Things have been hot and heavy this week with all of spring sports engaged in the post season. At press time, the only thing to report on is girls track and field, with a sectional taking place May 10.

Breanna Cisketti, Gracie Prose, Cooper Alderks, Molly Blum, Carter Conderman, Aylivia Danekas, Bailey Jackson and Jack Richolson were all recently named as recipients of scholarships awarded by the Ogle County Farm Bureau in 2024.

We Americans are practical. We cast a suspicious eye on theories. We rely on common sense — self-evident ideas that nearly everyone shares.

Planting season continues at a robust pace as farmers across the area try to hit those optimum planting dates. As for me I failed in that regard this year.

I was born in Oregon. But my father and I moved to California where I finished my last two years of high school. I immediately joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington for nine months then was sent overseas.

There were a couple of notable items from the Ogle County Track & Field Meet. In the boys portion, the 119.33 to 119 win by Forreston-Polo over Rochelle was the closest margin in the 50-year plus history of the meet. Additionally, Andrew Nuyen of Rochelle became the first pole vaulter in the county to crack the 15-foot barrier.

It is Friday evening on April 26 and instead of sitting in front of my computer writing this, I wish I was at Lander-Loomis Field. That is where the most significant boys track meet of the regular season for northern Illinois small schools would have been taking place.

Add Stillman Valley to list of school districts instituting an Athletic Hall of Fame. It will include teams, individuals, coaches and friends.

The long and bloody history leading to the war in Gaza brings to mind ancient Greek tragedies, in which the characters were helpless against fate, the laws of the universe, and their own mistakes. A similar feeling of tragic destiny hovers over Israel and the Palestinians. It arises in their case from human nature — and economics.

The USDA released the first insights into net farm income expectations for 2024. The report anticipates a decrease from 2023’s forecast of $155 billion to $116 billion – a drop of nearly $40 billion, or 25.5%, and the largest recorded year-to-year dollar decrease in net farm income.

As Christians, we must condemn “Christian Nationalism” as a distortion of the Gospel of Jesus and a threat to American democracy.

In 2011, I compiled a lengthy feature on declining enrollments in northwest Illinois and the impact it was having on participation in sports.

The long and bloody history leading to the war in Gaza brings to mind ancient Greek tragedies, in which the characters were helpless against fate, the laws of the universe, and their own mistakes. A similar feeling of tragic destiny hovers over Israel and the Palestinians. It arises in their case from human nature — and economics.

In 2001, I participated in Illinois Farm Bureau’s inaugural Market Study Tour to China. Our group visited a training kitchen where chefs were learning recipes featuring U.S. beef and pork products. In the kitchen’s cooler, I discovered the pork was from a facility in Waterloo, Iowa, where many of my own hogs were processed.

Yep, legislators are back at it in Springfield working on legislation that may or may not see the light of day. As usual they will be racing to get their bills filed by the filing deadline, then the speakers in both chambers will decide what does get assigned to committee, and what doesn’t (that’s known as killing the bill).

Not much to write about this week, as I’ve been away from the sports scene while cloistered at Bishop Lane Retreat House during a three-day gathering of Christian men. By cloistered, it means leaving phones, watches or any other attachments at home.

As part of the federal Inflation Reduction Act the USDA is awarding grant monies for a new Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

Among Ogle County high schools, Forreston and Oregon are joining Byron and Rochelle in the sports hall-of-fame business. Both schools are looking for nominations in first-ever induction classes.

Thank you to the Ogle County Board for declaring Ogle County a non-sanctuary county for immigration.

These days with all the new pronouns, changing definitions of things I’ve known for decades and misinformation peddled by “social influencers” it’s hard for anyone to define anything anymore. The only social influencer I ever knew in my life were called mom and dad, and dependent on their mood at the time or their answer truly influenced your social life.

I would happily vote for a sales tax increase to benefit the schools if you would just word the proposal correctly to avoid the typical bait and switch scheme.

I read with sadness and dismay in the March 25 edition that the Ogle County Board has decided to make Ogle County a non-sanctuary county for immigration. I suppose because of how politicized the whole immigration issue has become in our country.

While we wait for the weather to warm up for spring sports, let’s review the NCAA basketball tournament, or “March Madness”, as they call it, although the IHSA claims to be original coiner of the term March Madness.

On the eve of Tuesday’s primary elections, let’s step away from high school sports and get into politics and its relationship to sports as a whole.

The most powerful nation in the world fails again and again, like a giant in chains, at the most basic tasks of government.