Julianne Glatz talking Horseshoes on Chicago TV
Catherine Lambrecht, Vice President of the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance and Julianne Glatz, food writer from Illinois Times, on Chicago TV’s ABC7 talking about the “Road Food” event and demonstrating how to make Springfield’s signature “Horseshoe Sandwich.” [See “What happened to horseshoes?” by Julianne Glatz, posted Feb. 2.] Road Food: Exploring the Midwest One Bite…
Refined design
Saturday, April 21, the Springfield Art Association congratulates this year’s group of locals who created art for its annual fundraising exhibit and reception. This year as the program went green, artists were presented with the challenge of creating art from discarded or recycled materials. Join the SAA, and chairwomen Sarah Albracht and Mary Trask, and…
Not playing in Peoria
Religious leaders and elected officials in Peoria have intervened in collective bargaining between employees and management at the Peoria Journal Star, sister paper of the State Journal-Register. In a letter sent last month to the Journal Star’s publisher, Mayor Jim Ardis and 10 of the city’s 11 council members urged the newspaper to not cut…
Lyons of the House
Retiring state Rep. Joe Lyons, D-Chicago, said a debate on the House floor last month was his “finest hour.” He was probably right. Lyons successfully fought off five hostile floor amendments to his bill requiring that women seeking abortions be offered a look at an ultrasound test before having an abortion. The proposal has been…
Community gardens for a healthier city
In eras past, gardens were ubiquitous in America. During both world wars, gardens were wielded like a weapon, with millions of “Victory Gardens” planted in both private and public spaces across the U.S., relieving pressure on food supplies needed for war. Eventually, the ease and convenience of modern life rendered gardens unnecessary for many Americans,…
Early release would save $153 million
Putting a halt to early prison release in Illinois has cost the state $153 million a year, says one prison reform advocate. Meanwhile, inmates complain of cockroaches in their cells and a lack of rehabilitative programs. State lawmakers met last week to discuss reinstating good conduct credits in response to overcrowding, budget constraints and reports…
Monsterly marvelous
The musical comedy Young Frankenstein, from the creators of the record-breaking Broadway sensation The Producers, comes to Sangamon Auditorium, UIS Saturday, April 21. Based on Mel Brooks’ hilarious film by the same name, three-time Tony winner Brooks himself wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the book to this musical, along with three-time Tony-winning writer…
This small business needs health care reform
When we started our business, Jay’s Professional Automotive, buying expensive health insurance seemed completely out of reach. With so many start-up costs, there were many things we did without. But, getting older, I’ve started worrying more about my health. A few years ago, we decided we needed to get insurance. Obtaining policies for my husband,…
Green houses
Homeowners can’t escape to-do lists – weekend chores, long-term DIY projects, or even plans and designs for building a dream home from the ground up. A growing number of homeowners are adding “make my home greener” to those to-do lists, and they can pick from a variety of projects that fit any budget, goal and…
GOP presidential contenders’ goofy greed
Even though some are out and some are in, the politicians that are/were in the GOP presidential race still are spreading their goofiness around for all the country to see. Let’s start with my state’s gallivanting goober of a governor, Rick Perry. He’s back in the news, with yet another “oops” moment! This one is…
Letters to the Editor 4/19/12
CHICK FIGHT Maybe if Chic-fil-A moves to Springfield we should all move out. [See “What would Col. Sanders do? Chick-fil-A generates controversy at UIS,” by Bruce Rushton, posted April 11.] This politically correct stuff has got to stop. Most of this is the media’s fault. From illinoistimes.com TRUTH HELPS Hats of to Jim Hightower for…
Celebrate your record store
From the humble efforts of a few who believed in honoring our independent record stores, we now have an internationally celebrated and recognized day known as Record Store Day. Held on the third Saturday of April since 2007, the global event brings together thousands of music artists, record companies, independent record stores and music fans…
Feeding the soil builds sustainable lawns
Spraying chemical fertilizers and pesticides on lawns is like giving kids junk food, says landscape designer Cathy Bilow. They’ll be invigorated for a while, but eventually they’ll crash and burn. The chemicals kill organisms in the soil that feed plant roots, and as a result “our lawns are dead,” she told a recent class at…
Cabin turns horror genre inside out
Since its release at this year’s SXSW festival, Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods has been steadily building buzz. The writer/director’s rabid fans have taken to the blogosphere to herald the movie’s “mind-blowing” concept. I’ve never understood Whedon’s appeal, though many have cited his Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly television series as groundbreaking.…
Where are all the paychecks going?
Jobs once done in Springfield have been sent overseas by the State Journal-Register, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor last month agreed with workers facing layoffs in the newspaper’s ad design department that they were losing their jobs to workers outside the United States. As a result, the displaced local…
Large on laughter
One-of-the most popular and beloved comedians in the country pounds into Sangamon Auditorium, UIS this Friday, April 20. Ralphie May is on his Too Big to Ignore tour. Don’t ignore this show. After debuting on season one of “Last Comic Standing,” May was voted one of Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch. With no subject off…
Thin Ice
Joe Cooke, a staple as one the area’s finest classic-rocking blues guitarists for decades, joins Rick Wass on bass and Steve Kelton on drums, former members of the Havana Ducks and other bands, for a rocking country trio, called Thin Ice. The original lineup featured the more country angle of Tim Wallace on guitar, and…
Recycling opportunities grow
Abby Walden believes that before Springfield residents start to consider recycling their trash, they should first be aware of the goods they are purchasing. “Products that cannot be reused, you should think twice about buying them,” Walden said. “Instead of buying plastic water bottles, look into getting a reusable water bottle that you can fill…
Green lighting
Starting in July, the U.S. Department of Energy has new regulations to upgrade old, inefficient, mercury-laden fluorescent light bulbs. About 500 million of the lights, called T12, need to be replaced. The change will save $10 billion a year in energy costs nationwide. There are at least two kinds of lamps that are more energy…
Earth Day and garden event calendar
ONGOING Oversized Items DisposalCity homeowners can schedule a free home pickup of items such as mattresses, furniture or appliances. Call Allied Waste, 522-7797. Residents limited to one free pickup of up to three large items per 12-month period. Other options (fees involved): Sangamon Valley Landfill, 2565 Sandhill Rd., 528-9256. F & W Resources, 3327 Terminal…
Don’t lie to your doctor
A middle-aged man sits in a chair in a Springfield exam room, facing Dr. Joshua Ellison of North Dirksen Medical Associates, a division of Memorial Physician Services. As Ellison looks through the man’s medical charts, he asks a few questions to get to the root of the man’s health problems. “How many beers do you…
Plant rhubarb for decades of desserts
Some of my favorite spring vegetables include lettuce, spinach, asparagus and rhubarb.One of my favorite spring desserts is a slice of warm rhubarb pie with ice cream. Rhubarb, Rheum rhabarbarum, is a cool-season perennial vegetable that was introduced to the United States at the end of the 18th century. Rhubarb was first cultivated in the…
Central Illinois hosts international art symposium
Better known for straight talk and growing corn than delving into obscure and intense visual art works, central Illinois may not seem like an ideal location for a symposium on the 19th century European art movement known as Symbolism. But inspiration knows no bounds and art reaches to the corners of the globe with a…
Exploring Midwest roadfood
The folks at Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance are at it again! In years past, the GMFA, an organization dedicated to “celebrating, exploring, and preserving unique food traditions and their cultural contexts in the American Midwest,” has held symposia with such Midwestern themes as “Stuffed” (Sausages), “Sweets,” “Beef” (Following the Cattlemen’s Trail), and Foodways of the…
Illinois sues Sangamon County over records
Sangamon County authorities are refusing to release records to the state Department of Children and Family Services, which is investigating a serious injury suffered by a DCFS ward at the county’s juvenile detention center last fall. DCFS sued the county last month, asking a judge to order the county to comply with a subpoena issued…
Reformers: sex offender mandate would hurt Illinois
As Illinois lawmakers debate a bill to increase registration requirements for sex offenders under a federal mandate, reform advocates say it would cost the state too much. They say many other states have declined to enact the federal law for the same reason. Currently, most sex offenders in Illinois are required to register for 10…
Save the flags
Behind the high barbed wire of Camp Lincoln in Springfield, in a nondescript brick building and sealed in a row of large, white metal cabinets sits a delicate, tattered silk flag bearing familiar gold stars on a field of blue with red and white stripes. Part of the lower right corner is missing, the edges…
Wedded bliss
Gus Gordon and Cynda Wrightsman play Michael and Agnes in the musical comedy, I Do! I Do! The story of a couple’s 50-year marriage runs for six performances at the Hoogland Center for the Arts over two weekends. Written by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, who also wrote The Fantasticks, the local production includes the…
Inner booty
In your answer to “Dismayed,” the 32-year-old woman with a Ph.D. who was unimpressed by the men she was meeting, I was struck by how cold and calculating it all sounds: Women evolved to marry money and power; men look for eye candy to parade around on their arms. As a man who doesn’t bring…
farmpoem #14
farmpoem #14 this old ledger probably 1900 maybe earlier it’s from a box of stuff from my folks’ house which was full of stuff from my grandparents’ house I have it all I’m trying to sift discard a slow job for instance this ledger shows only names and dates of the breeding of long dead…
Sputnik moments
In the fall of 1957, the then-Soviet Union put into Earth orbit the world’s first artificial satellite. The news excited me – I was a geeky 9-year-old who looked forward to the next issue of Popular Science magazine the way the young Jim Edgar must have looked forward to the next issue of the Illinois…
Word masters
Poetry and slam poetry lovers will not want to miss two significant visits this week by two important men in each genre. Illinois Poet Laureate Kevin Stein (pictured right) reads at the Vachel Lindsay Home Saturday, April 21 at 2 p.m. The Bradley University professor’s presentation is titled “Poetry’s Afterlife,” also the title of his…
