“Civil war”
Untitled Document House Speaker Michael Madigan told a firefighters’ group last week that he, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and Senate President Emil Jones are engaged in a “civil war” and that “no prisoners” are being taken. This isn’t a unique insight. The fight between Madigan and the Blagojevich-Jones alliance started long ago and has been vicious,…
Addicted to coal
Untitled Document All across Illinois — at town-hall meetings, in federal courts, in the Capitol — battles are raging over coal power, the outcome of which could very well determine the role of the black rock in the nation’s energy future. Illinois is at the heart of the national debate because in no other state…
Forget Sarah Marshall? Hardly.
Untitled Document We’ve all been there — you’re going along in a relationship, thinking everything is hunky-dory, when all of a sudden your partner lowers the boom. While you’ve been in a state of bliss, your partner informs you that he or she has been suffering quietly and needs a change, needs to move on,…
Safe seafood
Untitled Document How can one make intelligent choices about seafood to avoid consuming unhealthy pollutants and lessen the impact on the environment? Several decades ago a fish-centric diet was considered not only healthy but also environmentally friendly. But today those of us who eat a lot of fish may not be doing ourselves or the…
Cap City
Untitled Document ILLUMINATIILLUMINATED Watch out, Abe, and step back, Obama — we’ve got some new celebrities in town. Kevin Smith and the rest of Illuminati Motor Works are steppin’ right outta the cornfields and directly into the limelight . . . the TV limelight, that is. Since we last heard from them [see Amanda Robert, “Eyes…
Saving Rwanda’s orphans, one entrepreneur at a time
Untitled Document Rwanda is known as a place of death, but I wish that everyone could see the life in the faces of some of its orphans. It was 14 years ago this month that the slaughter began. By the time it was over, 100 days later, some 800,000 people had been killed in an…
Eclectic Ebertfest
Untitled Document Roger Ebert is set to host his 10th annual film festival. Among the subjects to be screened at Champaign’s Virginia Theater are a big green monster, a serial killer, underworld thugs, and a mad housewife. At first glance, one might think that the renowned critic is focusing on B-movies or pulp-fiction fodder. However,…
Brewhaus, Brazzel, and Bryan’s Braille Blues
Untitled Document Let’s start at the Brewhaus, the downtown bar that was cool when downtown wasn’t. Beginning on Thursday, Mike Parkes and company celebrate five years of Jonah with five nights of live music during what’s billed as Jonah Fest. The Damwell Betters come to play on April 17, demonstrating why they are Springfield’s reigning…
Madness
Untitled Document In the London Times, under the headline “The United States of America has gone mad,” the British novelist John le Carré began his modest polemic with “America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember.” Accepting the Wilfred Owen Prize for anti-war poetry, the…
The next goal
Untitled Document For Jr. Blues head coach Chris Wyler, the past few weeks have been a dream come true. At the end of March his players fought their way into the fourth-place slot in the North American Hockey League’s Central Division, earning their first trip to the NAHL playoffs in years. Two weeks ago they…
Full of beans
Untitled Document When Buffalo native Peter Engler moved to Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood in 1972, he found something strange at the local Jewel: bean pies. Intrigued, he bought one. It was good, the filling a sort of dense custard flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. The beans contributed more texture than flavor. Engler found bean…
Where the wild things are
Untitled Document Jeff Boston may be young, but he’s been around the music business long enough to know that most acts enjoy performing for an all-ages crowd. Boston, a 20-year old music promoter from Carlinville, says that most bands would rather play for younger audiences, who spend more time listening to their music than hanging…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document northfifthstreet poem #5in my back yard sits maybe sits a rabbit maybe alive maybe dead surely deadif that cat came back I kept my distance yesterday so as not to scare but soon knew it was beyond scaring I approached slowly stroked its neck saw the hand-sized space of bared flesh on its…
The time bandit
Untitled Document Paul Carpenter moved one step forward in his efforts to return to work in law enforcement this week when his attorney filed a motion to dismiss the final criminal charge against the former Springfield police detective. Carpenter had been indicted on charges of wire fraud and official misconduct in October 2006, at the…
Garden-fresh salad
Untitled Document Spring is my favorite time of year. Daffodils are blooming, lawns turns bright green, and it’s time to plant a vegetable garden. Spring greens, such as lettuce and spinach, are easy to grow in a sunny location in your back yard or in a container garden on a patio. You are sure to…
Letters to the Editor
Untitled Document We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. SOCCER STORY KICKED UP MEMORIES OK, I admit it — I was Googling myself. And as I was scrolling past things…
America’s ongoing rebellion
Untitled Document There’s a tendency in our country for autocratic officials to clamp down on our fundamental rights of free speech and assembly — especially when the powers that be don’t like what we are gathering together to say. Fortunately, our country is blessed with rebels who push back. At the 2004 Republican National Convention,…
Cap City
Untitled Document A SOBERINGTASC African-Americans were nine times more likely than whites to go to prison in Illinois in 2005. Logic dictates, then, that black people do way more bad stuff than white people, right? Of course not — don’t be silly. Prisons in Illinois and elsewhere are bursting at the seams with nonviolent drug…
