I applaud Illinois and Gov. JB Pritzker for adopting the childhood vaccine schedule endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. I know from personal experience how dangerous and devastating it can be for a young child to contract meningitis.
I grew up in the 1950s, and this vaccine didn’t exist. When I was in first grade, I started to feel sick with an earache that quickly grew into a high fever and various other symptoms. I was ultimately taken by ambulance to the hospital, where I spent three days in a coma hooked up to IVs and seven more days recovering. My parents were terrified I wouldn’t make it.
Thanks to our wonderful pediatrician, I survived without any lasting effects. However, I remember our doctor telling us later that two other children in his care had meningitis at about the same time. One of them suffered profound hearing loss, and tragically, the other one died.
This vaccine and all vaccines are lifesavers. My sister and I endured serious bouts of measles, mumps and chickenpox. Our parents would have been so grateful if vaccines could have spared us.
Why risk a child’s life and health when these preventative preparations are available?
— Nancy Castagnet, Chicago
Illinois follows the science
Congratulations to Gov. JB Pritzker and to the state of Illinois for adopting the vaccine recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. This is a repudiation of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his acolytes.
In Illinois, we follow the science.
— Dr. Gerald Lasin, Deerfield
Bravo to joining WHO
The front-page article on Illinois joining the World Health Organization (“Illinois joins World Health Organization network,” Feb. 4) deserves to be there. No country is an island, especially in this jet age. With O’Hare being such an important international airport, we are well served to be in communication with health researchers around the world to keep a finger on the pulse of the microbial community.
It is imperative that we get early warnings of potential viral or bacterial invasions so that we can protect our citizens as well as those in the rest of the country, if they care to listen.
A big thank you to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Pritzker and our legislators.
— Margaret Sents, Glenview
We depend on journalism
I read with sadness the decision by the renowned Washington Post to lay off almost a third of its workforce, a decision that will reverberate across the nation’s media landscape. As Americans increasingly turn to social media sources of information such as TikTok and video apps for news and away from traditional journalism, both digital and print newspapers, we eventually will pay a heavy price for an ill-informed citizenry.
The pandemic, of course, accelerated a troubling trend of newspaper closures over the last 20 years. With a shift in reading habits and where Americans find their news, we risk a nation with less credible fact-based reporting and empathy and, instead, more misinformation or sensational stories aimed at driving a predetermined agenda. We need newspapers and their reporters to keep the powerful, whether in the legislative or executive branch, fully accountable for their decisions and actions.
If we could achieve President John F. Kennedy’s audacious vision in 1961 for America to land a man on the moon, can’t we find a collective way to save and invest in our newspaper industry? You can’t always rely authoritatively on artificial intelligence, for instance, to decipher nuance and proper context, as it is often riddled with mistakes.
Our nation depends on independent journalism, investigative reporting and an affirmation of salient facts so policymakers can make critical decisions that shape society in America and across the world.
— Anthony Arnaud, Laguna Niguel, California
Is Trump really ‘joking’?
True to form, President Donald Trump recently began another campaign to question the legitimacy of the upcoming midterm elections. He said, “When you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election” in 2026. The White House press secretary later said Trump was only “joking.”
He followed that up with the idea that Republicans should “nationalize” the midterm elections and “take over” voting in 15 places to ostensibly prevent voter fraud, even though the states have sole authority to run elections. So it is not legally possible, but that never bothered Trump before. Was he “only joking” again?
As if on cue, three GOP congressional representatives from Illinois — Mike Bost, Mary Miller and Darin LaHood — are now questioning our state’s “election integrity.” They are asking the state to provide more information about how voting records are vetted. Are they “only joking”?
According to the conservative Heritage Foundation, there have been 19 cases of ineligible voting in Illinois since 2016. Given the fact that more than 5 million votes were cast in each presidential election in Illinois since 2016, one can hardly say that voter fraud is “rampant” in our state.
Trump is still insisting that he actually won the 2020 election, which he repeatedly said was “rigged” and “stolen.”
In an apparent attempt to emphasize this point, he even sent the FBI to Fulton County, Georgia, to seize all 2020 voting records. Does this sound like he’s “joking”?
In early 2021, Trump pressured the Georgia secretary of state to “find” 11,780 votes after the 2020 election. The Republican Party sent groups of illegitimate electors from seven battleground states to submit fraudulent certificates of ascertainment to falsely claim that Trump had won the Electoral College vote. Were they also “joking”?
And when all those tactics didn’t work, Trump incited a violent mob of insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, with the goal of overturning the results of the 2020 election. All of these actions should automatically disqualify him from ever holding elective office again.
And I’m not joking.
— Bob Chimis, Elmwood Park
Government works for us
If President Donald Trump believes we the people are agents of the federal government, when do I get my salary and two-week paid vacation?
The serious question is: When will Trump realize that the federal government is supposed to be an agent working for us?
— Richard J. Aronson, Highland Park
What about Trump’s wins?
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a candidate for U.S. Senate, is offering unhinged outbursts in his commercials: “Fight against Trump,” “Stop Donald Trump,” “Abolish ICE,” ad nauseum. He gives no policies.
Never mind the need for enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act. More than 1,700 immigrants with active detainers were released to the streets by Illinois authorities in 2025.
Behold some of President Donald Trump’s accomplishments the past year: securing America’s borders; putting Americans’ safety and health first; reducing drug prices; rebuilding the economy and energy dominance; championing American workers, industry and technology; bringing investment into the U.S. with new high-paying jobs in auto and chip factories; restoring leadership in the world by peace through strength such as by curtailing Iran’s nuclear program and creating a Gaza peace plan; working on the Ukraine-Russia war; extracting Venezuelan’s narco-terrorist Maduro; strengthening armed forces enlistment; making government work for people; and eliminating waste fraud and abuse.
But not a word about that from Krishnamoorthi or his Democratic opponents.
— David N. Simon, Chicago
Assuming my allegiance
I took part in two No Kings demonstrations in 2025, and I plan to be part of the next one on March 28. For me, they were exhilarating, energizing, emotional and reassuring that our country is strong and that independence is not dead. I think it’s very useful to remind President Donald Trump, the man who would be king, that we don’t have kings here. We settled that question 250 years ago.
However, in signing up for the demonstrations, I’m now on associated email distribution lists, emails that assume I am a Democrat. I sense the same assumption at the demonstrations.
But just because I don’t want a king doesn’t mean I want to be a Democrat or that I support every progressive cause or that I view the GOP as an enemy of the people. I’ll take good ideas for solutions to our nation’s problems, no matter what political color the idea is painted. I’m not interested in litmus tests, dog whistles, virtue signaling, loyalty oaths or ideological purity. I want solutions. I want stepwise improvement toward “better,” not “no action unless perfect.”
There is a reason the fastest growing political party in the U.S. is “independent.” That’s something for the Democrats to keep in mind as they lick their chops anticipating a blue wave in the coming midterms.
— Eric Jebsen, Wheaton
Fund mental health care
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump are using an old but tried-and-true method to create division among the races and to exploit a sad situation. It was heartbreaking to hear about the tragic death of Iryna Zarutska at the hands of a mentally ill man who happened to be African American. The best way to remember her in my opinion would be for the government to fund long-term mental health facilities that could house and treat those who are suffering from severe mental health problems, which could keep them off the streets making it less likely they could hurt others. The bill that could bring this about could be named in her memory.
That is in fact if Musk and Trump really want to remember her and not just use her for political exploitation.
— Aaron R. Campbell, Chicago
Agents’ accountability
I could not agree more with the timely and thoughtful op-ed piece by Brian Kolp (“What power do ordinary citizens have to keep federal agents accountable?” Feb. 4). I was struck by the elegant simplicity of a suggested solution to address the existing problem of immigration law enforcement in America. Instead of trying to legislate specific behaviors of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents to make them accountable or, more extremely, defund or abolish ICE or CBP, just deter bad behavior by making all federal agents financially liable for their actions done on the job. Further, the idea involves modifying an existing law with a slight tweak of language rather than drafting entirely new legislation from scratch.
Why should President Donald Trump and Republicans want to go along with such a change and right now? Because all of America wants to see something better than the killing of American citizen protesters by American law enforcement personnel on American soil. The recent toned-down approach by Trump to replace Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino with border czar Tom Homan and the subsequent reduction of ICE agents in Minneapolis are evidence that the president is amenable to finding a better solution at the present time.
Besides, this approach speaks to Trump in a language he can truly understand, that of money. Yes, ultimately, it’s the U.S. taxpayers who would have to foot the bill for potential lawsuit judgments against federal agents. But as we know, Trump is all about the money, and the optics would look very bad if it was perceived by his supporters that our taxes and/or government deficit would need to rise to pay for excesses and abuses of power caused by those working on his behalf.
— Mark Grenchik, Chicago
Reform immigration policy
Like many Americans, I am outraged by the mayhem and violence that have been wrought on many Democratic-led cities and states.
Let me get to the point. We’ve been told for years by both Democratic and Republican administrations that our immigration system is broken. It is so broken that the current administration has armed, masked agents roaming the streets of select cities inflicting physical and psychological damage, even death, on citizens and noncitizens alike. Is the only solution to our “broken” immigration system to round up, imprison and deport Black and brown people, no matter their citizenship status? Really?
So, we all agree: The system is broken. What is Congress doing to create a solution to this vexing, complex problem? It is federal lawmakers’ responsibility to create solutions to the problems and challenges that face our nation. I think that many people agree that the current actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement do not represent a solution. These actions are designed to intimidate and spread fear. Where is immigration reform?
Members of Congress, get off your collective, lazy duffs and create a humane solution to immigration. One that protects our borders and respects the dignity and humanity of all people, those here and those who desire to enter our country.
— Eileen Dwyer, Vernon Hills
Insult to NATO troops
The British prime minister was correct in calling the comments made in Davos by President Donald Trump “insulting and frankly appalling.” Trump claimed NATO allies in Afghanistan “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” which is not only inaccurate but cruelly demeaning to the NATO soldiers, more than 1,000, who died in combat operations there and the many thousands who were injured.
But even for those who did stay off the front lines, Trump should have more empathy. They may have had bone spurs, the reason he avoided military service to stay in New York and away the front lines of the Vietnam War.
Those who dodged military service should not speak in contempt of those who served. We need a commander in chief who has the knowledge and experience to fulfill the responsibilities of the role, not one who just plays the role for TV applause and personal enrichment. In doing so, he dishonors our military, our nation and our allies.
— Franz Burnier, Wheaton
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