She fought the law and the law won
Accompanied by her mother Debbie Webster, left, Jennifer Watkins leaves the courtroom after giving up a custody fight for her daughter Sidney. One of the most bitter child custody battles in state history ended Tuesday as Jennifer Watkins agreed to give up custody of her daughter Sidney to the girl’s paternal aunt. Watkins wept as…
Newly Restored “Fog” Still Manages to Chill
Having shocked the movie world with the success of Halloween in 1978, John Carpenter’s big-screen follow-up was a relatively exorbitant production by comparison. With $1 million at his disposal – three times the budget of Halloween – the filmmaker set out to make a good old-fashioned ghost story, a movie short on plot and long…
Ansar Shriner’s Circus Ticket Giveaway
Enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the Ansar Shriner’s Circus! *Click image below to enter contest
Front-porch politics
If you despair that a mysterious plague of incurable political knuckleheadism has swept our country, turning previously progressive white working-class people into mindless Trump worshippers, check out “The Promise of a Progressive Populist Movement” (http://PeoplesAction.org/the-promise-of-a-progressive-populist-movement). This report is the work of People’s Action, a multiracial grassroots coalition. This year, its volunteers knocked on more than…
Learn from this, please
The more I read it, the more skeptical I became of the racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the J.B. Pritzker campaign by 10 current and former field-level workers last week. The initial demand for $7.5 million in one business day along with personal recommendations from Pritzker himself in exchange for their silence really hurts…
Here we glow again
My friends tease me, saying that I’m such an obnoxious jerk, but amazingly, everybody seems to love me. Somebody said it’s because I have charisma — like a rock star/movie star quality. Honestly, I don’t think that highly of myself. I’m interesting-looking, outgoing, funny and relatively talented in what I do. What is charisma exactly,…
Tasteless Halloween leaves a bloody, bad taste
After deciding to resurrect the Halloween franchise, director David Gordon Green and writer Danny McBride expressed concern that they might embarrass themselves, that their efforts might not do justice to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic. Upon seeing their film — imaginatively titled Halloween — it’s obvious they weren’t using the original as a template for their…
October finale
Welcome, everyone, to the last weekend in October, one that brings us the annual Halloween functions, a few birthdays and the big bash of the “Best of Springfield” hoopla brought to you by us at Illinois Times. By now the anticipation must be overwhelming about “Best of Springfield” as we affectionately term the whole…
Rogers & Nienhaus
A true classic rock duo that really rocks and really played with some of the classic performers from back in the 70s, these St. Louis-based musicians are among the select few of the real deal folks who are accessible and performing on a regular basis. Terry Jones Rogers and Scott Nienhaus come in many configurations,…
BOS ’18: Food & Drinks
___________________________________ BEST BBQTwyford BBQ2562 Twyford Road, JacksonvilleFood truck locations vary, call 370-2274 Twyford BBQ comes out on top this year for Best BBQ. With an impressive slate of BBQ awards, it comes as no surprise. Twyford isn’t your traditional brick and mortar, so if you want some of their mouthwatering BBQ, you’ll have to track…
BOS ’18: Arts, Culture & Music
___________________________________ BEST BASS PLAYEREric Tinsley A longtime member of the local music scene, Eric has played in more bands than you can shake a Chapman Stick at (inside bass player reference!) and made them all sound good. It only takes four strings (or sometimes five) to lay down the low sounds that anchor a musical…
BOS ’18: Civic Engagement
BEST CHARITABLE COMPANYBEST CLOTHING BOUTIQUEDistrict 23830 S. Grand Ave. W., 679-1352 If a charitable organization is going to successfully raise money for its cause, it helps to offer a product that people actually want. According to our readers, District 23 – the boutique which, per district23.com, sells “on-trend women’s clothing, accessories, home décor, gifts and…
BOS ’18: Goods & Services
BEST ANTIQUE/VINTAGE SHOPBEST MUSIC SHOPRecycled Records625 E. Adams St., 522-5122 You can buy records or CDs anywhere, really. Amazon has ’em. So do a handful of, bless their hearts, indie – and is there any other kind these days – record stores in town. Readers decreed Recycled Records the best, and it’s not hard to…
BOS ’18: Life & Wellness
BEST HEALTH FOODRETAIL STOREBEST PLACE TO BUY CBD OIL PRODUCTSBEST HOLISTIC HEALTH CENTERFood Fantasies1512 Wabash Ave., 793-8009 You know this place is a winner before you even walk through the door. All the organic produce and spices and supplements and cookies and oils and lord knows what else combine to produce a heavenly scent that…
