The gifts of Grace
Danville native Grace Eckert didn’t take art classes in high school, even though she knew she was going to be an artist. Her father, a math professor at Illinois State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, insisted on classes that would pay off for her as an adult. “He was a formidable man,…
Common sense 9-23-04
With the election looming, President George W. Bush is back to claiming that he’s a “compassionate conservative.” As evidence, he cites his centerpiece education law, the No Child Left Behind Act. This is supposed to be a “tough love” reform, compelling all public-school students to pass standardized tests. If the kids fail the federal government’s…
Get busy now, do less next spring
I haven’t met a gardener who has ever found the end of his or her “to do” list. September is a good time to complete projects we didn’t get done this summer. The first garden chore I recommend is an easy one: Spend an evening sitting on your garden bench, reflecting on the beauty of…
Now playing 9-23-04
Funk, funk, funk. It’s a fun word, but what does it mean? To some it’s a musty odor, to others it’s a depressed state of mind, and to music fans it’s something entirely different. No one says it better than Webster’s New World College Dictionary (second entry, third definition): “a form of rhythm and blues…
Backstage pass 9-23-04
The Springfield Theatre Centre’s current production Sunday in the Park with George is a show not to be missed — in fact, I recommend that you see it more than once. I have never witnessed such a prolonged audience ovation at the end of a first act as I saw last week. When the auditorium…
Bar owner on hot seat
The owner of a downtown tavern faces a hearing before the city of Springfield’s Community Relations Commission for allegedly discriminating against a group of lesbians in a St. Patrick’s Day incident. Robert Stoeppler, co-owner of Bob’s Butternut Hut, asked a group of about two dozen women to leave the tavern at 215 N. Second St.…
Homecoming
Like many native Springfieldians, Jim Pendergrass of south Springfield moved back to his old hometown after long making his residence elsewhere. In and of itself, that fact is hardly worth mentioning. What makes Pendergrass’ homecoming noteworthy is that he was gone for 57 years and is now not only living in the same house in…
More than 66 kicks
This weekend, Springfield will host its third annual Route 66 Mother Road Festival. Three days of classic cars, live entertainment, and street vendors converge downtown. The festival will also feature caravans to the state fairgrounds, which 66 borders on the north, east, and south sides. It’s hard to escape the Route in this town. But…
movie review
Barely making it over the net Paul Bettany, finally given a starring role after delivering memorable supporting turns in A Beautiful Mind and Master and Commander, is Peter Colt, an English tennis pro who’s never reached his full potential. Once ranked 11th in the world, he’s fallen to 119th but has somehow weaseled his way…
Memory lane
The thing that unites virtually all of the attractions along what’s left of the iconic Route 66 is the wacky one-of-a-kind kitsch: the giant ketchup bottle that sits atop a water tower in Collinsville, Ill.; the row of rusting, half-buried Cadillacs in Amarillo, Texas; the motel composed of concrete teepees in Holbrook, Ariz. “The tacky-type…
People’s Poetry
Down on the farmThere’s corn and beans and men in jeans that ride up on big green machines down dusty roads where hoppy toads get outta the way of oversized loads of yellow hay. There’s cats and dogs and morning fogs and beat-up trucks carrying smelly hogs on in to town where they’ll be ground…
letters 9-23-04
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com RING SOME PHONES Since it was established in 1919, the Coney Island…
sound patrol 9-23-04
Various Artists Future Soundtrack for America (Barsuk) Pity the young Republican who aspires to hipness. The nation might be evenly polarized, but the rock community, particularly the indie faction, is pretty much unanimously disgusted with W. The Bush twins claim to love Modest Mouse, the Strokes, and the Postal Service, but the likelihood that any…
music notes 9-23-04
• Good golly, Miss Molly, it’s the ol’ Tutti-Frutti king himself, whooping it up at Millikin University’s Kirkland Fine Arts Center in Decatur at 2 p.m. Sunday. Yes, it’s Little Richard still out proving to the world that he invented the musical art form all by his lonesome. Don’t believe him? He will convert you.…
Earth talk 9-23-04
Dear “Earth Talk”: I’ve heard that some foods are now being irradiated. Why is this done, and what are the implications for our health and safety? — Emily Worden, Monroe, Conn. Food irradiation — used to kill bacteria, parasites, and insects in food and to retard spoilage — is actually not new. Research began early…
Fudging the numbers
In an attempt to justify the city of Springfield’s low percentage of minority employees, Mayor Tim Davlin this week referred activists and reporters to a study that suggests the city’s numbers are on a par with the percentage of minorities in the work force. However, the study Davlin cited is based not on the population…
Community by design
The weekend was full of neighborhood moments. Friday evening we walked from our house a couple of blocks, past children skipping rope on the sidewalk, for walleye sandwiches at Suzie-Q’s. We ran into several neighbors and friends, as we always do there. On Saturday I played uncle to a 3-year-old at the park across the…
Prairie notes 9-23-04
Maybe it’s just me, but fall 2004 closed in a little faster than the calendar suggests. If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to organize your fall composting project to deal with the annual lowerin’ of the leaves. If the ultimate goal is to return the compost to your yard as next…
Grace about town 9-23-04
The last time I was in Denver, I helped with my friend Kelly’s wedding. She was a week away from marrying a great guy named Rob, and they were frantically trying to pull this wedding off by themselves. Their families showed up during the week, but then it seemed like more work, keeping the family…
Knoepfle 9-23-04
sandalwood poem #20 it was the marriage day some forty-seven years now and out beyond my window an amazement of christmas snow cottonwood tree sudden with frost I remember when we left the church our morning hesitant with snowflakes and some of them caught in her hair the dark innocence of her hair ©…
One man’s journey on Route 66
During its half-century as a cross-country highway, Route 66 was the road taken frequently by migrants. In 1933 and ’34, a half-million people drove it to Chicago to see Sally Rand and the World’s Fair. At the same time, a half-million Dust Bowl refugees were driving it west to pursue the American dream. After the…
New specialty store offers low-carb options
The low-carb craze has finally hit Springfield. Although this way of eating is nothing new, a new specialty grocery store that offers takeout meals gives customers a one-stop low-carb eating and shopping experience. Maggie Andrews-Stone and her two brothers, Dan and John Andrews, adopted a diet in which they cut their intake of carbohydrates more…
Commander in speech
After carefully studying the speeches of the nation’s 43 presidents, Allan Metcalf has learned that it’s quite possible for a commander in chief to routinely mangle the language — and still succeed. In fact, voters seem to be quite forgiving of presidential candidates and incumbents who have trouble stringing a coherent sentence together. “The better…
The women of Wal-Mart
When Melissa Howard joined the Wal-Mart store in New Castle, Ind., in 1992, she received a blue vest, a red, white, and blue nametag, six bucks an hour, and the title of “electronics department manager.” Howard hoped to climb the corporate ladder, accept greater responsibility, and take home a fatter paycheck. So she worked diligently…
Planet Blago
Over the last few weeks it’s become clear that Alan Keyes, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, lives in his own little world — and it’s a pretty odd planet. In Keyes’ version of reality, pro-choicers are like terrorist sympathizers, his Democratic opponent Barack Obama has a “slaveholder mentality,” and Jesus would never even consider…
