Opinion-Editorial

106 Results / Page 1 of 12

AD
USPS broken by Congress

Opinion-Editorial

OP-ED: USPS didn’t fail. Congress broke it.

Walk into any post office today, and you’ll see the same depressing ritual. Yet another rate‑hike notice taped to the wall, another few cents slapped onto the price of a stamp, another hit to people who didn’t cause this mess in the first place. The story politicians tell is that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is bloated, incompetent, and losing money. But here is the damning truth: the government can’t run anything right. The truth is uglier and more […]

todayMarch 21, 2026 160

law protect patients

Columnists

POPIEL: When a law protecting patients ends up costing them more

If you’ve gone to a hospital that’s in your insurance network, you probably assume every doctor you see there is also in-network. That used to be a risky assumption. Before 2022, many patients were shocked to get massive medical bills after getting care from doctors who, unknown to them, weren’t in their insurance network, even though the hospital was. To fix this, Congress passed the No Surprises Act. It was designed to protect patients from these surprise bills, and to […]

todayDecember 16, 2025 59

electricity electric energy

Opinion

JARRETT: Try energy pragmatism if you want lower electricity prices and shore up the grid

Since 2020, electricity prices have been steadily rising. And since 2022, they’ve increased at twice the rate of inflation. Consumers are right to be frustrated. With oil prices falling, electricity prices have emerged as the key energy pain point for families and the target for aggressive energy policy.  Bringing down electricity prices is now a priority, but Americans shouldn’t lose sight of the other critical challenge now facing the nation’s supply of electricity: rapidly eroding grid reliability.  In regional electricity grids nationwide, […]

todayAugust 27, 2025 133

USPS UPS

Opinion

NOAKES: Sell the USPS to UPS

Since its introduction in 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has played a vital role in American history. Recent headlines have underscored the urgency of reform.  USPS recently requested a rate hike for stamps and mail services, its sixth price increase in less than five years, placing a heavier burden on consumers while still operating at a multi-billion dollar loss. In contrast, the United Parcel Service has proven itself a leader in safe and effective delivery of mail and goods, as […]

todayAugust 26, 2025 87

USPS rural America

Opinion-Editorial

OP-ED: USPS plan writes off rural America to save a buck

Last spring, at a Rural Democracy Institute convening in Omaha, a room of over one hundred rural policy experts and elected officials from the hollers of Appalachia to the expansive mountains of Big Sky Country were all big beaming smiles and enthusiastically raised hands when asked “who here knows their postal worker by name?” The relationships that people have with their postal workers are the most universal, direct, consistent, person-to-person contact that most people will ever have with government service […]

todaySeptember 30, 2024 133

Washington DC government shutdown

Opinion-Editorial

OP-ED: It’s government shutdown season

On a good day, I forget that the government exists. I drive to the grocery store on smooth roads and drop my mail off at the little blue box that sits at the end of my street, and I consider going to the library, as a treat for a productive errand run.  Roads, mail, libraries: these are just a few of the public goods provided by the government, paid for by our tax money. And I’m happy to pay for […]

todaySeptember 27, 2023 119

election city council

Commentary

OUR VIEW: Let’s move on from the midterm election

The 2022 election has been considered "the most important election of all time." The end result last week proved once again that it most certainly was not. There was no red wave, and there really wasn't the dominance that Democrats purported to have. We're one week past the election, and the Democrats and Republicans are continuing their incessant bickering. It, unfortunately, will not be any better with the gridlock of a Republican-majority House and a Democrat-majority Senate. The toxicity has […]

todayNovember 16, 2022 70

Election Day

Commentary

EDITORIAL: America loses on Election Day

The looming darkness this weekend has nothing to do with us reverting back to standard time. That's a short-term problem of little importance. The looming darkness rather comes from the upcoming midterm elections on Tuesday. A looming storm that has been plagued with factually incorrect political ads, a cavalcade of clowns as candidates, and mudslinging. As usual. We're told in our elections that there are only two choices to select: Democrat and Republican. In most cases, that's wrong. In 35 […]

todayNovember 5, 2022 103

Election Day

Columnists

KNAPP: Things always change with Election Day

"Election Day" has become a fuzzy concept lately. Officially it falls on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.” However, most states offer early voting in person or by mail these days. Millions of Americans have already cast their votes. The probability that we won’t know all the winners and losers on "election night" is in the neighborhood of 100%. The U.S. Senate race in Georgia may well go to a runoff. Some Congressional races […]

todayNovember 5, 2022 81

AD

Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois & Eastern Missouri
107 W. State Street PO Box 149
Nokomis, IL 62075
Tel: (866) 420-7790

STAY CONNECTED

CHECK OUT OUR STATIONS

DEADLINES & PUBLICATION INFORMATION

Deadlines
News and sports submissions
: 11 p.m. Central
Advertising, legals, obituaries: 5 p.m. Central

Publication times
Late breaking news as it happens
Normal publication:
11 p.m. Central daily
Other news:
Published as it’s made available

AD
AD
Some rights reserved 2016-2027 Heartland Newsfeed and 2023-2027 Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois & Eastern Missouri
Some images copyright United Press International, Capitol News Illinois, Missourinet, Missouri Independent, Public News Service.
Other images courtesy of Adobe Stock, Pexels, Pixabay, and Unsplash.
AD
AD
AD