Cop-turned-thief ordered back to work
A thief has been ordered reinstated to her job as a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy. Sherry Waldron admits that she shoplifted $26 worth of groceries from a Schnuck’s on Sangamon Avenue in the spring of 2013. Two months earlier, she had been acquitted of stealing plants from a Sherman park, a case that prompted the…
Lincoln and the immigrants
In “Wrong in principle” I recalled how, beginning in the 1830s and ’40s the arrival in Illinois of Germans, who spoke an incomprehensible language, and Irish, who obeyed an incomprehensible church, stirred the natives to use the power of government of the people and for the people against these people. I also recalled how Stephen…
Cubs going to the World Series?
There has been much talk lately about the Chicago Cubs. How things are different now. How they’re young and on the cusp of dynasty-dom. How Bartman can now get on his billy goat and ride into the sunset. Brave talk for fans of a team that hasn’t done, well, anything. When the Cubs finish above…
Update: ALPLM director out
Eileen Mackevich This article has been updated twice from its original form. Eileen Mackevich, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, has resigned. Mackevich resigned today after a meeting with top aides to Gov. Bruce Rauner. “I resigned as of today,” Mackevich said. “I resigned for multiple reasons.” Asked if she was…
Helping someone out of the darkness
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will hold an Out of the Darkness Walk this Saturday afternoon at Southwind Park. Last-minute walkers may register in person at 1 p.m. at Hope Pavilion. More information can be found at afsp.donordrive.com. After the recent Democratic candidate debate, CNN fact-checked Hilary Clinton’s assertion that “we lose 90 people…
Putting a rumor to rest
Steve Luker doesn’t know how the rumors started, but he knows one thing: they’re not true. Scheels in Springfield is not closing, and the store has not refused to renew their lease. Luker is the managing partner of Legacy Pointe, the development along the MacArthur Avenue extension where Scheels is located. Luker says he has…
Calhoun County revisited
Speaking of things Calhoun: In “Naming rights and wrongs” I remarked on a suggestion from Rich Miller to rename Calhoun County. That bucolic corner of the state, you might know, was named to honor South Carolinian senator John C. Calhoun, who in his later years was an apologist for slavery and a preacher of secession.…
Anniversary gifts
Attentive readers will recall that I have an unaccountable fascination with naming things – in particular the naming of public parks and schools and the like. I took up the topic here and here and, most recently, here in a column about the propriety of naming a county in a Union state like Illinois after…
Closing a deal
Bruce and Diana Rauner PHOTO BY ZBIGNIEW BZDAK/TNS Trust me, readers, I am no more eager to write another column about the closing of the Illinois State Museum than you are to read it. I have been moved to do it because the most important aspect of the story is the one that remains the…
A flagrant liar for president?
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE We’ve got a new darling in the GOP presidential race: Carly Fiorina! Being the darling du jour, however, can be dicey – just ask Rick Perry and Scott Walker, two former darlings who are now out of the race, having turned into ugly ducklings by saying stupid things.…
An intensely political problem
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS Last year, gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner pledged to “crack down on waste” in government in order to save taxpayers over $140 million. He also vowed to cut $500 million from the Illinois Department of Central Management Services and find another $250 million in Medicaid savings. Very little of that has happened…
Letters to the Editor 10/15/15
Illinois State Museum PHOTO BY DAVID HINE FROM A 10-YEAR-OLD I am writing here today to talk about the Illinois State Museum closing. I am writing on behalf of myself, my family and the people of Illinois. It is unfair to the people to close down our museum. This is not the governor’s museum; this…
Editor’s note 10/15/15
In 1986 there were already structural problems with the big new Helmut Jahn-designed state office building in Chicago, opened just a year before. That’s when Adlai Stevenson III, the Democratic candidate for governor, proposed renaming what was then called the State of Illinois Center after his opponent, James R. Thompson, because “it’s big, it’s ugly…
From a grateful Springfield homeless man
I have never written a paper of any kind. I never read that much. But now that I have all this extra time, I read every day. Sometimes I read an article twice in case I missed something. I always look at Illinois Times but never read everything. Well, I just read two months of…
Haunted history
PHOTO COURTESY ABRAHAM LINCOLN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY & MUSEUM Join the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum on Sunday, Oct. 17 for an evening of Halloween games, stories and magic. Guests of all ages will enjoy historical characters “haunting” the museum’s exhibits, eerie lighting and music, spooky stories in Union Theater, a performance by magician Richard Landry and…
Support suicide prevention
Walk to end the stigma associated with mental health this Saturday during the Out of Darkness Community Walk for suicide prevention. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is the nation’s leader in the fight against suicide. Funds generated from their community walks and other programs enable the AFSP to invest in new research, create educational…
A tragic romance
PHOTO BY DONNA LOUNSBERRY The Springfield Theatre Centre is proud to present the “powerful pop opera” Miss Saigon Oct. 16-18 and 23-25 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The Tony Award-winning musical is the 11th longest running Broadway musical in musical theater history. The musical’s creators, Claude Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, are also…
Love dogs?
The Illinois State Fairgrounds Exposition Building will host 1,200 to 1,300 dogs daily this Thursday through Sunday during the Annual Prairieland Classic AKC All Breed Dog Shows, one of the premier dog shows in the Midwest. In addition to the popular dog shows and competitions, a highlight of this year’s event will be the “Meet…
Photo-bomb scare
PHOTO COURTESY AMY ALKON Amy Alkon I’m a 29-year-old woman, and I’ve been dating a guy for two months. I was scrolling (okay, stalking him) on Instagram and saw a pic of him with this pretty girl with her arm draped around his neck. Does monogamy just happen, or should I initiate the “commitment talk”?…
A civil rights icon comes to Springfield
Illustration of John Lewis speaking at the 1963 March on Washington from MARCH. ALL ILLUSTRATIONS ARE BY NATE POWELL “We are tired. We are tired of being beaten by policemen. We are tired of seeing our people locked in jail over and over again. And then you holler, ‘Be patient.’ How long can we be…
New Glarus, America’s Little Switzerland
Swiss-style architecture with colorful window boxes are found throughout New Glarus. Photo by John Camper. Do you ever daydream of hiking or biking through Europe but have just a weekend to spare? Then plan a trip to New Glarus, Wisconsin, known as “America’s Little Switzerland,” where you can enjoy scenic trails, indulge your taste for…
Mining decision challenged as illegal
Catherine Edmiston PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE An 11-year legal battle over a coal mine 40 miles south of Springfield continues as one woman claims the Illinois Department of Natural Resources didn’t follow its own rules. The case questions how coal mines clean up their mining sites, but the plaintiffs say they’re fighting against a system…
Plenty of doctors, not enough health
Although Sangamon County is first among all 102 Illinois counties for its quality of clinical care, it ranks 79th for overall health. That disconnect between health offerings and the community’s actual health illustrates the herculean task facing a coalition of health-minded groups in Springfield. On Oct. 9, Springfield’s two nonprofit hospitals and the Sangamon County…
Lincoln museum finances reviewed
Amid a reshuffle of the institution’s governing board and a state budget impasse, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s finances are being scrutinized. Chris Wills, spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency that oversees the institution, confirmed that IHPA director Amy Martin is reviewing monies that the ALPLM receives from the gift shop, catering…
WHAT ARE THEY SMOKING?
The first medical marijuana dispensary opened its doors this week in Marion, population 17,413. They even held a ribbon cutting, which was much attended by downstate local press and chamber of commerce types. “This is going to be a great boon for many people who are in dire need of help,” gushed Mayor Bob Butler…
MEDICAL MISSION
Truckload after truckload of medical supplies stream from a 44,000-square-foot warehouse north of Springfield, destined for communities in need around the globe. It’s Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, a nonprofit which sends donated medical supplies wherever they’re needed. They’ve been around since 2002, and they have shipped more than $50 million in supplies and equipment to…
Spies: intriguing but incomplete
Tom Hanks as James Donovan in Bridge of Spies. PHOTO COURTESY WALT DISNEY PICTURES In 1957, attorney James Donovan was given the unenviable task of representing accused Russian spy Rudolf Abel when he was charged with conspiracy against the United States. It was a duty he took on reluctantly but completed with a sense of…
Mid-October music
Governor Street jams out at Brewhaus on Sat. Oct. 17, 10 p.m. PHOTO BY LAURA COFFEY Welcome all to the Ides of October and beyond. We have a few lingering festivals, plenty of diverse performers and a bushel basket full of local regulars playing the scene. By now the Cubs/Cards first-ever postseason series is over.…
Steely James
Based out of Nashville, Tenn., this wandering troubadour keeps mostly on the road. He has a lot to say, mostly about social issues that need to be addressed from the progressive side. Steely James (also known as Jim Stealy) sings songs by some of the great thinkers of our lyrical music, such as Bob Marley,…
Drinking shrubs
Chef Michael Higgins of Maldaner’s restaurant with many shrub options. PHOTO BY DAVID HINE Would you like to drink a shrub? I’m not talking about drinking bushes you might have in your yard, but a class of sweet/sour beverages that is centuries old. But shrubs are enjoying a renaissance these days in restaurants and other…
firearmspoem #2
firearmspoem #2 autumn leaves fallinganother school massacrenot worth the headline ©2015 Jacqueline Jackson
