Hunger Challenge – Day 3: Cupcake Conundrum
Tracy Smith with Feeding Illinois poses this question for the day: The cupcake truck is outside your building, calling your name, but at $3.25 that decadent temptation is out of the question. What will you be snacking on instead to refuel? No sweat. I would (hypothetically) go with an old favorite: a spoon full of…
Hunger Challenge – Days 1 and 2
Public food aid is always a controversial topic. Critics say it’s rife with fraud and abuse, while proponents say it doesn’t do enough to help people avoid food insecurity and get back on their feet. Regardless of how one feels about public food aid, it’s important that we as a society recognize the challenges presented…
An exercise in empathy
Hello, Ms. Glatz: I recently got a letter from the Central Illinois Foodbank, inviting us to participate in a statewide hunger challenge to simulate the assistance food stamp users receive. The challenge is to eat on $4.50 a day for one week starting Sept. 19. I thought you might have some insights on how to…
“Hair” the music calling
The Alejandro Escovedo concert at Bar None scheduled for Sept. 16 sold out about a week ago. I’ve heard from several disappointed fans unable to get tickets and I’m sure plenty of other thwarted concertgoers exist. According to his website calendar Springfield is the only Midwest stop on this particular tour, but never fear, he…
Get Low driven by Duvall’s powerful performance
In his best roles, Robert Duvall taps in to what it means to be human. In Get Low, his Felix Bush is a flawed man who has stayed away from civilization for 40 years. His rural home is a target for trick-playing children and an even greater breeding ground for tales about him. Bush does…
Interior design tips from HGTV’s Genevieve Gorder By Sharon Mosley
Ban the beige! That’s the message from designer Genevieve Gorder for do-it-yourself home decorators this fall. The star of HGTV’s popular “Dear Genevieve” makeover show, Gorder also transformed the homes of desperate design-deprived viewers on TV’s “Trading Spaces” earlier in her career. She can turn a dingy laundry into an elegant foyer and create a…
It’s apple-picking time!
What tastes better on a cool fall day than an apple plucked right off the tree? Well, maybe a fresh apple pie, homemade applesauce, or apple butter. This month the fruit is ripening in backyards and commercial pick-your-own orchards. Besides tasting good, apples are also good for you. They’re fat-free, sodium-free, and cholesterol-free. A medium-sized…
Plugging leaks in MacArthur’s market
MacArthur Boulevard is missing out on about $87.7 million of potential annual retail sales, according to a market analysis performed as part of the corridor’s redevelopment strategy. The figure represents annual sales leakages – the difference between what residents are likely to spend and the total sales that area’s businesses actually capture – for the…
Contest for Chicago mayor a historic opportunity
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s stunning decision to step down at the end of this term has at least temporarily sucked almost all the oxygen out of Illinois politics and focused just about everyone’s attention on an extremely rare open seat contest. There hasn’t been an open seat race for mayor since 1947, when Ed…
When to save your seeds
Until the end of World War II, most gardeners saved their own vegetable and flower seeds because high-quality seeds were not always readily available. Today, affordable high-quality seeds are available at garden shops and in seed catalogs everywhere, and most gardeners prefer to buy fresh seeds each year from a reliable company. However, a few…
Freedom of Information should include judicial branch
For reporters, the Illinois Freedom of Information Act is both a helpful tool and a stumbling block. It grants access to governmental records and allows the public to hold accountable those who run our communities and our state, but it also lets certain governmental entities escape the public eye by hiding behind exemptions and technicalities.…
Storm over sewers
While relaxing in Florida on a Wednesday in May, Ruth Yu received one of those phone calls – the kind with the potential to destroy even a perfect vacation. On the other end of the line was her dog walker who explained that her Woodland Avenue home had seen serious flooding after a major rain…
Fall Home and Garden Articles
For a sea of spring color invest now Planting bulbs this fall will pay off in the springBy Vicky Katz Whitaker It’s apple-picking time! By Jennifer Fishburn When to save your seedsThings to know if you’re a gardener who believes in self-sufficiencyBy Jennifer Fishburn Interior design tips fromHGTV’s Genevieve Gorder By Sharon Mosley Sleep on itTry before…
Mother of beaten girl questions sheriff’s investigation
The recent beating of a Springfield woman has the victim’s mother questioning how the Sangamon County Sheriff’s office handles criminal investigations. Violet Procarione of Springfield says her daughter, Connie Procarione, 18, had been drinking, though she was underage, at a friend’s house on July 11 when she fell asleep on the couch and awoke to…
Easy A doesn’t make the grade
I had high hopes for Easy A. The time seems right to update The Scarlet Letter, what with hypocrisy running rampant in our “It’s Not My Fault” era. Setting it in a high school also seems intriguing as who’s more morally confused than teens as they attempt to gain and maintain a degree of social…
Greener than thou
The world continues to surprise me, and never more than the day in 2008 I read that Springfield had been named one of the top 50 greenest cities in America by Popular Science magazine. Surprise gave way to dumbfoundedness in August, when the National Resources Defense Council recognized Springfield as one of its 22 “Smarter…
Letters to the Editor 09-16-10
NOT THAT OLD I enjoyed your article, “Goodbye, Kerasotes,” in the Sept. 9-15 issue of IT, however I feel a correction is in order for the photograph of the Esquire Theatre, “circa 1934.” I feel that the photo was taken much later than that date since the autos shown appear to be of 1939-1940 vintage,…
Kennedy on green
The public is invited to hear Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., environmental business leader and advocate, speak on his vision for energy alternatives and a healthier environment. His lecture is titled, “Green Gold Rush: A Vision for Energy Independence, Jobs and National Wealth.” Kennedy was named one of Time Magazine’s Heroes for the Planet. He serves…
countyfairpoem #2
here we are at the yearly walworth county fair the grandkids sang again in the junior american idol show should’ve won we suggested to a harried judge all finalists get certificates they worked so hard nachos brats elephant ears soothed us I spotted the lamb kabob booth too late this time we hit the barns…
Market of masterpieces
More than 80 booths will be set up, juried art displayed and good weekend-weather prayers whispered for the 22nd Annual Edwards Place Fine Art Fair. Exhibitors include the likes of Cynthia and Kirby Pringle’s photographs of humans with dog heads and the fun and colorful glasswork of Faith Wickey from Michigan. To see a complete…
Celluloid shorts
An Academy Award nominee tops the list of film shorts by filmmakers from 19 states and seven countries during this year’s Route 66 International Film Festival. Attendees can meet filmmakers and vote for their favorite films. Concessions are available. Day passes are $30 and two-day passes are $50. $60 gets you into each screening and…
19th-century melodies
Pete Ellertsen, Ph.D., retired English/Journalism/Cultural Studies professor at Benedictine University, presents, “The Music Behind the Poetry: Vernacular Traditions in Vachel Lindsay’s and Edgar Lee Masters’ Writing.” Ellertsen’s presentation spotlights the music that inspired both central Illinois poets including gospel and fiddle music. He accompanies his chat playing the dulcimer, of which he studied Appalachian dulcimer…
LINCOLN IN TAIWAN
Poet, professor and presidential aficionado Dan Guillory is taking his work to China later this month. Professor emeritus of English at Millikin University in Decatur, the author and Illinois Times contributor will be bringing the life and lore of Abraham Lincoln to students in Taiwan at the Tunghai University in Taichung. The University expects 50 to…
Promoting peace
On the eve of the International Day of Peace, three panelists discuss nonviolence in the Carnegie North Room at Lincoln Library. Panelists are: Kathy Kelly, internationally recognized coordinator for Voices for Creative Nonviolence; Robert Blackwell; and UIS Professor Emeritus Proshanta Nandi. This important dialogue is sponsored by Pax Christi Springfield and Springfield Society of Friends.…
Home Made Grape Nuts
3 c. whole wheat flour 1/2 c. wheat germ 2 – 4T. soy flour, optional 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 – 1 tsp. salt 3/4 c. light molasses OR cane syrup OR maple syrup OR honey 2 c. buttermilk or sour milk Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the flour, wheat…
Opponent claims sheriff mishandling deputy contracts
Doug Knight remembers several years ago when gangs tried to take claim to his business as their turf. He offered them a full refund to never return to Knight’s Action Park in Springfield, where he is general manager and part owner, but Knight says it was the presence of an off-duty Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy…
Sleep on it
Do you toss and turn? Do you wake up stiff and sore? Have you slept better elsewhere? It may be time for a new mattress – and finding the perfect fit requires a test drive. We spend more than a third of our lives in bed. That’s a lot of use, and an older…
Free the student press
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is disturbed by research showing our nation’s high schools are failing their students when it comes to instilling in them an appreciation for the First Amendment and civic issues. “Civic education – and, with it, civic learning – has been in steady decline for decades,” she writes…
HOOPS HELPER
Abe Lincoln may be Springfield’s most famous former resident, but Andre Iguodala has Lincoln beat in height. At 6 feet 6 inches, the Lanphier High School grad and NBA pro for the Philadelphia 76ers has two inches on old Abe, and he even has a basketball team named after him here in the capital city.…
Alabaster Brown
St. Louis-based band Alabaster Brown spent a good deal of 2010 traveling the country, especially in the Midwest and up and down the East Coast with festival stops at Springjam at Camp Zoe in Salem, Mo., Summercamp in Chillicothe, Ill., Mountain Jam in Woodstock, N.Y., and North Coast Festival in Chicago. The rockin’ roots quartet…
For a sea of spring color invest now
You don’t have to sink a lot of time and effort to create a sea of color in your garden next spring and summer. Flowering bulbs will do the hard work for you over the winter, gardening experts say, provided you get the bulbs in the ground before the ground freezes solid. “Bulbs need time…
Billionaire brothers are remaking America for their own benefit
There’s a difference between being paranoid and being suspicious. Paranoia is mental disturbance; suspicion is a rational deduction. For example, if you suspect that America’s economy, politics, government, media, judiciary and practically every other system has been wired to favor corporate interests over every other interest in our country, you’re deducing, not hallucinating. From the…
