Attorney General asks for rehearing on crucial gun case
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked a federal court last week to rehear a crucial case dealing with concealed carry of firearms. The court previously struck down Illinois’ ban on concealed carry, but Madigan hopes to reverse the court’s decision. In doing so, Madigan might delay the implementation of a concealed carry program in Illinois…
MORTGAGE MONIES
Illinois homeowners who took out a mortgage through Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo or Ally/GMAC may be eligible for a cash settlement or mortgage assistance under a federal class-action lawsuit filed by several state attorneys general. But they’d better hurry: the deadline to make a claim is Jan. 18. The lawsuit secured…
Rescue your resolutions
Here’s a simple step that you can take to get your goals back on track if you’ve found that they’ve been slipping recently. 1. Start over. Get up. Continue. People find that being “allowed” to start over is an amazing concept that saves them a lot of stress and heartache. But they want guidance, a…
Healthy and energized at 90
Lou Murphy has lived with fitness buffs her whole life. Her son, LaVearal Maxeiner, who is a fitness trainer, had encouraged her for years to start a fitness routine, and her late husband, Dave Murphy, was a college track athlete and Olympic hopeful. Despite the urging from the men in her life, Lou had always…
FOOT PHILANTHROPY
In the Bible, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet in a selfless display of servanthood. On Thursday, a group of nurses will do the same for several chronically homeless people living in the capital city. Homeless United for Change (HUC), an anti-homelessness advocacy group in Springfield, is hosting a foot clinic for homeless people at 7:30…
Why does a university need a CMO?
The “ivory tower” of academia has become overshadowed by a new edifice on campus that is reaching ridiculous heights: the tower of mammon. As public universities have been driven by budget-whacking lawmakers to seek ever-more private funding, schools that once prided themselves as being centers of free thinking are increasingly dominated by corporate-think, turning their…
The importance of strength training
Move. It’s one of the simplest things that humans innately do on a day-to-day basis. So how come more than 70 percent of Americans are sedentary? We were made to be constantly moving, but there are many distractions that keep us from doing this. TV, video games, Facebook, cars and fast food joints have all…
Power lines may bring more than electricity
As Ameren moves forward with plans for a high-voltage power line across central Illinois, opposition is growing from some landowners and farmers to Ameren’s chosen route. On Nov. 7, 2012, Ameren filed a petition with the Illinois Commerce Commission to construct a 345,000-volt transmission line from a new power substation in Palmyra, Mo., to a…
This doctor prescribes fitness
Brian Moore of Springfield is not your typical doctor. Instead of relying solely on medicine, he believes in being physically fit, and teaching patients that fitness is key to health. At age 54, he is the father of two, co-chair of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine pathology department and a doctor at Memorial…
another crude poem
another crude poem“Water turned off: sorry for the Inconvenience” oh how did they peein the PACwhen the pressure became burningat our local place of learningdid some take a paper cup and try not to fill it upfor it was sure to spillin a case of overfilldid some try a filing drawerwhich would hold a little…
Deep Lunar Blue
Original and classic rock jam band Deep Lunar Blue commemorates 120 shows as a band with a four year anniversary celebration this weekend. The rollicking band of Shane Quigley (guitar, vocals), Casey Cantrall (guitar, vocals), J.J. Moffat (drums) and Jay Bohn (bass) plays around town on a regular basis, as well as at area clubs…
Letter to the Editor 1/17/13
STATE WORKERS NEED LINCOLN Abraham Lincoln’s most striking quality was his commitment to doing what was right, no matter what. As a lawyer, he passionately tried cases he believed in. As president, he fought against all odds for the abolishment of slavery. He didn’t take the easy, safe path. He took the true path, relentlessly…
Positive spillovers
Illinois legislators aren’t the only people who have to borrow money to pay for services whose value they sometimes question. Tuition and fees at four-year public institutions in the U.S. rose nearly 400 percent in the 30 years after 1981 – after adjusting for inflation – and student debt is rising faster than the salaries…
Talk blurty to me
Why are women so worked up about hearing “those three little words,” and why must they turn them into such a minefield? If a man says “I love you” too soon, he gets dumped because he’s a clingy, needy Nice Guy. If he waits too long, he gets dumped as a suspected commitment-phobe. Even when…
The state pension reform waiting game
“Frankly, I’m not sure they want it,” Illinois Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno said Tuesday about the Democratic legislative leaders and state pension reform. It sure looked like she was right last week, at least in the House, where Speaker Michael Madigan barely lifted a finger for any of the pension reform bills that were…
Springfield fire captain arrested a third time
A captain in the Springfield Fire Department could be disciplined after his third drunken driving arrest since 2005. Capt. Thomas A. Dodd, 51, was arrested on Dec. 30 shortly after 6:30 p.m. when an employee of a gas station on West Wabash Avenue called 911 to report an unconscious motorist outside the station’s car wash.…
Civil War artifacts
This week the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library opened its third installment of the Boys in Blue Civil War exhibit. Featured is the Battle of Vicksburg, Emancipation Proclamation, Civil War prisons and prisoners, immigrant and Jewish Union soldiers and Gen. U.S. Grant. Artifacts from the library’s collections and other objects on display include such items as…
Super strings
The category-shattering string trio, Time for Three, plays at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS on Saturday, Jan. 19. Members Zachary De Pue, violin; Nicolas Kendall, violin; and Ranaan Meyer, double bass, carry a passion for improvisation, composing and arranging, all prime elements of the ensemble’s playing with a reputation for limitless enthusiasm and no musical boundaries. For…
The myth of energy independence
The definition of “energy independence” is evolving. Until recently, it has meant the U.S. producing enough of our own oil so that we were not dependent on other nations for our energy needs. But now we’re in a world of oil interdependence. Oil markets know no national allegiance. Globalization and profit motive are altering a…
Swimming upstream
I was lying on my back during the visualization exercise. The teacher we brought in from Detroit had the “yoga teacher” voice; you know, the calm, quiet, melodious voice. I had just eaten a yummy lunch at Little Saigon and I was mildly distracted by the Thom Kha soup that was hanging around and my feet were…
Fun with Greg Fundis
Most frequently in this column, the musicians I interview are either in Springfield or from another place. This week I was very fortunate to speak with drummer Greg Fundis, a hometown hero now residing in Chicago, working on a very successful and balanced career in the business of making music. Greg grew up in Springfield…
Food, money, and sexuality
This is an abridged version of a talk delivered Nov. 17 by Kathryn Pearson at the Sangamon County Medical Society’s Physician Wellness Conference. How are food, money and sexuality related to our relationship wellness? Relationship wellness concerns our search for unruffled peace, ease of being in body, mind and heart in our relationships, what we…
Genders bent here
“The word of the day is ‘immersion,’” says Legacy Theatre owner Scott Richardson, and truthfully there are few more appropriate terms to describe the Legacy’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, now in the middle of a three-weekend stand. The innovative show breaks the conventional fourth wall in numerous ways, most pointedly via the…
First charges, now a lawsuit
A Springfield woman who says she was groped by a Southern View police officer in a patrol car last spring has sued the village, saying that Joseph Zeid Langan, who has since left the force, had no business wearing a badge. “I was scared that he would hurt me or even kill me and get…
Physician, heal thyself
Lately, Dr. Craig Backs’ patients have been asking him if he’s all right. Backs lost more than 50 pounds over the past few months, but he’s not fighting cancer or some other disease. He’s getting fit, and he hopes other doctors will, too. For Backs, former chief medical officer of St. John’s Hospital in Springfield…
Cultural comparatives
Dr. Ali Nizamuddin, professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield will speak at Unity Church on Jan. 20, noon to 1 p.m. The public is invited to the talk on the comparative cultures and beliefs of Islam, Shariah and Jihad. Originally form India, Nizamuddin specializes in international relations with research interests…
Acts of kindness buoy a harrowing Impossible
Director Juan Antonio Bayona puts us through the wringer with The Impossible, a harrowing film recounting one family’s improbable survival of the 2004 tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean. Employing cutting-edge special effects and an unflinching approach toward recreating the severity of the disaster which claimed an estimated 230,000 lives and displaced 1.7 million…
Health and fitness events
Springfield Bicycle ClubLearn about the club’s local and out-of-town rides and events for all skill levels. Each ride meets at a different location, time and day of the week. Visit spfldcycling.org. Drop-In DerbyFirst and third Sunday of month, 8-10pm. Ages 18 and up, grab your helmet – it’s required – and join the skating frenzy.…
Rousing romance
Springfield Theatre Centre presents Couplings, a two-act play written and directed by Ken Bradbury. Love is in the air and in this production as audience members follow eight ways to have a relationship. The cast features 15 of the some of the area’s best-known actors including Jim and Brenda Yale, Nathan and Carrie Carls, Marilyn Oaks,…
Motown’s green makeover
There have been thousands and thousands of words written and spoken about Detroit’s auto bailout. On Jan. 15, the fifth annual Slow Food Springfield Film Festival will feature Urban Roots a documentary about a different kind of bailout Detroit has been undergoing for the past few years – a green bailout. Detroit’s green makeover is…
