Untitled Document Even with a record number of homeowners defaulting on their mortgage loans, TSP-HOPE’s housing programs and services have remained unaffected, says the agency’s executive director, Ron Fafoglia. Fafoglia says TSP-HOPE, which helps low-income people get homes, requires prospective clients to have a minimum credit score of 620. Also, he says, the organization doesn’t […]
R. L. Nave
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Debt traps?
Untitled Document By now you’ve seen the TV commercials or had a flier stuck in your screen door that describes how quickly a particular company can do your taxes and get you your refund. And, chances are, you’ve seen retailers’ ads enticing consumers to spend those rebates just as quickly on everything from toys to […]
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The thrill is gone
Untitled Document It wasn’t so long ago that ethanol was riding an amber wave of success. Just three years ago, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the Renewable Fuels Standard, which pumped another 7.5 million gallons of the corn-based biofuel into the nation’s fuel supply. Thanks to the legislation, demand for ethanol soared. […]
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“Harsh and inhumane”
Untitled Document Lafayette Glenn, a large man who stands more than 6 feet tall, says that people assume, because of his stature, that finding steady work is easy for him. But the reality, he says, is that his ex-felon status closes most doors before he can get one of his massive feet in them — […]
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Rudy?
Untitled Document It seemed like a good idea at the time: Calling Rudy Giuliani the party’s “best chance at victory in the general election,” on Dec. 19 the Sangamon County Republican Party gave the ex-mayor of New York City its endorsement for president. For much of December — really, for the better part of 2007 […]
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Repeat offender
Untitled Document The criminal-justice system has a name for people like Diane Lopez Hughes. When it comes to civil disobedience, call her a repeat offender. This time, the longtime Springfield peace activist faces as much as six months in jail for trespassing on military property. One of 11 people nabbed in November at the infamous […]
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Trial by jury?
Untitled Document Plaintiffs’ attorneys are lauding changes to state law, effective as of Jan. 1, that permit workers to sue their employers for race, sex, and other forms of discrimination in circuit court in a manner similar to that of other small-claims issues, such as traffic accidents. “It’s a great opportunity to get these cases […]
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Springfield to court the NFL
Untitled Document Springfield may soon vie for not one but three NFL teams. Frank Ross, a Springfield resident who once competed in the NFL and is helping lead the capital city’s campaign, doesn’t find the idea so far-fetched. On Jan. 22, local officials plan to meet with representatives of the NFL — the National Forensic […]
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Barack & Roll
Untitled Document Adin Davis stands on a brightly colored mat decorated with numbers, letters, and shapes in the center of a packed room that’s growing more crowded by the minute. He tries to entertain the throng with Iowa political trivia. “This is nice, but come November 2008 all of y’all — all of us — need […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Untangling the Alzheimer’s mystery
Untitled Document First, let’s clear up a common misconception: Old age doesn’t cause Alzheimer’s disease. Rather, the risk of Alzheimer’s, a progressive and fatal disease that kills cells in the brain, increases with age, particularly in people older than 60 years. Medical experts also estimate that approximately a half-million 30-, 40-, and 50-year olds have Alzheimer’s […]
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Sending out another SOS
Untitled Document Each weekend, Earl Wilson and about 40 other homeless people are left without any place to keep warm from around 7 a.m., the time they must leave the Springfield Overflow Shelter, to 9 a.m., when Lincoln Library opens. On an exceptionally chilly Saturday last month, they hoped one of the homeless service agencies […]
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Take a deep breath. Yoga’s easy!
Untitled Document Erinn Tanner’s yoga class begins with pupils on brightly colored foam mats, lying flat on their backs, arms at their sides (think starfish washed ashore) in a position called savasana, or the corpse pose (not corpse in a morbid sense, Tanner says, but rather as a shedding of the old self, a clearing […]
