Café Moxo has moxie
I write at home most of the time. It has advantages, some particular to food writing, such as being able to test recipes. It’s also peaceful and quiet, typing away on my laptop at the kitchen table; the only sounds are chattering squirrels and singing birds in the background. There are times, though, when I…
Traveling gold buyers play lowball
A group of traveling gold buyers visited Springfield last week, raising questions about their business practices and associations with a convicted fraudster. A group calling themselves “Estate Buyers Group” set up shop at the Ramada Springfield North, 3281 Northfield Drive, from Sept. 27 to Oct. 2, in what it called the “original Buying Roadshow,” inviting…
A computer for every kid
When a lesson on loom use in Iran unexpectedly transcends into a dialogue about the global equality of humankind, a teacher has to wonder what went right. Layne Zimmers, who helped guide her sixth-grade students through that very lesson, says she knows exactly what it was – technology and the ability to access the world…
Governor’s race tightening up
While the Republicans say the pollsters are contacting the wrong people, the fact remains that three polls released last week had the Illinois governor’s race within two points. And five polls released in the past month have shown it to be a single-digit race. The Chicago Tribune’s pollster had Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn leading Republican…
Former Springfield firefighter sexually abused granddaughter
Her voice faltered and her arm shook slightly as she identified in court the man who touched her inappropriately and betrayed her trust. The 19-year-old college student wiped away tears as she described how, at age 12, her grandfather had fondled her breast after she confided in him an intimate and embarrassing secret. It was…
Auburn rallies for Ryken
Probably never realizing how her friends and neighbors would later prove her right, Christy Codron Bailey explained several months ago on the school district webpage why she so enjoyed teaching at Auburn Middle School. “The community support here is second to none,” she wrote last November. Less than a year later, on July 31, she…
Xavier, just 6, poem #4
We’ve had several poemsby Xavier in this column.He lost his grandma,Carol Manley, familiar toIT readers, a year ago.He loved Demi and wrotea book for us, a line andpicture on each page. “For you. Illustrator bi Xavier” “I am sorry you miss DemiDemi will still bee with youAt least – she will – still beeloveness for…
Letters to the Editor 10/07/10
DON’T BLAME PARENTSThis is in response to the article a couple weeks ago about the schools and what they do to get children to do the schoolwork for them [see “Trusting to miracles,” by James Krohe Jr., Sept. 9]. I am sick of the parents getting the blame for poor performance in school. You implied…
BULLY PREVENTION
Give Angela Troppa a sheet of paper and she’ll change the culture of a classroom. It’s this power of creativity that this year earned Troppa, a counselor at Fairview Elementary School, the Lions Clubs International’s first Lions Quest Educator Award. Lions Quest is an educational program developed by Lions Clubs International that teaches skills for…
Autumnal essence
If it’s fall, it’s Indian Summer Festival time at Lincoln Memorial Garden. Welcome in the season as you sit, stroll, eat and create in the sun-kissed Cawley Meadow or the shaded woods of the garden. This year, hear the melodies of local bluegrass and folk musicians and see the eco-friendly designed birdhouses made for this…
State sends local housing loans to national bank
The Illinois Housing Development Authority is saving money by consolidating loan servicing with a national bank, but Springfield-based banks are losing out, along with dozens of other Illinois banks. From March to August of this year, the state agency that provides home loans for low- and middle-income first-time homebuyers and veterans consolidated 7,037 housing loans…
Great ghouls
Many are clamoring for the thrill of a good scare. Several organizations and venues in the area are ready to serve you a dose of ghoulish fun throughout October. Springfield Jaycees’ Haunted House operates at the fairgrounds Grandstand Oct. 9 through Oct. 31. Riverside Stables presents an Extreme Haunted Hayride the last three weekends in…
Getting teaching right
Knowing what doesn’t work in the classroom may help keep a mediocre school from becoming a worse one, but only knowing what does work in the classroom can turn a mediocre school into a good one. There are a hundred prescriptions for fixing the schools out there, and while most cost a great deal of…
Secretariat rides to winner’s circle
I’m a sucker for sports movies. While Randall Wallace’s Secretariat is far from the best in the genre, it hits enough emotional buttons along the way to make for a crowd-pleasing entertainment. The fact that the horse’s success is so well known and that the film’s protagonist is not human prevents the viewer from becoming…
The ‘Angry Atheist of Champaign’
More than 60 years ago, a landmark ruling established a precedent that would permanently alter the relationship between religion and public education in America. And it happened right here in central Illinois. Jay Rosenstein, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Illinois, retells the story in a recently completed hour-long documentary scheduled to…
A couple’s date to remember
“I believe in luck, fate and destiny,” says Christopher Trudeau. So when Trudeau, 27, and his bride-to-be, Joann Durbin, 24, realized that this Sunday comes up 10-10-10 on the calendar, they rescheduled their wedding to coincide with what they think will be an auspicious date for them. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to…
Fit and happy
Treat yourself to a day of exploration toward the healthiest you there is. Healthy Springfield has organized more than 30 vendors and practitioners who offer services or products for healthier lifestyles to participate in this self, environment and community-care expo. Four inspiring and informative speakers top each hour, starting at 11 a.m., and include, at…
Boehner’s perpetual tan and other scary stories
John Boehner is known for his ties and his tan. You’ve probably never heard of this Ohio Republican, who’s been the minority leader for four years, but he has big plans to be the next speaker of the U.S. House. Who is he? For clues, look no further than those ties and that tan. The…
Local solutions
If you haven’t yet heard about what’s happening in Springfield on Oct. 10, 2010, visit www.springfield350.org right now, and check out the numerous activities that businesses and groups have planned for this day toward helping the environment. You can join in, along with most of the world, as focus shifts to climate change solutions on…
Facebook founder enigma in Network
David Fincher’s The Social Network is a work of contradictions. This is never more apparent than in its examination of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg). This self-indulgent, awkward young man who went on to create an Internet empire with his international social network is perhaps the least social person you’re likely to meet. Beginning…
Too much to do to get done
What do a fifties doo-wop group, a world-class female jazz vocalist from Chicago, a thing called Girl-a-Thon, folksingers from Portland, Ore., and Sparta, Ill., a fourth of the Doors, along with a group from Holland playing old-time American country music have in common? Well nothing really, other than performing soon in central Illinois at a…
Jodyboss
Jessica Jolly and Nate Blesse started an acoustic duo a few years back to get experience playing out and give the world a chance to experience Jessica’s original songs. Drummer Robert Burtnett joined in late 2009 and the trio played “more than a few gigs in the area and abroad,” but the group solidified as…
HERE’S TO BREW
Court and Karen Conn of Springfield know business. They own and operate the Inn at 835, Conn’s Catering, and La Vita Grand Day Spa, and they may soon have a fourth business to run. The Conns are seeking permits to turn the Obed and Isaac House, formerly known as the Maisenbacher House, into a restaurant…
