Springfield hires economic development director
Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder has chosen Val Yazell, a business development consultant, as the city’s new economic development director. Yazell, who starts work Monday, replaces Karen Davis, who resigned her position last summer after two years as the city’s economic development director. Yazell will work under contract and on an interim basis. She said that…
Trump’s wars
So, President Trump makes what was to be a condolence phone call to the young widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of the four American soldiers killed on a military patrol in Niger – and all of a sudden, the White House explodes in yet another political conflagration and a new burst of presidential…
That’s not too much to ask
I don’t think I’ve ever seen House Speaker Michael Madigan move faster to get in front of a legislative issue than he did last week when he vowed action to address the climate of sexual harassment at the Illinois Statehouse. The decision came the morning after an “open letter” was published on Facebook by women…
Letters to the editor 11/2/17
WEAK KNEES CAN’T KNEEL Strong knees bow and kneel boldly for justice. Weak knees will never kneel for justice; they stumble and fall down to every wind and force of power. To be clear, every football player that took a knee for justice during the National Anthem had strong knees. Their knee bowing is a…
Editor’s Note 11/2/17
“The problem with quotes on the internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity.” – Abraham Lincoln (source: the internet). –Fletcher Farrar, editor and CEO
Pic me
I’m a newly divorced woman trying some online dating sites. Because I read your column, I understand how men prioritize beauty. I’m an attractive woman but I often photograph terribly, and I’m thinking of spending some money and having a professional photographer shoot some pix in a studio. Would this be a good investment? I…
Springfield needs action on economy
I have some experience with economic development efforts in Springfield. This backstory lends credence to my cynicism about why the new economic development corporation, formed in response to the economic development study commissioned and recently released by Sangamon County government, is destined for failure. In September 2015 I launched a small nonprofit called the Urban…
Elvis is in the building
Elvis impersonator Joseph Hall will make a triumphant return to the Legacy Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m. The talented 33-year-old performer has been paying tribute to Elvis Presley since 2006, and received rave reviews on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” from Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan in 2008. Hall has received much recognition…
Learn the art of figure drawing
Hone your figure drawing skills each week by attending The Pharmacy Gallery and Art Space’s weekly open studio figure drawing sessions, held Monday and Tuesday nights from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The sessions are open and available to anyone with an interest in figure drawing. The Monday sessions features clothed models while the Tuesday sessions feature nude…
Author, storyteller, teacher, friend
Saying Jackie Jackson’s magnum opus is about a barn, is like saying Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a history of rabbit holes. The Round Barn encompasses a way of life that has all but disappeared. It captures the history of an extraordinary family whose members will live forever, thanks to a girl who kept notebooks…
High schoolers race for business success
Who would rise early to get to a class at 7:30, leave at 9 to spend a full day at school, return in the evening and even weekends to fulfill requirements, while also finishing homework, participating in sports and other extracurricular activities, and possibly even working a job? Well, 50 amazing high school seniors from…
Best of Springfield Party (Photos)
Hundreds of people turned out for the inaugural Best Of Springfield party at the BOS Center on Thursday, Oct. 26. I t was 1985 all over again, and there were many celebrity sightings, including Flavor Flav and his crew, Prince, MC Lyte, the Blues Brothers, Slash, Brett Michaels, and not just one, but two, MC…
Film festival promises plenty of kicks
It may come as a surprise, even to self-professed area movie buffs, that since 2002 Springfield has played host to its very own international film festival, featuring screenings of a juried selection of features and shorts from around the country, the world and the region, complete with an award ceremony and special appearances by filmmakers…
Two black eyes
Mayor Jim Langfelder. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE October wasn’t a good month for the city of Springfield. First came a damning report commissioned by Sangamon County, whose hired consultant, tasked with figuring out ways to improve the local economy, put in writing what pretty much everyone knows but won’t say in public: The metropolitan area,…
Man struck by traffic pillar sues city
A man critically injured a year ago when a traffic pillar fell on his head near the Old State Capitol has sued Springfield and the state of Illinois, saying that he has suffered permanent brain damage due to the city’s negligence. According to his lawsuit, Andrew Schanze suffered brain damage, broken facial bones and permanent…
Will the last person leaving the courthouse turn out the lights?
Maybe we’re driving better. Maybe cops are looking the other way. Whatever the reason, the number of cases filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court has plummeted over the last decade, largely due to a decline in the number of traffic tickets issued by police. The number of cases filed has fallen by 38 percent since…
Symphony season starts in style
Saturday evening marked the start of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra’s 25th anniversary season, as well as the debut of new ISO music director Ken Lam. The season kicked off with a varied program, beginning with a short piece by an area composer and climaxing with a spirited Tchaikovsky symphony. Mark Rheaume, whose composition, “Entrance Fanfare,”…
Humor over heroics dooms bloated Ragnarok
Where the Marvel Comics movie universe is concerned, the Thor films have always been treated like the redheaded stepchild. Fans seem to tolerate them as a necessary evil needed to move the overall MCU storyline along, as no one I am aware of has ever pointed to Thor (2011) or Thor: The Dark World (2013)…
Whatever Productions and open mics
Here we are rolling into November; getting ready to fall back an hour and plunge into near wintertime. What better excuse do you need (if you need one) to get out and see some live music? Last Saturday night was a special moment in Springfield culture and music history. At the Curve Inn, before the…
BAND SPOTLIGHT | Hooten Hallers
A trippy trio from Columbia, Missouri, the Hooten Hallers are all about being different from your average Americana group. Using interesting instrumentation that includes John Randall (vocals, guitar), Andy Rehm (vocals, drums) and Kellie Everett (baritone, bass saxophones), they base their music on traditional American styles, yet add twists and turns from vociferous vocals to…
Stellar! Stellar!
UIS wants to be everything it can be in spite of the General Assembly, so it has launched a four-year, $40 million fundraising campaign, “Reaching Stellar: The Campaign for the University of Illinois Springfield.” Its marketing rhetoric certainly soars: “With your support, we can propel the University and today’s students to new heights and continue…
Not just what to eat, but when
I was talking with my bandmates during our break the other day about the death of Tom Petty, Gregg Allman and all the other music heroes we have lost in the last year. The conversation morphed into a discussion of our own health statuses. One member is dead, one is undergoing chemotherapy, one had a…
poem on me #1
poem on me #1 whee! whee! this issue’s on me! withwords by corrine pix by ginny leeI yet haven’t seen them as I pen thesewords but here is a story they neitherhave heard ok let’s abandon rhymewhen I was a kid a newborn calf hada broken leg (her confused mamalikely laid on her) my dad…
