More on Lee Sandlin
I have more to say about the late Lee Sandlin, whose work I extolled in “A poet of fact.” For decades Lee seemed doomed to be another of those writers who is famous for not being known. It was not until something like 25 years after he began being printed by the Reader that he…
Dollar a year, my foot
In response to no public demand whatsoever, I took up as my column topic this week (“Masters of the new machine,” out February 5) our new governor’s interesting remarks on public sector pay. One or two further points might be made. I would accept Mr. Ruaner’s insistence that state workers take less from the public…
Lincoln’s low tricks
In “Insult with wit,” my paean to the lost art of invective, I noted that while the mature Lincoln did not stoop to invective. This was partly fastidiousness, partly because (as Joseph Medill once noted) Lincoln was “not a match for him [Douglas] on the stump before a mob.” However, as a younger man Lincoln…
Art Beat: Hip Hop Battles, Foreign Film & More
The art & culture events we discuss this week include: Bruce Springsteen cover night at the Radon Lounge. More info is here. A hip hop battle at Black Sheep Cafe is on Saturday night. Info here. As part of UIS’ Shelterbelt Reading Series, Sarah Einstein will be reading from her works. She’s working on a…
Step up the fight against climate change
The latest United Nations climate report is arresting because it confirms prior trends of climate change and emphasizes for the first time that dramatic climate change could hit us suddenly. The scientists therefore propose that mankind should use new technology to take a portion of the CO2 we placed in the sky back out of…
Tennessee Borderline
Playing a mixture of modern and classic country combined with Southern and classic rock, this area-based quintet fits the bill for a classic, central Illinois cover band. Moving from Miranda Lambert to Lady Antebellum to Maroon 5 to Stevie Ray Vaughn to Johnny Cash to Joe Walsh, they’ve got the bases covered, a necessity to…
Rauner money rant
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT
Editor’s note 1/29/15
One Springfield alderman has taken great offense at being accused by a fellow alderman of “pontificating” during city council debate. Indeed, the accusation doesn’t seem quite right. To pontificate is to speak in a pompous way, and surely no alderman would do that. The accuser probably meant the alderman was “posturing,” saying things merely for…
HOG FARM STALLED
Plans for a hog farm to be built near Petersburg have been stalled – at least for the moment. Grigsby Family Farms of Tallula proposed building a 9,300-hog facility about six miles from Petersburg, but opposition to the plan brought to light a procedural error that has forced a do-over. Under state regulations, the Illinois…
Back in plaid
Forever Plaid tells the fictional story of a young male vocal group, The Plaids, who perished in a car accident on their way to see the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. By some miracle occurring nearly 50 years later, The Plaids are permitted to return to earth to live their dream…
CALLING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS
Sangamon CEO (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities) has announced a recruitment event for its 2015-2016 class. The Sangamon CEO program, a collaboration between businesses and school districts in Sangamon County, is a year-long, accredited high school class which connects high school students to local business leaders and allows them to “experience the challenges and rewards of running…
Black or White a flawed but noble look at race
Jillian Estell as Eloise and Kevin Costner as Elliot Anderson in Black or White. PHOTOS COURTESY Relativity Media Much like American Sniper, Mike Binder’s Black or White is likely to draw a disparate number of responses, interpretations and criticisms as it deals with the issue of race relations, a subject in which people are passionate…
A Friday night fairytale
This weekend’s hottest – or should we say iciest – party for kids is the Sangamon Valley Youth Performance Group’s Fairytale Ball. The Friday night dinner and dancing event is open to Frozen fans and fairy princess lovers of all ages. Enjoy a buffet dinner followed by DJ music and dancing, games, activities and very…
Letter’s to the Editor 1/29/15
The cost of maintaining the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is going to rise as the building ages. Questions as to who is responsible for the building’s management have already risen. PHOTO BY E. JASON WAMBSGANS/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE ALPLM ISSUES NO SHOCKIt really comes as no shock to hear the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library…
A bowl of super snacks
For New England:Nothing says “New England” more than lobster. This is a less expensive, delicious way to put lobster on your Super Bowl menu. Potted lobster 1 1/2-2 c. finely minced cooked lobster 1 T. unsalted butter plus 8 T. cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 1 heaping T. minced shallot, preferred, or…
No walk in the park this time
George Bush – the first one – was in the White House, Al Gore hadn’t yet invented the Internet (or claimed to) and Jerry Garcia was still leading the Grateful Dead when Leslie Sgro became president of the Springfield Park District in 1991. Until now, Sgro hasn’t been challenged at the polls. But park board…
Through January
Chris Vallillo performs Friday, Jan. 30 at the Paris-Belle House Concerts in Williamsville. Here we are at the end of the first month of 2015. I don’t know whether to celebrate, contemplate, circumnavigate, perpetrate, deflate or inflate, so let’s just investigate further. Start your week off with a crash, boom and bang by visiting the…
Statehouse hot topics
For the first time in a more than a decade, the governor’s office and the Illinois General Assembly are controlled by two different parties, which will make for an exciting and entertaining legislative session. There is no shortage of contentious issues for the legislature to take up. Here are a few bills to watch. PolicingCriminal…
The bird and I
Black-capped chickadee PHOTO BY GraniteStateBirds ViA WIKIPEDIA.ORG The stout birders of Springfield set out just after New Year’s Day again this year to count birds because, really, what else is there to do this time of year? During what was the 80th such census since 1909, 23,113 birds were seen or and/or heard within a…
The wonderful world of wine
Join the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association for a Winter Wine Tasting Festival. The Friday night event offers the public an opportunity to sample wines from more than 20 Illinois wineries, explore food-wine pairings and enjoy Americana music by The Rowdy Jones Band. In addition to 1-ounce tasting samples, wine can be purchased direct…
Crisis for Christians in Iraq
Sister Marcelline Koch (top right) and other Dominican Sisters of Springfield visited their fellow Dominican Sisters in northern Iraq earlier this month to witness the ongoing crisis there as Christians and others flee the terrorist group ISIL. PHOTO COURTESY OF SR. MARCELLINE KOCH The drive from Qaraqosh to Erbil usually takes about 40 minutes. In…
Playing with mismatches
I like this woman I’ve been seeing, but she’s really in love with me. I’ve been clear that I’m not ready to get more serious and that I’m really never going to be up for that with her. She’s chosen to stick around, but her best friend called me crying, saying I’m breaking her heart.…
Rauner’s promised changes are coming
Gov. Bruce Rauner didn’t completely close the door to higher taxes last week during a speech at the University of Chicago, but he made it very clear with what he said and what he did that he wants huge state budget cuts. “We have every reason to thrive,” Rauner said during the speech. He then…
Non-surprise of the week
Curses, foiled again• Police said Eric Frey, 29, handed a pizza shop employee in Uniontown, Pa., a note written on toilet paper. “I have a gun,” it read. “Give me $300.” The worker hit the silent alarm, summoning police before Frey could leave. He explained that a bearded man had confronted him in a nearby…
A Soviet immigrant in Springfield
David Brodsky with a pair of his photographs at the Prairie Art Alliance gallery. PHOTO BY ALLA BRODSKY Before David Brodsky and his family immigrated to the United States almost exactly 25 years ago, with the help of the Springfield Jewish Federation, he was literally a man without a country. “In Soviet Union, to be…
Packing heat
More than 2,000 Sangamon County residents received a license to carry a concealed firearm in the first year under a state law enacted in 2014. The Illinois State Police released data showing 2,081 people had active concealed carry licenses in Sangamon County by the end of the law’s first year, ranking the county 10th statewide.…
How tacky can the golden arches get?
McDonald’s is scrambling, and I’m not talking about eggs. You know your business has what image consultants call “quality perception issues” when you have to launch a PR initiative that publicly addresses such questions as: “Does McDonald’s beef contain worms?” Thornier yet for the world’s largest burger machine is its boneheaded response to the remarkable,…
conundrum poem # 1
volume four of my round barn sagawill be in print this spring it’s thelast of the trilogy so we can all soonrelax but here’s a question for youI am including a lively letter from mydad to his kids circa 1950 a trip hetakes around the state delivering cornhe eats lunch at the farmhouse of asalesman…
Raising a last toast to Smokey, friend of gay Springfield
At 2 p.m. on Jan. 11 the faithful gathered to celebrate the life and passing of a V.I.P. to the Springfield gay and lesbian community. After all these years, the memorial was held in the last location of “Smokey’s Den,” which closed in 2003. The gathering was in a bar now called “The Elixir,” on…
No easy answers
There were nearly enough Springfield aldermen, would-be and otherwise, to field two football teams at a Monday candidates’ forum sponsored by Inner City Older Neighborhoods. But the 21 candidates for 10 seats on the city council had difficulty answering yes-or-no questions posed by advocates for revitalizing and preserving neighborhoods such as Enos Park, Vinegar Hill…
