Cover Story
The nuclear option
Years ago, opposing nuclear power was cool. A partial meltdown at Three Mile Island lit a nationwide fire in 1979, when an estimated 200,000 anti-nuke protesters flocked to New York for a demonstration six months after what remains the nation’s closest brush with nuclear energy catastrophe. Tens of thousands marched elsewhere. “If they can open…
City hit with six-figure verdict
A Sangamon County jury has awarded $750,000 to the family of Eric Jones, who was 16 in 2007 when he drowned in Lake Springfield while trying to save his brother. Jones didn’t know how to swim. Nonetheless, he ventured into water above his head when his brother Michael, who also didn’t know how to swim,…
Watch me throw this 20-foot tree
It is said that heavy athletic competitions similar to those practiced in Highland games originated in ancient Ireland. Sometime in the fourth or fifth century the games jumped over the water to Scotland, where the tradition endured. By the 11th century, if you wanted to prove that you had what it took to be a…
One revenge film succeeds, another falls flat
More than meets the eye in Wrath Guy Ritchie’s brutal Wrath of Man succeeds handsomely in combining the heist and revenge genres. Containing a narrative that unfolds from the inside out, it initially provides hints about what makes the key players tick, only to double back twice, filling in plot holes and providing alternative perspectives…
Getting started with home fermenting
Lacto-fermentation is an age-old process where beneficial “friendly” bacteria, known as lactic acid bacteria (LAB for short), transform vegetables into more nutritious and complex flavored foods with an extended shelf life. These microorganisms break down complex molecules into simpler, more digestible substances, increasing the bioavailability of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Food that has been fermented…
Lights, action, but no cameras
Those of us old enough to remember VHS can appreciate recent footage from the Sangamon County jail, where six people have died since 2007. It’s herky-jerky stuff, with frames taken every second or so, and plenty of grain – better footage, almost, was taken on Omaha Beach nearly 80 years ago. There’s no sound. And…
Proposal: Less talk and more work
After all is said and done, more is said than done. –Aesop I watch with wonder and frustration as our city leaders, our media pundits and people of many special interest groups compete for the opportunity to voice their opinions on what is wrong. What is not fair. What is unjust. What is ideologically corrupt…
Letters to the editor 5/13/21
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to letters@illinoistimes.com. —- HARMFUL TO BUSINESSES Springfield has pulled the rug out from under the downtown businesses on Adams Street (“Downtown divided: City shifts stance on Adams Street,” May 6). There was a deal to keep the…
Springfield Sliders are back to play ball
For Todd Miller, owner and general manager of the Springfield Sliders, waiting for next year has become a far longer pause than the traditional six-month off-season. In 2019, his team endured a disappointing summer with a losing streak that reached record lengths. Even now, two years later, you can hear the distress in Miller’s voice…
Editor’s Note 5/13/21
Because the environmental community can only concentrate on one culprit at a time – carbon is the latest – nuclear power is now considered “clean” energy. That requires ignoring the dirt Commonwealth Edison/Exelon spread by bribing Illinois politicians, not to mention the crime against the planet of making Illinois the home of 10,000 metric tons…
Complicated ComEd hearing
The state legislators negotiating the new massive energy reform bill were said to have made real progress at their Tuesday working group meeting last week. Shortly before that meeting began, a legislator who is a longtime union ally and is involved in the talks told me the consensus was that “a pound of flesh” would…
Archival find #38 “Grandparents’ Day”
found in my parents’ files, sent by a granddaughter in 1980 “Dear Grampa: Thanks so much for the check. I really do appreciate not the money but knowing that you and Grandma think about me and keep track of me (hard to do these days!) and are so regular with birthdays, Christmas, and all. And…
Teaching Asian American history
As discussed during a May 4 Illinois Senate hearing, now is a time when anti-Asian sentiment in the U.S. is shamefully rampant. May is national Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In Illinois, some are pushing for legislation to foster improved history lessons about Asian American people. Referred to as the TEAACH Act, the…
The famous architect’s Springfield project
If you had asked cosmopolitan Springfieldians in 1990 or so to name the Springfield parking ramp designed by flamboyant German American architect Helmut Jahn, most would have pointed to the municipal ramp at Seventh and Monroe. As built in 1967, its louvered façade of precast concrete slats made it one of the handsomest structures of any…
Catch me if you can
The state and federal governments have granted $67 million for a project at City Water, Light and Power aimed at capturing carbon dioxide from coal before emissions reach the air. Construction is expected to begin next year, with operations commencing in 2023. “We’re committed to run this, roughly, through 2024,” said Kevin O’Brien, director of…
C.T. Vivian was “in the action”
C.T. Vivian entered Macomb High School in 1938. “I never thought of using the term ‘institutional racism’ to describe the place,” he wrote in his posthumous memoir. “This wasn’t because such racism didn’t exist. Rather, I just didn’t know there was a term to describe what I experienced.” The book – titled, It’s in the…
Mid-May music
Here we go a-wandering among the songs so sweet as the month of May brings us music galore while we work our way back from the ravages of 2020’s global pandemic. Just take a gander at all the stuff going on out there, then jump for joy or whatever it is you jump for when…
Forged art
Blacksmith is a fairly broad term that is often used to describe the crafters of many types of smithery – artist blacksmiths, industrial blacksmiths, metalworkers, silversmiths, welders, machinists, knife makers, gunsmiths, farriers. This weekend blacksmiths will gather at Clayville to share stories and make metal parts the old-fashioned way. They will demonstrate their talents and…
