By Jeff Smyth
Of the three “greeting card holidays,” Mother’s Day is by far the most difficult for a guy married with children to negotiate without incident. Plus, if your mother is still alive the chances of a misstep grows exponentially.
The other two holidays don’t even compare to the treacherousness of Mother’s Day. On Valentine’s Day, guys are on their best behavior because in the back of their minds they believe that, if they play it right, they might get “some.” I’m not even sure why Father’s Day exists where the traditional gift is to give dad a tie; the ultimate symbol of servitude, but more about that day later.
The morels are popping and tonight's rain should put them into overdrive. Send us pictures of your haul and we will decide who has bragging rights. Hit the Post It button to login.
By Jeff Smyth
It took a month for the cavalry to arrive but when it did its guns were blazing. In a show of force, one-by-one citizens addressed the PCHS Board of Education in defense of basketball coach Bob Waggoner. That stood in contrast to the board’s February meeting where a small group went behind the closed doors of executive session to discuss what were assumed to be grievances against the embroiled coach.
Since then, accusations and innuendo have been the topic de jour around town. At last one of them – the doctoring of a drug test on a Panther basketball player – was exposed at the March 25 meeting.
Ricky Nesslar of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Fire Dogs lights a stand of phragmite, a.k.a. "elephant grass", at the Galum section of Pyramid State Park. IDNR conducts annual controlled burns of the the property to eradicate invasive species, opening them up to native grasses.
By Jeff Smyth
The people attending Monday’s meeting of the Pinckneyville Community High District 101 hungered for red meat and, while it was served up, it wasn’t the cut they craved.
These meetings typically attract a few stragglers if that many, but this one drew 18 folks or more. Some were candidates hoping to be elected to the body come April. Others, who half-jokingly referred to themselves as “concerned citizens.” wanted to see if basketball Coach Bob Waggoner’s head would be presented on a platter. Still others were parents of students who it is assumed aired grievances against Waggoner in the executive session that was hastily called at the onset of the meeting.
This week's snow/ice storm offered up opportunities for local photographers to capture some amazing shots. Here are a few the Post took. Share yours by clicking on the "Post It" button and uploading them.
By Jeff Smyth
I have been suspected or accused of being a lot of things in my life including a malcontent, smartass, know-it-all and inane among others, but never a “drug smuggler,” until now.
It happened recently as I was driving home from Houston where I’d been on business. Normally when I travel to Texas my only drive is to the airport where everyone is a suspected criminal and only metal detectors, body scanners, and/or pat downs prove your innocence.
By Jeff Smyth
Like many Southern Illinoisans, Angela Rednour-Olson is fed up with how the cesspool that is Chicago politics runs the state and those of us in sticks are left to wallow in whatever floats downstream.
Still like others, she has toyed with the idea of carving out a 51st state – the state of Southern Illinois – even going so far as creating the Facebook page pointedly titled, “I would like to see Southern Illinois become the 51st state…”
With more than 700 Facebook “friends”, Angela knows she is not alone in her disgust. Trouble is she doesn’t know how to advance the cause.