Photo of the Day - September 18, 2020

Senior day smiles

St. Joseph-Ogden senior Victoria Roberts is all smiles with her Senior Day cookie after SJO defeated St. Thomas More in their last home game of the season on May 10, 2012. The five-inning affair ended with the Spartans celebrating a 15-1 victory over the visiting Sabers. SJO went on to finish the season with a record of 41 wins and just one loss on their way to a third-place finish at the Illinois High School Association's state tournament in Peoria under head coach Randy Wolken.

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Photo of the Day - September 17, 2020

Quick stop

Spartans' Aaron Woller dribbles the ball behind his back as Maroons' defender Austin Weck sails past him during second half action of their home sectional game on February 29, 2012. St. Joseph-Ogden fell 57-32 to Robinson in their Class 2A semifinal basketball game.

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Why do hamburgers taste so good?

By Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

---

---

Because they are bad for you. If they were healthy and good for you, they wouldn't taste near as good.

Typically, I eat healthy. My doctor prefers I stay away from red meat, fried foods, dairy and sugar. He forbids stuff like ice cream, pie and cake. I actually enjoy salmon, salads, most all vegetables and chicken. I don't have too much trouble avoiding the bad stuff.

Recently I was in one of the little towns we visit and I didn't feel great. It was one of those feel bad days. Not far away was a little joint people commonly refer to as the pool hall. On this day I knew they had exactly what I needed - one of their world-famous hamburgers. Of course, like Adam and Eve when I go astray everyone else follows along as well. All of our family decided to have deluxe hamburgers, bacon cheeseburgers, fries, while I ordered a double hamburger, one piece of cheese, ketchup, lettuce and tomato.

On the way I picked up a sack of ice-cold sugary colas. I figured we might as well do this right. I brought the food back home and we all slid right into hog heaven chowing down on those juicy hamburgers. As you know there are hamburgers and there are great hamburgers when made with lean quality meat and prepared right, etc.

Actually, a hamburger is not the end of the world for consumption. You can add healthy stuff like lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and before you know it you almost have a health burger - not exactly. Too much red meat will start boosting your cholesterol levels that will show up when you have your blood work done. A few years back I got on a hamburger kick and after having my blood work I learned my cholesterol was 220. My doctor wanted to know what I had been doing and asked me to go into extreme moderation mode. His words were, "You don't need a heart attack."

Burgers are good sources of protein, iron and vitamin B12, but they come with a lot of problems, according to nutrition experts-particularly the fatty meat, sugary ketchup and refined grain buns. A diet of burgers will lead to obesity. My double burger had about 900 calories. The saturated fat is detrimental to your heart. My double burger had about 22 grams of saturated fat or 108 percent of my daily value. Add to this also 172 milligrams of cholesterol or 57% of the daily value based on a 2000 calorie a day diet. A one patty burger can have 258 milligrams of sodium. If you are battling high blood pressure you don't want a lifestyle of eating hamburgers.

Why do hamburgers taste so good? Because they are bad for you. But hey old friend, surely, we can eat one occasionally. Enjoy one, but then wait awhile before your next one.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.

-----------------------------------------------------------

This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of PhotoNews Media. We welcome comments and views from our readers.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Photo of the Day - September 16, 2020

Frosh defender sees minutes early in SJO season

Emily Elsbernd dribbles the ball down the field in St. Joseph-Ogden's home game against Urbana University High School in August of 2019. The freshman defensive player saw 14 minutes of playing time in the Spartans' 7-1 loss to the visiting Illineks.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

---

St. Joseph yard sales this weekend

304 Western Drive

St. Joseph

Thurs. 4-6pm / Friday 8-4pm / Saturday 8-noon

Weather permitting ...
Chain saw, leaf blower, girl's bike, women's and men's clothes, dvd/vhs/cd's, xmas lights lots of misc.

---

528 Hawthorne Dr

St. Joseph

Thurs 5p-7p and Sat 8a-12p

Boys clothing Sizes 5-7; Girl clothing size 8-14, shoes/cleats/snow boots, toys, and household decor.

---

Pritzker says state has reached a "critical juncture"

On Tuesday, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker ordered state agencies to identify areas of their 2020 budgets that can be cut by 5% as well as 10% cuts that can be made in their spending plans for the next fiscal year should Congress fail to provide additional COVID-19 relief funds.

"Any cut to the Illinois state budget is a win for taxpayers," said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). "However, a broad cut to the state budget is not enough."

Tobin says the state of Illinois’s financial woes are due to the vast amount it spends on lavish, overpromised retired government employee pensions.

"This is why Pritzker is really cutting the budget, he wants to divert pay from current Illinois government employees to retired Illinois government employees," Tobin said in a release this morning. "Every year former Illinois government employees eat up even more of the state’s budget.

In fact, the primary motivation for a $5 billion state income tax hike that passed a few years ago was to transfer wealth from taxpayers to the black hole that is the Illinois pension funds."

Pritzker calls the current state's budget woes a "nightmare scenario".

We've reached a critical juncture for our own state finances in this COVID induced financial crisis," he said during his press conference in Chicago.

In June, Pritzker signed off on $43 billion dollar budget that began July 1 relied heavily on federal aid and borrowing to fill revenue shortfalls due to the COVID-19-induced economic slowdown.

A memo from Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes and budget director Alexis Sturm to agency directors stated the state's current budget "is only affordable in its current form with federal support to bridge the pandemic-related shortfalls and that now appears not to be forthcoming."

Illinois stands to lose out on $6.5 billion in revenue this year and next year. Agency heads were given until Oct. 2 to outline their reductions for the current year.  This includes taking necessary measures from hiring freezes to renegotiating on any planned spending commitments.

Tobin points out that governor's Illinois progressive income tax is purely a move to raise taxes.

"Pritzker’s income tax increase amendment, better described as an income theft amendment, is not what Illinois needs," he wrote. "Illinois taxpayers should vote no on November 3rd to the proposed amendment change, and demand Pritzker to cut spending further."