WE’RE NO. 14! Batten down the hatches: May is danger time
when it comes to tornadoes in these parts. Just ask Frank Tatom, founder of
VorTek, an Alabama company that uses National Weather Service
statistics to figure out which towns are most likely to be hit by
tornadoes. In any given May, Springfield ranks 14th in
the nation — and first in the state of Illinois — when
it comes to likelihood of hosting a twister, according to VorTek. Top of the list? That would be Oklahoma City,
followed closely by Huntsville, Ala., where Tatom lives. Amazingly,
the folks in Huntsville aren’t basking in the glow.
“Actually, the chamber of commerce in Huntsville has come to
me several times and asked me to tone down my statistics,”
says Tatom, who keeps track of how many tornadoes touch down within
20 miles of the epicenter of every U.S. city of more than 100,000
residents. The tourist industry in Springfield
isn’t putting out any press releases. Nor is anyone stepping
up and taking a strong stand. “I will deny any responsibility for any
bad weather at any time,” says Tim
Farley, executive director of the
Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. “However, we will
take credit for any good weather. I don’t think it will make
any big national news. But, if someone asks me, I will say I think
we’re something like 14th in the nation.” Thor, god of
thunder, could not be reached for comment.
THE ODDS ARE . . . As is painfully apparent this time of year,
the biggest hole in Springfield’s entertainment game is lack
of a bona fide thoroughbred racetrack (sorry, OTB parlors
don’t count). That’s why there’s Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood Springfield Area on
Saturday will host an all-you-can-drink mint julep gala to
celebrate the 132nd running of the Kentucky
Derby. The $40 entrance fee —
same price as a ticket into Churchill Downs — may sound
steep, but consider what you get. Besides bourbon, beer, wine and
munchies, there’ll be door prizes, a raffle and a hat
contest, and the money goes to a good cause. The festivities begin
at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at Pasfield House, 525 S. Pasfield
St. For info and tickets, call 217-544-2744. The favorite at the bash will likely be Sweetnorthernsaint, the
only gelding in an otherwise all-colt field. Our money is on Sinister Minister, who
tried jumping the rail during the stretch run at the California
Derby, informed sources say, only to lengthen Derby Day odds.
He’s a rascal, that one.
THIS, REPORTEDLY, JUST IN Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries was the
talk of the town last week, what with the beleaguered
charity’s hiring of a new executive director to replace the
disgraced Larry Hupp. Hupp resigned last year in a deal with federal prosecutors, who say he did all sorts of bad
things, including ordering employees to falsify records so the charity
could collect $38,000 in Medicaid funds that it didn’t deserve.
We can prove it. Not only do we have a copy of the agreement with
Hupp’s signature on it, we also kept a copy of the press release
issued by the U.S. attorney’s office. The press release
isn’t hard to find. It’s still posted on the U.S.
attorney’s Web site. So we were wondering why the alleged
journalists at WICS (Channel 20) were acting last week as though
they hadn’t confirmed the Hupp story themselves. On
Wednesday, anchorman Jerry Lambert reported the hiring of Sharon Durbin and explained
that her predecessor “reportedly resigned to avoid prosecution.” Anchorwoman Elizabeth Wooley used
the same words — “reportedly resigned . . .” — the next night
in another story about Durbin. How hard was it to independently confirm the
details of this story? We hoped for an explanation, but David Christopher,
reportedly the news director at WICS, did not return a call for
comment.
This article appears in May 4-10, 2006.
