Cover Story
Asking the public for help
Several local small businesses, faced with plummeting sales entering this holiday season due to unforeseen circumstances, have turned to a new method of keeping the doors open – pleas for help from the public. A growing number of small business owners have recently posted heartfelt pleas on social media about not being able to pay…
Mary reflects what Christmas means
At this time of year memory returns me to Kinesa al-Saa’ – the Church of the Clock – priory church of our Iraqi Dominican brothers in Mosul for more than 200 years. My first encounter with this historically complex edifice was 24 years ago. Over a series of visits, I was privileged to spend many…
Madigan corruption trial continues
Whenever someone assures you that another person you’re both dealing with “understands” the “quid pro quo,” you’d be wise to run away as fast as you can and never look back. But that’s exactly how then-Ald. Daniel Solis assured then-House Speaker Michael Madigan in late June of 2017 that their mark – the developers of…
EPA prepares to move to White Oaks Mall
The new Illinois Environmental Protection Agency headquarters is expected to be completed this month – 18 months behind schedule and with a price per square foot more than double that of other new commercial construction projects in Springfield. The $80 million price tag for repurposing the 186,000-square-foot former Sears department store at White Oaks Mall…
Viper Mine announces closure
Operations at the Viper Mine in Elkhart are shutting down after the city of Springfield chose a cheaper coal supplier for its electrical power plant. The mine, which at its peak employed about 300 miners, now is down to a skeleton crew responsible for dismantling equipment, Jim Smith, president of Knight Hawk Coal, told Illinois…
An alternative to the ER
As many as 70% of patients who seek care in the emergency rooms of Springfield Memorial Hospital or HSHS St. John’s Hospital could be served quicker, and at less cost, by a new outpatient facility scheduled to open in early January. That’s the view of the future co-medical directors of Springfield Clinic’s Urgent Care Plus,…
Mary’s role in the Christmas story
And she gave birth to her firstborn son … Luke 2:7 Mary plays a unique and prominent role in the Judeo-Christian story of a sacred journey. It is Mary who brings God’s son into the world. In her womb she carried the One Christians call Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Mary’s significance…
Letters to the editor 12-05-24
SPECIAL COUNTY BOARD MEETING The Sangamon County Board Elections Committee will hold a special meeting Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to consider whether, in light of the tragic killing of Sonya Massey, our county should give voters the right to recall our sheriff when the people lose confidence in him or her. The public is invited…
Dairy Rhythms 2, the Milkhouse
Dairy Rhythms 2, the Milkhouse The milkhouses tunes play all at once, Weaving in and out: machine time quick, quick, quick sorta-fast, sorta-fast and slo–o–o–o–owly. The andante paddles of a pasteurizing vat Travels to the ceiling and ripples poco-a-poco down the ramp of cooling coils cantabile into the bottling tank the bottles rise, fill, lower…
A delicious theme
When planning a holiday soiree you may want to pull out your finest china, splurge on a big roast and treat your guests to fancy hors d’oeuvres. Other occasions, however, call for a more casual, laid back and economical approach. A winter soup and salad party is a delicious theme, made even better thanks to…
No day but today: RENT returns to Springfield
The Springfield Theatre Centre closes out 2024 with the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical RENT, directed by LaDonna Wilson. This joyfully rebellious, 1990s riff on the Italian opera, La Boheme, is set in New York City’s East Village during the height of the AIDS/HIV epidemic. The story follows a group of young artists grappling with homelessness,…
December music doings
Well, it certainly feels like December out there as Old Man Winter (whoever they are) showed up this week to be too cool for words. I suppose we can call it a good thing to remind us the winter holiday season is upon us and with it a slew of extra music in both quantity…
Christmas mysteries
Have you ever noticed the many mysteries that center around Christmas? Children anxiously wonder and anticipate what they are going to get for Christmas. Millions of shoppers wonder how they are going to pay for the gifts they have bought. Others are mystified by the “magical feat” of getting millions of shoppers in only hundreds…
