Undercount
Forget one-person-one vote; we are moving toward a one election-one vote future. The turnout of registered voters in Peoria for April’s municipal elections — and remember that not all qualified voters are registered — was a bit more than 17 percent. In Chicago’s collar counties, turnout ranged from around 12 percent to 16.4 percent. In…
Enchanting entertainers
Six internationally-recognized performers make an appearance to captivate the entire family at the Hoogland Center for the Arts on April 16 thanks to the Springfield International Brotherhood of Magicians Ring 239. Acts include: Female Magician of the Year, Jade; national-touring comedy magician, Tom Burgoon; three-time World Champion Bull Whip Artist, Chris Camp; cutting-edge illusionist Tony…
wisconsin poem # 4
will the citizens who voted forthat governor and his cohortsrejoice when their kids’ teachersare fired perhaps themselves ifthey are teachers? the mostexperienced going first, natchwhen class sizes are increasedto sixty? when smart people willno longer go into teaching? thewisconsin salaries are well belowours in illinois and now they’llhave no recourse on anythingis this a political…
Love and Light
Best friends since 2003, young producer/musicians Matt Madonna and Ryan Anderson come from the Reno / Tahoe area. After years of producing sounds, the duo got serious about making music together in April of 2010 and collaborated to create Love and Light. Intent on the “uplifting of people across the world through melodic synth lines,…
Sacrificing teachers and firefighters to Hoovernomics
America owes a debt of gratitude to such insightful Republican governors as Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio, Rick Snyder of Michigan and Chris Christie of New Jersey. Were it not for them, many Americans — myself included — would still be thinking that today’s state budget messes are mainly the product of…
Quinn’s uphill battle to erase the deficit
Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman seemed to be under the impression after his meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn last week that the state’s income tax hike would actually expire in four years. “The tax increase is temporary,” Oberhelman told reporters, who wanted to know how he really felt about the recent tax hike. There’d been much…
The fascinating anthropology of Midwestern food
Stuffed – Midwestern sausages, that is. Mother-in-law sandwiches. Journeying through Midwestern sweets and dessert traditions. It’s anthropology of hoof, claw, fin, root and leaf: culinary anthropology. “What in the world is culinary anthropology?” you might well ask. Food anthropologists focus on peoples’ foods and agriculture past and present, how they’ve evolved and how they’ve influenced…
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Get ready, ‘cause as of June 1 everything changes, says Buff Carmichael, local LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) advocate who is helping to organize a legal information session for same-sex couples. On June 1, Illinois’ new law allowing civil unions for same- and opposite-sex couples becomes effective. The legal workshop, to be held Tuesday,…
Cousteau son brings concern for oceans to Midwest
Jean-Michel Cousteau was 7 years old when his father outfitted him and his 4 – year-old brother, Philippe, with an aqualung air tank, before their dad, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, threw them over the side of the boat. “We were instant scuba divers,” says Cousteau, 72, to a crowded auditorium April 10 at the Kirkland Fine Arts…
Arthur woefully out of step
Oh, what a difference 30 years makes. When Dudley Moore’s Arthur proved to be the surprise comedic hit of 1981, audiences couldn’t help but be charmed by the besotted millionaire who couldn’t attack a day without first imbibing a quart of gin and other spirits. Careless with money and self-indulgent to a fault, the character…
Despite ‘fragile’ budget, Mayor Edwards relished ‘carrying the load’ for a while
Stable” but “fragile.” That’s how Springfield Mayor Frank Edwards described Springfield’s finances in the annual State of the City address at the Springfield Hilton Mon., April 11. “Basically, we’re using a fiscal year 2009 budget with the expense level of 2012,” says Edwards. Edwards called the city’s economic meltdown, “the perfect storm,” that started with…
Nine ways the rich get richer. But you don’t.
For three decades we have conducted a massive economic experiment, testing a theory known as supply-side economics. The theory goes like this: Lower tax rates will encourage more investment, which in turn will mean more jobs and greater prosperity – so much so that tax revenues will go up, despite lower rates. The late Milton…
The beat goes on
I’ll spare you all the drummer jokes that led off last year’s column introducing Drumfest, except for one, because we must have our fun. It’s just natural in the band world to pick on the guy in the group who beats on an instrument to make music. “How can you tell if there is a…
Honor soldiers by supporting your local VFW
The history of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, like its members, is a noble one. The earliest organization can be traced back to 1899 in Ohio, where veterans, deriving from the Spanish-American War (1898), banded together to create a common voice. They were an experienced and united group that would continue to fight, here at…
Rio looks at life with a song and dance
An explosion of color, movement and music, director Carlos Saldanha’s Rio is a Valentine to his native land. It espouses the virtues of approaching life with a spring in your step and a song in your heart, a belief that drives the film and its characters throughout. Fish out of water (make that macaw out…
ART OF EXPANSION
As Springfield’s arts community grows, so must the amount work space available. Betsy Dollar, executive director of the Springfield Art Association, says Springfield currently lacks adequate studio space for artists working in ceramics, metals, glass and more. Most of the local ceramics studios, for example, are connected to colleges, Dollar says, so only students have…
When Irish eyes are singing
International-powerhouse ensemble, Celtic Woman, stirs up life at Sangamon Auditorium at UIS on April 18. Featuring songs from their critically-acclaimed CD and Emmy-nominated DVD Songs from the Heart, former All-Ireland fiddle champion Máiréad Nesbitt, acclaimed songsters Lisa Kelly, Chloë Agnew and newest member Lisa Lambe, along with a six-piece band and Aontas Choir, will fine…
Letters to the Editor 04/14/11
CONCEALED CARRY QUESTIONSWe are living in a state of anxiety these days. One of the things that we have focused our fears on is crime, and the only help being offered in the public forum seems to be so-called concealed carry legislation. It has been said that “guns don’t kill people – people kill people.”…
WWII vets return from their big day
Shouts and cheers exploded throughout the terminal at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, April 5, when the first veterans emerged through the doors after a day at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C [see “Honor flight sends WW II vets to Washington, D.C., for a day,” by Holly Dillemuth, April 7]. “This is wonderful,”…
Pioneer life here was hard on women and animals
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Sangamon County Historical Society is having an author of books about early American history, including one about our area, come to Springfield and speak on April 26. Dr. John Mack Faragher, an American history professor at Yale University, wrote the award-winning Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie (published…
Best beat
A diverse group of percussionists and musicians will descend on the Firefighters Postal Lake Club for DrumFest, a day of drumming, entertainment and clinics that anyone can participate in for free. Ben Sesar headlines the lineup of music that begins at 2 p.m. Sesar, who has played or recorded with the likes of Dolly Parton,…
Advocates: States must prepare for Alzheimer’s boom
Springfield resident Tom Berkshire, 68, is married to a woman, 66-year-old Charlotte, who was diagnosed with dementia about five years ago. Suffering from frontotemporal dementia, Charlotte can no longer speak, has lost her ability to understand and, though now losing the ability to walk, was once at risk for wandering. Though Tom is lucky enough…
Minorities press for representation in redistricting
Minority groups in Springfield and statewide are calling for better representation as the Illinois legislature mulls redistricting plans. At an Illinois Senate Redistricting Committee hearing April 4, groups representing African Americans, Asian Americans and Muslims shared concerns about “packing, cracking and stacking” – gerrymandering tactics that dilute minority voting power. Illinois draws new electoral districts…
