With people seeming to need more services from government, how to pay for them becomes a growing concern.

The 24th Annual Morris Boys Shootout has come and gone.

They are supposed to happen in threes, as the saying goes, but if you use a wide-ish definition of the word, four celebrities deaths occurred last week.

Well, summer shootout basketball season has come to a close in the area. Congratulations to Moline, North Lawndale and O'Fallon for winning the Morris Ladies, Braidwood Boys and Morris Boys Shootouts, respectively. Also, while I am dishing it to those who are deserving, a special thanks to the guys at Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye for helping me sort through the who's who of these local tournaments even before they started. Their site can be located at www.ilprepbullseye.com if you are interested in the high school basketball scene.

As a Cubs fan, I supposed I should be pleased with the weekend's all-Chicago series, since my prediction going in was a three-game White Sox sweep.

He is about as unknown as a guy with a last name that starts with the letter "Z" can be.