The chainsaw resurrection
Untitled Document The great 19th-century naturalist John Muir was onstage at New Salem State Park last Sunday, in the person of the actor John Wallace. “The forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a great delight to God,” Muir said, “for they were the best He ever planted.” Muir was there to…
Reprieve
Untitled Document After three months of around-the-clock labor, Steven Kren has saved the historic Decker Home, at 303 S. Glenwood Ave., from the city’s wrecking crew. In July, the city granted Kren his third and final extension to his permit to make structural changes to the 112-year home, including the addition of support to the…
Not acting is immoral
Untitled Document In another of his ever-changing rationales for his Iraq war, President George W. Bush has bizarrely proclaimed that this conflagration is like the Vietnam War — a comparison he had spent the previous four years heatedly rejecting! Well, on at least one point, his Vietnam comparison is apt: Next year, the Iraq war…
Overwintering geraniums
Untitled Document Sad at the thought that your cheery geraniums will soon fall victim to the dropping temperatures of autumn? It’s possible to beat the frost and save the plants by taking them inside for the winter. “As soon as we get freezing temperatures, most unprotected annual geraniums will turn a mushy green and die,”…
Letters to the Editor
Untitled Document We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. EVERYBODY, USE THE SIDEWALK! I almost killed a man on Oct. 3. I was driving back to work after lunch, and…
The enduring human spirit
Untitled Document If you were an outsider looking at Christopher McCandless, you’d think that he had it made. Raised in an upper-middle-class family and smart enough to attend the Ivy League college of his choice, this young man was bound for success — or, at least, the kind of success our culture rewards. Instead, McCandless…
The pleasure principle
Untitled Document Slow food \’slo ‘fЯd\ n 1 : the opposite of fast food 2 : capitalized an international organization that promotes the pleasures of the table while protecting and defending local, traditional ingredients and preparations threatened to the verge of extinction by the ever-expanding incursions of industrial farming methods, fast-food conglomerates, and the governmental…
People’s Poetry
Untitled Document northfifthstreet poem #3 this is a public notice likethe ones that say I am notresponsible for so-and-so’sdebts well we in enos parkwho are surely guilty nowand then of miscreant behaviorbut on the whole are workingto make the near north side adesirable place to live hereby declare no responsibility forthat recent bank robber…
Goofballs
Untitled Document There is no shortage of goofiness at the Illinois Statehouse these days. Some players are goofier than others, but Gov. Rod Blagojevich usually gets most of the coverage. Blagojevich has the top job, so he naturally gets the attention, and many of the things he’s done this year certainly qualify as goofiness, from…
Does not compute
Untitled Document The state of Illinois is teetering on the brink of financial calamity. In excess of $40 billion by most estimates, Illinois has the largest unfunded pension liability in the U.S. — more than five times the national average. Under the state’s current tax structure, the state cannot generate enough revenue to keep pace…
Harps and chords
Untitled Document I attended a folk-music conference in the last week of September in the Chicago area — Techny Towers in Northbrook, to be exact — called the Folk Alliance Midwest Region (or FARM) Gathering. The weekend event attracted around 100 musicians and several DJs, booking agents, promoters, presenters, and others. There were workshops on…
Deal or no deal
Untitled Document Two days before the State Journal-Register offered optional severance packages to 149 nonunion full-time workers, the newspaper’s parent company, GateHouse Media Inc., rolled out a contest to award $1 million to any employee who comes up with an idea to generate $50 million in earnings by the end of 2010. The…
Labor made
Untitled Document After last year’s tornadoes ravaged Springfield and knocked out most of the city’s power, hundreds of union members — including members of the Laborers, Teamsters, Carpenters, and Operating Engineers unions — stepped in to rescue stranded residents and remove trees from their homes. Now, with the help of Ward 10 Ald. Tim Griffin,…
Clear path
Untitled Document The Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary Trust and the sanctuary’s neighbors are looking ahead after the Sangamon County Board voted last week to approve the trust’s request for a conditional-use permit to establish a public park on 27.2 acres of the 120-acre Loami sanctuary, located at 9560 Withers Rd. The neighbors initially cited safety and…
