Conventional wisdom in Illinois says that politicians who take politically difficult positions are doomed to defeat, but the late Paul Simon always challenged that. “It is not true,” he boomed back to me not so long ago, after I had voiced the cynical view. He said if you’re honest with voters and make a case […]
Opinion
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Can CWLP go green?
City Water, Light, and Power wants to build a new coal-fired power plant to replace two aging electric-generating units. Over the past year, the Springfield City Council’s utilities committee has convened meetings to evaluate the overall scope of the project. So far, much of the discussion has centered the size of the plant, the location […]
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Is this America?
What do Kalamazoo, Evansville, Albuquerque, Stockton, Trenton, Phoenix, Columbia, St. Louis, Knoxville, and Charleston have in common? All are cities where people have been jailed for displaying anti-Bush signs during public appearances by King George the W. Is this America, the land of the free? That’s what Nicole and Jeff Rank asked this July 4th […]
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Closing the gap
When the federal district court issued its Springfield consent decree in 1974, it aimed at the achievement gap but missed. Because racially segregated schools were unequal, integration was proposed as a remedy. Busing was the blunt instrument employed to equal things up, and it helped. School buildings were integrated and resources were improved, but the […]
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George loves parks
See George. See George in our national parks. George knows that parks are popular. George likes to go to parks and have the media take his picture. See George run for president. In his 2000 presidential run, George W. dressed up in khakis and held a photo op in a national park, where he decried […]
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Dishonoring Lincoln, big-time
“Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth. . . . This process of continual alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, soundtracks, cartoons, photographs — to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political […]
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Will VIA/LIiteracy celebrate 20 years?
If you are reading this newspaper, you are at least a fairly literate person. You read for both information and enjoyment. Many adults in central Illinois would not be considered literate, however. By one estimate, 4 million Illinois adults lack the basic literacy skills needed to function effectively in society. For them, reading and writing […]
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The march for women’s lives: A front-line view
At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24, approximately 50 people gathered at Planned Parenthood in Springfield. We were indeed a mishmash: The youngest was 6 and wasn’t really sure what we were about. The oldest was in her eighties and had witnessed many changes for women in her lifetime. Some of us had marched in the […]
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On guard
Sgt. Kathy Krusz has been an Illinois conservation agent for 26 years. Her life’s work is protecting the state’s abundant natural resources, including its wildlife. She’s dealt with some of the wiliest and dumbest creatures ever seen. By her account, she’s had plenty of close encounters. “Think of the stupidest things human beings can do, […]
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Answers needed in the Julie Rea-Harper case
After two years and two nationally televised exposés of the case of Julie Rea-Harper, who was convicted of murdering her child, why has the state of Illinois taken little significant action to seek the truth? Convicted serial child killer Tommy Lynn Sells has confessed to the 1997 murder of Rea-Harper’s son, 10-year-old Joel Kirkpatrick, and, […]
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Taking for granted the world’s understanding of the American experience
I’ve lived in Europe for several years. I find it stimulating, and, despite the fear-borne insularity of America since 9/11, the inexorable march toward a global society continues, even when it crawls. American TV, film, music and business permeate Europe. Yet when I was talking to my Italian friend about a famous American, someone I […]
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Kioaka’s spirit
Kioaka’s eyes are moist, partly from the blustery winter wind and his advancing years but mostly because of the deep sadness he feels as he ponders what must be done. His people, the Mississippians, have lived here for more than 500 years. Before them, Woodland natives occupied this land. High on the bluff, the giant […]
