Artist on the Plaza
Springfield Area Youth Jazz Band This summer, spend your Tuesday and Thursday lunch hours outdoors enjoying the annual Artist on the Plaza free performance series at the Old State Capitol Plaza. Artist on the Plaza is the Springfield Area Arts Council’s longest-running concert series, featuring al fresco performances by local artists every Tuesday and Thursday…
Party in the parlor
Parlor Pastimes with Mr. Lincoln On Friday, June 10, History Comes Alive launches their weekly Parlor Pastimes with Mr. Lincoln program at Edwards Place. From 1-2 p.m. every Friday this summer, Mr. Abraham Lincoln will discuss parlor etiquette, parlor activities enjoyed by 19th century families, and the adjustment to parlor culture after his childhood upbringing…
First name Barbie, last name Doll
Poets in the Parlor: Maureen Bocka The Vachel Lindsay Association’s popular Poets in the Parlor series continues with a reading by Maureen Bocka, author of First name Barbie, last name Doll, on Thursday, June 12, from 2-3 p.m. The chapbook, published in February 2016 by Headmistress Press, is the first collection of poetry for Bocka,…
Canine-and- a-half weeks
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon My girlfriend sleeps with her two medium-sized dogs. They are, to quote her, her “babies.” I see them more as her bodyguards. We don’t live together, but even when I sleep over, which is a few times a week, she refuses to kick them out of the bed. She…
Shredding Lincoln
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT This story is the product of a collaboration with Illinois Issues. Illinois Issues is produced in Springfield by NPR Illinois. The world had always known about Grace Bedell, an 11-year-old girl who had urged Abraham Lincoln, months before he became president, to grow a beard, on the grounds that he…
Dumb, dumber, Dumb Fest
Dumb Fest organizer Brian Galecki. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Kicking off this Friday, June 10, at 5 p.m., Dumb Fest is one of two annual music festivals hosted every summer by the scrappy, consistently ambitious, all-ages punk venue Black Sheep Café, located at the corner of 11th St. and South Grand (Black Sheep Fest celebrated…
Eclectic singer stands up against domestic abuse
Charmaine Neville, New Orleans musician Charmaine Neville, a domestic abuse survivor, believes that women who experience domestic abuse do not feel that other people truly understand their situation. “People don’t understand that you can’t always get away,” she said. “Sometimes, no matter how far away you get, you always are found.” Neville is a well-known…
Popstar takes no prisoners as it skewers modern pop
Andy Samberg as Conner in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. To be sure, Andy Samberg is an acquired taste. However, with his brilliant work on the cop show parody “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” he’s shown himself to be a comic with not just crackerjack timing and the willingness to look the fool but an uncommonly smart writer…
Music blooms in June
The Suburban Mystics host a BassBerg pre-party, Sat., June 11, 6 to 10 p.m. at The Curve Inn. What wonderful weather we’ve been blessed with this week. Let’s hope the atmospheric conditions continue for a bit to get us through the wonderful music we’ve been given as well. The weekend brings along a couple of…
John Byrne Band
John Byrne Band Born in Dublin, Ireland, and now living in Philadelphia, Penn., John Byrne takes Celtic and American music of folk origins and keeps it alive by continuing musical traditions while making it all sound fresh through original songwriting and covers of the old songs. Playing a mix of self-penned compositions and interpretations of…
Memorable meals
Steak with chimichurri My most memorable dining experiences have ranged from the bizarre to the sublime. When I travel, I try to seek out and immerse myself in the local food and music culture. What makes a meal memorable might be the quality of the dish or the uniqueness of the surroundings. My wife and…
Back at work
Daniel Stowell Daniel Stowell is returning to work at the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project after more than a month on paid administrative leave. Chris Wills, spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency that employs Stowell, told Illinois Times via email today that Stowell is returning to work. It wasn’t clear from Wills’ email whether…
Pressure grows
Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino State Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, says that auditor general Frank Mautino should leave office due to a pending federal investigation into his campaign spending while a member of the General Assembly. “I am concerned that your honor is being called into question and that the investigation could cast doubt…
Singer Continues to Entertain, Challenge with “Apocalypse”
Having already brought in $103 million overseas, Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse hits the states with a full head of steam at the box office and, curiously, a myriad of middling reviews. Why this is so is a bit of a mystery as the film, as we’ve come to expect from anything helmed by Singer, is…
Something there is that doesn’t love a tree
Clear Lake Avenue needs more trees. PHOTO BY BRITTANY HILDERBRAND Careful readers of his paper will know that Sustainable Springfield is encouraging businesses and landowners to allow the organization to plant native and/or non-invasive tree species on their properties, starting with the Clear Lake Avenue corridor. Any proud native who wishes Springfield to make a…
The fury beneath the phenomena
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE 2016 has certainly been an odd year for the political and corporate elites. They certainly couldn’t predict (and then subsequently stayed in denial about) the groundswell from the masses in terms of the popularity of Bernie Sanders and Donnie Trump. The political cognoscenti have not understood the massive…
Madigan’s actions show no fear of Rauner
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS After what happened last week, it’s clearer than ever that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has no fear of what Gov. Rauner could do to his members this fall. And Madigan has even less fear of what his members could do to him. As you certainly know by now, Madigan lumped…
Letters to the Editor 6/2/16
Letter writer asks, “Why not… make good community investments across the entire picture” instead of just downtown? PHOTO BY DAVID HINE THE TIF PUZZLEIf you’re wondering who, if anybody, will make an argument against extending the downtown TIF, Sen. Andy Manar has been making a strong and convincing one since he got to the…
Editor’s note 6/2/16
There is no more apt description of the just concluded legislative session than Gov. Bruce Rauner’s: “Stunning failure.” He was pointing at the Democrats, as usual, but he is the one who failed the most, by failing to propose and win approval for a reasonable budget, and by failing to help business with cost-saving reforms…
Springfield needs a city planner
This is an edited version of remarks Paul O’Shea delivered to the Citizens Club May 27. I agree when Bob Gray says that the 1925 Myron West City Plan of the City of Springfield was exemplary. This was the first, and perhaps the only, city plan for Springfield. That was nearly 100 years ago. Discussions…
Award-winning Jewish films
For the third year in a row, The Jewish Federation of Springfield, alongside a handful of community supporters, presents its annual film series. The series kicks off on Thursday, June 2, with a showing of The Green Prince documentary. The German film with American subtitles recounts the story of Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of…
A rockin’ race
The SOHO 10K run/walk was added to the SOHO Music Festival lineup in 2014 and is a healthy addition to the SOHO activities. The 6.2-mile point-to-point race will occur on Saturday, June 4, at 8 a.m., along the paved Sangamon Valley Trail, starting at Stuart Park and finishing at Centennial Park. The flat, fast, mostly…
33 years of female friendship
Last year The Dixie Swim Club, an unforgettable comedy about five women whose friendships began 33 years ago on their college swim team, enjoyed a successful run at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. Shortly after the show’s close, its director, Susan Jeffers, fell ill and passed away. According to current The Dixie Swim Club…
You’re the none for me
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon You’ll probably think I’m messing with you, but I swear I’m not. I am a man who has no desire to have sex. I was married, but after my wife got pregnant with our second (planned) child, we never had sex again. I just had – and have –…
Summer movie preview 2016
If Hollywood knows one thing it’s, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Actually, the phrase is “If we got a hit, let’s run it into the ground.” This practice is never more apparent than during the summer movie season, the three months out of the year where the studios make most of their money.…
Taking root
PHOTO BY TAIMY ALVAREZ/TNS Backers of medical marijuana are hoping for a big boost since lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner have agreed to extend and expand the state’s fledgling medical marijuana program, which has suffered from a lack of patients and a ticking clock. The pilot program, set to expire on Jan. 1, 2018, was…
Wins for gardeners and the poor
Backyard gardeners and fans of fresh food scored victories during this year’s legislative session as lawmakers passed a bill aimed at increasing the buying power of the poor at farmers markets while also passing a measure designed to ensure the free flow of seeds outside stores. Somewhere, Priscilla probably smiles. Legendary even before she was…
Regulating religious restrictions at Catholic hospitals
Angela Valavanis, an Evanston woman who had a history of complications during pregnancy, felt betrayed by her obstetrician gynecologist of 15 years when she was denied a tubal ligation after the doctor’s medical practice had been sold to a Roman Catholic hospital. “I felt betrayed by a lack of information that would have led me…
MUSEUM TO REOPEN
Illinois State Museum PHOTO BY DAVID HINE After more than eight months closed to the public for reasons no one quite understands, the Illinois State Museum in Springfield is likely to reopen soon, along with most of its satellite facilities around the state. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced May 31 that the museum…
HISTORIC HOME
In 1898, Springfield hosted the nation’s first orphanage for African-American children, which operated here until 1933. The orphanage’s second building, erected in 1904, still stands at 427 S. 12th St., but it’s in major need of restoration. Thanks to the efforts of four young 4-H volunteers, the 112-year-old building will get a new sign explaining…
Fairy tale Me Before You surprisingly effective
Sam Claflin as Will Traynor and Emilia Clarke as Lou Clark in Me Before You. PHOTO COURTESY Warner Bros. Many times in life, we often let our hearts overrule our minds. Such is the case with Thea Sharrock’s Me Before You, a slick piece of treacle that manages to charm as it flirts with insulting…
SOHO and so much more
Good Times and Company play SOHO Music Festival, 3 p.m. Sat., June 4 on the Main Stage. This week, music brings the SOHO Music Festival to downtown. There are also a few other big-time happenings, a bunch of cool regular stuff and a grievous occasion. We are so sad to tell of the passing of…
Mark Mills & the Lifesavers
After years of playing music in cover bands (including the crazy-popular rockabilly group Meerkat Mobsters), Mark Mills decided to do it “his way” and proceeded to knock out a collection of classy, original songs fit for an Americana king. Recorded during the winter of 2015-16 in Nashville under the tutelage of producer Spike Jones and…
Trumps chumps
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT
on writing your stories #3
from a 1995 letter of CopelandGreene: our fathers were memberson the first American Breedersartificial insemination board. I am curious as to the progressof your book. My impression isthat you have an overabundanceof material difficult to sort. Toestablish a central theme and aninteresting story flow are a crossevery author bears. We, childrenof Howard and Elsa Greene, areexperiencing…
Colorful, nutritious, easy Swiss chard
Swiss chard with raisins and pine nuts. PHOTO BY PETER GLATZ Of all the plants in my vegetable garden, I have a special fondness for Swiss chard. Unlike asparagus, which makes an early spring appearance and then quietly goes to seed, or Brussels sprouts, whose tasty orbs do not come to maturity until the fall,…
