Blow by blow
On East Stuart Street, the Feb. 27 fist fight between Officer Samuel Rosario and Robert Humes seems common knowledge. “He’s down the street,” says a man working on a car in front of Humes’ house when a reporter asks about the guy who fought with a police officer. Humes, 19, hardly seems worked up as…
What migrants?
A skeptical reader wondered how the Trumpish crackdown on unpapered immigrants might hurt Illinois agriculture, as I argued it would in “Absolutely ridiculous.” More than 70 percent of the farm workers in Illinois may be immigrants, and many of those can be assumed to be undocumented, but how many people can that mean? Migrants aren’t needed to…
Planting seeds
Teaching, it has been said, is like cultivating a garden. Some teachers believe that cultivating a garden is a form of teaching. The kids at Butler Elementary have been growing and harvesting heirloom seeds, specifically, seeds of the squash variety carried to Illinois in the 1830s that has been the basis of successful commercial hybrids.…
What to do about a mentally ill president?
It’s time to face up to the obvious: The President of the United States is deranged. I don’t mean that he’s merely idiosyncratic or pushing policies that I think are crazy, nor do I say this as just another political jab. I mean that Donald J. Trump literally is mentally ill. I’m no doctor, but…
Huge power grab or major legal stretch?
If Attorney General Lisa Madigan succeeds in convincing the Illinois Supreme Court to consider ordering the state to stop paying employees without an appropriation and the governor’s legal team uses the same arguments as it did in St. Clair County, we could be in for a highly unusual argument. First, a little background. The Illinois…
Letters to the Editor 3/16/17
SAY NO TO SANCTUARY STATESJames Krohe’s March 2 column, “Absolutely ridiculous,” was exactly that. He made the laughable claim that “Immigrants, authorized and otherwise, are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S., and crime rates tend to go down, not up, in places with lots of immigrants.” Excuse me, but…
Editor’s Note 3/16/17
Dr. Jerry Kruse, dean and provost of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, has weighed in against the current Republican legislation to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. His is an important voice reflecting SIU’s efforts to improve health care for low-income residents of this region. Now we need to hear from Gov. Bruce…
See Jesus in transgender people
In a recent column in the Catholic Times, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki addressed transgender issues in the context of the Boy Scouts’ recent decision to accept transgender youth among their ranks. After clarifying that local troops affiliated with Catholic schools and parishes will not follow suit, he proceeded to spread multiple falsehoods about transgender people,…
Treatment over punishment
Join the University of Illinois at Springfield on Tuesday, March 21, for a presentation by Major Neill Franklin, a law enforcement advocate for a more compassionate to approach to the war on drugs. During his 34-year career in law enforcement, Franklin served with the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department as a narcotics…
Crafting fun for the family
Treat yourself to a craft day in the village of Elkhart on Saturday, March 18. The second annual crafting event is hosted by three locally owned and operated businesses in the heart of downtown Elkhart: Horsefeathers, Birdsong Books and Vintage and The Country Bumpkin. Each shop will host a craft led by the some of…
A fusion of film, dance and music
Experience the film, dance and music of Bollywood on Sunday during Taj Express: The Bollywood Musical Revue, the internationally acclaimed musical produced and directed by talented sisters Vaibhavi and Shruti Merchant, two choreographers who have spent decades working in the Bollywood film industry. The 120-minute performance highlights Bollywood culture and traditions using shimmering costumes, fast-paced…
Pleaser burn
My problem is that I’ll go on one or two dates with a girl and then get the whole “I just wanna be friends.” And they really mean that. They want me to do lunch and go shopping and talk on the phone about their guy problems. How can I nicely tell these girls, “I…
The proud history of St. Pat’s Parade
Last Saturday, March 11, thousands of green-clad parade watchers of all ages gathered in downtown Springfield at the “Craic O’ Noon” to experience the St. Patrick’s Day Marching Band Parade. With “Irish Hearts O’ Gold” as the 2017 theme and Contact Ministries the designated Grand Marshal, the blast from a Civil War replica cannon signaled…
Working on women’s issues
On March 8 women gathered at the State Capitol Rotunda around the Illinois Welcoming the World statue of a woman extending her arms, which reads “commemorating the work of the women of the state of Illinois.” Maryam Mostoufi, from the Islamic Society of Greater Springfield, a nonprofit Islamic organization, began her speech chanting the chorus…
Keeping it light
Springfield’s independent contemporary gallery known as DEMO Project is heading into its final year. The small building on the Springfield Art Association campus is expected to meet its long-ordained demolition in either the spring or summer of 2018, in order to make way for new SAA facilities. As the inevitable end approaches, however, the high…
Radical theater pushes boundaries
Self-described by founder and director Alex Martin as “DIY rogue theater,” Springfield’s Absurdist People’s Theater Troupe would like nothing more than to shake things up in Springfield. “I went to Blackburn College and did theater for four years,” Martin said. “When I came back here to my home community and looked around at the different…
LOVE AND FURNITURE
A program aimed at helping single mothers out of poverty by hiring them to refurbish furniture will celebrate its one-year anniversary by holding a sale on Saturday, March 25. Named “Wooden it be Lovely,” the program was founded by Rev. Margaret Ann Jessup and is described as an “innovative ministry designed to help low-income women…
LINCOLN LAND HALLELUJAH
A chamber music recital featuring The Brickhouse Brass and The Blackwater Strings will be taking place on Sunday, March 19, at 4 p.m., as part of the Lincoln Land Community College Recital Series. The Brickhouse Brass Ensemble consists of Wil Adams and Vince Camille on trumpet; Jan Arnold on horn; Jason Waddell (associate professor of…
Kong: Skull Island an epic monster mash
When reading about the massive budgets spent on some of today’s films, I often wonder, “Where did all the money go?” That’s certainly not the case where Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ Kong: Skull Island is concerned. Sporting a $190 million price tag, there’s no question that every single cent of the budget is present on the screen.…
Music in March
In the aftermath of the St. Patty’s Day parade onslaught of live music all over town, I’m reminded of the real power of music to entertain and excite. Every time I think of all who are involved in getting people going and adding to the enjoyment of life, I am proud to be a working…
Lyman Ellerman and the Cause
Whenever Lyman Ellerman returns to the home turf from his songwriter life in Nashville, Tennessee, be prepared for a full onslaught of original Southern rock tunes done Ellerman-style with an attitude that just won’t quit. The Riverton native spent a lifetime writing songs and playing them for folks from Louisiana to Illinois and all parts…
Holiday muscle dish
Like many Americans, every year I looked forward to my St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage. And every year, my mother loved to remind us that if we really wanted to enjoy a traditional Irish feast, we should be having mussels instead. Indeed, mussels are a common meal on that rocky emerald isle in…
irish poem #1
john and peg’s shamrock I noteevery week – eight spindly stemsthough with good sized leavesseems healthy but stagnant neverany change now my shamrock islush its dozens of sturdy stalksbear hundreds of leaves forty ormore white blooms it’s clearlya bonny mommy theirs must bea lonely languishing hibernianmaybe I could take mine over fora conjugal visit do…
