Cover Story
Spring Home & Garden
The housing market is booming, home remodelers and landscapers are in demand and a growing number of people have taken up gardening. With many people spending a lot more time at home during the pandemic, people are anxious to improve their living space, inside and out. Our annual Spring Home & Garden issue is filled…
Pandemic leads to a boom in home remodeling
In the not-so-distant past, many people re lied on their home as a place that resembled something more of a pitstop than an oasis where they chose to spend the majority of their free time. Between work, school, recitals and practices of all kinds, families considered themselves lucky if they were able to coordinate their…
A wall makeover
Like most people, my husband and I look forward to springtime as an opportunity to freshen things up in and around our house. As the weather warms up and the sunny days grow longer, we love turning up the radio (he enjoys cleaning to Fleetwood Mac), opening up the windows and clearing out the clutter. …
Spring cleaning for your garden
The old adage, “Out with the old and in with the new,” is applicable to so many aspects of life. It even applies to spring gardening. Although Mother Nature effortlessly brings forth new growth each year, there are a few simple tips to get the most beauty out of your perennial flower garden. The first…
Springfield’s back yard
Is there any other place that figures so centrally in the social, recreational and erotic life of so many Springfieldians from so many backgrounds? A summer evening with a fishing line in the water, listening to the waves lapping on the old dam steps. Watching the moon rise over the water with a lover. Paddling…
Mother sauce
The first spears of asparagus began popping up through the soil in my garden last week. Likewise the spinach seeds that I planted way back in February are finally showing their true leaves and it won’t be long until these much anticipated spring delicacies make their appearance on our table. When they do I know…
School board shake-up
The Springfield Public Schools Board of Education will soon welcome two new members who could shift the balance on decisions like the best way for students to return in the fall. Both are newcomers to public office and work in the medical field. Both were also endorsed by the Springfield Education Association, which represents teachers…
WHERE’S THE MONEY?
From coast to coast, the journalism landscape long has been marked by turmoil. Most recently, Alden Global Capital – boo, hiss! – a hedge fund notorious for gutting papers such as the Denver Post so that they become a shadow of such papers as the State Journal-Register, is seeking control of Tribune Publishing Co., owner…
Why Michael Madigan hasn’t yet been indicted
Friends ask: “Why hasn’t Mike Madigan been indicted yet? After all, he has been under investigation for what must be a couple of years now.” My answer: It’s because the federal prosecutor is not confident he can prove that the former Illinois House speaker personally did anything illegal. I define public corruption as receiving unearned…
SHOTS FOR ALL
COVID-19 vaccination appointments are open and free of charge to all above the age of 16. Appointments are available at the Sangamon County Department of Public Health (SCDPH) website – scdph.org. The county operates a site at the fairgrounds with the Pfizer vaccine, which can be given to people age 16 and older. At its…
Editor’s note 04-15-21
Police problems seem so much easier to solve when they are in another state. Local questions involving police use of force, or hate speech on the internet, or minority recruitment, seem not as extreme as issues far away, and so go unattended. Neglected more are systemic inequities in our own businesses, churches or neighborhoods. The…
Gambling losses
Gambling addiction can cost people massive amounts of debt and disrupt relationships and careers. But it’s not as identifiable as substance addictions, according to Mercedes Kent. “It’s not a matter of willpower,” she said. “This is a brain disease.” Kent is a treatment provider and supervisor at Gateway Foundation, which runs addiction treatment centers, including…
Un-name-able poem #1
Un-name-able poem #1 recently an image on facebook showed tan grey brown darkish slightly mottled perhaps “ground” I was puzzled why such an odd scene of nothingness was pictured I scrolled up then hit the stark edge the “horizon” of this whatever above apparent “sand”: total blackness and centered in that black blank a bright…
“Decolonizing” performance art
Performing arts are largely based on an “Anglo-Saxon, English perspective,” according to Reggie Guyton, a Springfield-based performer, director and activist. Theater is especially Eurocentric, said Guyton – its origins are credited to the Greeks. Newer works, like the 2015 musical Hamilton, help de-center this perspective and broaden audiences, he said. The musical features performers of…
Letters to the editor 04-15-21
PLAN FOR TRAINS LEAVING Linear park? It will be railroad tracks covered in weeds (“Reimagining downtown,” April 1). They sound confident that all this money will show up. I hope they are right. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars to reroute the trains, it seems like maybe a plan for the Third Street corridor…
Courthouse renovation planned
The Sangamon County courthouse is scheduled for a $16.7 million makeover that would transform the first and second floors and move the coroner’s office into its own building on Dirksen Parkway. The county board on Monday approved $278,000 for design work on the project, with construction expected to begin in November and conclude in the…
Alana Banks of Decatur makes her-story
“We are extremely proud of Alana Giselle Banks’ historic electoral victory for the Decatur Public Schools District 61 Board of Education,” said Brian Johnson of Equality Illinois in a statement after her win on Tuesday, April 6. Banks is believed to be the first Black transgender woman who will serve on a public school board…
Making monarchs more sustainable
“Why are there caterpillars in your lunchbox?” my father asked my elementary school-aged self. What is your first memory of butterflies? When you think of butterflies, do you picture a monarch? How would you feel knowing there are 90% fewer monarchs now than there were in the 1990s? Unfortunately, this is true, and in December…
Garden and nature events
Petunias for Moms and Pets April 8-30, Thu-Fri. The Animal Protective League is selling hanging baskets of petunias and wave petunias in a variety of colors from Wolf Creek Farms. They make a great Mother’s Day gift or buy some for yourself. Your purchase will help sick, injured and homeless animals. Order online at apl-shelter.org. You…
Wild kingdom
Spring has arrived. I know this not because of weather or roar of lawnmowers. I know because Monty has moved. For 15 years now, my pet snake has been reliable as Halley’s Comet, Old Faithful and that 1994 Ford Taurus I never should have sold. Each fall, around Halloween, Monty Python slithers under one of…
Nearly normal music
Well, well, well, it’s been a while coming, but I can almost say, things are looking nearly normal for music-making on the scene. Not to get too far gone on this since it’s still early in the game, but you’ll find a good bunch of familiar acts back on stage this weekend. I’d like to…
New films fall short
Vanquish: Ineptitude in full bloom George Gallo’s Vanquish is not only the worst film I’ve seen this year, but perhaps in the last decade. Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman is slumming as a retired cop with some old scores to settle. A large paycheck must have enticed the actor to make this film, but there’s another perk…
