Cover Story
How to succeed as a Black-owned business
Black people comprise more than 14 percent of the nation’s population but only 2.3 percent of businesses are Black-owned, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau figures. The most recent American Communities Survey shows that while Black businesses make up approximately 11 percent of all businesses in Illinois, they comprise only two percent of the state’s…
Black and Latino caucuses exert influence
Two press conferences held after Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget address last week didn’t receive much news media attention. As the saying goes, coverage follows conflict, and the two pressers were far more subtle and polite in their criticisms of the governor’s plan than those held by Republicans, so they were mostly overlooked. But clear undercurrents…
Editor’s note 02-22-24
Here’s an appeal for readers to be writers. We all know “senior moments” have gotten bad press lately, as tired politicians occasionally wander. But seniors have a lot of moments, and few of them involve forgetfulness. For the spring edition of Illinois Times’ quarterly magazine REGEN, we’re collecting stories about Golden Senior Moments. These touches…
City council passes budget
Water rates in Springfield will rise 32% beginning March 1 and another 32% a year later after contentious debate among City Council members and a 7-3 vote on Feb. 20. “We don’t have a choice,” Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer said of the increases, the first since 2011. He blamed prior city councils and prior…
City may pay $95,000 to settle civil rights complaint
Springfield city officials are asking the City Council to approve a $95,000 settlement of a civil rights complaint filed by a transgender former city employee who was denied medical coverage for gender-affirming care. The proposed ordinance, which went through first reading on Feb. 20 and is scheduled for a council vote March 5, would allocate…
Dynamite Poem Part 2
Dynamite Poem Part 2 My friend Jack lived in his grandfather’s house on the edge of Beloit; the handsome house next door was in heritage dispute and uninhabited. The local kids stripped the house of anything useful for the war effort: lead in the windows for instance. They all watched war movies. So Jack…
Letters to the editor 02-22-24
PICK UP TRASH An extreme amount of trash has accumulated along the roadways of our city. While we haven’t (yet) had heavy snowfall this winter, some commercial areas have virtual drifts of plastic and paper accumulating at the fence lines. I don’t know if this blizzard of debris was let loose accidentally or carelessly. I…
Beyond delusion
Vladimir Putin demonstrated in his “interview” with Tucker Carlson the delusional version of Russian history that rationalizes his brutality. Hamas and Benjamin Netanyahu continue to demonstrate Auden’s classic line: “Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return.” It often seems as if vast swaths of the Middle East operate under the collective delusion…
Incorporate more mushrooms into your diet
“I’m going to run into the grocery and pick up some potatoes for dinner – it’ll be quick, I promise. I’m just getting one thing.” I made these assurances with the best of intentions but as I briskly walked through the produce section a sign caught my eye. Button mushrooms were on sale for 99…
First Date, the musical on contemporary dating
Adding to the list of edgy modern musicals hitting local theater stages in recent seasons comes a show about the challenges – as well as horrors and pleasant surprises – of the contemporary dating scene. The setting is New York City, though this story could play out anywhere. Nice guy Aaron has been set up on a blind date. He’s an…
February music wrap-up
Here we are winding down in the last weekend of February for 2024. I sincerely can’t remember when our shortest month was as chock-full of live music as this one. Let’s hope it’s a harbinger of the year to come with more good stuff on the way. For now, we can take a look at…
Ordinary Angels inspires, Drive-Away Dolls is lackluster, Bleeding Love an emotional father-daughter story
Sincerity saves Angels “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” It would be wise to keep this quote from Mark Twain in mind while watching Jon Gunn’s Ordinary Angels, a fact-based, feel-good movie that defies logic. That Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson) is questioning his…
Work of Springfield Immigrant Advocacy Network inspired by core beliefs
Some of the core beliefs that have inspired the work of the Springfield Immigrant Advocacy Network center are recognizing the intrinsic dignity of all peoples as well as the understanding that migrants, immigrants, and refugees are like us – people trying to lead families to safety and survival and to potentially call the communities in…
Moving forward with demolition
By this time next year, most of the buildings – other than the “head house” and the 160 long-empty grain silos – will be demolished at the site of the former Pillsbury Mills plant on Springfield’s north end. That’s what $1.5 million in spending set in motion by ordinances passed Feb. 20 by the City…
