The Pharmacy: Member Artist Rachel Jennings
“Glowing, Them All” by Rachel Jennings This is the second in a series of posts leading up to the Saturday March 9 group exhibit of work by members of local art collective The Pharmacy. “This is my first experience out of school,” enthuses Pharmacy member Rachel Jennings, who graduated from U of I in Champaign…
gunning map test
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The Pharmacy: Member Artist Philip Ackerman
“Laura Coffey” by Philip Ackerman This is the first in a series of posts leading up to the Saturday March 9 group exhibit of work by members of local art collective The Pharmacy. Philip Ackerman co-founded the group back in 2011, and his distinctive work both in watercolor portraiture and tile mosaic have been touchstones…
TONIGHT: Torch Tuesday Concert Series at BarNone
This week marks the return of the Torch Tuesday hip-hop concert series, featuring a local favorite, a consummate up-and-comer and a visitor from up North. Headlining the show is Black Steel (a.k.a. Young Twizz). “I wouldn’t call it gangsta rap, but he raps about his experiences and what he has witnessed, so there’s stuff about…
Group Exhibit at the Pharmacy this Saturday!
Thrice each year, the artists of local grass roots collective The Pharmacy put their best work on display for all to see. All four of the previous exhibitions have been watershed events, brimming with stimulating images and textures, virtually vibrating with enthusiasm. This excitement doesn’t just come from the artists proudly showing their most recent…
Rousing renditions
Probably the most fun in Springfield all year, Springfield PrideFest Drag Race, at The Legacy Theatre on March 1, features drag performers vying for a slot in Springfield PrideFest this spring. The drag race contest features drag queens and kings dancing, lip syncing and bringing out some amazing costumes and makeup. Both the Drag Race…
Elvis entertainers
Head out to this exciting two-day extravaganza downtown at the Hilton Springfield where Elvis tribute artists from across the country vie for $10,000 in cash prizes and a chance to compete in Memphis at the King of the World Competition. The 17th Annual Midwest Tribute to the King Competition is Friday and Saturday, March 1-2.…
Grand guitarist
Guitar great Eric Johnson takes the stage at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS for one night Saturday, March 2. Johnson has a Grammy Award and five nominations, one platinum album, a slew of Top 10 hits such as “Cliffs Of Dover” and praise from critics. Included in Eric Johnson’s accolades is a place in Guitar Player’ Gallery…
Illinois starts giving prison inmates release credits
Certain Illinois inmates have started to receive early release credits under administrative rules adopted this month by the Illinois Department of Corrections. The move follows a state law passed last year in response to public outcry over a previous early release program. Well-behaved inmates who show potential for rehabilitation can receive up to 180 days…
Cost of inaction on concealed carry law
Illinois House Democrats were told during a private caucus meeting in Springfield last week that, despite what Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez says, inaction on concealed carry would have very serious consequences. As you most assuredly already know, a federal appellate court has given the General Assembly until June 8 to pass a new…
downtonabbeypoem #1
well it was a crummy tricknot up to masterpiece standardsI understand the brits got hitwith both childbirth deaths onsuccessive christmas days wewere clobbered in februarymatthew it seems and maybesybil too wanted out though itmust have been making botha mint folks worldwide hangingon this glorified soap opera itreinforces why I prefer printtwo-thirds through mr rochesterdoesn’t decide…
SMARTPHONE? SMART FIX!
Is that pothole on your street taunting you? There’s an app for that. A few months ago, the City of Springfield quietly started using an application for smartphones called “Public Stuff.” The app allows users to report problems like potholes, downed tree limbs and busted streetlights directly to the city for repair. City spokesman A.…
Gratitude adjustment
My boyfriend of three months seems wonderful. He is attentive and tries hard to please me, even in small ways (like always making sure I get tea I like when we’re out). Soon after we started dating, a relative of mine died, and he made a real effort to check in on my well-being. He’s…
Feet first
Midway through the filming of Jump In, director Kimberly Conner of Springfield faced a day of personal reckoning. “We were on day five of a 10-day shoot,” she recalls. “My emotions were basically everywhere, I was facing my greatest fears.” It had become clear that the tightly budgeted film was going to require several more…
Bloody good fruit
True, the name is a little off-putting. And their exterior, mottled with vermilion and/or brownish purple, sometimes looks more like a nasty bruise rather than something good to eat. But the first sight and taste of blood orange flesh reveal why they’re so highly prized. Blood oranges are ancient, but they’ve only been grown commercially…
You drink, you drive, you cruise
If you drive drunk in Sangamon County, you’re less likely to get caught than you were a few years ago. And you’re less likely to lose your license. Since the early 1980s, lawmakers in the Land of Lincoln and throughout the nation have passed one get-tough law after another aimed at getting intoxicated drivers off…
BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A FLAG?
Money is tight at Springfield’s daily newspaper as reckoning day approaches for GateHouse Media, corporate parent of the State Journal-Register that went on a drunken-sailor spending spree with borrowed money a few years back and paid way too much for a whole bunch of publications, including the SJ-R in 2007. More than $1 billion in…
March madness
Looks like we’ve made it through the winter music doldrums as March comes in like a lion in the entertainment calendar world. Here are a few of the slew of upcoming happenings. This Saturday the Illinois Central Blues Club commemorates 27 years of serving up the best in the blues to Springfield aficionados of this…
Board games
The most accident-prone intersection in Springfield is at 1900 West Monroe Street where the corridor to the boardroom crosses the corridor to the superintendent’s office. There was yet another pileup at that spot when the District 186 board bought out the final year of Superintendent Walter Milton’s contract. Bought out? Bought off is probably a more apt…
Breaking down what goes into your food
As the buy local/eat local movement continues to grow, Illinois families are beginning to transform their food experience. On Feb. 20, Lincoln Land Community College welcomed almost 100 participants to the 10th annual Composting Symposium. During the symposium, guests were invited to listen to business models and share personal composting ideas. They also learned how…
Closing the school that closes the gap
A popular Springfield middle school slated for closure may get a second chance at an upcoming school board meeting, based on public outcry and disputed cost-savings estimates. At the Feb. 18 meeting of the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education, board member Bill Looby disputed the $1.7 million savings estimate associated with closing the Capital…
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
With a back story like a Hollywood movie, Josh, “The Reverend” Peyton was told he’d never play guitar again, met his wife and band mate “Washboard” Breezy while recovering from hand surgery and now plays around 250 shows annually. Toss in distant cousin Aaron “Cuz” Persinger on the drum kit (with a five-gallon plastic bucket…
Keep pushing for excellence in education
School reform has proven to be tricky business in Springfield. Leading up to Dr. Walter Milton’s hire as superintendent in 2007, Springfield Public Schools were under growing public pressure to reverse declining test scores, improve failing high schools and eliminate large achievement gaps between black and white students, high-income and low-income students and disabled and…
Do more than the minimum on minimum wage
“In the wealthiest nation on earth,” President Obama declared in his State of the Union speech, “no one who works full time should have to live in poverty.” Right! Way to go! Not only does his call to raise America’s minimum wage put some real pop in populism, but it could finally start putting some…
Letters to the Editor 2/28/13
HOPE SPRINGSI read with great pleasure your article, “Housing with hope: Hope Springs Apartments helps build independence for tenants with mental disabilities,” by Scott Faingold, Feb. 21. Eight years ago I was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder. I went from an advocate for seniors and a village trustee to someone swimming in the chaos of…
Jack revitalizes classic tale
While Hollywood studios are often criticized for having a lack of imagination where feature films are concerned (too many sequels and reboots, thank you) and have been knocked recently for plumbing the fairy-tale vault far too often, if each retold legend is as well-crafted and smart as Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer, I’d willingly…
Sluggish Skies fails to realize potential
There’s a fine line between building suspense and testing an audience’s patience as well as having the instinct to know when you’ve crossed it. With his first two features, Legion and Priest, director Scott Stewart proved that he has a way with creating intriguing set pieces but had yet to master any sense of pacing.…
Sweet samples
More than 70 Illinois companies come together at the Orr Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds to provide free food samples and to sell their local products. The 15th Illinois Products Expo … A Food and Cooking Extravaganza will be held March 2-3. Cooking demos take place both days with celebrity chef Patrick Cassata, pictured, from…
