Another downtown hotel?
The City of Springfield is promoting a plan to bring a 95-room hotel to Washington Street. “It is exciting,” said Mayor Jim Langfelder. “They actually had to scale back the project. They wanted to do a bigger one.” Plans include 95 hotel rooms, an indoor swimming pool, 17 apartments, retail space, a rooftop bar and…
Finding Neverland Ticket Giveaway
Finding Neverland Ticket Giveaway Enter to win a pair of tickets to see Finding Neverland at UIS Sangamon Auditoriumon May 6, 2019. Deadline to enter is April 29, 2019
The blue badge of shame
Many years ago, I attended a seminar on solid waste, aka garbage. The confab was somewhere north of Chicago, the paper where I worked was in Tacoma, somewhere south of Seattle, where a garbage company wanted to build a new landfill, as the existing one was nearly full. The paper wanted to know: Should the…
Making the numbers work
Give Gov. J.B. Pritzker some credit; the man can give a good speech. Last week’s budget address was well-written and respectful of its audience and effectively used Illinois history to make its points. Unlike some previous occupants of that office, Pritzker didn’t try to make himself look better at the General Assembly’s expense. He didn’t…
Letters to the Editor 02/28/19
TAXES SCHMAXESThe election is over, and it’s time to start raising taxes and hope the public gets collective amnesia before the next election.One of the more interesting proposals is the five cent per plastic bag tax presented by Governor Pritzker. Here’s the problem. It may bring in $200,000 but to implement it, the Department of…
Editor’s Note 02/28/19
It’s good that racial disparity in Springfield has become an issue in the campaign for mayor. Rarely is the subject discussed so openly as it was during Monday’s mayoral candidate forum sponsored by Faith Coalition for the Common Good. But now that information is coming to the surface, Springfield must correct injustices. That may not…
What happened to a journalist who did his job
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund BurkeMichael Leathers is a good man who did something. And it cost him his job. Back in 2002, he was the editor of Illinois Baptist, a newspaper covering Southern Baptist congregations across the Land of Lincoln. When he…
A three-day exposition for horse owners and horse lovers
The Illinois Horse Fair is the largest all-breed horse event in the state. It is full of educational opportunities with world and national champion trainers and exhibitors, and up and coming clinicians who cover a variety of topics. Activities on horseback are showcased throughout the weekend and can include trick riders, drill teams, breed and…
An orchestra’s 60th anniversary year
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is one of the world’s greatest chamber orchestras, renowned for fresh, brilliant interpretations of the world’s greatest classical music. This performance is an opportunity to see them on their first U.S. tour of 2019 – the orchestra’s 60th anniversary year. Formed by Sir Neville Marriner in 1958…
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
If you think campaign yard signs are litter on a stick, ask Ben Griffin. Eight years ago, Griffin zoomed from political unknown to a player in contests for seats on the Nashville Metro Council in Tennessee after two signs bearing his name were placed in a yard near an elementary school. Five incumbents were running.…
Living on the edge
A pharmacist, a lawyer and a retiree are vying to represent residents of Ward 10. All three candidates – John Animasaun, Rob Patino and incumbent Ralph Hanauer – agree that there needs to be improvements to the roadways in Ward 10, the southwest boundary of the city, but that’s where the similarities stop. Animasaun, a…
DISTURBING STATISTICS
The Department of Children and Family Services is the state’s safety net for children who are being abused or neglected, yet a January 2019 report issued by the Office of the Inspector General indicates it’s a broken system. During fiscal year 2018, there were 98 deaths of Illinois children who were at some point involved…
TREASURER ON THE MOVE?
Imagine you’re state treasurer. Imagine, further, that you’re doing business in the downtown Myers Building and a place on West Monroe Street that both look, well, perhaps not on par with an office that’s responsible for overseeing monies and investments held by the fifth largest state in the nation. Wouldn’t you want nicer digs, a…
Family lacks knockout punch
The Knight family is a bunch of characters. The father, Ricky, has been a wrestling aficionado all of his life, so much so that he began training his children, Zak and Saraya, in the fine art of the grappling hold and pile driver at an early age. He transfers his dream of being part of…
Songs, BP and Mardi Gras
Well, February 2019 sure came and went in a flash. Let’s see what we can come up with for the first full weekend of March. Not so fast, friends. We just can’t let go of February without mentioning this Thursday, the last day of the shortest month, when The Curve Inn presents their monthly Americana…
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
This Boston-based musician is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, mother, band leader and recording artist, releasing albums on a regular basis and playing the cool clubs in the Americana-circuit with verve and gusto. Some categorize Sarah in all directions, from cow punk to roots rock, and she’s worked with dandy dudes like Dave Alvin, Steve Berlin…
Healing from trauma
“Healing” is a term doctors use often to describe a patient’s progress, but healing goes beyond the flesh.Dr. Audrey Tanksley delivered a keynote speech about the intersection of violence and health at a Feb. 20 forum held at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. Tanksley is the medical director of Heartland Alliance, an international organization…
Good cooks know how to zap it
The thought of microwave cooking apparently doesn’t jibe with the most peoples’ idea of delicious, healthful eating. When I took an informal poll of friends who do a lot of scratch cooking, most of them said they don’t regularly use their microwave, and when they do it’s just to rewarm leftovers. I guess this shouldn’t…
bugastrophy poem #1
bugastrophy poem #1 our cynical joke has been when homo sapiens has done itself in planet and cockroaches will be all that’s left that’s now highly unlikely a recent study shows one third of our bugs are already almost extinct the poles haven’t even finished melting the other 2/3 will be gone in a century…
