Minorities disproportionately stopped and searched
A study of traffic stop data released by the Illinois Department of Transportation shows minority drivers in Illinois and in Springfield are more likely than white drivers to be stopped and searched by police. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union is pushing the federal government to investigate racial bias in traffic stop searches. The IDOT…
Good news for women’s health and pocketbooks
U. S. health insurance companies must offer women free birth control and other preventive health care services under Obama administration rules released this week. The rules from the Health and Human Services Department largely follow recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, an independent panel of doctors and health experts. Ending those extra out-of-pocket insurance charges…
Anthology publishes poetry of area teens
Several local students recently had poems and/or artwork accepted for publication in the annual teen poetry anthology, Navigating the Maze. The book was published by central Illinois’ nonprofit literary organization, Springfield Poets and Writers, and is supported in part by The Vachel Lindsay Association. Now in its 12th year of publication, NTM accepts submissions from…
The pleasures of paella
I’ve had Spain on my brain lately. Not because I’m planning a trip, although it’s high on my travel wish list. It’s because on Aug. 14 my husband, Peter, and I will host a house concert by a world-famous flamenco guitarist. We’d decided not to have any more house concerts until fall. But when the…
Nuclear reactions
On the 66th anniversary of the bombing of Nagaski, three days after the Hiroshima bombing anniversary, view the feature-length documentary, The Forgotten Bomb, presented free at Lincoln Library hosted by Pax Christi of Springfield. From Japan to throughout the U.S., filmmaker Bud Ryan explored the world of nuclear weapons and sought answers through interviews with…
Musical glee
Theatre in the Park presents seven nights in the outdoor amphitheatre of its latest production, Disney’s spirited Camp Rock. Along the lines of the popular television show Glee, Camp Rock sings and dances its way through a storyline. Camp Rock now has competition from the newly opened Camp Star, located across the lake, so campers…
Bird in hand
Now is your chance to see a hummingbird in hand as Illinois Audubon Society board member and master permit bander Vernon Kleen, along with Mary Hedrick of the Sangamon Audubon Chapter, captures and bans birds to track their migration. You can help operate a trap, record data and help Vernon release a bird back into…
Downhome is downtown
Howdy folks! Allow me to introduce you to the latest and greatest downtown music fest. Illinois Times Now Playing readers meet the Downhome Music Festival. Debuting this Sat., Aug. 6, on the corner of Seventh and Washington streets from 2 to 11 p.m. and featuring a string of local performers on two stages, the fest…
Photography of friendship over fear
From time to time world events force people of faith to choose between bending to the will of a despotic ruler or living out the core values of their faith. Some choose the risky path of faith. In the early 1940s when European nations crumbled under the weight of economic depression and the invading armies…
Entertainment and arts
Join 300,000 friends (yes, that’s five zeros) downtown at the ultimate street party, the Decatur Celebration, themed this year The Big Reunion. Whether you’re reuniting with your favorite fair food such as an elephant ear, or reconnecting with 80s metal band Night Ranger, Aug. 7, as they plug in some rock on one of the…
READING CAUSES MURDER
With the advent of digital book downloads, it seems unlikely that a company specializing in electronic books would encourage people to visit traditional brick-and-mortar libraries. But the Chatham Area Public Library is proof of the power of reading, no matter what the medium. The Chatham library recently won a $1,000 grant from OverDrive, Inc., a…
Paella
I’ve never actually made paella, although I’ve helped with prep. That’s because it’s Peter’s specialty, something he’s made for years for our family, for dinner parties, and when camping. He’s acquired several paella pans of various sizes. The latest measures 26 inches across, purchased specially for the upcoming concert. This recipe is adapted from one…
Letters to the Editor 08/04/11
NOT CORN, BEANSI believe James Krohe Jr. [see “It’s not the heat, it’s the corn,” July 21] and Mr. Changnon (Northern Illinois University climatologist) both have beans between their ears. They are grabbing disconnected facts out of the hot humid air to provide shaky support for a whimsical theory. If the row crops are providing…
Erratic tone a clue to Crazy, Stupid, Love
Perhaps one of the most difficult things to describe is the tone of any work of art. Merriam-Webster defines “tone” as the “style or manner of expression in writing or speaking,” which does little to clarify what this element truly is. But one thing is for sure – when the tone of a novel or…
Hot Bag O’ Donuts and Catalyst
Bourbon Street Rhythm & Ribs, better known to old-timers as Bruce’s Tavern, recently began hosting rock bands every Friday and Saturday night. This Friday becomes more than a wild, rocking show and turns into a fundraiser with the $5 cover going to assist the Access 4 Producers Group in setting up a new production studio…
Arts are the main course, not dessert
The arts are infinite and inexhaustible. Every artistic production sustains each hungry member of its audience for years, not just for a moment. That’s how Peter Sellars sees it. Sellars, an international director and producer, has lived and worked in France, Africa and Australia, directed Los Angeles festivals in the 1990s and created opera and…
griefpoem #11
living with grief it isgood to do quiethomely things washingdishes by hand taping upa tear in a child’s favoritepicture book dipping oarsslowly while you gaze atthe water’s parallel eddiesswirling gently away
Moving kids from fat to fit
This school year, in a little patch of yard beside a set of mobile classrooms at Southern View Elementary School, students and their teachers are hoping to find a few new flavors. As a way to teach students about health and wellness, the District 186 school is building a garden in a sunny spot that…
Cowboys outduel aliens in clever mash-up
When Hollywood execs bandy about ideas like throwing malevolent aliens into a traditional western, it’s referred to as a “high concept.” Obviously, this proves that those in charge of making movies are just as intent on fooling themselves as they are you, dear viewer. And while Jon Favreau’s Cowboys and Aliens will never be mistaken…
America’s shameful leadership
OK, Barack Obama has not exactly turned out to be Mount Rushmore material, but – good God! – the petulant pettiness of right-wing Republican congressional leaders has turned them into a national embarrassment. America has big needs right now. But those needs are not even being addressed, because little whiney ideologues like Eric Cantor, the…
Illinois can’t control its money
A statewide audit of Illinois government released July 28 highlights more than 100 problems with the state’s financial reporting process, case management and more. The 274-page audit by Illinois Auditor General William Holland found issues at 18 state agencies, as well as the governor’s office and the state comptroller’s office. Some problems apply to multiple…
Concussion? Go to the bench.
It was a typical evening of basketball practice in 1997 and a young A.D. Carson wanted nothing more than to be in the game. However, another player had just accidentally stepped on his head, and Carson felt pressured by his coach to stay in play, rather than go to the bench. Even though he wasn’t…
Earth matters
Filmmakers Ben and Julie Evans of Louisville, Ky., will be on hand to answer questions from the audience after the viewing of YERT (Your Environmental Road Trip) at Capital City Bar and Grill during the next Liberty View and Brew meeting. (Mark Dixon is the third filmmaker.) The documentary is a 50-state, year-long journey to…
BE THE BLUES
Nothin’ beats the blues like being a part of them. Downtown Springfield, Inc. is looking for volunteers to help with its 2011 Old Capitol Blues and BBQs event, a street celebration scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Aug. 26 and 27. The event, which features a BBQ competition and various styles of live blues music, starts…
Architectural dreams
Springfield’s Trivial Pursuit is not a party game that is much played these days, except by candidates for state representative seats. Several different versions were released over the years in an attempt to broaden the market by narrowing the appeal to, variously, science buffs, movie obsessives or nostalgists. High time, perhaps, for a Springfield version.…
