Channel 20 newsman in bar fight
Vince DeMentri, anchorman for WICS television news, was reportedly involved in a physical altercation at Hooters in Springfield hours after Tuesday’s election. The altercation reportedly involved DeMentri and Garrett Brnger, another reporter for the station. Their status with the station is not clear. Neither has appeared on the air since Election Night. The men’s names…
Smith Slick, Robbie Bright in “Focus”
Midway through his new feature Focus. Will Smith’s given the self-reflective line of dialogue, “I still got it.” That his character, con man extraordinaire Nicky Spurgeon, is face down drunk on the floor is of no consequence. The world’s most popular movie star is declaring his return to the spotlight after the debacle that was…
Puzzle correction
We apologize for running the #361 Puzzles twice in both the 2/5/15 issue and the 2/19/15 issue, this was an oversight on our part. Please CLICK HERE to download the #363 Puzzle, you can find the answers for these in this weeks issue. Here is the Answer for the #362 Josh Josh Puzzle Here is…
Cinematic concert
Night at the Movies Cinematography meets the symphony on Sunday, March 4, from 4-6:30 p.m., at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. Attendees of Night at the Movies will enjoy live performances of popular film soundtracks, as performed by the Sangamon Valley Civic Orchestra, while scenes from the films, as assembled by the Central Illinois…
Weather the weather
ClusterPluck drifts up from St. Louis to play Homespun Republic (formerly called Donnie’s Homespun) on Thurs., Feb. 26. Definitely the hot topic last week was the coldness in the air. I know making the trek out into the mighty Midwest tundra seems unbearable, but for heaven’s sake, is it really all that bad? What could…
The case for more and stronger unions
Only One Thing Can Save Us: Why America Needs a New Kind of Labor Movement, by Thomas Geoghegan. The New Press, 2014. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s first six weeks in office have been an interesting time for Illinois citizens wondering what the next four years portend. His first formal appearance before the Illinois legislature, the State…
iPods for Alzheimer’s
A patient in a Wisconsin nursing home listens to music on her iPod through a state partnership with New York nonprofit Music and Memory. PHOTO BY MIKE DE SISTI/TNS It had been a while since James could recall holding his newborn son in his arms. Listening to his new iPod, however, brought that memory to…
Abstract expressionism at UIS
Sublime Light Sublime Light, a visual art exhibit by Lyle Salmi at the University of Illinois Springfield’s Visual Arts Gallery, explores the relationship between light and space through the vehicle of abstract expressionistic paintings. Salmi uses scale, color palette and brush strokes, among other techniques, to root his paintings in the here and now and…
The wicked witch of the Westin
There’s a girl who works at the hotel where my co-workers and I go for drinks. She’s hot, smart and fun, and I really like her and want to ask her out. The problem is that when she laughs, she cackles in this really annoying way. I’m wondering whether, if we started dating and hit…
New Madrid makes the earth shake
New Madrid will play Friday at Donnie’s. PHOTO COURTESY NORMALTOWN RECORDS The Bedrock 66 series remains Springfield’s best chance to see unexpected, exciting live music across a wide spectrum of sounds, from bluegrass to power pop to alt country and beyond. This Friday’s show promises to be an especially wild ride. Rick Barton, lead singer…
Attention area thespians
Theatre in the Park Open Auditions If you dream of seeing your name in lights, consider auditioning for a role in the 2015 season at New Salem’s Theatre in the Park. Open auditions for children will occur at 9 a.m., and open auditions for adults will occur at 1 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 28, at…
McFarland runs a winning course
Carlos Pratts as Thomas and Kevin Costner as Jim White in McFarland, USA. PHOTO COURTESY WALT DISNEY PICTURES Continuing their series of inspirational, true-life sports stories, Disney Pictures’ McFarland USA is a worthy addition to their cannon, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Miracle, The Rookie and Million Dollar Arm. To be sure, these are…
Contract law
While Gov. Bruce Rauner pushes for steep budget cuts throughout state government, at least one agency has figured out a way to cut payroll. The Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s office has at least two former employees who are still at work while collecting pensions. The agency has moved them to contractual status so that…
The meaning of Lincoln’s funeral
The planned re-creation of the Lincoln funeral train and reenacting of the funeral ceremonies in Springfield scheduled for May mark a remembrance of a great president and an inspirational world figure. That is how he is widely regarded today. But it wasn’t always so. During his presidency Lincoln elicited negative reactions from many Americans. Residents…
No Ethics Air
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT
Editor’s note 2/26/15
Mayor Mike Houston lost Tuesday’s primary election, but he can hold his head high for running a campaign focused on the issues and his record as mayor, which isn’t nearly as bad as the final vote tally might lead some to believe. There was ample opportunity to go negative, but Houston resisted the urge and…
Stand-your-ground state
Curses, foiled again• Police thought Luis Moreno Jr., 26, was driving solo in a carpool lane in Fort Lee, N.J., but when they stopped him, he showed he was legal by pointing out two men in the back of the SUV. The men said they were kidnap victims. Moreno tried to flee, but rush-hour traffic…
Letter’s to the Editor 2/26/15
The debate on whether to vaccinate or not vaccinate children against illnesses such as autism, measles and other dangerous, deadly disease wages on. PHOTO BY MEL MELCON/TNS MORE REASON TO VACCINATEIn her Feb. 12 Guestwork, “Why historians vaccinate their kids,” Erika Holst provides an excellent explanation why the historians she knows fall into the pro-vaccine…
Menard County board says ‘no’ to hog farm
The Menard County Board of Commissioners voted not to recommend approval of a proposed hog farm near Petersburg on Tuesday night. The recommendation is nonbinding, however, and the farm may still be approved by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The county board’s decision comes after a contentious eight-hour public hearing last week during which opponents…
Illinois governors in trouble
Illinois was deeply in debt and its financial outlook was bleak. After a close gubernatorial race, the people of Illinois elected a wealthy Chicago-area businessman as their governor, hoping that his talent for making money would steer the state away from a looming fiscal crisis. Instead, Gov. Joel Matteson, who held office from 1853 to…
taxseason poem #3
Farmer Letter to the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, 1955From my father R.A. Dougan Gentlemen: Enclosed is form MC 20gfilled out to the best of my ability. Inote that there is no provision madefor recording such expense items aspayroll taxes, repairs to plant andmachinery, plant rental, insurance,property tax, depreciation, advertising,telephone, office supplies and accounting,donations,…
Chicagoans are reclaiming their city
Chicago! City of broad shoulders. Plutocratic hog butcher. Toolmaker for progressive change. Stacker of the wheat of grassroots power, wheat separated from the chaff of corporate politicians. Stormy, husky, brawling. Planning, building, breaking, rebuilding. Under its wrist is the pulse, and under its ribs is the heart of the people. Laughing! Proud to be hog…
The Tossers
The Tossers Boasting the largest population of Irish descendents in the Midwest, Chicago’s a good place to come from if your thing is playing Irish music. That’s exactly the case for The Tossers, a south side, Windy City, six-piece, punk-folk Celtic band featuring Tony “T.” Duggins (vocals, songwriting, mandolin), Rebecca Manthe (fiddle), Bones (drums), Peter…
Oversight? What oversight?
Bevey Louden, left, and her husband, Lorenzo, right, in a 2014 photo. They can’t account for thousands of dollars in state grant money. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Tower of Refuge, a charity run by a felon and his wife that has been accused of defrauding the state of Illinois, was so loosely run that one…
An overdue policy on the library
Is the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum a museum with a library attached? Or is it a library with a museum attached? The two institutions are like conjoined twins, one of whom has a wonky heart; the best chance for each might be to separate them, in spite of the risks that surgery poses.…
Surviving winter’s end
Switzerland cheese toast with butternut squash apple bisque. PHOTO BY PETER GLATZ Enough, already! I am officially sick of winter. Living in a place that has changing seasons is actually something I prize. That even includes winter. True, I don’t get quite as excited as I did when I was a child about the first…
Another reckless, delusional budget
After he was elected, but before he was sworn in to office, Bruce Rauner repeatedly lambasted Gov. Pat Quinn and the legislative Democrats for passing a “booby trap” budget that was about to blow up in the state’s collective face. Rauner was absolutely right. Last year’s budget was irresponsible and didn’t deal with the reality…
