Cover Story
Creating a recovery movement
Carrie Farley was released from prison March 4 with a history of addiction and hopes for a better life. But soon, Farley met discouragement. “I have quite a bit of a background, due to my addiction. When I got out of prison, I literally, I had a total of 107 applications I had put in,”…
UIS students find purpose while building a home in Guatemala
Earlier this summer, I stood on the side of a hill in Guatemala watching a University of Illinois Springfield student mix concrete by hand for the first time in her life. Getting there meant meeting on campus at 2 a.m., driving to St. Louis Lambert International Airport, and traveling for more than 12 hours, but…
Compassion
The prophet Hosea describes God as one who “bends down … to feed, to lift up and to hold.” Strength and flexibility are both necessary in the act of bending. How grateful we are to have a God who is willing to bend on our behalf and who invites us to bend on behalf of…
The Manifest Destiny of America
These past few weeks our nation has observed and celebrated its 250th anniversary! Numerous expressions of celebration have been held. Numerous events have been held. People celebrated various aspects of this nation’s history. Interestingly, certain of our current nation’s leaders have, and still are, advocating for the elimination of certain factual components of America’s history.…
GOP trails Dems in campaign cash
The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223,000 in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual…
Letters to the Editor
HE’S TRYING Someone trying their best to take care of themselves should be allowed by law (“Man fights city hall,” June 25). He owns the lot and obviously knows what he’s doing. If this isn’t OK with zoning, we need to change the zoning laws. The numbers of unhoused people continue to increase, and we…
Corn Club
My dad joins the Turtle Township 4H when he is ten; he chooses Corn Club as his specialty. Grampa gives him a bit of land across the crick. Ron has to plant the corn and tend it as it grows. He hoes by hand and moves along the rows on his knees, pulling suckers and…
IT Pick
The Gordons with Tom Irwin | Sat., July 18, 2-4 p.m. | Dumb Records SPECIAL MUSIC EVENTS | Renowned folk duo to play, hold book signing event Gary and Roberta Gordon, a folk duo from Sparta, Illinois, will play at this matinee show which will double as a book signing for Roberta’s work, Creative Nature.…
July music sizzles
We’re turning up the heat as we hit mid-July with the summer time going full on with fun-feeling, corn-tassling, music-making happenings everywhere you look, turn, walk, skip, hop and/or run. The decision is yours to participate, so make the right choice and get yourself out there to experience the live music and surrounding excitement. Thursdays…
Mmmm, green beans
I do not enjoy picking green beans. Or rather, my back doesn’t like picking beans. However, I couldn’t imagine a summer spread without them, whether they’re slow cooked like my great-grandmother made them or blanched until just tender and tossed in a salad. My great-grandfather swore by Contender, a stringless heirloom bush variety that I…
Residents sue Sangamon County, CyrusOne
Several Waverly residents who live approximately a mile or less from the site recently approved for the CyrusOne data center filed a lawsuit against Sangamon County and the Sangamon County Board July 6 seeking to overturn the county’s approval of the project. Chloe Russell, a Plainfield lawyer, filed the case that claims the county’s approved resolution from April…
