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IFIWEREACARPENTER . . . Used to be, anytime Paul
Carpenter’s name was in the newspaper
you could bet that the story was about his law-enforcement expertise. As a
detective with Springfield Police Department’s major-case squad,
Carpenter and his partner, Jim Graham, worked tirelessly to solve the city’s most serious
crimes. In May 2005, for example, they received the department’s
prestigious William Herndon award, thanks to Carpenter’s keen
sartorial sense (watching the surveillance tape of a bank heist, he
recognized the robber’s snazzy sweater as one he had seen at a local
store). But even then there were questions about the
crime-fighting duo’s tactics, and the pair eventually became the
subjects of an Illinois State Police investigation. In October 2005,
Carpenter was put on administrative leave; a year later, both Carpenter and
Graham were fired and Carpenter was charged with two felonies — wire
fraud and official misconduct — for sending a phony document to a
probation officer in Texas. Last month, Carpenter’s attorney filed motions
asking that Carpenter’s trial be moved away from Sangamon County,
citing “extensive media coverage” including Page 1 newspaper
stories and discussion on talk radio. In another motion, he asked that the
wire-fraud charge be dismissed.
. . . ANDYOUWEREANOBAMALADY No American politician in history has influenced as
many folks to pick up their pens, pads, and guitar picks as Barack Obama. Last summer there was Amber
Lee Ettinger, better known as Obama Girl. This year gave us Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.I.Am, leading a celebrity
ensemble in a musical rendering of, and tribute to, several of the Illinois
junior senator’s speeches. Now there’s Springfield resident and former Illinois Times columnist Grace Hughes, née Smith, who is offering up her
own online tribute to the Democratic candidate. Part tap number, part
vaudeville routine, and part rap (“Barack Obama for president/I know
the man is heaven-sent”), Grace’s song-and-dance video
endorsement is available at her Web site, www.graceuncensored.com. We called Obama press headquarters on Tuesday to ask
whether the candidate was prepared to both denounce and reject
Grace’s endorsement, but, amazingly, nobody called us back. (Wonder
what they were doing that was more important?) Obama probably has nothing to worry about. Last time
we checked, the Springfield resident’s Obama video had logged 1,300
views and just 12 comments, one of which suggested that Grace seek
professional help.
FLUFFANDSTUFF In March 2004, we introduced an obscure state senator
with an unusual name to Springfield readers. Barack Obama was running for
the U.S. Senate, and Todd Spivak, who covered Obama for community weeklies in Chicago,
wrote a profile for Illinois Times. Last week, in a widely circulated cover story in the Houston Press headlined
“Barack Obama and Me,” Spivak described the cover story he
wrote for us four years ago as “fluff” — something
“Obama’s own public-relations flack could have produced.”
He was charmed by Obama’s charisma then, he explains — like
much of the national media is now. Just two weeks after the profile ran, Spivak
encountered what he considers a different side of Obama. A follow-up story,
examining Obama’s somewhat strained relations with other black
lawmakers, infuriated Obama. The state senator called Spivak soon after the
second story went online and read him the riot act. Obama, who didn’t
return messages left with a spokesman, was angry that he wasn’t
quoted in the piece. The short conversation was the last time the two
spoke. Published just before the pivotal Texas primary,
Spivak’s story is available at www.houstonpress.com.
SUREFIRESHERFFIUS Cartoonist John
Sherffius, whose work appears in Illinois Times, won the 2008
Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning, the Herb Block Foundation
announced late last month. The award, along with $10,000, honors Sherffius
for a package of cartoons dinging President George
W. Bush and his administration. Sherffius was the editorial cartoonist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch until
he resigned in December 2003 after a disagreement with the editor. His
self-syndicated cartoons began running in Illinois
Times and a few other papers; Copley News
Service began carrying Sherffius after he became editorial cartoonist for
the Boulder, Colo., Daily Camera.
Copley — whose parent company owned the State Journal-Register at the
time — wouldn’t let Illinois Times publish Sherffius; however, the SJ-R changed hands last year, and
Sherffius is now back where he belongs.
This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 5, 2008.
