Cover Story
Rewriting history?
An exciting tale is told in a new $73,000 state-funded video presentation at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. The animated production brings to life the story of Robert Smalls, an enslaved man who purloined a Confederate boat, picked up other enslaved people, and piloted the boat to freedom as they reached the Union naval blockade…
Sacred faces, sacred voices
The Vatican’s World Day of Social Communications was last Sunday, May 17. Next Sunday, May 24, is Pentecost. There is a lot to think about there. The Sunday before Pentecost was purposely chosen by Pope St. Paul VI in 1967 as the date for this observance when “social communication” meant television, radio and print, and…
Legislation stalled as May 31 adjournment nears
Every year when the legislature arrives at mid-May, it’s always tempting to look around, see the absence of real bicameral movement on legislation and conclude that nothing’s gonna happen in time for the scheduled May 31 adjournment. Succumbing to that temptation this year may not be a bad bet, but things can change. Right now,…
Obsession serves as a metaphor for addiction, Kremlin is dull
Obsession a brilliant metaphor for addiction I’m going to assume Bear, the protagonist in Curry Barker’s brilliant horror film Obsession was absent the day The Monkey’s Paw was read in his language arts class. W.W. Jacobs’ seminal cautionary tale drives home again and again that if you happen to have a wish-granting talisman, you must…
Early intervention
One by one, boys walked to the front of the courtroom May 5 to receive certificates marking the completion of Sangamon County’s new youth mentoring and diversion program. Mentors stood beside them for photographs while judges, prosecutors and community leaders applauded from the audience. But before the ceremony began, Associate Judge Karen Tharp told the…
Omission
I have visited the Bronte homesteadin Haworth England many times, withclasses and with my daughters andhave seen the portrait on the landingof the famous Bronte sisters whosurround a painted-out blob in themiddle of the circular frame. DidBranwell Bronte paint himself out?Or a sister? Or someone later? Iwonder how many family histories,not so well known have…
Letters to the editor 5/14/26
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. GREAT MAIL CARRIER I remember being a teenager and always curious about what (mail carrier) OJ Crowder did back then (“OJ Crowder interview,” April 20). Then i went to work for the post office. OJ…
Reopening soon
Springfield was a grand hotel town in the ’20s. It was the state capital, a tourist mecca and a “good convention town” too, meaning it offered gambling, booze, women and a police force under orders to leave the customers alone as long as they didn’t do it in any of the churches or public parks.…
Celebrating women with “kids”
This week’s column is dedicated to a deeply caring connection: women and their “kids” (a pun very much intended). The late 1970s marked a period of two parallel cultural movements in the U.S. This intensely creative era fundamentally changed the way America works and what America eats. While the personal computer was being invented in…
May music blooms
Hello and welcome to another edition of Now Playing, your weekly Illinois Times excursion into the music scene surrounding us. The month of May is definitely not a “maybe” this year, as we warm up in a big way to the summer season. Let’s take a walk in the garden and see what’s popping this…
