Tonight: Springfield Art Association Film Series
Sarah Polley films her family in The Stories We Tell Cinema lovers rejoice! This week marks the start of the latest in the Springfield Art Association’s excellent, long-running film series. This year’s first entry is The Stories We Tell, the acclaimed documentary by actress / director Sarah Polley (Guinevere, Take This Waltz). The film is…
Never know who might drop in
from YouTube You never know who might drop in on Springfield, Ill. Thanks to Obama and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, Springfield has slowly become a name on the tip of America’s tongue, and a small-city or large-town destination for the curious. Springfield Poets and Writers board member Liz Huck was listening to WUIS radio…
Have kids, will renga
Introduce your school age child to the poetry form called renga at this free workshop open to the public.
A good deed unpunished
When we left Hemant Mehta, he was still trying to get someone in Morton Grove — anyone — to accept his money. the $3,000 in donations. As I noted in my column last week, Mehta had asked readers of his blog on atheism to help make good money lost to the Morton Grove park district…
Unique Musical Presentation at The Pharmacy Sunday
This Sunday afternoon at The Pharmacy, Nathaniel Bartlett will present his composition “trichotomic ecology.” According to Bartlett, the performance will consist of the recorded version from the album of the same name. The piece is performed on marimba, percussion, and viola along with “real-time three-dimensional, high-definition, computer-generated sound and real-time computer notation processing.” In a…
Medical marijuana law remains green
An employee refills a jar of medical marijuana at a dispensary. Photo BY Anthony Souffle/mCT Despite uncertainty surrounding Illinois’ new medical marijuana law, experts are sure of one thing: it’s going to be a while before the first prescription is filled. The use of cannabis for medicinal purposes became legal in Illinois on Jan. 1…
Student submissions
Ministerial Alliance of Springfield and Vicinity hopes to expose youngsters to the ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. via an essay contest. Jan. 13 is the last day for your student or child, grade 5-12, to submit their essay to the Martin Luther King Essay Contest. One winning elementary, middle school and high school…
When Springfield got gas
Springfield’s homes and were lit by gas starting in 1855. The Illinois State Journal declared that gas light “is not only more brilliant than that of candles and lamps but…is much cheaper and more convenient.” “The City is now lighted up with Gas with great success,” John T. Stuart wrote to his daughter in February…
The new Christmas story
Curses, foiled againDrug suspect Miles Parrotta, 46, tried to avoid arrest by fleeing from sheriff’s deputies in Cortland, N.Y., on a bicycle. His getaway ended when he crashed into the back of a parked police car. (Associated Press) Mauricio Contreras Rodriguez, 20, left a courtroom in Snellville, Ga., after answering a summons for driving without…
Editor’s Note 1/9/14
The Illinois Times staff welcomes Lauren P. Duncan, our editorial intern from the UIS Public Affairs Reporting master’s degree program. From now till June you’ll see her byline frequently in these pages, as she reports from the Statehouse and around the town. A 2012 journalism graduate of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Lauren is from Dix, Ill.,…
MRAP, Maxx and militarization of local police
What a Christmas little Bastrop had! It’s still a mystery how Santa Claus got it down the chimney, but Bastrop got a nifty present that most children could only dream about: A big honkin’, steel-clad, war toy called MRAP. But Bastrop is not a 6-year-old child, and an MRAP is not a toy. Bastrop is…
Wind chill
“-31 DEGREE WIND CHILL!!!……-31 DEGREE WIND CHILL!!!…..-31 DEGREE WIND CHILL!!!” –Recent post from my son’s Facebook page My son, Robb, moved to Brattleboro, Vt. in November. He’s been living and working in Boston for the last several years, so New England winters aren’t exactly a new experience for him. But folks in Vermont – which was…
Letters to the Editor 1/9/14
Local residents Karen and Court Conn own Obed & Issac’s Microbrewery and Eatery, the Inn at 835, Conn’s Catering and the soon-to-open Wm. Van’s Coffee House. PHOTO BY GINNY LEE CONNS’ EXCELLENT VENTURES Let’s start this letter off with some background history that defines the determination and adeptness of Court and Karen Conn to move…
The dead zone
Some headstones in older sections of Oak Ridge Cemetery are starting to tilt as the graveyard struggles to make ends meet. PHOTO BY BRUCE RUSHTON During winter, especially, the signs aren’t obvious. Snow covers expanses of lawn prone to brown during dry summers. Dead trees, perhaps as many as 90, aren’t distinguishable from the ones…
Your money’s no good here
Hemant Mehta What in the name of Joe McCarthy is going on up north? In case you didn’t read about it, here’s what’s happened so far. In October, American Legion Post 134 in the Cook County town of Morton Grove withdrew its annual $2,600 donation to the local park district because one of its commissioners…
School district seeks to rebound from years of cuts
Outgoing interim superintendent Bob Leming received a gift from the Springfield school board at his final meeting on Jan. 7. Dr. Robert Hill has now replaced Leming as interim superintendent while the board negotiates with Jennifer Gill to take over the post full time. Springfield Public Schools could ask taxpayers for a boost soon, but…
Down on his luxe
I’ve always loved surprising my wife with expensive jewelry and lavish vacations. However, I lost my job, and my new job pays far less. There’s barely money for necessities, let alone luxuries. My wife has been very supportive, reassuring me, “I’d love you if you were flat broke,” which makes me feel even more of…
Hippy hit
Springfield Theatre Centre presents Hair opening Friday, Jan. 10 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts and running two weekends. Hair is set in New York City during the Vietnam War. Claude, his good friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance their young lives, loves and the sexual revolution with their…
Mountain lions, wolves and black bears in Illinois?
The recent occurrence of a mountain lion in Whiteside County has generated much public discussion about the future of this species in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources welcomes that discussion, and believes it’s equally important to talk about the possible return of other apex predators such as the gray wolf and the American…
DINNER AND A BOOK
The goodwill is growing in the Enos Park neighborhood. Following an extreme school makeover at McClernand Elementary in August, one of the churches involved, Rochester Christian Church, established a mentorship reading program at the school, pairing students with adults who visit the school once a week to listen and interact as the kids read. The…
Juke House
Taking a cue and a name from the old “juke joints” of the 40s and 50s that hosted wild and crazy dance nights with groups doing the jump band style, Juke House revives the good-time music with power and purpose. Good musicians need to be playing to pull off the music of masters such as…
POVERTY RATES DOWN
A decline in poverty rates, food stamp recipients and citizens receiving public assistance in the area are a few reasons why the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce reported things are looking “brighter and brighter” for Springfield. Poverty rates for the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is made up of Sangamon and Menard Counties, decreased from…
A cautionary tale about our fading feelings
Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore in Spike Jonze’s film, Her. Though Spike Jonze’s Her takes place during some undisclosed time in the near future, it couldn’t be more timely. And while its premise seems absurd on the surface – a man falls in love with the operating system on his phone?!? – as the film progresses…
Drug dogs fail the sniff test
Flip a coin and pick a side. Repeat 50 times. Chances are, you’ll guess the coin toss more often than drug-sniffing police dogs in Springfield found contraband during traffic stops in 2012. Traffic stop data reported by the Springfield Police Department shows the police found contraband in 25 percent of searches prompted by a drug…
A cool event and more
Chicago Farmer plays Frost Fest at Donnie’s Homespun, Sat., Jan. 11. With the great freeze out of 2014 soon becoming a mushy thaw of a memory, it’s time to put the unfortunate show cancellations behind us and move on in earnest with live music in the new year. This week includes a cool, new, indoor,…
Captivating cinema
The Molly Schlich Independent/International film series brings eight critically acclaimed films to the AMC Parkway 8 big screen weekly beginning Jan. 12 through the first of March. For 22 years, the wildly popular annual series has packed the house at each of three weekly screenings for each film. Films debut on Sundays at 1 p.m.…
