Mixed Genres Make for Muddled “Arthur”
Made for the superhero generation, Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is an origin story about an orphan who finds out he has a destiny, gets a magical object that gives him superhuman powers and is internally conflicted about the whole thing. Think Thor by way of Game of Thrones and you have…
SoS won’t say if agency knew about criminal past
The administration of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White won’t say whether the agency knew that Candace Wanzo had pleaded guilty to stealing more than $230,000 from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville before she was hired in 1999. “This is a personnel matter and we cannot discuss personnel matters,” White spokesman Henry Haupt wrote in…
Secretary of State official placed on leave
Candace Wanzo, a high-ranking official in the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, is under investigation by the office’s inspector general and has been placed on paid leave. The nature of the investigation isn’t clear. Wanzo, an administrator in the office’s vehicles division, earned $87,238 last year. Wanzo was hired in 1999 even though she pleaded…
What’s so funny about Philly?
Growing up in the Philly projects with an African-American father and Italian mother, my Mom would try to cook soul food for my Dad and we appreciated it. But I’m telling you, spaghetti and pig’s feet is not good. And chili lasagna is worse. So goes the joke of Raymond “Philly” Phillips, one of the…
Darker Guardians 2 is still great fun
If James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy was Star Wars for the 21st century, then its sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, is surely our new Empire Strikes Back. The writer/director seems to be adhering to the George Lucas space opera template, as this entry in the series is darker than the first and…
Alec James
Sometimes the best descriptions come from the artists themselves, and in this case we get: “Alec James is a musician and songwriter in the central Illinois area. He plays guitar, harmonica and has a particular affinity for acoustic folk music.” We could stop right there and that should be enough to intrigue a soul, but…
In France, the center held
Yeats’s famous line of poetry during the dark times after the Great War comes eerily down to us today: “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.” Yet in the preliminary French elections on April 23 the center did hold, or so it seems. Let’s unravel this most important election which could decide whether the European…
COFFEE PAINT FOR A CAUSE
The Lincoln Magnet School (LMS) and local artist Christy Freeman are teaming up to encourage the public to paint for a good cause. Coffee: The New Paint, will be held Sunday, May 7, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Lincoln Magnet School, 300 S. 11th St. in Springfield. For $25 per person or an…
Waste not, want not
Approximately 40 percent of the food produced in the United States, approximately 133 billion pounds, will end up in the trash. That’s roughly equivalent to buying five bags of groceries, then pitching two of those bags in the trash on the way out of the store. In a country where 42 million people suffer from…
Letters to the Editor 5/4/17
HOLD ON TO DREAMS After the women’s movement marches earlier this year, new and emerging leaders organized the recent Springfield Women’s March, held April 25. I’ve been watching and admiring these brave women as they find their collective voices and inner power over the past few months. When I heard about this march, I was…
Editors Note 5/4/17
A year ago, Mayor Jim Langfelder in his state of the city address talked about streamlining the city’s approach to requests for public records. Now, the city is saying that drafts of an environmental study on Hunter Lake (rhymes with “money sinkhole”) required by the Army Corps of Engineers won’t be shared with the public…
Track and field athletics
On Sunday, May 7, show your support for nearly 200 Special Olympics Illinois athletes as they compete in track and field events during the largest area event of the year for Special Olympics Illinois. The day commences at 9 a.m. with an opening ceremony, including a parade of athletes. Competitions begin immediately following the ceremony,…
Bill to restrict isolation cells fails
The state House of Representatives last week passed a bill designed to expedite the transfer of mentally ill inmates from county jails to state mental health facilities. But a bill that would restrict the use of isolation cells in local jails appears dead. The measure remained in committee as an April 28 deadline passed for…
Maybe music here
No maybe about it, the merry month of May is upon us, signaling the beginning of the summer music season and the conclusion of the spring one. Some venues now choose to end entertainment for the warmer months when the festivals, beer gardens, fairs and homecomings begin in earnest. Nothing says May like Cinco de…
Crime down?
The number of misdemeanor and driving under the influence cases has plummeted in Sangamon County. Last year, prosecutors filed 1,323 misdemeanor cases compared to 1,733 cases in 2015. The reduction accelerated in the fall of last year, when 396 misdemeanor cases were filed between Sept. 1 and Jan. 1; in 2015, 676 misdemeanors were filed…
Unlocking spirituality via music
The Liturgical Arts Festival of Springfield is honored to present a gratis jazz concert that celebrates the human quest for spirituality through music on Sunday, May 7, from 3-5 p.m. The special, off-year LAF event will feature inspiring performances from God’s House Band, the Westminster Jazz Ensemble and the Mark McKnight Ensemble – three talented…
Swarm fuzzies
I got in an argument with my boyfriend about the reason not to have sex outside our relationship. He said he wouldn’t do it because he wouldn’t want to hurt me. I said he shouldn’t want to be with anybody else, but he said that’s just not realistic for guys. Are men really just these…
“Past Due” hears stories of impasse pain
Concerned citizens gathered at a public forum in Springfield April 27 to share their stories of the budget impasse and how it’s affected them. “Over the last 22 months, we have had devastating impact to the people we serve and to the community because of the budget impasse,” said Theresa Collins, associate executive director of…
Keep our Postal Service public
Journalism, which is supposed to help make sense of our turbulent world, can’t seem to make sense of itself. In addition to “news,” we’re now getting “fake news” (stuff that’s completely made up). But wait – the barons of corporate news are adding to today’s tumultuous state of journalism by putting out feeds of “BS…
Movie magic plus a minor in music
A special concert by the UIS Orchestra this Sunday at 3 p.m. at Sangamon Auditorium will also act as a sort of coming-out party for exciting changes to the university’s music program. “We are starting an annual tradition,” said Yona Stamatis, director of the UIS Orchestra. “The plan is to have an orchestra concert every…
A meeting that shouldn’t have been news
In normal times, a 40-minute, late-April meeting to talk about the budget between a governor and the House Speaker would be so routine that it would likely go unnoticed by pretty much everyone under the Statehouse dome. But these ain’t normal times. A funded, full-year state budget has not passed during a spring legislative session…
IN THE CLEAR
Sangamon County state’s attorney John Milhiser says no charges will be filed after an investigation into the North County Teen Court requested by Sherman Police Chief Craig Bangert in January. The investigation into the court, which diverts juveniles suspected of minor crimes from county court to a jury of teen peers that decides appropriate sanctions,…
Fantastic Finale
Celebrate the close of the 24th season of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra with a concert featuring Grammy Award-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux led by guest conductor Andrew Sewell. Sewell, maestro of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, is one of four finalists in the ISO’s 2016-2017 music director candidate search. “Fantastic Finale” will be Sewell’s second performance with…
A new history of New Salem
If not for Abraham Lincoln, New Salem would have been just another frontier community lost to history. Instead, the people, places, and events live on in books, articles, plays, and a reconstructed village aptly named Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site. Founded in 1829 adjacent to a mill on the Sangamon River, New Salem grew…
100 days poem #1
100 days poem #1 hmmm what accomplishments have Iaccomplished in the last 100 days?anything beneficial for our world? ifyou count womens marches climatemarches sending lotsa money to ossoffdurbin other dems innocence project(haven’t sent to nat parks coral reefsfarms fish fowl fuzzy critters because if we can’t save the earth there’s nohabitat for any of them…
Lost in Illiniville
I expect that the main campus in Urbana and Champaign of the University of Illinois is the Downstate town that many Springfieldians know best after their own – in some parts the prettiest and in some ways (people walking!) the most interesting. It is indeed a town, with a daily population of nearly 54,000 students,…
UIS takes back the night
The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) rallied against sexual violence at the 10th annual Take Back the Night event, held on April 28. Protesters gathered at the colonnade at 8:30 p.m. to march around campus, followed by a rally at the Lincoln Residence Great Hall. The event, organized by the UIS Women’s Center and the…
