Supervisor suspended for three days
A City Water, Light and Power supervisor was suspended for three days last month for his role in the failure of a generator last November that has resulted in a repair bill estimated at $6 million. Files obtained by Illinois Times under the state Freedom of Information Act show that Robert Archer, CWLP supervisor of…
A dog’s life
If there’s a silver lining to all this, it might be at Sangamon County Animal Control, where the number of animals brought in is down. Adoptions, also, have decreased, according to Sangamon County administrator Brian McFadden, but there remains plenty of room at the inn. As of Thursday evening, kennels, which can hold about 90…
Sangamon County officials announce third coronavirus death
A third person in Sangamon County has died after being infected with the new coronavirus. The news came in a release sent on behalf of the county health department and area hospitals on Saturday afternoon. The patient was a female in her 70s who tested positive on April 4. She was an inpatient at Memorial…
Taking art to the streets
Springfield artist Felicia Olin relies on the Old State Capitol Art Fair for about a third of her annual income. Previously scheduled for mid-May, the fair has been canceled “due to the uncertainty of the COVID 19.” Olin said at times, lately, she’s felt despondent. “I’m literally just staring at a pile of stuff I’ve…
Mayor authorizes fines for businesses
Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder has issued an order requiring businesses to take steps to ensure patrons follow social-distancing protocols or face fines up to $500. Under the order, businesses must establish written policies aimed at ensuring that six-foot distancing guidelines are followed and enforced by employees. Businesses must also post signs at entrances recommending face…
Plant this
There’s lots to criticize about our 28th president. A racist’s racist, Woodrow Wilson fired black federal employees while installing separate bathrooms, work stations and lunch areas for remaining ones. He also signed the Treaty of Versailles, which helped sow World War II and was never ratified by the Senate. But Wilson knew sheep, which he…
A really virtual reality
Greetings all, to week number four (I think) of our quarantined, social-distancing world of the present situation. First, before getting into any music talk, let’s send solace to the grieving who have lost loved ones and our respects to those lost souls taken by this virus and all others who’ve recently departed this plane for…
Movies to watch at home
Now that movie watching has become a home-viewing option for the time being, this space will be devoted to small reviews of films that can be seen on various streaming services, cable channels and video-on-demand. Stay safe and happy viewing! Amazon Prime The Other Lamb – (Rated PG-13, 97 minutes) A girl (Raffey Cassidy) born…
U of I protests of the 1960s
Radicals in the Heartland: the 1960s Student Protest Movement at the University of Illinois by Michael V. Metz gives an insightful, well-documented analysis of events that shaped each year of the 1960s at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana campus. The account is juxtaposed against what was occurring nationwide regarding the Vietnam War, civil rights, freedom…
Beans, for hard times
My year working as a chef in Oklahoma City is coming to a close. The restaurant that dominated my life for 60 hours a week had to shutter and furlough its staff three weeks ago, and my newly acquired free time is being spent downsizing my belongings and packing for a new life living in…
Overcoming trauma
The first time I met Dana Pfeiffer she picked the place. It was near her home in Pleasant Plains, a combination coffee shop slash auto detailer that employs people with disabilities to help them learn job skills. She wore a bright red hoodie. She was impossible to miss. The moment I stepped inside, she turned…
A hotel to call home
Coronavirus is especially risky when it comes to congregate settings. It spreads easily. Throughout the state there have been clusters of infection at correctional facilities and a nursing home. Some have died. And now, some are grappling with the best way to house survivors of domestic abuse who have left unsafe situations. On April 2,…
Can Congress make democratic governance work?
This is a time of great testing for Congress. As it considers responses to the nation’s health and economic crises, it faces close scrutiny by ordinary Americans, financial markets and businesses large and small across the country. The pressure to move quickly is intense, and it is not an institution built for that purpose. Yet…
Editor’s note 04-09-20
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called it a “call-to-action moment” when she announced statistics showing that African Americans in Illinois are getting sick and dying from coronavirus-related illnesses at a disproportionately high rate. In Illinois this week, 43 percent of those who had died from the disease and 28 percent of those who had tested positive…
Letters to the Editor 04-09-20
SOCIAL DISTANCING? I wrote a letter to the editor recently questioning the wisdom of some of the governmental mandates roiling our society. I was told I was divisive, inflammatory and not helpful to public discourse. Hell, my wife tells me that on her good days. I went to Lowe’s at noon on Sunday, March 28,…
sequester poem #1
my friend gary once student emails “Larry REALLY REALLY misses shopping. We store our food on shelves in the basement I said I’d tape price stickers on the items and sit behind a little desk with my calculator and he could peruse the shelves pick out food pay me for it and I’d bag it…
New parties sue over Illinois election rules
Social distancing and stay-at-home orders, instituted to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic, are in direct conflict with Illinois’ ballot eligibility requirements, the Libertarian and Green parties of Illinois allege in a lawsuit filed April 3. Both are considered “new” parties under state election rules, meaning a candidate running for office under those banners must receive…
What happened?
City Water, Light and Power won’t say what led to a breakdown in November that has shut down a generator and stands to cost the city $1 million and its insurer an additional $4 million. Human error contributed to the mishap, sources say. Mayor Jim Langfelder and corporation counsel Jim Zerkle said that problems in…
Grocery shopping during the pandemic
At the entrance to the County Market on Monroe Street, an employee is wiping down carts with a bleach solution. He said he usually works in the deli – which is temporarily closed – and is now sanitizing carts. “They’re (sanitizing them) so the customer sees – they just did this. So it’s another source…
