Cover Story
Abortion haven
The woman was nervous when she arrived in Springfield. Earlier in the day, she had flown with a companion from her home state of Texas to a Chicago airport, where she rented a car and the two drove to central Illinois. The woman’s goal was to obtain a medical procedure – abortion – that is…
Mask ruling could have been avoided
This entire controversy over Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow’s odd ruling earlier this month that statewide mask/vaccine/testing mandates at schools are a “type of quarantine” and therefore fall under the state’s quarantine laws (which include individual due process protections) could’ve all been prevented with a simple bill last year. Most who’ve watched this closely knew…
Pronoun preferences
Pronouns are the workhorses of the English language and I never found them to be particularly controversial – until recently. In case you’ve forgotten your fourth-grade grammar lessons, some examples of pronouns are: he, she, we, they, it. Recently, a Catholic priest in Arizona found out that sometimes the grammar police wear clerical robes and…
Missing teeth on Park Avenue
In October, I wrote about a zoning case involving a property that was to be annexed into the city of Springfield from Woodside Township and developed into multifamily housing units. As a member of the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission, I had reservations about the zoning change. The street, South Park Avenue, lacks sidewalks, curbs…
Why Illinois social services are in disarray
This past month, a Cook County judge held the director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in contempt of court, an unprecedented action. In this latest instance, two DCFS youngsters languished in mental health facilities months after they were ready to be discharged. What’s new? DCFS has been under a federal court…
King Cake for Mardi Gras
King Cake is a decadent, buttery confection prepared to mark Epiphany, or Twelfth Night – the day when the wise men returned from Bethlehem with the news that Christ had been born. Whether as a galette des rois in France or a dreikönigskuchen in Germany, these celebratory cakes all consist of a rich, yeasted dough,…
February music grand finale
As we approach the final days of February 2022, this amazing month of live music is going out with a big bang. I’ve been tooting our music scene horn pretty hard as we come blasting back from the abyss of past pandemic years with exceptionally diverse and dynamic shows, but this weekend really does take…
For the People speaker series
Whether free, fugitive or enslaved, just before the Civil War the Black women of Washington, D.C., faced tremendous obstacles with courage and ingenuity, as historian Tamika Nunley will explain in the debut of a new series at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. For the People speaker series begins Thursday, Feb. 24, with the…
Cyrano is moving, Studio 666 is gory, Dog is subtle
Cyrano a lush, moving affair Unabashedly romantic, Joe Wright’s Cyrano embraces its romantic ideal and runs with it. Based on an off-Broadway musical written by Erica Schmidt, this adaptation stars Peter Dinklage as Edmond Rostand’s doomed romantic hero, though in this version a massive nose isn’t what makes the title character self-conscious, but rather his…
Editor’s Note 2/24/22
It is appropriate that Ukraine becomes the first test of what could become the Biden Doctrine of nonviolent resistance to bullies on the world stage. Ukraine was celebrated in 2014 for sending its authoritarian ruler packing after an 88-day campaign of nationwide protest. Now Biden is targeting Russian banks, computers, oligarchs and a pipeline to…
Springfield’s trees get new respect
James Krohe Jr. grasped the critical importance of green infrastructure and the danger neglecting it when he wrote, “The problem is less how we build sewer systems than the way we build cities” (“Going against the flow,” Illinois Times, Aug. 11, 2011). The Springfield Urban Forestry Commission clearly understands this and recognizes trees as a…
Spending the green
While progress has been made, not all goals have been accomplished with $35 million in state grants from cannabis tax revenue awarded a year ago. Five entities with presences in the capital city, including the city of Springfield, the Springfield Urban League, Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, Illinois Legal Aid Online and the East Springfield…
Black Lives Matter SPI helps kids
This is the inaugural year for Black Children’s Book Week, to be celebrated globally Feb. 27-March 5. The goal is to ensure Black children see themselves represented in literature. Veronica Chapman, founder of Black Baby Books, launched the initiative to celebrate Black children and the Black-authored books that represent them. Black Lives Matter SPI is leading this…
Man who pleaded guilty to arson named fire chief
Jerame Simmons got his long-held wish in December 2021 when he became the chief of the fire department that dismissed him 24 years ago after he was charged with setting fire to a vacant house and attempting to burn down his high school. It took a prosecutor’s dismissal of a serious felony arson charge, a…
Fatal consequences
More than two years after her 14-year-old daughter and three other people were killed in a head-on car crash, Brenda Protz is still seeking justice – not just in her own family’s tragedy but for other families who may find themselves in similar circumstances. Police and prosecutors say the fatal crash was a result of…
family chatter poem #3
my grandson has become a licensed skydiver he tells me he knows a chap that guinness refuses to recognize who in turn has started his own record book S.A.N.S. (Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving) with himself topping the list at over 840 bareass jumps I ask my grandson what his ambition is to…
Letters to the editor 2/24/22
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- KNOW YOUR HISTORY I’ve read this book (“The Black Man’s President,” Feb. 10). Not only does it portray Abraham Lincoln on this subject in a very nuanced manner, but it also gives us a…
