Depression, anxiety, weight gain and even loss of toilet training are on the rise in kids as the pandemic drags on.

Paige Gagerman spends most of her days during remote learning in her bed at home. Courtesy of Paige Gagerman / WBEZ
At the beginning of the school year, Paige Gagerman was highly motivated. The Deerfield High School junior got dressed each day and set herself up for a day of school at her desk, or the kitchen. But now in second semester, Paige sits in bed with her sweatshirt hood over her head. Remote learning has worn her down. Continue reading


When I was a boy about 11, I committed a crime that changed my life.




Several years ago, 
You would think we would finally take a stand when it comes to our children. You would think we would be driven by a primal need to protect. But you might think again. There is a blue bubble over the elementary school in an otherwise pleasant semi-rural community. And the children there are under the most insidious attack.
Let’s move on from the 2020 election for a second. In four years, we’re going to have another presidential election and many more after that. In the interim years, we have the midterms. And while this cycle will continue, the Democratic Party’s leftward lurch will probably become more explicit. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wasn’t successful in clinching the Democratic nomination in 2016 or 2020. He has a following. He has a devoted base, but black Democrats in the south were the firewall against a total socialist takeover. That will not last… 

I read somewhere that hard work is a sign of a willingness to be responsible. So typically people who are getting things done are usually getting them done for others as well as themselves. Some time ago in an interview with the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Jackson, I described myself as a man that picks up sticks. That may sound strange to most of you and it does sound a little strange to me as well. So let me explain how all of this works.
