Downtown exodus? Says who?
In the past year, downtown Springfield has witnessed an exodus of state workers. Whether due to retirement, layoffs, or transfers, the reduced number of state employees has worried some business leaders. Mike Boer, president of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, says if the exodus keeps up downtown Springfield will resemble what he heard it…
Playing hardball
After months of publicly jabbing the General Assembly for its hidebound ways, Governor Rod Blagojevich is now aiming at his fellow constitutional officers, including his most likely re-election rival. Four weeks after the final state budget passed–and just one day before the new fiscal year was set to begin–the governor summoned all statewide elected officials–the…
The highway side
What you missed:Private eye Nick Acropolis is sent to McKinley by attorney Shelly Michalowski to investigate the case of a trucker charged with smuggling cocaine. The trucker, Jesse Lopez, proclaims his innocence, but the judge seems to believe otherwise, warning Lopez that a guilty verdict would result in a sentence of 30 to 120 years.…
Knoepfle 7-10-03
owl again do not trust the man who believes in his own lies when he swears on scripture who who who who who
How sweet it is
Michigan celebrates cherries. Wisconsin loves cheese. In Illinois, it’s all about corn. Next week 11,000 ears of corn will be consumed during the 30th annual Chatham Sweet Corn Festival, which runs July 17 through 19. The event, held in Community Park on Main Street, is a fund-raiser for the Chatham Jaycees manned by about 200…
Your Turn … 7-10-03
“An opportunity for real change” Dear Editor: I was disappointed by the angle chosen in the article “PR to the rescue: District 186’s plan to rebuild credibility” [June 26]. Headlines such as “District 186 reaches out to community” or “Public engagement: A new start for school district 186” would have better described the intent behind…
Moving target
The way Charlie Salvo describes it, he woke up one morning and realized he owned five acres within the Springfield Medical District. Now he’s planning to build a state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-foot medical office complex on North Grand Avenue near Walnut Street. Salvo, who owns the property with his brother Peter, says he expects to start demolishing…
The other ball game
The bat meets the ball with a hollow thwack. On the home team’s bench, a cheer goes up as the grounder skips past the visiting players’ outstretched hands and across the field’s outer boundary line. If you close your eyes, you could almost imagine yourself at a baseball game. But then comes a sound you…
Bards of the Sangamo 7-10-03
FIREFLIES I don’t mean to bevulgar now, but when you narrowed your still thighs, it was like a firefly lighting the night just over the hill, with its lantern along- side a bush, and I came chasing, daunting your wings with the warm cup of hands that were clapping gingerly. –David Radavich Local poets were…
Now Playing 7-10-03
As the fireworks fade and the gritty reality of a half-gone summer looms large and loathsome, console yourself with an injection of live music at a fine purveyor of spirits near you. Take a drive downtown on a Thursday night and you may find your sweet self, astonished, annoyed, or pleased. But, really folks, there…
One of a kind
For Big Al Downing, it all started with an upright piano salvaged from the trash heap. The piano had been carted home for firewood, but once his family discovered the instrument still worked they moved it indoors. At first the piano served only as a stand for their most prized possession: the radio. But eventually…
Beauty for a day
While there is no perfect flowering perennial, the daylily comes close. Classified in the genus Hemerocallis, which in Greek means “beautiful for a day,” the plants may produce flowers for several weeks, but each flower lasts for only a single day. Daylilies are tough, long-lived plants. Tall orange daylilies are a familiar site along roadsides…
Movie Reviews
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde If a comedy falls in a theater and nobody laughs, is it still a comedy? Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde–the sequel to the surprise 2001 hit starring Reese Witherspoon as a dumb blonde who gets into Harvard Law School–sure looks like a comedy. It contains bright,…
