Cover Story
Comics class
Stanley Lieber graduated from high school at age 16 and was hired as an editorial assistant for a popular publication. Lieber began to write for the publication, was soon promoted to editor, and simplified his name on bylines for his work. A group of 16 Springfield area teens gathered one recent Saturday morning in Springfield,…
No demolition delay
The Springfield City Council defeated a proposal March 7 to reconsider its previous decision granting Horace Mann Educators Corp. up to $600,000 in property tax revenues to tear down deteriorating hundred-year-old buildings in the downtown historic district. But after the 6-3 council vote, Horace Mann officials left open the possibility for modifications to what the…
Operation Fortune is just OK, violence eclipses Sun and Champions walks a fine line
Fortune is fine… There’s a “good enough” quality that runs through Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre, an action-comedy that gets by on the charm of its cast, though there’s a feeling throughout that it could have been so much more than it is. With a penchant for very fine wine and the ability…
Editors note 3/9/23
Springfield yearns for a bold leader with a strong vision for downtown, a proposal for a cool Central Park and a preservation ethic that won’t allow historic buildings to be torn down for parking lots. A plan for a city planner would win a lot of support, as well as a vision for developing older…
Back to the beach
Just call it a plan with a touch of nostalgia. Springfield mayoral candidate Misty Buscher is calling for revitalizing the dormant beach house at Lake Springfield and making it a haven for food trucks, concerts and outdoor activities. “When I was a teenager, everybody who was in my age group hung out at Center Park,…
State tries to address behavioral health infrastructure
Gov. JB Pritzker declared last week when announcing the formation of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center that the state was building “the best behavioral health system in the nation.” It was quite a bold thing to say. So, my associate Isabel Miller and I asked a couple of follow-up questions: How long will this…
House bill would lift nuclear power construction moratorium
The Illinois General Assembly is one step closer to lifting the state’s moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants. House Bill 1079, proposing to allow such construction, passed out of the Public Utilities Committee Feb. 28 on an 18-3 vote. The bill’s primary sponsor is Rep. Mark Walker, D-Arlington Heights. Nuclear power plant…
Abe meets virtual reality
A recently finalized $858,000 contract for research and development is the first step by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum to augment its exhibits on the 16th president’s story with the latest in interactive digital technology from Google. Current displays at the almost 20-year-old, state-operated museum at 212 N. Sixth St. in Springfield won’t…
Who, me?
Life can be tough for a reformed con artist. Chase Brown knows. Not long after release from federal prison for scams running into the six figures, Brown recently drew attention from Springfield police. Anyone recognize this guy?, cops asked on the department’s Facebook page in a post that featured a still from a Menard’s security…
Irish Poem #5
a donkey drowned in the sacred spring they had to find a new spring of course with the requisite hawthorn now it gets the wish-notes for safe journeys, cured cats both big folk and wee folk have no trouble switching allegiance but the ancient spring, might it be lonely 2023 Jacqueline Jackson
Letters to the editor 3/9/23
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- FIND OUT WHY A push for diversity just for the sake of diversity never seems to work out (“A push to diversify,” March 2). Instead of worrying about the skin color of applicants, hire…
And a child shall lead them
Illinois has the ugliest flag in the union and state Sen. Doris Turner wants to do something about it. The lawmaker from Springfield has introduced legislation to create a commission to develop new flag designs for the General Assembly to consider by Sept. 1. “After more than 100 years of the same design, I think…
Springfield, where history means a lot
When the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library was in the design stage, a visiting team from the American Institute of Architects completed a rapid-paced downtown urban design profile called a Regional/Urban Design Assessment Team, or R/UDAT. The R/UDAT program was sought out by the city to create a framework for downtown to coincide with…
Highlights of the Illinois Product Expo
The Illinois Product Expo was held at the State Fairgrounds this past weekend, March 4-5. Sponsored by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the event has been connecting Illinois producers directly with hungry customers for over 20 years. When I arrived at the Orr building around midday on Saturday the parking lot was packed and the…
First lady of Tupperware returns to the Legacy Theatre
After taking Broadway and the world by storm, Dixie Longate, the fast-talking, funny and heartfelt Tupperware hostess-with-the-mostest, returns to Springfield for three shows March 10-12 that are sure to entertain. If you’ve already seen Dixie’s show, you’re probably a fan of Dixie. For those curious to know more, I caught up with the Tupperware Queen…
Camron, Celtic and more
As we dawdle, dabble and dart our way through March, it’s a double-duty St. Patrick’s Day celebration for 2023, along with many other doings to make your week an entertainment extravaganza experience. Let us sally forth to see what occurs. First off, with great sadness we report another tragic and too soon loss in our…
Annual parade to draw thousands
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade once again will roll through downtown starting at noon Saturday. And barring inclement weather, thousands of green-clad revelers are expected to turn out for this popular celebration. The parade route remains the same. It will form up at the Horace Mann parking lot and surrounding area. The parade will travel…
