The facts of life
Untitled Document Throughout the course of our lives, we learn many valuable lessons about ourselves and those around us. In a constant state of motion, we go from one mode of living to the next, on a long path to maturity and wisdom that culminates in the moment when we can finally and with complete…
Something special
Untitled Document A Sangamon County public official gets caught in a cocaine scandal. The state’s attorney can’t handle such a high-profile case himself: No matter what the legal outcome, critics will claim that he gave his buddy some kind of sweet deal. So the state’s attorney pitches this hot potato to somebody else: Special Prosecutor Charles…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document springfieldpoem #8a mother aims her camera atfour laughing children clustered by lincoln’s statue the one across from the museum where he’s ina strong breeze his coat flappingthree of the kids are on the ground a fourth has clambered up beside him one child reaches up holds his hand © Jacqueline Jackson 2008 I’ve…
Rethinking the plan
Untitled Document Five years after Mayor Tim Davlin’s creation of a task force on homelessness and its formulation of a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness in Springfield, changes are being made to the plan. The city has hired strategic-planning firm Sikich Gardner & Co. to recalibrate the 10-year plan, says Springfield community-relations director Sandy…
More beetle mania
Untitled Document Japanese beetle adults are munching on roses, lindens, raspberries, and apple trees in your neighborhood. These voracious foliage and fruit feeders, which dine on nearly 300 species of plants, are busiest from late June until mid-August. The Japanese beetle, Popilia japonica Newman, is metallic green with coppery wing covers. The half-inch-long beetles chew…
The skinny on McKinney
During her early days in the Georgia House of Representatives, Cynthia McKinney occasionally sparred with her father, also a Democratic state lawmaker, on several issues, including sodomy. Cynthia wanted to repeal the Peach State’s longstanding sodomy statute; Billy McKinney, whom his daughter affectionately called a Neanderthal and a homophobe, opposed legalizing sodomy. That’s pretty much…
Dead reckoning
Jack Carey, a general trial practitioner from Belleville and a 30-year member of the Illinois State Bar Association, had barely been president of the organization for 24 hours when its 201-member assembly voted in favor of abolishing the death penalty. The landmark June 28 decision wasn’t unanimous — more like a 2-to-1 vote, Carey says…
Another bluff
Untitled Document Gov. Rod Blagojevich last month proclaimed that the Illinois House absolutely, positively, without a doubt had to pass the Senate-approved pension-obligation bond deal, a special funds sweep, and the entire capital construction package or he’d have to slash the state budget right down to the bone. Much suffering would result, the governor warned,…
Rewriting some Patriot Act stupidity
Untitled Document Empirical evidence notwithstanding, stupidity is not a requirement for membership in the U.S. Congress. Also, stupid acts by Congress do not have to be forever. Witness the infamous freedom-busting, Orwellian piece of legislative stupidity known as the Patriot Act. Passed by a panicked Congress right after 9/11 and reauthorized by a cowed Congress…
A raw deal
Untitled Document Many years ago, I bought some sea scallops. It was a cool day, and I came home directly from the store and refrigerated them, but when I opened the bag to start dinner a nauseating smell hit my nostrils. Even now, remembering that smell makes my stomach turn. I resealed the bag and…
Holy mole!
Untitled Document You know the drill. The menus of central Illinois’ Mexican restaurants are pretty similar: guacamole, nachos, burritos, chimichangas, quesadillas, tacos, enchiladas, rice and beans, various entrées, a host of combination plates, and, inevitably, fajitas. Everything’s usually tasty, but there’s not much variation. At the Maya Buffet, those Mexican-American and Mexican standards are on…
Cap City
Untitled Document TRADE-OFFS Taxpayers in the capital city contributed $56.5 million to the Iraq war last year, according to the most recent data of the National Priorities Project. The NPP, which opposes war, estimates that the sum could buy a mess o’ affordable housing, teachers, and cops. We could also have supplied thousands of local…
Hot time in the city
Untitled Document There’s a lot going on in this big old world lately. It’s all I can do to just toss out a few events to help you fulfill your entertainment fantasies. The Illinois Central Blues Club invites all interested blues bands to enter the local competition for an ICBC-sponsored spot at the International Blues…
IT Picks
Untitled Document Taste test Whether you prefer scarfing down a burger or noshing on pecan-encrusted chicken, Downtown Springfield’s Taste of Downtown has the chow to fill the belly of any eater. The annual event features 17 downtown restaurants, including favorites such as Café Brio, Maldaner’s, and the Holy Land Diner, along with relatively new kids…
The great meltdown
Untitled Document Recent NASA photos showed the opening of the Northwest Passage and revealed that a third of the Arctic’s sea ice has melted in recent years. Are sea levels already starting to rise accordingly — and, if so, what are the effects? Researchers were astounded when, in the fall of 2007, they discovered that…
A helluva movie
Untitled Document Though not a household name like his superhero brethren Superman and Spider-Man, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy has his share of fans who’ve embraced the demon-turned-savior and bona fide box-office money machine. Although the first installment of the series only broke even in the States, it did remarkably well on home video and overseas, so…
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. DON’T CUT KIDS OUT OF STATE BUDGET While it is clear that legislative leaders are facing very difficult decisions regarding the…
Ripple effect
Maybe it’s time to consider going vegetarian. The recent Midwestern floods, on top of cool, rainy weather earlier this year, are sure to push meat prices higher, Illinois agriculture experts say. Almost like biblical wrath, the waters swirled through the farm fields this spring and summer in torrential downpours and flooding. The water drowned out…
Cap City
Untitled Document BREAKING TO LOVE When someone suggested to Grace Nanavati that Washington Park’s tennis courts be renamed in honor of Manny Velasco, the Springfield Park District’s director of racquet sports, Nanavati exclaimed, “By Joe, why haven’t we thought of that sooner?” After all, Velasco was a six-time junior champ in his native Bolivia. participated…
