Thriving on disturbed ground
Common buckthorn PHOTO BY ED SUBA JR./TNS The dread of the invader runs deep in every human. The savage acts on it unthinkingly, by reaching for a club; the civilized man and woman is no less vulnerable to it but considers it disreputable, rooted as it is in ignorance and racism, and tries to calm…
Why the GOP’s fence fantasy is a farce
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE A long time ago, in a not so faraway land, a civilization existed that was governed through a fairly rational political system. Even conservative candidates for high office had to have a good idea or two – and be quasi-qualified. That land was the USA. It still exists…
New year, new attitude
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS “He has taught us how to deal with him,” explained one top official in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration when asked why the governor has once again cranked up his public criticism of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. You may already know that the governor blasted both Madigan and Chicago Mayor Rahm…
Letters to the Editor 01/14/16
Lola Susan Lucas (Jan 5, 1954 – April 25, 2015) was profiled in “Remembering the lives they lived”, our Dec. 31 cover story about those we loved and lost in 2015. LADY LOLAThank you Jacqueline Jackson for the moving tribute to our dear friend, Lola Lucas (“Remembering the lives they lived, Dec. 31”). Those…
Editor’s note 01/14/16
For those of us who don’t understand Donald Trump’s popularity, it was good to hear President Obama declare for all the world to hear that the Republican frontrunner is just wrong. In his State of the Union address, Obama said Americans must resist calls to stigmatize all Muslims at a time of threats from the…
Chili with a Touch
One of my fellow students from the Springfield High School class of 1962 is retiring at the end of January. While most of us have already retired with little fanfare, this is a lady whose leaving will be felt by many in our town. Marianne Rogers is ending her longtime role as the owner of…
A comedy of bad manners
Beat the winter blahs by taking in a hilarious comedy of bad manners set in a 1920s English country house. Hay Fever tells the comical tale of retired actress Judith Bliss, her novelist husband and their two avant-garde adult children. Each member of the family has invited a guest to the family home for the…
A play about pursuing a deam
Join the Springfield Theatre Centre at the Hoogland Center for the Arts Jan 15-17 and 22-24 for their presentation of Tick, Tick… BOOM!, an autobiographical musical by American award-winning composer Jonathan Larson. Tick, Tick… BOOM! is set in New York City during the 1990s, and tells the story of a young man who is questioning…
Homecoming for Hillary
Enjoy an art exhibition and meet and greet with Hillary Werth, a skilled athlete turned talented contemporary artist. This is the first hometown art show for Werth, a 2005 graduate of Chatham Glenwood High School who excelled in sports, especially track and field where she earned the title of AA sectional champion. Hillary began competing…
Shove hurts
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on a relationship coach who instructed me to cut off all sex and even all contact with the guy I was dating until he agreed to marry me. I knew he loved me and wanted to marry me; I just wanted him to do…
SHIPWRECK
ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS BRITT Amy Mizeur didn’t hold back on her way out the door when she was terminated from her job at The Gold Center in Springfield last spring. “This is what you get when you refuse to screw your boss,” Mizeur yelled over her shoulder, according to a Gold Center manager tasked with…
Groundhog Days in Woodstock
Woodstock Willie and his mascot make their appearance in the Woodstock Band Stand, with the assistance of Brian Szafran, a member of the organizing committee. PHOTO BY RICK BELLAIRS “It’s always Feb. 2nd and there’s nothing I can do about it,” complains Phil Connors, the character Bill Murray plays in the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day.…
Education reform leaves states in charge
A federal education reform law passed in December has educators cautiously hopeful for more local control. The new law, which replaces a prior unpopular law, scales back federal control of education but leaves many unanswered questions about how the reform will affect Illinois schools. President Barack Obama acknowledged after signing the new law on Dec.…
Slowing down for dinner
A scene from the film A Farmer’s Road, directed by digital media arts professional John Murray. Eating dinner has never been more complicated in the 21st century. What’s affordable may not be healthy, and what’s healthy may not taste good. However, one Springfield group aims to make dinner simpler. Slow Food Springfield started in 2006…
Mum’s the word
Jeff Parsons PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Faced with a federal criminal investigation, entrepreneur Jeffrey Parsons can keep his mouth shut in court fights pitting the trustee in his bankruptcy case against car dealer Todd Green and a Texas auction company. Trustee Jeffrey Richardson wants Green to return money he made in deals with Parsons for…
Plenty of passion at Bernie Sanders rally
Adriana Sanchez of National Nurses United speaks at the press conference to announce Bernie Sanders joining the Illinois Democratic presidential primary ballot. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE “Bernie Sanders is not afraid of the consequences of standing and speaking truth to power, and that takes extreme courage and vision,” said Urbana city councilman Aaron Ammons during…
Updates to biofuel mandate bring costs for Illinois
ILLUSTRATION BY DAVID HINE Illinois farmers are disappointed with the final ruling of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s update to the corn ethanol mandate. The federal government recently called for more ethanol in the nation’s gasoline supply, but not enough more to please farmers. In November 2015, the EPA updated the Energy Policy Act of…
Streamlining or steamrolling?
Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti A task force headed by Illinois’ lieutenant governor last week called for streamlining of local governments and reducing “unfunded mandates” from the state. While the group’s suggestions to consolidate local governments may get some traction in the Statehouse, its recommendations on unfunded mandates spell trouble for unions. “Unfunded mandate” describes…
Stunted Forest fails to thrill
Yukiyoshi Ozama, Natalie Dormer and Taylor Kinney in The Forest. PHOTO COURTESY GRAMERCY PICTURES Not sure why early January has become the time for low-budget horror films to be released, but it’s become a bit of a tradition, at least where the last five years are concerned. And while quality is not always guaranteed, the…
Music delights
Erin Darnell Steinhauer performs in Charlie’s Club at 7:30 p.m., on Sat. Jan 16, along with Square of the Roots and Blake Stevens. The Ides of January are upon us, as the weather finally decided to act like a Midwest winter. Methinks many a Springfieldian is prepared to come out of the warm and protected…
Angela Perley & the Howlin Moons
Hailing from Columbus, Ohio and hitting towns all over the Midwest since 2009 with the sound and the fury of a modern American rock and roll band on a mission, Angela Perley (vocals, electric guitar, musical saw), Chris Connor (lead electric guitar), Billy Zehnal (electric bass) and various drummers including Maxwell Button, Adam White and…
Foreign comfort
Moules mariniere, mussels steamed in white wine. PHOTO BY NURI VALLBONA/TNS Athens: A ham-and-bean supper will be held at Athens United Methodist Church on Friday, September 13… Decades later, it still makes me laugh. I was in third or fourth grade at what was then Ball Elementary School. Whatever grade, it was the first time I’d…
demi poem, uncounted Jan 14 2016
it’s your birthday againtomorrow by taking your own lifeyou spared yourselfold age you also spared yourselfyour mother’sold age
