Amy Benton performs at Fire and Ale in Sherman on Friday. A week ago, I was in sunny central Florida (it actually was 55 and raining most of the time) playing a few shows with friends. I’m glad to be back and I’d like to thank Ken Carlyle, Patrick Hagerman, Josh Reilly and Brian Reilly […]
Decatur
Posted inOpinion
Quinn vows to veto ADM, cites pension reform ‘issue of a lifetime’
Gov. Pat Quinn refused to say for several days whether he’d support a $1.2 million a year tax break for Archer Daniels Midland to move 100 jobs out of Decatur and open up a world headquarters and new tech center in Chicago. But last week he made it clear that without pension reform, the ADM […]
Posted inNews
Mike Bell of Edinburg wants Scherer’s House seat
Mike Bell of Edinburg has a lot on his plate. He’s on the boards of both the Edinburg and Christian County economic development groups, co-chairman of a highway expansion project on Illinois Route 29, and vice president of the Edinburg school board, among many other roles. Now, Bell wants to fulfill a dream that began […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Fascinating physics
Dynamic Patterns Theatre is presenting QED: A Play, written by Peter Parnell, over three weekends in three communities, with the opening on Sept. 13 at Hoogland Center for the Arts. The show, which played on Broadway, covers a day in the life of Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman (Al Scheider of Decatur) who played a role […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Talking spirits
Here’s your chance to delve into the mysterious and the strange. Haunted America Conference returns to central Illinois for its 17th year June 21-22 at the haunted Lincoln Theater in Decatur. A host of experienced ghost hunters and speakers will share their experiences with ghosts, hauntings, monsters and the supernatural. Friday night includes a meet […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Famous homes tour in a book
This is the lovely cover of Dan Guillory’s new poetry book titled HousePoems. More than a poetry book, this is an interesting collection of poems, histories (short essays) and photos of central Illinois homes and structures and the folks who inhabited them. There’s also a section on the White House and various presidents and first ladies who […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Holiday humor
Make a list and check it twice to see The Santaland Diaries Dec. 7-9 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. Written by the great American humorist David Sedaris, the play follows one out-of-work actor who decides to become a Macy’s elf to pay the holiday bills. During his tour of duty as Crumpet the […]
Posted inMusic
The Great Waltz
Hailing from our neighboring city of Decatur, The Great Waltz calls its music “aggressive folk,” and began with Matt Skinner writing songs in his basement. The rest of the band, Josh Dimmick, Joe Gerard, Luke Alan and eventually, Kevin Gillman, came along to flush out arrangements and give Skinner’s songs life on stage. Soon they […]
Posted inMusic
Venues make a comeback
Not long ago Springfield was sorely lacking in club venues capable of handling a few hundred folks to see national touring acts. Now within a few months, voila!, ask and ye shall receive, here you go, we have the spaces. Some months back Catch 22, located downtown, near the corner of Fifth and Adams began […]
Posted inOpinion
The new 96th
Five candidates are running, but only one will win the race to represent parts of Springfield and Decatur in the new 96th Representative District. The first leg of the race is the March 20 primary election that will eliminate all but two candidates. To this point the Republican candidates are running a clean campaign, while […]
Posted inNews
New election district may benefit Springfield’s east side
A new election map approved by the Illinois General Assembly could result in better representation for Springfield’s east side. Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner testified at a May 24 hearing of the Illinois House and Senate redistricting committees, telling lawmakers that a new election district joining Springfield’s east side with much of Decatur could aid […]
Posted inNews
Parking war
Parking in Springfield is cheap. Visitors from Chicago sometimes joke that it’s cheaper to get a parking ticket here than to simply pay the meter in their city. But that could change with a proposed ordinance under consideration by the city council. On Jan. 25, the council considered a measure to double Springfield’s fine for […]
