The seeds of a trade war, severe weather, plummeting prices and corporate farming competition mean that many farmers are harvesting a bumper crop of problems, especially those people loosely defined as “family farmers.” “They call them ‘the farmers in the middle,’ and their numbers are declining pretty rapidly,” said National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson. […]
David Blanchette
David Blanchette has been involved in journalism since 1979, first as an award-winning broadcaster, then a state government spokesperson, and now as a freelance writer and photographer. He was involved in the development of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and more recently the Jacksonville Area Museum. David and his wife, Sue, live in Petersburg.
Posted inArts & Culture
Teaching LGBT history
Illinois’ public school students may soon learn about Jane Addams in a new light. “Illinoisan Jane Addams, the mother of social work, founder of the Hull House, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, was in a committed 40-year relationship with her partner, Mary Rozet Smith,” read a statement from Equality Illinois during the debate over House […]
Posted inNews
How AND why to DIVERSIFY
Chances are good that if you serve on a nonprofit organization’s board, your fellow board members look and act a lot like you. That might be a problem, according to a Springfield-based initiative that is seeking to make those boards more reflective of the communities that they serve. The Building Board Diversity (BBD) initiative was […]
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A second chance in life
More than 150 people who attended a free program in Springfield on Oct. 19 emerged with a possible second chance. The Expungement and Record Sealing Summit, hosted for the second year by the Sangamon County Circuit Clerk’s Office, gave pre-registered participants free, full-service assistance to get their adult criminal records possibly expunged or sealed. Volunteer […]
Posted inNews
Small town with big plans for growing groceries
It will be a small grocery store in a small town, but its developers hope it will impact area food production, buying and consumption trends in a big way. Market on the Hill in downtown Mt. Pulaski will open in the spring of 2020 and will feature locally grown fruits and vegetables, locally produced meats, […]
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Attracting teachers 101
It appears that until very recently Illinois has been trying to make the career of teaching seem as unpalatable as possible.“For many years there’s been a lack of respect for the educators in our schools,” said Kathi Griffin, president of the 135,000-member Illinois Education Association. “The funding has been diminished so much over the years […]
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The Ambassador of Salsa
The Salsa Ambassador has reached the 10-year anniversary of his ongoing mission of inclusion through Latin dance, and the dancing diplomat shows no signs of slowing down. The Salsa Ambassador is 38-year-old Julio Barrenzuela, who for more than a decade has been teaching salsa dancing every place he can, including nursing homes, facilities for persons […]
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Camp Compass, where learning is fun
The yellow buses pull up to the southeast side elementary school and children pour out, laughing and running and twirling as they head into the building for another day of school. In the middle of July. The enrollment has tripled, the programs have been expanded, and a new partnership with Springfield School District 186 means […]
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Old neighborhood taverns
“As soon as I enter the door of a tavern, I experience oblivion of care, and a freedom from solicitude,” said 18th-century English author Samuel Johnson. “There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.” In spite of changing tastes […]
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Taverns and Tales
The stories embodied in Springfield’s locally owned and family-operated taverns through the years are the basis for Tavern Talk: Old Taverns and Tales in Springfield, Illinois, a new book by local husband and wife authors Bobby and Sandy Orr. The book opens with a disclaimer that the volume “was compiled from several sources, many of […]
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Autism didn’t stop him
The job description for a nurse is full of things that people with autism have difficulty doing. But to Elijah “Eli” Hernandez, difficult does not mean impossible. “There were plenty of times where I thought, ‘I don’t think I can do this’” including the period where he was homeless, Hernandez said. “But what’s important is […]
Posted inNews
Frontline under fire
With 15 directors in 16 years, court-ordered compliance, government reviews, stormy legislative hearings and several recent highly publicized deaths of children, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has become everyone’s punching bag. The newly nominated DCFS director, former department employee Marc D. Smith, faces the unenviable task of trying to run the […]
