I could not sleep last night for quite awhile, thinking about her. Limping carefully, the young woman in the faded blue scrubs and hooded sweat shirt put one sock-covered foot in front of the other, from the hospital room doorway to the wheelchair in the hall. It was as if she were crossing a bed […]
Rick Wade
Posted inOpinion
Audri says goodbye to Pops
Sept. 10. Pops had been in bed sleeping nearly 24 hours, so Karen and I went in to try to wake him, get him up. His eyes were open and staring straight ahead. The harsh snoring sound coming out of his mouth and the barely perceptible rise and fall of his chest were the only […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Talk derby to me
“The night that I fell in love with a Roller Derby Queen, Round and round, oh round and round, The meanest hunk of woman that anybody ever seen, Down in the arena …,” – Jim Croce, “Roller Derby Queen” Used to be, saying somebody hit like a girl was an insult. Not anymore. Don’t believe […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Renaissance at the Art Association
During the Middle Ages, the church used art in its cathedrals to draw the eyes of worshippers toward the heavens. Today, art is at the center of an effort to resurrect a blighted urban area once known as the “Jewel of Springfield.” “The Springfield Art Association is one of the anchors of the Enos Park […]
Posted inOpinion
What it’s like to be unemployed
I am six months into an involuntary sojourn outside the full-time compensated workforce … and I gotta tell you, I don’t like it. Oh, sure. Some may think I am living high on the hog, thanks to all the handouts I get from the big-time elite socialists in Springfield and Washington, D.C. But ask the […]
Posted inNews
Renewed computers, renewed lives
It’s yet another Saturday work day at Springfield’s Computer Banc, where digital wizards infuse computers with new hope for the future. A pale green panel van backs up to a door in the small, ordinary white building on a nondescript asphalt lot at 1023 East Washington. The driver swings open the van’s back doors. The […]
Posted inNews
Bringing Computer Banc back to life
“The report of my death is an exaggeration.” —Mark Twain, May 1897. To paraphrase the great American storyteller, the report of Computer Banc’s demise was a bit premature. After abruptly closing its doors Sept. 2, Computer Banc has reopened with limited operations. It resumed distribution of computers beginning Oct. 1. “When the board met Sept. […]
Posted inNews
The growing U.S. goat market
The South African Boer goat quietly invaded the United States via Texas about 15 years ago – and has been nibbling its way north ever since. Developed by Dutch farmers in South Africa in the early 1900s, the hardy Boer goats were bred for their rapid growth, ability to produce large amounts of meat and […]
Posted inNews
Goat invasion
Like an art critic judging a sculpture, Mike Earles leans back and places the end of his goateed chin between the raised thumb and forefinger of his left hand. His eyes narrow as he leans forward. Meanwhile, his brother, Drew, pauses and steps back, too. He grips in one hand an electric hair clipper that […]
Posted inNews
Making the case for ‘local first’
What can a 16-inch pancake do for Springfield? Plenty, said a recently formed Springfield nonprofit group last week, explaining that the unique products sold by independent businesses inject color, character and money into the local economy at a time when it needs it badly. During a July 1 press conference at Charlie Parker’s Diner (home […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The new play at the Presidential Museum
Two actors. No set. Multiple characters, none of whom can be the killer or victim. Wrap it up in no more than 45 minutes. Audience? Everybody age 7 to 70 and beyond. Those were a few of the constraints placed on California playwright and theater educator Richard Hellesen when Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., commissioned […]
Posted inNews
Price of preservation
A living geologic and natural time capsule, Elkhart Hill shows off her best skirt in April as nature’s paintbrush splashes her slopes with color-drenched prairie wildflowers. The Elkhart Historical Society sponsors guided Wildflower Walks to provide an opportunity for a family outing, a chance to enjoy the beauty of spring with family and other loved […]
