Passion and fashion
Don’t miss attending one of three dinner-theater productions at the Hoogland Center for the Arts of Love, Loss and What I Wore. The show stars some of the most fabulous female talent in Springfield – Nancy Cole, Claire Gordon, Susan Jeffers, Julie Staley and Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson, with Aasne Vigesaa directing. This funny and poignant play…
Old School Dropouts
Look out world, here come the Old School Dropouts, a new band formed by Springfield music scene veterans to play “old school” rock. First imagined as a rock power trio in 2011 with Dan Luparell (guitar), Jim Engel (drums) and Mike Paoni (bass), the three-man OSD covered a range of popular rock, punk and blues…
CASH AND CHEMICALS
The City of Springfield received a cash settlement last week in a class action lawsuit over a controversial chemical. The herbicide Atrazine, which may cause heart problems or birth defects in humans according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, found its way into Lake Springfield as early as 1994. City Water, Light and Power says…
Winning spaces
Installation Wars is a competition between Prairie Art Alliance artists at Gallery II to create the best three-dimensional work within a space in the gallery given to each artist. PAA Gallery II manager and participating artist in the show, Jennifer Snopko continues to come up with innovative programs at the gallery that Springfield has never…
Hard times on Civvy Street
Illinois legislators and governors have a soft spot for heroes. I know that because they do so much to create them. The administrators of adoption agencies that find ways to keep going when the state doesn’t pay its bills are heroes. So are schoolteachers who must buy their kids books with their own money because…
She may be innocent
In the early morning hours of Dec. 3, 1986, Richard Harshbarger grabbed his .38 caliber revolver and a homemade bat, climbed into his Dodge Rampage truck, and departed from his home in Pana. His younger sister, Peggy Jo Jackson, lived in the southern Illinois town of Mt. Vernon with her abusive husband, William Jackson, and…
HAT TRICK
It’s that time of year again, and so the folks at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Museum are putting a stovepipe hat on display in honor of the 16th president’s 204th birthday. Whether Abe ever wore it or saw it is debatable, as the Chicago Sun-Times reported last spring. While the hat was made in…
A century of service
From the Women’s Suffrage March of 1913 to serving in Congress, the women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., have served both their communities and their nation. The group, formed in 1913 by 22 Howard University women dedicated to promoting academic excellence and providing assistance to people in need, has grown over the past 100…
Squad a pretender in the gangster genre
While director Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad lets us know that it’s “inspired by a true story,” it becomes clear early on that it’s much more interested in the artifice of crime films rather than the hardboiled facts. To be sure, it’s a good-looking movie as the clothes, cars and locations all look of the post-WW…
Who’s behind “Fix the Debt”?
Top corporate chieftains and Wall Street gamblers want to tell Washington how to fix our national debt, so they’ve created a front group called “Fix the Debt” to push their agenda. Unfortunately, they’re using “fix” in the same way your veterinarian uses it – their core demand is for Washington to spay Social Security, castrate…
Bishop Paprocki’s statement on Father Donovan
The following statement was distributed after all Masses at St. Aloysius Parish last weekend and released to media Jan. 22. There have been many stories circulating in the media and on the Internet about the 911 call for assistance made on Nov. 28 by Father Thomas Donovan, pastor of St. Aloysius Parish in Springfield. Since…
Linings Cooper, Lawrence shine
Pat Jr. (Bradley Cooper) has a lot on his mind. His mother Delores (Jacki Weaver) has just sprung him from a mental institution after an eight-month stay. Seems, at home he had walked in on his wife Nikki (Brea Bee) and a co-worker taking a shower and nearly beat the guy to death. Well, can…
Hot music for cold times
With these cold days upon us, what could be more appealing than checking out some hot music tunes for a thaw from this week of chilling weather? I recently received a warming message from Marina V, our ever-moving and ever-loving music friend, that began with, “Hello from Moscow!” Current temps in the Russian capital are…
Will Bill or won’t Bill run for governor
Bill Daley called the other day. We estimated that it had been about three or four years since we had last spoken to each other, which is par for the course. Going back to at least 2001, Daley, the brother and son of former Chicago mayors, has mulled a bid for governor. The last time…
Mine, all mine
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is considering legal action against a Carlinville coal mine for violating pollution laws. Testing in the spring of 2011 revealed excessive levels of manganese, chloride, sulfates and other potentially hazardous substances in groundwater near the mine operated by Macoupin Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Foresight Energy, which in recent years…
No room at the inn
You may recall Alonso D. Travis, even if you never knew his name. He was the guy who hit you up for money on downtown sidewalks and store parking lots along Jefferson Street and on North Grand Avenue. He got angry when you said no. He frightened people. Was he dangerous? Folks who knew Travis…
Letters to the Editor 1/24/13
KROHE OFF TRACKYour readers are a forgiving lot, overlooking occasional flights from fact to fancy in your pages. This attitude stems in part from readers’ belief that Illinois Times inspires its community to commune with those better angels of our nature, to borrow from a local phrasemaker of note. So it is particularly sad when…
found remark poem # 8
“I have to write aCanterbury taletonight. How longdid it take Chaucer?”
Natural gas fracking is coming to Illinois
Illinois is poised to tap into a rich vein of money by allowing an oil and gas drilling method known as “fracking,” but environmental concerns and disagreement over state taxes are keeping that financial well plugged for now. Hydraulic fracturing of shale rock – called “fracking” for short – has been used since the 1940s…
Surprise!
We Glatzs have a long history of throwing surprise parties, largely due to my husband, Peter. For my first birthday after our wedding, for days ahead he’d get up after I’d fallen asleep, roll a towel against our bedroom door to keep any smells out, and begin cooking through the night, storing his efforts in…
Classical stirrings
The Illinois Chamber Orchestra’s next concert, Pure Passion, at First Presbyterian Church will warm you up for an approaching Valentine’s Day. Hear Elgar’s elegant and moving “Sospiri,” the pulsating tango of Osvaldo Golijov’s “Last Round” and the celebration of the American pioneer in Copland’s beloved and spritely “Appalachian Spring.” Music Director Alastair Willis will talk…
Foot-stompin’ bluegrass
The Travelin’ McCourys bring their amazing pickin’ and foot-stompin’ bluegrass sounds to the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The group springs from the award-winning bluegrass Del McCoury Band. Legendary Del McCoury was Ronnie’s (mandolin) and Rob’s (banjo) father. Rounding out the four-member ensemble is fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Alan Bartram. The group has played…
