Financing a home improvement project
After years of funny financing and few limitations on loans, banks and other lenders have tightened up their lending policies. As a result, homeowners considering a home improvement project might need to look elsewhere to secure financing. There are no certainties in the real estate markets. Though statistics suggest marked improvement in home sales over…
Like old times
Clayville Fall Festival offers a weekend of history, music and fun for the family. Artisans and craftsmen demonstrate pottery making, coopering, quilting, outdoor cooking, willow furniture making, chair caning, corn milling, dulcimer making and more. Reenactors of the early 1800s display scenes from the past. Visitors can tour the historic inn and cabin, and kids can…
Apocalypse meow
For years, a group of us girls has gone camping, to dinner, to concerts, etc. Our husbands do their own thing together while we hang out. When they bring a new guy into their circle, they seem to think we should automatically accept his female partner. We normally do because we’re nice like that. The…
Ag experts: Farm bill delay endangers food supply
As Congress wrestles over an agriculture bill that will set policy for the next five years, local farmers and ag experts worry the delay could endanger a variety of important programs when the current bill expires at the end of September. The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate passed a so-called “Farm Bill” in June, while the Republican-controlled…
BAG BATTLE
Manufacturers of plastic shopping bags are fighting for their lives in the Illinois Statehouse, following Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of a bill that would have preempted bag bans. Cities around the state – Springfield included – have considered banning plastic shopping bags in favor of reusable canvas or cloth bags, and while it’s unlikely to…
Fall gardening activites
Although summer may be drawing to a close, gardening time is far from over, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator. “Fall is the ideal time for some kinds of planting and for preparing for next year’s garden,” explained Candice Miller. She suggests several fall activities that can be done to lengthen the summer…
Letters to the Editor 9/20/12
MEDISCARE EXPLAINEDRodney Davis is so “pro Wall Street” that he advocates handing over Social Security tax funds to the same Wall Street investors, financiers and bankers who stole hundreds of billions of dollars from the treasury and caused the current recession. He hides this, claiming he will “not change benefits for current beneficiaries.” He won’t…
Conserve water with rain barrels
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, lawn and garden watering makes up nearly 40 percent of total household water use during the summer. One way to reduce outdoor water usage and conserve water is to collect rainwater. A rain barrel is a system that collects and stores rainwater. A typical half-inch rainfall will…
Be energywise and economize. Winterize.
A good place to start reducing your carbon footprint is at home. If you make a few tracks around the house in areas you rarely tread, you might be surprised at what you find and how much you can save on your heating bill this winter. Hidden openings could be bleeding warm air from your…
Feeling like fall
First I’d like to thank the folks at Penny Lane and all who helped organize the 18th annual Jerry Garcia Tribute at Douglas Park last Sunday. The Raouligans and I were honored to play along with Dennis Maberry’s Rhythm Spirit and Perfunctory This Band. For me, it was a great way to pay back Penny…
Pumpkin, savory
What comes to mind when you think of eating pumpkin? If you’re like most Americans, your answer will almost certainly be pumpkin pie. Of course there will always be a few nonconformists who’ll vote for pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins or pumpkin milkshakes. But I’ll bet that few, if any, think of pumpkin in savory (as…
Mathien
Began in Carbondale and molded in Chicago, the hard driving, pop-rock, soul-funk band Mathien comes back to town on the opening weekend for Donnie’s Homespun nightclub in the Vinegar Hill Mall. With a grand stage and sound system, the large space begins anew as a venue on Friday with The Pimps and The Timmys, then…
Teachers union shows who’s boss
For several months, beginning in late 2010, teachers union lobbyists warned that teachers went out on strike a whole lot more back in the days when they were prohibited by law from striking than in the years since they had gained the statutory right to strike. They warned that attacking teachers was a dangerous game.…
Invisible walls
I was a newspaper publisher at the age of 24. My aptitude for the job can be judged by the fact that the column you are reading appears in a newspaper that is not published by me. I published two newspapers by the age of 30 and both failed. New newspapers usually do. Hooper Warren,…
Agreement paves way for juvenile justice reforms
A federal class-action lawsuit settled last week requires Illinois to improve conditions for incarcerated youth, but the state agency overseeing the facilities says many reforms are already in place. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice settled a lawsuit demanding improvements to safety, services and treatment for…
Romney’s Hamm-handed energy policy
Poor Mitt Romney. He keeps trying to prop up his bad policy proposals with gimmicky political props that flop. He recently unveiled his energy policy, for example, in Hobbs, N.M., rather than in ExxonMobil’s boardroom, which is the only place his oil-soaked proposal would actually receive genuine, full-throated huzzahs. But a group of hip-hip-hooraying fat-cats…
UNION BAD, GATEHOUSE GOOD
Since acquiring the State Journal-Register five years ago, GateHouse Media has eliminated the newsroom copy desk, ceased printing operations, outsourced jobs overseas, put its building up for sale and instituted a wage freeze. How much worse could things get? A lot, says management, if newsroom employees vote to establish a union. A newsroom election conducted…
The poetry of longevity
What do Poetry Magazine, Chicago Chinatown, Madison County, Haenig Electric Company and the YMCA of McDonough County have in common? They are a few of 23 Illinois businesses, nonprofits and municipalities bestowed with a Centennial Award this year by the Illinois State Historical Society. The award recognizes organizations that have operated continuously for at least…
Backyard biodiversity
Early in the 20th century, Jens Jensen, the landscape designer of Springfield’s Lincoln Memorial Garden, and groups such as the Friends of Our Native Landscape and The Prairie Club, began extolling the aesthetic appeal of local plant species, the beauty they exhibit when flourishing in their native surroundings. “To me no plant is more refined…
10th Street is the solution for a transit center
In last week’s Guestwork, environmentalist Will Reynolds argued that Third Street would be a better location for a multimodal transit center than 10th Street [see “Third Street better for transit center,” Sept. 13]. In response, Lou Dixon of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce and Jeff Wilday of Downtown Springfield, Inc., make the case for…
Cool color from cabbages and kales
The summer growing season has not been kind to gardens, noted a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator. “Hot temperatures, dry soils, pots that needed watering two or three times a day, and flowers that just did not look their best,” said Greg Stack. “Would you look your best if you had to put up…
Readingpoem #7
Readingpoem #7 A British author of uniquebooks for kids and adults,William Mayne, has been afavorite in our family; wemust have a dozen of hisvolumes. My daughter, Demi,as an adult, said to me: “Even when you’ve read a bad Mayne book you go around feeling Maynish for days.” 2012 Jacqueline Jackson
Soil test this fall
Testing the soil in a vegetable garden is quickly done, and the benefits are long-term. University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator Richard Hentschel said that if the soil is right, gardeners should be able to produce fresh vegetables all season long. “Gardeners can test their soil anytime,” he said. “Fall is best because the applied…
Pumpkin soup baked in a pumpkin
The pumpkin isn’t only in this soup, it’s also the soup tureen. It’s delicious, and a real showstopper at the dinner table. Kids love eating it and love helping make it even more – with close adult supervision, of course! The only crucial thing – besides making sure that you don’t pierce the outside of…
Savory pumpkin quiche
This quiche is perfect for fall. Though I’ve used various herbs for it, sage is my favorite. If you’d rather make a vegetarian pumpkin quiche, eliminate the bacon and use olive oil for roasting the pumpkin cubes and sautéing the onion. 1 partially baked tart shell, either a 9-inch regular pie pan, 10-12-inch for a…
Downtown prepares for life without TIF
Promoters of downtown Springfield are looking toward the day when the area’s tax-increment financing district is scheduled to dissolve, leaving the city’s core without a dedicated funding source for projects aimed at improving livability and promoting economic development. The TIF district is set to go away in 2016, which will be 35 years after downtown…
Country Star
Country Star Chris Young plays in Springfield at the Prairie Capital Convention Center on Friday, Sept. 21. With a charismatic smile and a fine voice that hits the highs and the lows just right, he’ll be knocking your socks off with some good ole country music. Young’s last five singles went to #1 on country radio, with…
Seven inexpensive ways to update a home now
Often buying a home opens up a bottomless pit of opportunities for projects and improvements. While some homeowners engage in different repairs and fix-ups out of necessity, many others like to freshen up their spaces out of personal preference instead of need. But even the most well-intentioned projects can be waylaid if budgets are tight.…
Sizzling Sixties
The Midtown Men perform Sept. 22 at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS, as part of the Broadway Series. The four original Broadway members of the Jersey Boys — Tony Award winner Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard and Tony Award nominee J. Robert Spencer — star in a concert experience celebrating the music of the ’60s. You’ll…
DiCenso tries to unseat battle-scarred Libri
After two decades in elective office, it’s safe to call Tony Libri a survivor. The Sangamon County circuit clerk has won more than a few and lost a couple, notably the 2003 race for Springfield mayor and, more recently, a battle to retain his post as chairman of the county Republican Party. The setbacks are…
Give your trees a good drink
While our landscapes received a good drink of water in September, we need more rain. The most important investment in your landscape is trees and shrubs. Trees and shrubs entering winter without adequate soil and tissue moisture become more susceptible to low temperature injury or rapid fluctuations between warm and cold. Symptoms of drought stress…
A joy to see Eastwood in Trouble
If you’ve followed Clint Eastwood’s career behind the camera, you’ll find that he’s an intensely loyal collaborator. He works with the same crew from one picture to the next and you’d be hard-pressed to read anything negative about him as far as his film career is concerned. So, it comes as little surprise that he…
Dazzling dynamos
The International Route 66 Mother Road Festival is one of the largest festivals to take downtown by storm. More than 1,000 vintage vehicles and 80,000 spectators will roll into the Old Capitol complex for the weekend. Cars will flank the pavement from Fourth to Seventh streets and Washington to Capitol, after a Friday night cruise…
