Get electrified
Recently purchased a new battery for my electric lawn mower for about $100 dollars. Definitely worth the price. I’ve used no gas for the last three years. I haven’t had to drive to the local gas station in my car using more gas and worrying the entire drive home that the gas will spill out of the container…
Police release Holland DUI records
To read the police records on the arrest, click here, See below article for video of the arrest. Illinois State Police on Friday released reports documenting the Feb. 6 arrest of state auditor general William Holland on suspicion of driving under the influence. A video of the arrest shows Holland weaving as he drove his…
Celling out?
The Springfield Park District is considering a proposal to install a 100-foot-tall cell phone tower at Pasfield Golf Course. Disguised as a tree and dubbed a Mono Pine, the tower would be installed near the course’s maintenance facility and would remain in place for as long as 25 years, with the park district collecting $1,500…
Pharmacy Guest Artist: Heather Brammeier
This is the fourth in a series of posts leading up to this evening’s (Saturday, March 9) group exhibit of work by members of local art collective The Pharmacy. Installation Sketch 1 by Heather Brammeier It’s basically a painting in space, says Heather Brammeier of the installation work she plans to show at tonight’s Pharmacy…
Pharmacy Member Artist: Jeff Williams
This is the third in a series of posts leading up to tomorrow’s (March 9) group exhibit of work by members of local art collective The Pharmacy. Last August, I had the privilege of interviewing post-punk musician, artist, bicyclist, Springfield icon and Pharmacy member Jeff Williams for an Illinois Times cover story, which you can…
Leiber and Stoller revue
Get ready to start your feet tapping. The musical revue Smokey Joe’s Café is booked for two weekends, March 8-17, at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. This local production features 40 of the greatest rock ’n’ roll, pop and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Hear “Stand By Me,” “Fools…
politico poem #11
the institution where once I soproudly taught has introduced a minorcalled liberty studies partly funded bythe koch brothers urbana turned it downbut not us are we so desperate for dough?in the article a senior student is quoted:“Nobody will be forced to earn a minor inliberty studies, concerns about academicfreedom and critical thinking in theprogram might…
SCHOOL BOARD FORUMS
There’s been a lot of public anger lately about the Springfield School Board, which on Tuesday voted a second time to close a popular middle school that appears to be helping to “close the gap” of academic achievement disparity. Maybe you think the school board is right to cut a program that costs about $1.7…
Johnson shows surprising range in compelling Snitch
Based on a true story, Ric Roman Waugh’s Snitch is far better than it has any right to be. As a vehicle for Dwayne Johnson, going a far way toward putting his “Rock” image in the past here, it includes elaborate action scenes. However, there are far fewer explosive moments than usual for this kind…
Same lawyer, more trouble
A prominent Springfield bankruptcy attorney who was suspended from practice due to false statements made to a federal judge is crossways again with the same judge. This time, attorney John Narmont, who began serving a six-month suspension in January, continued filing bankruptcy cases and collecting fees even though he couldn’t do the work due to…
In battling Monsanto’s greed, tenacity matters
Remember the 1950s horror movie “The Bad Seed”? Any remake should cast Monsanto in the title role, because whenever something scary is being done to our food, you can usually find Monsanto lurking in the shadows. During the past two decades, this biotech behemoth has used its political connections to obtain a monopolistic grip on…
United visions
Local artists Wendy Allen and William Crook, Jr. present a joint exhibit of their work March 9-10, at 627 E. Adams, a temporary gallery space. The show, A Marriage of Spirit and Place, unites the couple’s interests and interactions after 26 years of marriage. Both formally trained in the fine arts, Wendy’s work will focus…
Madame ovary
My wife needs a medical test that will involve her being naked in unflattering positions in front of another person, possibly male. I know she won’t enjoy this and it certainly isn’t sexual, but I want her to request a female gynecologist. She says she’s embarrassed to do that, refuses to be controlled by me,…
Hillbilly Casino
Wild, wooly, raucous and racy, these guys come on with a bang and stay lit all night. Well-known up and down and all around, plus parts beyond for the music, the show, the attitude, the tattoos, the sound, the look and their do-it-yourself ways, Hillbilly Casino is a force to be reckoned with on the…
How the Mennonites make More with Less
It’s ironic. The best-known, even iconic American Anabaptist sect is “Old-Order Amish,” despite – and because – their insular communities shun contact with the outside world and modern conveniences. But another Anabaptist sect, Mennonites, evolved without strictures against all modernization. They established themselves in central Illinois and throughout North America and continued adhering to Anabaptist…
Pension reform proposals that might work
On Feb. 20, 2013, Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, introduced HB 2375 which he described as “credible, comprehensive, constitutional pension reform legislation.” This constitutional proposal by Rep. Lang may act to the consternation of the many Illinois organizations which coalesced to defeat last November’s Constitutional Amendment 49. CA49 would have eliminated the Illinois Constitution’s protection of…
Gay marriage delayed while both sides count votes
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have delayed action on the Religious Freedom and Marriage Act while they work to secure votes for or against the bill. After passing the Senate after a groundbreaking debate, gay marriage proponents and opponents are waiting for the House to vote on the bill. “The reality is that this is…
Comedy Tonight!
No Name Comix Illinois, like so many great ideas, came into existence out of necessity. There were no places in Springfield to get stage time, says comedian, founder and First Thursday Comedy Showcase host Derek Bennet. We were having to drive for everything. The other thing was, everywhere we went we saw these really hilarious…
Gunning for change
I first realized something was wrong when I noticed that everyone else was running the other way. I was an undergraduate in my senior year at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, walking across the snowy campus on Valentine’s Day, 2008. The usual random movement of the crowd seemed to have become a stampede away from…
Letters to the Editor 3/07/13
INTERNET TAX HOLESIn reading your story in the Feb. 21 issue “National Amazon tax could mean big bucks for Illinois,” by Patrick Yeagle, I was amused that no one ever seems to bring up the holes in this Internet sales tax argument. First of all, people don’t tax themselves – if they did, we wouldn’t…
Sweet-sounding trio
The sweet-sounding trio, The Good Lovelies, will treat you to a concert March 9 at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS, as they make their way home to Canada. The touring three-part harmonies of Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore never sounded so good and current and fresh. A pleasing mixture of Americana, folk, bluegrass with a hint of…
Use it or get paid
The Springfield Park District has frozen spending after discovering more than $165,000 has been paid out since 2010 to employees for unused vacation time. Mark Bartolozzi, director of finance and human resources for the park district, was curt in a Feb. 25 memo sent to top administrators. “Effective immediately stop all expenditures from now until…
Cartoonish charades at Statehouse
Nobody ever really knows what’s going through Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s head except for Madigan himself. So, the actual purpose of two highly choreographed gun control and pension reform debates last week ordered up by Madigan weren’t completely clear to anyone. That’s by design, of course. Madigan prefers to keep people in the dark…
Foreign Flick Fix
It has been a long winter, perhaps even more so for Springfield’s fans of independent, foreign and other ‘art house’ cinema. Outside of the ongoing noble efforts of the Springfield Art Association’s Molly Schlich Film Series – acclaimed Japanese drama I Wish screens this Sunday and Tuesday – AMC’s always minimal booking of non-blockbuster titles…
Hearing loss
I am told that radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi believed that sounds never die, and that if one could somehow catch up with old sound waves one could hear sounds made years, even centuries, ago. As The Atlantic’s Rebecca Rosen (whom I owe for that fact) rightly observed that an Earth littered with lost sounds, just…
Show and tell
Explore the collections of area children and teens including rocks, minerals, coins, toys and more, Saturday, March 9, at the Illinois State Museum. Children between the ages of 8 and 15 years old will have their treasures on display for the public to view. Admission is free and parking is available near the museum. Also…
Shell games and FOIA
Thank goodness for the government. That was the way that Silly Pretend Journalists, aka the Society of Professional Journalists, saw things eight years ago when they bestowed attorney general Lisa Madigan with the coveted Sunshine Award, akin to an Oscar from a group of navel gazers that purports to be a watchdog for the public…
FLAGS FOREVER
Illinois still has its Civil War regimental flags and, although most of them have been in storage for decades due to degradation, they’ve still been open for public viewing. The catch was that you had to know they were there. Now, those 150-year-old flags and others from Illinois’ military history are going back on public…
The Blue G’s CD release
With great honor and satisfaction, plus considerable fanfare, let us announce the release of The Blue G’s debut recording. The self-titled CD, almost two years in the making, holds a wonderful and varied selection of nine songs in the bluegrass music vein. The Springfield-based band celebrates with a show on Friday, March 8, at Donnie’s…
Quartet a showcase for veteran English cast
Sporting much the same vibe that made The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel a surprise hit and even featuring one of the stars of that sleeper, Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, Quartet is a pleasant enough diversion that gets by on the charm of its actors and the rapid pace the filmmaker adapts for his maiden voyage…
