PanAm. Great Plains. TransMeridian. Now add Allegiant to the list of airlines that tried, and failed, to make a go of operating passenger service out of MidAmerica Airport. The airline just announced it will cease flights in January.

There's nothing like an economic crisis to get consumers to rediscover frugality. In recent years as the value of houses and investments soared, people spent as if there were no tomorrow.

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that Allegiant Air has stopped flying out of MidAmerica Airport. It lasted almost two years, so I guess that is a record. St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern talks as if the economy caused the airline to stop flying, but maybe it could be the people who are running the airport.

Hillary Clinton? Secretary of state? What is Barack Obama thinking?

The Edwards-ville City Council says enforcing its sign ordinance is good government, but how exactly does ordering a business to replace a perfectly good sign improve the well-being of the community?

The crime statistics for 2007 are out, and the numbers should be setting off alarm bells in St. Clair, Madison and Monroe counties. Serious crime is up significantly in all three counties.

St. Clair County Republicans know what it's like to throw a party when nobody comes.

It's bad enough that St. Clair County incorrectly assessed Lyndall and Ramona Kleeman's property, and that county workers never caught the mistake in almost two decades. But Assessor Gordon Bush's refusal to reimburse the Kleemans for some of their overpayments -- even though state law clearly requires it -- is inexcusable.

What's an addict to do? A dozen days since the election and I'm still in the grip of incessant compulsion.

The future health and well-being of Illinoisans is now in the hands of the Illinois Supreme Court.

From tech to steel to the insurance industry, business leaders are cutting costs so they can survive the economic crisis. But Illinois' political leaders have no plan to deal with its own dire situation -- and no sense of urgency to develop one, either.

The recent plunge in gas prices has the feeling of a return to normalcy. It’s anything but.

Chalk one up for the right of free speech. This week, St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael J. O'Malley threw out a libel lawsuit filed by a developer against two of its critics.

McClatchy cartoons for the week of Nov. 10, 2008

Dogs don't observe Veterans Day, as 8-year-old Tyler Owens knows all too well. The East Carondolet boy was playing in his yard on Tuesday when he was attacked by a neighbor's pit bull.