Montgomery County residents soon will get their say on a controversial form of mining, but whatever the outcome of the Nov. 7 vote, neither side is likely to give up the fight. Two companies, Hillsboro Energy LLC and Drummond Co. Inc., are hoping to tap more than 120,000 acres of coal reserves in the county […]
Cindy Ladage
Posted inNews
Monkey shines in Rockford
You probably had a sock monkey at some point during your childhood, but did you know that the wiry stuffed toy originated in Rockford, Ill.? The story begins with John Nelson, a Swedish immigrant who invented a sock-knitting machine in 1869. Nelson’s company, Nelson Knitting, along with a later manufacturer, Forest City Knitting, became famous […]
Posted inNews
The green bad boy
A surly old-timer named Deere disrupted a carefully choreographed square dance last month at the Montgomery County Fair — and the audience was thrilled. The interrupted show was a performance by the Dancing Farmalls, a group of International Harvester tractors driven in intricate, daring maneuvers that have been thrilling fairgoers around the Midwest since the […]
Posted inNews
Back to Earth
Until the last decade or so, most of us had a relative who lived on a farm. Many of our genealogical roots are sunk deep into the land. This connection to the soil has become a little more tenuous as farms have dwindled in number and fewer workers turn the soil for a living. If […]
Posted inNews
Tinker’s toys
Looking for a day trip that offers history, a love story with a boy-gets-girl ending, and a self-made man who makes good — along with some Lincoln lore? The Tinker Swiss Cottage has it all: the story of John Manny, who invented the Manny Reaper, was sued for patent infringement, died young, and left a […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Chocolate Abe
Marla Brotherton already was well known for her specialty chocolates when she and her husband, Greg, opened In Good Taste, their candy shop in Taylorville. But the couple’s creations never included anything as unusual as the Brothertons’ recent tribute to Abraham Lincoln, a life-size chocolate bust of our nation’s 16th president. The idea came in […]
Posted inNews
Door county
Once the school doors close, summer travel fever strikes with a vengeance and travelers such as my family hit the road. Although it’s a bit of a drive — four or five hours north of Chicago — the scenic beauty of Wisconsin’s Door County is well worth the trek. It’s like traveling to coastal New […]
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Regional oddities
Gas prices are through the roof, and you’re not inclined to zip across the country to take in the sights. Luckily, there are plenty of unique places to visit within an hour’s drive of the capital city. You can motor north to Atlanta to view the revamped “Tall Paul” statue that used to grace a […]
Posted inOpinion
A neat trade
For the last 12 years, Mike Chase has been cleaning the windows of the Great Western Railroad Depot, where Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd, and their children bid farewell to Springfield before heading to Washington, D.C. Chase, owner of Rayvon Window Cleaning in New Berlin, also cleans the windows of the Old State Capitol. “These windows […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Still making the case for ethanol
For years ethanol has been touted as a homegrown solution to satisfy America’s unquenchable thirst for oil. It’s made from renewable sources–any substance with sufficient amounts of sugar, or material that can be converted into sugar, like the starch in corn. When burned, ethanol creates less pollution than gas. Every year nearly 2 billion gallons […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The big story
Sometimes real-life stories are so big they seem to be fiction. That’s what strikes you while reading Taylor Pensoneau’s latest book, Brother’s Notorious, The Sheltons: Southern Illinois’ Ledendary Gangsters. A lot of the most daring and violent bootlegging of the 1920s and ’30s took place in southern Illinois, and the Sheltons–Carl, Bernie, Earl, and Roy–were […]
