Finding your cutting edge is crucial for cooking
Q. My wife wants a really good knife. I’d like to get her one for her birthday, and am willing to spend some fairly serious money. What type of knife and what brands would you recommend? Larry A. There’s nothing more crucial to good cooking than good knives. As the Culinary Institute of America’s comprehensive…
IT Picks
Alien invasion Before there was TV there was radio and when reports of aliens landing were sent across the airwaves the nation went into chaos. In 1938, when Orson Welles broadcast War of the Worlds, thousands were frightened as they listened to reports of an alien attack. Descriptions of a meteorite landing in Grover’s Mill,…
Enjoy the season with autumn gardening chores
Don’t let recent cool temperatures make you think that the gardening season is over. Fall is a great time to get a few last chores done and get a head start on next spring. Here are a few items to add to your fall garden “to do” list. It’s not too late to plant spring…
We can’t afford not to hold a constitutional convention
The pricetag and our state’s failed politics appear to be the two biggest arguments against holding a constitutional convention. Every 20 years, Illinois voters are given the right to call a constitutional convention. I want you to vote “Yes,” but various interest groups are spending millions to convince you to vote “No.” The “Vote No”…
A new form of Southern slavery led to Northern race riots
During and immediately after Reconstruction in the South, the same entrepreneurs and bankers who had built the Confederacy’s munitions and armament plants during the Civil War engineered a new form of industrial slavery. At its zenith in the early 20th century, this new system of labor held millions of African-Americans as slaves to the U.S.…
THIS JUST IN: POLS KEEP PROMISES
THIS JUST IN: POLS KEEP PROMISES There’s an old saying in journalism: When dog bites man, that’s not a story, because that’s what dogs just naturally do. When man bites dog, now that’s a story! Maybe this mindset explains why the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign sent us a “news flash” announcing that political candidates…
John McCain’s voter fraud
Maybe it was a full moon that prompted the overwrought howls of outrage being directed at ACORN by John McCain and a pack of his right-wing cohorts. Either that or just raw partisan nuttiness. ACORN is the feisty and effective grass-roots organization that is of, by and for low-income Americans. Its community organizers have had…
Go see the saw at the freejazz forum
Boo! Here comes Halloween weekend when the bars get loaded with plenty of costume contests, lots of live music and general all-around weirdness, which adds up to one frighteningly good time. Check the IT Pub Crawl listings for a favorite fright night location and have some fun on this hoot of a holiday. Then around…
EVEN LAWYERS FORGET
EVEN LAWYERS FORGET Let’s face it, folks, love him or hate him, Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman sometimes finds himself in sticky situations. At last week’s meeting of the Citizen’s Club, Mark Reichert, president of the Sangamon County Farm Bureau, called Cahnman out for unethical behavior. Cahnman and Reichert were part of a four-person panel…
SARAH SIGHTING
SARAH SIGHTING We attended a presidential campaign debate sponsored by Young Americans for Political Awareness (YAPA) at Springfield College in Illinois/Benedictine University this week. John McCain’s views were presented by 19-year-old Ryan Melchin; Barack Obama’s positions were represented by 26-year-old Mike Ziri. Both were more courteous and less repetitive than the candidates they represent. But…
Libri’s last stand?
In August 2005, former Republican Gov. George Ryan awaited trial on federal corruption charges, Democrats held almost every constitutional office in the state and a majority of seats in the legislature. Without the traditional goodies – namely, state jobs – to hand out in exchange for loyalty and hard work, nobody wanted to be chairman…
Race to the death
The coroner’s job is to deal with dead bodies, but the campaign for this office is turning into a lively contest. On one side is incumbent Susan Boone, with 30 years of experience in the office; on the other is Angela “Aby” Phoenix — a registered nurse who has spent the past 16 years working…
Jolie transforms before our eyes in Changeling
What with her being the subject of so much tabloid fodder, it’s easy to forget what an effective actress Angelina Jolie is. Clint Eastwood’s latest, Changeling, reminds us just how talented she is, as the actress is given the opportunity to run the gamut of emotions here and grasps it with both hands. As Christine…
People’s Poetry
reallyscarypoem #1 windows areclosingsome by nowslammed shutif we againelect goblinsthis timethis timethis timewill we haveeven a ghostof a chance
Rebuild Springfield High at its current site
Maybe it was a full moon that prompted the overwrought howls of outrage being directed at ACORN by John McCain and a pack of his right-wing cohorts. Either that or just raw partisan nuttiness. ACORN is the feisty and effective grass-roots organization that is of, by and for low-income Americans. Its community organizers have had…
Letters to the Editor
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. PORA PLEASED Thank you for the wonderful and thorough article by Amanda Robert that featured PORA [See “Mean Streets of Springfield”, IT, Oct.…
County board cutback: Is ‘Fewer and
Just as U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) promises reform on Capitol Hill if he’s elected, five Democratic challengers running for the Sangamon County Board promote revolution here at home, starting with the structure of county government. They call their proposal, “Operation Fewer and Better,” and on Nov. 4, voters will be asked whether the county…
