Cover Story
High school essay winners write from the heart
This year is the 20th annual This I Believe essay contest for high school seniors, sponsored by NPR Illinois. Modeled after the program started by radio journalist Edward R. Murrow in 1951, students are invited to write an essay sharing their personal beliefs. This fall, 210 students from throughout the NPR Illinois listening area submitted…
Pumpkin Smash
HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS | Event combines fun, pumpkin disposal Halloween is over … and what to do with all of those carved pumpkins? Well, Springfield’s Office of Public Works has invited the community to “smash – don’t trash – those jack-o’-lanterns” at this fifth annual event. It’s an environmentally friendly and fun way to dispose of…
Into November we go
Yes, we’re into November already and I don’t even want to know how many shopping days there are until Christmas. So far, the weather hasn’t quite caught up with the season, but as most of our outdoor-ish gigs are gone with the wind, let’s see what’s left in this live music world. I’d like to…
Shimmy
From an old newspaper clipping: Indianapolis authorities went on record against the “Shimmy,” “Camel Walk” and the “Bunny Hug.” The Board ordered superintendents to ban these dances from city parks and community houses. “Some form of modern dances, such as the Toddle, Shimmy, Camel Walk, Bunny Hug, and Cheek to Cheek dances are coarse, vulgar,…
Letters to the Editor
GOOD NEWS I have driven an electric vehicle (EV) for about two years, and I don’t think I would want to go back to driving an internal combustion car. That said, I know that we have a long way to go before most people can make the switch. One of the hurdles is ensuring that…
The devil’s trumpets
In the Christian Book of Revelation we read that angels will sound seven trumpets to signal the apocalyptic events that will lead to a new kingdom of Heaven. I heard such a trumpet on my first night in my new apartment and it wasn’t announcing hail or blood or a mountain thrown into the sea. It…
MASSEY COMMISSION
When the Massey Commission was formed, community members rightly questioned what it would actually do. Some expected a short-term task force – something tidy and symbolic. But the charge the commission was given, and the one I accepted as managing director, is not the kind of work that fits neatly into a headline. It asks…
The Laramie Project at UIS
Ten actors playing more than 60 characters will tell the real-life story of how the community of Laramie, Wyoming, reacted to the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, in 1998. The Laramie Project, a play by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project, opens Nov. 7 at University of Illinois Springfield. “It…
A horror-comedy for your ears
Springfield native Matthew Brookens has written, produced, directed and starred in “Illinois Hell Hole,” a project he describes as a “two-hour, fully scored horror-comedy audio drama.” This oddball extravaganza aired on NPR Illinois (91.9 FM) in three parts Oct. 28-30 as a uniquely flavored Halloween treat, with spooky humor and voice performers ranging from narrator…
A culinary match made in heaven
Farro, an ancient and increasingly popular whole wheat grain, offers a delightful nutty flavor and chewy texture. This versatile grain is available in three forms: whole grain, which is the most nutritious but requires longer cooking; pearled, with the bran removed for faster preparation; and semi-pearled, where the bran is partially removed. The earthy and…
“It doesn’t look like justice”
A second-degree murder conviction for former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson on Oct. 29 in the death of Sonya Massey was a “serious miscarriage of justice,” Massey’s father said after the jury verdict. Grayson, 31, who was charged with first-degree murder in the July 2024 shooting death of Massey, 36, in her Woodside Township…
Families struggle with hunger
On good days, Shay McGhiey eats one meal a day. On bad days, the 57-year-old Springfield man eats nothing. Like thousands of others in the capital city, hunger is no stranger to McGhiey, who works a minimum-wage job in a smoke shop. “I make too much money – according to the public aid people –…
Overdose settlement money plans
Fatal overdoses have increased locally despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reporting the largest decline of annual overdose deaths the country has ever seen, and the city of Springfield plans to roll out a special 911 response team to aid those experiencing an overdose. Unlike much of the country, Sangamon County has…
