Punisher delivers a new brand of brutality
I’m not proud of this but I have to say, I enjoyed Punisher: War Zone. Mind you, this is a film that features a heinous character pulling the kidneys out of a poor victim and eating them, a moment in which the hero puts his fist literally through a bad guy’s face, as well as…
Say no to Hunter Lake
Hunter Lake is a 40-year-old idea whose time, if there ever was one, has passed. The 3,010-acre lake would hold far more water than Springfield needs. There are less expensive alternatives, water conservation measures haven’t been figured into the city’s need calculation, and the proposed reservoir would destroy the trees, wildlife and cultural resources of…
IT Picks
Concert | Prairieland Voices Holiday Concert Celebrate Christmas with music from the French Renaissance at the annual PrairieLand Voices Holiday Concert. The concert, titled Joyeux Noël, features Messe de Minuit pour Noël, is a 40-minute mass composed by Marc-Antoine Chapentier. The piece is based on Christmas carols from the 16th century that are set to…
Give a hand to Donn Stephens
Here we go again with a hodge-podge of happenings. This time of year it’s “all good” as the kids say and apparently there is so much good going on, one subject does not get it all done. So bear with me as I wander through an assortment of goodies going on this week. Donn Stephens…
Nuclear power group seeks answers to old questions
Before the first meeting of the Illinois Nuclear Power Issues Task Force got underway last week, a colleague handed state Sen. Michael Bond a stack of memoranda containing lists of questions. The memos were written in 1980, and the questions are still waiting for answers. Ever since the memoranda were written, officials have gone back…
People’s Poetry
gillianquote poems(daughter #3 at seventeen) I have to writea canterbury taletonight . . . how long did it takechaucer? here’s its stempotatos always seemso self sufficientyou don’t think of themas having stems I have a rightto say UGHif I find a taskdistasteful elspeth’s new kittenwill have a hard timedeveloping his personalitysecond cats always do ©…
White House Ornament
There’s more than one way to make it to the White House, as local artist Janet Seitz Carlson recently proved. Carlson, the marketing and communications director at the Hoogland Center for the Arts and a member of the Prairie Art Alliance, was one of 369 artists from across the country chosen to hand-decorate ornaments that…
Sticking together through trouble, this family needs more help
Nearly 13 years ago, Pat Dansby purchased the home across from her own on Lincoln Street in Athens. She asked her daughter, Nellieann Kotty, to move with her two young sons into the home, because there was something about Nellieann’s movement that worried her. Dansby, an employee with the Illinois National Guard, had noticed that…
Impeach him now
Enough, already. The Illinois General Assembly is planning to return to Springfield next week. The idea is to change state law so that Gov. Rod Blagojevich cannot appoint Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate replacement. That may nor may not be a good idea. The first problem that springs to mind is that Blagojevich, who was arrested…
A tasty visit to Candyland
If you squint, the barren fields around the little homestead outside of Atlanta, Ill., north of Lincoln on I-55, could look a bit like the North Pole — at least when they’re covered with snow. The candy cane signs help, but the buildings’ blue paint job doesn’t exactly fit the traditional picture of Santa’s workshop.…
Tuna Christmas is a holiday hoot
Among the many holiday entertainment offerings in the area — including a beautiful Springfield Ballet Company Nutcracker, LLCC Madrigals, Springfield Choral Society’s A Quiet Christmas, etc. — the new production of the comedy Tuna Christmas that opened last weekend ranks high on the list of pure hilarity. The performance is also a benefit to raise…
Bold education strategy at St. Pat’s
Faith Sanderson at the Regional Office of Education works with many families in school districts throughout Sangamon County who are in crisis. We should listen to Faith because she has many years of experience in this role. She expressed to me something that I agree very strongly with — education is the key to breaking…
Lend a hand, part 2
After last week’s cover story, “Gifts of the heart,” our annual roundup of nonprofits and their “wish lists,” we heard from other organizations hoping to be brought to the attention of generous IT readers. So we include here several more groups and their descriptions of their work. Any other nonprofits who send us information about…
Taylorville fears its prison will be overcrowded with violent inmates
As the Blagojevich administration and AFSCME gear up for another round of court proceedings regarding the closing of the Pontiac Correctional Center, Taylorville is “gravely” concerned about the effects the closing may have on its community. In October, 50 medium-security prisoners from Pontiac were shipped to the already overcrowded Taylorville Correctional Center, a minimum-security prison.…
Fringe voices
It’s been about three years since John Anderson stumbled into cable access TV. He got a phone call from Micah Roderick — a man he had met briefly as his wife’s co-worker — who asked if Anderson would be willing to co-host a television show. Anderson figured why not, and next thing he knew, he…
Steamed press
What’s black and white and red with fury all over? The 600 member newspapers of the Illinois Press Association. In July, the Illinois Secretary of State awarded the association a contract worth $806,166 to publish announcements for the proposed Constitutional Convention ballot initiative. Now newspapers, along with pharmacists, doctors, nursing homes and daycare centers have…
Shopping local is more fun
It may seem easier to shop online for Christmas gifts, but a growing number prefer shopping in person and buying local. Maybe the rise in shopping at farmer’s markets has folks looking for things homemade and authentic. We suggest heading to downtown Springfield for shopping. It will make the holiday a more meaningful occasion rather…
