Mark Jennings spent more than 20 years serving his country in the U.S. Army Airborne. When he retired around 2002, “Sarge,” as he was known, enjoyed gardening, cooking out and bicycling, and was known for serving coffee to anyone who wanted to stop by in the morning. Ted Forystek, who was Jennings’ neighbor in the […]
Dusty Rhodes
Posted inOpinion
No strings attached
The Illinois Symphony Orchestra has renewed its commitment to Maestra Karen Lynne Deal, announcing a new multi-year contract with the conductor at the ISO board of directors’ annual meeting in late June. The renewal comes despite concerns raised by ISO musicians who voted 72-2 against Deal earlier this year in a formal no-confidence vote. The […]
Posted inOpinion
Private hell
On June 8, Robert Foor filed a grievance with the Illinois Department of Corrections seeking a transfer out of Tamms Correctional Center and into a mental health prison, plus proper treatment and medication. Last week, on June 23, Foor was found unresponsive in his cell, and within hours was pronounced dead at Union County Hospital. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Teching things to extremes
Two years ago, Todd Green was happy with his Blackberry. Or so he thought. Then he went to his son’s basketball practice, where another dad hanging out in the bleachers was showing off this new contraption called an iPhone. “He starts to show me some of the stuff on it, and I’m like — this […]
Posted inOpinion
Tougher than Guantanamo
On paper, Michael Johnson fits the profile of dangerous inmate. Reputedly a high-ranking El Rukn gang leader, he was a few months into a 35-year sentence for kidnapping and murder when he was indicted in 1987 for ordering a hit on Pontiac Correctional Center superintendent Robert Taylor. Johnson was eventually convicted and moved to Menard […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Boy wonder
It’s been less than three months since Jonathon Monken became director of the Illinois State Police, but already he has jolted the agency. Which is sort of what troopers were hoping he would do, because dang, the place needed a good shake-up. In fact, it was the prospect of just such a joggle that persuaded […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Peace begins on Hazel Lane
I now believe there will be peace in the Middle East. I also believe that the Illinois legislature will someday ratify a budget before the fiscal year ends, and Dick Cheney will appear on Meet the Press to express his admiration for Barack Obama. Heck, I even believe that my two children will stop tattling […]
Posted inArts & Culture
High-octane intervention
From the kitchen table where he was eating supper with his family, Jeff Hart saw the clouds change direction. They rolled east, then shifted suddenly west, like they had just decided to make a U-turn. Maybe we should go down to the basement, Jeff thought. While his wife Julie helped their daughter Bella out of […]
Posted inOpinion
The end of the Prairie House era
Back in the early 1970s, the owner of a downtown Springfield gallery hired metalsmith Joe Spoon to work as the “artist in residence.” The gallery owner provided a small, open studio in the center of the shop, and tended to usher any customer who asked about jewelry straight over to Spoon’s workbench. “We’d sit down […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Putting the leader in cheerleader
You’ve seen these guys before. OK, maybe not this specific trifecta of testosterone, but you’ve undoubtedly seen guys just like them, clowning around on the sidelines at the football game, one eye on the game, another on the girls in the matching short skirts. They’re the kind of guys who prance along with the cheerleaders, […]
Posted inOpinion
Out of tune
Everybody in this story loves the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. The musicians who drive hundreds of miles from every corner of this state to play for $63 per performance love the orchestra; the board members who pony up $1,000 a year for the privilege of attending meetings and working at fundraisers love the orchestra; the bare-bones […]
Posted inArts & Culture
To get fresh teachers, grow your own
A few years ago, someone in the Chicago public school system came up with a brilliant way to help Riley Higgins, who was then about 3 years old and living in Springfield. Why would anyone in the Chicago public school system give a fig about a preschooler in Springfield? The truth is they didn’t. But […]
