Mayor Mike Houston withdraws nomination
Springfield Mayor Mike Houston has withdrawn his nomination of former police chief Kirk Robinson to serve on the city’s Community Police Review Commission Robinson resigned as chief of the department in 1993 after allegations of sexual harassment of department employees came to light. Two employees sued, and the city paid out hundreds of thousands of…
Dream House offers a poignant look at madness
Walking in to see Jim Sheridan’s Dream House, my expectations were less than high. The film was not screened in advance for critics – never a good sign – and the trailer for the film seems to give away a key plot point. So at the halfway mark I was pleasantly surprised to find myself…
Pay raise outrage reconsidered
Earlier this year, when it was disclosed that Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget director had handed out two pay raises to top staffers on the same day that the governor signed the income tax increase into law, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said the move was evidence of a “void in leadership.” I tend to…
canalpoem #1
canalpoem #1 if you need a stressfree interlude trya french canal trip our little craft with just our family is self sufficient we glide along the quiet waters four miles an hour green banks thick trees anoccasional green field with pure white cows warm sunshine cheese wine in the fridge baguettes from the nearby village…
Letters to the Editor 10/6/11
FIRST NIGHT HIP-HOP I am pleased that Illinois Times and the Springfield Community have finally acknowledged what national underground artists have known for years: Torch Tuesdays. [See “Hip-hop in the Heartland,” by Scott Faingold, Sept. 29.] It’s a stop I try to frequent as often as I can. It’s where the Springfield Area Arts Council…
Losing her mind, the movie
One of the best theater tickets in town over the last couple of years was to Springfield actor Aasne Vigesaa’s performance of The Yellow Wallpaper at the Vachel Lindsay home, directed by Kevin Purcell. But if you missed that, you can now see it on DVD. Springfield multimedia artist David Cain was so inspired by…
URBAN PIONEER HOUSE TOUR
Steve Combs is not a real-estate agent, and the first-ever Urban Pioneer Tour set for Saturday in Enos Park is hardly a street-of-dreams showcase. “We’re looking for people who, first of all, aren’t afraid to walk into a house where there’s lots of yellow tape around so they don’t fall into the basement,” says Combs,…
City sues property owner to recover weed-mowing debts
After years of unpaid bills, Springfield has sued the city’s biggest violator of a requirement that landowners keep grass mowed and weeds in check. Turner Properties and Discount Inn Retirement Plan, Inc., which share an address in Skokie, together own at least 54 Springfield properties, most apparently vacant. Both entities began racking up fines for…
Ides tells familiar tale well
As adapted from the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon, George Clooney’s The Ides of March contains little new in the way of radical social ideas or clever narrative twists. It covers ground that’s become familiar around the world, reminding us that political systems are inherently corrupt, candidates and officeholders are flawed and the media…
State repays bulk of seized charity funds
Gov. Pat Quinn has repaid – early and with interest – $1.176 million borrowed during the last fiscal year from 11 state-controlled charity funds. But about $434,300 seized from seven such funds the year before appears. to be gone for good. During the last fiscal year, Quinn, with authorization from the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, borrowed…
Schools panel emphasizes efficiency, not just consolidation
In Sangamon County there are 18 different school districts, including two community college districts, and five different regional offices of education located within the county’s borders. That might be too many, says Jerry Harrison, a field representative for the Illinois Education Association and one of 18 members of the state’s Classrooms First Commission, formed earlier…
The GOP Congress hates (except when it loves) federal spending
“You saw the House act,” Rep. Eric Cantor snapped to a reporter. Yeah, act like a petulant 4-year-old! The majority leader of the GOP-controlled House has long been a whiney ideological brat who stamps his tiny feet in peevish anger whenever he can’t get his way on legislation. In this particular incident, Cantor tried to…
Wise guys
Life is full of mysteries. Why would a beneficent god allow humans to invent ceramic cooktops? Why didn’t the Pyschedelic Furs sell more records? The public’s confusion is rich soil for the opinion-monger, which is why I have been able to make a living for 35 years telling other people what they ought to think.…
Girl-A-Thon II
Last year about this time, Girl-A-Thon debuted with a bang. There’s nothing like one successful event to warrant another, so off we go with round two of this hip and worthy event, from here on out, referred to as “GAT.” Formed in the fertile mind of Gwen Harris, the only female member of the Harris…
Huge FALLowing
One of the premier fall festivals for families in central Illinois, Lincoln Memorial Garden’s Indian Summer Festival is the place to be the weekend of Oct. 8-9. Immerse yourself in the exhilarating smells, sounds and sights of autumn in the outdoors while supporting the garden. Cawley Meadow fills with bluegrass and folk music by Ken…
Whiskey Tango
Wondering what exactly a Whiskey Tango might be? The four-piece group says, “it’s a hell-yeah, honky-tonk, roadhouse-type band, driven by harmonica, irony and keeping your x-mas lights up all year long.” They do songs “about drinking and women” from blues and country territory while visiting the “redneck rock” part of town where you might see…
THIRD IN CRIME? HUH?
Even the folks at Forbes magazine who say that Lincoln’s hometown is the third most-dangerous city in America profess themselves puzzled. “The Illinois state capital confounds analysts who try to interpret its relatively high crime rate,” say the folks at Forbes, who this week posted online a 10-most-dangerous-cities list that is purportedly based on FBI…
It’s alive!
A couple months ago, I lost something valuable. The value wasn’t monetary; it was precious because I’d created it and kept it alive for 15 years. Truthfully, I’d come to take it for granted, knowing that even if I neglected it for months, it would still be there whenever I needed it. Only when I…
Cut to perfection
Illinois State Museum, Prairie Art Alliance, Springfield Art Association, University of Illinois at Springfield and Robert Morris College have bound together to present a citywide exhibition, Partners on Paper, through the month of October. UIS Visual Arts Gallery offers the paper work of Oregon artist Helen Hiebert, featuring The Mother Tree, a life-size handmade paper…
Democracy isn’t kind to pension funds
The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates despised democracy, considering it weak and inherently corrupt, a governance form driven by the will of the many when, in his view, only an elite few are wise and competent enough to lead. Today he might say Illinois’ pension system fiasco proves his point. As the fall veto session nears,…
Ready, set, GOvern!
Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards, never known for holding his tongue, was just getting warmed up. “We should set the goals,” the alderman declared two weeks ago as the city council pondered Mayor Mike Houston’s request for $50,000 to conduct a personnel audit aimed at reducing head count at city hall. “We should know what…
Relishing relics
The Illinois State Museum is partnering with the National Park Service for National Fossil Day on Wednesday, Oct. 12, in hopes of raising awareness of the scientific and educational value of fossils. Dr. Jeff Saunders will answer questions on fossils in the Mary Ann MacLean Play Museum from 10 a.m. to noon. Visitors can create…
