Anti-Muslim post appears on clerk’s Facebook page
A Facebook post quoting conservative former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann saying that Muslims are out to destroy Christianity briefly appeared on the Facebook page of Sangamon County circuit clerk Paul Palazzolo on Tuesday night. “The movement of Muslims into Europe and the U.S. is a planned invasion for the specific purpose of destroying Western Christendom,”…
Gramping Her Style
My friend just joined a dating site for elite creative professionals. Unfortunately, it grabs your age from Facebook, so you can’t shave off years. At 50, she’s outside of most men’s search parameters — even older men’s. What gives? — Concerned Aging is especially unkind to straight women on dating sites. At a certain point…
Barry Jenkins Brings Intimacy, Sincerity to “Beale Street”
There’s a calmness about director Barry Jenkins that belies his enthusiastic approach to his work. Upon arriving in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria in Chicago, he nearly gets lost in the crowd at a coffee counter, the other patrons completely unaware of the Oscar-winner in their midst. But at soon as we sit down together…
Inauguration blues
Here’s an idea for an amendment to the state constitution: Require that governors and other statewide officeholders be sworn in on the steps of the Capitol, outside, in January, where everyone can see and hear them. I suggest this after having spent three hours on Monday listening to John Philip Sousa marches and speeches from…
Charming up Springfield
I missed JB Pritzker’s impromptu speech to a gathering of Republicans last week by a few minutes. But the fact that Pritzker even stopped by the event, hosted by Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, was notable. As one top Republican said after Pritzker’s speech, just imagine Gov. Bruce Rauner…
Letters to the Editor 1/17/19
A fortuitous juxtaposition Last week, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives that would require federal background checks for nearly all firearm transactions. The same night, the President said this, “I’ve held the hands of the weeping mothers and embraced the grief-stricken fathers. So sad. So terrible. I will never forget the pain…
What climate change means for government
Looking back at 2018’s weather-related news, it seems clear that this was the year climate change became unavoidable. I don’t mean that the fires in California, coastal flooding in the Carolinas and drought throughout the West were new evidence of climate change. Rather, they shifted the national mindset. They made climate change a political issue…
A romantic comedy classic
Take in a performance of Barefoot in the Park, a romantic comedy about Corie and Paul Bratter, a newlywed couple making their first home in an apartment on the top floor of a brownstone in New York City. While adjusting to married life can be difficult, the flaws of their apartment add to the challenges,…
More than 200 years of Illinois
You still have time to visit the Illinois State Museum’s exhibition celebrating Illinois’ 200th anniversary of statehood. “Bicentennial and Beyond! The Illinois Legacy Collection” includes works of art and also pieces that are of anthropological, archaeological, botanical, geological and zoological interest. The items were chosen for the unique stories they tell about Illinois. Recognizing that…
On your mark, get set, run!
If you think there are a lot of politicians on the make in Springfield, you’d be right. Thirty-two candidates are vying for 13 municipal offices in the upcoming April 2 municipal election. Three citywide races – for mayor, city clerk and treasurer – each have two candidates apiece. Twenty-six candidates, the most in at least…
H.O.T. cops reaching out
The Springfield Police Department is now one of just a handful of law enforcement agencies around the country that has a Homeless Outreach Team. Homelessness isn’t isolated to one part of Springfield, and responding police officers have been left with limited options when dealing with a transient population. “There’s not a section of town or…
Health care starts at home
The Pillsbury Mills neighborhood is next on the list for health care professionals who are attempting to affect positive change in Springfield, block by block. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 6.8 percent of Illinois residents were uninsured in 2017, less than the national average of 8.7 percent. Despite this, there are still areas where…
A wrong righted
Grover Johnson died in prison in 1996, 25 years into a 40-year sentence for the rape and attempted murder of an elderly woman, Ida White. More than two decades later, Johnson became the first case in Illinois of an individual posthumously exonerated, an action former governor Bruce Rauner took just before leaving office. Paul Echols,…
City changes course
City changes courseThe City of Springfield invites the public to attend an informational session for something called a Downtown Traffic Signal Modernization and Operational Modifications project, according to a Jan. 2 press release. That’s fancy lingo for: we want to talk about turning one-way streets back into two-way. The city announcement states there will be…
Powerful Beale Street focuses on tragedy of common racism
In a year in which we’ve had many films dealing with the issue of race in America, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk is the most moving of the lot; this seemingly unassuming story doesn’t raise its voice or go out of its way to manipulate its audience to sympathize with victims of racial…
Music in a winter wonderland
Look out folks, as we wander into mid-January of 2019, sliding into it on the ice and snow of the previous several days with much more of the same stuff likely headed our way soon. Quite a few events were postponed due to last weekend’s wintry weather and more may follow suit this weekend. Keep…
James Neary and the Bevy Blue
Hailing from the Northwest Indiana/Southwest Michigan area and claiming La Porte, Indiana, as a home base, these up-and-coming soulful rockers are laying it on the line with all they got every time they perform. James Neary, the front guy and singer-songwriter, started out as a solo performer until he came into his own with this…
a kind of glory
a kind of glory my folks remodeled an old farmhousea mile from the dairy when I was ninemy cousin paul architecture studentwas a laborer every noon the workerscame down to eat dinner at our housethen sprawled on lawn floor couch eyesshut for the rest of their break all butpaul he sat at my mother’s grand…
The joys of meatloaf
It often seems that some most delicious meals were developed out of frugality. Day-old bread is transformed into decadent and hearty French toast by simply soaking in a mixture of milk and egg before frying. Cold rice fried up with random leftovers, frozen veggies and eggs can have a satisfying dinner on the table faster…
