Now Playing 3-20-03
Rooty-toot-toot, who gives a hoot. It’s officially spring on Friday. Let’s dance and sing. Here are a few nightlife goodies to allow you to achieve the above-stated goals: Come kick up your heels at the top of the Hilton with Gizzae, Thursday’s featured “Reggae Night” band. Pronounced “Gee-Zay,” the name means “time” in Amharic, an…
Your Turn 3-20-03
Correction In last week’s cover story [“Why Andy Won’t Die”], I should have said only one of Andy Sallenger’s surviving siblings now has a substance abuse problem. That sibling is in treatment to resolve the problem. Dusty Rhodes Would a draft have stopped the Iraq war? To the editor: A letter [March 13] argues against…
The buck stops where?
The City of Springfield may have gotten a bit more than it bargained for last week when three experts came to town to advise officials on the formation of a citizen police review board. In brief welcoming remarks, Mayor Karen Hasara set the agenda, saying that “there’s no question that we will have a review…
Bards of the Sangamo 3-20-03
Choices abound in American daily life As a matter of not only our legacy But as a sacrament of our freedom worship Ill winds are swirling in the country Because such worship liturgy Lacks sufficient humility There is wreckage in the country Strewn from the ill winds of hubris Surely our gods must often rue…
Make mine a martini
On a recent night in the Capitol City, two professional women in their 40s sit at a table in a popular downtown watering hole, sipping ruby red liquid garnished with fruit. Across town, a group of young 20-somethings order drinks in a rainbow of colors with names that sound more like song titles or lipstick…
We aren’t the world
In the mid-1990s, French filmmaker Claude Berri warned that without protection from the products of the American media, “European culture is finished.” He had plenty of pessimistic company. French Culture Minister Jack Lang spoke of America’s irrepressible “cultural imperialism.” The popularity of a work like Jurassic Park was identified as a “threat” to others’ “national…
The Eastside speaks
The new mayor will have his hands full. The police department and the self-insurance fund will be immediate concerns. But what about the Eastside of Springfield? A recent city-funded study outlined many of the problems there, including sections of urban decay comparable to the worst parts of Chicago. Between 14th and Dirksen, Cook and South…
The big story
Sometimes real-life stories are so big they seem to be fiction. That’s what strikes you while reading Taylor Pensoneau’s latest book, Brother’s Notorious, The Sheltons: Southern Illinois’ Ledendary Gangsters. A lot of the most daring and violent bootlegging of the 1920s and ’30s took place in southern Illinois, and the Sheltons–Carl, Bernie, Earl, and Roy–were…
Found and lost
For archaeologist Robert Mazrim, director of the Sangamo Archaeological Center in Elkhart, last weekend’s dig in downtown Springfield was simply another revelation of Illinois’ all-but-forgotten prairie past. But for city historians Curtis Mann and Linda Garvert, every turn of the trowel was nothing less than a miracle. The site was Second and Jefferson streets, the…
The consequences of war
If President Bush launches his pre-emptive war against Iraq, where will it leave America spiritually, economically, and politically? According to the President, we will have a short and successful war that will kill or maim innocent Iraqi civilians and some innocent American soldiers–but not enough of them to stop the people of Baghdad from cheering…
Electric shock
Long plagued by malfunctions, fines, and shutdowns, the Clinton Nuclear Power Plant petitioned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year to increase its generating capacity by 20 percent. But more surprising, its owners have asked the NRC to approve plans to build a new advanced reactor at the site, which is located about 45 miles…
Movie Review – Williard, The Hunted
Willard While sitting through Glen Morgan’s update of the cult horror film Willard, I couldn’t help but wonder whether there must be other practical purposes for being able to communicate with rats than having them tear your boss to shreds. They could put those German Shepherds to shame searching out earthquake victims. Or say you’ve…
Good words
Rob Eure recalls his first visit to Springfield. He wasstanding in a line of tourists outside Abraham Lincoln’s house, but he knew he’d bring a new view of the Confederacy back home to old Virginia. Eure says something similar happened last year when he spent several months in Africa and Eastern Europe. As a Knight…
The incredible shrinking talk show hosts
Jim Leach was just a youngster, no older than eight, when he saw Bob Murray doing a radio broadcast in front of the K-Mart on Clear Lake. Murray had a portable deejay booth–turntables and microphone–and little Leach was instantly enthralled. He realized he now had the answer to every adult’s favorite question, “Hey kid, what…
The mystery of the street corner spy
Every Saturday for the last few months, Pax Christi Springfield–the local chapter of a national Catholic group–has been holding a noontime “peace vigil” in front of the Illinois State Capitol. Organizer Diane Hughes says these vigils have been held “in solidarity” with antiwar demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and around the world. Hughes had already secured…
People, Places, Goofing Off
Oddest LandmarkHilton Hotel 700 E. Adams, 789-1530 1. Deviating from what is ordinary, usual or expected; strange or peculiar. In defining the word “odd,” the American Heritage Dictionary could have used a photo of the Springfield Hilton. The hotel is modern and well-run, but over the last 30 years nearly everyone has wondered why it…
Food and Fun
For most of the past two decades Illinois Times has asked readers what they like most about Springfield. And each year hundreds of you are more than eager to tell us. This year is no different. About 500 of you filled out our ballots and told us about your favorite places, people, and things to…
Movie Review – Confidence, The Real Cancun, It Runs in the Family, Identity
Confidence There’s no question that screenwriter Doug Jung is a student of film noir. His script for Confidence touches on nearly every convention of the genre and straddles the line between homage and rip-off. We have a doomed protagonist, a sultry femme fatale, a sure-fire heist that’s bound to become complicated, and more double crosses…
The Lost City
A lot happened in 1935: Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean; Bruno Hauptmann was sentenced to die for killing the Lindbergh baby; and, here in the Illinois state capital, people witnessed the dedication of Lake Springfield and the Vachel Lindsay Bridge, the planning of Lincoln Memorial Garden, and…
Nice guys finish first
The rumor that had seemed obvious since last week turns out to be true: WTAX-AM 1240 has hired broadcasting veteran Bob Murray to host its morning drive-time “news watch”–the same shift left open back in February, when WTAX fired the rabblerousing Donald “One-Eyed Jack” Jackson. So in essence, Murray–who prides himself on being a gentleman–is…
Your Turn 5-1-03
Which came first? Jesus or the Easter egg? To the editor: Pete Sherman closed your last issue’s article about Easter and the symbols that surround it [“Splitting hares,” April 17] with an observation that doesn’t withstand a casual examination. He said that it is “no accident that Christian holy days fall on other holidays. The…
Doug Knight’s “Little Renaissance”
The drive-in movie is one of the few pleasures in life designed with the whole family in mind. Traditionally a double-bill, the first show targets the kids, after which they (theoretically) lapse into slumber. Intermission features the vintage concession promo with the dancing soda pops and acrobatic hot dog. The second flick is geared toward…
Bards of the Sangamo 5-1-03
To the Persian Cat . . . Make Much of Time Caught in the August moonlight spangling the porch My elder feline brings to mind that line Of Byron’s: walk like the night or choose to perch In imitation of the jays you find Fearing you from afar, though absent cause No claws, few teeth…
Playing with firearms
Two bills winding their way through the Illinois legislature would legalize the use of handguns during the regular deer season. Currently, handgun permits are issued to hunters only on a county-by-county basis during a special three-day season in January. One of the bills’ sponsors, Todd Seiben, a Republican state senator from the northwestern Illinois town…
Walleye Wagons
On a Wednesday morning, Mary Beth Carter is busy dipping chunks of fresh walleye into cornmeal and plopping them into sizzling oil. Her “kitchen” consists of a closet-sized area in a small gray-shingled building in front of her fish market. She serves walleye, catfish, and carp through the three tiny windows of the concession stand.…
Statewide magazine struggles to cover Illinois politics
What a great time for a magazine dedicated to Illinois politics. The Democrats own Illinois again. Its leader, Governor Rod Blagojevich, is the son-in-law of a Chicago ward boss. Its head law enforcer, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, is the daughter of Illinois House Speaker and Democratic Party Chairman Mike Madigan. Not that the other party…
Ode to the drive-in
The persistence of vision is a wonderful thing. I can still see my father handing over a few dollars to a man bathed in a single white light, his head swarming with moths and June bugs swirling up to the light and the neon sign above. We move into the darkness, slowly rolling into the…
Springfield 1935
ORPHEUM THEATER Near the corner of Fifth and Washington once stood the Orpheum Theater, known for its lavish interior. It rivaled the big theaters of New York and then fell victim to “progress” in 1965, when it was demolished to make way for the Illinois National Bank. Historic preservationists still bemoan the loss of such…
Now Playing 5-1-03
Mayday, Mayday. City in trouble. Need people interested in having fun to enjoy much-maligned nightlife that really ain’t so bad. Send help now. . . . Start out with a visit to the Trading Post Saloon on Durkin Drive for a listen or a dance to the all-around sounds of the Dan Rivero Trio. Dan…
Bully pulpit
Bullying in schools is on the rise, according to Christopher Mulrine, a professor of education at Blackburn College in Carlinville. One in five students are bullied before they graduate from high school, and 84 percent of homosexual high school students report being harassed on a regular basis. Mulrine spoke about bullying in schools last week…
Death takes no holiday
Is AIDS a big deal in Sangamon County? Ask the Springfield AIDS Resource Center. Its volunteers and staff performed about 500 HIV tests last year and expect to do the same this year. In 2001, there were just 5 new reported cases of AIDS, but that was up from the previous two years. At least…
The Sallengers get their day in court
The Andrew Sallenger case is about to move from street protests to the federal courthouse. Mary Sallenger, whose mentally-ill son Andrew died hours after a struggle with Springfield police officers last year, filed a civil suit in federal court April 25, charging seven defendants with responsibility for her son’s death. The defendants are the City…
The Case of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon
For several weeks in September 1944, people in the town of Mattoon, Illinois, showed the symptoms of exposure to poison gas–nausea, vomiting, weakness leading to near paralysis, light headedness, even spitting up blood. All of the victims reported a “sweet cheap perfume odor” permeating their homes prior to the onset of sickness. Scott Maruna, a…
