Supreme fight
Contests for the Illinois House and Senate can be bloody and bruising, but judicial races are supposed to be kinder, gentler affairs. Lawyers who want to become judges traditionally say no more than what is listed on their résumés. They don’t tell voters how they would rule on cases. And tactics common in other types…
Knoepfle 5-27-04
sandalwood poem #3 when you left you did not tell me how it would be this empty bed was a threshing floor now the wind turns our house around © John Knoepfle 1978, 2004
quick takes 5-27-04
WHAT COUNTS Some 30 social service leaders and volunteers broke into nine teams last Friday night and spent four hours scouting Springfield’s city limits for homeless people. While the final results have yet to be released, it appears the tally matches almost exactly the findings from last year of slightly more than 400. Rita Tarr,…
CMS firestorm
The latest scandal to hit the powerful Illinois Department of Central Management Services revolves around a lucrative contract to manage health-care costs for tens of thousands of state workers and their families. Health Alliance has handled that task for downstate employees for more than 20 years, and just about everybody has been happy with its…
Grace about town 5-27-04
Many things to report: • My one-woman show, “Grace Talk #1” went better than expected. The place was packed Wednesday night, and even more people turned out on Thursday. And they laughed. The really great thing: If you saw me up there and I looked like I was enjoying myself, it’s because I was. Boy,…
letters 5-27-04
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com WHAT’S SO FUNNY? I would like to thank Todd Spivak for the…
Strawberry picking time
When I was a child, my grandmother would take the family to pick strawberries every Memorial Day weekend. We would pick at least 20 quarts of berries, enough for dessert and jelly. Grandma always somehow managed to pick more berries than the rest of us combined. She would serve sliced, sweetened berries over shortcake with…
Prairie Notes 5-27-04
Although I’m an advocate of compost as a “complete feed” for most lawn and garden settings, some situations require the application of additional natural fertilizers. Earth-wise use of any fertilizer requires more information than the so-many-pounds-per-100-square-feet recommendation on the label. We need to know (1) the existing level of fertility in our soil and (2)…
Movie review
This Helen will launch a thousand snores The title figure of Raising Helen (Kate Hudson) lives in a tame version of the fast lane. Executive assistant to the head of a successful modeling agency (Helen Mirren), Helen is on her way to becoming an agent when her life is sidetracked by a tragedy. After a…
Takeout treasure
When you think of takeout, the options that usually come to mind are cartons of Chinese food, a pizza, or a bucket of fried chicken. Homemade eggplant Parmesan and stuffed artichokes probably aren’t the kind of dishes you usually pick up for dinner on the way home from work — but they should be. A…
Enemies no longer
Just east of Springfield, the soldiers face uphill in two ranks — a small platoon. They are woefully outnumbered by their enemies, who nearly encircle them. But neither side will ever advance. The soldiers’ positions are grave markers at Camp Butler National Cemetery, on the edge of Riverton. The outflanked platoon consists of 34 stones…
Will VIA/LIiteracy celebrate 20 years?
If you are reading this newspaper, you are at least a fairly literate person. You read for both information and enjoyment. Many adults in central Illinois would not be considered literate, however. By one estimate, 4 million Illinois adults lack the basic literacy skills needed to function effectively in society. For them, reading and writing…
A whiff of the past: Remembering the Frascos’ Italian-American store
Of the five senses, the olfactory sense is the most closely related to memory. All of us have experienced the phenomenon of being suddenly and almost magically transported back in time, in the mind’s eye, when a particular scent triggers a reaction within us and we find ourselves in that place that we subconsciously associate…
Stage brights for Memorial Day weekend
Continuing a recent spate of new, innovative theatrical offerings, Memorial Day weekend features several interesting area openings: • Theater student Matthew Schwartz conceived and directs a show he titles Different Stages, playing for one performance at the Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. Friday, May 28. The show examines relationships, and incorporates scenes and…
Now playing 5-27-04
It’s here, the official summer kickoff weekend, whatever that means. No really, I read about it in the paper and I always believe everything I read. And so should you. If you like hanging out on the streets of Springfield, drinking, eating, and listening to music without the worry of being run over by a…
Land grab
Memorial Medical Center has quietly acquired at least a dozen residential properties in the historic Enos Park and Oak Ridge neighborhoods since the end of February. The hospital apparently has plans to demolish many of the houses for more surface parking lots. The hospital’s real-estate activity can best be seen in the area north of…
Back on the job
Most guys might have a tough time transitioning from the rank of captain, commanding more than 150 soldiers, to plain old officer, commanding only a dog. But for Jeff Royer, nothing could be sweeter than relief from the incomprehensible stress of keeping his troops safe in a land of suicide bombers and war without rules.…
