Free-market games
In my 2013 column, “Throwing in the towel,” I talked about the several proposals then on the table to treat elite college athletes like the semi-pros they really are. New York’s Jonathan Chait makes a valuable contribution to the discussion in this recent piece, in which he argues against the notion of marketizing our youthful…
Rauner releases calendar
Gov. Bruce Rauner. Photo by Patrick Yeagle Faced with a lawsuit from Illinois Times and three opinions from the state attorney general, Gov. Bruce Rauner has released his appointment calendar. Download Rauner’s calendar releases here and here. The release today that came via Brown, Hay and Stephens, the Springfield law firm that is representing the…
Giving back
I touched on only only a fraction of the issues regarding recycling in my recent column on that topic. The market for recycled materials is down, which is putting private recyclers under financial strain. Cheap oil makes it more profitable to make new plastic than to recycle old. People read less news on paper. China, which…
To our credit
A few further thoughts triggered by my recent column about the hoped-for restoration to health of the Ferguson Building at 6th and Monroe in downtown Springfield: The federal taxpayer significantly subsidizes such projects, since the tax credit earned by rehabbing properties in officially designated historic districts, as this one is, reduces the flow of money…
Thrills aplenty but Logic AWOL in “Point Break”
Surprisingly, there’s something of an intriguing story propelling Ericson Core’s remake of Kathryn Bigelow’s cult action flick Point Break, a movie that, despite it’s many fans, isn’t above an update or two what with the many technological advances that have occurred since its release in 1991 (yes, it’s been that long.). Slickly made and featuring…
Adieu to the Abe, again
In a recent column I described the razing in 1978 of the Hotel Abraham Lincoln. Readers interested to learn more about this consummate act of stupidity might enjoy this piece I wrote a few weeks before the building’s execution. It was published under the title “Adieu to the Abe,” and appeared in our paper that…
Imagining revolutions
PHOTO BY Anthony Souffle/TNS Drowsy after a heavy holiday meal, I settled in to finish Stefan Zweig’s classic 1934 biography of Marie Antoinette. As I drifted in and out of sleep, the Versailles in Zweig’s account of the final days of Louis XVI and his queen faded and was replaced in my imagination with the…
Should corporations pay their taxes?
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Carl Icahn, noted corporate predator and takeover specialist who made billions of dollars in corporate deals, has recently begun pushing a charitable cause involving a group of people who, through no fault of their own, are being forced out of America. Syrian migrants who’ve lost everything, you ask?…
Letters to the Editor 1/7/16
SHAKEN BABY COVERAGE Commendations to reporter Patrick Yeagle for his informed coverage of the Cammie Kelly shaken baby trial, and to the newspaper for allowing him the time to do a proper job (“Jury struggles to reach verdict in child death trial,” Dec. 17, and several earlier pieces). While I was sorry to read of…
Editor’s note 1/7/16
Of course aldermen and the mayor think they – all of them and nobody but them – are the best ones to decide on city government’s ethics, but the squabbling does not inspire confidence that anything will be resolved. Neither does their inability to do anything about the 15 complaints that were brought forward to…
Globe-trotting with the Trutters
I was at the comic book rack in Overaker’s drug store doing free reading and drinking a vanilla Coke (10 cents for the large size in 1960). My attention was caught by the conversation at a table near the back. It was a group of society women who gathered every afternoon for Cokes and gossip.…
See 19th and 20th century Springfield
Shifting Sands: Springfield’s Architectural Legacy See the architectural history of the city of Springfield in more than 40 photos dating back to the 19th and 20th century during the Shifting Sands exhibition on display Jan. 8-27 at the Springfield Art Association. The Shifting Sands exhibit is the result of a collaboration between the Springfield Art…
Harp recital by Chen-Yu Huang
ISO’s Around the Town Concert Series Enjoy a complimentary, midday break with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra’s Around the Town Concert Series. January’s performance features a harp recital by Chen-Yu Huang, an accomplished harpist with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and assistant professor of harp at Michigan State University. Huang is no stranger to central Illinois, having…
Livid and let livid
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon You responded to a woman who was very proud of herself for leaving the room to compose herself when she got really angry with her boyfriend. It is very unhealthy to stuff your anger. Why would you give this terrible advice – encouraging her to keep holding back –…
The 10 best movies of a so-so year
I’ve seen a few movies in my time, so it’s very possible that a sense of burnout has set in. Perhaps that’s why most of the cinematic fare of 2015 left me with a feeling of “Meh” rather than elation or wonder. Were there good movies? Yes, plenty of them. Were there great movies? Very…
The 10 best scenes of 2015
Movies are about moments – big moments that erase our cynicism about cinema and remind us of its capacity to dazzle as well as touch us. This happens in a way only possible with a medium that seamlessly combines so many other art forms. There are instances that prompt us to consider things in a…
The piano Lincoln heard
Abraham Lincoln enjoyed listening to parlor music on Ninian Edwards’s square grand piano, now in the process of being restored to playable condition by the Springfield Art Association. When he moved to Springfield and hung out his shingle as an attorney, Abraham Lincoln effectively completed his transition from a rural working-class laborer to an urban,…
Illinois pols forge Cuba connection
During his October trip to Cuba, Congressman Rodney Davis stands in front of a 40-year-old Russian tractor in need of repair. Outdated equipment is a huge problem in Cuba but companies like Caterpillar and Deere could help them out if given the chance. PHOTO COURTESY CONGRESSMAN Rodney Davis The restoration of diplomatic relations between the…
Mentally ill behind bars
Tiffany Rusher doesn’t belong in prison, according to a lawyer for mentally ill inmates at the cusp of winning major reform from the state. Locked up for aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, Rusher, 26, spends her days in a so-called crisis cell at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, under constant watch, says Alan Mills,…
New auditor general kept campaign fund active
Illinois auditor general Frank Mautino Illinois auditor general Frank Mautino continued collecting campaign contributions and spending money after the General Assembly voted to put him in charge of auditing state agencies to ensure that public funds are properly spent. Mautino, a Democrat who served 24 years as a state representative before he was sworn in…
Punishment reduced in plea
Mark Willett A Springfield man whose conviction for battery to his infant daughter was overturned by an appellate court has pleaded guilty to the offense in a plea bargain that will shave seven years from a 16-year sentence meted out by a judge. Mark Willett, 28, told police that he had gently shaken his two-month-old…
Rebirth, revenge propel Inarritu’s gorgeous Revenant
Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass in The Revenant. Among experts of the era of western exploration of the United States, the legend of scout Hugh Glass is well known. Having been attacked by a grizzly bear in 1823 while on an expedition in South Dakota for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, he was left for…
Hello to 2016 music
Bustin’ Loose, otherwise known as the Harris Family Band, and formerly The Little Big Shots, celebrates 50 years of making music together, Friday, Jan. 8, at Mowie’s Cue. Well, as amazing as it seems, here we are smack dab at the beginning of our very own time invention called 2016. As Greg Brown, one of…
Lyman Ellerman
Lyman Ellerman Riverton native and current Nashville resident, songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and performer, Lyman Ellerman is a man of many musical talents. The good news for us is that he keeps refining and defining said talents through a lifetime of music making. His most recent project, Something Better, is now out on CD and his…
January conundrum
PHOTO BY PETER GLATZ It happens every January. After the indulgence of the holidays, I crave lighter meals. But when January’s frigid temperatures, bone-chilling winds, freezing rain, sleet and snow hit I equally crave foods that are hearty and warmly satisfying. Here are two of my favorite comfort food recipes that bridge that gap. This…
deception poem # 1
deception poem # 1 my stalwart upright grandfather“took the pledge” when a youthnever to touch alcohol never didnor did the farm men a stipulationof their hiring those found drinkingwere fired on the spot I was eight orso when my mom made a genuineplum pudding for a holiday dinnergrampa and grama were our guestsmother poured the…
