One of the worst things to tell a gardener is that their tree is heavily infested with a destructive insect. The U of I Extension office has received numerous calls about magnolia trees. A caller usually describes the problem as “sticky stuff all over the magnolia leaves and the leaves are turning black.” The answer: […]
Community & Lifestyle
Posted inArts & Culture
A fair start, 156 years in the making
The Illinois State Fair began in 1853 as a salute to agriculture. The founders of the newly-created Illinois State Agricultural Society wanted to give farmers an arena to discuss and advance their profession, so they decided to host a state fair. The first was held that October in Springfield on the near-west side grounds where […]
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Fair flowers
Among the tents, livestock buildings, corndog and lemonade stands at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, fairgoers can see a wide variety of colorful plants. Just inside gate 2, visitors are greeted by chartreuse colored sweet potato vines, ice-cream (orange) salvia, banana plants, red flowering bougainvillea, dark opal basil, cotton candy lantana and orange marigolds. These are […]
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A 19th century pop star finds Springfield bad news
It’s never easy being a star, but if you believe a superstar concert pianist from that time, it was especially difficult in Springfield in the 1860s. The New Orleans-born Louis Moreau Gottschalk was a “hugely celebrated” concert pianist with a “tremendous following,” according to WUIS-FM music director and musician Karl Scroggin. “He was called ‘the […]
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Inquiring mind wants to go
Just about seven years ago, I moved here from Texas to find out whether I could still do journalism. I had worked for major mainstream newspapers in Dallas and in Anchorage (yes, Alaska), but I had been out of the business for nearly a decade, working as an investigator for a civil rights attorney, when […]
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An Illinois artist’s amazing life after death
“Too late now,” said Henry Darger, an 80-something retired janitor and former central Illinois resident, as he waited for death at a Chicago charitable institution in 1973. He’d just been told that his landlords discovered the artworks he’d created over a lifetime. But Darger thought it was too late for his art and too late […]
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The plot sickens
The first time Renatta Frazier heard about massive grave robbing at an Alsip cemetery, she didn’t give it a second thought. A tiny village on the southwestern tip of Chicagoland, Alsip held no special meaning. It wasn’t until a childhood friend mentioned Burr Oak Cemetery that Frazier snapped. Burr Oak is one of a dozen […]
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Shades of gray
Mark Jennings spent more than 20 years serving his country in the U.S. Army Airborne. When he retired around 2002, “Sarge,” as he was known, enjoyed gardening, cooking out and bicycling, and was known for serving coffee to anyone who wanted to stop by in the morning. Ted Forystek, who was Jennings’ neighbor in the […]
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Korean War National Museum comes to downtown Springfield
Springfield resident Larry Benson served in the Korean War, working first as a radarman and then for a chaplain. Last Friday, Benson joined dozens of other veterans from central Illinois and around the nation on the Old State Capitol Plaza to celebrate the grand opening of the Korean War Museum’s exhibit in the old Osco […]
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Be mean to weeds
Last week in between the rain showers, I finally had the opportunity to tend to my flower beds. While not the most enjoyable outdoor task, weeding is necessary. Remember the saying, “one year of seeds equals seven years of weeds.” That is enough motivation to get me to pull weeds in this heat, humidity and […]
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Teching things to extremes
Two years ago, Todd Green was happy with his Blackberry. Or so he thought. Then he went to his son’s basketball practice, where another dad hanging out in the bleachers was showing off this new contraption called an iPhone. “He starts to show me some of the stuff on it, and I’m like — this […]
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Civil War POW protests monument to a ‘monster’
The Confederate prison known as “Andersonville” in Georgia is often considered the worst of all the Civil War’s prisons. Its horrible reputation still provokes articles and documentaries today. More than 45,000 Union soldiers were imprisoned there during its 14-month existence and at least 12,000 of them died from exposure, illness, or gunshot. (Guards shot any […]
