The good, the bad and the expensive
There are many good cops working for Illinois State Police. Keep repeating that phrase to yourself as you read on; otherwise, you might think ISP is awash in scofflaws. There are many good cops there, many good ones. I hear from a few — some active, some retired and working for ISP on contract, some…
Letters to the editor
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 STATE’S INDIFFERENCE SHOCKING We were shocked and outraged to read of Lisa…
Battle of the ban
In cities across the United States, debates over citywide smoking bans have gotten as hot as a lit cigarette. In Springfield? Not so much. Perhaps it was the venue, but during the first public hearing on a proposed ordinance to ban most indoor smoking, held at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church last week, the exchange…
Remembering the Levee
Martha Miller’s new book, Tales from the Levee, has its origins in interviews Miller conducted with the lesbians and drag queens who frequented a district of Springfield now vanished into history. The Levee — Fifth Street between Jefferson and Washington streets — still holds a notorious reputation among longtime Springfield residents, but what many people…
My conversion
A friend of mine asked me the other day why I stopped being a Cubs fan five years ago and converted to the White Sox. There were many reasons, but the most important one is that I had grown tired of rooting for a team that didn’t seem to care about winning. I have the…
Hog heaven for Halloweeners
Kick off the Halloween weekend at Andiamo’s Cellar, 206 S. Sixth St., with a spooky presentation of “Frank’s Funky Filmstrips.” Area musician Frank Trompeter will show his eclectic collection of odd bits of old films for children of all ages, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27. The granddaddy of all local Halloween bashes is Hobgoblinspookadelic, the…
Pumpkin trivia
This week, as my children carved their second set of pumpkins (the first bunch succumbed to black mold, in part because of the warm weather), they had plenty of questions: How do pumpkins grow? How big can they get? What can you do with pumpkins besides carve them? Here are some pumpkin facts to share…
Not your typical narcissist
Some geniuses are prolific; others take their sweet slowpoke time. Count Marc Anthony Thompson in the latter category. Over a career spanning more than two decades, the iconoclastic singer/songwriter has made exactly five albums: two LPs in 1984 and 1989, which he released under his own name, and three CDs as Chocolate Genius — Black…
People’s poetry
When Carol Manley sent this poem I was struck by its similarity to Robert Clarke’s, published here on Oct. 13. While Clarke encountered a beggar in Lisbon, Manley only had to travel as far as downtown Springfield to find the same kind of need. Both poems, a short haiku sequence and this longer free verse,…
Detective sued
A detective who was removed from the Springfield Police Department’s major-case unit on the same day his longtime partner was placed on administrative leave is now facing a federal lawsuit accusing him of giving false testimony. Jim Graham, a member of SPD’s detective bureau since 1999, is named as the sole defendant in a suit…
Impeach Bush
With that twisted macho smirk of his, George W. Bush keeps telling us that he’s a “war president.” So how’s the chief doing? Let’s do Bush by the numbers: • Number of American troops killed so far in his war of lies in Iraq: 1,987, and rising daily. • Number of wounded: 14,755, and rising.…
Halloween horrors
The last movie that scared me was The Black Pit of Dr. M, and I was 8. I’d probably laugh at it now if I could find it. When I look for a horror film, all I hope for is to be drawn into its dark, creepy world. Finding something worthwhile these days isn’t so…
Designing woman
Farah Salim grieves to see the international community fail to open its wallet to Pakistan in the way it did for victims of last year’s Southeast Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Compared with the $1.3 billion in relief given to victims of the tsunami, which killed 123,000 people, Pakistan has received $620 million to help…
Slim pickings
Mal Freeman graduated from high school 10 years ago and still dreams of becoming a registered nurse. She’s looked into a nursing degree at Lincoln Land Community College that would take two years of full-time classes, but she’d prefer to spread the program out and study more carefully if the care of patients is to…
Taking the most clandestine route
Secrecy was the first order of the Brotherhood, so brothers Harold and Herbert called it Not The Brotherhood. Hob Fadwaddle, the only other “known” member, called it Not Only The Brotherhood. The organization’s purpose was just as secret — or perhaps just as confused. At one time it was vehemently anti-government/pro-conspiracy; now, after 9/11, it…
Slicing and dicing needed
The action scenes — fancy swordfights and footwork — are dazzling but hardly enough to overcome the plodding, ponderous story that unfolds in The Legend of Zorro. Running more than two hours, this sequel to 1998’s The Mask of Zorro spends far too much time laying out its ridiculous story and far too little doing…
Revolving door
Two state agencies charged with keeping the public safe from convicted criminals are clashing over sex offenders. In recent months, the state Department of Corrections has been going through the motions when it comes to freeing sex offenders scheduled for parole. Inmates are given their release papers, walked to the gates of prisons, then promptly…
Jacqueline Jackson
aroundtown poem # 7 I am a legend in this town at least to the kids on the schoolyard next door every year some grimy gap-toothed seven-year-old marches bravely to the fence to inform me that everybody says I am a witch this fall there’s been an exponential leap with safety in numbers a group…
