How others see us
In “New Beijings” (June 7, 2012) I mentioned in passing the astonishing popularity of the University of Illinois’s Urbana campus with students from mainland China. From the excellent long piece in a 2015 number of Inside Higher Education by Elizabeth Redden, “The University of China at Illinois,” I learned this: The university’s nickname in China, I’m told,…
EmberClear plant on hold in Pennsylvania
A Texas-based development company that this week won tax incentives from the Springfield City Council to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Pawnee has put a planned Pennsylvania plant on hold. It’s not clear why EmberClear has stopped development on the $300 million Pennsylvania plant, which would cost substantially less than the $1 billion…
McCann buys SUV with campaign money
Sen. Sam McCann, pictured here at the recent Springfield Mile, has spent more than $60,000 for an SUV. Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, has used campaign funds to purchase a sport utility vehicle. The senator hasn’t stopped at an SUV. He also acknowledges using campaign funds to install a new engine in a personally owned Jeep.…
A certain despair
It is late August as I write this, a time of year when gardens and gardeners alike begin to look a little, well, tired, for reasons I explored in the column, which appeared in our paper of Aug. 27, 1987. It has been artfully revised and edited for length. T. S. Eliot was no gardener,…
Sand: the endangered natural resource
As evermore people migrate to cities, sand follows to accommodate them. Mountains of sand are poured into constructing new homes. “A typical American house requires more than a hundred tons of sand, gravel and crushed stone … and more than 200 tons if you include its share of the street that runs in front of…
On to the next Illinois crisis
It’s been clear for decades that the way Illinois funds its public schools has been wrong-headed. But finding a solution has eluded everyone who has tried. Until now. Gov. Jim Edgar thoroughly defeated a Democratic rival in 1994 who championed a “tax swap” idea. The plan Dawn Clark Netsch backed would’ve traded an income tax…
Letters to the Editor 9/7/17
HERO OF HOPE Anything could have happened – none of it good – when Rosa Parks said “no” and refused to give up her seat on that bus in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, the first capital of the Confederacy. She could have been thrown down the stairs by the driver or slapped around and humiliated…
Editor’s note 9/7/17
Once again Springfield’s U. S. senator, Richard Durbin, is in the national spotlight for being ahead of his time. Before there was DACA – Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals – there was Durbin’s Dream, legislation he introduced 16 years ago to try to protect children brought to the United States by parents who entered illegally.…
Coal critical to power future in Illinois
Electricity is easy to take for granted. But imagine the disruption to our lives if we could not charge our iPhones that connect us to the rest of the world or flip a light switch with the guarantee that power was at our beck and call. Power reliability, however, has been top of mind for…
You be the jury
See the “other” side of fairy tales this weekend during Fairy Tale Courtroom, an interactive comedy written by Dana Proulx, directed by Erin Sullivan and presented by M.A.S.S. Media Productions, a nonprofit community theater organization. During this family-friendly performance, the Big Bad Wolf and the Wicked Witch, who have been busy traveling from fairy tale…
Four years of DEMO Project
Celebrate four years of contemporary arts programming on Friday, Sept. 8, at the DEMO Project. The gallery launched in September of 2013 with a solo installation by visual artist Betsy Odom, and the DEMO Project welcomes Odom back four years later as part of a joint exhibition. This will be the final “birthday” milestone for…
Celebrate all things German
Don your lederhosen and practice your slap dancing and stein holding in preparation for the Knights of Columbus 364 German Oktoberfest, a Munich-style celebration of all things German. The festival will be held on the grounds of the Knight of Columbus 364, from noon through 10:30 p.m., on Saturday, Sept. 9, and features live music…
The sum of his beers
I’ve been with my boyfriend for nine months. We are both in our late 20s and go out drinking a lot with our friends. I’ve noticed that when he’s drunk, he’ll be super affectionate and say really gushy things about me, our getting married, etc. Are his true feelings coming out, or is he just…
The new activists
All across the country, a new surge of grassroots activism is taking place, frequently spearheaded by citizens who had not necessarily been politically involved previously. Often growing out of social media contacts between likeminded people on politically oriented Facebook pages and Twitter feeds, these groups have sparked marches and rallies all over the country in…
The Mature Mob goes country
If country music has a sacred place, it’s the Grand Ole Opry. One country reference book compares it to the importance of the Vatican to the Catholic church. The Opry’s role in the development of and continuing popularity of country music, as well as Nashville’s establishment and growth as the music’s primary home, is unmistakable.…
Birthday party for Lake Springfield clubs
This Sunday, Sept. 10, the Council of Lake Springfield Clubs celebrates its 60th anniversary with food, drinks and music from noon to 6 p.m. at the Aqua Sports Club. The public is invited and admission is free. “We’ll have a welcome and proclamation by Mayor Jim Langfelder for the 60th anniversary at the beginning,” says…
Creating a cycling community
A cruise down Springfield’s recreational bike trails and city streets on any given day will reveal a myriad of cyclists of all ages and abilities. It is easy to understand why – almost anyone can ride a bicycle. Cycling is a low-impact exercise, easy on the joints and knees, making it an enjoyable fitness activity…
Not a done deal
The Springfield city council has green-lighted a massive gas-fired power plant proposed for Pawnee. But the council’s Tuesday decision to grant property and sales tax breaks to the plant that would cost an estimated $1 billion falls far short of ensuring that the power generating facility will actually be built. Beyond securing state permits needed…
Show us your papers
The apocalypse has arrived, at least in Illinois, thanks to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s recent signing of a bill that bars cops and jails from arresting or holding people based on their immigration status. Just ask Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “This new Illinois law…requires that criminal aliens who are held in local jails be released back…
Lack of focus prevents Tulip from blooming
Like a piece of fresh meat on a kitchen counter, films tend to not get any better the longer they sit. After being completed more than three years ago and delayed for release three times, Justin Chadwick’s adaptation of Deborah Moggach’s novel Tulip Fever finally hit theaters over the Siberia of all movie weekends, Labor…
Celebration choices
Hang onto your horses and your hats as we roll into a big weekend full of celebrations! On Friday, St. Louis-based blues entertainer, composer and singer Paul Bonn brings his stellar band, the Bluesmen, to the 411 Bar and Grill downtown. These accomplished musicians play all over the country and are spending 2017 celebrating 50…
Tom Irwin’s Hayburners
From local awards (including decades worth of “Best of Springfield” honors in Illinois Times) to opening for Willie Nelson at the Illinois State Fair, Tom Irwin has been around for a while but still manages to stay busy. His upcoming shows include a run to Nashville next week for the Americana Festival, two performance on…
dichotomy poem # 1
dichotomy poem # 1 some news is heartening they’reclosing roads in the shawnee forestfor the next two months so thatcritters that creep crawl slideslither may go from summer homesto winter hideouts with no dangerof being smished by treads and tiressome news is disheartening there’sa recent pesticide on the market itaids monsanto gmo soybeans natchbut drifts…
That homemade cake life
For centuries people have made cakes to mark special occasions. These confections have evolved from rough, yeast-leavened cakes made by Romans to more elaborate, layered pastries created by 16th-century German bakers, which resembled what is often served today. Since the 1930s when they were introduced, boxed cake mixes have become so prevalent that generations of…
