✦ My first column at Illinois Times revealed the background of the psychologist who had the job of screening candidates for Springfield’s police and fire departments. When he lost that job along with similar gigs, he blamed me. I wrote about that, too.

✦Here’s a column about Springfield’s first shooting of 2004 -- still unsolved -- which resulted in one minor injury and a baby. Seriously.

✦ If you ever read the Illinois State Police blog ispeeved, you’ll notice that posters often refer to Jonathon Monken as the “accidental director.” That’s because of this column.

✦ Occasionally I would use my column to hang out some cop’s dirty laundry. Do I like beating up on badgers? Sure, I love exposing the bad ones. But who leaked this internal affairs file to me? One of the good guys.

✦ The Supreme Court has made it nigh impossible for peace officers to speak up without putting their careers on the line, as illustrated by the three brave men featured in this column.

✦ During an emotional special meeting of the Springfield City Council, Mayor Karen Hasara admitted that “there is racism in the [police] department.” But when African-American officers made that statement part of their civil rights lawsuit, the mayor backed off. I had fun rewinding the tape in this column.

✦I’m particularly proud of the headline I wrote on this column when a small but crucial fund that aided poor defendants in rural Illinois disappeared.

✦ I prided myself on writing a reported column, as opposed to a personal column. Every November, though, during National Adoption Month, I devoted a column to my son.