Cover Story
Project Censored
Project Censored’s co-directors, Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth, title their introduction to this year’s edition of State of the Free Press, “A Return to News Normalcy?” drawing a direct parallel between our world today to that of post-World War I America, “When the United States faced another raging pandemic and economic recession,” with other…
Relics of the past
I was digging around in a barn loft a while back, collecting things that had been stored away for half a century. When I pried open a suitcase, I found a stack of newspapers from November 1963, cataloging the details of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I carried the suitcase down the ladder to…
Music Poem #27: Bach Plus
Music Poem #27: Bach Plus Madison String Synfonia rehearsed every Saturday afternoon: my sisters and I were privileged to play in it. Our vastly talented conductor was an inspiration to us all. The music, the discipline, plus the fun of playing under “Teacher” shaped our lives. A story: Once we gave a concert in a…
Letters to the editor 12-02-21
PRESERVATIONISTS? Kenneth Lowe’s article brought out some opponents to the Double Black Diamond project who claim to be farmland preservationists (“County approves major solar power project,” Nov. 25). I see very few reports of preservationists testifying against real estate sprawl development of high-quality farmland on the outskirts of Springfield and other towns in Sangamon County.…
Recipe for a broken heart
When my wife dropped me off for my first day of work at The Grey in Savannah, Georgia, and asked “How are ya feeling?” I replied, “Kinda like the first day of kindergarten.” The Grey is one of the South’s top restaurants, and its executive chef, Mashama Bailey, won the coveted James Beard Foundation’s Best…
December doings
Yes, you read that right, pilgrim, we are now into the merry month of December for the year twenty and twenty-one. That puts us into the holiday season which, if you go practically anywhere, means a shift in music toward the ubiquitous sound of Christmas-related songs. We have our share of live performances connected to…
Powerful Power of the Dog, Encanto is a winner, Gucci needs flair
Cumberbatch soars in Dog Without question, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog is one of the finest films of the year, a complex, subtle examination of prejudice and repression that proves hard to shake. Taking place on a ranch in Montana during the 1920s, the story focuses on brothers George and Phil Burbank (Jesse…
Ending cash bail
Members of Springfield’s Faith Coalition for the Common Good are joining a statewide effort to educate the public and speak up in favor of a number of reforms included under the recently passed Pretrial Fairness Act, including a planned end to cash bail in 2023. Part of a larger criminal justice reform effort that passed…
Rigged elections?
With the stroke of a pen, Gov. JB Pritzker made Illinois perhaps the most gerrymandered state in the nation. The map was drawn by the General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, and signed into law by Pritzker, who is also a Democrat. “Unfortunately, what Democrats did here is perfectly legal,” said Madeline Doubek, executive…
Editor’s note 12-02-21
It may not be enough to satisfy Joe Manchin, but here’s something that needs to be deleted from the gargantuan spending plan now pending in the Senate. It’s called the “Local News Payroll Tax Credit,” and would provide up to $25,000 in the first year and $15,000 in years two through five for each full-time…
Unclear about EmberClear
An Illinois Environmental Protection Agency hearing for EmberClear’s natural gas plant air permit was held Nov. 17 in Pawnee. It was unusually warm that evening for mid-November, with one side of the auditorium packed with union workers, opposite a smaller group objecting to the permit. EmberClear’s project is now called Lincoln Land Energy Center. EmberClear…
Recycle those burned-out Christmas lights
Twinkling lights brightening cities and neighborhoods are one of the joys of the holiday season. It’s that time of year to drag out the boxes of holiday decorations from the attic or basement, untangle the strings of Christmas lights, plug them into the wall and hope they still work. Inevitably, some don’t…or worse yet, only…
Baseball has a new future in Springfield
Experienced baseball fans are familiar with the proverbial trade of major league players where one player is sent to another team in exchange for “a player to be named later.” On Dec. 1, before a capacity crowd in the Lincoln Room of the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, an ownership group doing business as Capital City…
217 Southern Comfort Food Week
Food Week
