Parade unrest
I’m not sure that everyone loves a parade but I do–as a subject. I wrote two columns about the parade that kicks off the Illinois State Fair each year. This one appeared in our paper of August 20, 1987. “I gotta tell the guys in New York about this,” I said to myself. New Yorkers…
Fair to middling
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Thirty-six years ago, Springfield’s mayor was Mike Houston, and the Illinois State Fair was, well, what the fair has always been. I wrote about it in this column of my Prejudices series, which appeared in the IT of August 22, 1980. It varies slightly from…
Nature’s cheats
Appropriate for the Olympics season is this very interesting piece from Scientific American, “Magic Blood and Carbon-Fiber Legs at the Brave New Olympics,” in which Daid Epstein addresses some of the same questions I considered in “Cheating is the American way” way back in 2012. Epstein’s answers? He doesn’t have any, any more than I did. In…
Best of Springfield 2016 Assets
Best of Springfield 2016 It’s that time of year again when loyal IT readers sound off on their favorite things in the capital city and surrounding area. It’s a two-step process again this year, and here’s the way it works: Results Issue – October 27th The results issue will list all winners. Stories and/or…
Bouncing back
Today’s trampoline parks are safer than those of yesteryear. PHOTO BY IRFAN KHAN/TNS The wonderful thing about getting older is watching people falling for the same cons their grandparents did. The Philippines invasion became Vietnam became Iraq. Trump is Buchanan again, who was Perot again, who was Wallace, and so it goes, all the way…
The populist insurgency is ratcheting up
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE What an amazing Democratic primary season it was. And we now have this happy result: We won! “We” being the millions of young people, mad-as-hell working stiffs, independents, deep-rooted progressives and other “outsiders” who felt The Bern and forged a new, game-changing, populist force of, by and for…
Voter suppression?
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS Is Illinois the next state to deal with “voter suppression”? Maybe, depending how you look at it. You may know that a conservative group filed a federal lawsuit last week to stop Illinois’ election-day voter registration law from being carried out this November. The group’s top expert in the case is…
Letters to the Editor 8/11/16
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT TRUMPING EXPECTATIONSDonald Trump is the GOP’s choice. People are expecting major changes with Trump as president. Voters need to submit to Trump what they expect of him. If Trump cannot meet those voter demands, he will be a disappointment. Our disappointment is God’s appointment. Brenda ArmsteadSpringfield MELANIA AND BILLI must have missed…
Editor’s note 8/11/16
Too bad that the federal judge denied Rod Blagojevich’s appeal to reduce his prison sentence from 14 years to five. The full sentence seems excessive, considering that the hapless Rod is remorseful and won’t hurt anybody. Now he’s just part of the crowd of thousands of prisoners serving excessive sentences, many in prison for life…
TPP: U.S. world leadership?
The Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership, to be voted on by Congress soon, is a quilt of many colors, disparate pieces stitched together. This is a complex bill which you probably will support if you believe it will strengthen U.S. leadership in the world, but you will oppose if you think corporations should not be given excessive…
State Fair Shuffle
PHOTO BY E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS Three of the 1985 Chicago Bears will lead the Illinois State Fair’s annual Twilight Parade on Thursday, Aug. 11. Dan Hampton, Otis Wilson and Steve McMichael are all former Super Bowl champions and current members of a band called The Chicago 6. The band, whose repertoire ranges from ZZ Top…
See up to 150 meteors per hour
The Perseid Meteor Shower occurs around the second week of August each year. The Perseid shower is generally known for producing up to 100 frequent, bright meteors an hour. However, due to Jupiter’s recent nudging of the Swift/Tuttle comet’s debris stream closer to Earth’s orbit, astronomers are predicting more than 150 meteors per hour for…
Look on the always right side
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon I’m a Harvard-educated man in my late 30s. I’ve had many ugly arguments with girlfriends, probably because I am highly opinionated and won’t give in when I’m right. I’ve always dated smart, professional women around my age but I’m now dating a 21-year-old girl, and I’m thinking this could be…
Tardy party
After months of waiting for the state to take the lead, Lisa Higgs created an ad hoc bicentennial planning commission in Springfield. Higgs, president of the Vachel Lindsay Association, stands in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue by Andrew O’Connor, placed at the Illinois State Capitol during the state’s centennial celebration in 1918. PHOTO BY…
Illinois decriminalizes pot
Possessing small amounts of marijuana is no longer a crime in Illinois, thanks to a new law which took effect in July. State lawmakers also recently loosened the rules governing the Illinois medical marijuana program. The two developments mean Illinois is following the national trend of rethinking a long demonized plant. On July 29, Gov.…
Maybe this time?
By most accounts, Aug. 3 was an auspicious day for school funding reform in Illinois. It marked the first meeting of the Illinois School Funding Reform Commission, a bipartisan group which aims to devise a more equitable and effective formula to distribute state education dollars among Illinois school districts. However, the new group is likely…
DRUG WAR PRISONER
Last week, President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 214 federal inmates, potentially freeing a Springfield man given a life sentence for possessing crack cocaine in 1997. Obama’s move also set a record for most commutations in a single day, raising his total number of commutations to 562 – more than the previous nine presidents…
MARKET MOVES
Sometimes, experiments just don’t work out. The Old Capitol Farmers Market in downtown Springfield is moving its Wednesday hours back to the morning after a brief stint in the evening. The move follows a vote by the vendors, who cited hot weather hurting their sales. The group also voted to ask the City of Springfield…
Jenkins hits all the right notes
Meryl Streep as the title role in Florence Foster Jenkins. Where a film like Florence Foster Jenkins is concerned, finding the right tone is key to its success. Director Stephen Frears knows a thing or two about creating the proper mood and intent of a piece (Philomena, High Fidelity), and his skill is key to…
More than fair
Copper Canyon plays cool country at The Shed, 2 p.m., on Friday, August 12 at the Illinois State Fair. Here comes the Illinois State Fair, ready or not. Not long ago, many wondered if the fair would even happen with all the state budget nonsense but never fear, folks, the fair is here. Due to…
The Cell Phones
Rolling in from Chicagoland to promote their sophomore release, No, out this fall on No Trend Records, this “extreme pop power” trio stakes claim to playing “aggressive rock and roll with a precision and intensity not often heard outside of the metal genre” and makes good on said claim. On a Midwest run through Wisconsin,…
All you need is water
There are few things that one can do to have an immediate and positive impact on one’s health. Increasing physical activity and changing one’s diet are critical steps in improving overall health and vitality, but persistence, organization and dedication are required to get results. Thankfully, there is something everyone can do to instantly improve their…
Union bashin’ is still in fashion
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT
summer cottage # 17
this place used to be niceit will be again after a bitbut this summer we arriveto plumbing problems powerproblems worst is mice theyhave been into everythingbedding shredded drawersfouled not a dish you dareeat on it is hard to be anowner from a thousand milesaway oh well the woods are coolwhite indian pipes on the hillstand…
