Cover Story
At home with Darren Bailey
The last Clay County farmer elected governor was John Riley Tanner in 1896, but Darren Bailey hopes to be the second. In fact, Bailey took the doorway from what was Tanner’s house and made it the entryway to his living room. One way or another, through that portal, a governor will have walked. Earlier this…
First craft-grow site plan filed
Cannabis entrepreneur Chris Stone hopes to receive city approval for a proposed craft-grow business in Springfield this fall on behalf of a company called Cyclone Labs. The Springfield resident recently filed a request for a zoning permit to open in an 18,800-square-foot warehouse site on the city’s northeast side at 3451 Lumber Lane. The plan…
sun bonnet sue
our junior high 9th graders staged an operetta every year; my sisters had solos their years I’d have been part of the chorus my 9th grade for I had no solo voice but that was ok all us 8th graders looked forward to our coming turn but then the director skimmed off the best 8th…
Letters to the editor 9/15/22
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY I am writing in response to the article “City fined for housing discrimination” (Sept. 1). I would think the individuals voting against it should be ashamed of themselves. What thought…
Downstate loses political importance
I was looking for something else recently on Scott Kennedy’s Illinois Election Data website and noticed he had voter turnout numbers from statewide races since 1990. We all know that Downstate has lost a significant amount of its political importance, but the numbers really help illustrate this decline. In 1990, 42% of the total vote…
Death of a watchdog I knew
A former colleague of mine was stabbed to death in his front yard this month, apparently for writing something someone didn’t like. His name was Jeff German and he was a crackerjack reporter who spent a career covering crime and corruption in Las Vegas. We worked together at the Las Vegas Sun some 23 years…
Labor seeks to tighten control over Illinois
An amendment to the Illinois Constitution sponsored by organized labor is quietly, as if on cat’s paws, marching toward enactment at the November election. The amendment would prohibit “right-to-work” legislation, and also give unprecedented power to unions where the authority of the National Labor Relations Act is uncertain, such as with charter schools. Enactment by…
Editors note 9/15/22
Long criticized for profiting from stock trades that might be based on inside information, members of Congress made a rule that they must disclose trades that may present conflicts of interest. Now those disclosures are showing why disclosure is not enough to keep legislators in line. The New York Times has examined the trading data…
Progress for Poplar Place
A $38 million renovation of the deteriorated Poplar Place private housing development for low- and moderate-income families is scheduled to begin in January and be complete after 18 months. Chicago-based Related Midwest, owner of the 23-acre site on Springfield’s east side, outlined its plans to the City Council recently when it said another $1 million…
The Outlet youth tour civil rights sites
The Outlet is giving low-income youth in Springfield opportunities to expand their knowledge, resilience and perspective of the world and their place in it. For the past five summers, they have taken students to Selma, Montgomery, Atlanta and Memphis to visit key locations of the civil rights movement and experience college visits. Recently the Springfield…
Changes to downtown traffic coming
The conversion to mostly one-way streets in downtown Springfield, intended to relieve traffic congestion, began in 1949 and continued for 20 years. But that transportation plan in the present day – promoting rapid travel in and out of downtown amid current efforts to make downtown a more vibrant place to shop, gather and live –…
This raucous old comedy still works
The fall theater season begins with a play that caused riots when it premiered in 1907. The Playboy of the Western World is bringing laughter to the Hoogland Center for the Arts Sept. 15-18 for four performances. It is obvious a show is good when a run-thru rehearsal eight days before opening is performance-ready. This…
Frontiers of flavor
When folks ask me what I do at my new job, I like to steal a line from Egon Spengler (played by the late Harold Ramis) from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters: “I collect spores, molds and fungus.” I’m working in the glass-encased, high-tech Research and Development Lab of Chef Sean Brock’s Audrey and June Restaurants…
Fun fests, fundraisers and more music
Now here we go, approaching mid-September already like this year’s in a hurry or something. Maybe we’re just making up for lost pandemic time, but whatever the case may be, here we are ready to see and hear what the week has to offer in music entertainment on the Springfield scene. First and foremost, let’s…
Flavors with neighbors
What started out as a neighborhood event is now welcoming people from all over the city. The fall 2022 edition of the popular food truck and vendor festival, Bites on the Boulevard, is ready to roll into the MacArthur Boulevard neighborhood with a whole lot of flavor. Around 40 vendors are expected including many favorite…
Confess, Fletch is entertaining, God’s Country requires patience, Silent Twins a botched biopic
Confess, Fletch an entertaining lark Sometimes an actor is cast in a role so perfect for them, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing that part. Such is the case with Jon Hamm in Confess, Fletch, an adaptation of the Gregory McDonald novel that reboots the truncated franchise that starred Chevy Chase in two features…
Tax rebate checks go out this week
Gov. JB Pritzker announced Sept. 12 that Illinois taxpayers will soon start receiving rebates of their income and property taxes, either in the mail or by direct bank deposits. Speaking at a news conference in Chicago where he was flanked by other state officials and Democratic leaders of the General Assembly, Pritzker said the rebates…
