The unkindest cuts
The Springfield Housing Authority was warned months ago that funding for its Section 8 housing-voucher program would be severely reduced. But hundreds of local landlords who are involved in the program only recently discovered that they are the ones being squeezed. SHA says landlords have already begun to drop out of the program due to…
letters 10-21-04
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com NOTES FROM A CITIZEN CANVASSER I’m just back from election canvassing on…
Spook Central on the banks of the Mississippi
Alton, Ill., is billed as one of the most haunted small towns in America. Of course, its reputation owes a good deal to local entrepreneurs who’ve promoted the Mississippi River town’s ghostly legacy for years. Around Halloween, Alton becomes Spook Central for visitors from all over the region. Many go on the Haunted Alton Tour,…
now playing 10-21-04
What do you mean, you’ve never heard of Butch Hancock? I suppose you’ll also say you haven’t heard of Joe Ely or Jimmie Dale Gilmore or the Flatlanders, either? Well, how about Buddy Holly or Bob Wills? Ah yes, now we’re getting somewhere. And that somewhere is Lubbock, Texas. That dusty town way out west…
quick takes 10-21-04
RIGHT’S RIGHTS ATTACK The Bush administration has provided a treasure trove for veteran film and TV producer Robert Greenwald. He’s successfully mined recent controversies for material to produce several anxiety-inducing documentaries. Greenwald’s Unprecedented (2002) probed allegations of election fraud that helped put George W. Bush in the White House. This year’s Outfoxed spotlighted the pro-Bush…
sound patrol 10-21-04
Tom WaitsReal Gone (Anti) At 54, Tom Waits is weirder than he’s ever been, which is quite an accomplishment when you consider that he’s been weird — deeply, uniquely, unrepentantly weird — for at least 20 years now, when Swordfishtrombones erupted like a beautiful boil on the polite posterior of the singer/songwriter scene. Over the…
The challenge
It’s a beautiful fall day, better than any remembered or even imagined. The Sangamon River lazily winds its way to the Illinois. The maples and cottonwoods are discovering their color. The birds are loud and jubilant. As we — my husband, a friend, and I — cross over a bridge, local folks slow their vehicles.…
music notes 10-21-04
• Anybody remember the Brown Bag Blues Boy, Tim McKean? They say he came from Illiopolis, hung out in Springfield, then relocated to Los Angeles in the late 1970s. While in the capital city, McKean performed with the Blues Boys, Sangamon Valley Hoedowners, and Finnegan’s Wake, and as a solo act. Welcome him back to…
His way with words
The late Chicago journalist Steve Neal was hailed as a watchdog at last Thursday’s dedication of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, although some of his subjects remember him more as a bulldog. The veteran Sun-Times columnist’s coverage of alleged cronyism is credited with forcing a major shakeup in the leadership of the $150 million library…
Saputo’s gets better with each visit
There’s a lot to be said for familiarity. Like a favorite old pair of boots you pull out of the back of the closet or a holiday movie you watch each year with your family, some things just make you feel better, and you never grow tired of them. Saputo’s is like that. The family-owned…
Beloved soldier
To most of us, war is something we see on TV or scan in the daily paper or flip past in a news magazine. It’s something we don’t have to fret about much, unless we’re studying for a current-events quiz or trying to decide how to vote. To some people, though, war is a much…
common sense 10-21-04
Wal-Mart, we’re told, is the epitome of free enterprise in America — work hard, be innovative, and achieve efficiencies, and your company will be rewarded with riches! Oh yes, one more thing: Be sure to load up on government subsidies along the way. Good Jobs First, a research center that studies the doling out of…
movie review
The Grudge delivers a powerful jump-out-of-your-seat fright show In 2002, DreamWorks scored a solid hit with the release of The Ring, a remake of a Japanese cult film that caused other movie studios to turn their attention to the horror-film renaissance in the Far East. Featuring threats that prove to be manifestations of extreme, violent…
Little (art) house on the prairie
Springfield’s oldest retail art gallery was launched in 1970 as an afterthought to the restoration of the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices at the corner of Sixth and Adams streets. Three families had joined forces to rehabilitate the historic law offices. “When we considered what we wanted to put next door, we decided on an art gallery,”…
Springfield’s unknown congressman
As a career Quad Cities TV anchor with a three-year stint on CNN, Andrea Zinga, 54, had scheduled the press conference with a suitable TV backdrop. She would announce her 10-point education plan across the street from Millikin University’s football field. But when no cameras showed up, Zinga and I and her campaign aide went…
Knoepfle 10-21-04
notebook poem #3 bush league patriotism artificial flags engimatic breeze © John Knoepfle 2004
