Good Intentions Trip Up “Meddler”
Sometimes, an artist is so close to his or her subject that objectivity becomes a casualty. Such is the case with Lorene Scafaria’s The Meddler. While the film is meant to be a tribute to her father and the impact he had on her mother and herself, the result is simply a series of lightly comic…
Art Reflects Life in Scafaria’s Meddler
There’s no question as to what director Lorene Scafaria’s intentions were with her new movie The Meddler. “I wanted to make a movie about my father and the two women who loved him most,” she said during a recent visit to Chicago. Needless to say, she accomplished what she set out to do as the…
The virtues of thrift
Back in January I repeated one of my time-worn rants about the environmental damage being done by factory-style cultivation of corn. I stated, A good field in mid-illinois these days is likely to have more than 30,000 corn plants per acre. Such intense corn production is responsible for increased fertilizer use (and consequent water…
Meet Glencore, rapacious global lord
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE The beatings of American workers (wage slashing, axed benefits, union busting, mass firings, offshored factories and brutish abuse of worker rights) have been increasing in frequency, intensity and scope – mostly ordered by CEOs in the posh, faraway headquarters of multi-tentacled global empires. Let’s meet one of the…
More crazy talk in Springfield
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS It has looked to me for a very long time that House Speaker Michael Madigan has been waiting for an existential state crisis to force Gov. Bruce Rauner to back completely away from his anti-union, pro-business Turnaround Agenda so that they can pass a “clean” state budget. As you surely know…
Letters to the Editor 5/26/16
LETTERSWe welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —– A SPIRITED STROLL You don’t usually think of a cemetery as a place to have fun, but this Saturday our own Oak Ridge Cemetery will be just that at the annual “Spirited Stroll” from 1 to 4…
Editor’s note 5/26/16
We’re about to see who, if anyone, has any political negotiating skill at the Statehouse. As they prepare for their end game over the next few days, Mike Madigan and Bruce Rauner, the two tops, might study how Mohandas Gandhi negotiated with the British for India’s independence. Gandhi knew how to mobilize the masses behind…
Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln
Author Charles B. Strozier On Thursday, May 26, join historian and psychoanalyst Charles B. Strozier to celebrate the release of his new book, Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed. The book examines the friendship between young Abraham Lincoln, who was 28 when he moved to Springfield to…
An old-fashioned gathering
A Spirited Stroll Enjoy an early Memorial Day celebration along with the splendor of Oak Ridge Cemetery on Saturday, May 28, from 1-4 p.m. The afternoon begins with a welcome and reflection on the significance of Oak Ridge Cemetery by Mayor Jim Langfelder plus a patriotic concert by the Springfield Municipal Band, a Revolutionary War…
The litter prince
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon My boyfriend and I just moved in together, and it’s going well except for how he leaves empty containers and trash everywhere. I asked him to please just put these in the garbage. He did this – for a single day. These empties everywhere are driving me crazy, not…
Slow heist
George Dinges trusted Susan Satterlee with every aspect of his Springfield-based business when he hired her 10 years ago as his operations manager. He would later find out she stole $2.5 million from his business over the course of more than five years. “I placed a lot of trust in Susan,” Dinges said. “That violation…
Travel through history on the National Road in Illinois
PHOTO BY BRENT BOHLEN A sitting Abraham Lincoln statue across the street from the old Statehouse in Vandalia commemorates Lincoln’s term as a state legislator there. He and others succeeded in moving the state capital to Springfield and thus away from the National Road. “Road trip!” can evoke images of fun and freedom for family…
Three very different artists, one satisfying exhibit
Patrons at the “Translations” opening. “Translations,” the first new group exhibit featuring members of the Springfield Art Association since its merger with the Prairie Art Alliance early this year, is currently on display at the newly rechristened SAA Collective in the H.D. Smith Gallery at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. It proves an auspicious…
Silence is golden
State auditor general Frank Mautino With the U.S. attorney’s office in the mix, questions about state auditor general Frank Mautino’s campaign spending aren’t likely to go away anytime soon. There is, of course, one way for Mautino to put questions to rest. He could produce records showing exactly who got money and why during his…
A better way to investigate rape
After a 15-year-old girl from outside Chicago was raped in 2007, she and her family waited for eight years with uncertainty about whether her rape test results would offer a resolution. A 2013 investigation by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office found 176 rape kits in the basement of the Village of Robbins police department. The…
BE A SUPERHERO
On June 4 at 10 a.m., Prevent Child Abuse Illinois will host its seventh annual Illinois Walk for Children featuring Spiderman and Ironman at the YMCA Gus and Flora Kerasotes location. According to a press release, there will be a one-mile walk followed by superhero-themed games and activities for children ages 12 and younger. Prevent…
INDEPENDENT MAPS CLEARS HURDLE
May 23 marked the first sign of victory for the controversial Independent Map amendment, which would eliminate the General Assembly’s role in the redistricting process. At least 290,216 petition signatures needed to be submitted to the Illinois State Board of Elections by May 9 in order for the amendment to be considered for the November…
Director’s misstep hinders Nice Guys
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys. If ever I’ve been on the fence about a movie, it’s with Shane Black’s The Nice Guys. At times uproariously funny, at others maddeningly frustrating, this L.A. film noir set in the late 1970s is the first chapter for what Warner Brothers hopes will be a…
MMDW music
The Kentucky Headhunters play Boondocks Pub on Saturday, May 28. The above headline translates into “Memorable Memorial Day Weekend music” by my calculations, but feel free to make it into anything you want. All I know is we are in for one of the most incredible runs of live music I think I’ve ever known…
Legendary Shack Shakers
Legendary Shack Shakers Celebrating 20 years as an entity on the scene, head Shack Shaker J.D. Wilkes (now an official Kentucky colonel as bestowed by the state’s governor) brings his fellow bandmates bassist Mark Robertson, guitarist Rod Hamdallah and drummer Brett Whitacre on a Midwest tour in May. The LSS released The Southern Surreal, their…
lincoln statues poem #4
lincoln statues poem #4 most of you are aware of thenumerous depictions in thisarea of our most famous sonthe volkmans even wrote abooklet with numbered photoswell there’s a new statue justdedicated in an impressive eventout on the university groundsconcealed beneath a blue veil tillthe ceremony’s proper momentthe sculptor stood modestly byduring the speeches portrayedis the young…
Produce trailer heads into the food desert
genHkids’ mobile food pantry at MacArthur Park Apartments. PHOTO FACEBOOK.COM/GENHKIDS There are a lot of things about cooking that makes it hard. I try to be very conscious of not calling recipes or menu plans “easy,” because they never really are. Even the simplest recipe is not technically easy; making anything from scratch requires certain…
Why the new Exelon/ComEd bill is bad for Illinois consumers
With the spring legislative session in Springfield only a few days from adjournment, legislators are rushing to move bills up the chain for a final vote on the floor and passage. As they do so, it’s critical that lawmakers pay special attention to specific pieces of legislation that will have dire impact on their constituents.…
Undesirables
In 1983 Springfield was working on a new idea – geting more people to live downtown. This week our look back over IT’s 40 years is occasioned by the City of Springfield’s halting efforts to redevelop the Y block. Hopes that a residential building here will magically transform downtown are extravagant, as this column from…
