Cover Story
Fall Home and Garden 2026
Fall is a great time to tackle yard projects, such as planting bulbs for a spring payoff or potting herbs and other plants you can move indoors for the winter. It’s also helpful to being making plans now for your spring home improvements, so whether you’re dreaming of an outdoor kitchen or updating part of…
Digger one of year’s best movies, Heart a moving experience
Ambition of Digger dwarfs competition It would be easy to dismiss Tom Cruise’s latest as Oscar bait – and let’s be honest, it is – but there’s much more at play in Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Digger. Brilliant and daring, this instant classic takes no prisoners in going after myriad institutions, the film a primal scream…
Discovering your next opportunity
Every learner’s journey is unique. Some are preparing to take their first college classes. Others are returning to education after years in the workforce. Some are building skills for a career they’re passionate about, while others are exploring new possibilities and discovering where their interests may lead. That spirit of exploration was on full display…
Holy indifference
Moses presented the Ten Commandments around 1300 BCE. These were not the first list of guidelines in ancient history, nor were they the only list. About 400 years earlier Hammurabi, the king of Babylon, bound himself and the people he ruled to 272 statutes, bringing a new order and stability. For the first time, royal…
Welch should apologize to Benton’s former staffer
Last month, House Speaker Chris Welch told WGN political editor Tahman Bradley during an interview, “I’m going to apologize for making her feel uncomfortable.” The woman he was referring to was former Rep. Harry Benton’s district office worker who quit after she said she was sexually harassed. The woman also told the Chicago Tribune that…
The Stunt Driver has heart, Charlie Harper almost bearable
The quest for validation propels Driver Ken Polsjek lived his life with a well-earned chip on his shoulder. Abandoned by his father, brought up in poverty and likely struggling with an undiagnosed learning disability, the cross-eyed young man was bullied and ostracized, desperate to find a place where he belonged. Fortune shone on him when…
Celebrate Route 66 anniversary at this popular event
It’s the centennial of Route 66! Once again, hundreds of street machines, muscle cars and hot rods will rumble into the heart of Springfield’s historic downtown followed by thousands of spectators for a weekend of family fun, live music and entertainment. The event begins with a huge cruise Friday night, downtown light show and performance…
Letters to the editor 9/24/26
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. POOR CONDITIONS The open letter in the Sept. 3 Illinois Times concerning conditions at the Lincoln Tomb followed just two weeks after arborist Guy Sternberg called attention to the sudden death of the historic oak…
Healthy trees enrich communities
Fall is an excellent time to assess and care for existing trees in your yard and plant new trees. Too often homeowners don’t pay enough attention to the structure and health of their trees and only discover problems after a storm when trees or limbs fall to the ground (or on the house). Healthy trees…
Fall maintenance for your yard and garden
Whether planting a vegetable garden, flower garden or pollinator garden, “site preparation is paramount,” says master gardener Susan Helm. “I can’t stress enough how important this is.” There are thriving pollinator gardens all over Springfield, thanks to Helm and a cadre of dedicated volunteers. Examples are the Monarch Flyway native plantings at the Route…
An autumn glow-up for your home
With the autumn season here and winter not far behind, many of us are busily preparing our homes for time indoors due to dark evenings and cooler weather. While we may feel the urge to go all-in on a renovation, budgets and time constraints are realistic impediments to going through with an all-out redo. So…
Fall Home & Garden Calendar 2026
Illinois Product Farmers Fall Market Sat., Oct. 10, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Features Illinois meats, produce, baked goods and wine. Includes children’s events and live music. illinoisproductsfarmersmarket.com. State Fairgrounds, The Shed, 801 Sangamon Ave., 217-524-9129. Old Capitol Farmers Market Wednesdays and Saturdays. Continues through Oct. 31. Springfield’s longest-running and most popular Farmers Market in downtown Springfield.…
Glorious gratins
A gratin, according to the late chef Julia Child, is simply a preparation in which the top of a sauced dish is browned, usually under a hot broiler. In the first volume of her iconic cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, she describes a gratin as having “a sprinkling of breadcrumbs and grated cheese,…
September music ending
As our September comes to a close for weekend doings, fall is in the air and October rises to say howdy very soon. Shall we sneak a peek at this week to see what music we should seek? Okey dokey, if you say so. Understandably, one of my least favorite tasks in writing Now Playing…
