TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN
Almost everyone knows about St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the not-for-profit research hospital that specializes in cancer and never charges children in need who don’t have insurance. Not everyone knows about their Dream Home Giveaway program, which raffles off big fancy houses and puts the proceeds toward helping more kids. A recent giveaway in Dunlap, near…
Nurturing natural heritage
Five years ago, a 68-acre stretch of land just south of New Salem, with its unique hills and valleys, had one thing in common with most of the rest of Illinois – it looked nothing like what the state’s first European settlers would have seen 200 years ago. According to the Illinois Department of Natural…
You almost saved by Bell
Sometimes the vim and verve of a single performer can save an otherwise dull production. Take You Again. (Please!) There’s very little in the way of originality here yet you couldn’t tell by the efforts of its star, Kristin Bell. Talk about the old college try, this young actress plays each scene as though she…
Still alternative after all these years
I don’t often look at calendars – so often they remind me that there is an editor somewhere, impatiently drumming his fingers on his desk because the article draft I’d promised him is late. But look at a calendar one must do occasionally, and last week it reminded me that it has been 35 years…
RFK Jr. outlines energy vision
Speaking just 30 minutes away from where developers plan a major “clean” coal project, one of the nation’s leading environmental lawyers last week bashed the coal industry as dirty, expensive and dying. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the son of assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy and a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council,…
The Angel of Death Row
Angel of Death Row: My Life as a Death Penalty Defense Lawyer. Andrea D. Lyon. Kaplan Publishing, 2010. Hardcover. $24.95. Kindle edition $9.99, contains only “A Mother Accused,” a single chapter of the hardcover book. Andrea Lyon was dubbed the “Angel of Death Row” in an article in the Chicago Tribune. She was the first…
Country acoustics
Platinum-selling country artist Terri Clark plays the Hoogland on her special solo acoustic tour. With more than five million albums sold, she is the first Canadian female inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and an eight-time, fan-voted Canadian Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year. She’ll dazzle you with her guitar playing and will tell…
There goes the neighborhood
A new playground in Springfield’s Gehrmann Park will serve as an anchor in a neighborhood that is revitalizing itself one step at a time. On Sept. 25, about 200 volunteers converged on Gehrmann Park in the Enos Park neighborhood of Springfield to construct a donated playground in a single day. Featuring what Derek Harms, director…
Renaissance at the Art Association
During the Middle Ages, the church used art in its cathedrals to draw the eyes of worshippers toward the heavens. Today, art is at the center of an effort to resurrect a blighted urban area once known as the “Jewel of Springfield.” “The Springfield Art Association is one of the anchors of the Enos Park…
Democrats look for sunny spots in gloomy election outlook
If you talk to state legislative Democrats, they’ll tell you that their latest round of polling is showing improvement in most of their races since the summer. The Republicans, however, believe they have history on their side. The House Democrats say their candidates are sticking to a strict and intense precinct walking program. That, plus…
FRENCH HORN COMES HOME
William Lane knew from the time he was 14 that he wanted to play the French horn professionally. As a 10-year-old boy growing up in Jacksonville, Lane saw his first professional orchestra when the St. Louis Symphony played at MacMurray College, and his mother brought home a French horn for him the very next day.…
Candidates protest removal from election ballot
Two little-known political candidates in the coming general election are taking Illinois’ ballot access rules to court, comparing them to the segregationist Jim Crow laws of the nation’s past. Willie Boyd Jr. of Greenville, an independent candidate running for U.S. Senate, and Michael White of Lindenhurst, a Constitution Party candidate running for governor, have filed…
Apfelpfannkuchen
1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour 1 T. sugar, preferably baker’s sugar 1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt 2 large eggs, beaten 2/3 c. half and half 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 T. unsalted butter 3-4 large apples (about 1¼ lb.) such as Granny Smith, Golden Blushing, Braeburn, seasonal Golden Delicious, or other sweet/tart varieties that…
Sage marinated roast pork
For the marinade 2 c. buttermilk 1/2 c. thinly sliced or diced onion 6 cloves crushed garlic 2 T. kosher or sea salt 1/2 c. dark brown sugar 1/4 c. minced sage leaves kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 6 T. bacon fat or vegetable oil, plus additional if needed 4…
Apple harvest dinner
Apples are the most versatile of fruits for cooks, as good in savory dishes as they are in desserts. Sometimes apples are the stars while in others they play an essential supporting role. In fact, it’s possible to plan an entire dinner around apples – a dinner of variations on the apple theme, in which…
Planned Parenthood sets the record straight
I am disappointed in Alveda King and the Springfield Right to Life’s attacks on women’s reproductive self-determination. Alveda King and her followers are running a scare campaign to keep women from seeking reproductive health care and limit their ability to make private, personal medical decisions. And she is promoting falsehoods about Planned Parenthood of Illinois…
October falls into place
I find early October wonderful for many reasons, including but not exclusive to the crisp and awakening air, jackets and boots, communicating owls, red sassafras leaves as seen without my glasses on, evening fires worth the warmth, finding and ingesting wild fall mushrooms, friends at folk music conferences, insatiable samplings of Oktoberfest beers and after…
Creative encounters
The Springfield Y celebrates the arts with a week of activities. Oct. 4 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. create a self portrait. The LLCC Madrigal Singers and Sangamon County Youth Symphony members perform Oct. 5 from 6-7:30 p.m. On Oct. 6 from 5-8pm, over a dozen local artists will have their work displayed and some…
Bleeding-heart Republicans
Who says that Republican Congress-critters don’t care about minorities in our society? Why, at this very moment, they are pushing hard to pass a $372 billion federal program to lift the economic fortunes of just one minority group – a far more generous proposal than Barack Obama has even dared to contemplate. The focus of…
Big top show
The big top comes to Athens with trapeze artists, elephants, tigers and more. Tickets purchased in advance at Athens City Hall, Boar’s Nest or Athens State Bank are eligible for giveaways of two children’s 20-inch bicycles and two $50 bills for adults. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children under 12. Organizers also…
northfifthstreet poem # 14
ok folks laugh but this houseIS on the enos park house touroctober 2 noon to 5 will weclean it well sorta at least sweepthe kitchen floor tidy it wellsorta but there’ll be a sign enterat your own risk maybe lincolnwill hold it you know he stoodinside this house once there’ll becrime scene yellow tape so…
Cider sauce
1/2 c. minced shallots or onions, NOT super-sweet 1 T. bacon fat OR unsalted butter OR the fat and browned bits left in the skillet from sautéing the pork chops 1/2 c. applejack or Calvados 4 c. unsalted chicken stock 2 c. unpasteurized apple cider Salt, freshly ground pepper, and cider vinegar to taste If…
Old times
Throw a tomahawk, learn the secrets to black powder shooting, watch expert Chris Camp crack his whip or enter to win a side of beef. These are just a few of the activities happening at Clayville, an old stagecoach village located only 10 miles west of Veterans Parkway. There will also be dulcimer and banjo…
Letters to the Editor 09/30/10
HOW TO GET GREENERI’m suprised to read that Springfield and Mayor Davlin are receiving credit for being a “green” city [see “Greener than thou,” by James Krohe Jr., Sept. 16]. Some initiatives that might help Springfield become a greener city are sometimes thought of as being impossible, yet other cities seem to do them well.…
Nonpoint
With a new album produced by Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett of Mudvayne out in May of 2010 and fresh from a sweet spot on the main stage of OzzFest tour, the South Florida hard rock quartet Nonpoint is out to make a point. The debut single Miracle charted higher than any other from the…
Winter’s Bone: A chilling drama of poverty
Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone takes place in a segment of society that many of us read about in articles decrying our nation’s poverty. Its characters are “statistics,” nameless ones who suffer in the shadows of our shame. Taking place in the Ozark Mountains, Granik’s film examines the plight of the rural poor and their insular…
Butternut squash and apple bisque
1 large butternut squash 3-4 tart apples such as Jonathan or Granny Smith 6 c. chicken or vegetable stock, plus additional if needed 1 1/2 c. thinly sliced leeks (white part only) or onions 1 T. butter 1 c. heavy cream, plus additional to drizzle if desired Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground white…
