Ruminations atop the impeachment toboggan hill
The end game, now, seems clear. After a bit more polling and watching CNN and letting the man in the White House just keep going, Republicans in Congress likely will take the easy way out and appoint a special prosecutor to do the dirty work. And so Donald Trump stands ready to rival Zachary Taylor…
Flimsy Effects Prevent “Wall” From Greatness
The most expensive film ever made in China, “The Great Wall” is meant to serve as a bridge between American and Asian audiences, a co-production between Universal Pictures and the China Film Group as well as other international corporations. Hollywood knows the secret to success where big budget epics are concerned lie in foreign markets,…
Real Lincoln
I am obliged to Matt Yglesias over at Vox for pointing out that the Republican Party marked Lincoln’s birthday this year by posting on its official Twitter account a quote from the great man — “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years” — that…
A pattern of deceit
Illinois Times has sued the city of Springfield for refusing to release video footage documenting the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man last month by a city police officer. In refusing to turn over footage, city hall told a whopper to the media and, by extension, the public. It is an all-too-familiar story when…
Fragrant flowers
Bask in the beauty, complexity and diversity of the orchid family this weekend during the Prairie State Orchid Society’s annual show and sale. With between 20,000 and 30,000 different species, orchids are recognized as the largest family of flowering plants in the world. Orchids are widely adaptable, and can be found in the tropics, tundra…
Shooting video withheld
Springfield police are refusing to release video footage that captured the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man by an officer last month. In declining to release footage of the Jan. 23 shooting, the city’s legal department said that Officer John Shea has not yet spoken with investigators about the killing of Daniel Rogers. However,…
Marrying for money
I hear that Jerome had to lay off its police chief. What, you didn’t know that Jerome had a police chief? Or that Jerome had a police department? Or that Jerome needed a police department? The village is home to only 1,651 people. As for the ability of its tax base to support the full…
Is Trump’s America our America?
Who are we? Are we the great America of courage, spunk, openness, inclusion, opportunity and democratic promise – as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms, and Emma Lazarus’ sonnet engraved on the Statue of Liberty? Or are we the sad America of fear, cowardice,…
The root of ‘leadership’ is ‘lead’
The latest Illinois credit rating downgrade from Fitch Ratings is chock full of phrases that could be used in the next campaign cycle against the governor and other incumbents. The one that’s made the most headlines is “Unprecedented failure,” as in Fitch’s downgrade “reflects the unprecedented failure of the state to enact a full budget…
Letters to the Editor 2/9/17
AN URBAN PARKJames Krohe Jr.’s Feb. 2 Dyspepsiana column, entitled “More parking downtown?” seems to provide an opportunity for community dialogue about the future of the area now called the North Mansion Block. While many of us mourn the demolition of the historic YWCA, it has come to pass. The empty block, prominently located…
Editor’s note 2/9/17
The Senate’s so-called “grand bargain” isn’t soup yet, but if legislators need any further incentive to keep trying, they should read the latest downgrade report from S&P Global Ratings. “If lawmakers were to begin asserting governing control over state finances, that could help alleviate some of the pressure currently bearing down on Illinois’ credit quality,”…
More casinos won’t help Illinois finances
In Illinois, Lincoln’s essential premise of “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” has been corrupted into “government of the casinos, by the casinos, and for the casinos” – as exemplified by the new casino legislation in Senate Bill 7. In 2015, U.S. congressional hearings highlighted that much of the Illinois…
An artistic double-header
On Friday, Feb. 10, the DEMO Project hosts an opening reception for contemporary artists Emily Ward Bivens and Frances Lightbound, the brains behind the two newest exhibitions housed inside the little white house turned art gallery on Fourth Street. The front gallery features “Contextual Discrepancy” by Emily Ward Bivens, an accomplished artist and professor of…
Working together for the Lincoln legacy
Celebrate the 208th birthday of Abraham Lincoln and the 50th anniversary of the founding of Lincoln Land Community College by attending the Lincoln Legacy Lectures on Monday, Feb. 13, 9 a.m., at LLCC’s Trutter Center. This panel event features presentations and commentary from three Lincoln experts along with moderation by John Squibb, LLCC professor emeritus…
Savings and alone
I’m a 28-year-old guy in a corporate job. I’m out there trying to meet women and date (or hook up) but I’m not doing so well. In college I was able to hook up and get girlfriends pretty easily, and I haven’t put on 100 pounds or anything. I’ve noticed that three of my male…
The business of spreading music success
In a long brick building within a rented suite on Yale Boulevard in Springfield’s Harvard Park neighborhood, a quiet, yet profound revolution is underway. Here is the headquarters of HISO (pronounced high-so) Music Entertainment, a consulting company conceived by Springfield resident Ayo Abitogun to provide music business services to groups and individuals. The 26-year-old musician,…
Oblique strategies
The current exhibit at the consistently innovative UIS Visual Arts Gallery is not your grandmother’s ceramics display. A series of evocative, colorful and otherworldly shapes, the elegant “Oblique Frontiers” offers hints of an alternate reality of tactile beauty and mysterious utility. Artist Tyler Lotz is a professor of ceramics at the Illinois State University College…
County defends tasing epileptics
Inmates who act up due to medical problems can be tased, even if their medical condition renders them incapable of understanding guards. That’s the stance taken by the Sangamon County sheriff’s office in a lawsuit filed by an epileptic inmate who was twice tased while suffering a seizure. Richard E. Haley has no memory of…
Lovelace murder trial slated for Feb. 27
It’s all or nothing for Curtis Lovelace, who has reportedly rejected an offer to plead guilty to second-degree murder and is now preparing to stand trial a second time for first-degree murder. The former Adams County assistant state’s attorney from Quincy is accused of suffocating his wife, Cory, on Valentine’s Day 2006. The jury in…
Coalition urges school funding formula reform
On Feb. 3 the Funding Illinois’ Future coalition, an advocacy organization for a new school funding formula, urged lawmakers in a press release to pass bipartisan legislation to provide “adequate and equal” school funding. The coalition called for legislation that “recognizes individual student needs, differences in local resources, (and) closes funding gaps in five years…
Lawmakers and state workers brace for Madigan lawsuit
Legislators, union representatives and other state workers are bracing for a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan which could suspend state workers’ paychecks. The decision made by Madigan was designed to put pressure on lawmakers to pass a budget, something the state has been without for over 19 months. On Jan. 26, Madigan…
Lifetime collection for sale at Native American Gallery
A woven Navajo blanket from 1880 is Jonathan Reyman’s most cherished piece at his Native American Gallery at 1044 N. Grand Avenue in Springfield. The man who sold it to him thought it was a rug, apparently because of its size – approximately 52 by 88 inches. Made of all wool and waterproof, it is…
GONE – FOR NOW
Daniel Stowell, head of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, was shown the door a couple weeks ago after being put on leave in November. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency says it can’t comment on the reasons behind Stowell’s departure, but he’s not going down without a…
PLEA BARGAINS IN KILLING
The last of three defendants in a murder case pleaded guilty this week in the 2014 killing of Justin Sharp, a 24-year-old purported marijuana dealer who was found shot to death in a yard on the 2700 block of Whittier Avenue. Several months passed before Korodney Jones, Floyd Williams and Demetriana Ross were arrested and…
Clever Lego Batman hindered by spastic style
Call me a curmudgeon, but I was one of the few who weren’t fully enamored with The Lego Movie when it hit movie theaters in 2014. While it did have a clever plot and a worthwhile theme – that is, for a feature-length commercial – I found its manic pace and spastic visual style tiresome.…
Beyond the bars
We spend a lot of time covering the nightclubs in this column, and rightfully so, since a good deal of our live music scene stems from gigs in the bars. But bands and artists continue to make music elsewhere, especially in the recording arena, creating news outside of the city limits. Chris Noonan and Kevin…
Great American Taxi
With a new album out (Dr. Feelgood’s Traveling Medicine Show released on Feb. 3) featuring production work by Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth and new member Arthur Lee Land (guitar, banjo, vocals), the core unit of Chad Staehly (keyboards, vocals), Jim Lewin (guitar, vocals), Brian Adams (bass, vocals) and Will Trask (drums) continues the Great…
The next best thing to Champagne
Champagne is a classic choice for Valentine’s Day, and it, along with other sparkling wines like cava, prosecco and moscato d’Asti, are some of the most versatile wines to enjoy and pair with food. If I had to choose one “desert island wine” for the rest of my life, I would choose Champagne, or méthode…
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