Changes on the horizon for WUIS
Change doesn’t have to be painful. At least that’s what WUIS general manager Bill Wheelhouse is hoping will be the case this summer, when the venerable radio station plans to shift from its longtime classical music-based programming to focus instead on news and talk. “I like to call it ‘civilized talk,’ a public radio version…
Chicken breasts stuffed with ricotta and spinach
This is a fantastic dish for entertaining. Not only is it delicious, the overlapping pancetta topping the chicken makes a gorgeous mosaic design (it’s one of the ways I modified the original recipe). And most of the preparation can be done hours, or even a couple days, ahead of time. • 6 boneless skinless chicken…
Spinach soup with salmon quenelles
With today’s blenders and food processors, this springtime soup is a snap to make. Quenelles are classic French dumplings. Most often made with fish (though there are chicken, meat and vegetables versions), they’re light as air – actually a mousse made with fish, and a bit of cream lightened with egg white. In times past,…
Century of silver and gold
This weekend, four Springfield locations celebrate 100 years of Girl Scouting. A large number of Girl Scouts are expected at Lincoln’s Tomb on Friday, May 4, for receiving vault tours from 3-6 p.m. with a costumed living history presenter. A special flag retreat ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. Both events are planned for scouts, but…
Buffett Rule still makes Main Street sense
As a music store owner, the Buffett I’m usually concerned with is Jimmy Buffett of Margaritaville. But a bunch of lobbying groups who claim to represent small business are making me mad. They’re trying to scare people into believing that job-creating small businesses like mine won’t hire people if the “Buffett Rule” or anything like…
Plan? What plan?
Springfield Mayor Mike Houston, who once said that he expected to have a plan to fix crumbling infrastructure without raising taxes within two months of his 2011 election, plans to present the city council with a plan for fixing streets and sewers by year’s end, Springfield public works director Mark Mahoney told the Citizens Club…
No mandate? No problem.
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the fate of controversial federal health insurance reforms, advocates in Illinois are urging the state to implement the federal law even if it’s struck down. At the center of the federal Affordable Care Act is an “individual mandate” that requires every person to have health insurance, an idea challenged…
Killer catch-all
The longest continuously running stage production, The Mousetrap, will be performed at the Hoogland Center for the Arts Club Room the weekend of May 4-6. The story follows a group that becomes snowed in at an old English manor in the remote countryside. When two murders take place, guests try desperately to prevent a third,…
Topping off the tank
As I understand it, the Republican position on gasoline prices is to save drivers money by refusing to raise the excise tax on gasoline that pays the federal share of building roads and bridges. As this will cause the road network to crumble, people will have to stop driving, thus saving them hundreds a year…
Baby makes flee
When I married five years ago, I was on the fence about having kids. I thought some parental gene might kick in, but it never did. Now, at 40, I’ve accepted that a childless marriage is best for us, given my wife’s fertility issues and my ambivalence about parenthood. My wife, however, sees no purpose…
SAFE SUSTENANCE
Any experienced gardener knows the value of good soil. But what if the soil is contaminated with toxins? The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency plans to test three community garden plots in Springfield to make sure they’re safe for growing food. The three plots make up the Springfield Community Garden Family Fit Center, run by Vera…
Splendiferous spinach
“[Do] you really love it?” asked Miss Patty. “Girls nowadays indulge in such exaggerated statements that one never can tell what they do mean. In my young days, a girl did not say she loved turnips, in just the same tone, as she might have said she loved her mother or her Savior.” –From Anne…
Johnny Owens sings
What started out as a quick bit on an upcoming three-hour gig for Johnny Owens at Gallagher’s evolved into a conversation covering the singer’s life in music. From beginnings in the church choir, Owens developed into a vibrant and expressive vocalist with a career that spans five decades of soulful singing. “My mother got me…
Letters to the Editor 5/3/12
PENSION RIGHTS I’m all for paying my fair share. However, proposed Illinois state pension reform goes beyond fair share into highway robbery. The current $32,000/year average (also the U.S. average) pension is far from a windfall. The proposed reform would ruthlessly violate workers’ constitutional rights to our pensions. We have paid generously into our pension…
7Horse
Rock veterans Joie Calio and Phil Leavitt decided one day to wander from their successful venture known as dada, a group responsible for popularly known songs like “Dizz Knee Land” and “All I Am” and take a hike to another land. Trading music bits while using odd phrases like “Methlab Zoso Sticker” and “Blackjack Moon,”…
The inequity of private equity hustlers
What are these phantasmagoric money machines that they call “private equity firms?” They’re much in the news these days, because a fellow who was a private equity magnate is presently running for president. Mitt Romney piled up a quarter-billion-dollar personal fortune through his Wall Street equity outfit, Bain Capital, and he now claims that, because…
Guitar great
Springfield, take note. Joe Bonamassa rocks Sangamon Auditorium, UIS, Tuesday, May 8. Only B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan have more number one blues albums than Bonamassa. In fact, he opened for blues legend B.B. King when only 12 years old. Since that time he’s taken the American blues-rock scene by storm, playing a mean…
The Avengers, a rousing success
Epic in scope and audacious in its execution, The Avengers is a product (make no mistake – it’s more product than film) that lives up to every promise Marvel Studios has made since they launched their ambitious plan to bring their signature heroes together on the big screen when 2006’s Iron Man debuted. Though the…
Losers are winners in Lose Big contest
On Jan. 9, 1990, Dave Morris experienced a life-changing event. So on Jan. 9 this year he decided to change his life again. He enrolled in the YMCA Lose Big contest. Morris was in his garage working on changing a leaky fuel pump on his father’s Chevy Corvette, when he noticed that the pump had…
Legislature dawdles while public opinion tanks
State Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) may have more legal troubles than his federal bribery indictment. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has told the House’s Special Investigating Committee that his office’s investigation of Rep. Smith isn’t over yet. “I can tell you that our investigation of Representative Smith is continuing,” Fitzgerald wrote, which could be an indication…
PLANNING THE CITY CORE
Springfield will host seven guests from out of town next week, but they’re not here to see the sights – at least not for the same reason as other tourists. These guests are the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT), a group of urban planning professionals tasked with finding ways to revitalize Springfield’s central core. The…
Awe of the above
Get a look at some of Springfield’s historical, residential and commercial spaces that normally aren’t open to the public during the 13th annual Upper Story Tour Thursday, May 3, 5-8 p.m. On this self-guided tour, see places such as 531 E. Washington that houses Pease’s on the first floor; 222 S. Sixth Street, where you’ll…
northfifthstreet poem #17
northfifthstreet poem #17 I’m glad not to be living in one of thosepadlocked compounds west or southwestof town I’m glad to be in enos park whereI’m allowed to hang out a pillow case thatdrinks in the fragrance of sun and wind toperfume my slumbers where I can pin upa row of voluminous drawers offensive tothe…
Not too young to know
At least 21 children between the ages of 12 and 14 had the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia in 2006, according to the Sangamon County Department of Public Health. That startling fact illustrates the growing trend of young people contracting STDs across the nation. One Illinois activist and lobbyist is pushing the state to modernize sex…
Outside market
The Brinkerhoff Home Spring Craft Fair will be held May 5 on the campus of Benedictine University from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Many vendors will sell products ranging from clothing to garden items. Attendees can tour the beautiful, historic Brinkerhoff Home at no cost. The home also will sponsor a silent auction with antiques and…
Local attorney buys historic depot
The State Journal-Register has agreed to sell the historic Lincoln Depot to local attorney Jon Gray Noll and his wife Pinky. “It’s an exciting project,” Pinky Noll said. “There’s a lot of work to be done.” Pinky Noll said that the couple will establish a law office on the upper level and keep the first…
A civic sorority marks 100 years of good works
Good works and camaraderie build relationships that last a lifetime. Just ask the sisters of Springfield’s Kappa Chapter of the Phi Beta Psi sorority. As she reflects on a recent photo of her sorority sisters, Audrey Roesch recalls, “I’ve made a lot of good friends over the years that I never would have known. It’s…
Come, Creative Spirit
Over the past 16 years, the Liturgical Arts Festival has become Springfield’s premier event for those interested in liturgical and sacred arts. Representing each of the three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) as well as Buddhism, Bha’i and Native American traditions, “Come, Creative Spirit” promises to be one of the most diverse festivals in…
