Columnist

No not a virus, but communists, red flag and all. What could be done? They had taken over Braidwood, the mayor, the clerk — all the offices. Would Wilmington be next? If you are thinking this happened during the communist scare of the 1950s, or perhaps during the early 20th century during the Russian Revolution you would be wrong. Set the way back machine to the 1876 and watch out for the mobs!
It all started with the election of 1876. Miners broke into the polling place and stole the ballot box because they feared the outcome of the election.

Scrolling our daily social media newsfeeds reminds us that there is a very real human coast to fighting a global pandemic. The wealthy and the poor, the young and the old, the famous and the not so famous, all are impacted by COVID-19. Of the “famous” affected by the coronavirus is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Chicago's own John Prine.

Social distancing is not something that comes naturally to most of us, but in times such as these, it simply must be done. There will be plenty of time in the future to reconnect (in person) with loved ones, and to pull up a stool at your favorite neighborhood bar. Believe me, your neighborhood bartender misses you, too.
In the meantime, we simply have to get by on what we have around the house, or on whatever we can acquire on a trip to our local grocery store for some essential items.

The last time we talked about the 1883 ice floods that destroyed much of what was in the river and along side of it. This included Dam #3, located where the concrete dam is now. The problems this caused were many.