paid subscription publication, then you already have received your subscription renewal notice in the mail. Being a subscription newspaper is the biggest thing that sets us apart from all of the freebies people get in the mail. For those who care – the subscription price basically only c...
Yes, the agenda was light, and it was the Monday before the Fourth of July. But every Freeport City Council member was in attendance, so when the meeting actually evolved into a productive, and rather smooth, outcome … nobody was more shocked than I was. Admittedly, a big reason was that Larry Sanders never said anything until the very end. So, there were no lengthy incoherent ramblings, and no moronic questions … well, okay, there was one, but still – he spent almost the entire meeting playi...
Grab the kids, call your friends, and tie the dog up under a tree with a bowl of water because this Thursday is the biggest gathering of the summer. Lanark's Old Settlers' Days, and Fun Days in Scales Mound, and even Pumpkin Fest in Warren are very special celebrations, but for the most part they are locally based. The whole town of Lanark was on hand to enjoy Old Settler's Days last weekend, which was a ton of fun to see, and the same can be said for all of the local town festivals. But the...
Do you have a secret vocabulary with your wife? You know, words that might mean one thing to someone listening, but you and your wife know they mean something totally different? Now, I’m not talking sexual – although I know a lot of couples have a secret vocabulary for that too. No, I mean things like quotes from a movie or something that you tend to throw back and forth at each other. “Wow, that really escalated quickly didn’t it?” (I mean, Anchorman, lends itself to a lot of them – but tha...
