Not a full year after the first organized baseball game was played in New Jersey’s Elysian Fields, in 1846, poet Walt Whitman is said to have written of the fledgling sport, “I see great things in baseball. It’s our game, the American game.” In the years since Whitman penned that line, baseball would indeed become […]
R. L. Nave
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Wind resistance
Residents of western Sangamon County, where a Springfield company is planning to build a large-scale wind farm, insist that they are not opposed to wind energy. Instead, they want fellow landowners to have input in a project that, “may have tremendous impacts on the health, comfort and home values of families living nearby,” according to […]
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Indy film planned for Springfield
Kimberly D. Conner isn’t a newcomer to the world of movies. She’s placed as a finalist in several film writing contests, including Los Angeles and Atlanta but the short film she’s planning to shoot in Springfield represents her directorial debut. With This Life Ain’t Pretty, based on the real life of a woman who contracted […]
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Orange juice
If you saw Zach McCoy without his baggy jeans, oversized T-shirt and baseball cap, you would assume he’s more interested in Lord Voldemort’s latest plot against Harry Potter than the new Lupe Fiasco album. You certainly wouldn’t suspect that McCoy, a Springfield native, would stand a chance in a freestyle rap battle against MCs from […]
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Inner city blues
For anyone who thought that the federal stimulus plan would be manna for the needs of city and state governments, think again. Jim Moll, project manager for Hanson Professional Services, put it into perspective last week at a policy briefing sponsored by the Springfield Citizens Club: of the $787 billion in the American Recovery and […]
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Roland Burris returns to his roots
After about an hour of drinking, making small talk about local political races, and prognosticating on the outcome of the following day’s election, the crowd in the banquet room of the Centralia House Restaurant abruptly bursts into applause when tonight’s guest of honor, Roland Burris, arrives just past 6 o’clock. Burris, sporting a dark blue […]
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E-cycle your E-waste this E-arth Day
To most people, being green just means replacing your old light bulbs with compact fluorescents, reusing plastic grocery bags, turning off the water while brushing and placing your empty aluminum cans and TPS reports into the appropriate plastic bins at the office. That’s your daddy’s recycling; this is the digital age. These days, electronics manufacturers […]
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Get your swag on — responsibly
Despite the best efforts of public health officials and other groups, the rate of sexually transmitted disease infections among teenagers continues to rise. While HIV and AIDS captures most of the attention, people often forget about other STDs such as gonorrhea, herpes and chlamydia. “You hear stories about HIV all the time, but have you […]
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Only fools flush down
Just when you thought it was safe for your drugs to go in the water… . “We ask that residents no longer flush their meds,” says Angela Harris, Sangamon County’s recycling coordinator. Harris acknowledges that for many years, flushing was the recommended method for disposal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. However, there is now […]
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Sub conscious
“Oh, I’ll just sub.” At some point, the thought of substitute teaching enters the mind of every unemployed worker and fresh-faced college graduate not sure of what to do with their life. But these days, landing a substitute teaching gig isn’t as automatic as it used to be, depending on where you live. With unemployment […]
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“Visioning” the possibilities
A group of about 100 local residents will begin meeting this week to help make a decision about the future of district buildings, including Springfield High School. The residents received an invitation from Springfield schools superintendent Dr. Walter Milton. Feasibility study committee members will participate in four Friday-Saturday “visioning” sessions over the course of five […]
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The ABCs of school board candidates
My kids don’t go to the public schools. I don’t have children. There’s an election? Despite routinely encountering the preceding rejoinders, the four individuals running in two competitive races to serve on the District 186 board of education have been trudging across precincts and knocking on doors, many of them unanswered, in their respective subdistricts. […]
