Letters to the Editor

Mammoth Dome at the Mammoth Cave National Park rises 192 feet from floor to ceiling. Water dripping through a sinkhole hollowed out the dome, one of the highlights of cave tours. Photo Courtesy the National Park Service MAMMOTH MEMORIESMary Bohlen’s article about Mammoth Cave (“Cool off in Mammoth Cave, the world’s longest,” Aug. 7) reminded […]

Lindbergh in the biplane he piloted along Contract Air Mail Route #2 between Chicago and St. Louis in 1926-1927. DAYTON WRIGHT FLIGHT I enjoyed Erika Holst’s article “When Lindberg delivered airmail to Springfield” (July 31). I find that there are a few points that need to be clarified. The aircraft that Lindbergh flew on CAM […]

An artist’s rendering of how a revamped pedestrian-friendly Jackson Street might appear, from Fifth Street looking west with the Executive Mansion grounds on the left. PHOTO AND RENDERING COURTESY OF MASSIE MASSIE AND ASSOCIATES   This image is the same view west down Jackson Street at the YWCA building and Illinois Executive Mansion as seen […]

FEMALE PRIEST SHOULDN’T STAY I was really interested in the article on the woman Catholic priest that was in the most recent issue of Illinois Times (“Woman priest defies Catholic diocese,” July 17, Patrick Yeagle). When I got done reading it, I thought, “good for you!” Then I started to really think about it. If […]

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and President Barack Obama exchange greetings at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. PHOTO BY ALEX GARCIA/MCT OBAMA, DURBIN DOING THEIR JOBA recent letter published in the State Journal-Register criticized President Obama and Senator Dick Durbin on immigration reform. The writer echoed the unrelenting chorus of politically charged complaints unleashed whenever the president and […]

SKETCHY FACTS I am writing in response to Chris Britt’s cartoon (“Church of Hobby Lobby”) in the July 3 edition of Illinois Times. I enjoy editorial cartoons as much as anyone does. Should not the facts be straight even in a cartoon? Britt shows a sign that says, “Trampling of Women’s Reproductive Rights.” The case, […]

GREENS OVER GOLD Illinois Times reported that the Springfield Park District has met with a golf management firm about potentially privatizing the management of its four public golf courses (Cap City, “Fore!” June 26). This is one golf situation that calls for slow play. I recently have taken up the sport after admiring these four […]

INFLATION CESSATION In the June 19 Illinois Times, Jim Hightower urges raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour (“A bold shift in America’s minimum wage debate”). But why raise it to only $15? Why not $100? Why not $1,000,000 per hour? When I started work in 1960, my dream was to make $2.50 […]

Simeon Wright, cousin of Emmett Till, is scheduled to speak in Decatur June 20. PHOTO BY ZBIGNIEW BZDAK/MCT WRIGHT ON TILL THE ENDI wish we never knew the name Emmett Till. But it will be forever emblazoned in our nation’s history because as a 14-year-old young man, Till was pulled out of his bed in […]

The Shell station at the corner of Jefferson and Walnut, June 30, 1938. Our letter writer recalls that Jefferson once had 11 gas stations between First and Amos, making competition tough. Photo COURTESY SANGAMON VALLEY COLLECTION GAS FROM THE PAST What a difference in gasoline prices from when I started helping my dad at age 14 […]

SEPARATION OF PRAYER AND STATE Regarding the opinion piece “Exclude me in your prayers,” by James Krohe Jr. in Illinois Times (May 29), I don’t believe anyone’s right to practice their religion would be adversely affected by banning opening prayers in governmental meetings, whether local, state or federal. On the other hand, such banning would […]

ILLUSTRATION BY ALEX K. FONG/MCT LEARNING CURVESDid anyone else find it odd that Jeanne Allen of the Center for Education Reform didn’t spell out what she means when she says she wants parents to “take 20 years of lessons learned and move them into every community?” (“What parents need to know about schools,” May 22.) […]