Cover Story
Sky’s the limit
After a six-year term as the executive director for Downtown Springfield Inc. (DSI) Lisa Clemmons Stott is setting her sights on new ways to help Springfield grow. “I was always interested in relationships and therefore politics,” Clemmons Stott told Illinois Times. She graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994 with a journalism degree.…
Illinois adopts CDC guidance that all students and teachers mask up
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is now recommending that all students and teachers should wear masks this coming school year. The guidance falls in line with recommendations released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday, July 27. The new recommendations come as COVID-19 cases continue to rise and…
Festival of Trees moving downtown
Memorial’s Festival of Trees is one of Springfield’s most popular holiday events, attracting 30,000-35,000 visitors in recent years. Big changes are coming to this year’s event. For the first time, the Festival of Trees will be held throughout downtown Springfield and will be free of charge. For years hundreds of creatively decorated trees and wreaths,…
nada poem #???
there’s a newyorker joke I’ve saved by a quirky artist: a man, laundry tub nearby is folding a sheet with a helper we all know sheets fold easier with help it seems ordinary till you notice the helper is a genie his nether regions dwindling back into an elaborate aladdin’s lamp you realize then the…
Letters to the editor 7/22/21
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- THANKS FOR REVIEW As a lover of theater and a member of The Music Man cast and crew, I feel so thankful for Dennis Thread’s theater review (“The Legacy Theatre’s The Music Man,” July…
Inspector general resigns, citing lack of ethics reform
Illinois Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope announced her resignation last week and will leave office by Dec. 15. She cited several reasons, including her thwarted attempt to issue subpoenas without any checks or balances. “True ethics reform,” she said of the legislature, “is not a priority.” Pope was certainly right about some things. For instance,…
In a democracy, voters deserve a choice
Just because you get to vote doesn’t mean you live in a democracy. In a democracy, you should have a choice between at least two people from two different parties. Yet often when I go to the polls for a general election I find there is no decision to be made. The number of candidates…
Memories of a state government insider
Zack Stamp’s 2021 memoir, Things as I Remember Them, provides insights to the inner workings of state government. Political junkies and anyone who worked in and around state government over the past several decades will recognize many familiar names peppered throughout his entertaining stories. Stamp worked inside state government for nearly 40 years. He worked…
A variety of melons
Juicy, delicious melons are finally making their appearance at local farmstands and farmers markets and these days a range of unique and interesting varieties are available beyond the standard cantaloupe and watermelon. While growing up on my great-grandfather’s 20-acre produce farm in Springfield we grew thousands of tomatoes each year and picked hundreds of bushels…
Music moves along
Looks like we have another bang-up weekend chock-full of live music entertainment for your listening pleasure. How ’bout we wonder as we wander about and see what’s out there? Let’s venture from the bars and go visit our very own Springfield Municipal Band. Founded in 1936 through a city referendum and overseen by the Municipal…
Federal coronavirus recovery funds
The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds will deliver $350 billion for state, local, territorial and tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and bring back jobs. The funds provide substantial flexibility to meet local needs, as well as water, sewer and broadband infrastructure. Join in one of the first conversations regarding the…
The rhythm of Afro culture
The celebration of Ghana’s historic homecoming has finally made its way into central Illinois. Afrochella, the festival that showcases and celebrates the diversity of Afro culture through art, entertainment and entrepreneurship, was conceived as a simple food festival in 2015 in Accra, Ghana, in West Africa. The annual event took flight in 2019 when it…
Skip commercial Space Jam, but watch Last Letter and Joe Bell
Fine acting saves Bell Good intentions and narrative lapses are at odds in Joe Bell, a fact-based movie with a problematic protagonist. Mark Wahlberg takes on the title role, an impulsive man living in denial with regards to his family and the world he lives in. After being told that his eldest son, Jadin (Reid…
Editor’s Note 7/22/21
The pandemic is sort of over, but we’re waiting to see what will happen when school starts, and worrying whether we have enough social distance from Missouri. The garden, not so long ago full of hope, is growing up in weeds, waiting for a decision on whether to plant more seeds or just let it…
New Salem gets an infusion
Finding funds for maintenance and restoration of state historic sites has been difficult in recent years, what with budget impasses, hiring freezes, pandemics, agency shifts and the public’s indifference to what it takes to maintain a historic site. When Gov. Bruce Rauner disestablished the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA), which operated the 50-plus historic sites…
State “encourages” colleges to require students to get vaccine
The state’s higher education agencies released updated COVID-19 guidance July 19 encouraging all public and private higher education institutions in Illinois to issue mandatory vaccine policies. “Vaccination against COVID-19 is now widely available, and all persons over the age of 12 are eligible,” the guidance document reads. “Vaccination is the leading prevention strategy against COVID-19…
