What is it like to be 98, tra la?I have all of my bits and most of my witsexcept those that are gone that I might try to hailif I could but glimpse a vanishing tailAre you a turn-pager? If so, I will wagerYou’ve not reached this stanza. I’ll stop while I can-za! 2026 Jacqueline […]
Arts & Culture
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Call me Ishmael
“And God heard the voice of the boy …” Genesis 21:17a Call me Ishmael. With these three words, Herman Melville begins his 19th century novel Moby Dick and introduces the man who will be telling his story of the adventures at sea. For Melville, naming his narrator after the biblical character Ishmael who was sent […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
What we meant when we wrote the Calls to Action
Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti once wrote that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way is to tell their story and start with “secondly.” I have been thinking about that idea often because history is full of stories that begin too late. Many Americans were introduced to Juneteenth only after it became a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Michael Thomas interview
Michael Thomas was incarcerated five different times but sobriety and faith have changed his life. His story is one of brokenness, consequences, grace and the kind of hope that refuses to give up. But this episode is more than a testimony. He discusses the complex family dynamics that often fuel substance abuse, how faith evolves […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Follow this rainbow
“These last few weeks working with this group of beautiful Black women and this amazing staff has healed me in ways I can’t even put into words! We don’t usually get opportunities like this. This is so much more than a show. It’s poetry, it’s art, it’s truth, it’s life!” – excerpt from Brianna Gude-Price’s […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Fletcher Farrar receives Freedom of the Press Award
Fletcher Farrar has received the James C. Craven Freedom of the Press Award. Don Craven, Illinois Press Association attorney, presented Farrar with the award at the Illinois Press Convention held June 4 in East Peoria. Michelle Ownbey, executive editor of Illinois Times, sent in a nomination earlier this year: “Fletcher Farrar is the owner of Central Illinois […]
Posted inFilm
Furious all about overkill, Spielberg’s Disclosure Day proves to be a tedious slog
Overkill the name of the game in Furious I doubt fans of martial arts movies will raise many objections to the many flaws in Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious. Those who flock to films of this sort don’t get hung up on hackneyed dialogue, cliched characters, improbably plot twists or an inordinately long running time. Nope, […]
Posted inIT Picks
New home, new name for annual music fest
This popular annual music festival, which always packs some serious musical talent, has a new name and new home after previous stops at Sheedy Shores and Long Bridge Golf Course. This year’s event was organized by Tom Beverly, Geoff Ryan, Tom Noonan and Blake Samat. Now in its fifth year, it will feature Emily Perkins, […]
Posted inPoetry
Monkeys
We put off getting a TV till long aftereveryone else had one. We wantedour kids to be more readers thanviewers. Then came Kennedy’sassassination and there was nothingbut three days of news on the TV.We got one. By then it was December,and the first thing we watched as a familywas “The Wizard of Oz.” My second […]
Posted inJuneteenth
The Stanza Stories
The public is invited to The Stanza Stories presentation and awards ceremony at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 25, at First Presbyterian Church, 321 S. Seventh St. Celebrate the culmination of 10 racial healing workshops and hear the powerful poetry created by seven participants throughout this journey facilitated by Dr. Kelly Hurst, executive director of the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Leah Wilson interview
As executive director of the Kidzeum, Leah Wilson recently helped secure a National Science Foundation grant to create a new community-designed STEAM Center, an investment not just in science education, but in imagination itself. This conversation explores curiosity, leadership, play and why children’s dreams might be one of the most important resources a city possesses.
Posted inArts & Culture
Visit ISM to get free State Fair admission
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of historic U.S. Route 66, visitors to the Illinois State Museum’s new Route 66 exhibit in Springfield this summer can earn free weekday admission to the 2026 Illinois State Fair, happening Aug. 13-23. The promotion began June 8 and runs for the next 66 days. Each visitor to the Illinois […]
