As Rockford gets ready to say farewell to Mayor Larry Morrissey, we must not forget that the city must now move on, whether we are happy with the job he did the last 12 years or we are counting the days until he's gone. Morrissey has been…

With so much turmoil in Washington and around the country these days, it’s easy to get caught up in the crises of the moment. These are, indeed, worth our attention — but so are longer-running developments that threaten the health of our…

(Rockford Advocate)--Illinois is not working. Since the end of the Great Recession, most members of the Illinois General Assembly have taken one of two approaches to this throbbing reality. The first is to close their eyes, plug their ears…

(Record Advocate)--For years, free speech on college campuses has been waning. Some schools create “free speech zones” where the First Amendment applies, while outside of those zones students must adhere to strict rules about what they can…

(Record Advocate)--At first glance, workers’ compensation reform might seem like small potatoes. That’s because its effects can be tough for people to see: The payroll of a small trucking business in East Peoria, a routine railroad repair…