Cover Story
Fall Home and Garden 2022
Fall is a great time to tackle yard projects, such as planting bulbs for a spring payoff or potting herbs and other plants you can move indoors for the winter. It’s also helpful to being making plans now for your spring home improvements, so whether you’re dreaming of an outdoor kitchen or updating part of…
Kroger still not back in business
Residents are upset there’s no timeline for reopening Taylorville’s Kroger supermarket almost six weeks after state officials discovered customers and employees may have been put at risk of inhaling asbestos and closed the store. “To me, it is a big black eye on state government,” said Gwen Podeschi, 64, a longtime and loyal Kroger shopper.…
A plan to combat homelessness
Springfield needs to create 765 more “permanent housing opportunities” over the next five years – more than triple the number currently available – to address and intervene in an ongoing increase in homelessness. That’s one of many ambitious goals in a draft of a strategic plan to eliminate homelessness in the area. The 25-page report,…
Replacing the trains
An elevated viewing area near the Capitol and a paved trail for pedestrians and bicyclists are among options that could revitalize neighborhoods and attract business and residential developers to Springfield’s urban center along a corridor now used by trains. “This has the potential to create what we call a historic impact for the city of…
Letters to the editor 09-08-22
COLLEGE IS IMPORTANT I agree with Scott Reeder that the cost of college is too high and something needs to be done (“The real cost of a college education,” Sept. 1). I also agree that there is a differential distribution of costs and benefits in our economy that is unfair. Students nowadays are consigned to…
Jesse White’s retirement may hurt other Democrats
Way back in 1996, I spent a few minutes walking around the Chicago-based Democratic National Convention with then-House Minority Leader Michael Madigan. Madigan at the time was working to regain his chamber’s majority after the 1994 national Republican wave combined with the Republican-drawn legislative district maps to knock the Speaker’s gavel out of his hand.…
Springfield can do better
Mid-sized cities in “flyover” country face extreme challenges to survive, let alone thrive. Springfield has a significant number of positive attributes and several promising initiatives, but is far too willing to accept mediocrity. Leadership of Springfield for the next two to four years is critical to its future. The mayor and City Council will face…
Beating the system
Should it take more than eight years to fire state employees involved in the beating of a disabled patient in an Illinois state facility? It’s a question that begs to be asked in the wake of an investigation conducted by several news organizations: Capitol News Illinois, Lee Enterprises and ProPublica. Here is the set up…
Entertain with an outdoor kitchen
If your kitchen is the heart of your home, why not take that favorite indoor space outdoors? An outdoor kitchen expands the living space of your home. Ted Galassi of Artisan Stone Products, 2475 Peerless Mine Road, said that with the area housing market having such low inventory, “Building an outdoor kitchen is a good…
Renovation: Everybody’s doing it
A recent survey conducted by House Method, an organization that provides expert research on home-service providers for consumers, polled 1,000 American homeowners with experience in home renovations to better understand their sentiments about the renovation process and to learn the details about the overall outcome of their project. The remodeling trends that emerged from the…
What to do with all those leaves
Fall is just around the corner, and with it comes cooler temperatures, shorter days and plenty of outdoor yard work. I have always loved the occasional crunchy leaf on a sidewalk, but what to do when soggy, unsightly, smelly piles of leaves accumulate? While the temptation to bag and dispose of leaves is hard to…
Indoor gardening
Gardening has seen a renaissance over the last couple of years. Prompted by the pandemic, gardening became a way for people to stay occupied at home while keeping stress at bay. The love of getting your hands in the dirt has continued to attract new gardeners this year as well. While the gardening season is…
Plant bulbs now for a spring payoff
A true act in patience, lush spring flower beds get their start in autumn when the air is cool and leaves are crisp. Spring-blooming bulbs such tulips, daffodils, hyacinth and more do best when planted in fall because the cool, moist autumn soil allows the bulb to begin rooting before the cold of winter sets…
Finding what is not there
n Thanksgiving Day, 1928, Jim Thorpe played the final professional football game of his career. Chicago was the site and Thorpe donned the uniform of the Chicago Cardinals as they battled their crosstown rival, the Bears. Nearly a decade after its creation, the National Football League had settled into 10 franchises, six of them in…
Freezer-friendly stew
Whether you’re looking to stock up your own freezer with hearty weeknight meals, help out an overworked friend or are just ready to embrace cozy fall flavors, these freezer-friendly recipes make good use of late-summer produce like peppers, eggplant and turnips. They’re ideal weekend projects and all yield several quarts, making them perfect candidates for…
September music rising
Here we go on our adventures in music-making for the second full weekend of September for 2022. I suppose we are officially into the fall season now following Labor Day (I put away almost all of my white outfits), but there’s still plenty of time and fine temperatures to enjoy outdoor activities, especially those involving…
A trade school for Catholics
The Catholic Diocese of Springfield wants to create a trade school in the city to provide vocational and spiritual training for young people interested in working with their hands and learning in an environment of contemplation and prayer. While the first stage of the project is to teach skills such as carpentry and plumbing, the…
New Pinocchio still has magic, True Things and Honk for Jesus are cautionary tales
Magic remains in Pinocchio For me, Disney’s live-action remakes of their animated classics are a mixed bag. Without question, they are gorgeous to look at; however, many suffer from a sense of bloat, adding unnecessary songs and characters that add nothing to the story. Disney’s latest, Pinocchio, for good or ill, follows the formula the…
Editor’s note 09-08-22
We all could use one, if only to slow things down when life gets out of control. A person in the role would tell us what’s OK and what’s not OK, whether we’re being treated fairly, and if we are still entitled to all the privileges we once enjoyed. We’ll see how it works for…
What’s behind the war in Ukraine?
The Springfield community has an opportunity to learn about the war in Ukraine at a Sept. 13 program presented by the World Affairs Council of Central Illinois (WACCI). How did political developments in Russia and its foreign policy set the stage for the war in Ukraine? To what extent have Western policies played a role?…
Brutal beatings, abuse plague state-run mental health facility, investigation reveals
As Blaine Reichard rose from a breakfast table at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in southern Illinois, a worker ordered him to pull up his sagging pants. A 24-year-old man with autism and developmental disabilities, Reichard didn’t obey. “I’m a gangsta! This is how we do it where I am from!” responded Reichard,…
