“Pets” Could Use Some Discipline
Much like a puppy you bring into your home, there are things to like about The Secret Life of Pets and some…well, not so much. Yep, it’s cute, charming and fun for a little while but then it runs away with itself and makes a bit of a mess, one that could have been avoided…
Everybody join in
You know how some songs seem just right for the moment? Charles H. Chamberlain and Archibald Johnston’s isn’t. The state of Illinois made their “Illinois” the official state song in 1925, but it wasn’t right for that moment, harking as it did not to the Jazz Age but to the immediate post-Civil War era. As…
Why Brexit shocked global elites
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE The most shocking thing about “Brexit” – the British people’s resounding vote to pull their country out of the European Union – is that it came as such a shock to the British establishment. After all, say the flummoxed elites, everyone who is anyone in Great Britain was…
Finger-pointing, a stopgap budget and reform
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan rose to give his customary year-end speech after the House had concluded its business last week and pointed his finger right at Gov. Bruce Rauner. For months, Madigan has noted that every time Rauner sets aside his “personal agenda,” the two men have been able to…
Letters to the Editor 7/7/16
The City of Springfield’s first and only traffic roundabout opened in 2011, at the intersection of 12th Street and Capitol Avenue. PHOTO BY NAN BULLI ROUNDABOUTS Several years ago, the recently retired and greatly missed Dave Bakke of The State Journal-Register wrote an article expressing his concern about what he considered to be the excessive…
Editor’s note 7/7/16
If you think Gov. Bruce Rauner is having trouble getting his Turnaround Agenda approved, try backing significant garbage reform in Springfield. Though earlier mayors (Karen Hasara, Tim Davlin) tried and failed to get all the trash picked up, more recent administrations (Houston, Langfelder) have only attempted to patch up a bad system. Springfield’s unusual garbage…
A tribute to Phil Bradley
IT readers and Springfield residents in general have lost a good friend with the untimely passing of Illinois Times guest columnist Phil Bradley. Bradley, 72, of Chatham, died June 27. At one time he headed the Illinois Dept. of Public Aid and was once director of the Illinois Dept. of Rehabilitation Services. He was a…
Sister Act: The Musical
Sister Act: The Musical This July, take in one of Broadway’s hottest musical comedies. The Legacy Theatre is proud to present Sister Act: The Musical, based off the 1992 cult film favorite starring Whoopi Goldberg. Sister Act: The Musical is the Broadway iteration on the story of Deloris Van Cartier, who, after witnessing a crime,…
Celebrate Sherman
Sherman Homecoming The land between The Rail Golf Course and Business 55 in Sherman will be the site of Sherman’s Homecoming celebration this Friday and Saturday, July 8-9. The fun begins on Friday at 5 p.m. with a slew of artisans, crafters and sales vendors plus rides and games for children – all open for…
Fasten your deceit belt
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon I’m a 44-year-old woman who’s been dating a successful actor for a year. When we met, he told me he was 35. Well, in picking up a prescription for him, I discovered he’s actually 42. I’m relieved – but miffed that he lied. I’ve felt uneasy about being so…
Feisty law firm fights for Rauner’s agenda
ILLUSTRATION COURTESY BGA A small and obscure law firm backed by powerful forces sympathetic to what critics say is Gov. Bruce Rauner’s anti-union agenda is on the front lines of a groundbreaking government vs. labor mêlée underway in Illinois. The Liberty Justice Center in Chicago is representing the Village of Lincolnshire in two lawsuits brought…
Running for judge
Pity candidates for judicial posts. While folks running for alderman or mayor or governor or the legislature can talk about darn near anything they want in their campaigns, those who want to be a judge can’t discuss most issues that voters are interested in. How many years in prison should rapists serve? Do you agree…
Curbing court costs
Court fees in Illinois are rapidly increasing, threatening the viability of the court system as a means of resolving disputes. That’s the conclusion of a state panel which is recommending sweeping changes to court fees in Illinois. The panel’s report, released in June, calls the current system “opaque and inconsistent,” calling on state lawmakers to…
Taking the sting out of Stingrays
Police departments across the nation have the technology to trick your smartphone into giving up mountains of information about you, and you may never know it happened. That could soon change in Illinois, due to legislation which would limit how police use cellphone spying technology. The bill passed the Illinois General Assembly unanimously last month,…
SATTERLEE SENTENCED
A Springfield woman has been sentenced to prison by a Nevada judge for passing bad checks worth $160,000 at casinos. In April, the same woman was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison in an unrelated embezzlement case. Illinois Times covered the federal case in May. Susan Satterlee of Springfield will serve her 46-month sentence…
BEATING BLIGHT
Goodbye, eyesores. The Springfield City Council approved the purchase in June of 71 properties from Sangamon County to demolish the buildings for blight relief under a program started in 2012. The city paid $45,369 total for the properties scattered throughout the city’s core and near east side. The purchase was made possible through what’s known…
Swiss Army Man: A multi-purpose disaster
Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe in Swiss Army Man. I’ve seen some very bad movies lately, but Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Swiss Army Man is by far the worst of the year, a film so misguided, confused and insulting that I sat slack-jawed over what I was witnessing. While I’m sure the movie was…
July jingle jangles
Bex Marshall comes all the way from London to play the blues at the Walnut Street Winery on Sunday, The Alamo on Monday and Tuesday at Coz’s Pizza & Pub. With one of the strangest weather periods for a Fourth of July weekend that I can remember behind us, we look forward to that good,…
The Suburban Mystics
The Suburban Mystics Formed by friends interested in playing interesting music together, this local Springfield group includes members of such renowned area bands as The Aspect, Mr. Opporknockity, Winky and the Love Buddhas, Daddy$ Money, The LandSharks, The Emerald Underground, The Tongue Puppets and many more. Bandmates Lori McKenzie (vocals, percussion), Bill McKenzie (bass, vocals),…
Unlikely food find in New Berlin
Justin Richardson, chef at The Garden I slow my car to 25 mph as I drive into New Berlin. I’m on a mission to check out rumors about a young chef who is serving amazing food in the back of a gas station. I first heard the buzz about this restaurant last summer but I…
Friend of bees
Arvin attaches a rubber band to hold pieces of honey comb to a hive frame during a recent feral bee removal. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE As Arvin Pierce and I pull up to a house in Virden and step out of his small red pickup truck, a young boy cowers near the back steps. He…
treasure poem # 2
treasure poem # 2 we perched on the big wood flour boxnext to grama’s stove a good placeout from underfoot but close to theaction of mincemeat doughnuts piesrolled out on the marble tabletopwhen the supply ran low someoneemptied a sack of flour into the boxa sneezy cloud grama made dishtowelsfrom the flowered sacks my dad…
