IT Picks
THEATER | Outdoor performances If you visit or work downtown, here’s a free noon hour program you should catch at some point during your daily dallying or labor. The Springfield Arts Council hosts several musical, theatrical and performance artists on the Old State Capitol Plaza at various dates during the summer time. Tuesday, the cast…
Utility reform emerges from legislative chaos
Last Sunday, amid state budget haggling, lawmakers passed an innovative three-pronged energy package that toughens Illinois Commerce Commission ethics rules, promotes energy efficiency and assists low-income families with utility bills. The Illinois Attorney General’s office worked with consumer and environmental groups, community action agencies, business organizations and utility companies to craft Senate Bill 1918. The…
The coffeehouse in a Goodwill Store
I didn’t know it existed until I saw the sign on the Goodwill store at Chatham Road and Wabash Avenue. Driving away from the garden center behind Hobby Lobby after buying more flowers than I’d intended (I have no willpower in those places), I did a double take: Edgar’s Coffee House. What was a coffeehouse…
Mosquito, king of the pests
The other night while dozing I heard the buzzing of a mosquito. After about five minutes the culprit was glued to a flyswatter. Of all the bothersome insect pests, however, mosquitoes are probably the most troublesome. While most mosquitoes are merely a nuisance, some can transmit diseases including West Nile encephalitis. Mosquitoes are best known…
SOHO far, SOHO good
Not so long ago the fledgling SOHO Music Fest was an awkward but earnest attempt to raise funds for a local charity while presenting local rock bands to a somewhat uncaring and apathetic community. Now in its fifth year, the downtown block party held on June 5 and 6 keeps getting bigger and better, staking…
Letters to the Editor
HANDGUNS IN NATIONAL PARKS That was a great cartoon, “The national park disservice,” on page 30 of the May 28 IT. The cartoon was referring to the recent signing of a bill by President Obama allowing guns in these parks, and even loaded ones in some instances. If this is any indication of the future,…
Democrats to blame for legislative debacle
The Democratic Party was given a clear mandate in the past two election cycles, but they completely blew it last week. The Senate has more than a three-fifths majority, the House is just shy of a veto-proof majority. The governor, who was installed by the Democratic legislature after it ousted his unpopular and obstructionist predecessor…
More than a cartoon, Up is a life lesson
The previews for Pixar’s Up do everything they’re suppose to do to get you to see it. They feature cute cartoon characters coupled with an intriguing premise and promise a few laughs against a bright palette. What they don’t clue you in on, and this is the film’s strongest suit, is its ability to move…
Peoples Poetry
villanelle # 4 baby wee-weed on my shirtjust as I was going to change herit was just a little squirtbaby wee-weed on my shirtbut too quickly to avertere I knew I was in dangerbaby wee-weed on my shirtjust as I was going to change her © Jacqueline Jackson 2009
The electric Sliders
Darren Feller recalls that while he was attending the 2002 winter baseball meetings in Nashville, a prospective employer asked a question right out of the job interview playbook. “So where do you see yourself in five years?” the recruiter asked. Feller’s response, a most ambitious one, seemed to come from the same text. “To be…
Quinn must stop video poker gambling in Illinois
Often it is said that the gambling question in Illinois has already been decided, so let’s get on with it. Well, not quite! What was decided in 1989 was to have 10 casinos, not video poker on every corner or a casino in Chicago. In the spring of 2009 the legislature decided to have video…
Under a mountain of debt, WSEC-TV struggles for survival
Public radio and television stations across the nation have been hit hard by the recession, losing membership support, program sponsorships and grant funding. Dr. Jerold Gruebel, president and CEO of Network Knowledge, the nonprofit parent company of WSEC/PBS Springfield and its sister stations in Quincy and Macomb, says that his television stations are also struggling…
Protesters hungry for a fair budget
After debating well past midnight Monday morning, Illinois lawmakers scurried out of Springfield leaving the state’s gaping $11.6 billion budget hole largely unfilled. In addition, Gov. Pat Quinn insists, if the state doesn’t find a way to increase revenue and shore up the deficit, education, healthcare and social services will see major cuts. Quinn had…
Eliminating the threat of ‘death by pie’
Out in Arizona, an old tombstone bears an epitaph for a young gunslinger: “I was expecting this/But not so soon.” Gunslinging, of course, is a high-risk business. But today, some of us can expect to have the following marker on our graves: “Here lies a guy/Killed by a potpie.” America’s potpie threat lurks in an…
Peace begins on Hazel Lane
I now believe there will be peace in the Middle East. I also believe that the Illinois legislature will someday ratify a budget before the fiscal year ends, and Dick Cheney will appear on Meet the Press to express his admiration for Barack Obama. Heck, I even believe that my two children will stop tattling…
