The politics behind Rauner’s veto and the future of gun bills
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a gun dealer licensing bill last week took a lot of folks by surprise. It probably shouldn’t have. We’ll get to the politics in a second, but, as with HB40, the governor was acting on his beliefs. Rauner is a strong abortion rights supporter, so he signed HB40 last year…
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Legislators stand with students
Illinois lawmakers walked out of the Capitol building on Wednesday morning to honor victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Led by Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, lawmakers joined student demonstrations across the nation on the one-month anniversary of the Parkland shooting that killed 17 people. “I helped to organize this walkout with…
happy event poem #1
my friends have had their little onessince babes but it’s taken till now– 6 years – for the “wrinkles” ofadoption to be worked out theywere all in court last week paperssigned hands shaken photos takenafterwards the parents took the pairto a special place for lunch a rare treatthe ISM – the playground – board gamesgave…
NEW TAX LAW EXPLAINED
On March 20, the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the accounting firm of Kerber, Eck & Braeckel, will present a seminar discussing implications of the recent federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for small and medium-sized businesses. While the focus will mainly be on business, personal applications of the new law will…
Muddy waters
Last August the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” – an area of low oxygen (hypoxia) that can kill fish – is the largest ever measured. At 8,776 square miles, it is an area about the size of New Jersey. Scientists have determined that the dead zone is caused…
The Dow Jones industrial average
The most common measurement that the media, politicians and corporations use to tell us whether our economy is zooming or sputtering is Wall Street’s index of stock prices. The media literally spews out some number every hour indicating that the Dow Jones industrial average of stock prices is up, down or sluggish.But wait – nearly…
Letters to the Editor
PLEASE PRINT PUZZLESI wish to peacefully protest (on paper) the proposed banishment of puzzles from the back page of your weekly edition. Working crosswords on a screen is not something I would choose to do even if I had a computer at home, which I don’t. Like a good, fair and open-minded citizen, I read…
Training cops to help stop wrongful convictions
For the past two years the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) at University of Illinois Springfield has been involved in an initiative with the Police Training Institute (PTI) to introduce and train new police recruits on the challenges involved in avoiding wrongful conviction of innocent individuals. These two may seem like an unlikely pairing, but it’s…
HISTORY | The Illinois Executive Mansion
Learn all about the Illinois Executive Mansion, home to Illinois governors and their families since 1855, during a presentation by Justin Blandford, the superintendent of the state-owned historic sites in Illinois’s capital city. The mansion is scheduled to re-open in July 2018, following a meticulous, privately-funded restoration led by First Lady Diana Rauner, who, in…
SPOKEN WORD | Embrace your voice
Take a stand against sexual assault this weekend during the “Singers, Poets and Activists Open Mic” event Friday, March 16, from 7-9:30 p.m. From 7-9 p.m., attendees are invited to perform their favorite or original songs, poems and thoughts surrounding the theme of “survivors, sexual/gender inequality and dreams of a better future.” In addition to…
Passport to fine art
On Friday, March 9, the Springfield Art Association, along with the SAA Collective in the Hoogland Center for the Arts, combined forces with independent artist group The Pharmacy Gallery & Art Space to participate in a “Passport Gallery Tour.” Each location had an opening scheduled for that evening, and visitors were encouraged to obtain a “passport”…
Pontiac is museum central in central Illinois
David Estes should ask Ancestry.com to check his DNA for a museum-founding gene. His mother, Betty, late tourism director for Pontiac, Illinois, founded the town’s popular Route 66 museum in 2004. Not to be outdone, David’s father, Dal, built the Livingston County War Museum upstairs in the same building a few months later. These days…
“Springfield awake, Springfield aflame!”
In 1920, the Macmillan Company of New York City published The Golden Book of Springfield written by Springfield resident Vachel Lindsay. Like everything Lindsay did, the novel was a passion project, an elaborate combination of mystical fantasy and social comment written gradually over the course of several years, always while sitting alone in Washington Park.…
Mortgage mayhem
Chris Schaller isn’t your typical mortgage broker. He once had a show on WMAY radio, where he was known as the Illinois Mortgage Man. Sam Madonia on WFMB has broadcasted live from Schaller’s office on Greenbriar Road. On front-page State Journal-Register ads, Schaller appears in a coat and tie, smiling pleasantly, like any other workaday…
Democrats in 13th challenge Davis, Trump
While U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, faces no primary opponent, Democrats are preparing for the fall general election, focusing on November and the incumbent instead of each other in the March 20 primary. The 13th Congressional District that encompasses a wide swath of central Illinois has long been seen as a swing district where Democrats…
Pack gun, get promoted
A Springfield fire captain who served a six-day suspension last year and agreed to counseling in 2015 is in line to become a battalion chief. Capt. Chad Bates is on the promotion list even though he was suspended for six days last year after bringing a gun into a firehouse. In addition, Bates in 2015…
FREE AT LAST
At last check, Scott Foster appeared in a peck of trouble, busted in connection with the December discovery of a massive marijuana-growing operation in the heart of Springfield, secreted in a former dry cleaning shop at the intersection of South Grand Avenue and Eighth Street. Charged with four felonies and held on $200,000 bond, he…
Wrinkle fine but fails to soar
Though it’s now regarded as a seminal work in the science fiction and young adult genres, Madeleine L’Engle had a difficult time getting A Wrinkle in Time published. It was rejected 26 times, and the author has stated that the reasons she was given was that it was “too different” and “because it deals overtly…
Green goes the music
Some folks could care less, I know, but I always enjoy the celebration of jolly St. Patrick, if for nothing else than enjoying music from the Emerald Isle and neighboring islands. If you’re not a fan of Celtic sounds, that’s okay too, because everybody parties when the Celts turn it on. Let’s start with some…
The Emerald Underground
Springfield’s original Celtic fusion band has evolved more than a few times and ways since hitting the scene as Stone Ring Circle in the early 21st century. They’ve travelled many roads and they all lead to fine Irish-influenced music done with a rocking attitude and a rolling twist. Always in demand during the High Holy…
A kid’s place is in the kitchen
Research shows that cooking from scratch and regularly sharing family dinner improves both physical and mental health in many ways. But there is one benefit of cooking at home that doesn’t get nearly enough attention: eventually, your kids will cook for you and be better able to take care of themselves. When her mom, Betsy,…
