Cover Story
School comes to Kidzeum
Groups of excited second graders dashed from area to area, clutching notebooks and tablet computers as they explored, documented, measured, calculated and learned. The scene was the Kidzeum of Health and Science in downtown Springfield, and the students were part of the School District 186 STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) Residency Program. This recent…
Downtown redevelopment project gets dicey
A Kansas company wants to buy the 97-year-old Myers Brothers Building and convert the downtown Springfield office complex and former department store into affordable rental housing. Richard Myers, chairman of the executive committee for Myers Family Real Estate of Springfield LLC, confirmed to Illinois Times on April 25 that the family entered into a sales…
Town & Country to be auctioned
The scheduled auction of Town & Country Shopping Center in May could bring a revival of sorts to the 61-year-old retail site and more positive news for the west side neighborhood, Ward 7’s alderman says. “That site has got a lot of potential, and I’m sure the new buyer will maximize its use,” alderman Joe…
Billy Gilman comes to sing
When a 12-year-old Billy Gilman captured the hearts of Americans back in 2000 with hits like “One Voice” and “Oklahoma,” he was the youngest singer to ever have a platinum-selling record, among other first-time accomplishments. He never quite captured that huge success again, but he’s stayed busy in the business and is now back on…
Money for the medical district
Housing for Springfield medical professionals would be expanded with the help of $250,000 tucked inside a state budget bill passed by the General Assembly and signed into law April 19 by Gov. JB Pritzker. The money will come from the Build Illinois Bond Fund for a grant to the Mid-Illinois Medical District and is mentioned…
April music showers
As we roll merrily along through April, the gigs keep coming and the listings are quite healthy looking with a variety of stuff going on in and around the capital city. Let’s see what mischief in music we can find to get into this week, just for the fun of it. For whatever reason, Friday…
Daytime cocktails
Whether it’s for a large gathering of friends or just as a treat for yourself, these fresh takes on classic daytime cocktails will make the most of out of brunching at home. Experiment with favorite flavors and colors to come up with a signature cocktail all your own. A Bloody Mary – spiced tomato juice…
Donations to make a difference
Margaret Herath, formerly of Springfield, now of Indiana, has fond childhood memories of going with her father, the late Guerry Suggs, to the Illinois State Museum. “He would take me to the Saturday movies and then we would walk around and see the dioramas. I loved seeing the diorama with the bobcat and wanted a…
At-home tests change state’s COVID reporting
Sangamon County’s COVID-19 case numbers, which are “inching up” but remain relatively low, should be interpreted with caution, the county’s top public health administrator says. The slight increase in recent weeks is “not astronomical,” said Gail O’Neill, director of the Sangamon County Department of Public Health. “But it’s something to be a little concerned about,”…
Bills allow pharmacists to dispense preventive HIV meds
Legislation allowing pharmacists to administer or dispense preventive HIV medication and fentanyl testing strips were among health-related measures passed by the Illinois General Assembly during its final week of session earlier this month. House Bill 4430 allows pharmacists to order and conduct testing and dispense pre- and post-exposure HIV medications to individuals who are at…
Editor’s note 04-21-22
Back when it started, I thought Earth Day was a trick to divert the attention of us college kids from the Vietnam war. More recently, I suspected climate change was a ruse to turn nuclear power and its deadly waste into a “clean” energy source. For Earth Day 2022, it seems we’re about to about…
Walking tour for visually impaired at Lincoln Memorial Garden
Visually impaired individuals can now more fully enjoy Lincoln Memorial Garden (LMG). The Educational Center for the Visually Impaired (ECVI) partnered with LMG to install beacons that trigger highly descriptive audio narratives about the garden’s history and points of interest through an AWARE app developed by Sensible Innovations in Chatham. The technology works with smartphones;…
Boring Poem #1
Boring Poem #1 my niece wendy a nurse herself is editing a book on nursing theory so boring she thinks she’ll try reading it back to front she says it’s worse than the one she just edited which was called “veterinary dentistry” 2022 Jacqueline Jackson
Letters to the editor 04-21-22
GOOD NEWS Glad to see this (“Progress for Pillsbury site,” April 14). There needs to be some attention paid to that end of town, and perhaps this is a steppingstone. Julie Bartlett Benson Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes WHO’S RESPONSIBLE? I just can’t comprehend that one of the mega-corporations that used the site isn’t responsible for the cleanup.…
Here’s an idea. To avoid a late finish, start earlier
The Illinois Senate adjourned its session April 9 just after 3 o’clock in the morning. The House adjourned about three hours later, as the sun was coming up. This wasn’t the first time that the chambers worked into the wee smalls to finish their work, including a budget, and it probably won’t be the last,…
Gas tax attacks
Illinois politicians must think we are really a dumb bunch. They just passed legislation that requires every gas pump in the Land of Lincoln to bear a sticker telling us that the state could be screwing us over even worse at the gas pump. Of course, they don’t phrase it that honestly. They are quite…
Let’s get Earth Day right
Every April, right around Earth Day, we see stories of multinational corporations pouring millions of dollars into new technology to fix climate change. While the climate crisis is certainly an all-hands-on-deck emergency, we should not be narrowly focused on technology as our sole path out of this mess. I understand the fear that only a…
UIS faculty authorizes strike
This week’s “overwhelming” vote by unionized faculty members at University of Illinois Springfield to authorize a potential strike should send a message to university officials, the union’s vice president says. “In essence, the faculty are tired and fed up with the administration,” Steve Schnebly, UIS professor of criminology and criminal justice, told Illinois Times. “This…
Bad Guys misses the mark, Call Saul enjoyable journey, bloody Northman
Guys wastes potential I wish I liked The Bad Guys more than I do. The book by Aaron Blabey is a delightful take on getting past preconceptions and self-fulling prophecies. And while those elements are present, they’re stifled by a manic approach that delivers headaches rather than a subtle lesson on acceptance. Wolf (voice by…
