For the people inside the tent, it’s a special occasion — a time to celebrate a wedding, reconnect with cherished friends and favorite relatives, dance with all the bridesmaids, catch the garter, and toast the happy couple. For the people outside the tent and just across the little street called Canedy, though, it’s not such […]
Dusty Rhodes
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Rocket’s red glare
In case anybody was wondering how Jim McGill celebrated Independence Day, the answer is yes, bottle rockets were involved, although McGill had very little to celebrate. In May, McGill, also known as “Jim the Photographer,” was on the job, working for Ray Lytle’s Morning Disaster show on WQLZ (FM 92.7), when he sustained an injury […]
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Dead end
Investigation into a death threat aimed at one of Springfield Police Department’s most outspoken officers wrapped up recently with no tangible results. Since March, SPD’s major case unit has been investigating a threat reportedly targeting Lt. Rickey Davis, who is vice president of the Black Guardians Association and a plaintiff in a race discrimination lawsuit […]
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Fired up
Like a lot of little kids, Cecil Taborn Jr. always wanted to be a firefighter. Part of that dream was inspired by his neighbor, David Irwin, a Springfield Fire Department firefighter. Growing up on the East Side, Taborn lived half a block from Irwin, known to everyone as “Wolfman.” So when Taborn had the chance […]
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Mission accomplished
Last week, when John Dale Kennedy resigned from the top job at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, he sent friends an e-mail peppered with adjectives hinting — ever so artfully — that he just might be dancing a gleeful little jig on his way out the door. The 18 months he spent getting […]
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Whitewash
A community art project depicting workers as cogs in a profitable weapons factory was painted over recently by the Springfield Housing Authority. The mural, titled “Corporate State: 1984,” covered one exterior wall of the SHA Community Center on East Jefferson. It was designed and painted by artist John Yancey and a group of East Side […]
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The Joy of retirement
Last Friday, half an hour before she was due to report for work at the Springfield Police Department, Lt. Lea Joy was on the phone trying to find an officer to cover her shift. Even though she had used all her vacation time, Joy still wanted another day off. When she found out no other […]
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Elephant talk
On Saturday, Unity for Our Community will hold a discussion about the elephant — the one that everyone pretends not to notice, even though it’s standing in the middle of the living room. It’s easier to just ignore elephants like this one, because noticing it means you have to talk about how it got there […]
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Aldermania: Review board twist
In what has become a depressing trend, the most exciting public moment of this week’s City Council meeting came when a citizen serenaded aldermen — this time with two stanzas of “America.” But when the council goes into executive session and stays almost an hour, it raises the possibility that maybe something meaningful is happening […]
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Kids in the Lou
f you’re traveling with kids this summer, you’ve probably braced yourself for the relentless refrain of Are we there yet? Portable DVD players and video games can stave it off for a few miles, but the only guaranteed muzzle for the AWTY? whine is a resounding answer, “Yes!” That happens sooner, of course, if your […]
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Back on the job
Most guys might have a tough time transitioning from the rank of captain, commanding more than 150 soldiers, to plain old officer, commanding only a dog. But for Jeff Royer, nothing could be sweeter than relief from the incomprehensible stress of keeping his troops safe in a land of suicide bombers and war without rules. […]
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Small victory
It’s a warm spring day, and the kids across the street are pelting each other with water balloons. At least a dozen people, probably more, are present, ranging in age from the mid-twenties down to mere babes bouncing on their young mothers’ knees. Their shouts and laughter drift through the open window of Clyde and […]
