Bras for the cause
There are many events planned to celebrate breast cancer awareness month. Please send me your announcements to capcitybizbuzz@illinoistimes.com and I’ll feature each of them. Here’s the first and it’s a fun one: Kim Dixon at The Wardrobe (830 South Grand Avenue West) has invited a group of local folks to add some bling and zing…
This flea market is fabulous!
If you haven’t had a chance to wander around Springfield’s Flea Market to Fabulous (at Spring and Lawrence) you owe it to yourself to make the trip. Yep, this is the place that had more than a little storm damage to the older of their two buildings a couple of weeks ago. (Its the…
While you are sleeping
Springfield continues to have a large homeless population. And while you and I are tucked in our warm cushy beds there are people on our city streets hoping for a warm blanket or sleeping bag to shield them from these unusually chilly mornings. If you have items to share please call Peg Knoepfle – 793-5074…
Vote for the BESTS OF SPRINGFIELD
Thanks to the 1700 who’ve already voted in the BEST OF SPRINGFIELD 2009 poll. The online voting remains open until midnight, Wednesday September 30 … but there’s no time like the present to let your voice be heard. (The paper ballot in the paper must be received in our office by close of business on…
Let’s go to the dogs…and cats
I must get about 4 emails a week from Carol Rodgers – a dedicated volunteer with the local Animal Protective League. I don’t know about you, but I have a very soft spot for pets of all kinds; I believe that there is special place in heaven for people who take care of these creatures…
Jennifer’s Body worth checking out
If ever there was a star-making vehicle, it’s Jennifer’s Body. Regulated to toiling in the shadow of the Transformers, Megan Fox gets the spotlight to herself here and takes full advantage. As Jennifer, a small-town minx who winds up possessed by a demon, the actress delights in dominating the screen, preening, teasing and munching on…
Cornucopia of cars
More than 1,000 cool cars roll out on display along with hot music, free entertainment, festival of cars parade, International Classic Car Auction, swap meet and manufacturer’s midway for the restoration enthusiast. The festival powers up Friday with the Route 66 City Nights Cruise at Capital City Shopping Center. International Route 66 Mother Road FestivalFriday,…
The Hitmen
The Hitmen sure got their name right. These guys play the hits and nothing but the hits. Together since the summer of 2001 and recently reunited with original singer/guitarist Greg Bickers, fellow Hitmen Stan Kupish (keyboards), Ty Wiedenkeller (drums) and Tom Butts (bass) specialize in popular tunes of the 60s, 70s and 80s. A typical…
From blight to business
Weeds grow from the foundation of the deteriorated apartment building at 715 E. Cook St. The faded paint on the windows is cracked and peeling, and empty sardine cans litter the front stoop. A sign on the door shows the tan brick building has been condemned. “OCCUPANCY PROHIBITED,” it warns in bold letters. It’s a…
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Guitar virtuoso
Two-time Grammy nominee and world-renowned guitarist, Tommy Emmanuel takes the stage Tuesday night at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS. Emmanuel was dubbed by guitar legend Chet Atkins as “Certified Guitar Player” for his lifetime contribution to the instrument, a rare honor shared by only three other people in the world. 91.9 UIS Public Radio cosponsors. Tommy EmmanuelTuesday,…
A “smart choice” that isn’t
Smart is the new cool thing. There’s a smart car, cities now tout smart growth and you can buy a smart refrigerator. Now comes another breakthrough: Even your breakfast cereal has gotten smart. At least that’s what we consumers are being told by a group of major food corporations that are hoping to cash in…
Folk profusion
Pick up and head northeast this Friday and Saturday to Urbana and a new folk festival that promises to be a Midwest favorite. The celebration combines the best of staged concerts, a family street carnival, a treasure hunt, a pub crawl, folk art show and a participatory music-dance camp with jam sessions and open mics,…
SISTER HELPING SISTER
Three sweaty men smiled widely as they loaded a shipment of crutches into the back of a hot semi truck Tuesday afternoon, wedging the wooden and metal braces individually between hospital beds that stood upright to save space. The crutches and beds are headed to San Pedro, Mexico, one of Springfield’s two sister cities, as…
After prisoner’s death, supermax reforms promised
As Tamms Year Ten and other human rights organizations stepped forward to speak for Robert Foor, a 33-year-old who died in June after nearly 11 years in isolation at the Tamms Closed Maximum Security Unit, the Illinois Department of Corrections announced its plans to reform the southern Illinois “supermax” prison. Last week, IDOC director Michael…
Urbana’s grand stage
Mike Ross, director of Urbana’s Krannert Centerfor the Performing Arts, is hard-pressed to name his favorite place to be inside the University of Illinois’ celebrated arts space. Ross could pluck Foellinger Great Hall from the list, the center’s largest performing space. He could choose the lobby, home to the opening performances of the biennial guitar…
Fed funds to power efficiency efforts in Springfield
Federal stimulus money coming soon to Springfield could help the city save 7.5 megawatts of energy per year. Earlier this month, Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) announced more than $1.2 million in grant money for Springfield under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That money is part of $354 million the federal government has set aside…
Open up rail decisions
Oct. 2 is the deadline for Union Pacific and Illinois Department of Transportation to submit their request for $2.3 billion of federal stimulus funds, which will allow UP to construct an additional rail line to service their new freight distribution center in Joliet, as well as increase the number of passenger trains between St. Louis…
Life in the Big House
Now we know. The reason that Rod Blagojevich disdained the governor’s mansion in Springfield was to save his kids from, well, the mansion. “Growing up in a big governor’s mansion, surrounded by staff is not normal,” Blagojevich writes in The Governor. “We didn’t want our children growing up spoiled with a sense of privilege and…
The Informant! A comic, tragic look at a man alone
Director Steven Soderbergh is well-versed in the art of deception. There’s a subversive bent that runs through most of his films and that’s never more obvious than in The Informant!, a dark comedy that audaciously casts its “hero” in a humorous and ultimately tragic light. Based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald that recounts the…
Federal energy bill creates jobs and reduces pollution
The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 would create 20,000 new jobs in Illinois and save its average household $193 a year by 2020, according to a new report released by Environment Illinois and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The federal bill, which passed the House of Representatives in June and…
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GNAT IN MY BACKYARD
OK, so they’re not gnats — but the soybean aphids that are infiltrating Springfield sure are little pests. The itty-bitty flying insects build up in high numbers on soybeans — as many as 250 per plant — in the summer. They migrate to buckthorn, a small, thorny shrub that serves as their winter hideaway, in…
David Cain, musician, artist and multimediac
David Cain is an artist, and with that title bears the weight of discovering ways to make ends meet both creatively and financially. As the president and chief employee of UMEDIA, his multimedia company, and the composer/musician/producer behind Senses, his progressive jazz/rock band, Cain combines artistic dreams into business realities using creative talents to make…
valueofbooks poem #2
a librarian told me this got itfrom her friend at west branchso it’s true I can supply namesan elderly woman reported alost book wanted to pay for itthe librarian said why don’t youjust wait a little longer it willprobably turn up no said thewoman I want to pay for it nowthe librarian remonstrated ifyou’ll wait…
Who has time to be sick with the flu???
One of our Capital Area Independent Business members sent this news item: SIU School of Medicine will present a seminar on H1N1 FLU Pandemic Preparedness For Businesses and Organizations Wednesday, September 30, 2009 Dove Conference Center of Prairie Heart Institute 8:00am to 1:00pm $25.00 To register www.siumed.edu/cme CME & CEUs available
Letters to the Editor 09/24/2009
RAIL BUSESSpringfield’s rail situation is anomalous in that it flows from an antique set of circumstances [see “Stopped by a train,” by James Krohe Jr., Sept. 17]. The reason you have these problems is because of the antique situation where the operator of the (freight) trains is also the owner of the railbed. There is…
Chris Kelly, Blagojevich’s loyal friend
A couple of years ago, Rod Blagojevich told me during a private conversation that all the talk about how close he supposedly was to indicted fundraiser Tony Rezko was just that. Talk. Ah, but Chris Kelly, Blagojevich said, now that’s a real friend, a close friend, a confidante. Blagojevich said he genuinely admired Kelly on…
Henry’s autumn pear salad
Brockman’s recipe for September, The Fruit Moon, was created by her brother, Henry. I varied it somewhat, poaching only the peeled, cored pear to be puréed. I also skipped puréeing it separately and straining it. Instead, I put the cooled cooked pear in the blender along with the vanilla, Sherry vinegar, and mirin; and used…
A woman for all seasons
Terra Brockman is a busy woman. As founder of the not-for-profit Land Connection, she works tirelessly to promote “community-based food systems in the Midwest in which every farmer has the opportunity to grow food in a sustainable manner, and every person has the choice to enjoy local and organic foods.” She’s one of Illinois’ most…
