CASH FOR COLTS
How would you like to own a mustang for just $25? That’s right! While the federal government’s so-called “cash for clunkers” rebates, which provide people with a $4,500 incentive to replace their old gas guzzlers with more efficient newer model cars, get all the press, few people know about a cheaper — and even greener…
KITTY KORRAL
Happy is the home with at least one cat, or in this case — dozens and dozens of cats. The Forever Home Feline Ranch, a new central Illinois nonprofit organization, wants to provide a no-kill, no-cage sanctuary for all homeless, feral and special needs cats. At least 60,000 cats were euthanized in Illinois in 2008…
Blurring the meaning of delicious words
“Education courses teach you words that say nothing.” I heard this bit of wisdom from my music teacher, Esther Duncan, when I was a teenager. In her day, she was a legendary figure in Springfield for her feisty character, the excellence of her Lanphier choirs and her aggressive driving. After she retired I took private…
Intense and intimate
Gordon Productions presents The Last Five Years, a musical by Tony award-winning Jason Robert Brown. The show employs unconventional narrative and a diverse musical score ranging from klezmer to rock. It explores the five-year relationship between Jamie, a rising novelist played by Matt Vala, and Catherine, a struggling actress played by Mary Kate (Gallina) Smith.…
Something magical
Hill Prairie Winery is the venue for an outdoor screening of a film shot in Menard County, produced by Petersburg natives Adam and Tom Galassi and Thomas Snyder and based loosely on the local legend of a boy, Raymond Colby, who claims he was carried off by a thunderbird to a magical place (recently highlighted…
Go! Tsunami mingles with Carillon
When planning this week’s column, I found we had two very deserving bands hosting CD release parties at the same bar on different weekend nights. Please welcome the odd pairing of Go! Tsunami and Carillon, bound together by nothing more than circumstance. Let’s take the Friday night spectacle first and discover the peculiar world of…
Biotech benefits patients and the Illinois economy
Biotech research is not for the faint of heart. Each mad scramble for the next blockbuster drug requires hundreds of millions of dollars and years of painstaking effort — all in the face of overwhelming odds of failure. Undaunted, these pioneers will spend nearly $1.5 billion researching, developing and bringing to market a typical biologic…
You call this a budget?
The budget — if you can call it that — which passed the General Assembly last week has as much as a $5 billion hole in it, borrows over $7 billion from Wall Street and state vendors, disguises huge cuts to some private social service agencies with 87 percent funding for others and sets up…
Muni’s Fiddler another solid production
For fans of live theater in Springfield, attending The Muni’s new production of Fiddler on the Roof is a bit like seeing the James Bond movie Casino Royale — we’ve heard there’s a new guy in the lead role and we’ve seen him in other productions… but we’re not sure how he’ll do as our…
Disability rights lawsuit heads in new direction
A federal judge recently hindered efforts to allow more people with developmental disabilities to live in the community rather than in institutions. U.S. District Judge James Holderman ordered Ligas v. Maram, a civil lawsuit filed against the state in 2005 by nine people with developmental disabilities who say institutions are their only housing option, to…
Home-grown virtuoso
T here must have been scores of kids who, like Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, found themselves enjoying a snack in the Ethnic Village at the Illinois State Fair, just as a group of Suzuki violin students took the stage. And there must have been several whose parents, like Clayton’s, figured, “Hey, my kid could do that,” and…
School bars autistic child and his service dog
Small miracles have come true since Chewey moved in with the Drew family. Six-year-old Kaleb Drew has autism, a developmental disability that affects social, emotional and communication skills. He was only sleeping three hours each night until Chewey, a nearly 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, climbed into bed with him. The dog lies “longways” against Kaleb,…
Letters to the Editor 7/23/09
SECRETS OF SUCCESS May God continue to bless Ms. Costa [see “Building a new life after prison: RaeLynnn Costa is making a comeback, with the support of Project Return,” by Amanda Robert, July 16] and the churches that are following Matthew 25: 44-45. The article points out the secrets of success when it comes to…
Bruno is dressed to offend
You have to give Sacha Baron Cohen credit — the guy’s got nerve. While his critics are justified to be outraged by his brazen, guerilla methods of catching innocents off guard and using their shocked demeanor for comic effect, anyone who risks life and limb parading down the streets of Lebanon in a schoolboy outfit…
Clafouti
For an authentic, gourmet dessert served in French bistros and homes, try making a clafouti. Somewhere between a custard and cake, it’s a simple, eggy batter poured over fruit and baked. The crisp outside and edges contrast with the more pudding-like interior. Clafoutis were originally made with unpitted sweet cherries, the pits imparting a subtle…
Union to Quinn: Don’t cut staff, don’t release inmates early
John Black, a correctional officer at Logan Correctional Facility in Lincoln, says he can sum up the morale among his fellow prison workers in just one word. “Sucks,” says Black, a member of American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 2073. For the past several years, under the strain of the state’s ever-present…
Free food can be yours for the picking
Years ago, a young, sorta-hippyish couple who lived nearby knocked on my front door. They had noticed that fig trees in my side yard were laden with ripening fruit. “If you’re not going to pick all the figs for yourself,” asked the couple, “could we harvest some of them?” Sure, I said, have at ’em.…
Bluesmattic
Lead guitarist Robert Beam, an Atlanta, Ga., transplant who made a mark as a professional touring and studio musician over the last 30 some years, sets the tone for Bluesmattic, with bassist Greg Campbell and drummer Scott Henrikson laying down a strong blues foundation for the experienced and talented performer. Beam’s music history includes by…
Inquiring mind wants to go
Just about seven years ago, I moved here from Texas to find out whether I could still do journalism. I had worked for major mainstream newspapers in Dallas and in Anchorage (yes, Alaska), but I had been out of the business for nearly a decade, working as an investigator for a civil rights attorney, when…
