Sue city
The city of Springfield has filed a defamation suit against a former employee, Sarah Gripper, in response to her lawsuit against the city. Gripper worked as a grants technician in the public works department from 1995 until Sept. 30, 2003, when she was laid off because the grant that funded her job had expired, according…
Bad boys
What you’re about to read is a true story. I’m stating that promise here at the top, because a few inches into this, you may start to wonder whether I’m making this stuff up, and I want you to know that I’m not. So here goes: Guy goes to a union meeting. There’s beer available;…
quick takes 3-3-05
EAT RIGHT, DO GOOD Two Springfield restaurants, Maldaner’s and Tuscany, will participate in a statewide effort to raise money for charity. As part of the annual “Share-a-Meal” program, sponsored by Community Shares of Illinois, the restaurants will donate 30 percent of sales on Tuesday, March 8. Community Shares represents more than 70 charities that address…
appetite 3-3-05
I prefer to see animals running through the woods rather than stuffed and mounted on a wall. That’s a big reason I never bothered to visit the Westwoods Lodge Pub and Grill. It sports a hunting-lodge theme and décor with — you guessed it — many, many trophy animals on display. Perhaps an avid reader…
The survivor
The voice on the 911 tape sounds calm, maybe even weary. It’s 1:55 in the morning, and a woman is asking for a police officer to come to her apartment building to check on “a whole bunch of black guys” at her door. “They keep knocking and walking away,” she says. The conversation is brief,…
The veil of freedom
BAGHDAD — Two years after the invasion of Iraq and just weeks before the country’s first free election, Amina began wearing a headscarf for the first time in her life. Her father insisted. “I don’t like this — and I don’t see the danger. No one ever bothered me before,” Amina says, sitting in her…
movie review
When socialite bimbo Paris Hilton lost her phone book, the private numbers of her celebrity friends, including that of actor Vin Diesel, ended up on the Internet. Good thing — now that I have his number, I can ring Diesel up and tell him his career is now officially toast. Really, it’s a shame. Diesel…
The devil and Mr. Jones
Emil Jones was not treated too well during his 10 years as the minority leader of the state Senate. The majority Republicans locked him out of the room and killed most of his members’ bills. His fellow Democrat, House Speaker Michael Madigan, treated Jones like a junior associate, occasionally helping him out but not doing…
letters 3-3-05
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com THAT’S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE I would like to thank Illinois…
flicks 3-3-05
Vincent (Tom Cruise), the hitman in Collateral, is ruthless and evil, but he is good at his job. No surprise here: Michael Mann, one of the most reliable directors working today, has made a career of focusing on the professionalism of both sides of the law. In his world, films such as Fargo and Pulp…
books 3-3-05
Number 9, number 9, number 9 . . . No, John Lennon hasn’t booked a return engagement, but wordsmiths are singing the praises of something almost as good. More than 30 authors, representing the fair’s theme of “Our Diverse Literary Heritage,” will participate in the Ninth Annual Illinois Authors Book Fairs, showcasing their books and…
art seen 3-3-05
It’s not often that two such eminent photographers as Bea Nettles and Fern Logan show their work in Springfield, let alone collaborate for a unique exhibit that celebrates women. Merge, their joint exhibit at the University of Illinois at Springfield, runs for another week, but today (5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3), visitors get the opportunity…
A question of control
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin gave life to plans for a new East Side community center by securing a $750,000 federal grant, but his choice of the Boys & Girls Club of Springfield to oversee the project has rankled some key community leaders. The Rev. Samuel Hale and the Rev. Silas Johnson, leaders of the Springfield…
sound patrol 3-3-05
Sure, globalization has its drawbacks: McDonald’s in the ruins, Wal-Marts in the rainforest, Guatemalan peasants quoting Dr. Phil. Sometimes, though, it’s pretty great, and Maya Arulpragasam, a Sri Lanka–raised, London-based MC who goes by the tag M.I.A., is all the proof you need that a shrunken, mongrelized, borderless world doesn’t necessarily mean oppression and colonialism…
“Best-kept secret”
Charles Schweighauser steered a canoe on nearly all 210 miles of the Sangamon River, from the northern source near Ellsworth to its confluence with the Illinois River at Beardstown. Along the way, the veteran University of Illinois at Springfield environmental-studies professor interviewed dozens of people in seven central-Illinois counties who depend on the river for…
now playing 3-3-05
The classic-country period of popular music, which roughly lasted 1950-1965, was a time when hillbillies really came from the hills, Okies were a legitimate group of immigrants in California, and electricity was rearing its ugly head to influence the sound of musical instruments. It was a glorious time now emulated a generation (or two) later…
music notes 3-3-05
Don’t forget, here’s your chance to see some of the area’s finest hard rock bands plus a national touring group at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, at Club 217 (3075 Normandy Rd., 529-0196). Bobaflex, just off tour with Sevendust, headlines with we’re-not-worthy (yes, you are!) Funky Circuse Fleas of Beardstown, Honest Pod of Decatur,…
backstage pass 3-3-05
How long has it been since a high-school show caused controversy? A few years ago, Springfield High School’s production of a harmless Gilbert and Sullivan operetta caused a stir when a female student was cast in a male role. And a few high schools around the country have received some ire by staging The Laramie…
Jacqueline Jackson 3-3-05
kinquotepoem #2 when my cousin was twelve he took a girl to the movies this was back in the thirties they ate bags and bags of popcorn and several holloway suckers each in case you’re too young to remember a holloway sucker is a slab of molasses as big as a brick and about as…
common sense 3-3-05
How far would you let a boss push you? Perhaps your boss keeps refusing to raise your pay and also cuts your health-care coverage. Still, good jobs are hard to find, so you stick it out. But what if the boss then has surveillance cameras installed to keep an eye on you and also requires…
