Jim Nowlan: Illinois Supreme Court embarrasses itself again with Edward Burke decision
Illinois Supreme Court justices appear to recuse themselves when they shouldn’t and not recuse themselves when they should.
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Jim Nowlan: How can our federal government solve big problems? How about over dinner?
The president and top congressional leaders and Cabinet members should be required to sit down together to wrestle with the big problems.
Jim Nowlan: Illinois downstaters and their city ‘cousins’ live in different worlds
Rural and urban Illinoisans live in starkly different worlds, and the former resent it, though they don't clearly understand why. There are textbook solutions, such as better education and higher...
Ray LaHood and Jim Nowlan: Illinois GOP should challenge voting district map in court. Here’s why it won’t.
In 2021, the Democratic majority in the Illinois legislature drew new district maps. Last year, citizens cast around 70,000 more votes statewide for Republican rather than for Democratic candidates for...
Jim Nowlan: It is true. There are people who don’t want to work anymore
The new Dollar General store in my rural Illinois hometown couldn't open for the longest time because it couldn't find workers. Apples rotted on the ground at Arends Orchard nearby...
Jim Nowlan: Chicago and downstate could team up to resettle migrants
In the book "Nature's Metropolis," a sparkling history of the 19th-century Midwest, William Cronon makes it crystal clear: Illinois and the Midwest would never have developed so abundantly absent what...
Jim Nowlan: Here’s how to create a future for moderate Republicans in Illinois
After 60 years of active service as a moderate Republican, I feel shunned by my party. Why? Because I am opposed to kids carrying assault-style rifles on our streets. I...
Jim Nowlan: Despite the naysayers, Illinois has a lot going for it. But yes, we can make the state better.
My successful friends all bad-mouth Illinois. They're going to leave, or so they threaten; some do. Yes, we have problems, yet these are more than offset by impressive, possibly unmatched,...
Jim Nowlan: Waving allows us to connect in a simple, feel-good way
Not long ago, I moved from a tiny town to a small city of about 8,000 people in central Illinois to be closer to the action. You know: band concerts,...
Jim Nowlan: Downstate Illinois is hurting, yet few notice
Downstate Illinois (the 96 counties outside the six metropolitan Chicago counties) is hurting, yet few seem to notice. A bipartisan downstate caucus of lawmakers could establish a dashboard of goals...