Grace about town 1-29-04
I told you last week I was going to Speed Date, and I did. ONE DAY BEFORE SPEED DATING: What questions do I ask? A friend said she’d rattle off a list — Pepsi or Coke? Rolling Stones or the Beatles? Beer or wine? That sounded good. But I thought about it, and decided the…
Happy rails
More people are riding the rails in Illinois and across the country, a sign that things are looking up for the government’s money-losing passenger rail service. “We’ve had several months of record ridership, dating back to September,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari tells Illinois Times. He credits an improving economy and better service and marketing for…
What catastrophe?
When Mayor Tim Davlin released his proposed budget, he said the city’s money situation was so “catastrophic” that he saw no choice but to lay off police officers, fire fighters, and snowplow drivers. He acknowledged that such cuts seem “Draconian,” but said the early retirement program had failed to sufficiently reduce the number of city…
New school
Heartland Peace Center of Springfield is starting a new school focused on social-justice issues. Among the volunteer teachers: Proshanta Nandi, UIS sociology professor, Tavia Ervin, a minister with the Church of the Brethren, and Terri Jackson, UIS director of minority leadership in public service. The curriculum of the new Heartland Peace Academy includes strategies for…
Letters 1-29-04
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com COMMON SENSE ON DRUG USE President Bush’s plan to pour millions into…
Every year is Golden
On the Chinese calendar, we’re now in year 4702, the Year of the Monkey. Fifteen days of celebration kicked off on Jan. 22. Of course, naming it a “monkey” year isn’t a commentary on current fashion trends or the fact that we’re in an election year. Chinese lunar years are named for animals; the next…
Movie reviews
The Big Bounce [PG-13] Surfer-drifter-con man Jack Ryan (Owen Wilson) goes to Hawaii and lands a job caring for an Walter Crewes (Morgan Freeman), a judge on the island. “A movie that more than once confuses the line between laid-back and lethargic, it wanders around slack-jawed and weirdly inert.” (Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly) ShowPlace West,…
Backstage Pass
Springfield area theater patrons have plenty of reasons to celebrate, thanks to a strong schedule of shows in the next few weeks. On the heels of Springfield Theatre Centre’s successful run of Annie, which was held over for two additional performances last weekend, Sangamon Auditorium is bringing a touring company of the musical Jesus Christ…
Taking off the gloves
Despite pockets of success, the East Side of Springfield continues to suffer from crime, substandard housing, poor infrastructure and a lack of money. Decent sidewalks are hard to come by, fly dumping persists, and nearly every street has boarded-up houses and commercial buildings. Change doesn’t come easy. Ask the seven eastside Democratic precinct committee candidates…
Now Playing 1-29-04
Now we can officially call it winter — sensuous silver shadows dance as the brilliant snow cascades through the moonlit air. Crystal reflections of soft sunlight dazzle the senses with untold beauty. Oh yeah, and iced-over windshields, salt-filled gray mounds of half-frozen slush, and the inconvenience of slippery traveling. Take the good with the bad;…
That’ll be the day (on Saturday)
On Feb. 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens hired a small airplane to take them from Clear Lake, Iowa, to Moorhead, Minn., for the next gig in their “Winter Dance Party” tour. The plane made it about eight miles before crashing in a cornfield, killing everybody on board. The toll left…
Quick Takes
PUTTING THE “COIN” IN COINCIDENCE City Council has scheduled three more budget meetings (all beginning at 5 p.m. in council chambers): A “re-cap” session on Feb. 4, a public hearing on Feb. 10, and a special meeting to vote on the budget on Feb. 19. The timing of that last meeting came as a shock…
Knoepfle 1-29-04
old emblems where we have goneinto our other selveswe do not need tofind each otherat home in that country or bother to knowwhat we know beloved thingsfamiliar imagesa place of concord the lights that burn thereburn without flickering © John Knoepfle 2004
Guilt by association
John Sullivan, a Democrat from Rushville, was the biggest surprise winner of the 2002 election in Illinois. Political observers still wonder how Sullivan beat Laura Kent Donahue, a popular Republican state senator, in a Republican-leaning district. Sullivan was a factor in why Senate Republicans refused to cooperate with the Democrats during last year’s session: They…
