Heirs to FutureGen land oppose project
All six heirs to nearly 40 percent of the land promised to FutureGen 2.0 want the “clean” coal project to go away, says Jeffery and Betty Niemann, Jacksonville residents related to the late Bill Beilschmidt. Beilschmidt, upon his death in 1999, placed more than 600 acres of land located near Ashland in two separate trusts…
North side children’s library moves ahead with $20,000 grant
Children and families on the north side of Springfield will soon have a library next door. A committee made up of church members at Third Presbyterian Church and local residents will open the Northside Community Children’s Library at the church in the fall, hoping to fill the void left by north and west branches after…
Come and get it!
It’s a little gem of a museum, one worth visiting even if it weren’t just a short drive away. And it’s currently featuring an exhibit that explores the evolution of foods, cooking methods, and eating habits in central Illinois over a period of 180 years. “Come and Get It! The Way We Ate 1830–2008” will…
HIV: Too many positives
African Americans have reason to be concerned about the AIDS virus. While black Americans currently make up 14 percent of the nation’s population, they represent 65 percent of the newly reported AIDS cases. It is the leading cause of death for African-American women between the ages of 25 and 34, and the second leading cause…
Rogers & Nienhaus
This St. Louis-area-based duo sports a music pedigree of incredible caliber, from stints as members of the last touring configuration of the Byrds with original drummer Michael Clarke, on to stellar careers ranging from local legends to international stars. Terry Jones Rogers and Scott Nienhaus, working separately as established professional musicians, got together through the…
Past practices
Transport to the past in downtown Springfield during a weekend of free demonstrations and activities at the Old State Capitol showing medicine practiced during the Civil War. Highlights of the Civil War Medical Encampment include a Friday night campfire singalong at 7 p.m. on the south lawn, led by musicians Chris Vallillo and Steve Staley.…
State taps charity funds to pay its bills
Over the last two years, the state of Illinois in order to pay its basic bills has seized more than $1.6 million from at least 15 different “charity” funds, to which Illinoisans voluntarily donate for causes like feeding the hungry and helping the homeless. Each year, the Illinois Department of Revenue invites taxpayers to donate…
Madigan wins workers’ comp battle
In all the years I’ve covered Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, he has never allowed his chamber’s Republican minority leader to best him. A minority leader might score a win here and there, but those victories are always short-lived. The wins are almost akin to a challenge to Madigan’s manhood itself, and they are never…
Saltwater sensation
Join the Henson Robinson Zoo as they unite with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums across the country in a global celebration of the world’s oceans. Unofficially celebrated every June 9, World Oceans Day hopes to remind and impress upon people how important oceans are to human life on earth. The 2011 and 2012 theme…
The gamble on harness racing and slots at the state fairgrounds
The owners of a major standardbred breeding farm in central Illinois were planning to put a “For Sale” sign on their racehorses at the end of the summer. That was before the General Assembly passed a bill May 31 to expand harness racing and add slot machines at the state fairgrounds. With the horse racing…
X-Men prequel good and awkward
Much like its teen protagonists, X-Men: First Class straddles the line between grace and awkwardness. There are moments in which it contains some of the best scenes in the mutant series, if not the superhero genre itself. And at others, it is a laughable parody of itself as well as a myriad of films from…
Aunt Lynd’s infamous Corn Pudding
Amy Wertheim, co-owner of RGW Candy Company, submitted this dish for the Heirloom Recipe Contest at the 2010 Illinois State Fair, where it won third prize. Her Aunt Lynd’s corn pudding became “infamous” in the family because whenever Aunt Lynd made it for Thanksgiving, she’d double or triple the recipe – but refused to bake…
ALMOST THERE
They’ve still got $5,000 to go, but board members of a three-year-old fund designed to boost historic preservation in Sangamon County are hopeful they can approve the fund’s first grant recipient sometime next year. The Historic Preservation Fund at the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln was established in May 2008 with leftover funds…
ROOKIE AT WRIGLEY
While he wasn’t in the starting lineup, it was clear to many that a Pleasant Plains teen was packing some heat when he threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field May 7. Scott VonDeBur, 14, won the chance to throw down to relief pitcher James Russell at Les Turner’s ALS Foundation’s 17th Annual Lou…
endangeredspecies poem #1
endangeredspecies poem #1 a sweetfaced overweight womanswims at the Y she has a magnificentmany-hued butterfly tattooed on heropulent upper arm lately she’s beenlosing losing losing pounds I amconcerned about that butterfly do youthink it might shrink back to a chrysalis? 2011 Jacqueline Jackson
Driving the east side mad
Road crews, I see, will be spending the summer making the intersection of Dirksen Parkway and Clear Lake Avenue safe for the out of sorts. It’s been years since I’ve driven through it on a regular basis, but apparently at rush hours that spot is more congested than a legislative calendar in May. No wonder.…
Creative quarters
Prairie Art Alliance allows you to take a peek inside five of its artists’ studios and their private gardens. Included on the tour is Roland and Hazen Folse’s woodworking shop, ceramics and firing and painting studios and Bonsai garden; Sonia Lang painting and sculpture studio and husband George’s garden; Daniel McCarthy woodwork studio and garden;…
Nothing merry about Old King Coal
If some predator were stalking fourth-graders in your community, there’d be a mighty uproar to make the predator get away and stay away from your schools. But what if the stalker is the coal industry, dressed in an academic outfit in order to get into fourth-grade classrooms and brainwash the kids? Unbeknownst to most Americans,…
Officials slow to sign rail minority hiring agreement
Representatives of Faith Coalition for the Common Good are scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in Chicago, Thursday, June 9, to discuss a Springfield agreement that would fill nearly one-third of rail jobs with minorities, women and low-income workers. “It would be really pleasing to go to Secretary LaHood and share…
June music abounds
Oh my goodness, I hardly know where to begin with the vast assortment of entertainment possibilities awaiting you, my listening friends of the music arts. So no more chitchatting, let’s get on with it, there’s no time to waste. First off, let us congratulate Robert Beam, area resident and winner of the Peoria Guitar Center…
White America’s responsibility for race unity
This is a shortened version of Kenley Wade’s keynote address delivered June 5 at the annual Race Unity Rally at the State Capitol rotunda. The Emancipation Proclamation ended the slavery of African people in America, and marked the beginning of their freedom, citizenship and the rights and privileges that are guaranteed by the Declaration of…
Stream of consciousness
Directed by Steve Kaplan, a cast of local actors brings the first Muni production to the shores of Springfield for eight nights in The Muni’s open-air theater. The bluegrass and country-scored musical follows Huckleberry Finn and Jim on their adventure rafting down the mighty Mississippi. Big River won the 1985 Tony awards for Best Musical,…
Letters to the Editor 6/9/11
VETO GAMBLING EXPANSION Gov. Quinn, you repeatedly said the gambling expansion bill was too top heavy and said it would make Illinois the Las Vegas of the Midwest. Yet legislators kept adding to the bill to get enough votes to pass SB 744. We agree that the gambling bill is excessive, and we applaud you…
