‘Equity matters’ in education funding
Derek Lahey, a senior at Taylorville High School, speaks in support of Manar’s education funding bill. Lee Milner The way Illinois determines funding for schools has not changed since 1997, when Illinois created its Education Funding Advisory Board, which recommends foundational level of funding for schools statewide. Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, plans to change…
Senior Rally at the Illinois Statehouse
On April 5, Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago and Sue Scherer, D-Decatur spoke to senior citizens across Illinois reassuring them that they are advocates of senior services. Over 70 senior citizens from all over Illinois gathered under the Rotunda of the Illinois Statehouse urging the General Assembly to hear their voices concerning cuts to state funded senior…
Ghost houses
When the National Park Service in 1971 took over the blocks of Eighth and Jackson streets around the Lincoln home, it ruthlessly cleared them of any structures that had not been standing when the Lincolns lived there. The resulting grassy lots surrounded by wood fencing look like pastures or paddocks that suggest a country village more than…
Outstanding response to first-ever Illinois Times cover art contest and gallery event
The Capital City Visitors Guide Cover Art Contest Gallery Event was held at the Pharmacy Gallery on Friday April 1. PHOTO BY DAVID HINE On Friday, April 1, Illinois Times joined forces with The Pharmacy Gallery & Art Space to present the results of the first-ever Illinois Times Capital City Visitor’s Guide Cover Art Contest…
More jet-age wonders
Space limitations kept me from discussing all of Springfield’s International Style buildings in my recent column on jet-age architecture. You’d think that the basic building model for the state fair and similar expositions is the barn, and so it is at the state fairgrounds, but one of the barns at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is…
If you don’t market it, will they come?
Photo by Alan Solomon/Tribune News Service You wouldn’t think that a town that boasts the burial place and the only adult home of a man famed around the world as not only America’s greatest president but America’s greatest citizen, a town furthermore that is just down the road from the reconstructed village where that man…
Who are our rescuers? Us!
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Six years after the Supreme Court’s malignant Citizens United ruling, nearly every American plainly sees how our nation’s historic, political ethic of citizen equality – “one person one vote” – has been buried in a roaring avalanche of corrupt, corporate money and voter suppression. There’s no need to…
Rauner still won’t accept reality
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS It’s almost impossible to make a deal with somebody who won’t accept reality. And that’s been the case in Illinois for over a year, as Gov. Bruce Rauner has made one politically unrealistic demand after another while refusing to negotiate a budget until those demands were met, all the while blaming…
Letters to the Editor 3/31/16
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT LAVISH CAMPAIGN SPENDING I don’t know how many people thoroughly read Bruce Rushton’s excellent, exhaustively detailed, informative and somewhat surprising piece on how our state legislators lavishly spend (and disclose the spending) of their campaign funds (“Lifestyles of the rich and elected,” March 17). I for one, found it to be…
Editor’s note 3/31/16
Inside this week’s edition is our Capital City JOBS supplement, dedicated to all the Springfield-area unemployed and under-employed residents who still believe in the American dream, and to the businesses who have the courage to hire some of them. Job hunters will find useful articles like “Networking for people who hate networking,” and “Getting into…
Illinois has seen its share of disasters
Like most states, Illinois has endured its share of disasters during its history. The catastrophes have ranged from natural to manmade, and from industrial to recreational. Some of the worst disasters in state history have involved coal mining. On Nov. 13, 1909, an underground fire broke out in Mine No. 2 at Cherry, in Bureau…
Bringing Vachel Lindsay to life
Bringing Vachel Lindsay to life See Chicago troubadour Steve Duchrow perform Peddler of Dreams, an original play adapted from the writings of American poet Vachel Lindsay on Saturday, April 2, at the Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site. The performance brings to life Lindsay’s impoverished 1912 solo walk from Illinois to New Mexico, singing the…
A hilarious, adventurous musical
Men in Tights See local men don tights in support of the Springfield Ballet’s Company annual fundraiser for education and outreach programming during one unforgettable performance this Friday, April 1, at 7 p.m. “Men in Tights” is a spoof on the hilarious 1993 musical-adventure-comedy film by Mel Brooks, loosely based off the story of Robin…
We’ll always have parasite
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon When I got remarried, I inherited a stepdaughter. Though she and my husband had been estranged for many years, I was instrumental in getting them to reconcile. I’ve come to regret this. She is a rageaholic, spendaholic party girl. She has three DUIs and an extravagant lifestyle that’s financially…
Images of Illinois
BEST IN SHOW and Amateur – People FIRST PLACE “Final Act” PHOTO BY MARCIA MAHONEY The annual contest sponsored by Illinois Times and Prairie Art Alliance, now operated by the Springfield Art Association, to find the most captivating Images of Illinois continues. This year’s submissions led jurors along the sidewalks and into the skyscrapers of…
SJ-R goes into lending
The recent proposition to small business owners by the State Journal-Register sounded a bit like a come-on to buy time-share condos. Come on down to the newspaper and get a free lunch, publisher Clarissa Williams urged in a column published March 3 on the paper’s editorial page. Besides eating for free, you can learn how…
Illinois Times loses FOIA case
Bruce Rauner. Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/MCT Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John Madonia has sided with Gov. Bruce Rauner in a lawsuit over disclosure of the governor’s appointment calendar, refusing the newspaper’s request for legal fees. The newspaper sued the governor last fall, one day after the attorney general’s office ruled that the governor’s appointment…
Springfield cops cleared in excessive force lawsuit
SPD officer Timothy Day said he struck Christopher Pulley with his flashlight, because it was “immediately available.” Springfield police Timothy Day and Russell Lehr were cleared March 23 of allegations of excessive force. In 2014, Christopher Pulley, a Jacksonville man with a history of convictions for drug possession, filed a federal lawsuit against the officers,…
The politics of unemployment
The Rauner administration’s economic development chief says Illinois’ higher-than-average unemployment rate means Illinois should decrease workers’ compensation costs to businesses and cut property taxes. However, a closer look at state jobs data shows Illinois has gained jobs steadily since the Great Recession, undercutting the narrative that Illinois is particularly unfriendly to businesses. The Illinois Department…
MUSEUM MAY REOPEN
After six months of being closed to the public, the Illinois State Museum is a step closer to reopening … eventually. On March 25, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources submitted an administrative rule proposal which would allow the museum to institute a $5 admission fee. The proposal is based on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto…
DEMO DONE
It only took nine months and a court order, but the pile of rubble that was once the Cordova Apartments in Springfield is now gone. The building at 1325 S. Fifth St., behind the Shell gas station on South Grand Avenue, was boarded up in 2002 after a fire. It sat shuttered for more than…
Eye an engaging, complex look at modern warfare
Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell in Eye in the Sky. Smart, taut and timely, Gavin Hood’s Eye in the Sky is an unflinching look at the nature of modern warfare and the devastating emotional effect it has on those who wage it. Focusing on a drone mission that’s altered by unforeseen circumstances, the sterile…
Almost April Fools
NIL8 plays at Bar None on Friday, April 1, at 8pm. PHOTO BY MELISSA WOLFF Well, well, we are done with March and moving on to April. Soon all the outdoor events will be here. But in the meantime, there’s plenty going on, including a few April Fool-ery events. Some years ago when April…
Kickapoo Junction
Kickapoo Junction Rolling down the line from Peoria way comes a central Illinois standard-bearer of modern country with a promise of “going full throttle to bring their high-energy, rockin’ country show to a venue near you” – and that’s just what they’re doing. Bandmates Denny Myers (bass), Robin Walls (lead, rhythm guitar), Bobby Gregory (drums),…
Abraham Lincoln portrait exhibit
Abraham Lincoln portrait exhibit See the best, freshest portraits of hometown hero Abraham Lincoln on display during the opening reception for the Illinois Times Capital City Visitor cover art contest gallery event. The reception is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. on Friday, April 1, and will feature beer compliments of Schlafly, complimentary wine by Danenberger Family…
Trans restrooms
CARTOON BY JEN SORENSON
Romancing rice
Arancini di Riso. PHOTO BY GEORGE CHERNILEVSKY/WIKIMEDIA.ORG Risotto is a northern Italian rice dish that is cooked in broth until rich and velvety yet slightly firm and chewy. In Italy, risotto is most often served as a primo, or first course, or as an accompaniment to a meat course. Cooking risotto is like making love.…
n fifth street poem #23
why can’t kids play on theplayground next door to me it’s fenced locked except duringschool hours liability says ourneighborhood president well why can’t we extend insurance to cover all hours this area needsplay space the kids use it anywaythey come into my back yardthrow their bikes over the chainlinks scale the fence use the swingsslides…
