“Harsh and inhumane”
Untitled Document Lafayette Glenn, a large man who stands more than 6 feet tall, says that people assume, because of his stature, that finding steady work is easy for him. But the reality, he says, is that his ex-felon status closes most doors before he can get one of his massive feet in them —…
Bellyful
Untitled Document Although I still think things will eventually calm down and Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s insistence that senior citizens be given free rides on all mass transit systems will one day be viewed as a welcome entitlement, it’s obvious that many Illinoisans don’t feel that way right now. Blagojevich stunned the state this month when…
The problem with Chinese goods
Untitled Document “Made in China” has become a warning label. Look out — toxics in toothpaste, arsenic in shrimp, lead in toys! Politicians are pointing their fingers at China’s lackadaisical approach to product safety. But wait a minute — where, oh where, are our own regulatory watchdogs? The big shock is not that Chinese-made toys…
Letters to the Editor
Untitled Document We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. DON’T SCUTTLE ELECTORAL COLLEGE Be prepared for more voter disenfranchisement. The so-called “National Popular Vote” bill is sitting on the desk of…
Full-circle mush
Untitled Document This is a story about mush. As a kid up north, where breakfast was two eggs any style, toast, and hash browns, I knew little about mush (unless you count instant oatmeal). The word “grits” was not even part of the local vernacular (with the exception of Flo talking sass on television’s Alice),…
Cap City
Untitled Document RUNNINGFORABE Lincoln enthusiasts are gearing up for the 2009 bicentennial, planning such events as reenacted Lincoln-Douglas debates, a period 1860 Presidential Ball, and a Civil War symposium. But in keeping with the old, organizers are also celebrating the new with a recent endorsement of Springfield’s Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon. Tim Butler, Springfield Road…
Pure Joy
Untitled Document When the jury announced its verdict in the Black Guardians’ race-discrimination trial earlier this month, Lea Joy left the courthouse pursued by a gaggle of reporters whose questions she tersely declined to answer. “I don’t think it’s the right time for me to speak,” she said. “You can follow me all the way…
Rudy?
Untitled Document It seemed like a good idea at the time: Calling Rudy Giuliani the party’s “best chance at victory in the general election,” on Dec. 19 the Sangamon County Republican Party gave the ex-mayor of New York City its endorsement for president. For much of December — really, for the better part of 2007…
Repeat offender
Untitled Document The criminal-justice system has a name for people like Diane Lopez Hughes. When it comes to civil disobedience, call her a repeat offender. This time, the longtime Springfield peace activist faces as much as six months in jail for trespassing on military property. One of 11 people nabbed in November at the infamous…
Singing songwriters in Berlin
Untitled Document Honestly, folks, I really do try to keep my job as a music columnist separate from my work as a musician, but once in a while I’m involved in a show that deserves to be highlighted. This Saturday, Jan. 26, I’m playing with Sally Barris and Ben Bedford at the Old Berlin Schoolhouse…
Tweakers
Untitled Document Ward 7 Ald. Debbie Cimarossa means business. As promised, she’s combing through the proposed fiscal year 2009 budget, considering every line and demanding justification from city directors. The other six new aldermen are right behind her — searching for ways to trim fat and to save Springfield from financial doom. They’re now a…
Language of the land
Untitled Document They speed by on Interstate 55, cars a blur, on their way from one metropolis to another. A world outside their windows flashes by, perceived as a uniformly dull patchwork of fields and homogeneous small towns. This landscape is something to be endured, negotiated in as quick a way as possible. Sometimes I…
Natural furniture
Untitled Document What should consumers look for in natural furniture? Along with replacing your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents and driving your car less, upgrading to greener furniture is one of the healthiest things you can do for your family and the planet. Most furniture is made with wood from the tropics, so the…
Still waiting for the first step
Untitled Document I recently attended a celebration in honor of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It ended, as many such celebrations do, with the audience members linking arms and singing that hopeful anthem, “We Shall Overcome.” I’ve belted this tune a million times. But on this occasion, my mouth simply wouldn’t make the…
People’s Poetry
Untitled Document ecopoem #7 from a letter written to Jackie by her father, 1948 somebody caught a hoot owl yesterday and brought it into the office I tried to break its neck by walking completely around it but couldn’t quite twist it off © Jacqueline Jackson 2008 Posttraumatic stress disorder is a new name for…
Frank Parker also makes music in the kitchen
Untitled Document Frank Parker is not a tall man — but the minute he starts blowing his trumpet, it seems as if he’s 10 feet tall. He’s no slouch in the kitchen, either. Since 1986, Springfield has been fortunate to be home to this outstanding professional jazz trumpeter, who moved here because of wife Molly’s…
Black gold, blind ambition
Untitled Document Some will dislike Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, and it’s easy to see why. It’s an abrasive work with an unsavory protagonist, its structure is anachronistic, and it does lose its way at the end. Be that as it may, this film should be embraced fully for its wild ambition, its…
Mayor’s veto of hiring freeze survives
Untitled Document Mayor Tim Davlin’s second veto since taking office in 2003 prevailed at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, even though Ward 7 Ald. Debbie Cimarossa says aldermen had enough votes for an override. In a letter sent to aldermen on Jan. 17, Davlin announced his veto of a city hiring-freeze ordinance introduced by Cimarossa.…
