About IT
Founded in 1975, Illinois Times has a longstanding reputation for thoughtful news coverage and analysis. In recent years, Illinois Times has also won recognition for its investigative journalism, garnering statewide and national awards, as well as for breaking local and statewide news, helping set the agenda for the capital city of a major Midwestern state.…
SUPERHERO STATUS
They don’t wear capes, see through walls or fight crime, but Bill and Kevin Rogers should probably be classified as Springfield supermen. The kilted father-son duo recently took Scotland by storm, competing in the Masters World Championships at the Inverness Highland Games and winning top titles in their divisions. The international heavyweight contest pitted 82…
Science spectacular
John James Audubon, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, George Washington Carver, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and John Roebling and other scientists and inventors come alive under the big tent in historical reenactments, storytelling, lectures, music and dance. Also, enjoy nightly communal suppers at 6 p.m. for $10. Prairieland Chautauqua: “Pioneers of Science and Invention”September…
Double the pleasure, double the hope
Most chefs who contribute their time and efforts to the Hope School’s annual Celebrity Chef Dinner prepare wonderful feasts, have a great time interacting with their hospitable hosts and appreciative diners, and leave Springfield feeling good about helping a worthy institution. But when Springfield native and Chicago restaurateur Kevin Boehm brought his acclaimed chef, Guiseppe…
The Hurt Locker puts the viewer on the front lines
Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker does what no other Iraqi war film has, namely put the viewer on the front lines of this ground war that seemingly has no winners or losers, merely survivors who chance has sought to smile upon. Politics are immaterial here, survival is paramount and everyone is a victim of circumstance…
A prairie plant for your landscape
Prior to European settlers in Illinois, 60 percent of the 22 million acres was prairie. Today less than one hundredth of one percent of the original undisturbed prairie exists in the Prairie State. Some of these original prairies can still be found in pioneer cemeteries, fencerows and railroad rights-of-way. Prairie plants native to Illinois are…
Walking ‘Side by Side’ with cancer patients
Cancer care isn’t only about treating physical symptoms — it’s also about helping patients handle the emotional distress that accompanies their illness, says Dr. Rhonda Johnson, the director of the new psycho-oncology division of the SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute at Southern Illinois University. “They’ve undergone chemotherapy, they’ve lost their hair, they may have lost pieces of…
National ‘CanVention’ revisits Springfield’s brewing past
Before the miracle of refrigeration, the only way to get an unspoiled beer was to get it nearly straight from the brewery. And if you were a thirsty Springfieldian in the early 1900s, the odds were that you’d drink a beer from Reisch Brewery. There would be other competition, with Springfield Brewery starting production after…
Fifty years later, celebrating diplomacy on an Iowa farm
The menu served to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. farmer-business man Roswell Garst in 1959 at Hotel Fort Des Moines was served again at the hotel last Friday, Aug. 28: split pea soup, celery hearts, ripe and green olives, roast prime rib of Iowa corn-fed beef, baked russet potato with sour cream, buttered green…
Clayville’s back on track
They’ve vanquished weeds and brush, separated worthy antiques from junk and have begun restoring aged, but sound, buildings. This weekend the Pleasant Plains Historical Society will show off its success, hosting its first major community event at the Clayville Historic Site. The “Clayville Cruise In” will parade classic cars, trucks, tractors and motorcycles along a…
Letters to the Editor 9/3/09
IMPALED BY RAILIt would be interesting to know how many other state capitals have so far been subjected to the indignity of dismemberment in the way that the proposed 40-train corridor will affect Springfield. Apparently the Illinois (Chicago) Department of Transportation is willing to allow the quality of life in Springfield to take an expeditious…
Bryan Lee and the Blues Power Band
Lauded as one of the finest blues guitarists performing today by none other than Eric Clapton and encouraged in his youth by the legendary Muddy Waters, Bryan Lee holds high the mantle of the blues as a creative and artistic empowering force for good times and decent living. Lee lost his eyesight at age 8,…
The state’s dirty little secret
Just north of the Willard Ice Building, blocks away from Memorial Medical Center and Douglas School, and just a few feet from homes, sits a little coal power plant that most people probably don’t know exists. One of the main reasons the plant at Madison and Rutledge goes unnoticed is because, unlike the City Water,…
Sound connection
Singer/songwriter Zach Nichols performs at UIS this Saturday. This young musician combines folk, pop, rock, blues, jazz and soul, picking, strumming and singing in a style deemed a mix of Josh Kelley and Jonny Lang with the lyrical insight of Damien Rice. Nichols was nominated as Denver’s best singer/songwriter in 2006 and 2007 UIS Acoustic…
World wonders
The tastes and sounds of the world come to you right here in Springfield at the Illinois State Fairgrounds this weekend. Local ethnic groups cook up ethnic foods and entertain with music. If that isn’t enough, there will be some cultural activities to partake in. Ethnic FestivalFriday, September 45-11pmSat and Sun, September 5-612-11pmIL State Fairgrounds629-7871Free
Witty words
The free morning performance features New York City slam poet, Shanelle Gabriel, best known from the HBO series Def Poetry Jam. Gabriel is an international slam poetry competitor, singer/songwriter and actor, presently touring the United States and abroad, facilitating creative writing workshops and promoting Lupus awareness. This is the first in a series of nationally…
Hynes challenge could toughen up Quinn
There’s been quite a bit of private grumbling by Democratic county party chairpersons and other party leaders about Comptroller Dan Hynes’ decision to run in the February primary against Gov. Pat Quinn. They worry that Hynes will unnecessarily divide the party yet again and serve as a constant reminder to voters that Quinn was Rod…
Stuck in the ’70s
Last fall, the University of Illinois trustees approved the most recent UIS campus development master plan. The document maps the preferred locations of hoped-for new student housing and office and classroom buildings. Also provided for, at least on paper, is a much-expanded athletics complex — NCAA-standard baseball stadium and practice field, a golf driving range…
JAZZ IT UP
The Harriet Tubman/Susan B. Anthony Women’s Self Help and Multicultural Center hopes to expand its arts and crafts, music, health and fitness, computer technology and education programs into the Matheny School Building, 2200 E. Jackson St., but first the nonprofit needs the finances. John T. Crisp, Jr., the organization’s president, says they want to use…
Fake rallies on the rise
Protests are back! All across America, angry demonstrations are popping up like mushrooms on moldy astroturf. Similar to the plastic “grass,” political astroturf is the corporate version of grassroots — instead of ordinary citizens organizing and mobilizing themselves for political action, astroturf campaigns are well-orchestrated PR efforts that put real folks out front, but are…
High-speed rail should use 10th St. tracks
It has taken many years, a lot of hard work, tax dollars and private investor dollars to turn our downtown into a revitalized, vibrant central city brimming with tourists, commerce and nightlife. But all this may come to a screeching halt if the Third St. rail corridor is improved with our federal tax dollars to carry…
Lincoln in bronze
Carl Volkmann, historian and retired director of Springfield’s Lincoln (public) Library, has meticulously researched and written a welcome book to add to our shelf of Lincolniana. Or let’s say no shelf, but at $10 each, one for the coffee table, one for the car. The format is uniform, and the statues are restricted in location…
Labor Day to-do list
Well here we are again at the seasonal crossroads of the Labor Day weekend. With this three-day celebration, dedicated to the working people of America, but commemorated by all classes, we proclaim a final tribute to summer festivities and prepare to act autumnal. And with that gloriously overblown introduction here are several events loaded with…
