Girl mauled by dog
A 10-year-old girl mauled by a dog more than a week ago at a home on the western outskirts of Springfield remains hospitalized as the Sangamon County state’s attorney’s office and the state Department of Children and Family Services conduct investigations. The girl’s injuries were potentially life threatening when she was rushed to St. John’s…
A tree grows in Grandma
Goodness me, has it really been five and a half years? In November, 2009, I devoted a column to new ways of dealing with the fact that when our loved ones go away forever, they leave one last mess to clean up – their corporeal remains. In a follow-up post to my Second Thoughts blog,…
Grammar nerdery
The three or four readers who in 2014 shared my exasperation with the universal use of “for” (see All for one – and ‘for’ for all) might find amusing this mock web quiz at Clickhole intended to reveal whether you are a grammar nerd. Like all good parody, this quiz is only barely. I…
Lying and its Ramifications the Focus of “True Story”
In December 2001, Christian Longo murdered his wife and three children. The two oldest, four year-old Zachary and three year-old Sadie, were thrown into the freezing waters of Lint Slough in Waldport, Oregon, a waterway that leads to the Pacific Ocean. His wife Mary Jane had been stuffed into a suitcase, her neck broken so…
trivia poem #7
trivia poem #7 here’s a trivia question when was pizza invented well I will have to tell you for you’ll never guess it was before 753 BC I was just rereading the aeneid (in translation) and when you get to the part where they land on the shore where rome will be founded sick starved sore…
Walmart’s small wage increase is not enough
You don’t need a Walmart front-door greeter to find the flaw in the company’s recently announced boost in worker wages: it’s not enough. Not enough to pull its lowest-paid workers out of poverty, and therefore not enough to get American taxpayers off the hook for subsidizing the giant retailer’s low-wage payroll. That’s right: Walmart, the…
Car trouble
Business and labor groups are at odds over a bill that would restrict which vehicles state and local governments could buy. Illinois State Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, sponsors House Bill 3438, which would restrict the state of Illinois and local governments to buying vehicles assembled in the U.S. or Canada, but not Mexico. The actual…
The Boxmasters
The Boxmasters So you’ve never heard of a band called The Boxmasters? How about an actor known as Billy Bob Thornton? Ah, there we go. He’s in the band as singer and shaker, making the group an accessible entity to thousands of folks across the country. Teddy Andreadis, J.D. Andrew and Brad Davis, along with…
Home & garden events calendar
Get Your Roses Ready for the SeasonApril 16, 5:30pm. Barney Bruzetti on getting your roses off to a good start and keeping them beautiful all summer. 30 minute presentation followed by Q&A session. Free to public. Gardens in front of Building #30, Illinois State Fairgrounds, 801 Sangamon Ave., 782-1698. Grow Springfield Annual Spring EventApril 16,…
Explore Rockford’s family-friendly museums
Avery Simpson plays doctor in the Tot Spot’s veterinary clinic at the Discovery Center. PHOTO BY JOHN CAMPER As soon as they arrived, our grandsons Ryan and Evan headed straight to the Simple Machines, a colorful interactive exhibit of pulleys, inclined planes, levers, balls, screws, wheels and axles. They were hooked, and so were their…
The benefits of hiring a landscaper
Time saved and a professional job are just two of the reasons homeowners hire lawn care companies. The flowers are blooming, and the grass has begun to grow anew, making spring a great time for homeowners to once again turn their attention to landscaping. Those who aren’t looking forward to dusting off their lawnmowers and…
Save your basement with an overhead sewer line
An overhead sewer system raises the lowest opening in a home’s plumbing to be well above the level of an overflowing sewer, which prevents water and sewage from escaping the system and causing a mess. April showers bring May flowers, and they can also bring nasty basement flooding. Springfield’s older neighborhoods face an increased risk…
Dos and don’ts of kitchen remodels
According to Remodeling magazine’s “Cost vs. Value Report,” a major kitchen remodeling project should enable homeowners to recoup 74.2 percent of their initial investments. Kitchen renovations have long been a safe way to improve the functionality and value of a home. But not every kitchen project is a guaranteed winner. Homeowners may inadvertently make changes…
Editor’s note 4/16/15
The war is over 150 years ago; a week later Lincoln is dead. Now it is three weeks till his body is finally laid to rest in Springfield. At first it seemed bizarre and maudlin to plan a reenactment of the Lincoln funeral, surely one of the saddest events in U.S. history. But now that…
HABITAT’S HUNDREDTH
Building a house with all volunteer labor is impressive, but building 100 houses that way is an accomplishment. Habitat for Humanity of Sangamon County is planning its 100th building project this summer at 1252 Rutledge St. in Springfield. Since its founding in 1989, the Sangamon County branch of the international Christian nonprofit has completed 97…
Slow Food morel dinner
PHOTO BY BEENTREE/WIKI Spring and morels. For mushroom aficionados the two are inseparable. For the last five years, morel mushrooms have also been linked locally to Springfield’s Slow Food chapter, thanks to their annual fundraising morel dinners at Maldaner’s Restaurant. What is slow food? Well, basically, it’s the opposite of fast food. The movement began…
The Greenest of Springfield Awards
Sustainable Springfield Incorporated has announced its newest sustainability program for area small businesses, The Greenest of Springfield Awards. The program aims to raise awareness for businesses that are already nurturing the environmentally friendly development of our city, and champion their successes to encourage other businesses to take up the cause as well. The pilot program…
Rauner’s playbook
Gov. Bruce Rauner PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE The acronym ALEC sends waves of disgust down the average liberal’s spine, but for a Republican governor in a Democratic-leaning state, it can mean a recipe for fixing a busted system. While Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner doesn’t namedrop the controversial conservative think tank known as the American Legislative…
Add value to your home with these renovations
Finding space to install an extra bathroom in a home can be a worthwhile investment. Homeowners choose renovation projects for a variety of reasons. Although many improvements are made to increase functionality and comfort of a home, several others are seen as worthwhile investments. These investments can add up to a higher resale value when…
Starry Springfield night
Friday Night Star Parties University of Illinois Springfield announces the return of their annual Friday Night Star Parties, which will be held, weather permitting, every Friday night during April from 8 to 10 p.m., at UIS Observatory, located off the southeast corner of Brookens Library. The Star Parties are hosted by Dr. John C. Martin,…
Paying for downtown
Subsidies are key as the city strives to redevelop downtown Springfield. The city would provide $700,000 in tax increment financing under a proposal by the developer of a proposed complex for student housing that would be built on a parking lot at the intersection of Fourth and Madison streets, according to Michael Farmer, city economic…
Renovating a historic home
Historic-home renovations require additional planning and a bigger budget than newer homes. Living in an historic home can be a labor of love. The history and the distinct architecture of historic homes draw buyers to such properties, but what historic homes have in regard to history they often lack in the conveniences of modern life,…
How to build a disaster-resilient house
Extreme weather events in every season now are thrashing, burning, flooding and flattening many homes into rubble, and such storms are making many homeowners wonder what would happen to their homes if they were in the path of such destructive winds. The frequency of severe storms is giving us one more reason to build with…
Street fight
Illinois lawmakers used $300 million meant for roads to plug a budget hole earlier this year, so now they’re considering replacing the money with a higher tax on motor fuels. The proposal would eliminate the sales tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, instead raising the separate motor fuel tax. A group of oil industry interests…
Last rights
Balancing a budget on the backs of poor people who are on their backs seems cold even for a member of the New Republican Party. In early April, Mr. Bruce Rauner suspended reimbursements paid by the state to funeral homes that bury dead public-aid recipients. The current reimbursements (up to $1,103 in funeral expenses and…
Malice in Wonderland
My boyfriend has a crazy ex-wife who can’t let go. She is the meanest, most vengeful and manipulative person, initially convincing the 15-year-old son she has with my boyfriend that I’m the reason “Dad won’t come back.” (He actually divorced her after she, in a fit of rage, made a false police report about him.)…
Mirren anchors powerful Woman in Gold
Max Irons as Fritz and Tatiana Maslany as Young Maria Altmann in Woman in Gold. PHOTO COURTESY THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY In 1999, Maria Altmann filed suit against the Austrian government in an effort to regain ownership of five paintings done by Gustav Klimt that once belonged to her family but had been stolen by the…
A collaboration spanning a century
A Net to Snare the Moonlight publication event On Saturday, April 18, the Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site hosts a publication event to celebrate A Net to Snare the Moonlight, a children’s book of poems written and illustrated by two talented Springfieldians: the late poet Nicholas Vachel Lindsay and visual artist Felicia Olin. Lindsay,…
Game of drones
Curses, foiled againCass Alder, 22, bought table napkins made with images of $100 bills on them, then cut out the images, glued them onto paper and tried passing one of the bogus bills at a convenience store. The clerk refused to accept it. Alder exited the store but left the bill behind. It was used…
Presidential hopefuls address inequality
At last, America’s political leaders indicate that they now hear the voices and feel the pain of the poor and of the millions of working families slipping out of the middle class. Congress had previously paid no attention to the ever-widening chasm between the rich and the rest of us, but that inequality has recently…
Transplanting trees is no small task
An alluring landscape can make a home that much more enjoyable. Many homeowners devote considerable time to their lawns and gardens, and that devotion can pay both instant and long-term dividends. A well-groomed landscape can make it more enjoyable to relax in the yard, and such a property will be more attractive to prospective buyers…
Art en plein air
Art at Adams Wildlife Sanctuary On Saturday, April 18, join the Prairie Art Alliance and Springfield Audubon Society to paint, draw, photograph, create and explore the beautiful grounds of Adams Wildlife Sanctuary. The second installment of Art at Adams Wildlife Sanctuary is open to artists of all ages, abilities and mediums. Artists are invited to…
Jeffrey Parsons walks
Despite fibbing in court documents, violating a court order and stiffing debtors, embattled entrepreneur Jeffrey Parsons got a break last week from a judge who could have jailed him for making inconsistent statements in court and failing to pay former employees who have successfully sued him. At one point during the proceedings, U.S. District Court…
Letters to the Editor 4/16/15
MED SCHOOL MINORITIES Kudos to Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, which has extremely competitive admission requirements, for achieving a 15 percent minority medical student enrollment, which is much better than any other institution in our country with similarly competitive admission requirements. Vinod GuptaSpringfield USE YOUR VOICE I would like to thank the nearly 2,200…
A haven for Japanese maples
David and Gale Myers have some 400 varieties of Japanese Maples and other cultivars at Davidsan’s 22-acre nursery. PHOTO BY GINNY LEE For tree lovers and connoisseurs of Japanese maples in particular, Davidsan’s, at 919 S. Farmingdale Road near New Berlin, is a paradise. David and Gale Myers’ 22-acre tree farm is the largest Japanese…
Cory’s story and more
Cory Branan breezes into Homespun Republic for a Bedrock 66 Live! concert with Tim Easton on Thurs., April 16. We’ve got a lot to cover this week as we shake off the chill and get down to the happenings before summer goes bananas. On Thursday, the Bedrock 66 Live! concert series hosts another show for…
NO ROOM AT THE INN
The Sangamon County Juvenile Detention Center once had such a paucity of prisoners that the county shut down a 24-bed wing in 2009, housed detainees from other counties and at one point considered converting space to house adult inmates. No longer. Beginning last summer, the population has risen to the point that the county has…
