Cover Story
New year, new you
Some people start the New Year with gusto, resolutions firmly planted, determined to make big changes. Often the goals relate to health and fitness. Some prevail. Many do not. If that is you, go for it. But, if New Year’s resolutions aren’t your thing and you aren’t totally committed to what seems like a lot…
Resilience
It’s been more than a decade since Dr. Kemia Sarraf, a physician and mother of four, founded genHkids, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and wellness of children and families in central Illinois. Alarmed by the growing incidence of weight-related illnesses being diagnosed in children, and desiring to engage the community about the…
Please, help me get some sleep
According to the National Sleep Foundation, approximately 40 million Americans experience difficulties with falling or staying asleep every year. Insomnia is associated with difficulty remembering and performing tasks, irritability, depression and anxiety, and fatigue. Poor sleep is also associated with high blood pressure, memory loss, diabetes and weight gain, poor immune function, and increased risk…
A kinder, gentler (to a degree) Bad Boys
I’ve only walked out of two movies in my life – Michael Bay’s Bad Boys and Bad Boys II. So, upon taking a seat to see the latest adventure featuring the two-man wrecking crew Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, I acclimated myself, made sure I knew were the nearest exit was and was ready to…
Health opportunities
Tai Chi for beginners Mondays, Jan. 27-Mar. 30, 5-6 p.m. Tai Chi practice offers many benefits to improve your health, such as mental clarity, flexibility and muscle toning. This class can be adapted for all ages and stages of life. Tai Chi is also a movement form of meditation that harnesses the energy from our…
Music moves us
As we travel through this old world, I think we can safely say music moves us in many ways and thereby, in many ways is a main mover of human emotion, carrying some spark that mends, muses and motivates. In other words, music is cooler than a popsicle or last Sunday night’s outdoor temps while…
Dolittle: A generic talking animal adventure
Silly me, in anticipation of Dolittle, I read Hugh Lofting’s Newbury Award-winning The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle, the second book in his series about the veterinarian who can talk to animals. If possible, I always like to check out the source material of any big screen movie adaptation so I can see what similarities the…
John Paul Keith
Since this brilliantly blessed singer-songwriter-guitarist burst from the Memphis music scene in 2009, he continues to play for keeps, keeping it real and really playing music. John Paul Keith rocks a Fender Telecaster like nobody’s business and sings a true song with an R&B sensibility that screams let’s make Memphis in the meantime our motto…
Tick tock
Everything’s fine. Ask former U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, R/D-Compromise, who’s been called in to fix the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. And what a mess it’s been. Since opening in 2005, the ALPLM, now in search of a director, has had four directors without “interim” in their job titles. A hat said to have…
Julius Rosenwald, hometown hero
Diagonally across from the Lincoln Home stands another important home in Springfield’s history – the home of Julius Rosenwald, who was born in Springfield in 1862. Rosenwald may not be a name that is immediately recognizable; he insisted on little acknowledgement for his many philanthropic efforts. Others may know he was the president of Sears,…
How presidents get their facts
Here’s a basic truth about people who make decisions on public policy: They rarely have all the facts they want. Over the years, I’ve sat in countless meetings in which, after we’d reached a sticking point, someone said in exasperation, “Well, what are the facts?” We’d all look around the room because, no matter how…
Seasons of Change on Henry’s Farm
Slow Food Springfield’s annual film festival will feature a screening of the film Seasons of Change on Henry’s Farm, a documentary that follows the lives of Henry and Hiroko Brockman, who have operated an organic vegetable farm in the Mackinaw Valley of central Illinois for 25 years. It reflects the hope and despair that Henry,…
Editor’s note 01-23-20
Every year the message of Martin Luther King Day is the quest for racial justice, but this year in Springfield speakers honed in on the difficult struggle against systemic racism, a concept still little understood. Though Jesus may be in your heart, “Grandpa is in your bones,” said Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, prioress general of…
What’s in store for 2020?
The purpose of the Citizens Club of Springfield is to promote public, civic and cultural welfare in matters concerning public issues and events, provide aid in public understanding of issues, encourage public participation through forums on topics of interest and cooperate with other agencies and organizations in those objectives. On Friday, Jan. 24, the Citizens…
It’s all in your head
Despite the fact that exercise has many powerful physical and psychological benefits, approximately 50% of people who begin an exercise program are not exercising within six months. If you have recently begun a new exercise routine or plan to, there are proven ways that you can continue on your way to your fitness goals and…
Despite looming scandals, Pritzker focuses on his agenda
Gov. J.B. Pritzker regularly deflects questions about House Speaker Michael Madigan’s future by saying he wants to let the investigative process work. But during an interview with me to mark his one-year anniversary in office, the governor pointed to his reaction after Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) was indicted, now-former Sen. Martin Sandoval’s (D-Chicago) Statehouse…
Coalition pushes Clean Energy Jobs Act
With federal regulatory changes looming and legislators one week away from a return to the Capitol, some clean energy advocates are looking to jumpstart a stalled proposal to bring major reforms to the state’s energy landscape. Members of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, including the legislative sponsors of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, or CEJA,…
Addressing dressing
For those who have resolved to nourish their bodies better this year and perhaps trim off a few of those holiday cookies, salads seem to be a logical meal choice. Dark leafy greens are universally accepted as being good for nearly every facet of our physical health, and when you’re looking to downsize the amount…
SKATING AWAY
Who doesn’t like parks? From Yellowstone in Wyoming to Riverside Park on Peoria Road, we should be grateful for green space wherever we can find it. The family of Elijah Iles, early Springfield settler, understood that, and so we have Iles Park in the city’s heart, named for benefactors who donated land where pickleball and…
OLD KILLER is back
As the world worries about spread of the mysterious coronavirus, Springfield is invited to learn about another killer disease, no longer mysterious but potentially as deadly: measles. A September outbreak in Samoa infected 5,000 and killed 81 people, many of them children under 5. “Measles: An International Perspective,” the Feb. 4 program of the World…
Sugar and the American diet
Sugar was first domesticated in New Guinea 10,000 years ago. Sugar cane spread to Asia and Europe, but was initially only available to the wealthy. Christopher Columbus first introduced sugar cane to the New World during his second voyage in 1493. Sugar cane grew well in the hot, humid conditions in the Caribbean. Native peoples…
Why you should learn to cook
There are so many benefits of learning how to cook. You can control what goes into your body. You can prepare the foods you want to eat the way you like to eat them. You can set a budget that works for you and you can then stick to it. It became apparent to me…
Valentine Love Notes
Send a love note to that special someone. There is no charge. They will be published in the January 30 and February 6 issues of Illinois Times based on space availability. Fill out my online form. var q1nl074e17k4phh; (function(d, t) { var s = d.createElement(t), options = { ‘userName’:’illinoistimes’, ‘formHash’:’q1nl074e17k4phh’, ‘autoResize’:true, ‘height’:’440′, ‘async’:true, ‘host’:’wufoo.com’, ‘header’:’show’,…
