Investigating time
The Molly Schlich Film Series to benefit the Springfield Art Association Michael Victor II Art Library is about halfway through its 2013 run. A film of note, Safety Not Guaranteed, will be shown twice on Sunday, Feb. 24, and again on Tuesday, Feb. 26. This Sundance Film Festival favorite from the producers of Little Miss…
Fab foursome
Direct from Broadway, Rain, the internationally-acclaimed Beatles concert, returns by popular demand. As “the next best thing to seeing The Beatles” as touted by the Associated Press, Rain performs the full range of The Beatles’ discography live onstage, including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles themselves recorded in the studio but never…
National ‘Amazon tax’ could mean big bucks for Illinois
As Illinois residents file their income tax returns, they’re faced with a choice: admit to buying something online and pay sales tax to the state, or skip the tax and risk paying a penalty later if they get audited. With the understaffed Illinois Department of Revenue swamped by a backlog of unprocessed filings, taxpayers who…
Homeless population wants to be part of the community
After several years of being unsatisfied with conditions of the homeless, several Springfield groups want Mayor Mike Houston to get more involved. On Feb. 13, Homeless United for Change, an advocacy group of homeless residents, pastors and other activists, gathered to talk to Houston about the conditions of the homeless. The group requested a meeting…
Health insurance reform closer to reality in Illinois
The Illinois Senate could vote next week on implementing a crucial piece of the federal health insurance reforms passed in 2010, but two competing bills could lead the state in opposite directions. The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, sometimes called “Obamacare,” calls for each state to set up public health insurance…
DAVID, MEET GOLIATH
Dr. David Gill, a Bloomington emergency room physician and failed Democratic candidate for Congress, is suing the Internal Revenue Service in an effort to get the agency to do its job. In this case, the IRS twiddled thumbs while an outfit called the American Action Network poured more than $1 million into Gill’s 13th Congressional…
Bad start to Quinn’s re-election effort
“Off topic? I can’t imagine what that would be,” cracked Gov. Pat Quinn last week during a press conference. Just hours before, his lieutenant governor had announced that she would not be Quinn’s 2014 running mate. Gov. Quinn usually does a pretty good job during his press conferences of convincing reporters to wait to ask…
Dogs and fleas and taking baths
Hundreds of customers, vendors and employees didn’t get paid by THR and Associates. Car dealer Todd Green wasn’t one of them. During recent testimony in the bankruptcy case of the failed Springfield company that made and lost a fortune buying and selling precious metal and other valuables, Green said that he quickly sensed a pattern…
Lionel Young Band
Raised in Rochester, N.Y. and trained as a classical violinist, Lionel Young is not your typical blues performer. The young Young found his way to the blues and using his “distinctive electric violin” forged a new sound to the old art form. Young, also a guitarist, songwriter and singer, is the only double winner at…
Ricky Skaggs at the Sheldon
I usually only write about Springfield-area shows, but when I got the chance to interview Ricky Skaggs for his upcoming performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis on Feb. 22, I changed my tune. Originally I thought Ricky’s publicist came from Springfield and I could work that local angle, but when I discovered…
Beat that red light
Have you ever noticed how many reported car crashes take place in intersections? That’s one of the big problems, causing injuries and deaths, that do not get the attention of the other baddies. Everyone wants to beat a red light, putting life and limb in jeopardy. Some drivers who make a legal right hand turn…
Engaging ethnicities
A great place to take the family and immerse in the heritage and traditions of various world cultures, the Illinois State Museum holds Celebrate Cultural Diversity, Saturday, Feb. 23. From the moment you walk in the door you’ll hear the beats of African drums. Live performances will be flanked by displays and artifacts from India,…
Give me liberty, whatever it is
In what might be a first in the nation, the University of Illinois Springfield has established an academic program called Liberty Studies. Students won’t be able to major in the subject, but the decision by the campus senate last Friday to establish Liberty Studies as a minor was not without controversy. Critics questioned whether the…
Thief steals nothing but viewer’s time
Identity Thief is the sort of film that attempts a great deal and succeeds at nothing. At once a slapstick comedy, a chase film and an exercise in tear jerking, director Seth Gordon fails to achieve a consistent tone throughout as madcap hijinks, mortal peril and a pathetic attempt at pathos are all thrown at…
Watch out – the drones are coming
For nearly four years, President Obama refused to admit a foreign-policy “secret” that was widely known – that the White House, Pentagon and CIA are engaged in ethically questionable and rapidly escalating drone warfare that’s killing innocent civilians as well as enemy soldiers in Afghanistan, Yemen and elsewhere. But by nominating John Brennan, the architect…
TEEN TAN BAN
In October 2012, the Springfield City Council voted to ban teens under age 18 from tanning in city limits. Pursued by Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman, the ban took effect in January and built on an existing state law that bans children under age 14 from tanning. While some proponents worried at the time that…
Housing with Hope
“I love this palace,” beams Joann, sitting on a flower-patterned couch as mid-morning sunlight floods her one-bedroom apartment. A Spongebob Squarepants episode plays muted in the background. She happily explains it is her canary’s favorite show. “Where I used to live, I had a lot of trouble, people picked on me over there and pushed…
inconsequential poem #15
demi said hang on tothat thought whileI empty the hot waterbottle but I don’t knowwhether wonderingwhen and wherebaloney originatedis a thought worthhanging onto
Hawaii five-no
Ten years ago, my friend and I met our husbands on the same night (they were friends who challenged us to a game of pool), and we both got married the same year. We all pledged to spend our 10th anniversary in Hawaii together, but my friend’s husband is making it difficult, saying no to…
Letters to the Editor 2/21/13
CARING FOR VETSOur politicians and state officials never give up any opportunity to show off their affections and appreciation for our veterans for publicity or photo opp. They do it on Veterans’ Day – once a year – and then they must think that their responsibility toward our veterans is over because the way they…
Hat trick
Nothing – save perhaps a shredded writ of habeas corpus – says “Lincoln” like a stovepipe hat. Abe World relies on his hats as a graphical motif – I count four of them on the home page alone – and the innermost room of the Treasures Gallery is a sanctum sanctorum described by the museum…
Winning winter salads
These days, people eat salads throughout the year with ingredients that used to be available only seasonally. But salads geared to cold weather are particularly satisfying when the temperature dips and chill winds blow. Here are three favorites. Insalata di Caprese is a simple Italian salad that should only be eaten in warm weather when…
Oscar coverage
The party not to miss this weekend is the Central Illinois Film Commission’s Red Carpet Party at Capital City Bar and Grill during Oscar night, Feb. 24. Hollywood comes to Springfield. Walk the red carpet like a star, watch the Oscars unfold before you on the big screen, and meet cast and crew from the…
Die Hard 5 an abusive exercise in mayhem
1980s action heroes have been taking it on the chin lately. In his comeback to the big screen, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Last Stand brought in a measly $12 million while Sylvester Stallone’s Bullet to the Head fared even worse, bringing in only $8.5 million. Ironically, with his latest, their contemporary Bruce Willis will score the…
