TONIGHT: Free all-star Bedrock show at Bar None
Robert Ellis will perform tonight at Bar None FOR FREE Robert Ellis’s second album Photographs was named one of the top 50 albums of 2011 by American Songwriter magazine. Matt Vasquez’s band Delta Spirit has had music prominently featured on both Friday Night Lights and Sons of Anarchy. Nashville’s Johnny Fritz (The Artist Formerly Known…
Mansion curator moves to museum
The curator of the governor’s mansion has been tapped to go to work for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. David Bourland, a former art gallery owner who became mansion curator in 1983, will become manager of exhibits for the museum beginning July 1. He could not be reached for comment. Bourland, 62, is…
I was a wedding DJ (sort of)
This is nowhere near what it was like Not long ago, I had the honor of being asked to be the DJ at the wedding reception of some friends. OK, “DJ” might not be the most technically accurate description of my role. There was no turntable in the reception hall and therefore no vinyl “discs”…
Blind bowling and an education insurrection at SSU
It didn’t take long for Illinois Times to find controversy back in 1975. The second issue of the fledgling paper featured an exposé on Sangamon State University’s internal struggle for power and self-determination, along with an angry letter against the ERA. The cover story for this issue documents how Sangamon State University began in 1969 as a new…
Standard complaint
In “Merge, right?” and “Honest, officer, I didn’t see it coming,” I ventured the opinion that the State of Illinois does not set the licensing bar for automobile drivers high enough, and offered Britain’s system of testing drivers as an improvement. I did, however, note that Britain’s driver standards are not at all the toughest…
Stealing from the rich
In “The razor blade in the apple,” I examined Mr. Rauner’s proposal to freeze property taxes, exempt local governments from the Prevailing Wage Act and allow those governments to limit what is on the table when they sit down to bargain with public employee unions. The only interesting thing that got said during the “debate” was Bruce…
From W to Obama, behind the scenes
Go behind the scenes of the presidential transition process with head of the non-partisan White House Transition Project and author Martha Joynt Kumar, as she discusses her latest book Before the Oath: How George W. Bush and Barack Obama Managed a Transfer of Power. According to Eileen Mackevich, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential…
The Scene: Sea Food (Not What You Think) + Looming, Etc. Etc.
Check out this week’s edition of THE SCENE from WUIS with Scott Faingold and Rachel Otwell
Cerealism
If you’re looking for family fun this Father’s Day, consider a trip to the Illinois State Museum for a modern pop art workshop led by New York artist and author Michael Albert. Attendees will have the opportunity to work alongside Michael to create their own cereal box collages, meet Michael, watch him create an “epic”…
The razor blade in the apple
The interesting debate about property taxes in Illinois was the one they didn’t have last week at the Statehouse. Under consideration were various versions of a proposal, first made last year by candidate Bruce Rauner, to freeze local property taxes statewide. It was a loony idea, and thus enthusiastically embraced. “Property taxes are out of…
Food, hotel giants peddle plastic authenticity
Near my home in Austin, Texas, there is a great, old refurbished motel that I recommend to people when they come to visit our fair city. It not only is right on the famed Congress Avenue but also has a keep-it-real attitude that is expressed right on its iconic marquee: “No additives, no preservatives, corporate-free…
Gov. Rauner takes his budget fight on tour
Gov. Bruce Rauner gave rip-roaring speeches in several Democratic legislative districts last week denouncing the state’s Democratic leadership. All of his visits were accompanied by Illinois Republican Party press releases bashing area Democratic legislators for being in the back pockets of House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. Some are warning that this…
Letters to the Editor 6/18/15
A partnership between local crafters and tradesmen and the Springfield Building and Zoning housing division and administrative courts is one suggestion for bringing some of Springfield’s out-of-code properties up to date, while simultaneously offer PHOTO BY METRO CREATIVE CONNECtiON A CRAFTY SOLUTION What if the crafts and trades, with their training programs, teamed up with…
Editor’s note 6/18/15
Look out, Gov. Bruce Rauner is really mad now. He’s throwing hundreds of thousands of his own dollars at House Speaker Mike Madigan by means of a statewide TV ad campaign. “Mike Madigan and the politicians he controls refuse to change,” says the ad. “They’re saying ‘no’ to spending discipline, ‘no’ to job-creating economic reforms,…
Illinois State Library building marks 25 years
It is a public building that is not only beautiful in design, but was constructed under budget. Few other public facilities can make those claims. June 20 marks the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the current Illinois State Library building, which sits at the corner of Second and Monroe Streets in Springfield, across the…
Celebrate a neighborhood
On Friday, June 19, celebrate the ongoing reemergence of the Enos Park neighborhood as the “Jewel of Springfield” with its third annual Rock the Block party. The free street festival will take place on Enos Avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Attendees will enjoy food, a beer garden, wine tent,…
Fun in New Berlin
The Sangamon County Fair returns to New Berlin for five days of fun! There are too many individual events to list here, but we would be remiss if we failed to mention the Grandstand lineup, consisting of Brushville with Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters on Thursday, Cole Swindell with The Cadillac Three on…
The first commercial airliner
This weekend, aviation enthusiasts have the opportunity to fly on one of the world’s first commercial airliners, the Liberty Ford 5-AT-B. The tri-motor plane will be offering flights out of Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport this weekend only. Flights are available on Thursday from 2-5 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.…
Dork matter
I’m just out of a bad relationship and ready to start dating. I recently met a guy I liked at the mall. There was definitely a physical attraction and we had a lot in common, but not an hour after we met he sent me a text that said, “Miss you already.” That set off…
War of attrition
Curses, foiled again• Police charged Robert Phillip Rivas, 26, with robbing a credit union in Pleasant Grove, Utah, after they discovered receipts showing he had used the stolen money to bail his girlfriend out of jail. They also arrested Rivas’s accomplice, Jesse Ambriz, 28, when officers responding to the robbery noticed him leaving the scene…
Something for everyone
The holiday-themed Elf: The Musical hits the stage Nov. 6. PHOTO COURTESY SANGAMON AUDITORIUM The 2015-2016 season for Sangamon Auditorium, UIS has been announced, and at the risk of an internal contradiction, the shows, beginning in September, are typically eclectic. Auditorium director Robert Vaughn has built a roster that manages to address the very young,…
A band on the brink
Looming at home in Southtown. Left to right: Brandon Carnes, Jordan Fein, Jessica Knight, Mitch Baker. ALL PHOTOS BY PATRICK YEAGLE “I’ve always maintained that culture starts at home, in local communities, through creative interaction. Revolutions always come up from the grass roots, not top-down through corporate hierarchies.” – Bruce Pavitt, founder of Sub Pop…
No going back
The Illinois State Museum, which attracts more than 200,000 visitors a year, is targeted for closure by the Rauner administration. Also targeted is the museum’s Research and Collections Center at 11th and Ash, which houses the largest collection of PHOTO BY DAVID HINE The Illinois State Museum is on the chopping block as lawmakers struggle…
Park police future in doubt
Leslie Sgro PHOTO COURTESY LESLIE SGRO FOR PARK BOARD PRESIDENT ON FACEBOOK The Springfield Park District board may consider getting rid of the district’s police department. “I think it’s kind of trending that way, as far as disbanding the department completely,” said park board member Gray Noll. “I think it’s something we have been considering…
Downtown housing rejected
The Springfield City Council on Tuesday said no to $700,000 in public money to build housing on a downtown parking lot at the intersection of Fourth and Madison streets. The unanimous vote came amid myriad questions about the project, including the extent of environmental contamination on the property, who owns the parking lot that would…
DIVERSITY & OPPORTUNITY
On Tuesday, July 2, a higher education diverse business opportunity fair will be held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to be attended by representatives from Illinois public universities and business owners from across the state. The fair is an opportunity for the disabled, military veterans, minorities and women business owners to meet face-to-face…
FREE PHONES FOR HEARING DISABLED
The state of Illinois estimates there are more than 2 million residents living with some degree of hearing loss. State law requires all Illinois landline phone companies to distribute free, specialized phones to the hearing disabled. The nonprofit Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation (ITAC), set up by those Illinois landline companies, is now offering a new…
World a clever hybrid of old and new
Bryce Dallas Howard as Beth Chris Pratt stars as Owen in Jurassic World. PHOTO COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES While a giant meteor may have been to blame for the extinction of the dinosaurs, as long as they continue to generate big box office revenue they’ll never be gone from movie screens. And what with advances in…
Dave’s back and more
Dave Adams, formerly of the band Food and Money, plays Walnut Street Winery on Fri., June 19, 8 to 11 p.m. From the Sangamon County Fair with hot country acts at the Grandstand and top local cover bands in the beer tents, to the Artist on the Plaza every Tuesday and Thursday at noon on…
Modern Superstar
Modern Superstar Formed in 2010 from various musicians touring the same rock-band circuit, Modern Superstar features members from Chicago, Ohio, Florida, Kentucky and right here in Springfield. No strangers to touring hard, these bandmates have shared the stage with rock ‘n’ roll icons such as Queensryche, Whitesnake, Tesla, KIX, Bret Michaels, Kip Winger, L.A. Guns…
A real jerk
Jerk chicken, with fried plantains, is a classic in Jamaican cuisine. PHOTO BY MANDI WRIGHT/TNS Jerk. Even the name is fun – it could have been created by fast-food marketers trying to come up with a product name appealing to adolescents. Jerk originated centuries ago in Jamaica when maroons – runaway slaves – fled to…
state debt poem # 2
state debt poem # 2 why stop at the museum, guys?there’s nothing here we really prizelop the lib’ry, what’s left of it –no one reads so why not shove itclose the parks, let geezers taketheir horseshoes to a cheaper stakethose highway rest-stops are a draincan’t tourists pee out in the rain?the zoo must cost us…
