Faster., faster!
In “Unplugged” I wondered why Illinois’ internet service is so backward. I probably should have specified Downstate Illinois. These days Comcast customers in suburbs can get service with downloads speeds reliably in 125-135 Mbps range for under seventy bucks. Last month Comcast announced its plans to offer 1-gigabit-per-second Internet service to Chicago residential and business customers…
March music is on
Off the Wall celebrates Steve Marvel’s birthday at Crow’s Mill Pub, Friday, Mar. 4. Photo by Scott Hammann, Clear Focus Photography. Here comes the first weekend in March of 2016, and it’s in like a lion with music happenings. Start your weekend on Thursday with a visit to The Alamo where Mary Jo Curry and…
Seeing is believing – isn’t it?
Dearborn and Randolph, Chicago, May 25, 1909, from Souvenirs of Chicago, V.O. Hammon Co., 1915. History sleuths assert that the photographer asked traffic cops to knock off for five minutes, with the dramatic result you see here. Everyone likes picture books, and for mostly good reasons. Picture books about history are especially intriguing, in the…
‘Do Nothing’ Mitch’s squirrelly stall tactic
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Antonin Scalia is gone. The nastiest and noisiest of right-wingers on the Supreme Court is dead. But he can’t be any more brain dead than Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the U.S. Senate. In a blatantly partisan ploy to prevent President Obama from nominating a successor to…
Can Gonzales defeat Madigan?
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS A name from the past has been leading the charge for Jason Gonzales’ Democratic primary campaign against Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Blair Hull, the hugely wealthy but unsuccessful 2004 Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, directly accounts for $100,000 of the $300,000 which the Illinois United for Change PAC has raised…
Letters to the Editor 3/13/16
REAL ID’s UNTOLD STORY Patrick Yeagle’s piece on the REAL ID Act (“Illinois behind on federal ID mandate,” Feb. 18), the federal law requiring all states to adopt a single standard for the integrity of drivers’ licenses, omits one of the more embarrassing parts of the law’s history, a part necessary to any attempt to…
Editor’s note 3/3/16
“Intensive” is the word to describe the “Analyzing and Understanding Systemic Racism Workshop” that is drawing some 50 Springfieldians this weekend. The 2 ½-day training, sponsored by the Springfield Coalition on Dismantling Racism and held at Sacred Heart Convent March 3-5, will offer participants a deeper look at the historical development of racism in the…
Learn to ice skate
If you’ve ever dreamed of gliding gracefully across the ice, the Nelson Center’s National Skate Day celebration is for you. The Springfield Figure Skating Club and Springfield Youth Hockey Association will host ages 3 and up for 3.5 hours of free skating fun on Saturday, March 5, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The event…
Experience the wonder of horses
With nearly 94,000 square feet of exhibitions, vendors, clinics, demonstrations and displays, the Illinois Horse Fair has been the largest all-breed horse event in the state of Illinois since 1987. Daily attractions include pony rides, rescue demonstrations, shopping and vendors, competitions, clinics and teachings from world-renowned horse trainers such as Sarah Winters Dawson and Chris…
Start March with art
On the first Friday of every month, local artist and co-owner/art director of the Black Sheep Café Clare Frachey transforms Café Brio into a half-restaurant, half-art exhibition for emerging local artists. Stop in for a meal, drink or dessert and browse and shop art created by new artists in our community. March’s featured creative artists…
Show your stuff
Celebrate and showcase the wonder of Illinois by entering your shot-in-Illinois photography in the 2016 Images of Illinois photography contest. To qualify, photos must have been taken on lands or in waters within Illinois state boundaries between Feb. 1, 2015, and March 12, 2016. Contest entries are separated into four classes: Professional, Amateur, Youth 13-17…
See ya later, calculator
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon I’m in a new relationship with the sweetest, most generous girl, but I’m hesitant to let her do nice stuff for me. In my previous relationship every single nice thing my ex did was held against me later. I can hear her now: “Remember that time I brought you…
Illinois watchdogs don’t bite
PHOTOSHOP ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH COPLEY It’s tough being a government watchdog in one of the nation’s most politically corrupt states. That’s the message from those who’ve run state Inspector General agencies responsible for uncovering wrongdoing at the highest levels of Illinois government and from those outside the halls of power who chart their actions, a…
City budgets $165,000 for body cameras
LAPD officer Jim Stover with the information technology bureau demonstrates the body camera at Mission Division as officers get a briefing on use of the camera which they will wear today, Monday, Aug. 31, 2015 in Los Angeles. This is the first roll out of PHOTO BY AL SEIB/TNS The City of Springfield is investing…
McCann race tests governor’s influence
Bryce Benton. PHOTO BY PAT YEAGLE It isn’t often that an incumbent state legislator faces a primary challenger backed by a governor from his own party, but this isn’t a typical election year. Republican state Sen. Sam McCann of Plainview is fighting to keep his seat representing part of Springfield after crossing Republican Gov. Bruce…
So we don’t forget
Douglas King, president of the board for the Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum. PHOTO BY PAT YEAGLE In a fitting spot above the water fountain at the Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum is a photo of a public restroom with three doors. One is marked “LADIES,” another is marked “MEN,” and…
FIX THE FORMULA
Supporters of an education reform bill used a “silent protest” at the Illinois Statehouse this week to emphasize their concern about the state’s broken education funding formula. On March 1, representatives from Funding Illinois’ Future stood silently outside a meeting of the House Education Task Force in the Capitol. The protesters carried signs that demonstrated…
BAD NEWS … OR GOOD?
Home prices in Springfield have lagged behind the rest of the state over the past year, according to CoreLogic, a national real estate analytics firm. If experience is any indicator, however, that may not be a bad thing. From January 2015 to January 2016, Springfield home prices rose on average 0.6 percent, CoreLogic says, slower…
Timely message buoys charming, clever Zootopia
Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps from Zootopia. PHOTO COURTESY Walt Disney Pictures’ What with the makers of Wreck-it-Ralph and Tangled at the helm, it should come as no surprise that Disney’s Zootopia is the clever, cute and timely movie that it is. While not quite at the level of the usual Pixar fare, what with…
Dan Baird & Homemade Sin
Original lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist of popular 80s roots-rock band The Georgia Satellites (Yes, the “Keep your hands to yourself” guys), Dan Baird is a fixture in American roots-rock music. After the official disbanding of The Georgia Satellites in the 90s, Baird did successful solo work with Rick Rubin of Def American and…
To liven up your kitchen, take a class
Ben, left, and Norah Perry with their mom, Chef Denise Perry. Her new cooking school features classes for children, as well as for adults. In the process of going through my mother’s things after her death a month ago, a thought kept popping into my head: “I am nowhere near as interesting as my parents…
farm poem # 27
after we moved from the little house on the dairy to our own place up the road the browns moved into the little house earl was a milkman geneva did piece work at home for the shoe factory a certain hand sewn sports shoe two longthreads a needle on each then cross stitched herfolks lived there…
The new normal
CARTOON BY JEN SORENSON
