Davlin vs. Strom
Untitled Document On crime… During the administration of Mayor Tim Davlin, Springfield’s crime problem — drug use, juvenile violence, unsolved homicides — has been ignored, says challenger Bruce Strom. On Feb. 8, Strom, a three-term alderman, outlined a plan to address crime and reorganize the Springfield Police Department. Bruce Strom • Wants to reestablish the…
American beauty
Untitled Document DoraLee whips around town in her lime-green Monte Carlo replica racer. She has held a license to steer big tour buses since 1991, and recently, she burned enough rubber to take home the trophy for Ultimate Go-Kart Champion at Kicks Entertainment. That’s DoraLee Durham, the new queen of Springfield. She sports bright-pink lipstick,…
Why the blood bank never has enough
Untitled Document Lying with a needle in his arm and parts of his blood streaming into three separate bags, David Parsons is donating platelets, which takes longer than donating whole blood, so he has plenty of time to get philosophical. He says in his line of work he’s rejected by 95 percent of…
The sounds of music
Untitled Document All blues fans and alt-country lovers should report at 8:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, to the Alamo (115 N. Fifth St., 217-523-1455), where Clay McClinton will host the Illinois Central Blues Club Blue Monday jam. McClinton, son of legendary harmonica-playing bluesman Delbert McClinton, just released Son of a Gun, a Nashville-produced CD that…
Fission decision
Untitled Document Originally designed to serve as a nuclear-fuel-reprocessing plant, for almost 40 years the General Electric Morris Operation, in upstate Morris, Ill., has been used merely as a storage facility for high-level radioactive waste. However, that might soon change. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $16 million in grants to 11 commercial…
The unforgettable vegetable
Untitled Document He made a get-by living, writing crime stories and science fiction for magazines before the booze killed his promise. He was nearly broke when an editor friend tossed him a bone: Write a kid story, early-teen stuff, 650 or 700 words, filler, $300. He knew nothing of kid stories, except that they had…
Alternative to plastic
Untitled Document Dairy products such as yogurt always seem to come in packages that aren’t easily recycled. Aren’t there more eco-friendly containers these companies could use? It is technically possible to recycle polypropylene, the material used in many food containers. The challenge lies in separating it from other plastics, including its own many variations, once…
Warming up
Untitled Document My friend Nan in Chicago made one. So did my mother, who lives in Pennsylvania. All across America, womenfolk were baking pot pies, and I was their preacher. I had found my calling: to spread the good word about bubbling-hot, savory filling and how it can save home cooks from falling into a…
The epilogue
Untitled Document Julie Rea Harper — the Illinois mom convicted and later acquitted of murdering her 10-year-old son — will be the focus of a segment on the ABC newsmagazine 20/20 scheduled to air on Friday, March 9. The show includes Harper’s first (and thus far only) media interview since her exoneration. Harper had been charged…
Old habits
Untitled Document Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Senate President Emil Jones, and House Speaker Michael Madigan apparently can’t get along enough yet to help Illinois’ favorite son win the Democratic presidential nomination. Last month, Madigan said he would push for legislation to move the 2008 primary to Feb. 5 from March 18. Madigan said the idea would…
Grin and bear it
Untitled Document Larry Harnly, a retired State Journal-Register sports editor, was part of a group of 32, about half from Springfield, who spent one week in Jamaica on a dental mission trip in January. Here are his observations. The flight from St. Louis to Jamaica took about three-and-a-half hours nonstop. The drive by van from Montego…
Movie campaigns
Untitled Document Politics is definitely in the air in Springfield. The Barack Obama campaign staged the first major presidential event to hit Springfield in many years on Feb. 10. Not to be upstaged, the Sangamon County Republicans invited their party’s golden boy, Karl Rove, to speak at their annual Lincoln Day Luncheon, two days later.…
Wal-Mart women fight back
Untitled Document Get ready for another touchy-feely Wal-Mart ad to saturate the airwaves soon. Whenever this retailing behemoth gets caught in one of its many abusive practices, it races to cover up the damage with a PR blitz. This time, though, Wal-Mart’s image has hit not merely a pothole on the road of greed but…
The cookie eaten around the world
Untitled Document It really is a small world. If I hadn’t known it before, it was brought home to me three years ago in New Zealand. My younger daughter, Ashley, had enrolled at Lincoln University in Christchurch to study viticulture and oenology (grape-growing and winemaking). Down under, the school year starts in late February, equivalent…
The nerdiest of the indie nerds
Untitled Document Who’s the biggest nerd in indie rock? One thing’s for sure: The competition has never been more cutthroat. Could it be the Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, the dorkling king of musical-theater buffs? Or maybe it’s a two-way tie between those old standbys They Might Be Giants, they of the dorm-ripened drollery and liberal use…
Grounded in reality
Untitled Document Years have passed since Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) dropped out of the astronaut program to care for his ailing father, but the former NASA pilot’s dream of soaring into outer space never faded. Though his neighbors in Story, Texas, view him as nothing more than a harmless eccentric, there’s no question in…
Letters to the Editor
Untitled Document We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. BYE TO THE CHIEF AND COLONEL DAN I call it quits. After supporting the Illini for 50-plus years, I plan to never attend another University of Illinois…
