Cover Story
Going nowhere
Don’t print my name, he asked, and don’t show my face. I won’t, I promised. The bargain struck, Jack, with help from me, pulled off his left boot so I could take a picture. “Whose fault is this?” I ask. “Mine,” he answers. He’s embarrassed that he lost all five toes to frostbite a couple…
Failures to communicate
Michael Madigan, I’m convinced, has survived as long as he has because he treats cellphones like coronavirus. I wish I could stay six feet away from them, too. When it comes to technology, I’m cursed – laptops go dark on election night, camera batteries die just as Bigfoot appears from behind a tree. My latest…
Hazy skies
Springfield air quality was reported as “unhealthy” as of noon on Friday according to a government system tracking wildfires and air quality. A spokesperson for the Illinois EPA told Illinois Times the smoke is “being transported from wildfires.” A city spokesperson also said Friday that there has been misinformation about controlled burns in the area.…
Into the music
As we work our way into the music of October and wind down the outdoor gigs, let’s all be careful and safe as we enjoy the cool tunes in the crisp air of autumn, unless by the time you read this we’ve had a genuine fall heat wave, which looks very possible by weekend forecasts.…
An Illinoisan in China on COVID-19
The cultural, ideological, and historical disparities between the U.S. and China are vast. This East-West chasm attracted the attention of Columbia, Illinois, native and former Springfield resident Tom Funfsinn during his time as an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Illinois Springfield from 2008 to 2015. Funfsinn’s resulting fascination with East Asia culture…
Brushville
From this group’s original explosion on the modern country scene in 2012 during the Back in the Saddle national band competition through early successes on country radio with a self-titled debut album in 2014 on into 2018’s release, Taking You Higher, Brushville brings it on, keeps it going and drives it home. With the quick-to-entertain…
Editors note 10/8/20
This is the kind of health care Americans want. Ten docs per patient. Upbeat prognosis regardless. Steroids, needed or not. No discussion of obesity, diet, exercise, lifestyle. Prompt discharge, timed for the evening news. Fully staffed clinic waiting at home. No bills, no insurance. Walter Reed for all. – Fletcher Farrar, editor and CEO
Telling Jacksonville’s history
The former post office building on State Street in Jacksonville is being renovated to house the new Jacksonville Area Museum. The museum will be dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation and appreciation of the cultural history and heritage of Jacksonville and the surrounding area, and will include interactive displays and interpretive objects. While it is…
Madigan, fair tax being used against Democrats
It’s well known that the Illinois House Republicans (along with pretty much all Illinois Republicans) are using House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bad reputation to bludgeon their Democratic opponents. Madigan has been enormously unpopular in Illinois. and it’s probably worse now because he’s been in the news so much during the long federal investigation into ComEd…
Grandpa a harmless time waster
I suppose, whenever the occasion arises, everyone is entitled to have a little fun at work. So, I’m going to take that into account as I come to terms with Robert De Niro’s latest foray into comedy, The War with Grandpa, a harmless trifle an upstart distribution company is throwing into the nation’s empty multiplexes…
slightly vulgar poem #2
here’s another slippery limerick for these hard times I have writ but two so please my loyal fans don’t clamor for more – this one needs extra explanation – my brother-in-law is a conductor in this profession to be famous you’re either a child prodigy or ancient: Lew was neither but like my dad needed…
LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS
Oh, my. Forget razor blades in apples and LSD dripped on chocolate. These days, public health is paramount, and so how will kids go door-to-door seeking goodies without everyone getting sick? Is trick-or-treating dressed as a coronavirus germ – just wait, it’s coming, because most everything else has – in bad taste or just in…
Letters to the editor 10/8/20
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to letters@illinoistimes.com. —- AN INMATE SPEAKS OUT Adding to the list of things terrible about 2020, for the first time in my life, I spent three long and miserable weeks at the Sangamon County Jail. Having read…
Bouncing back
With bars and restaurants and racetracks and casinos and video gambling terminals shut down last spring, state-regulated gambling decreased during the fiscal year that ended on July 1. But the future looks bright for the state’s gambling industry. Despite high unemployment and an uncertain economy, Illinoisans are wag ering more than they did a year…
An unlikely pair
In January, when Helping Hands of Springfield and the Springfield Art Association teamed up to shine a light on those experiencing homelessness, no one could have anticipated the lasting impact. Erica Smith is the social service organization’s director. She said the project was aimed at adding a level of humanity often missing from conversations about…
GET A FLU SHOT
In the midst of a COVID-19 White House outbreak, the president downplayed the seriousness of the virus. From social media, on Oct. 6, he claimed the new coronavirus is “far less lethal” than the flu “in most populations.” Facebook removed the post, due to its misinformation policy, and medical experts chided the comment. On Oct.…
Pritzker outlines criminal justice reform
Gov. JB Pritzker announced seven “guiding principles” Oct. 6 to “build a more equitable criminal justice system,” a series of policy recommendations the governor says are priorities for his administration as it works with the General Assembly. The seven principles build on the justice reform agenda that was laid out by Pritzker and Lt. Gov.…
Barriers to Black business
Black-owned businesses in Illinois face significant barriers to growth and opportunities that would enable them to compete with their white-owned counterparts, a problem that many Black leaders say is directly tied to Black unemployment rates and the deterioration of Black neighborhoods. That was the message state lawmakers heard Oct. 8 when three Senate committees held…
Black Caucus highlights racial health disparities
The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is drawing attention to national and statewide health disparities between Black and white Americans in an effort to educate fellow lawmakers and build consensus for action ahead of the fall veto session. At an Oct. 9 news conference outside of the Touchette Regional Hospital in Centreville, ILBC Chairwoman state Sen.…
Springfield’s Black LGBTQ trailblazer
In a climate where Black, Indigenous and other people of color still struggle to live freely, those who have paved the way for a more equitable world too often go unrecognized. People of color who lived at the intersection of other marginalized identities, such as LGBTQ, can be especially overlooked. Ruth Ellis lived outwardly and…
History and healing
Vincent “June” Chappelle grew up in Chicago in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Chatham. As an adolescent he got into a box of family photographs and began to piece together his origins. He found out his family was tied to a plantation. He is the descendant of a slaveholder from South Carolina. Chappelle called the…
A famous chef shares his secrets
For months I heard stories about Chef Paul Wang. He’s cooked at Noma in Copenhagen, considered by many to be the best restaurant in the world. He studied Buddhist temple cuisine with Jeong Kwan, a Zen nun and renowned cook who was featured in the Netflix series “Chef’s Table.” He has lived in a different…
