Learning to share
In “Why did the pedestrian not cross the road?” I noted that downtown promoters and merchants have become concerned about the risks to workers, shoppers and tourists downtown posed by careless drivers, especially at street crossings. There’s been talk about lower speed limits, or construction of more traffic-calming devices. Pedestrian-vehicle conflicts are a problem in…
Naming right
Further thoughts on the naming, renaming and misnaming of public buildings that I addressed in “Official graffiti”: The original wing of what is now regrettably known to most Illinoisans as the Michael J. Howlett Building in Springfield is not merely a building but a monument. The Centennial Building was intended, by its name and its…
John Nemeth
John Nemeth Start your New Year off with a winner, the winner of the 2014 Blues Music Award, Soul Blues Artist of the Year, that is. Also nominated for six other BMA’s, including BB King Artist of the Year, plus several others in years past, John Nemeth is on top of his game and going…
Better safe than sorry
Women’s Personal Defense Seminar Women of all ages will benefit from a personal defense seminar under the direction of a local Jiu-Jitsu professional. On Saturday, Jan. 3, from 10:30-11:30 a.m., grab your girlfriends for an hour-long course hosted by Professor Mark Commean, head instructor and owner of Gracie Humaita, a local Jiu-Jitsu school. Professor Commean…
Chris Rock goes for broke with Top Five
Chris Rock as Andre Allen and Rosario Dawson as Chelsea Brown in Top Five. PHOTO COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES As far as the movie world is concerned, 2014 will be remembered as the year in which things ended with an international bang and a corporate whimper. After having massive numbers of files hacked presumably by representatives…
december end poem
a friend helping me clean my kitchenor try to clean it brought me a long flatrusty item resting across her palms whatis this I said doesn’t everyone keep aworld war one bayonet in their pantry? about that weapon: my dad picked it upin france 1924 from belleau wood wherewas the worst carnage trenches by nowcrumbled…
Happy new music year
Popular comedian Kevin Meaney performs at the Mason City Limits Comedy Club, Jan. 2-3. Welcome one and all to the beginning of 2015 and our last big blast of 2014. New Year’s Eve has long been a night of celebration and one that nearly always includes live music. This year we have a weekend immediately…
Bird is the word
Christmas Bird Count Springfield’s portion of the 115th annual Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count will take place at the Adams Wildlife Society on Sunday, Jan. 4, from 1-3 p.m. This seasonal activity is designed as a census of sorts for the bird population. The data extracted from the Adams count is sent to the National…
The best films of 2014
As far as the movie world is concerned, 2014 will be remembered as the year in which things ended with an international bang and a corporate whimper. After having massive numbers of files hacked, presumably by representatives of North Korea, Sony Pictures was forced to capitulate to terrorist demands and shelf the Seth Rogan-James Franco…
The 10 best scenes of 2014
Movies are about moments – big moments that erase our cynicism about cinema and remind us of its capacity to dazzle as well as touch us. This happens in a way only possible with a medium that seamlessly combines so many other art forms. There are instances that prompt us to consider things in a…
Like father like son
While his father, Jeff Parsons, made headlines by declaring bankruptcy and was accused of hiding assets and cheating employees out of wages, Jacob Parsons last summer filed for bankruptcy in Texas. The biggest unsecured creditors in Jacob Parsons’ bankruptcy case are the Internal Revenue Service, which is owed $190,175 for unpaid income taxes, and the…
All of meh
I’m a 30-something woman and my best friend is a guy. We talk and text day and night and I truly adore him. All our friends think we should be dating, but I don’t feel sexually attracted to him. I agree that we’d otherwise make a perfect couple. Can chemistry grow or be built? –Bestie…
Letter to the Editor 1/1/15
ILLUSTRATION BY TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE DRIVING WHILE DRUGGEDAlthough Illinois is usually considered more progressive than Missouri, that is not the case when it comes to driving while drugged laws. Earlier this month, Bruce Rushton wrote about the absurd results from Illinois’ law, which convicts a driver if they have any amount of an illegal drug…
Enemies within
A sheriff’s deputy and his union say that Lt. Jack Campbell, who lost the Republican primary for sheriff, shouldn’t be allowed to return to the department’s rank and file. PHOTO BY BRUCE RUSHTON A Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy and the union representing deputies have challenged the naming of former undersheriff Jack Campbell to the position…
Second thoughts about being first
Curses, foiled againWhen Damontay Wright, 19, drove himself unaccompanied to a road test facility in Jonesboro, Ark., for his driver’s license, a police officer approached to ticket him for driving without a license, but Wright sped off. He smashed into a state trooper’s patrol car and then, with police in pursuit, lost control of his…
Editor’s Note 1/1/15
Everywhere we look there is a surprising amount of hope for the new year. Even Democrats are saying Bruce Rauner could be another Jim Thompson, an amiable dealmaker who can get things done. Racial problems fester, but in Springfield leaders have committed themselves to racial understanding and justice. The economy is rebounding, unemployment is down,…
Citigroup becomes its own lawmaker
Congress, which has long been so tied up in a partisan knot by right-wing extremists that it has been unable to move, suddenly sprang loose at the end of the year and put on a phenomenal show of acrobatic lawmaking. In one big, bipartisan spending bill, our legislative gymnasts pulled off a breathtaking, flat-footed backflip…
The good old days of patronage
“Gimme your mop. You’re through.” I was standing in a hall in the Stratton building about 9:30 on a weeknight. The shift was ending and I had been stopped by the new boss. He hit me with that message, took my mop and turned back to his office. After four years, my job as night…
Home court disadvantages
Executive Mansion PHOTO BY TEEMU08 VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG “I look forward to living in the Governor’s Mansion,” said candidate Bruce Rauner to the Associated Press, “and would consider it an honor.” More than 216 miles separating Winnetka from Jackson Street in Springfield, and the promise to abandon the former for the latter might prove to be…
Meet in St. Louis for a winter museum break
Not everyone can hop on a plane to see the world, but you can travel the globe and beyond at a fraction of the cost and time with a visit to the big three indoor museums in St. Louis’ Forest Park. You can pretend you are at the 1904 World’s Fair at the Missouri History…
‘Downton Abbey’
The cast of “Downton Abbey.” PHOTO COURTESY PBS I’m not ashamed to admit it: I’m hooked on “Downton Abbey.” “They should have called it Downton crack,” said my daughter Ashley, a fellow enthusiast. “Downton Abbey” which appears in America under the aegis of PBS’s “Masterpiece Theater,” has become the most watched ,television series in history.…
Comedy, theatrics, sports
The Harlem Globetrotters Everyone’s favorite international basketball team, the Harlem Globetrotters, returns to the Prairie Capital Convention Center on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m. This electrifying game will be played against the Washington Generals, who are currently coached by a former 1971 Globetrotter. These talented super-athletes play a fast paced, high-stakes game riddled with…
Franco Shines in Lackluster “Interview”
All that trouble for this… I’m sure I’m not the only one who was hoping that Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan’s The Interview would be, if not a groundbreaking classic, at the very least a film that took chances. Surely the movie would justify the international turmoil it had generated. Alas, maybe there’s some irony…
