Upset with the way lucrative government contracts for catching Asian carp on Chicago-area waterways were handed out, a group of commercial fishermen is speaking up. Tony Pate, of Missouri, says he’s speaking for a group of about 30 commercial fishermen, most of them from Illinois, who work on Illinois waterways on a full-time basis. “By […]
Rachel Wells
Posted inNews
The dirty business of CLEAN COAL
Take a drive this time of year down any state highway and you’ll likely see chipboard signs promoting this guy for sheriff and that guy for Senate. This much is true when traveling down Route 48. But along this road, which slices through the heart of Christian County, you’ll also see a slick metal sign, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Running buddy fail
I’ve had a couple of great running buddies over the years. Key qualities include justthe right level of cheerleading and knowledge of such things as stretches, tennisshoes and running paths. (I’m also glad when they’re talkers – ‘cause runninggets boring, and I’m usually too busy panting to bring much to the conversation.) But far more […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Strategy for the weak-willed environmentalist
The standard advice for anyone wishing to reduce their energy consumption tends to include turning off the lights, walking instead of driving and turning down the heat. Turning off the lights when I’m not in the room? Check. That one’s pretty easy. Walking everywhere? Wearing five sweaters all winter long? … Fail and fail. Some […]
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Housing starts
Across the street from the house she was born in, longtime Springfield resident Jacqueline Carter Smith last week stood beside city and state officials in a vacant lot on the city’s east side. There, near the intersection of Stuart and Wheeler streets, she took up one of nine gold-tinted shovels and ceremoniously lifted a chunk […]
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Watchdogs flee Springfield
George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich, Pat Quinn and potentially Bill Brady. The Statehouse press corps has watched them all, but with each new governor fewer and fewer eyes make up the group of journalists in the Capitol who observe, investigate and report on Illinois government and the General Assembly. That trend might have continued, as the […]
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Selling sustainability
These days, going “green” sells, and Springfield companies should be taking advantage of that. That’s what area business representatives heard last week as they attended an unveiling of the Springfield Green Business Network. The SGBN, which is working to obtain nonprofit status, is seeking members to help support its goal of bringing businesses and the […]
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Painting by the numbers
For about two weeks last month, a group of painters protested outside the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Springfield as a small crew worked to update the look of 316 guest rooms. The picket line, made up of a handful of members of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, […]
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A neighborhood’s call to arms
Full of hope and energized by the progress they’ve made so far, Enos Park residents faced discouraging news last week as planners quantified the neighborhood’s current plight: The number of homes in poor condition exceed those in good condition. “This is the call to arms that we’ve got to do something here,” says John LaMotte, […]
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Conservative think tank to Illinois: TURN RIGHT
When barbers employed by the state earn an average annual wage of nearly $66,000, compared to the average Illinois private sector barber’s $27,600, something is amiss, says the increasingly visible Illinois Policy Institute, which bills itself as a nonpartisan research organization attempting to bring specific ideological solutions to public policy. The example, meant to show […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Twitter – For the birds.
No, really, it’s for the birds. For months, my smart phone-, Mp3-, cable-less self was reluctant to join, even explore the world of Twitter. Constant updates on Lindsay Lohan’s latest faux pas? No, thanks. I only signed up for the service in January as a way to keep track of some politicos in the statehouse […]
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Opening the books
A limited government group is asking District 186 schools to give community members more information before seeking a sales tax increase in the November election. Americans for Prosperity, a conservative anti-tax advocacy group, last week sent school board members a letter requesting that they consider developing an online check register, a database that would provide […]
