Cover Story
A man on a mission in Athens
Who is Sameer Somal, and what has he been doing in Athens? The 43-year-old Pennsylvania resident, entrepreneur and Abraham Lincoln historian has been a frequent presence in the Menard County community in recent months. Somal is on the board of the town’s Abraham Lincoln Long Nine Museum, and he envisions transforming vacant and available property…
“Okies,” Angela Davis, hope and humanity
I recently re-read John Steinbeck’s deeply researched classic historical novel The Grapes of Wrath. I was reminded of a phrase often misattributed to another author, Mark Twain: “History may not repeat itself but it often rhymes.” It’s the story of families from across the U.S. in the 1930s who became economic migrants in their own…
Preparing for the journey
Not to be morbid, but have you thought about death lately? I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do just that recently, having said good-bye to three close Baha’i friends, a nephew and an admired acquaintance since May. That’s quite a tsunami of death, so there was no way for me to avoid thinking about it,…
McCuskey agrees to resign as LIG
You may know that embattled Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey has agreed to resign his post by the end of September. But this sorry saga shouldn’t end there. The Legislative Ethics Commission should immediately launch an investigation into why so many women over the years have said they believed they were mistreated and even belittled…
Becoming a billet
Ask a veteran hockey player about their parents, and they’ll often answer: Which ones? For players that had enough talent to play for a junior hockey team, such as the Springfield Jr. Blues of the North American Hockey League, there were their regular parents and their billet parents. New Jr. Blues defenseman Brady Anundsen, 17,…
Nominations open for 64th First Citizen Award
Nominations are open through Oct. 1 for the 64th Springfield Area First Citizen Award, and the recipient will be honored on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Erin’s Pavilion at Southwind Park. The award recognizes individuals whose extraordinary volunteer service and commitment have made a significant and lasting impact on Springfield and surrounding communities. The Community…
Intervention
I was at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factoryin Vermont. I saw a small boy about to losethe scoop atop his cone; he was holding ittipped. I caught the scoop as it fell, pressedit hard into his cone, straightened the cone,and sent him on his way. His parents neversaw how a major catastrophe was…
Letters to the editor 9/10/26
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. NEED A PLAN Nine days. That’s how long it’s been since a city-owned water main put five feet of water in the basements on Monroe Street — and the businesses hit hardest still don’t have…
Slow cooker apple butter
Subtle hints of fall have begun to appear in spite of this month’s sweltering start. There’s a tinge of gold layered into the trees and although the afternoons have been unbearably hot, there’s a crisp, freshness to the morning air. Our local apple harvest is just beginning, with early season gala and Sweet Maia apples…
September music rises
With Labor Day behind us, that means only four days of toil for you workers of the world, and that tells me maybe you can take the short week and make it into a big weekend of music. Let’s see what’s out there. Starting on Thursday, ‘cause that’s what we do, Motorheads presents Thursday Night…
