The revolution is manifest in the decor of the spacious corner office overlooking Monroe Street. The centerpiece is a rocking chair on a colorful rug. The credenza holds a handmade pottery tea service. A trio of colorful papier mache birds perches on the window sill. And the bookshelf brims with volumes by Maya Angelou, Alice […]
Dusty Rhodes
Posted inNews
Bottoms up for Tony Libri
So it’s Wednesday night and you’re flipping around the TV channels looking for something–anything!–worth watching, and there on cable access channel four is Republican mayoral contender, Tony Libri. Ah, let’s see what Libri’s talking about tonight. Is it economic development? Neighborhood revitalization? How to solve all the problems at the police department? No. As it […]
Posted inNews
Why Andy Won’t Die
The homemade flyers appear all around town like a tragic folk art series. Some feature a snapshot of three smiling boys–a young father holding his two little sons. Some feature a morbid photo of that same father, bruised and bleeding, sustained by a ventilator and IVs. The text below the picture is always something sensational […]
Posted inNews
The incredible shrinking talk show hosts
Jim Leach was just a youngster, no older than eight, when he saw Bob Murray doing a radio broadcast in front of the K-Mart on Clear Lake. Murray had a portable deejay booth–turntables and microphone–and little Leach was instantly enthralled. He realized he now had the answer to every adult’s favorite question, “Hey kid, what […]
Posted inNews
The buck stops where?
The City of Springfield may have gotten a bit more than it bargained for last week when three experts came to town to advise officials on the formation of a citizen police review board. In brief welcoming remarks, Mayor Karen Hasara set the agenda, saying that “there’s no question that we will have a review […]
Posted inNews
The Sallengers get their day in court
The Andrew Sallenger case is about to move from street protests to the federal courthouse. Mary Sallenger, whose mentally-ill son Andrew died hours after a struggle with Springfield police officers last year, filed a civil suit in federal court April 25, charging seven defendants with responsibility for her son’s death. The defendants are the City […]
Posted inOpinion
Nice guys finish first
The rumor that had seemed obvious since last week turns out to be true: WTAX-AM 1240 has hired broadcasting veteran Bob Murray to host its morning drive-time “news watch”–the same shift left open back in February, when WTAX fired the rabblerousing Donald “One-Eyed Jack” Jackson. So in essence, Murray–who prides himself on being a gentleman–is […]
Posted inNews
Doug Knight’s “Little Renaissance”
The drive-in movie is one of the few pleasures in life designed with the whole family in mind. Traditionally a double-bill, the first show targets the kids, after which they (theoretically) lapse into slumber. Intermission features the vintage concession promo with the dancing soda pops and acrobatic hot dog. The second flick is geared toward […]
Posted inNews
Husch-hush investigation
It was the kind of lawsuit that seemed almost hopeless. The Winchester ammunitions plant in East Alton had laid off about a quarter of its salaried employees, and a group of these workers banded together to sue, claiming age discrimination. A similar case, filed by a single worker, had already resulted in a $850,000 judgment […]
Posted inNews
SPD’s “Culture of Deniability”
The Springfield Police Department had no legitimate excuse for failing to correct erroneous and salacious accusations against former officer Renatta Frazier, according to the summary of a report released last Tuesday night. Furthermore, the summary says, many people in the department knew the truth and had multiple opportunities to remedy the situation. The Peoria law […]
Posted inNews
The dog ate their homework
Kathy Hulcher is standards coordinator for Springfield Public School District 186, which means she’s in charge of making kids take all those achievement tests. And when Kathy Hulcher heard this yarn a couple of weeks ago, she thought it was an April Fool’s joke. It’s not. But it could make an interesting story problem. So […]
Posted inOpinion
Young Americans
“Consider the life of a teenager: You have parents, teachers, telling you what to do. You have movies, magazines, and TV telling you what to do. But you know what you have to do. Your job, your purpose, is to get accepted.” So said Harry H., the nastily-nicknamed, wizened-beyond-his-years pirate radio jock in the 1990 […]
