UIS announces 10 new on-campus cases of COVID-19
The University of Illinois Springfield has confirmed 10 new on-campus COVID-19 cases and two off-campus cases within the past week. The university began its on-campus testing program on Aug. 11. Since late June, UIS is aware of 22 total confirmed cases: 15-on campus, and seven off-campus, according to the university’s website. During a Thursday afternoon…
Dist. 186 Supt. tests positive for COVID-19
District 186 Superintendent Jennifer Gill learned she was COVID-positive on Wednesday night, according to a statement. Gill and family were tested after having “mild coughs.” Gill worked from home on Wednesday, and last worked at the administrative office on Tuesday. On Monday, Gill and other board members convened in-person for the school board meeting. Meetings…
One and Only Ivan is Disney at its best
A technical marvel with enormous heart, Thea Sharrock’s adaptation of Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan is making its debut on Disney Plus, the Mouse House’s streaming juggernaut that will make their big-budget feature Mulan available to subscribers for a mere $30 on Sept. 4. Ivan is free to those who’ve already ponied up…
Schools shapeshift
John Freml never anticipated squaring off with the Springfield public school district over pajamas. Among the details to work out for the coming school year, District 186 updated its student handbook. Per the guidelines, students can’t wear pajamas during the school day, even when school is happening at home. “My first instinct was just how…
Eggplant, Sicilian-style
Caponata is one of my favorite ways to use the abundance of eggplant that comes out of my garden each year, and works especially well with the little Fairytale eggplants often seen at farmers markets. This tangy cooked salad is found throughout Sicily and much of Italy, with as many variations as there are grandmas.…
It’s still not fair
As we roll into what would have been the second weekend of the Illinois State Fair for 2020 we can attempt to accept and amply appreciate what the global pandemic from COVID-19 has done to our lives and lifestyle. Our “Not Fair” statement from last week still applies on many levels as we continue to…
Solar Chariot
Here comes a band blazing across the Springfield scene horizon, leaving a trail of rocking good jams and intensely produced original songs all for your listening pleasure. Solar Chariot is the vehicle for fired-up working musicians and performing songwriters Nate Cozadd and Josie Lowder, showcasing a potluck of their original songs cooked up to the…
Photography contest
The deadline for submissions to Lincoln Memorial Garden’s photography contest is approaching, but you still have time to visit the garden to capture an image which you believe best reveals its essence. Lincoln Memorial Garden is a woodland and prairie landscape with which Abraham Lincoln would have been familiar while growing up in the Midwest.…
Fallen heroes
Where, I wonder, would they put a statue of Mike Madigan? In July, the House speaker announced that he wanted to see the statues of Pierre Menard, a slaveholder, and Stephen A. Douglas, whose wife owned slaves and who was a nativist bigot, liar and opportunist, removed from the east lawn. It took Madigan 78 years…
What made Thompson such a good governor
“Big Jim” Thompson was tall of stature, and he will forever stand tall in the history of Illinois politics. James R. Thompson (JRT) served as Illinois governor from 1977-1991. I had the privilege of working for him during his last five years in office. With the recent news of his passing, much is being written…
Editor’s note 8/20/20
There are no windy speeches at the Democrat convention. The speakers take their masks off just long enough to say wearing masks shows empathy for one another, and, as Michelle said, “We know what’s going on in our country is just not right.” Democrats are sensing this is their year, the wind is at their…
Pritzker scores two victories
Tuesday, August 11 was probably the best day, professionally, that Gov. JB Pritzker has had in quite a while. The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules has been a source of legislative frustration for the governor all year. He didn’t quite seem to grasp how best to work its process-dominated membership, and he was handed a…
Hard Being a Farmer poem #1
my brother spent two winters in arizona for sinus; here he’s 13 in 1943. I was a lone kid on the farm and sent him many letters. “Craig, remember I wrote you about that night walk Dad and I took to see what was glowing in the nearby field and found an ebbing funeral pyre…
Letters to the editor 8/20/20
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to letters@illinoistimes.com. —- MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR ALPLM Congratulations to Bruce Rushton, who, by obtaining an interview with Harold Holzer, a renowned Lincoln scholar, is again focusing attention on the ongoing mismanagement at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library…
GOING POSTAL
Conjecture on social media about why a post office in Springfield was closed during the afternoon of Aug. 17 included speculation as to whether it had something to do with the president’s alleged affront on the United States Postal Service. Upon an inquiry with USPS as to why the post office on Wabash Avenue in…
Springfield’s economy gets a wake-up call
In the five months since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., Springfield’s economy has suffered in roughly the same ways as most other cities in Illinois and the nation. Owners of beloved mainstay restaurants – one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic – have called it quits, and retail has been forced to…
Beirut’s blast stole our childhood
Nabih Elhajj is an educator and a nonprofit executive in Springfield. He was born in Lebanon and raised in Beirut. In 1960, my grandparents moved into a fifth-floor apartment in the historic Gemmayze neighborhood, just across from Beirut’s seaport. Their balcony looked onto the Mediterranean, framed by the white silos and shipping containers at the…
REMOTE RENTALS
Rachel and Zachary Rambach have children who go to Blessed Sacrament Catholic School. Unlike District 186, Springfield parochial schools are conducting in-person classes. The Rambachs said while they feel assured that safety precautions are being taken, they’re also ready for their kids to return to remote learning if public health measures call for it. Their…
Life on the Old Leland Farm
Once, large, beautiful homes stood all over Springfield and were occupied by citizens who owned key businesses and held important positions within the city. Unfortunately, many of the homes have been demolished. Yet some still stand, thanks to people who have preserved them. Daily, people pass by these grand buildings: the Brinkerhoff House (North Fifth,…
