Dear Nora and Michael, I took my Bernie sign down today. The yard looks a little bare. He would have made a great president. But fair is fair. He just doesn’t have the votes. Do I think superdelegates are a bad idea? Absolutely. Do I wish the Republicans had them this year? Yes. They […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Tree Cities Illinois
Bits and pieces about trees pile up on my desk like autumn leaves in the yard. Last week I mentioned Barrington, Illinois, as a Tree City USA. It is not alone. In addition to the U.S. flag that it flies at its city hall, the west-suburban town of Hinsdale proudly flies not an Illinois flag […]
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Re-treeing
My recent column calling for the re-treeing Springfield – “Something there is that doesn’t love a tree,” which of course should have been titled “Someone there is who doesn’t love a tree” – didn’t say quite everything that might have been said on that topic. A seldom unremarked-upon aspect of the history of Illinois is […]
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The blossomy haw, remembered
Paul Scott Mowrer Paul Scott Mowrer was born in Bloomington in 1887 and lived there until he was in the sixth grade. In short, everything important that can happen to a boy in the normal course of growing up happened to him in mid-Illinois. While he never came back to live, pursuing instead a career […]
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Keeping cool
We are close to the time of year when the big decision on air-conditioning must be made. Flip the switch now or wait for hotter weather? Some of us crank it up when the heat starts, others are more parsimonious and delay to save money. In the ’40s and ’50s most of us didn’t have […]
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Something there is that doesn’t love a tree
Clear Lake Avenue needs more trees. PHOTO BY BRITTANY HILDERBRAND Careful readers of his paper will know that Sustainable Springfield is encouraging businesses and landowners to allow the organization to plant native and/or non-invasive tree species on their properties, starting with the Clear Lake Avenue corridor. Any proud native who wishes Springfield to make a […]
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Springfield needs a city planner
This is an edited version of remarks Paul O’Shea delivered to the Citizens Club May 27. I agree when Bob Gray says that the 1925 Myron West City Plan of the City of Springfield was exemplary. This was the first, and perhaps the only, city plan for Springfield. That was nearly 100 years ago. Discussions […]
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The virtues of thrift
Back in January I repeated one of my time-worn rants about the environmental damage being done by factory-style cultivation of corn. I stated, A good field in mid-illinois these days is likely to have more than 30,000 corn plants per acre. Such intense corn production is responsible for increased fertilizer use (and consequent water […]
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Undesirables
In 1983 Springfield was working on a new idea – geting more people to live downtown. This week our look back over IT’s 40 years is occasioned by the City of Springfield’s halting efforts to redevelop the Y block. Hopes that a residential building here will magically transform downtown are extravagant, as this column from […]
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Why the new Exelon/ComEd bill is bad for Illinois consumers
With the spring legislative session in Springfield only a few days from adjournment, legislators are rushing to move bills up the chain for a final vote on the floor and passage. As they do so, it’s critical that lawmakers pay special attention to specific pieces of legislation that will have dire impact on their constituents. […]
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Playing the suckers
Kenneth C. Griffin PHOTO BY PAUL ELLEDGE Homeopathy figures prominently in the annals of medical quackery. It is based on the idea, or rather the hope, that “like cures like,” meaning that a disease can be cured by whatever produces similar symptoms in healthy organisms. Homeopathy has been relegated to the fringes as medicine but […]
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Popsicles for breakfast
On April 29, 1944, my mother was admitted to Memorial Hospital in Springfield where I was born. I was the first in my line to be born in a medical facility. There is a house up on Salt Creek in Menard County where my father was born. As was my grandfather. And my great grandfather. […]
