Trash it right
You know those compact fluorescent light bulbs you’ve been buying? Well, they contain small amounts of mercury and should be recycled instead of thrown in the trash such as you would an incandescent bulb. So where to disposal of compact florescent light bulbs? Seriously, supermarkets should offer this service. Everyone goes there regularly. But in…
THIS KRAFTIG’S FOR YOU
Lucky us. Springfield on Feb. 20 became the first town outside the St. Louis area where Kraftig beer is available. If you haven’t heard of Kraftig, you may be familiar with its creator, William “Billy” Busch. Yes, that Busch – the family that built America’s largest beer company, Anheuser Busch. InBev bought the St. Louis-based…
High marks for Quinn’s budget speech
Back when Jim Edgar was governor, reporters covering his annual budget speech would always approach Senate President Pate Philip as he descended from the House Speaker’s podium after Edgar’s address to ask about his fellow Republican’s proposals. Eventually, or even right away, we’d hear an emphatic “No!” from Pate and then we’d pronounce a good…
Have a peasant day
Your answer to “Roseless,” the woman bemoaning her boyfriend’s lack of “romantic ambition,” hit a nerve with me. My wife of 19 years and I shared equally in raising our three children. She only sort of “works” now, but I do the home chores and all the cooking — while running a very stressful business…
Letter to the Editor 03/01/12
GIVE A KID A CHANCEIn my work with young people here in Springfield, I have seen repeatedly that the mistakes they make in their early years have a huge impact on the direction their futures will take. Many children grow up in homes where there is very little stability, no regular meals, no exposure to…
poem about poems #1
my poet friend trims the crust fromhis twenty-first polyptotonic pie readyto slide into the literary oven gathersthe tailings rolls them out againenough for another he decidesrolls the scraps again and yet againthe pie tins grow smaller smallerjohn I say your last will be no largerthan a praecisionic patty-pan filledwith a one-stanza verse ho ho hoget…
Senators say nursing home rule not followed
When Gov. Pat Quinn signed a nursing home reform bill last year, it was supposed to make sure nursing homes had enough actual nurses. Quinn approved the law on July 26, 2010, mandating that nursing homes kept a minimum ratio of nurses to patients. But that hasn’t happened, according to state Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago.…
Fourth District appellate judge rated ‘highly qualified’
The Illinois State Bar Association has evaluated Illinois Appellate Court Justice Carol Pope as “highly qualified” in its judicial advisory poll and evaluations. Justice Pope of Petersburg, a Republican nominee running unopposed in the Fourth Judicial Appellate Court District which includes Sangamon County, is one of three Illinois justices who received the rating of “highly…
Rudd and Aniston shine in Wanderlust
I’m sure we’ve all had fantasies of throwing caution to the wind, leaving all of our responsibilities behind and letting fate take us where it may. However, the onus of being an adult and doing what we’ve been taught we’re supposed to do prevents us from taking these flights of fancy. Yet the characters in…
Grand jetes
Last year’s dance and musical extravaganza Men in Tights sold out, so get in on the action now by purchasing your tickets by phone or online from the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The Springfield Ballet Company once again has a new cast of local men who will perform for you Friday, March 2. They…
Man on fire
J.R. Martinez says he used to worry that his appearance would frighten children. Now he proudly embraces the rippled burn scars that cover much of his face, hands and other body parts. In 2003, the former Army infantryman, now 28, was badly burned by a landmine in Iraq. Martinez survived the injury and overcame the…
Simplistic Valor lacks the courage to face reality
Ostensibly a recruitment film as well as a flag-waving message of reassurance, Act of Valor is intent on delivering two very important messages – that the United States is constantly under the cloud of a terrorist threat but you have nothing to worry about because a group of the greatest guys ever assembled will protect…
Funeral finance fiasco
There is no shortage of blame and stain in the saga of a failed trust fund once administered by the Illinois Funeral Directors Association. Alleged villains range from Merrill Lynch, which has agreed to pay $55.4 million to funeral directors who lost millions in the scheme, to Springfield corporation counsel Mark Cullen, the IFDA’s former…
Skibbereen mixes in the green
In Springfield, our recent Celtic legacy has a vibrant history, including bands The Emerald Underground, Exorna and Fake McCoys, groups like St. Andrew’s Society and Ogilvy Studio, plus events such as the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Highland Games and Robert Burns dinner. When Hank Helton, founder and organizer of Skibbereen, one of the latest music…
Colorful Lorax delivers vital, hopeful message
I realize that there are many who feel that the works of Dr. Seuss are sacrosanct, that to adapt and expand them for the movies will somehow obscure the author’s themes, which separated his works from that of other “children’s” authors. Of course, one look at 2003’s disastrous The Cat in the Hat with Mike…
Guitar Town
The first Guitar Town event held in 2008 featured 13 of central Illinois’ favorite guitar players playing, songs they liked for fellow guitarists. With a backline of Mark LeVault on bass and Bob Young on drums with Ric “Skippy” Major running sound, 2012 continues the tradition. “Mayor” Mark Estill came up with the idea after…
Masticating Medicaid
Illinois’ Medicaid program is in a hole, Gov. Pat Quinn said in his annual budget address last week, and state lawmakers must cut billions from the program to prevent that hole from swallowing up the state’s budget. But what those cuts will look like remains to be seen. Quinn has appointed a Medicaid reform working…
Glam slam
If you’re a RuPaul’s Drag Race fan, you’ll love Springfield’s first ever Drag Race put on by the Phoenix Center of Springfield and Springfield PrideFest 2012. Six winners of the night’s performances will be featured at the May festival. The VIP party begins at 6:30 p.m. with food, cash bar and live music by Josie…
Flavorful freebies
The 14th annual Illinois Products Expo at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is a great place to get introduced to foods grown and products made in this state. More than 70 companies will have free food samples and items for purchase, such as soy candles and agricultural-based soap and lotions. Don’t miss an event favorite, the Illinois…
Cooperatives over corporations
We’re being told by today’s High Priests of Conventional Wisdom that everyone and everything in our economic cosmos necessarily revolves around one dazzling star: the corporation. This heavenly institution, the HPCW explain, has such financial and political mass that it is the optimal force for organizing and directing our society’s economic affairs, including the terms…
MINI-MARKETING
Traveling out of Springfield? As you go, why not take a mini-brochure about Springfield with you? Representatives of the Citizens Club of Springfield, Springfield Chamber of Commerce and government officials recently unveiled a mini-brochure to encourage businesses to come to Springfield. Bob Gray, president of the Citizens Club of Springfield, said that the mini-brochure, or…
Great circles
Matthew Schultz’s newest body of work will be on display at the Springfield Art Association through March with an opening reception Saturday, March 3, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Shultz is a local multi-media artist and experimental musician whose exhibit will not only feature 30 of his more than 100 mandalas, but includes an accompaniment of his…
Tag-teaming history
Another Lincoln birthday month has come and gone, and this one was busier than most. We learned that the Mary Todd Lincoln that had looked down from an oil portrait in the Executive Mansion for more than 30 years isn’t the president’s wife after all. The painting was removed as fraudulent, but I think it…
Suing the city
I hate meetings. The tortured kabuki theater that is your typical city council/zoning commission/pick-a-public-body meeting rarely sets hearts afire. The script is usually bad, the bureaucrats, inevitably salaried, are always patient as they listen to the elected ask silly questions or loaded ones or no questions at all as they make their way to predetermined…
