Cover Story
Overcoming the odds
Born into a world of legal segregation, Greg Harris has pushed to overcome; today at age 73, he is the new U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois. Harris, who was recently appointed to the job by President Joe Biden, is the first African American to hold the post that oversees federal law enforcement…
Kidzeum picks up STEAM
Kidzeum recently received good news. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources awarded Kidzeum a $355,400 public museum capital grant to transform undeveloped space into a center for STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics). This is funded through DNR’s allocation of $27 million from the state’s Rebuild Illinois capital program for grants to…
Diversity curriculum still debated
A proposal to do away with University of Illinois Springfield’s requirements that all students take classes on diversity, inequality and social responsibility may have been defeated, but disagreements remain over how the curriculum should be administered. The March 25 online meeting of the Campus Senate will be the next opportunity for considering solutions to complaints…
From here to Hollywood
She was once the only Black person living in Athens, Illinois, a village of 2,000; today she is a respected screenwriter in Hollywood with millions of people watching her work. Marissa Jo Cerar’s mini-series “Women of the Movement” focuses on Mamie Till, whose 14-year-old son, Emmett, was killed in Money, Mississippi, in August 1955. Chicago…
first grade memory # 3
my final 1st grade memory: we lined up for recess my line against the wall by the door hanging from the wall were large placards one for each morning with dick-and-jane words to learn on that day you could see only the top card I already was a reader but I stood in that line…
Letters to the editor 3/10/22
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- NO DOCTOR I want to thank Dean Olsen for his article about the stand-off between Blue Cross Blue Shield and Springfield Clinic (“Doctor dilemmas,” March 3). As I sit here typing this letter, I…
They’re baaaacck
One year after an acrimonious divorce from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, a private foundation that raised funds and supplied the state-owned institution with exhibits has established a partnership with the National Park Service. “The Lincoln Presidential Foundation, formerly known as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, is taking on a new role…
Indictment could have been worse
By the end of 2020, most people assumed there were only three ways to get House Speaker Michael Madigan out of office, and none were going to happen anytime soon. Not one of those scenarios involved the Republican Party, the Chicago Tribune editorial board, the Illinois Policy Institute or their fellow travelers and funders of…
Dealing with dyslexia
The tears still flow. I met Chip Gass for lunch at a Springfield diner March 4. I hadn’t seen him for decades, but we have something in common that places us in a unique community: those with dyslexia. I first met Chip 30 years ago when I was a young reporter in the Quad-Cities and…
Putin is at war with his own people
All too often technology and distance desensitizes us from overseas crises and conflicts, and the people suffering and dying in their midst. In unfortunate circumstances such as these, some individuals understand only the language of violence. Ukrainian-American Lena Beneke knows this all too well. Beneke, a married mother of two boys, has lived in Chatham,…
Shepherd’s pie, classic Irish pub fare
Shepherd’s pie is classic stick-to-your ribs pub fare. Its origins can be traced back to the pastry-topped Scottish meat pies, with the Irish supposedly swapping creamy mashed potatoes for the dough. One important, if slightly nerdy clarification, is that it’s not really a shepherd’s pie unless it is made with lamb. When made with beef…
March music madness
Come one, come all, to enjoy the fine fixings we are about to show you in this second full weekend of March 2022. The weather is chilly now, but gets better soon, and with Daylight Savings Time springing forward on Sunday, hang in there, those delightful days of live music in our abundant outdoor music…
Cheers!
The Choir of Man is the runaway hit of the international music and theater scene. It is a show that combines high-energy dance, live music and foot-stomping choreography by nine talented blokes who perform everything of wide appeal – singalong classics, pub tunes, folk, rock and choral and Broadway favorites. You might even be treated…
Skip Adam Project, watch After Yang and Last Bus
Lazy Adam an embarrassment It’s been a while since I’ve seen a film as lazy as The Adam Project. Touting a cast of performers who should know better than to sign on to a cookie-cutter film such as this, the script is a by-the-numbers exercise that all involved should be ashamed to be associated with.…
Editors note 3/10/22
Rhetoric may be the most important weapon of war. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, looking tough in his military fatigue T-shirt, is already famous for “I don’t need a ride. I need more ammunition” and “I’m not hiding. I’m not afraid of anyone.” Now to the British Parliament he invoked Winston Churchill: “We will fight to the…
End of an era
Many students are in shock, while alumni and donors are expressing both sadness and hope, after Lincoln Christian University’s Feb. 22 announcement that it will eliminate most bachelor’s degree programs and focus on graduate-level and undergraduate ministry degrees. The decision of the board of trustees for the 78-year-old college in Lincoln will mean the elimination…
Disability worker pay lags
Increased state funding has helped Sparc bump up hourly pay rates for direct service providers (DSPs), those who care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at the Springfield nonprofit’s group homes and in other settings. But the increases in this chronically underfunded segment of Illinois’ human services industry “don’t go far enough yet,” said…
