Springfield schools release more details on closures
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has announced all schools in the state, private and public, will be closed Tuesday through the end of the month. Some schools, like those in Springfield, have decided to close starting Monday, March 16. For now, District 186 has announced the following: Closure Details Our schools are closed for students beginning Monday,…
Coronavirus blues
You think we have it bad here? Try Las Vegas. “This fear has taken over the world and if you look and talk to doctors, I have yet to see a doctor who espouses the voice of social media and what the media is doing here,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said yesterday, even as…
Editor’s note 03-12-20
At first authorities were saying the virus-vulnerable were older people with “underlying health conditions.” Now the language often morphs into the vulnerable are older people – sometimes all those over 60 – with no mention of underlying conditions. But isn’t the real issue not age but health? If so, we should be targeting the unhealthy…
State board to cap drug prices stalls
The Democratic primary opponent of Rep. Thaddeus Jones (D- Calumet City) recently ripped into the incumbent for his position on a bill last year to create a new state board that would have the power to cap some prescription drug prices. “Thaddeus Jones voted against lowering the cost of prescription drugs,” the DeAndre Tillman mailer…
gender poem #1
gender poem #1 there reigns here a bishop paprock directing the folk of his flock to disown their kids who show sexual skids will no one suggest he defrock? 2020 Jacqueline Jackson
Letters to the Editor 03-12-20
NO SCREENING FOR CORONAVIRUS My husband and I are in self-quarantine for the next two weeks in our Leland Grove home following a vacation that included time spent in Venice and other parts of northern Italy. Warnings regarding travel to Italy began after we were there. During our visit, we had our temperature checked by…
New ag director says flooding, broadband among top priorities
Jerry Costello II has some decorating to do in his office. The new director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture still has framed pictures stacked against a wall in his mostly empty corner office in Springfield. You could forgive him, though. He’s been on the job since only March 2. Among the few things on…
Hoop dreams
Ken Graves says the light bulb went off about seven years ago, while he was driving his daughter to school. Kelly Graves was a sophomore basketball player at Glenwood High School. “She was upset because they’d had an away game the night before and she hadn’t had a chance to get her homework done,” her…
Housing wars
A federal judge has ordered Springfield to fix violations of the Fair Housing Act related to group homes for the disabled. U.S. District Judge Richard Mills in his March 2 ruling also decided that the city might have to pay fines and damages for illegally denying a permit for developmentally disabled men to live in…
Women on the march
It’s Nov. 6, 2018. Democratic nominee Betsy Dirksen Londrigan has been declared the winner of the U.S. House race for the 13th district. She’ll soon be headed to Washington, having been a successful contender as part of the blue wave. Or so many thought, anyway, as CNN preemptively called the race that night in Dirksen…
A murder mystery set in St. Louis
In addition to his writing career, William Stage’s personal biography includes a unique life. In addition to military service in Vietnam, Stage served with the United States Air Force Reserve during Operation Desert Storm. After graduation from college he was driving ambulances in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when he was recruited by the Centers for Disease…
Rethinking hummus
Todd Snider is an American singer-songwriter whose music has been described as a combination of Americana, alt-country and folk. I met Todd in 2017 when he was lead singer of the Hard Working Americans, a side project of some of the members of the rock band Widespread Panic. I had driven my bus down to…
Way Back an exceptional look at grief and recovery
Some of us go through life in a haze. A seemingly insurmountable pain is ever-present, a relentless feeling that is ultimately accepted; one that, inexplicably, would be missed were it to disappear. Friends and loved ones give well-meaning suggestions that are heard and sometimes acted upon but ultimately, they are of no use. Despite their…
Get your green on
Yes, my friends, it’s that time of year where many of us become beguiled with all things related to the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration centered around our local parade which starts on Saturday “promptly at noon” on the streets of lovely downtown Springfield. There’s plenty of local Celtic music going on, but first let’s…
The Emerald Underground
For nearly two decades, this group of kilt-wearing cohorts has combined forces to be the hardest-working band during the High Holy Days of the Celtic party centered around St. Patrick’s Day and Springfield’s long-running downtown parade. Members come and go, and come back and go again, but The Emerald Underground, and its immediate predecessor, Stone…
Music at the Museum
Panamanian and Colombian duo Calle Sur performs a broad range of Latin musical traditions, from joropo and cumbia to samba and punto. Tight harmonies and instrumental precision mixed with energy and beauty and interwoven with interesting stories and humor create a dynamic mix of acoustic flavors from Latin America. The performance is part of Music…
The artwork of Peter Lazare
From the silly to the political, Pete Lazare’s folk-artsy banners outside of Grab-a-Java were always sure to stoke a conversation. His wife officially owned the local caffeinated treasure before they handed it off to new ownership, though Pete would often work there himself, having invented a stool-based espresso press and regularly telling customers to, “Have…
The other half of the Kidzeum story
I read Bruce Rushton’s opinion piece, Good news, bad news, expecting to read both good and bad news about Kidzeum. Unfortunately, he chose to present only bad news. The city council recently approved adding $50,001 for Kidzeum to the city’s budget after nearly 90 minutes of discussion. I provided testimony as the newly elected volunteer…
