Stepping up
Untitled Document After a year during which funds and services were sought for a proposed community center on Springfield’s east side, two more partners have signed on to the cause, says Kristen Allen, Boys & Girls Club executive director. Senior Services of Central Illinois and Springfield School District 186 each voted earlier this year to…
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. HARDLY AN OUTSIDER TO ME I couldn’t help but be struck with the irony of the observation that no matter how…
Piling up
Untitled Document On a recent July afternoon, piles of tree branches towered high above streets and street corners in the Sherwood subdivision — in one case, the limbs had nearly conquered an intersection’s stop sign. Ward 7 Ald. Debbie Cimarossa says that this isn’t going to cut it. “It looked like there had been another…
A matter of perspective
Untitled Document Gail Simpson lives in a two-story house in the Stratford Place subdivision with her 21-year-old daughter, Morgan, and their pet Chihuahua, Spike. She has an administrative job at a state government agency and divides her spare time among two different churches, a service-oriented sorority, and her true passion — golf. It’s a comfortable…
Potpourri
Untitled Document Every time you turn around, it seems, up pops another benefit for some person or organization. With so many deserving people in need, it’s hard not to become overwhelmed. Perhaps we can’t make every benefit or fundraiser in town, but we shouldn’t become indifferent to all. This Saturday, July 14, at the Sherman…
Gardening in shady places
Untitled Document Shade has always posed a challenge for gardeners. “Trying to find something unique and different, let alone being able to tolerate and perform well in the shade, often led to the old standbys of hosta, fern, and lily-of-the-valley,” says Greg Stack, a horticulture educator for the University of Illinois Extension. “Well, fear the…
Patriotic bun baking
Untitled Document Stage left. Enter hyper-aware epicurean American, or HAEA, who’s got the latest culinary lexicon set to memory: “free-range,” “grass-fed,” “heirloom,” “pesticide-free,” “locally grown.” HAEA strolls through the aisles of Whole Foods (or an upscale foodie equivalent), shopping for the most patriotic of meals, the cookout. He examines the contents of his shopping basket,…
Manufactured crisis
Untitled Document Some may disagree, but I believe that this pension “crisis” the state finds itself in right now is almost completely bogus — and, because Gov. Rod Blagojevich has called what looks to be a never-ending special legislative session to deal with this problem, I figure I’ll weigh in. The 1994 law that supposedly…
Bad to the bone
Untitled Document How much pollution do motorcycles generate? Are there efforts to make them more eco-friendly? Motorcycles typically get about double the gas mileage of even the most fuel-efficient cars, but that doesn’t mean that they’re green. Despite getting 60 to 70 miles per gallon, motorcycles are not subject to the same rigorous emissions standards…
Able and ready
Untitled Document Beverly Beard says that it wasn’t easy growing up with a disability in Springfield. Polio robbed Beard at an early age of the ability to walk, forcing her to scoot up and down the stairs of her family’s two-story home. More than 50 years later, she says, housing options for the disabled continue…
Move over, Homer
Untitled Document Simpsons schmimpsons. Who needs ’em? So what if Springfield, Vt., whomped us in USA Today’s contest to host the animated family’s movie premiere? Big fat hairy deal. I mean, sure, it would have been fabulous to have a swank event here in li’l ol’ Springpatch. Everybody could’ve gotten primped up and inflated with…
iNsurable
Untitled Document Jeff Bricker’s got a few calls to make. Until this week, the local State Farm agent was turning away clients who wanted insurance on their spiffy new— and expensive — Apple iPhones. That changed this week, Bricker learned. Because the iPhones are so expensive — retailing for $500 or $600, depending on the…
Patriotic bun baking
Untitled Document Stage left. Enter hyper-aware epicurean American, or HAEA, who’s got the latest culinary lexicon set to memory: “free-range,” “grass-fed,” “heirloom,” “pesticide-free,” “locally grown.” HAEA strolls through the aisles of Whole Foods (or an upscale foodie equivalent), shopping for the most patriotic of meals, the cookout. He examines the contents of his shopping basket,…
The feminine mystique
Untitled Document Gretsches and gams, gams and Gretsches. That’s the Gore Gore Girls’ bag, and if it’s not yours, well, you can’t say you weren’t warned. The cover of the Detroit quartet’s new CD, Get the Gore, says it all: two curvy lower limbs, set off to pornalicious perfection in stiletto do-me boots, and one…
It’s a grilling good time
Untitled Document “Make-your-own-pizza night” was an almost weekly ritual in our household when our kids were little, as well as a standard birthday- or slumber-party event. All we needed were a quick and easy dough with a short rising time and bowls filled with tomato sauce, cheese, and favorite toppings. In addition to being quick…
Harry grows up
Untitled Document There’s no question that David Yates’ adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a well-made feature. It hits all of the points we’ve come to expect from the Potter films; continues to darken the tone of the series, much as J. K. Rowling’s novels have done; and provides some…
Junior Varsity changes direction
Untitled Document For the Junior Varsity, home usually means the highway, but to write their new album, Cinematographic, the rock band hit the brakes. Earlier this year, the hard-touring quintet hunkered down in a Springfield house to craft their second release for Victory Records, an album the band chose to steer in a new direction.…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document overheardpoem #1there are some complimentsyou hoard in your memory bankas capital against stinging remarksheard or overheard or written anonymously by a student on yourclass evaluation form one I cherishis when my new obstetricianwe moved a lot said to his nurse she’s not your ordinary pap smear© Jacqueline Jackson 2007 Our species has developed…
Fantasy escapes
Untitled Document Children often invent fantasy worlds to escape from their own harsh realities, and filmmakers have used this as a basis for their own flights of fantasy. Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) has been lauded as a modern classic, which is more hype than reality. The fantasy scenes are the weakest element, and they…
The straight poop
Untitled Document Corporate executives are always whining to Congress, the courts, the media, and anyone else who’ll listen that they are besieged with lawsuits, and they constantly demand laws to prevent people from suing them. But guess what group does more suing than anyone else? Corporations! For example, consider Scotts Miracle-Gro, a multibillion-dollar global chemical…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document overheardpoem #2the store’s loudspeaker saidwould the person whosecar in the parking lot hasthe license plates my jesusplease go tend your dogsthey are overheating in your closed vehicle © Jacqueline Jackson 2007
