quick takes 1-13-05
The rest of the story Long overdue gay rights legislation will likely energize the discussion Wednesday night, but clearly there is much more to learn about the problems of gay life in Illinois. “Leave no family behind,” is “a community discussion of issues involved in marriage equality, same-sex marriage, and the everyday obstacles faced by…
Making history
Rousing applause erupted in the Illinois House on Tuesday as gay-rights activists celebrated passage of legislation that bans housing and employment discrimination against homosexuals. Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he will sign the controversial bill into law, ending more than a decade of failed attempts to make a person’s sexual orientation a basic human right. “This…
The sporting life
I must admit, when Tom Kelty Jr., owner of Sammy’s Sports Bar and Grill, told me last summer that he was planning to serve food at his downtown bar, I didn’t have high expectations. He described the menu as “typical bar food,” which, to me, usually means various fried sticks and a hot wing or…
music notes 1-13-05
• It’s one more chance for the Last Chance Blues Band, as the popular local group winds up the music box again. New members Rick Hardin, Larry Harness, and Lincoln Eades join original members, Peter “Doc” Glatz, Ed Selinger, Gary Halford, Sherman Elliott, and Bob Kirk to reinvent to the former Illinois Times’ Best of…
Mad County revisited
The ongoing Illinois drama over the medical malpractice-reform debate intensified last week when President George W. Bush paid a visit to Madison County. Yes, that Madison County — the favored courtroom home to many of the nation’s wealthiest trial lawyers, made universally infamous by the multibillion-dollar class-action lawsuits filed over asbestos and Marlboro Lights. Madison…
Jacqueline Jackson 1-13-05
poolpoem #1 my seven a.m. swimming buddy I know only by his paunch and red trunks. his sinewy friends call him Judge. when he doesn’t show up for several days I feel mild concern. I don’t think he’s doing bench presses. © Jacqueline Jackson 2005
common sense 1-13-05
Am I the only one who thinks it’s a bit ironic that a visit to the Statue of Liberty — a symbol of America’s freedoms — now requires visitors to surrender a piece of freedom? The founders knew from hard experience that the protection of individual privacy from the prying eye of the authorities was…
movie review
Jackson shines as Coach Carter If good intentions equal great success at the box office, Coach Carter will end up being one of the runaway hits of the winter film season. Ironically, the film’s positive message nearly proves its undoing, thanks to a touch of heavy-handedness and melodrama. And though the film is based on…
sound patrol 1-13-05
Richard BucknerDents and Shells (Merge) A former acquaintance of mine — pretty, intelligent, seemingly sane, and legally married — used to be obsessed with Richard Buckner. She claimed that they were in a serious secret relationship, that he’d already immortalized her in a well-known song lyric. Every time he passed through town, which was often…
Dead reckoning
Brandon Overton was leaving the country with his girlfriend, their baby, and new pal J.D. Bagley when police stopped them in Michigan, just shy of the Canadian border. Intending to buy milk for the fussy infant, Overtoneased into a gas station without thinking twice about the cop pulling in behind him. The next thing he…
letters 1-13-05
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com DAVLIN: I NEED AN ASSISTANT I take issue with last week’s article…
now playing 1-13-05
What is an Eddie from Ohio? In our little story, it’s a pop/rock/folk quartet from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The definitive tale behind the name goes like this: Back in 1991, when the newly formed group was doing the usual band-name search, Five Foot Seven was the bass player’s choice. No one else liked it.…
Persian aversion
The United States’ next oil war will likely take place in Iran, so now might be a good time to look back at the history of our involvement in that country. What the United States did in Iran in 1953 set in motion a chain of events that led to the 1979 hostage crisis and…
The comeback kid
Lt. Col. Andre Parker will have a family reunion Sunday. That’s when he returns to the Illinois State Police, the agency he joined days after he was discharged from the military and served for the next two dozen years. In an interview with the Richmond Times Dispatch, Parker described his close relationship with the state…
Tear down this barricade
To Ted Smith, East Jackson Street is more than a street — it’s the backbone of the neighborhood he’s lived in for 57 years. Abraham Lincoln lived on Jackson, 20 blocks west of here, so it’s the backbone of America, too. And the barricade that blocks cars from using the street east of Livingston is…
