Blue Birds
From the left field bleachers to the press box, from to the clubhouse to the front office, the refrain is repeated as if rehearsed: The Cardinals didn’t make the playoffs this year because of nagging injuries and ineffective pitching. If only there had been fewer injuries and if only one or two of those off-season…
A defining moment
Gary Hoyland says he was present at a school board meeting last year when an audience member stood up to complain about recent budget cuts. The man, Hoyland says, accused officials of Springfield School District 186 of not being candid with the public. The criticism didn’t go over well: In response, board members and administrators…
Collateral Damage
The University of Illinois at Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln Presidential Center for Governmental Studies was the latest victim of the governor’s own style of politics. In July 2003, the Center was stripped of its $1.5 million state appropriation to carry out academic programming in conjunction with the soon to open Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum…
Bards of the Sangamo 10-9-03
Birthday Every year a leaf falls, one at a time, hands, days full of raking, scattering and I come to see the bare tree of us against the sunlight strewn in branches, shimmering naked against all those colors you give me tumbling free within a small, a time together walking in woods — David Radavich…
CENSORED!
We know more now about the dangers and disasters of empire building in Iraq — the ongoing bloodshed on the ground, expansion of terrorist activities, the huge budget-busting costs of occupation, the stretching and undermining of the military, and the increased insecurity that many Americans feel as a result of the invasion. We also now…
Your Turn . . . 10-9-03
All our best I especially enjoyed how took your turn and gave your choices [in the “Best of Springfield” issue, September 18]. Your decision, in my opinion, was like a teacher grading a student’s paper. My personal choices (although I did not compete in your contest this year) are: Dusty Rhodes (Illinois Times) for best…
The highway side
They were waiting on the porch. The kids were bundled up in heavy winter coats, hats and gloves, and they both had big backpacks. Sylvia Lopez wore a light but stylish cloth coat. The kids jumped in the back and Sylvia went in behind them. She buckled their seat belts and got them settled in…
IT names new editor
Roland Klose has joined Illinois Times as editor-in-chief. Klose, an Illinois native, is a veteran journalist whose career includes reporting and editing assignments at The Commercial Appeal of Memphis and The Tampa Tribune. Klose worked for the weekly Riverfront Times from mid-1999 until last month. Outgoing Illinois Times editor Patrick Arden left the newspaper to…
Knoepfle 10-9-03
perceptions of joy in chicago a good afternoon we all had a share in what we did not earn someone smiling on wacker hello old man how are you why girl just fine and ready for winter © John Knoepfle 2003
Now Playing 10-9-03
Hop on board. Let’s take a little trip on the nightlife train. All stops guaranteed to blow your mind — or at least tickle it a bit. Robbie’s Uptown Friday Night has been a raging success for many years in the right-after-work happy hour category. This week performing pianist Ed Clark brings in his quartet…
What I did on vacation
I can only take so much of Illinois politics before I begin to go a little crazy. Don’t get me wrong, Illinois politics is my life. I truly enjoy my job. But, eventually, the bickering, the corruption, the pettiness starts to infect my soul and I gotta stop for a while. The last real vacation…
Arts week offers something for everyone
“She is almost too good to be true,” says The Washington Post of mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. “A vital artist, a beautiful woman, a regal presence,” the newspaper gushed. There are opera singers and opera stars. Then there’s Graves. How many opera figures have their own perfume and jewelry lines? Graves is performing at the University…
Trees, part two
Selecting the right tree for a given set of environmental conditions can result in a lifetime of happiness. Selecting the wrong tree species can prove a frustrating waste of money and result in the tree’s death. Many tree species can be successfully planted in central Illinois, but no one species will match the conditions of…
Movie review
American Splendor Few people have led more banal lives than file clerk Harvey Pekar but that didn’t stop him from sharing. Inspired by the underground comics movement of the mid-’70s and his close friend, illustrator R. Crumb, Pekar began writing vignettes about his life: conversations with a co-worker, his fight with his partner, his allergies.…
A community comes to terms with itself
Randi Collins-Hard is directing The Laramie Project at Parkland College in Champaign, currently running through Oct. 12. The Laramie Project has been the most-produced play in the United States the past couple of years. Springfield saw a production here in 2002. What makes the Parkland production unforgettable is the fact that Collins-Hard has cast 73…
Homemade pie and history: a winning combination
There is a jewel hidden in the center of Elkhart, a sleepy little town just off Route 66 in Logan County. And it’s filled with the aroma of homemade burnt sugar cake and cherry pie made from the traditional recipes and methods of years past. Cynthia Hinton, owner of the Bluestem Cafe, is all about…
An issue of fairness
In June, when Don Kliment was named chief of the Springfield Police Department, questions about how his appointment would be perceived by black officers in the racially-charged agency were quickly calmed by members of the Black Guardians Association. Lt. Rickey Davis, vice president of the BGA, in particular spoke out in support of Kliment, saying…
