Rethinking reading
Melissa Hostetter teaches language arts to seventh graders at Washington Middle School in Springfield. She’s currently undergoing training on how to teach dyslexic students. Hostetter also moderates an online group of about 250 Illinois educators dedicated to the “science of reading.” It’s a method for learning that claims to be more grounded in decades of…
Redistricting during a pandemic
Legislative redistricting “is the single most important bill of the decade,” according to Chris Mooney, University of Illinois at Chicago professor and former director of the U of I’s Institute for Government and Public Affairs. The party in control of passing a redistricting bill shapes state and federal legislative races and representation for the next…
Still trying to get Illinois to admit he’s innocent
Charles Palmer was exonerated and released in 2016 after serving 18 years of a life sentence. Now he is seeking a certificate of innocence (COI) from the state’s highest court. An exoneree must have a COI in order to get compensation from the state. Palmer was exonerated after being convicted of first-degree murder in Decatur.…
It’s right under your feet
Slow Food Springfield is a chapter of the Slow Food movement founded in Italy in 1986 by Carlo Petrini, to protest the encroachment by fast food chains on the traditional Mediterranean lifestyle. Slow Food works to connect the pleasures of the table with a commitment to the communities, cultures, knowledge and environment that make this…
An Oscar contender and one not to consider
Quiet Minari a powerful testament to family A quiet, powerful story of love and determination, Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari emerges as a testament to perseverance as well as the power and fragility of family. Based on the filmmaker’s own immigrant experience, the movie follows the Yi family, Koreans who emigrate to Arkansas in the 1980s…
Cabin fever blues
I like cold weather. Forget fleece fashioned from polyester. I prefer tweed and cashmere and wool socks and sweaters that weigh three pounds and sheepskin hats with ear flaps. Nothing clears the lungs, and mind, like inhaling that first breath of sub-zero-degree air as you step outside to go cross-country skiing while Champ the Wonder…
A hunger crisis when there’s no shortage of food
As the pandemic throws millions of Americans out of work, cars line up for miles outside food banks across the country. COVID-19 did not create the crisis of hunger in the United States, but it has exposed its root cause. Hint: it’s not a shortage of food. Even before the pandemic, 35 million Americans were…
Madigan’s era ends
“The 22nd District is a garden,” then-House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters several years ago when asked about his House district. Some thought it was funny, but he was serious. And he’s most definitely the head gardener. I’ve often said that Madigan, who officially resigned from the House on Feb. 18 after more than 50…
community concert poem #2
community concert poem #2 what makes an item have value? my sister remembers this as madison I recall it as at a beloit community concert but no matter – the action is the same a famous violinist was playing was it heifetz? menuhin? szigeti? too long ago for perlman, joshua bell – anyway the soloist…
Letters to the Editor 02-25-21
IT STINKS I read with interest the article about the former AMC movie theater on Lindbergh Boulevard being converted not only into a retail, but also a grow facility, for marijuana (“Pot garden and dispensary planned for west side,” Feb. 3). Before this happens, a word of warning. I have an old hometown buddy who…
Ugly delicious celeriac
If you’ve not yet met celeriac, allow me to introduce you. Celeriac, also known as celery root, is the ugly duckling of the produce aisle. It is a bulbous, knobby root with a rough, brown, gnarled exterior. Unlike traditional celery, which is bred for the stalks, celeriac is bred for its roots. The stalks of…
February finals
As we roll on into the last weekend of February 2021 (I know, right?), local, live mus ic shows are coming back as we approach our anniversary date of the lockdown, quarantine or whatever you want to call it, that occurred on March 21, 2020. Everything I have heard, seen or been informed of so…
Blight fight
Public officials long have sought solutions to dilapidated buildings blighting Springfield with broken windows, sagging porches, rats and worse. Many still sit vacant and crumbling despite plans and promises. Here’s a snapshot. Poplar Place The future looked bright just two years ago for one of Springfield’s ugliest neighborhoods. Poplar Place was so bad that Governing…
Not getting their shot
Illinois has given more than two million vaccinations. But Black residents are less likely to get the shots than their white peers, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data. As of Feb. 22, 4% of Sangamon County’s vaccine doses have gone to Black residents, who make up 13% of the county’s population, according to…
Pot bolsters coffers
Springfield’s two recreational marijuana dispensaries are generating $45,000 a month in revenue for the city, which levies a 3 percent tax on sales. It amounts to $18 million in annual sales for pot purveyors. Tax collection numbers emerged this week when the city council approved a budget for the fiscal year that starts next week.…
U of I sued over sexual misconduct
Two former University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students are suing the University of Illinois for failing to protect them from a professor they say was violent and exploitative. The lawsuit, filed last month in the Illinois Court of Claims, alleges the university focused on generating income from Chinese students at the cost of protecting students.…
Springfield officer on leave after barroom incident
A Springfield police officer is on paid administrative leave after an incident last month at the Blue Grouch Pub in Sangamon County, which is bordered by land under city jurisdiction. Deputies were called to the Maple Street bar shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 on a report of disorderly conduct – someone needed to…
