Letters to the Editor
Untitled Document We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER I must say that I was pretty disappointed in elements of your recent story about opposition to…
The handsome man and the good wife
Untitled Document He hadn’t always been handsome — indeed, until the age of 15 he was average-looking — but then Tony “Mole” McMurphy set him straight. Mole was called “Mole” because he looked like a mole, and yet the girls hung on him like ornaments on a Christmas tree. “How is that?” asked the average-looking…
A look back at old Times
Untitled Document Roland, the editor, recently told me, the senior writer, that he wouldn’t mind having an occasional piece from the Illinois Times archives as a way to mine some of the good stuff that was done way back when. I can arrange that, I said. Let’s see . . . where to begin? Oh, how…
Madigan’s gambit
Untitled Document So what the heck was House Speaker Michael Madigan up to last week when he finally came out in support of an income-tax increase and urged the governor to drop his opposition to the idea? Madigan has always been coy about whether he really supports an income-tax hike. Most people thought he probably…
Capitol cops get contract
Untitled Document After more than 10 months of contract negotiations and with assistance from a mediator, the secretary of state’s office and the union representing Capitol police officers reached a tentative agreement last week. Their first since joining the Policemen’s Benevolent Labor Committee last August [see R.L. Nave, “Capitol police unionize,” Sept. 7], the contract…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document lovepoem #7hard to believe I could beenamored of a porta pottybut at the woodland weddingthe slim twin buildings setdiscreetly in a leafy gladefirm steps to the broadplatform at the entrancesproved within to boastgleaming stainless steelfixtures pull down shieldsfor the commode a neatbasin warm water delicatesoaps hand towels ascented candle burninga bouquet of spring…
Hope’s garden
Untitled Document Leafy bean vines snake through an arched trellis and the plants below bear tomatoes on their way to maturity in the little patch of green on the south side of Hope Presbyterian Church. This special garden — also boasting cucumbers, potatoes, and green peppers — fulfills the congregation’s most recent call to serve.…
Subsidizing the corporate family
Untitled Document There are family values, and then there are family values. For example, what’s the value of a private jet to make a family trip to the Caribbean, or of special spa treatments or other perks for the whole family? All you have to do to receive these values is to be a privileged…
Safe. Period.
Untitled Document Are there environmentally friendly alternatives to tampons and sanitary pads? Women of ancient cultures couldn’t buy feminine hygiene products at the supermarket or drugstore chain, so they improvised, fashioning them instead of various natural and biodegradable materials — from papyrus and wool to grasses and vegetable fibers. Modern women, however, have relied on…
A taste of Springfield’s past
Untitled Document Hot tamales and they’re red hot, Yes, she got ’em for sale I got a girl, say she long and tall She sleeps in the kitchen Her feets in the hall Hot tamales and they’re red hot, I mean Yes, she got ’em for sale, yeah — Robert Johnson, recorded…
His mysterious ways
Untitled Document Ray Landers has a God-given gift for making money. According to his Web site, raylanders.com, he “carries an anointing to release understanding of the spiritual realm of finance and freedom from the world system.” Another Web site, for the Sovereign Seed, offers free seminars led by Landers with a promise to teach Christians…
Art works
Untitled Document Psychedelic collages pop from the wall. Slashed cardboard, tape, wire, spray paint, and charcoal are rendered into cascading waterfalls, a scrapyard, a glowworm. Down the street, photos and other works are on display; one shows a man, a typewriter chained to his ankle, peering into a tavern window. The new galleries and art…
Homer finds redemption, again
Untitled Document After 18 years of The Simpsons on television, there are two questions about The Simpsons Movie: Why now, and why pay to see it? I’m going to make this real easy for you: Homer gets to flip the bird, Marge finally gets to curse, and Bart skateboards naked through town. Line up, throw…
Plan a rain garden to capture runoff
Untitled Document When it rains, much of the water falls on impervious surfaces. Instead of allowing all of it to drain away, home gardeners can create an aesthetically pleasing area that will allow the water to drain back into the ground, away from the house: a rain garden. As the name implies, a rain garden…
Staying alive
Untitled Document Four years after its inception, the Illinois Medical District at Springfield is like many new businesses: It has big plans and the potential to succeed. All it needs to succeed is some start-up money and effective marketing. A couple of pieces of legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Raymond Poe, R- Springfield, and pending…
Zucchini abundance
Untitled Document My job is to think about food. As a constant forager for news that relates to the food we eat and the myriad interconnected environmental, political, ethical, and health issues in a constantly changing global economy, I have a lot of stuff swirling around in my head. For the most part, I am…
Color me blues
Untitled Document It seems that central Illinois is mired in a “mess o’ blues” — and, brother, that is a good thing. Last Friday, Phillip Walker (man, was he great) played Starship Billiards, and on Saturday the Chatham Sweet Corn Festival featured, for the first time, local blues bands. In August, local blues shows will…
