A bunch of stuff to do
Untitled Document Blame it on the summer solstice or whatever you want, but the entertainment schedule this week in the Springfield area is borderline manic. Being the serious and conscientious columnist that I am, I feel bound by duty to my community to attempt to announce each and every exciting event. However, because of the…
Voices of the people
Untitled Document Ray Ackerman, who farmed in Tazewell County as a young man, talks on video about his early farming days: “No one wants to go back to the hard work they did in the past.” Ackerman talks about having to haul and spread manure on his fields but notes that now farmers use artificial…
Blood, sweat, and cheers
Justin Robbins knelt on the living-room floor in his Piper Glen home with his 4-year-old daughter, Sydney. The pair held hands, closed their eyes, and prayed for Matt Hughes — a self-proclaimed country boy from Hillsboro and nine-time Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion who was fixing to fight Georges St. Pierre in a live, nationally…
Madigan misfires
Untitled Document The reasons House Speaker Michael Madigan’s campaign staff produced a memo for candidates about how best to call for the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich are pretty sound. The execution, however, left something to be desired. Emily McAsey is the House Democrats’ candidate against state Rep. Brent Hassert, R-Romeoville. Hassert has refused to…
Cap City
Untitled Document SCOOTER ROOTER Paul McAdamis isn’t your typical scooter hobbyist — the man means business. When gas prices hit the $4 per gallon mark and kept going up, McAdamis parked his pick-up truck and purchased a black Yamaha Vino 125. He now scoots to Memorial Hospital, where he works as a clinical laboratory scientist, and…
So fresh and so clean
Untitled Document Beginning next week in Decatur, Illinois environmentalists will try to rally support for a tough set of regulations on greenhouse-gas emissions with a series of town-hall meetings to take place throughout the year and into next year’s legislative session. Known as the Global Warming Response Act and introduced in both chambers of the…
Voices of the people
Untitled Document Ray Ackerman, who farmed in Tazewell County as a young man, talks on video about his early farming days: “No one wants to go back to the hard work they did in the past.” Ackerman talks about having to haul and spread manure on his fields but notes that now farmers use artificial…
Strawberry fields forever
Untitled Document At last week’s Old Capitol Farmers’ Market, one question was on everyone’s lips: “Isn’t this weather great?” Everyone was just happy that it wasn’t raining. I smiled but had to reply, “Truthfully, it was nicer where I was last week.” I’d been in sunny, glorious California. My daughter Ashley and I had flown…
Real women have blowtorches
Untitled Document I firmly believe that every woman should have her own blowtorch. Men, too. Few things are more empowering than having that blue-white tongue of flame under your control. A blowtorch is a handy thing to have in the kitchen. It can be used to brown the top of a casserole or meringue pie.…
Aging agitators
Untitled Document There’s an old cliché that smug right-wingers like to fling at us: “If you’re not a liberal at 20, you have no heart — but if you’re not a conservative at 40, you have no brain.” Even if that’s true, there’s a third phrase in life that should be added to this aphorism:…
The Constitution wins, by one vote
Untitled Document After 9/11, the U.S. rounded up hundreds of foreigners suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda or the Taliban, designated them enemy combatants, and imprisoned them. Many ended up at the naval base at Guantánamo Bay. Detainees challenged their imprisonment; at the very least, they argued, they had a right to know why…
“Such a horrible thing”
Untitled Document Many of the visitors attending last week’s preview of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s exhibit on the 1908 Springfield race riot were silent as they inspected the artifacts and informational panels chronicling the events of 100 years ago. “This is not only black history, this is American history,” says guest curator Carole Merritt.…
Safely repelling tiny bloodsuckers
Untitled Document Is it true that the DEET used in most mosquito repellents is toxic? If so, what problems does it cause? And what are some nontoxic alternatives for keeping mosquitoes at bay? DEET is commonly known as the king of mosquito repellents, though not all of us are keen to slather it on our…
Less Smart, more lunacy
Untitled Document It would be hard to think of a better roster of actors to fill out the current incarnation of the Mel Brooks/Buck Henry classic spy spoof Get Smart. Hot off his own clueless role on TV’s The Office, Steve Carell is tailor-made for the bumbling Maxwell Smart, while Anne Hathaway seems more than…
Unity for the community
Untitled Document The wonderful thing about young people is that they come unformed and optimistic, lacking the baggage that seems to burden older folks. It’s not that they don’t see things; they often see things more clearly than the rest of us. For several years, organizers of the annual Race Unity Rally have leaned on…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document springfieldpoem #7 the linden trees are in blossom you won’t notice blooms they’re green blend with the leaves but you will turn your head look around say where is that delicate perfume coming from © Jacqueline Jackson 2008 Among young people, tattoos are all the rage and, someday, dermatologists will grow rich…
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. WISHFUL THINKING ABOUT OBAMAI simply had to laugh out loud at the lack of journalistic integrity in the article decrying how…
