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GOURMET DINING IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS
The recent article “Dr. Gonzo comes home” [Larry Crossett, Nov. 30] was an entertaining read. We discovered Jack & Jo’s through friends earlier this year and met John and Peggy Means during our visit. Both John and Peggy are energetic hosts. But he’s the schmoozer and enjoys visiting each and every customer (he’s still the stand-up), while she takes care of the bar and helps waitstaff serve meals and drinks. We also had the pleasure of enjoying Murray’s elegant meals and decorative presentations. He is a talented and creative chef.
Not only have we gone back, we’ve also taken along some friends as well. We’re planning a future trip to introduce the restaurant to some other friends who will enjoy Jack & Jo’s decorative dining room and quality level of food and service. The restaurant has become a destination of choice and we plan to visit there as often as we are able.
Please don’t let a trip to Mason City discourage anyone from enjoying the restaurant and its gourmet cuisine; take along some friends to share the evening — it’s well worth the trip.
Stan Zielinski
Springfield
THEY DID A GREAT JOB
I’d like to commend CWLP and Springfield Public Works for the great job they did under terrible working conditions. When you get ice, there isn’t much a snowplow with a rubber blade can do [especially when] the snow on top acts as insulation. Salt doesn’t work when the temperature is below freezing. You need the sun. The big problem is, many poles had to be replaced [which] slowed the linemen from getting the power back on. Springfield was warned days before the storms that people should have prepared. The few people who complain are the same ones who complain every time it snows. Smile; the sun is out.
Danny Faulkner
Springfield
TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC
One good thing that might come out of the Iraq quagmire is that the U.S. might be faced with “facing the music,” “facing up” to our failed policies in the Middle East (neocolonialist and imperialist as they are) — because things can’t get much worse than they are now, or so it seems. Yes, we do have a strategic interest in the Middle East — it’s oil. But, aside from that, we have not been handling the situation well, not for decades.
A new policy for the Middle East would mean crafting a policy for the Middle East as a whole, not the least of which would be to restart the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and to stop favoring the Israelis over the Palestinians in the conflict. Arab countries, in particular, are well aware of this and do not like it. And we have to begin engaging in diplomacy in the Middle East, something sadly lacking in this administration. We have to begin talking to the Syrians and the Iranians. We must not be too stubborn or proud to ask for their help. And, along with that, we have to stop calling these countries “the evildoers.” Iran has emerged as a leading power in the Middle East and should be acknowledged as such. And, yes, that might someday include accepting a nuclear Iran. We can use diplomacy here also, employing carrots and sticks to slow that process down. Invading Iran? That is stupid. It won’t stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and it would have disastrous consequences for the Middle East and possibly the world at large. I hope the Bush administration is not insane enough to try it.
To sum up, if we do not change our failed policies in the Middle East, we can expect more destabilization in the region, and possibly worse.
Beni Kitching
Springfield
TAIZE ADVENT PRAYER RESCHEDULED
Like so many homes across the region, our home was cold and dark during the days after the snow-and-ice storm, causing us to cancel one of our most beloved traditions, the annual Taizé Advent Prayer at the Sacred Heart Convent chapel that was scheduled for Sunday Dec. 3. We were sorry to have missed the opportunity to pray with the hundreds of people who would have come that night, especially those few courageous souls who ventured out without realizing the prayer had been canceled.
We look forward to a welcoming you for the second scheduled Taizé prayer at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 17. Please join us at 1237 W. Monroe St. We’ll be praying for better weather for that night!
Sister M. Alan Russell, OP
Prioress, Sacred Heart Convent
Springfield
LIVING FROM PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK
Let me say that first off I read Illinois Times all the time, and I always read the letters that various people write to you. And when I read it this morning, the animation caught my attention. I have to say that it is an outrage that the Medicare program can’t negotiate to lower the drug prices. There are people (like myself) who have to live from paycheck to paycheck and are barely even getting by because the cost of living is so expensive these days. It’s hard enough trying to afford the high gas prices just to get us to and from work every day, let alone having to pay $50 for a prescription drug that you can’t afford. Sure, there’s insurance to help with that, but half the time people can’t even afford that because of the high monthly payment rates. If the people had more help on being able to qualify for Medicare or another type of health insurance, I believe we’d all be a lot better. But I don’t see anyone willing to give up anything (that they know they can spare) to help the lower- or middle-class people at all. There are some (quite a few actually) that actually do try to do better for themselves and are trying to keep a job and made better for themselves, but it makes it very difficult when the “system” doesn’t want to cooperate and make it easier for everyone.
Angela Farley
Springfield
PREVENT UNDERAGE DRINKING
The holidays are quickly approaching, and with them come many celebrations. More people, including youth, are consuming alcohol as part of their holiday celebrations. Alcohol affects a child’s developing brain differently than it does an adult’s brain. Underage drinking can cause a child to have poor judgment, develop social problems, do poorly in school, and have problems attaining lifelong goals. Underage drinking can also lead to early alcoholism. According to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, if a youth begins drinking before the age of 15, he or she is four times more likely to become an alcoholic than are those who wait until age 21.
According to the University of Minnesota Alcohol Epidemiology Program, the primary source of alcohol for young teens who are just beginning to drink alcohol is their own home or a friend’s home. Parents can reduce youth access to alcohol by keeping alcohol out of the home or making it inaccessible to their children. If parents choose to keep alcohol in the home, storing alcohol in a locked cabinet or closet can help prevent teens from accessing it. Parents who do not want to lock their cabinets should regularly “keep an eye on your supply.”
The Sangamon County Coalition on Underage Drinking is currently assessing underage drinking in our community to determine what strategies will be the most effective. If anyone is interested in assisting us, contact Anita Bedell at 217-546-6871.
Kelly Rauscher
County Coalition on Underage Drinking
Springfield
ONE OF JACKIE’S DISCIPLES
With interest I read “The write stuff” [Amy Karhliker, Nov. 30]. I know Carol Manley personally and have had the pleasure of hearing many of her stories as they were being written — one by one. We are all very proud of her. I was fortunate to hear some of the “welfare stories” in a class we shared at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
That class, called “Writing from Family Materials,” was developed as a follow-up to the course mentioned in the Illinois Times article. It was in that class, just as tough and demanding as its predecessor, that the instructor, Jacqueline Jackson, helped me find my voice. It was then that I joined the ranks of the Jackie disciples — and I haven’t stopped writing yet!
J. Mitch Hopper
Rochester
This article appears in Dec 14-20, 2006.
