Oh, there’s Illinois
In “Where’s Illinois?” I pondered the ways in which the Midwest is a state of mind – and that when it comes to geography, Americans’ minds are often in a state of confusion. Yale history professor and cartographer Bill Rankin looked at how 100 businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies define the Midwest for their purposes…
Hope Institute CEO placed on administrative leave
The CEO of The Hope Institute for Children and Families has been placed on administrative leave. The move comes as the school implements changes to rebound from an abuse incident.The executive committee of Hope’s board of directors placed CEO Karen Foley on administrative leave on Sept. 29, temporarily promoting Clint Paul, chief financial officer, to fill…
Walk in their shoes
I’m a CEO with a GED, and I have walked in the shoes of a minimum wage worker. I know from experience that it’s a tougher road today. The minimum wage buys fewer necessities now than it did when I needed it to survive. And as a successful capitalist, it pains me to see that…
The darker side of Amazon.com
Amazon workers in the new 300,000-square-foot sortation center in Kent, Washington, sort packages by ZIP codes, place them on pallets and deliver them to local post offices between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. for delivery in that day’s mail. Amazon workers in the new 300,000-square-foot sortation center in Kent, Washington, sort packages by ZIP codes,…
America’s natural politics
My father, W.F. “High” Hightower, was a populist. Only, he didn’t know it. Didn’t know the word, much less the history or anything about populism’s democratic ethos. My father was not philosophical, but he had a phrase that he used to express the gist of his political beliefs: “Everybody does better when everybody does better.”…
Strong roots
PHOTO BY SCOTT SIMONTACCHI Every once and a while a musician seemingly pops into the public’s view and immediately captures their hearts. Sarah Jarosz is that sort of musician. Looking younger than her 22 years, playing the mandolin as if she’s been doing it even longer, Jarosz is like everyone’s daughter or sister, sweet, but…
Indoctrination nation
Curses, foiled again• Bradley Hardison, 24, managed to elude authorities for nearly nine months before they nabbed him after a local paper published his photo for winning a doughnut-eating contest at a police anti-crime event in Elizabeth City, N.C. “I was pissed because it’s like throwing it in our face,” Camden County sheriff’s Lt. Max…
Hallowed halls
PHOTO COURTESY BOMKE’s PATCH Bomke’s Patch brings you something a little dark in a good way: a corn maze at night seeped in 80s music. The Patch offers four opportunities to walk the maze under the stars, Sept. 26-27 and Oct. 10-11. Inclement weather may cancel the event. Those under age 16 must be accompanied…
Grumpy ole Bruce needs a boost
Bruce Rauner reportedly had one of those bugs that were going around last week. I feel his pain. I was sick with one thing or another all week. Luckily, I took a little time off, or I’d probably have felt even worse. Rauner didn’t take any time off and it showed. For the first time…
To leech according to her needs
My roommate’s girlfriend is unemployed and just hangs around our place all week, even when he’s at work. (She has her own place but is never there.) She’s very wasteful with our utilities. Yesterday, after work, I found her in the living room watching TV with the air conditioning on full blast – even though…
Where is Illinois?
MAP COURTESY WWW.FREEWORLDMAPS.NET You would think that the one inarguable fact about Illinois is that it is a Midwestern place. Walt Hickey, a writer for Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, commissioned a web poll of self-identified Midwesterners that asked them which states they believed make up that region. He figured they’d know, but 19 percent of the…
Parish polling
Catholics who attend Mass as well as their lapsed brethren agree on some things, according to the results of a recently released survey of more than 1,400 current and former parishioners. There is sentiment in both camps against people who run the church and what they have to say, say researchers from Benedictine University who…
Fall farmers markets
Old Capitol Farmers Market is open Wednesdays and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. until Oct. 25. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Crisp fall temperatures have arrived, as welcome now as was the first warm spring breeze after a frigidly hellish winter. Even when daytime temperatures rival those in mid-August, the heat isn’t as oppressive, the…
Following the fall music
Rogers and Nienhaus play the Curve Inn, Thurs., Sept. 25, 6 to 10 p.m. PHOTO BY MADISON THORN Welcome to autumn. As the leaves begin to turn, keep your ears open for some good music to go along with the changing of the seasons. When Jacksonville blues musician Robert Sampson plays at Casey’s Pub this…
Koffin Kats
he hole was dug for the Koffin Kats back in 2003 near Detroit, Michigan, when Vic Victor (lead vocals, upright bass) hooked up with longtime friend Tommy Koffin (guitar), then added Damian Detroit (drums) to begin the long adventure. Over 10 years later, with a couple thousand shows beneath their belts, they are a force…
Editor’s note 9/25/14
A couple of us picked the few remaining green beans and eggplants, while others harvested Swiss chard and white radishes. A grocery bag full of sweet potatos is what’s left of the plot of deep-green leaves. Tomato vines and still-flourishing collards were pulled up and piled on the compost heap. The plants still had some…
midsummer vermont #22
today’s excitement –very early morningerratic drummingmore a thuddingslow with pausescould it be? I’d heardthem in the woods butnever seen one yet hereone was – a piliatedwoodpecker on thedead tree by the porchclear in silhouettelong sharp beak, crestedhead, supple neck, bodybig as a hen but slimit circled the trunkhammering breakfastno rat-a-tat drilling likesmaller woodpeckersit tore chunks…
FORECLOSURE ACTION
The Ashland home where Steven Watkins was gunned down in 2008 has gone into foreclosure. PNC Bank filed the foreclosure lawsuit last month in Cass County Circuit Court. Presuming the bank prevails and gets title to the home, it may face a challenge finding a buyer for the house that was the scene of one…
Remarkable rides
International Route 66 Mother Road Festival and Car Show returns to Springfield, Sept. 26-28. More than 80,000 folks are expected to filter downtown to see more than 1,000 cool cars and listen to some rockin’ live music. The festival kicks off Friday night at 6:15 p.m. as the Route 66 City Nights Cruise for Crime Stoppers,…
Roosevelt says Au Revoir
Roosevelt Pratt PHOTO BY GINNY LEE Roosevelt Pratt, owner of Fashion Afrique at 414 E. Monroe in Springfield, is relocating his business to St. Louis. He plans to open his new store on Washington Street in downtown St. Louis in early November. Fashion Afrique has offered cultural activities and French lessons as well as African…
Rauner and his mirror
CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT
Getting better
Springfield’s doctors want to know what’s making you sick. An upcoming survey will give residents a chance to sound off about health issues in the capital city and surrounding area, and those comments will help set the priorities of Springfield’s medical community for years to come. The Sangamon County Healthy Community Survey is a joint…
The Sky’s the Limit for the Mature Mob
Deanna Langheim delivered a lively performance of “I’ve Got the Sun in the Morning” at the Mature Mob’s practice. PHOTO BY GINNY LEE Signs that fall is approaching: cooler weather, the beginning of football season, this year’s Mature Mob show…. Okay, that last one may not be an annual rite of the season for you,…
From the streets to stability
William Guyer PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE It only took about a month for William Guyer of Springfield to go from employed to living on the street, but it took him almost a year to get back. Guyer’s story is one of injustice, heartbreak and determination. Although he ultimately climbed out of homelessness, he says he’s…
Letters to the Editor 9/25/14
GRAPHIC BY DAVID HINE CITATIONS DON’T ADD UPI take a more aggressively skeptical view than does Samuel Johnson of Springfield of Deputy Police Chief Dennis Arnold’s contention that having more officers patrolling the east side due to the higher call frequency produces more traffic stops (“Black and white,” Patrick Yeagle, Aug. 14). To say that…
Neeson walks strong Among the Tombstones
Liam Neeson as Matt Scudder in A Walk Among the Tombstones. PHOTO COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES In the last decade, Liam Neeson has seemingly taken every script that’s come his way. He’s been forthcoming in his reasoning as, since the tragic death of his wife Natasha Richardson, he’s freely admitted that the best way for him…
