Badman lacks subtlety, Hathaway shines in poor Verity
Lack of subtlety hobbles “Badman” A common lament among older moviegoers is that “they don’t make ’em like they used to.” This sentiment is a double-edged sword. While the wish for a certain degree of consistent craftsmanship that was part-and-parcel of studio filmmaking is understandable, the more complex subject matter dealt with in modern films…
Building engineering in the capital city
Across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri, engineering technology programs produced 1,102 bachelor’s graduates last year. Employers in those four states had 4,136 openings. That’s about one graduate for every four jobs. The demand for these critical positions is expected to keep growing. Manufacturers are greatly feeling the pressure from this gap in supply the most,…
What is the cost of “religious unity”?
Much like my great nieces and nephews who will never know a world without the technologies of our age, I grew up just past the fringe of a time before freedom of conscience, religious liberty and the rise of amicable interfaith relationships were taken for granted by the Catholic Church. What, you say? Wasn’t the…
Paid influencers and political ads
My associate Isabel Miller and I worked on a story last week about paid influencers in campaigns. We decided to look into it after reading news reports about how the Chicago Teachers Union has been using paid influencers in its battle to control the elected Chicago school board and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is also…
Wings and Wheels Fly-In and Cruise-In
Awesome aircraft and cars on display in one place Like to check out cool cars and planes? See both in one place this weekend as EAA Chapter 770 of Springfield hosts this fourth annual event. More than 200 cars and more than 20 planes are expected. Converge on the Stellar Aviation Hangar for displays, exhibits…
October music arrives
Definitely in the class of defining weather months, October can lean any way the wind blows, but by the time it’s over we’re on our way to winter no matter what you want to think, wish, believe or deny. Let’s get going to see what’s in the forecast for our music meanderings. Thursdays always take…
Send in the clowns
Eleven months of the year, Robert Quance lives a 9-to-5 life working behind the camera as a news assignment editor for WICS NewsChannel 20 in Springfield. Every October, though, Quance takes all his unused sick and personal time, dons grease paint, puts on a bulbous red nose and runs away to join the circus. Quance,…
Letters to the editor
BIG WIN Last spring, Jamie Toole (at the time chief storyteller of the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes) came and spoke at an Enos Park neighborhood meeting. He spoke passionately about how baseball should be affordable and accessible to everyone. In addition to the Shoes, he spoke about the Women’s Pro Baseball League coming to town in…
Super Cows
In the 1980s a Super Cow was bought for a million dollars. Her superness was the amount of milk she produced each year. Now there is word of a second Super Cow, which was bought for four million dollars. It looks like my family was in the right business at the wrong time or just…
Down the gardened path
Imagine pedaling happily along a paved path where murals and stand-alone art works distract you from the shabbiness or outright ugliness of Springfield’s backsides, passing frolicking children and couples strolling hand in hand thinking how lucky they are to be living in a city that… well, that part of the daydream is not quite clear…
“Housing is a human right”
Teshia Spencer’s 14-year-old daughter was experiencing shortness of breath. Spencer assumed allergies were the cause until a doctor diagnosed her daughter with asthma. The trigger, according to Spencer, was months of mold exposure in a house they rented in Springfield from January to July of this year. Spencer is one of several tenants who told…
Sweet starch science
In 2022, I worked in the research and development lab at Audrey Restaurant in Nashville. Our owner-chef, Sean Brock, and his culinary team were deeply committed to supporting local farmers. When one of our farmers asked if we could find a use for 900 pounds of sweet potatoes he couldn’t sell, he cut us a…
North end memories
The neighborhood on Springfield’s northeast side, just north of the one where African Americans lived before it was destroyed in the infamous Race Riot of 1908, was at its peak during the 1950s and early 1960s. It consisted mostly of Italian-Americans who owned businesses there, such as Coco Randazzo’s tavern, Coco’s Inn. When he wasn’t…
