ViewPoint | There are a few things our culture needs to admit

In 2016, there were 11,004 gun homicides in the United States. Additionally, 10,497 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Why do leftists demonize guns but are silent when it comes to alcohol's role in DUI deaths?

Some big government types want new legislation severely restricting gun purchases. But it won't work.

Recently, a convicted felon walked into the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago and open fired with a rifle; another convicted felon with an extensive criminal history of weapons opened fire on Philadelphia police officers, wounding six; and a shooter, also a felon, killed a California Highway Patrol Officer.

Current gun laws did not stop these criminals who are already legally barred from possessing a firearm from using guns to attack others.

We should stop the feckless politicking and political correctness and admit that we have a cultural problem. We should look at the rise in secularization, family breakdown, drug abuse, mental illness, identity-politics and demand personal responsibility and accountability.

BTW - with the legalization of weed, the numbers of intoxicated drivers and deaths will certainly increase in the coming years, as will violence-related marijuana-induced psychosis.

Forgetting God and His ways have consequences.

David E. Smith, Executive Director
Illinois Family Institute
Tinley Park, IL



Memory Monday: Volleyball hits the wall at supersectional

Traesha Worley
We dug back 15 years on an old hard drive to bring this week's Memory Monday feature. On the left, St.Joseph-Ogden's Traesha Worley makes solid contact with the ball for a kill against Mt. Pulaski on November 6, 2004. The Hilltoppers beat the Spartans 25-15, 25-21 to win the Hoopeston Supersectional title Saturday night. SJO, playing an independent schedule this season, finished a marvelous, memorable season with 28 wins and 6 losses. See more photos from this match almost 15 years ago here: Spartans vs Hilltoppers.

#MemoryMonday
Stacy Buck and SJO coaches watching their game Sarah Thompson
In the photo above, From the bench, Stacy Buck and coaches [left to right] Megan Blair, head coach Lydia Gard, and Erica Weber keep their attention on different facets of the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team's effort to advance to the IHSA state tournament against a powerful Mt. Pulaski team. On the left, Sarah Thompson passes the ball forward during a heated rally. Mt. Pulaski went on finish the season as the Class 1A runner-up at the IHSA State Volleyball Finals. (All photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


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Photos: Sentinel/Clark Brooks