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Healthy, Wealthy and Wise 2023
It’ s easy to make New Year’s resolutions to eat better, exercise more, drink more water and the like, but much harder to sustain by the time February rolls around. Our annual health and wellness issue has tips on tracking your goals, continuing your exercise routine even when the weather is less than ideal and…
Sheriffs get pushback for claiming they won’t enforce new law
“All they are saying,” claimed Illinois Sheriffs Association executive director Jim Kaitschuk about dozens of his members, “is ‘We’re not going to knock on people’s doors to ask whether they have registered their firearms. And if they’re arrested solely on that charge, we will not house them in our jails until ordered to do so…
Taking time off
Sherry Morris says a bill that will soon head to the governor’s desk for his signature would boost her quality of life “tremendously” as she works in low-income clients’ homes to help them maintain independence. “It’s mind-blowing,” Morris, 66, of Riverton said in response to the General Assembly’s recent passage of a bill that would,…
Shouting your message
Painting a mural is like shouting your message, contends Barbara Mason, a Springfield native and professional artist commissioned to paint a scene on the city’s east side. “From an artist’s perspective, mural art is not very much different than if you were just painting on a canvas that would go on your wall at home,”…
Journaling for mental health
Many of us grew up keeping diaries where we wrote of our teen dramas, current crush du jour and our most intimate secrets, though this practice was often dropped with the transition into adulthood. If you are looking to improve your mental health, you may want to get back into this habit with its shiny…
Use your pantry for winter skin care
Nearly everything about winter weather is tough on skin. Brutal, cold wind outside and dry heat indoors can result in itchy, chapped and even cracked skin. While the beauty industry has created countless products to help address these issues, some of the best skin care products might already be hiding in your kitchen. Sookyung Suh,…
Demand exceeds supply for Illinois EVs
The state of Illinois has set a goal of one million electric vehicle (EV) registrations by the year 2030. With fewer than 60,000 registrations currently, the state has a long way to go. Megha Lakhchaura was appointed by Gov. JB Pritzker to coordinate the state’s push to electrify the stock of automobiles registered in Illinois.…
Beginning a yoga practice
At the start of each new year, we are often inundated with messaging about diet and exercise. Several times, I have fallen into the trap of thinking that I have to completely revamp my lifestyle in order to fit it within a tight definition of “healthy.” In years past, this may have meant cutting certain…
Letters to the editor 1/19/23
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- USE THE OPPORTUNITY Black Lives Matter-Springfield is heartbroken to learn about the senseless killing of Earl Moore, a 35-year-old resident of Springfield. We were contacted by the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office and Springfield…
Tom Sawyer Poem
my children’s-lit co-teacher and I didn’t bother to re-read tom sawyer we knew the book by heart from our childhoods when we met at the classroom door a few minutes early we discovered the volume we’d ordered all to read to be a comic book no time for dismay quick witted we winged it as…
Live your resolutions
It’s just a smidge past mid-January, how are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? Are you on the cabbage diet, intermittent fasting, riding miles up hilly terrain on your new Peloton, quitting smoking, participating in dry January, taking college classes or vowing to be debt-free this year? Are you on track to reach your…
When the clock strikes four, everything stops for tea
This past summer, after my job as a cook at a summer camp in upstate Washington had ended, we decided to travel north and take a car ferry to Vancouver Island to visit Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Named after Queen Victoria, it’s one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest and is…
Choosing which laws to enforce
“We don’t make the laws; we just enforce them.” Such statements have become nearly a cliché in police departments across the nation. But the statement is not always true. Some laws are enforced more readily than others. And over the years, more than a few sheriffs have issued press releases saying they won’t enforce one…
January-ness music
This time of year sometimes gets described as a blue time, where the post-holiday season blahs began to remind us it’s not all fun and games out there. But wary as one may be for this possible downturn, it sure doesn’t feel a bit like that this January as our music scene continues to pop,…
Earl Moore Jr.
On Jan. 10, the Sangamon County state’s attorney announced that charges of first-degree murder were filed against two emergency medical technicians in the death of Earl Moore Jr., age 35. According to the Sangamon County Coroner’s Office, Moore, an African American man, died from “compressional and positional asphyxia due to prone face-down restraint on a…
Molly Schlich International & Independent Film Series
For the 31st year the Springfield Art Association is sponsoring the Molly Schlich International & Independent Film Series, the proceeds from which benefit its Michael Victor II Art Library. The series was created by Molly Schlich, a local resident who was passionate about international films and devoted to bringing entertaining and challenging films to Springfield.…
Statement on the murder of Earl Lynne Moore Jr.
The Springfield Coalition on Dismantling Racism (SCoDR) envisions an antiracist society and works diligently to dismantle institutional and systemic racism in Springfield and its surrounding communities. SCoDR is intently focused on training, networking, caucusing, consulting and developing affinity groups to build antiracist and multicultural diversity within organizations. We are deeply pained and horrified to witness…
DCFS, director face federal lawsuit filed on behalf of jailed wards
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Jan. 19 was named in a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of children in state care who have been held in juvenile detention centers after a judge ordered their release. Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert is a plaintiff in the 32-page lawsuit in the Northern…
War doesn’t work well. Here’s a strategy for peace.
In the Ukraine city of Bakhmut, fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops has been going on for six months now. The city had 100,000 residents before the war; now only 7,000 remain. Many neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble by Russian artillery. The city has little strategic value, but it carries symbolic value for both…
Plane absurd but fun, Brendan Fraser shines in The Whale, but Nicolas Cage sleepwalks through The Old Way
Plane soars on absurdity A throwback to the action movies of the 1990s, Jean-Francois Richet’s Plane is the sort of movie popcorn was invented for. Not containing a single idea and reveling in its absurdity, the director knows he’s covering well-worn material and decides to turn it up to 11. Gerard Butler is the dedicated…
Editors note 1/19/23
This year’s health and wellness issue comes with plenty of friendly advice, on topics including mental health, beginning yoga and how to motivate yourself to meet your goals. Here’s another tip: Don’t try this alone. The social aspects of exercising with a partner or a group provides motivation you won’t find anywhere else. Friends celebrating…
A call for help
A depressed client who had intentionally cut herself made a call to the nationwide 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. So did a man struggling with addiction. When each person dialed 988, a lifeline operator named Vanessa, sitting in a call center run by Memorial Behavioral Health in Springfield, answered the phone. The comfort and empathy…
Maintain a healthy lifestyle all winter
Don’t throw yourself into an all-or-nothing New Year’s resolution mindset, only to give up by mid-February, but don’t give into the temptation to relax your healthy habits over the winter with the justification that you’ll get back on track when spring comes. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for a safe and healthy winter season, says Dr.…
