Breaking news: Trumps misreads the law
Donald Trump’s bluster about penalizing “sanctuary cities” such as Chicago by withholding federal funds that have nowt to do with immigration is based on his assertion that such cities violate federal statute 8 U.S.C. § 1373(a). Except they don’t, as Nikolas Bowie, Berger-Howe Legal History Fellow at Harvard Law School, makes clear in a recent post on the excellent new…
Making Illinois sick again
The antics of Congressional Republicans trying to vandalize the Affordable Care Act are outside my brief here at Illinois Times, except to the extent that they threaten to do harm to Illinoisans. Happily, Illinois Issues’ Kristy Kennedy has written the piece I haven’t had the time or space to write, and done it better. Among…
Heigl and Dawson Elevate “Unforgettable”
Perhaps it’s from having watched Fox TV’s excellent mini-series Feud, the chronicle of the fierce rivalry between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis that occurred during the making of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? that put me in the mood for Denise Di Novi’s Unforgettable. Then again, I may have just wanted to turn my brain…
Hogs, continued
Kewanee is known to the wider world. It was officially dubbed the “Hog Capital of the World” in 1948, when government agriculture statistics showed that Henry County led the world in hog production. Kewanee is no longer the hog capital of the world, if it ever was. But the hog still figures prominently in the…
Pork bellies — and much else — explained
In “The hog and I” (April 20, 2017) I recalled a magazine article I wrote in 1982 about the hog industry. It was a fun piece, but the information in it is badly dated; the funniest bit is where I report that worries about the health effects of animal fats, and salt and preservatives used in…
White-collar flight
For 90 years, “Caterpillar” was just a different way of spelling P-e-o-r-i-a. But the company has decided to move its entire executive team of some 300 people out of the River City to Chicago’s northern suburbs. The mayor called the decision a kick in the gut, and well he might. Without these corporate Olympians, a…
The people must build the people’s government
In high school, I had a girlfriend who was involved in student government and all sorts of good works. While she paid attention to all that was happening in those years of the early 1960s, she essentially was a moderate – certainly not some movement rebel. Or so we thought – until one lazy Sunday…
Two more Illinois universities downgraded to junk bond ratings
Congratulations, everybody! Illinois now has five public universities with junk bond credit ratings. That has to be some kind of record. Last week, S&P Global Ratings lowered the credit score of both Southern Illinois University and Western Illinois University into junk bond status. Eastern, Northeastern and Governor’s State were already in junk bond territory and…
Letters to the Editor 4/27/17
MASTER PLAN FOR TREESAs Arbor Day approaches, it is sad to see Springfield having lost so many of its trees to storm damage and disease over the last few years. The downtown, neighborhoods and parks have all been affected by the loss. It’s difficult to walk a couple of blocks in the city without…
Editor’s Note 4/27/17
As the U. S. Senate heads to the White House to hear the administration’s assessment of North Korea’s nuclear capability, and as President Trump continues his threat to use preemptive military strikes, what seems strange is that there is no sense of alarm here, nothing like the dread felt during the Cuban missile crisis. The…
Changing health care for the better
Leaders on Capitol Hill are about to turn their attention to health care reform again. While “repeal and replace” has the most attention, what is at stake is beyond the fate of the Affordable Care Act. We have the opportunity to strengthen health care for the future and create a more effective and efficient system…
Charge into summer
Support the YMCA’s national initiative to improve the health and well-being of children and their families by attending the Healthy Kids Day Triathlon and Festival. The second annual triathlon is open to children ages 5-14; triathlon length/intensity is dictated by age category. Depending on their age group, kids will complete a 50-300 yard swim followed…
Sustainability
On Saturday, April 29, area adults and children are invited to celebrate the start of the 2017 growing season with a festival hosted by Grow Springfield and the Lincoln Land Community College Culinary Institute. The Second Annual Homegrown Fest will feature mini-workshops, activities and demonstrations that emphasize gardening, cooking skills, homesteading, DIY projects and more.…
Porky party
For the perfect date night, family fun day or solo outing, look no further than the Springfield Art Associations’ annual Roasted: Hot Pots and Pork event. Choose a pre-made ceramic pot, glaze it, and then watch the pot be fired in an outdoor Raku kiln. A whole hog roast dinner provided by Hickory River Smoke…
Caveheart
I’m a woman in my 30s. I love parties and talking to people, and thank God, because I attend networking events for work. My boyfriend, on the other hand, is an introvert, hates talking to strangers and loathes “shindigs.” How do we balance my longing to go to parties with his desire to stay home? –…
You’re a free man! Now what?
The Illinois Innocence Project based at University of Illinois Springfield, is part of a nationwide network of groups working toward overturning wrongful convictions. Since it began in 2001, the IIP has helped win freedom for 10 innocent people, the most recent of which was Charles Palmer, set free on the day before Thanksgiving 2016, after…
Pioneers in women’s baseball
Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers, by Debra Shattuck.University of Illinois Press, 2017. The role of women in sports has traveled a somewhat winding road, occasionally strewn with potholes and detours. The women of my baby-boomer era played few sports in high school or college. In the early 1970s, the passage of Title IX of the…
Take this plaque and shove it
The annual journalism contest sponsored by the Illinois Press Association is supposed to be a measuring stick for excellence, a chance for newspapers large and small to boast to readers about winning awards in categories ranging from news writing to photography to page design. Judges are enlisted from press associations outside Illinois. But judges didn’t…
Pritzker takes strong stand on abortion rights
Illinois gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat from Chicago, pulled no punches when asked about Gov. Bruce Rauner’s changed stance on abortion rights. “Either Rauner lied when he was running for governor and said he was pro-choice but isn’t, or changed his mind because his right-wing buddies said, ‘If you don’t, we’ll run somebody against…
The end of the landline
Legislation sponsored by AT&T could threaten access to services such as 911 and medical monitoring for low-income and rural residents in parts of Illinois served by the telecommunication giant, according to AARP Illinois, Illinois PIRG and the Citizens Utility Board (CUB). Senate Bill 1381 and House Bill 2691 would abolish the state requirement that AT&T…
REPORT BUNTING SIGHTINGS
Two very colorful species of birds only seen in central Illinois during late April and early May are set to make their annual appearances. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting both feed on seeds, which are scarce in the area this time of year, making feeders a likely place to spot them (they are especially…
GOT DRUGS?
Once upon a time, a few extra Vicodins or Percocets after a root canal or sprained ankle were considered good things. No need to call the doctor for more drugs in the event of a twisted back or particularly bad day at the office. But no more. With the rise of cheap heroin, even cheaper…
Free Fire a slick exercise in nihilism
While you couldn’t technically call Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire a chamber play, you might be able to get by with referring to it as a pressure chamber movie. Its concept is simple – a limited number of players in a confined space – and its execution slick, professional and all you would want from a…
So long April and Riverboat 5+1
Here we go, wrapping up April 2017 like it was nothing. But far from nothing is what’s going on around town. There are final gigs, first gigs, fun gigs, gigs galore, and so much more happening in the various venues of our capital city. Don Udey of Riverboat 5+1, central Illinois’ leading Dixieland jazz band,…
JC Brooks
A force on the national scene for several years now, what started as a lark with a band called Uptown Sound has morphed into a major career of increasing proportions for JC Brooks. Based out of Chicago (and formerly on the city’s Bloodshot Records label) Brooks, as lead vocalist, along with band mates Alec Lehrman…
Be careful what you wish for
I was in Montreal for my annual trip with my son Robb. We were in a quiet gallery in the Marc Chagall exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts when the loud call of a hunting horn emanated from my shirt pocket and shattered the silence. I had just received a message on my…
playground poem # 3
this is my soapbox we’ve hadrecently a week of school holsagain the schoolyard next doorhas been locked up nine days ina row older kids scale my fenceuse the basketball hoop youngerkids zilch but a few days agosome young ones got in ratherall did but a chubby ten year oldshe had real trouble getting overmy chain…
