Kiss gives it up for Springfield
Gene Simmons, bassist and founding member of Kiss, acts scary during Wednesday’s show. Photos by Bruce Rushton. Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder hoisted the two-fingered rock-and-roll salute, the crowd booed at the mention of Gov. Bruce Rauner. And there were also plenty of pyrotechnics and never-gets-old theatrical tricks as Kiss paid a visit to the Illinois…
Just Enough Magic Keeps “Dragon” Afloat
I went into David Lowery’s Pete’s Dragon skeptical about what it had to offer; little did I know that this frame of mind would be in keeping with that of many in the movie itself. This re-do of the 1977 Disney feature has very little in common with the original in terms of tone and…
Get right or get out
Back in June, news got about that there was waiting on the governor’s desk a bill to set up a Muslim Advisory Council. Kumbaya gestures of this sort have long been popular among politicians pandering to groups whose good opinion they hope to win. This particular bill, as would quickly become apparent, was so ill-drafted…
Legalized highway robbery
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Some corporations engage in such abusive consumer rip-offs that they’re just plain evil. But then there are some profiteers that dig even deeper into the dark void of their corporate souls to achieve the ultimate status: truly evil. Consider the gang of debt collection firms that are thugglishly…
Term limits ad already tops one million dollars
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS An organization controlled by Gov. Bruce Rauner has spent a million dollars on a new television ad promoting legislative term limits in a little over a week. And that’s just for starters. Turnaround Illinois, Inc. is one of those “dark money” non-profit groups that doesn’t have to disclose its donors. It…
Letters to the Editor 8/18/16
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton ARTWORK BY MICHAEL HOGUE/TNS VOTE WITH CONSCIENCEFormer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touts her diplomatic experience in her run for the U.S. presidency. While secretary of state, she failed to get our citizens out of harm’s way in Benghazi, Libya, as other nations did. She was complicit having our military…
Editor’s note 8/18/16
Watching Bruce Rauner throw his money around brings mixed feelings. First he buys Republican politicians, then the champion steer. He plans to renovate the governor’s mansion with private money, beginning with his own, and now he’s launched a foundation to renovate the fairgrounds the same way. It’s wrong for him to keep state government artificially…
Bring the legislature back
Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez I represent a unique district on the west side of Springfield and Sangamon County – one with many dedicated state workers and many others who rely on the state for funding or services. We also have folks who work at our hospitals and other medical facilities, social service agencies, many small…
Under the sea
See Ariel, Flounder, Ursula, King Triton, Sebastian and more during The Muni’s presentation of Disney’s Little Mermaid. Based on the classic 1989 Disney film and the 1830s fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, the musical runs Aug. 19-21 and 24-28 with show times at 8:30 p.m. nightly. This family favorite is directed by Craig Williams…
Casual coroner
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon I dress like a tomboy: jeans, T-shirts, hoodies and work boots. My boyfriend of a year wants me to wear skirts and dresses more often. Nothing trashy. Just not my usual tomboy wear. This weekend I wore a sundress to brunch. It made him so happy, and he kept…
Hindus at home on the prairie
A planned new Hindu temple on the western outskirts of Chathm will be twice as large as the existing structure that was once home to a Baptist church. DRAWING COURTESY THE HINDU TEMPLE OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD At sunset one recent Thursday, Dr. Dharmendra Nimavat pauses outside the Hindu Temple of Greater Springfield, where he is…
Springfield snubbed a president
Throughout his “Swing Around the Circle Speaking Tour” Andrew Johnson was treated coldly while crowds cheered for General U. S. Grant and Admiral David Farragut. Both images from Swinging Round the Circle, or, Andy’s Trip to the West by When receiving word that the Chief Magistrate is planning a visit, the hosting city is usually…
A fair deal
PHOTO BY DAVID HINE Amid an epic state budget impasse that has curtailed social services and upped the state’s backlog of unpaid bills past $8 billion, the Illinois State Fair thrives. Claiming poverty, Gov. Bruce Rauner shut down the state museum and cut funding to preserve the papers of Abraham Lincoln, but when it comes…
Battle over services to seniors and disabled
A yearlong battle between the state and home care workers came to a head this month, with the state rescinding an unpopular policy and the governor vetoing a bill preserving the programs in their current form. The union covering home care workers says Gov. Bruce Rauner is trying to dismantle programs for seniors and people…
Plenty to chew on in Sausage Party
A scene from Sausage Party. PHOTO COURTESY COLUMBIA PICTURES Not only does Seth Rogen’s Sausage Party have the greatest title in the history of cinema, it also features talking hot dogs, graphic scenes of various food items having sex, scads of racial stereotypes and a timely message about the state of international relations. Who’d a…
Fair to middlin’
Jordan Feliz joins with for KING & COUNTRY to headline the Powerlight Fest on the Lincoln stage at the Illinois State Fair on Sunday. As we wind our way through the second Thursday of the Illinois State Fair, let’s see what we can find to do at the fair and otherwise. Fair enough? With the…
Selector Dub Narcotic
Calvin Johnson, who will perform this Wednesday as Selector Dub Narcotic, has had a lasting influence on independent and underground music that is hard to overestimate. Beginning way back in 1982, his Olympia-based label, K Records, provided an early template for indie rock, inspiring Kurt Cobain (who identified, tongue-in-cheek, as a “Calvinist”) along with helping…
summer cottage #18
I try to connect with my grandkidsit’s not easy but I think I got mygrandson’s attention he was fishingflinging his line around though notdangerously I said I got hooked oncehe showed interest so I continued howI was nine on a dock where a youngerkid swung his line back caught meneatly between my nostrils I stumbledhome…
Migration celebration
This Saturday join The Log Cabin Birders and Lincoln Land Association of Bird Banders at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site for a celebration of some of the world’s smallest birds. Averaging just 3-5 inches in length, hummingbirds have the highest metabolism of any homoeothermic creature, a necessity to support the rapid beating of their…
I the people
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT
Swimming upstream
King salmon with blueberry sauce. PHOTO BY PETER GLATZ Fish can be a beneficial component of a healthy diet. Fish are the major sources of long-chain omega-3 fats, are high in protein and low in saturated fat. Evidence suggests that eating fish or taking fish oil is good for the heart and blood vessels. The…
