“Big Bang’s” Simon Helberg Rubs Shoulders with Movie Heavyweights in “Jenkins.”
Thanks to the phenomenal success of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, Simon Helberg is a familiar face in millions of homes around the world. As Howard Wolowitz, the luckiest engineer in the world (he’s married to Melissa Rauch’s Bernadette Rostankowksi after all), the actor has been able to hone his comedic timing and amass a…
Yabba Dabba Doo-ing it
The updated Prairie Capital Convention Center, soon to be renamed for the Bank of Springfield. We learned July 18 that the directors of the Prairie Capital Convention Center approved the sale of naming rights to the building to the Bank of Springfield. Mike Coffey Jr., chairman of the board that oversees the center, told the…
Campaigns end on Election Day
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE The fervent prayer of old-line Democratic operatives and corporate funders is that the Sanders Storm will dissipate now that Hillary Clinton will get the nomination, thus allowing politics-as-usual to reestablish its grip on the system. Here’s why I think they’re dead wrong: First, whatever else you think of…
Madigan ignored his own unpopularity
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS “Do you think he knows what he’s doing?” asked a top Republican last week about House Speaker Michael Madigan’s high-profile role at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Madigan heaped public praise last week on at least two potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Chris Kennedy. And he…
Letters to the Editor 8/4/16
STOP LAND GRAB Illinois is blessed with top-grade, food-producing soil that only a few places in the world can match. Those places are South Ukraine, sections of Argentina and along China’s Yellow River. We are also blessed with temperatures and rainfall conducive to agriculture. It is through this prime agriculture area that Great Lakes Basin…
Editor’s note 8/4/16
Gov. Bruce Rauner continues to portray AFSCME, the union representing 38,000 Illinois employees, as greedy and itching for a strike, but his case against the union is weak. It was Rauner, after all, who walked away from contract negotiations with the union, and who is trying to get the state labor relations board to declare…
A fiscally stressed city has to prioritize
The Springfield mayor and city council should be commended for discussing a variety of needs facing the city. Infrastructure, a city planner, Hunter Lake and the mansion block, to name a few. The bottom line, unfortunately, seems always to be a lack of resources to make anything happen. Initiatives need to be discussed and prioritized,…
MMRD’s home season closer
Mayhem and Hooligans Roller Derby This weekend see two roller derby bouts for the price of one as Springfield’s all-female flat track roller derby league, Midstate Mayhem, takes on Metro East’s Confluence Crush Roller Derby in their final home bout of the season. Immediately following the game Springfield’s Capital City Hooligans men’s roller derby team…
A new way to 5K
Insane Inflatable 5K The Insane Inflatable 5K bounces into Centennial Park on Saturday, Aug. 6. Race waves begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue every 15 minutes through 11:30 a.m. The 3.1-mile race is geared towards anyone more than 42 inches in height who is ready to unleash their inner child and challenge themselves on 11…
Spectacular air and ground displays
Powerlight Abe Lincoln Car Show The annual Powerlight Abe Lincoln Car Show Spectacular features hundreds of cars on show as well as a variety of air and ground displays to delight attendees of all ages. See the Transformers’ Bumble Bee stunt car along with several replica movie and TV cars, the Staab Harley hearse, the…
Crazy cad lady
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon Four months ago, I started hooking up with this hot guy I met on Tinder. He isn’t someone I’d normally go for; he’s a total mess and serious trouble. He always made me come to his place and I always left feeling gross rather than satisfied. However, about once…
The Legacy Theatre comes of age
Wendy Hayward, Susan Collier, Nick Williams, Judy Denton and Scott Richardson on the steps of the Legacy Theatre. PHOTO BY TOM IRWIN Five years after local theater mainstay Scott Richardson quipped to friends, “I bought a theater. Won’t this be fun!” the Legacy Theatre is alive and well. Thriving under the watchful care of Richardson,…
Police body cameras hit Springfield streets
Michael Gardner, a software specialist with the Springfield Police Department, downloads videos filmed by police officers demonstrating the department’s new body cameras. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Body cameras aren’t a panacea, warns Springfield Police Chief Kenny Winslow. Still, he believes the cameras will reinforce the fact that his officers perform their duties well. Winslow invited…
Pension ‘spikes’ exposed to sunshine
It’s been a not-so-secret secret in Illinois for decades, and state lawmakers are trying to drag the infamous “pension spike” into the sunlight – at least among local governments. A law signed by the governor last week requires local governments to disclose at a public meeting any pay raises for employees about to retire. The…
A REPRIEVE FOR PARSONS
Jeff Parsons has avoided further trouble – at least for now – after an Illinois Times article raised questions about his ability to pay the $12.3 million judgment against him. On Aug. 2, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Mills held a hearing in Springfield to find out who paid for Parsons’ beach wedding in Texas…
Suicide Squad executed in half-measures
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad. There’s a great deal of potential (most of it wasted) in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, which is Warner Brothers latest effort to get its stable of DC Comics characters on firm cinematic footing. Like most of the post-Christopher Nolan Dark Knight…
August music awes
Turnpike Troubadours detour into Boondocks on Friday, August 5. After the super summer so far, you might think we’d be slowing down a bit but things look to be charging full speed ahead into those august days of August. Onward into the music, my friends. I’m proud to announce two special gigs I have this…
Sally Barris
Sally Barris PHOTO BY ADAM FREHM A Minnesota native, this class act singer and songwriter moved to Nashville many years ago and carved out a comfortable niche as a personality, performer and writer. With her songs covered by the likes of Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood and Kathy Mattea, as well as being…
Pig roast renaissance
Carl Blake, right, talks pig with Maldaner’s chef Michael Higgins. It seems that of late my life’s journey has been taking some pretty unexpected turns. The latest fork in the road has me rolling down a hilly two-lane highway in Bertha Bus, my kitchen on wheels. My chef friend, David Radwine, and I had spent…
quotes poem #16
quotes poem #16 found these from my dad Ron Douganin an old letter sent my kids: “The world’sa MESS! Too bad I’m not going to bearound to straighten it out!” and “Someday I’ll be an old man. I’m not lookingforward to it!” He sometimes shared hisnighttime visions: “I dreamt I was clonedand all around were…
